My Little Pony XCVII: Cheerilee's Lonely Hearts Club

[Excession]

The event was just falling apart and getting mixed up all over the place. I don't think it was made up. I think Ponyville is just that silly of a place.

My own explanation is that Mayor Mare is basically a paper pusher and record keeper. It's right there on her flank as her special talent after all. She doesn't have much talent for management or leadership, and the town is mostly too small to need it. Twilight was better at the organisational and leadership side of things, partly because she'd seen what everyone was doing first.

For real management material, you'd have to go to Diamond Tiara, as I think management (getting other to do what she wants) is her special talent.

First time in this new house yeah. and thanks.

Stay safe Digo. I've been there, earthquakes in my case, so I feel for you, and everyone else in the path of that storm.

[b_jonas]

For real management material, you'd have to go to Diamond Tiara, as I think management (getting other to do what she wants) is her special talent.

Diamond Tiara could perhaps be a good manager, yes, that didn't occur to me. There's also Pinkie Pie, but I think she could help in a different way. She isn't motivated to make the Wrap Up more efficient, she instead cares about how everyone enjoys participating in the big celebration together and enjoy being a part of an old tradition, and shaking people out of their normal routine where most of them work on something other than their normal job. See how unlike Applejack, she was trying to include Twilight in the fun skating part which Twilight might enjoy, even if that doesn't help the actual ice break task too much. I wonder why Pinkie didn't gather some foals and teach them ice skating.

[Aotrs Commander]

For real management material, you'd have to go to Diamond Tiara, as I think management (getting other to do what she wants) is her special talent.

An actual manager that is, who actually, y'know, knows how to organise, lead and motivate and not a career-focussed numpty who beleives that management just means telling other people to make the problem go away.

[zimmerwald1915]

The event was just falling apart and getting mixed up all over the place. I don't think it was made up. I think Ponyville is just that silly of a place.

All staged, just like the opening number. Any other explanation requires Twilight to be good at and/or useful for something, which the rest of the episode and indeed all the rest of the episodes show is just not true.

[McNum]

We got another page of that Night Call comic my buddy and I collaborate on. So as always, last page then the new page.

Previously on Night Call:

Spoiler: Night Call pg. 9

Show

Link

Continuing on...

Spoiler: Night Call pg. 10

Show

Link

The dedication in the bottom left the page is to my own BBBFF who passed away about two months ago due to cancer. I miss him so much. I apologize for being MIA so much from here, but the last half a year has been... horrible.

Anyway, this page continues the thread from the last one which was "What would Luna and Shining Armor have in common to talk about?" What story could you tell with Shiny and Luna that no other combination of characters could achieve? And this is what we came up with. You think Luna can relate?

In case you want to start over from the beginning, here's the collection with all the pages.

[DigoDragon]

Stay safe Digo. I've been there, earthquakes in my case, so I feel for you, and everyone else in the path of that storm.

I imagine earthquakes being worse. Hurricanes at least give you a warning before it wreaks your stuff. D:

Staying safe isn't hard. Right now it's just waiting until something happens, which for my area is... Sunday it seems.

Spoiler

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The dedication in the bottom left the page is to my own BBBFF who passed away about two months ago due to cancer. I miss him so much. I apologize for being MIA so much from here, but the last half a year has been... horrible.

Yeah, that's... that's just rough. I been in your spot. It sucks. :(

Spoiler: Hugs

Show

Anyway, this page continues the thread from the last one which was "What would Luna and Shining Armor have in common to talk about?" What story could you tell with Shiny and Luna that no other combination of characters could achieve? And this is what we came up with. You think Luna can relate?

Not counting the fandom, heck yeah. That's a big way they can relate.

[zimmerwald1915]

We got another page of that Night Call comic my buddy and I collaborate on. So as always, last page then the new page.

Previously on Night Call:

Spoiler: Night Call pg. 9

Show

Link

Continuing on...

Spoiler: Night Call pg. 10

Show

Link

The dedication in the bottom left the page is to my own BBBFF who passed away about two months ago due to cancer. I miss him so much. I apologize for being MIA so much from here, but the last half a year has been... horrible.

Anyway, this page continues the thread from the last one which was "What would Luna and Shining Armor have in common to talk about?" What story could you tell with Shiny and Luna that no other combination of characters could achieve? And this is what we came up with. You think Luna can relate?

In case you want to start over from the beginning, here's the collection with all the pages.

The difference being, the only thing SA ever did of consequence was marry up. Luna at least has a role. More of a role than Twilight or Cadence, actually, whose job it is to take the credit for other creatures' work.

