My Little Pony XXIV: Now About 200% Longer Than Firefly

[Pokonic]

Harsh. But hey, that means you're making progress! Putting in a room, though, that's an interesting thing. Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's the most severe headache ever.

Either way, though, I presume that means you have a house, so I'll edge more towards kudos than not. Enjoy your binge! And remember, everypony skims, so don't burn out ok? We've had a lot of that recently <<;

Actually,we're at the point where the thread is it's own beast. We all say it goes too fast, but there are so many of us that it can't be fixed. That's... Interesting.

Nah, I am doing fine. Just need to release exesse energy when its needed, and everythings fine.And I dont burn out so much as fizzle. Whatever that means.

As for the house, heh, I, unfortuatly, am rather young to actualy own one (being under 18), but I must say I do belive that it will be worth it in the end, considering its been a long term project for a very long time.

As for the shear rates these threads are going, how about a petition for a subforum? We have so many topics and conversations that its almost needed to keep up with it all!Just kidding.

[Beeskee]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Aye. The biggest problem with making new toys is- we all want specific toys. Once then entire fandom buys a show-accurate toy of each mane cast member, Luna, Celestia, and Trixie (and scratch... Lyra... Etc.) then... No more. It would be a limited run.

With the current toys, they can share molds and just dump a different color into the hair-o-mater and the bodymotron, and be done.

Still, plashes are where the money is. They don't have to be "show accurate" either. A lot of clamor has been made about the plushies we see in fan art, all vaguely pony-ish with the right color and mane style.

I imagine the largest problem is that, and several others: Probably a few million dollars worth of existing inventory, possible existing multi-year contracts with factories, and definitely limited shelf space in stores.

They could start new production lines, and sell those toys alongside existing products, but they'd be competing with .. themselves. Parents wouldn't want to get the "old toys" for their kids, so the existing inventory would stagnate, and stores would stop ordering it.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the current toys have probably had several decades of 'playtesting', Hasbro has had time to correct for design defects such as weak points. A new product line means new problems. It's easier to keep using the same basic design that's been corrected and optimized. The art style of the new show might be hard to match with a plastic toy. Almost nothing sucks worse for a kid than when a toy breaks while trying to take it out of the box.

Plus the show might have bombed. Hasbro couldn't have known ahead of time how it would do, and it takes a while to start up production and get toys shipped to the stores. If the show did poorly, then they'd have been stuck with millions of dollars of unsellable inventory. Since the parents are the ones who ultimately decide what to buy for their kids, figure they're about 20-30 years old right now so they remember the cartoons and toys from the 80s and 90s, they would be more willing to get things that are familiar to them for their children.

I would bet that if the show continues to do well, we will see show-specific toys and ponies, and not just repurposed models from the existing manufacturing lines. There is that one Celestia toy that seems more custom to the show, and I even have a pretty good idea why she's pink instead of white: Hasbro got a little flack from having the good princess be white and the "bad" princess be black in the show. Of course, Luna isn't bad, she was unhappy and upset, etc, but those details would be lost on parents who haven't seen the show and are the ones holding the cash and deciding what to buy their kids. I expect if we see a Luna toy, she'll be purple, and a much lighter color than in the show.


lol I got bored while waiting for the database backup to finish, and looked it up: Yep, purple.


Plushes are good too, but again Hasbro would be competing with themselves in this regard. Children would want "something pony" and it'll be a choice between the plastic toy and the plush. And like with the toys, if the show continues to run and continues to do well, and the existing toys continue to sell so Hasbro doesn't have quite the backlog of inventory, I would imagine that we'll start to see more diversified toys and plushes and themed games and etc.

Keep in mind though, internet memes are very flash-in-the-pan popularity, in 5 years there will definitely be some other thing which has grabbed people's attention. I would imagine that if the show keeps running and keeps up the high level of quality that folks have come to expect, then it will still be popular, with a significant internet following and fanbase like we have now, if not moreso, but at the current point of 1 season and 2 episodes, Hasbro probably isn't willing to commit significant resources to customized production.


On the other hand, if they wait too long, they'd be holding the idiot ball for not milking an obvious cash cow. I remember several memes and other things that caught on popularity-wise, where the related products either didn't exist or weren't available, or were sold out because of conservative estimates and no fallbacks for expanded production. By the time the problems had been corrected, consumer interest had moved on.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

(re:donating toys to children's hospitals)
This sounds like a good idea. Hm.