[McNum]

The difference being, the only thing SA ever did of consequence was marry up. Luna at least has a role. More of a role than Twilight or Cadence, actually, whose job it is to take the credit for other creatures' work.

Shining Armor, at least as I see him, is a pony who likes to do things with his own four hooves. He joined the Royal Guard and became captain on his own merits. He earned that job. But he did marry up, not for status or power, but because he and Cadance actually love each other. And suddenly, he finds himself in a dead end job. A very prestigious and important one, sure, but there's only one position higher in the Crystal Empire, and he's married to her. And he'll always be second to her, especially in popularity among the citizens. So Shining Armor chafes. He doesn't want to chafe, he literally has more than he ever wanted... but for someone like him, the point is earning, not having.

And there's nothing left to earn. That is a very difficult thing to accept for someone as competitive as Shining Armor. Especially since his little sister, on her own merits, managed to earn her wings. He's super proud, but... he can't do that. There's no path forward. And he hates that. And that is very toxic unless he realizes exactly what it is he hates before he lashes out at somepony who never deserved it.

[Pi Pie]

Shining Armor, at least as I see him, is a pony who likes to do things with his own four hooves. He joined the Royal Guard and became captain on his own merits. He earned that job. But he did marry up, not for status or power, but because he and Cadance actually love each other. And suddenly, he finds himself in a dead end job. A very prestigious and important one, sure, but there's only one position higher in the Crystal Empire, and he's married to her. And he'll always be second to her, especially in popularity among the citizens. So Shining Armor chafes. He doesn't want to chafe, he literally has more than he ever wanted... but for someone like him, the point is earning, not having.

And there's nothing left to earn. That is a very difficult thing to accept for someone as competitive as Shining Armor. Especially since his little sister, on her own merits, managed to earn her wings. He's super proud, but... he can't do that. There's no path forward. And he hates that. And that is very toxic unless he realizes exactly what it is he hates before he lashes out at somepony who never deserved it.

I agree. Shining Armor's shield is certainly considered top tier unicorn magic, and he did save Canterlot with Cadence just by spreading their love.

Shining Armor was probably a capable military commander. We saw him order the guards into position before the wedding and setting up the defenses. Unfortunately the royal guards are... I suppose the nice way of putting it is useless.

As Spike pointed out though, everyone loves the princesses. Being the husband of the princess makes Shining Armor the background which would be hard on him. Add in the fact that his baby sister saved Equestria multiple times, and it is logical to have a little jealousy brewing.

[zimmerwald1915]

Speaking of personal achievements, today my application to the Bar of the State of New York was certified to the Second Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division. One more hoop successfully cleared.

[Aotrs Commander]

Uurgh. I have accomplished nothing useful today. Pratting around truing to MechCommander 2 working (because I haven't got ENOUGH game in the go...) yesterday saw to that, just putting me over the edge of useful capability. Still, I won't have to do any more guff around base until next week, since I did get THAT done at least, and Hopereaver's in charge of the station for the week... So apart from absolutely finishing the Tomb Guardian engineering vehicle tomorrow (which I was supposed to be doing today, but have not had the mental energy), I will be able to relax in my week of absolute peace and quiet.

Still not sure what I'm going to DO in said week, I've got about three brand-new games or expansions to play I haven't touched yet (Witcher 3, X-Com 2, Tyranny Bastard Wound) on top of the rest of my ongoing games (CK2, EUIV, Vicky 2, technically AoE3, MoO3 and now MC2, never mind my Pokémon games...)

[DigoDragon]

Another day waiting...

Spoiler

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Then by tomorrow...

Spoiler

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Hurricane Irma hit Cuba pretty hard, and dropped to a low Cat-4. Hopefully it doesn't regain all the strength they expect it to before it drives itself up Florida's backside.


And something I drew-- pegasus plot.

Spoiler: It's okay, it's pretty safe.

Show

[Rater202]

And something I drew-- pegasus plot.

Spoiler: It's okay, it's pretty safe.

Show

It's not showing.

[DigoDragon]

It's not showing.

Strange! Try now. I modified the url a little.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Speaking of personal achievements, today my application to the Bar of the State of New York was certified to the Second Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division. One more hoop successfully cleared.

Congratulations! I hope this doesn't mean that you are heading into a job that involves jumping through hoops forever...

[t209]

Another day waiting...

Spoiler

Show

Then by tomorrow...