Because it is!

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Haha! You let your guard down!
FIRE ZE WELCOME WAGON!

Thank you.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Do you mean you were afraid there was pr0n at all, or that it would be bad, low-quality pr0n?

I'm just not interested in pony pr0n at all. I realize it's some people's thing and that's fine, I don't begrudge them their interests. That's just not my interest. I know fanbases in general tend to write a lot of adult material so I avoided looking up any pony stories.

I have no problem reading erotic sci-fi or fantasy in general, I just want to keep the ponies pure in my mind lol.

The story posted a little earlier in this thread was fine.

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by Pokonic

As for the shear rates these threads are going, how about a petition for a subforum? We have so many topics and conversations that its almost needed to keep up with it all!Just kidding.

I find ponythread's appeal to be the crush. I think a subforum would damage the carefully cultivated memes and interrelations. Conversations would silo and grow shorter. Interest would drift.

Ponythread is close, packed, friendly, noisy, together. It's a party. Only the mad or SiuiS can dance every dance and play every game in the party, but there's always space for an anecdote or a conversation topic that can rise and fall organically. Some people's comments get lost or unreplied to, and I find that sad, but I know many of us do our best to at least read everything.

We don't have enough pony to fill a subforum. We have enough friendship to fill a ponythread.

[Kris Strife]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Actually,we're at the point where the thread is it's own beast. We all say it goes too fast, but there are so many of us that it can't be fixed. That's... Interesting.

Actually, I say it goes too slow, and not just to be contrary!

Admittedly, it's mostly in the "So late it's early" time frame, but still!

Originally Posted by Thanqol

We have enough friendship to fill a ponythread.

At least 24 of them.

[Grif]

Originally Posted by Thanqol

We don't have enough pony to fill a subforum. We have enough friendship to fill a ponythread.

Can I sig this? Because this is totally siggable.

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Grif

Can I sig this? Because this is totally siggable.

Beat ya to it though hey, you have more exposure than me, so if you want it, take it; I'll rotate around. Wanna show the ohana y'know?

[Nameless]

Originally Posted by Kurgan

So long as you enjoy life, it doesn't matter if you are twenty, thirty, fifty or beyond. Its not how much time you have logged under your belt, but how you use it and whether you are happy with it.

Huh. I'm sure I read that on a fortune cookie once.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

you are so cute~
I can't think of any other way to describe you. You are horribly, terribly awesome.

Then I'm sure you'll be glad to know that I've watched an episode that I actually properly enjoyed.

I can feel the ponies inside my head. They're attacking my mind. Like a kitten at a ball of yarn.

Hard to fight age of majority. Don't worry, you're not old until your joints say you are.
Related: don't wear cowboy boots and make athletics checks.
Or run 20 yards on your knees. Or sword-fight on balance beams.

*notenotenotenotenote*

Originally Posted by Beeskee

Thank you both.

I saw the ever-increasing pony memes, and well, I'm addicted to memes, so I just had to check it out. A few episodes later and I was hooked.

Waiting for Season 2 to start was agonizing.


After watching the first two season 2 episodes, I got the feeling a bunch of the scenes for season 2 were tweaked to give the fanbase even more interesting content to work with.

Leave. LEAVE WHILE YOU STILL CAN!

[BlasTech]

Woo, I've figured out how to multiquote! (or rather, you guys were nice to tell me how)

Originally Posted by Tectonic Robot

Perhaps the title to the next thread could hold some sort of pun, possibly relating the the depart of Discord and lamenting the departure of his character?

I've been trying to think of a punny title, but nothing my brain associates with that guy turns out to be appropriate.

Case in point:

Spoiler

My Little Pony XXV: "Far Q Discord!" <--- My reaction once he went after Pinkie and Fluttershy

Originally Posted by Dispozition

Ok guys, I'm gonna say I'm not a huge fan of these threads because they're typically too much RP for me, and move way to fast, but I'm going to post because I have a feeling you'll all appreciate these and hopefully like them as well.

Spoiler

I guess I'll make an effort to keep up to date on the thread as well, since you're all cool ponies, but I make no promises >:

Neat pictures, nice to see you around :D

Originally Posted by Nameless

Huh. I'm sure I read that on a fortune cookie once.

Here's another: You're only as old as you feel.

Originally Posted by Nameless

Then I'm sure you'll be glad to know that I've watched an episode that I actually properly enjoyed.