Spoiler

Show

Hurricane Irma hit Cuba pretty hard, and dropped to a low Cat-4. Hopefully it doesn't regain all the strength they expect it to before it drives itself up Florida's backside.


And something I drew-- pegasus plot.

Spoiler: It's okay, it's pretty safe.

Show

Yeah, I remembered when Nargis hit.
Worse since most houses have corrugated steel rather than clay tiles.

[Aotrs Commander]

Finally! Tomb Guardian done. And that took nearly all day, Still, it needed to be done now (because it has to go off to print), but I can have the rest of my holiday now.

Spoiler: Tomb Guardian Engineering Vehicle

Show

The Tomb Guardian is the replacement of the older Death’s Ward engineering vehicle. The Tomb Guardian is built on the hull of the older Fleshburner Main Battle Tank.

The Fleshburner was at best a mediocre vehicle. The initial concept was sound enough – take of one the powerful Coldbeam Point-Defence turrets in use by the Aotrs navy and emplace it on a grav platform, to create a high-track weapons platform. In some ways, it achieved that. The Flashburner’s main Coldbeam cannon was the most powerful AFV-based weapon at the time of its inception, and considerably more powerful than the Black Lance MBT it replaced. It shared over 90% of the components with its naval PD equivalent, which reduced the drain on maintenance requirements and tooling. The addition of the missile pod on the rear of the turret further added to this firepower. The Fleshburner was one of the first Aotrs ground vehicles to have full shields, and was bleeding-edge technology at the time.

(Crude image of the Fleshburner - misisng all the fien details and refinement - since I had to start from there and at least get the basics right before I could do the Tomb Guardian...!)


However, in practise, it was plagued by small problems that prevented it from living up to expectations. The Fleshburner was never popular with its crews, who found it uncomfortable and sometimes-counter-intuitive to operate. The first problem was that, to accommodate the high-track turret’s full rotation, the turret had to be mounted quite high above the hull and thus was overly tall. To compensate, the hull had been made flatter. The turret was itself difficult to access, since the gunner and commander had to essentially scramble inside and there was no quick escape hatch. The fact that not an insignificant number of Fleshburner crews used Gate or teleportation spells to enter their own vehicle was indicative. The 10% of parts the turret did not share with the PD emplacements were the ones which turned out to be the parts that wore out the fastest, and the Fleshburner had a higher-than average maintenance cycle. In truth, this was as much due to the new technology’s early teething problems, but the general perception of those issues did not help the already unpopular vehicle. On top of everything else, the Fleshburner was considered an unlovely vehicle to look at, at once seeming both too flat and to wide, with the skull-turret perched ungracefully above the hull. The twin scythe-blade electroblaster arrays did not help it at all. The most widely-quoted description was that it looked like a fat scorpion.
Despite this negative press, the Fleshburner was not a terrible vehicle. Actual performance in the field was adequate, if uninspired. While it required more than its share of maintenance, the new technology worked well.
It was with not a little relief from the crews, however, when the Fleshburner was finally retired.

As the ground forces received upgrade and enhancement, the Death’s Ward engineering vehicle was examined. It was determined that, rather than implement more upgrades, the aging tracked vehicle would be retired and replaced with a more robust and mobile grav vehicle. As it often the case with older MBTs, the numerous Fleshburner hulls were converted to create the Tomb Guardian.
The Fleshburner’s turret – the primary source of its ills was removed. A new, dull-layer turret was added.

The lower portion of the turret held an array of sixteen Coldbeam cannons in two rows. The Death’s Ward’s side sponson Coldbeam turrets had very rarely seen use in practise, and they were not truly mobile enough to serve engineering purposes. The Tomb Guardian’s array, by comparison, has far greater mobility, being both in a full turret and being high-track mount. Further, each barrel is independently mobile. The Coldbeam emplaced are essentially the core of a Mark 20 Coldbeam Support cannon, configured to low-output, continuous fire. The array is thus optimised for liquid-freezing engineering operations (such as river crossing) or mist-dispersion. Acting in concert and concentrated to a point, the weapons are still able to provide a not-insignificant amount of firepower.

An improved version of the Death’s Ward demolitions gun was placed on the side of the turret. While it has an elevation of 10º, if required, the Tomb Guardian can tilt its hull to provide another degree or two.
The left side of the turret mounts the biggest change from the Death’s Ward – a large engineering arm. This can rotate separately from the main turret, and extend. At the tip is an extensible and independently rotational tractor beam array, vastly improving on the one the Death’s Ward carried. Underslung on arm is an excavator head. This can be removed and replaced in the field in under a minute. In the Tomb Guardian’s various engineering supplies is a crane attachment (as a back-up for the tractor beam) which can be mounted on the same fitting.