Out of interest, which one was that?

[Diego Havoc]

Originally Posted by Tectonic Robot

Let's just go ahead and say the whole episode was awesome, eh?

Man, I wish I had an avatar like you guys. You can be portrayed as things! Whereas I, alas, cannot.

I oughta get an OC, but I can never decide on designs, much in the same way that my favourite pony changes every week. I'm fickle. So I'm thinking I may as well also take the "shapeshifter" route. It's actually something I've been thinking about for a while but never really came up. Mainly 'cos I don't RP much here.

Originally Posted by Capt. Ido Nos

It occurs to me that I have *counts* 28 tabs open in Firefox right this very moment.

Of which, 22 are pony related.

Yup, that's my situation too :P

Minor image dump time! Non-S2:

Spoiler

Where's our resident pony history buff? I'd like to know more about that last pony (Toola Roola from G3 according to the tags)

S2:

Spoiler

There are many advantages to being Rainbow Dash

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Nameless

Then I'm sure you'll be glad to know that I've watched an episode that I actually properly enjoyed.

I can feel the ponies inside MY head. They're attacking my mind. Like a kitten at a ball of yarn.

I'm glad we ponies meet with your approval ;3


And these are for you, commodore.

Spoiler

Pony size comparison
Twilight Sparkle
Height: 2-3/4" w/ ear, 2-1/2" at horn/top of head
Cannon: 1"
Rump: < 1-1/2"
Hoof width: 1/2"
head height: 1" width: 1"
Anomalies: head cocked, Anterior Right leg crooked; AR hoof between 3/8" and 1/2"; Posterior Left leg has shorter proportions.

Cheerilee
Height: 2-3/4"
Cannon: > 1"
Rump: < 1-1/2"
Hoof width: between 3/8" and 1/2"
head height: 1-3/8" width: 1-1/4"
Anomalies: legs inconsistent with each other, vrey poofy mane (I swear, she has a bump-it or something), 2 plastic seams deform lifted AR leg; least proportional looking model.

Pinkie Pie
Height: 2-7/8" with mane, 2-3/4" at ear
Cannon: 7/8"
Rump: EXACTLY 1-3/8"
Hoof width: approximately 1/2"
head height: 1-3/8" width: 1-1/2"
Anomalies: poofiest mane; best pose for measuring; best hoof measurement (oblong, semi-triangular shape like an iron- width is closer to 3/8", length is 1/2")

Rarity
Height: > 3" at mane/horn tip- of course Rarity poses the most regally XD
Cannon: Between 7/8" and 1"
Rump: > 1-1/2"
Hoof width: 1/2"
head height: 1-3/8" width: 1"
Anomalies: Good. God. That mane. THAT MANE.

That should cover it, I've got consistent numbers across the board.

Cannon measures from hoof to rear elbow crook. The numbers here came out weird. The difference depends on the position, as the elbow is almost in the same spot no matter where it would be on an animal. That is, a 45• angle leg and an 80• leg both have the elbow in the same position, though logically they should be differently located.

Rump measures from ground to top of the PPB (pert pony butt^TM). Belly averages 1" from ground, meaning torso is 1/2" thick at halfway point.

Less-than, greater-than, and between-measures are due to using an imperial measuring stick. Some measurements were just at, just between, or crossing the lines of measure. Pinkie turned out perfect, sitting dead center on an otherwise poorly painted line.

[Deadly]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

STARS ABOVE!
you drew those?! Wow, I'm a bigger fan of your work than I thought! I've been showing those around for around 8 threads now, or more. Probably closer to 18 threads!

I will have to get back on dA and favorite the muffins out of you.

Thanks!

[Grif]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Beat ya to it though hey, you have more exposure than me, so if you want it, take it; I'll rotate around. Wanna show the ohana y'know?

Thanks.

On other, more pony-related news, I think this will delight Touhou fans. (and Starcraft II ones as well I suppose, but they're only there strictly as enemies.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZndB83Umrz0

(How do you guys even play the game? It gave me a headache trying to see how you avoid all those bouncing balls.)

[SiuiS]

Originally Posted by Beeskee

On the other hand, if they wait too long, they'd be holding the idiot ball for not milking an obvious cash cow. I remember several memes and other things that caught on popularity-wise, where the related products either didn't exist or weren't available, or were sold out because of conservative estimates and no fallbacks for expanded production. By the time the problems had been corrected, consumer interest had moved on.

I pretty much agree with everything you've said. My only wonder is;
Every day they dingbat my money they lose profit. Hotels and airlines are like that; every seat or room unrolled is food out of their mouths.

So simplified (and yes, I know that means I'm not really seeing the whole picture :smallwink) they may sell less plastic toy sets that they already made, but if they sell the same amount of product or more, on the whole, they come out ahead. If producing plushies reduces their plastic toy sales, not a problem. Aren't plastics more costly? Develop a pattern and fabrication, you make more on mark-up from a stuffed animal than a standard doll, and you also sell more plushies because while the audience for plastics is little girls 5-12 and parrots 30-40, the plush market has boys/girls from 14-35 as well.

The only resource they are guaranteed to lose is time. So it isn't "are MLP toys profitable?" it's "are they more profitable than whatever else we would have been directing our manpower at?"

That's where I lose my ability to give a definitive yes. As a submarket, fan toys are bought up left and right. But the prices are due almost entirely to low supply, aren't they? If there are 10 Lunas I would be afraid of showing it to someone for fear of ending up on NYPD Blue. If there are ten thousand, falling off the shelves, no one would pay the same 20-40 dollars.

I seem to have stopped addressing your point and started typing while thinking though. Forgive me

I'm just not interested in pony pr0n at all. I realize it's some people's thing and that's fine, I don't begrudge them their interests. That's just not my interest. I know fanbases in general tend to write a lot of adult material so I avoided looking up any pony stories.

I have no problem reading erotic sci-fi or fantasy in general, I just want to keep the ponies pure in my mind lol.

The story posted a little earlier in this thread was fine.

I will keep the off-off-color jokes to a minimum when aimed in your direction then.

Originally Posted by Thanqol

I find ponythread's appeal to be the crush. I think a subforum would damage the carefully cultivated memes and interrelations. Conversations would silo and grow shorter. Interest would drift.

Really? I have a crush on Ponythread, too!
Oh, wait... You said... Nevermind

Ponythread is close, packed, friendly, noisy, together. It's a party. Only the mad or SiuiS can dance every dance and play every game in the party, but there's always space for an anecdote or a conversation topic that can rise and fall organically. Some people's comments get lost or unreplied to, and I find that sad, but I know many of us do our best to at least read everything.

We don't have enough pony to fill a subforum. We have enough friendship to fill a ponythread.

I like how you separated me from mad folks. Couldn't tell you why though...

I still think that, with proper link-back, we could remove the RP from the thread's post coun't without altering it. I suppose I'm the only one who does thread R&D though, so I'd be the only one willing to really work at it.

Originally Posted by Kris Strife

Actually, I say it goes too slow, and not just to be contrary!

Admittedly, it's mostly in the "So late it's early" time frame, but still!

Let's do some quick sloppy math.
I wake up at hour zero. There are 8 pages, so 240 posts. I get ready for work, start copy/paste-Kido on the thread.
By hour 2, there are 5 more pages. This will become our imaginary standard.
By hour 4, I have finally copy/pasted all 13 pages. But I must start work. There are an additional 5 pages.
By hour six page coun't is 23, and I am approximately 2-3 pages behind, depending on how I copy and answer.
By hour 8, the thread would normally slow enough for me to get my work done, write up responses, and not be too far behind; except we would be 5 pages ahead rather than 1. Too irrelevant, replies to my replies would be two generations - 10 pages - behind current topics. So press on.
Hour 10, page 33, I am still 3-5 pages behind but catching up.
Hour 12, I am caught up and typing; thread gains five pages in two hours, I type about 7. I am probably skimming.
Hour 14, 5 more pages (sitting at 43 pages! In one day!) and it's late. K get home, have dinner. Put Internet away totalk with Brazen, watch tv, do other things.
Hour 16, I do more quote compiling and fall asleep. By hour zero the next day, the thread would add 40 more pages. A hard slog would bring me up close...

If we then assume that, posting being continuous, we would all have homogenized schedules so that posting was smoother... It would probably drop to 3 pages every two hours, which is approximately one post every two minutes. Sounds right to me.

With 3 pages in two hours, I would completely catch up by hour 10, except for that page. The difference would drop by about 2 pages of backlog a night.

I would post a full two threads worth of quotes, broken into multiple posts using my text message character counter, every five days or so.