For the instances when the arm is in place and the extra stability of a ground-mount is needed (to avoid the potential danger of the grav drive “slipping”), four extensible legs were placed on the hull.
The engineering arm has some limitations in that it cannot rotate 360º at lower elevations from the lower turret because of the demolitions gun, but this was considered to a minor issue, since the instances when the main turret would be required to be keeping either of guns on target at the exact same time as the arm was in use (in particular with excavations) was small. The mobility of the tractor array from the arm itself also reduces this problem. However, the demolitions gun can be dismounted with a few minutes even in the field if this mobility is a problem in some situations.

The Fleshburner’s two electroblaster scythes were removed. Instead, a mine-plough with variable geometry was emplaced. This had a further new innovation. The sides and top of the blade have a secondary shield-grid, which functions separately to the Tomb Guardian’s own shields. The plough-shield projects a screen about five metres from the edge of the blades in either configuration. This not only provides additional protection from weapons fire from the frontal direction, or against mine-shrapnel, but provides a shelter for the engineers for tasks that require them to dismount.

The Fleshburner’s internal systems and placing were completely re-worked for the Tomb Guardian. The pilot seat was drastically improved for a much more comfortably position. At the rear, a new crew module was added with hatches for the other crew. While still a little cramped due to the necessity of keeping the compartment below the Coldbeam turret’s arc, they are far and away superior to the Fleshburner.

While it still has the older, more rounded hull of the Fleshburner and its generation of Aotrs-made vehicles, and with the addition of the “legs” has not perhaps helped the Tomb Guardian in giving the impression of an overweight insect, the Tomb Guardian is generally held to be “not quite as ugly” as the Fleshburner. And unlike the older MBT, the Tomb Guardian has much more practicality to back-up its slightly ungainly appearance.

[Pi Pie]

Uurgh. I have accomplished nothing useful today. Pratting around truing to MechCommander 2 working (because I haven't got ENOUGH game in the go...) yesterday saw to that, just putting me over the edge of useful capability. Still, I won't have to do any more guff around base until next week, since I did get THAT done at least, and Hopereaver's in charge of the station for the week... So apart from absolutely finishing the Tomb Guardian engineering vehicle tomorrow (which I was supposed to be doing today, but have not had the mental energy), I will be able to relax in my week of absolute peace and quiet.

Still not sure what I'm going to DO in said week, I've got about three brand-new games or expansions to play I haven't touched yet (Witcher 3, X-Com 2, Tyranny Bastard Wound) on top of the rest of my ongoing games (CK2, EUIV, Vicky 2, technically AoE3, MoO3 and now MC2, never mind my Pokémon games...)

When you do play X-Com 2 (which I recommend), I would not suggest the Long War mod judging by your play styles.

The Long War mod increases the game length from ~30 hours for the base game to ~100 hours for the long war mod.

Some of the good things that it adds are new character class trees with new abilities and the opportunity to field 10 person squads instead of 6 person squads.

It also adds a new system that would probably anger you Aotrs Commander, infiltration. For infiltration, missions will pop up with a set time limit to either execute the mission or retrieve your troops. During that time, your troops are unavailable and are infiltrating the site. A gauge shows from 0 to 200% on how well you have infiltrated that mission.

At 0%, the enemy spawns a LOT more troops. I think I had up to 40 on a mission. At 200% the number of enemies is reduced and it takes longer for the Evac point to activate after you call for one.

The time required to infiltrate a mission depends on the number of troops on the mission and their equipment (grenadiers and heavy weapons take longer while rangers and sub-machine guns take less time).

The main thing that will probably annoy you is the mission timers. For example, a mission might appear that only gives you 2 days to infiltrate. However, in that time your maximum infiltration might only go to 50%. Combined with your limited resources, it is basically impossible to complete all of the missions in the game.

I think that the infiltration system added an interesting mechanic to the game, but it is not for everyone.

I will also give a warning that there may be a bug in the Long War mod. I was on an iron man game and at the final level. I was maybe 30 minutes from the end of the game when the mission crashed. I have tried to restart from the last save point multiple times, but the game will always crash at the end of my turn no matter what I do.

Whatever you choose to do, I hope that you enjoy the game. I look forward to reading about your squads.

[Appleshy1973]

Brandnew teasers

[DigoDragon]

Yeah, I remembered when Nargis hit.
Worse since most houses have corrugated steel rather than clay tiles.

Yeah, the materials are rather important to the home's survival. :o

Brandnew teasers

Spoiler: Teaser response

Show

That was a painfully forced way to accidentally switch identical bottles. Ouch.

The blank flank song was kinda nice, but I suddenly have this desire to punch Rumble.

[Aotrs Commander]

When you do play X-Com 2 (which I recommend), I would not suggest the Long War mod judging by your play styles.

The Long War mod increases the game length from ~30 hours for the base game to ~100 hours for the long war mod.

Some of the good things that it adds are new character class trees with new abilities and the opportunity to field 10 person squads instead of 6 person squads.

It also adds a new system that would probably anger you Aotrs Commander, infiltration. For infiltration, missions will pop up with a set time limit to either execute the mission or retrieve your troops. During that time, your troops are unavailable and are infiltrating the site. A gauge shows from 0 to 200% on how well you have infiltrated that mission.

At 0%, the enemy spawns a LOT more troops. I think I had up to 40 on a mission. At 200% the number of enemies is reduced and it takes longer for the Evac point to activate after you call for one.

The time required to infiltrate a mission depends on the number of troops on the mission and their equipment (grenadiers and heavy weapons take longer while rangers and sub-machine guns take less time).

The main thing that will probably annoy you is the mission timers. For example, a mission might appear that only gives you 2 days to infiltrate. However, in that time your maximum infiltration might only go to 50%. Combined with your limited resources, it is basically impossible to complete all of the missions in the game.

I think that the infiltration system added an interesting mechanic to the game, but it is not for everyone.

I will also give a warning that there may be a bug in the Long War mod. I was on an iron man game and at the final level. I was maybe 30 minutes from the end of the game when the mission crashed. I have tried to restart from the last save point multiple times, but the game will always crash at the end of my turn no matter what I do.

Whatever you choose to do, I hope that you enjoy the game. I look forward to reading about your squads.

So noted; though I was not going to be using Long War anyway (I tend to play games at a glacial enough pace as it is. - worth noting that my playthrough in Aotrs-Com 1 ran to 69 hours on the unmodded game...)

[Thanqol]

Spoiler

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The new Daring Do episode was arguably the worst of this season. It was just one prolonged facepalm, the most stilted dialogue and crude plot rails I've ever seen. Abysmal.

[digiman619]

Spoiler

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The new Daring Do episode was arguably the worst of this season. It was just one prolonged facepalm, the most stilted dialogue and crude plot rails I've ever seen. Abysmal.

Spoiler

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While I wouldn't say it's quite that bad, it does rank in the lower quarter of episodes is season.

[b_jonas]

Brandnew teasers

The first video shown there is almost certainly an extract from next week's episode, S7 E19.

Spoiler: S7 E19 preview

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And yes, this makes it clear the "magic remover potion" is an eraser potion that's magical, not a potion to dispel magic. That's even worse. Rarity doesn't just have the magical hairdo spells dispelled, she has her mane disappear.

The second video shown is part of S7 E21.

Spoiler: S7 E21

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Yeah, Featherweight hasn't got his cutie mark in campaign management. S5 E18 was cruel on him. This situation with the foals is getting scary again. I hope the Crusaders can summon Princess Luna to help them or something. Rumble abusing pegasus wings by taking the paddle from earth ponies in a boat leaving them stranded in a lake is quite a rude way of bullying. Although now that I think of it, Rainbow Dash has used rainclouds to scare foals with thunder.

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler

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The new Daring Do episode was arguably the worst of this season. It was just one prolonged facepalm, the most stilted dialogue and crude plot rails I've ever seen. Abysmal.

Spoiler

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While I wouldn't say it's quite that bad, it does rank in the lower quarter of episodes is season.

Newest Episode, Daring Don't

Spoiler

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I normally like the concept of deconstructing the aftermath of hero fights, the damage they leave behind and lives displaced. This unfortunate didn't really touch much at all on it. It was a bit boring of an episode overall. Caballeron's plan to smuggle out those gems was the laziest plan I've seen in all ponydom. Really, just gonna drag that bag out of town? In front of everyone?

The real hero of the episode is the adorable sphinx character. Cute and something new to see.

Spoiler: S7 E21

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Yeah, Featherweight hasn't got his cutie mark in campaign management. S5 E18 was cruel on him. This situation with the foals is getting scary again. I hope the Crusaders can summon Princess Luna to help them or something. Rumble abusing pegasus wings by taking the paddle from earth ponies in a boat leaving them stranded in a lake is quite a rude way of bullying. Although now that I think of it, Rainbow Dash has used rainclouds to scare foals with thunder.