All of this means nothing without my original point I forgot to write though, and that isthe ebb and flow, the up and sown, the pony tide; this is what makes pony thread work. Musi is defined by the silence between the notes, not the noise itself. We need the slow periods.

Originally Posted by Topaz

Quick reactions from looking at the day's pony art:

Spoiler

Flutterbitch is the new Pinkamena.

I'm already tired of the "Aw poor Discord" fandom, and that's as someone who had no problem with the various redemptions of Nightmare Moon, Trixie, and Gilda. LoveandToleranceLoveandToleranceLoveandTolerance

[season 2] [spoilers]

Spoiler

damn. I was really hoping that wouldn't catch on... Poor Fluttershy. You'll never live this down

And disQord did get shafted. Up until the very end, I was hoping he was unaffected by the elemental rainbow, and they'd have to bargain with him. Then at he end he was all "oh noes! *statue'd*" and I got sad.

Originally Posted by Dispozition

Ok guys, I'm gonna say I'm not a huge fan of these threads because they're typically too much RP for me, and move way to fast, but I'm going to post because I have a feeling you'll all appreciate these and hopefully like them as well.

Spoiler

I guess I'll make an effort to keep up to date on the thread as well, since you're all cool ponies, but I make no promises >:

I like your work.
We are working on containing the RP. It's not going away, but we have a soft rule of "post actual content with RP in spoilers" that is making the ride a little easier. The speed I can't affect though; I slow the thread by doing big posts instead of many little ones.

Originally Posted by Kris Strife

I am now dissapointed in myself for missing this.

Turnabout and fair play, and all that
what you get for the 'citation needed' joke, mate.

SOFT SERVE!
don't have much to say about your post, but it's good to have you back

[Sweetie Welf]

Huh, that took some time to catch up. Actually reading everything does that.

Originally Posted by The Dark Fiddler

If that's what they think, then they aren't paying attention to the right stuff. We're pretty blatant about our desire for more show-accurate toys, so it's not really our fault if they aren't getting the message (which sucks because we're the ones that suffer for it ).

This is HASBRO. We have mentioned before that they are not very good about this "making money" thing. I think they only survive because big companies have a money sucking gravity field. I think we should put that in the OP post.

And what Beeskee said. (Hello btw )

Originally Posted by SiuiS

I don't remember a lot of these conversations either, Whig is why I'm reading them!

I am going through the older threads. Today's post comes from pages ... 22 through 28 I think, of thread one: My Little Pony, because Friendship Is Magic.

You Sir, are Kru-ah-zee.

Originally Posted by the_druid_droid

Sweet! I love the fastened on cutie mark of the clock, and the feathers, and the accordion joint...

Awesome birthday present! Thank you!

I am going to need a name though...hmmm



My birthday request for a drawing; I've been wanting to see a clockwork pony for a while now.

Also they are not newly drawn, some old Clockwork orange ponies:

Spoiler

Wait, you did refer to Clockwork orange, right? Not that it matters, I would have posted anyway.

Originally Posted by Kyouhen

And random other things.

S2

Spoiler

Spoiler

hehe. Now I want a cupcake.

Originally Posted by The Dark Fiddler

Episode Two and Stuff

Spoiler

So, did anybody else notice our favorite background ponies during the Star Wars ending? And is anybody else disappointed because there will be no more Discord now?

Spoiler

Yes, I did. Two Derpies, and both with wrong eyes. As in, not crossed.

Originally Posted by Shadowy

.....

I was going to write a review...... But that summarizes it in fewer words with more accuracy then I could ever hope to express.

Am I the only one who now wants to see an episode that's just Pinkie Vs Discord?

Spoiler

Yes, I do. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more interaction between the both. A Pinkie/Disqord episode would be awesome.

Originally Posted by TheAmishPirate

Season 2: Somewhat relevant to discussion this week! Yay!

Spoiler

The episode itself had things that made me actually laugh. Now none of you have actually seen me watch shows like this, but I rarely do that. Smile amusedly, perhaps chuckle on the inside, but straight up laugh? That doesn't happen often. The comedy in this one was great.

"Oh look! The elements were right here!"
-Bull. Honkey. I know I'm being critical of a kid's show, but I felt like that riddle was too good for a simple "Oh it's just back at the treehouse". I can see the argument for "Oh, it's just Discord being Discord", but a rushed plot is a rushed plot.

*star wars ending*
-I caught the reference immediately, and it brought my soul great joy.