Spoiler: Preview discussion

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What angers me is how Rumble hijacks the CMC's camp! You want to talk about rude bullying? How would you feel if you were Applebloom? Helping all these ponies learn what their mark means and then this upstart comes and feeds lies to all your students. Gah, again, I just feel like punching Rumble in the face.

[zimmerwald1915]

Spoiler: Marks and Recreation

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Is nobody going to pick up on Rumble being literally Peter Pan here? "I want always to be a little boy and have fun" indeed! But he can't, and eventually he'll come to realize it.

[Rater202]

Spoiler: Marks and Recreation

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Is nobody going to pick up on Rumble being literally Peter Pan here? "I want always to be a little boy and have fun" indeed! But he can't, and eventually he'll come to realize it.

Spoiler

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And Pan was a little ****, so it works on two levels.

[Aotrs Commander]

Spoiler: s7e18

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Eh. Not a bad episode (though from the unmarked spoiler I ckicked, Thanq clearly doesn't think so...!)

Granted, it was a little too easy to see what wass going on (seriously RD, you are a huge Daring Do nerd, you have MET him in person, and we have established you ar super-duper perceptive. How did you not instantly notice that!) Little bit cheesy, but at least we had some action again for a change.

The legend things was the coolest part of the episode. Yikes, though, sphinxes are BIG!

But, ye GODS, ponies are easily manipulable. Starlight probably barely had to try to get her village set up, if they ponies were as credulous as these ones were...

The message itself wasn't well-phrased, but the underlying meaning that its okay to make mistakes so long as you carry on and try to fix them was sound.

There was something... slightly off about it all, though, but i'm nto quite sure I can put my finger on it.

[zimmerwald1915]

Spoiler

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And Pan was a little ****, so it works on two levels.

That was the implication, yes.

[Pi Pie]

Spoiler: Marks and Recreation

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Is nobody going to pick up on Rumble being literally Peter Pan here? "I want always to be a little boy and have fun" indeed! But he can't, and eventually he'll come to realize it.

Spoiler: S7E21 Preview Discussion

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It seems to me that this has more of a Starlight Glimmer cult thing going on than Peter Pan. This is another way to differentiate yourself from the herd. This time, it is by refusing to look for the cutie mark instead of the equal sign.

Can anyone recommend some new pony fiction to read? I am near the end of the last list that I got from pony thread. I'll start the discussion with my favorite stories.
1. Anything by Chengar Qordath https://www.fimfiction.net/user/10885/Chengar+Qordath, author of The Life and Times of a Winning Pony, Lunar Rebellion, and My Little Denarians. The writing style is excellent with humor, drama, and action all well represented.

2. Fallout Equestria. Old but well written. Each time I read, I have to take breaks at certain points of the story just to prepare for the emotional impact.

3. The Equestria Civil Services series starting with Whom the Princesses Would Destroy by GhostOfHera****us https://www.fimfiction.net/story/541...-would-destroy. A humorous set of stories about the Equestrian bureaucracy.

4. Stardust by Arad https://www.fimfiction.net/story/100455/stardust. Xcom crossover. The logical development of the characters sells this story.

5. Iron Hearts: Book 1 Planetfall by Sfaccountant https://www.fimfiction.net/story/147...1---planetfall. A My Little Pony, Warhammer 40K crossover. It combines the best part of the two properties. Background knowledge of Warhammer 40K highly encouraged.

6. Starlight Over Detrot by Chessie https://www.fimfiction.net/story/347...ot-a-noir-tale. Starts as a noir tale before becoming full out adventure. Warning, this story contains some very brutal scenes, much worse than anything in Fallout Equestria.

Recommended with reservation
Anything by Estee https://www.fimfiction.net/user/109909/Estee. Very prolific author. Tends to use an excessive amount of ellipses, commas, and semi-colons in the writing. Some things can be very moving such as Five Hundred Little Murders and the Canterlot Deportation Agency series. Others can be weird such as Fluttershy Gets Replaced by a Sherman Tank.

Six Brides for Two Sisters by Equus Pallidus https://www.fimfiction.net/story/703...or-two-sisters. As thanks for saving her from the nightmare, Luna decides to marry the mane 6. Celestria gets dragged along. It is the funniest story that I have read. Unfortunately, it is incomplete.