*memory spell*
-You have no idea how much better that made the color regain-ification bit for me. That actually makes a lot of sense.

*the hot air balloon chase scene*
-Pure, genuine, take-it-to-the-bank-because-it's-not-Tom, gold.

OPINION:
I'll repeat what I told another playgrounder prior to watching part 2: This two-parter likely had enough material for 2.5 shows. Not quite enough to hold our interest for a trilogy, but too much to comfortably fit in two episodes. After seeing part 2, I think my opinion still holds. They could have done away with the memory spell, and had Twilight talk their Elements back into them, and I suppose they could have spent more time actually looking for the Elements, but altogether, I think a trilogy would not have worked. Not enough logical breakpoints, and the whole thing would feel rather slow-paced.

I also think we over-speculated and got our hopes up for something that a show aimed at very young girls could never deliver.

With that being said, there was enough good in this episode (and episodes like this tend to grow on me) to outweigh my gripes. I enjoyed it.

Spoiler

I agree with that.
When I saw the episode I was a little disappointed. I think the hype of the last few months propelled up my expectations to high. But when I sum it up, I like the characters and feel with them, I laughed at the jokes, I liked the visuals, and I liked the villain.

[Gamerlord]

After reading through a summary of the Bronycon interview, I discovered some interesting tidbits:
*Minor episode 3 spoiler possibly*

Spoiler

*In Applebuck Season Applejack was originally supposed to "applebump" not "applebuck", which meant that to harvest the apples she would ram her head into the trees.
*When asked to give a hint for episode three, he gave a riddle: Tick tock, times running out.
*Ponies get glue from the store. A pity, we might have had a use for Blueblood.
*They apparently are on a shoestring budget.

[Kalinda]

Originally Posted by otakuryoga

this got said in a write-up of bronycon

And vice versa. Apparently on the subject of show-accurate toys, Hasbro is "looking into it". It's some kind of enormous financial undertaking to rework everything now that it's all in production, and apparently they just don't really see the need—I guess it's selling fine as-is.

do they not realize from the multiple online petitions and who knows how many individual emails/letters that if they made show accurate stuff we cold not not throw our money at them fast enough?

Here's a sad thought about the subject. Bronies may not actually be a big enough market for it to be worthwhile. Hasbro is a huge company that does billions of dollars in business every year. They do Star Wars toys, they own WoTC, they own Milton Bradley and a bunch of other subsidiaries. Such size tends to distort your thinking when it comes to profits and what's worth pursuing in terms of markets.

I recall hearing an account by a WotC guy of a visit from a Hasbro executive to their offices. They were showing the exec around and they happened to have recently released a new supplement which had done well. They told him about the book and the fact that they had so far made something like 300 thousand in profit on it, the exec reportedly just looked at them and asked "Why did you bother?" The amount of money was so small compared to the profits they see on other lines that to him it wasn't even worth the effort.

We may very well be running up against a similar mindset. Does anyone know in hard numbers how many bronies are actually out there and ready to buy toys? I mean we see a lot of posts on message boards about it, but as a big toy company Hasbro wants hard data before they start retooling production lines. A few online petitions with a few thousand sigs? Forget it, that's a joke to them. It's like expecting China to free Tibet because you copy/pasted something on facebook.

The internet tends to distort your perception of how many people are actually into the thing you're into, so it's very hard to tell exactly how many people would buy the toys, but until Hasbro is able to see actual numbers, and those numbers are in the millions, I don't hold out much hope.

Sorry, rant over.

[Thanqol]

Originally Posted by Grif

Can I sig this? Because this is totally siggable.

Sure you -

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Beat ya to it though hey, you have more exposure than me, so if you want it, take it; I'll rotate around. Wanna show the ohana y'know?

- can. Hmm. I think the only solution is a hot air balloon duel.


Just saw some actual, legitimate Shaolin Monks do a 2 hour performance o.o Good god.


Uhh... something pony related to keep this topical. Pony... martial arts. How does it work? Anypony got any ideas?

[Kris Strife]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Let's do some quick sloppy math.
I wake up at hour zero. There are 8 pages, so 240 posts. I get ready for work, start copy/paste-Kido on the thread.
By hour 2, there are 5 more pages. This will become our imaginary standard.
By hour 4, I have finally copy/pasted all 13 pages. But I must start work. There are an additional 5 pages.
By hour six page coun't is 23, and I am approximately 2-3 pages behind, depending on how I copy and answer.
By hour 8, the thread would normally slow enough for me to get my work done, write up responses, and not be too far behind; except we would be 5 pages ahead rather than 1. Too irrelevant, replies to my replies would be two generations - 10 pages - behind current topics. So press on.
Hour 10, page 33, I am still 3-5 pages behind but catching up.
Hour 12, I am caught up and typing; thread gains five pages in two hours, I type about 7. I am probably skimming.
Hour 14, 5 more pages (sitting at 43 pages! In one day!) and it's late. K get home, have dinner. Put Internet away totalk with Brazen, watch tv, do other things.
Hour 16, I do more quote compiling and fall asleep. By hour zero the next day, the thread would add 40 more pages. A hard slog would bring me up close...

If we then assume that, posting being continuous, we would all have homogenized schedules so that posting was smoother... It would probably drop to 3 pages every two hours, which is approximately one post every two minutes. Sounds right to me.

With 3 pages in two hours, I would completely catch up by hour 10, except for that page. The difference would drop by about 2 pages of backlog a night.

I would post a full two threads worth of quotes, broken into multiple posts using my text message character counter, every five days or so.

All of this means nothing without my original point I forgot to write though, and that isthe ebb and flow, the up and sown, the pony tide; this is what makes pony thread work. Musi is defined by the silence between the notes, not the noise itself. We need the slow periods.

I agree, I like the bursts rather than a steady pace, but when my post is the last post and there's nothing for an hour, I start to panic that I said something wrong.

That and the slow periods are boring.

Originally Posted by Thanqol

Uhh... something pony related to keep this topical. Pony... martial arts. How does it work? Anypony got any ideas?

Ask Applebloom.

[Lix Lorn]

Originally Posted by Tectonic Robot

Over at the homestuck MLP thread, we were talking about what Discord would be if Celestia and Luna were god-tier players who won their session.

We decided he was the Crazed Discordian with waaaaay to many prototypings.

Anyone agree?

Discord: I am the Jack Noir. It's me.

Originally Posted by HalfTangible

Ditto?

You too? Wow!

Originally Posted by Gamerlord

Spoiler

Luke-Twilight Sparkle
Han-Rainbow Dash
Chewie-Applejack
Leia-Rarity
Threepio-Fluttershy
Artoo-Pinkie Pie

RainbowRarity. Shiny.

Originally Posted by Kurgan

Does that mean I get a shiny everything?!

Yup!

Ah, the way you had it there, I was picturing a small town, and they were crowding around the local mailmare's house. Kind of like how you would go to the miller's house, rather than a miller's house, if that makes sense.

Alright, I'll finish reading and giving feedback in a bit. In the meantime, Ronin loaned me Rome: Total War and I need to go waste as much time as I possibly can. Haven't played that game in too long.

Well, specifically, it's Derpy's house, but I didn't want to SAY so.

And I suck at Rome... xD

Originally Posted by Gamerlord

......LET LOOSE THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS OF WAR!
...
...
...
Hello? Pwny Lord? Evil Pwny Lord?
"So....hungry..."
"Yeah, uh, barely feeding your soldiers is hardly what one would call proper military management, Gamerlord. Now if you excuse me, I'm so hungry I could eat a ....no wait, nevermind, that was about to create some very disturbing implications."
"And we're herbivores! Did you really think we would eat them?
"I can see the fabric of space and time! I'm going to eat it!" *Faints*
Uh...
Excuse me fellow ponythreaders it appears I'm going to need to fish out an old doomsday device to terroize you with, plan A is a flop...

Oooh! Use a Catenative Doomsday Dice Cascader!

Originally Posted by SiuiS

[color="green"]I suspect it's a thing for a lot of folks.
Hm. Would you differentiate between racial and acquired shapeshifting powers?[/color

Mine are kinda both. I acquired them, but have basically assimilated them into my being.

Killing something for power is evil whether or not you are successful. But that's unimportant. What is important is how to break this up past 11 on the dial!

Energy transformation field creates an area which absorbs spell levels and stores them, producing the effect of an attached spell when it has enough energy.

Combine Deathknell, Summon Swarm, and a swift action item which doesn't deplete barges unless used successfully, such as boots of battle. Have at least one level of ur-priest, sublime chord, and spellthief. Et the mater spellthief feat which stacks all your caster levels to determine final CL. Throw in a greater aura of consumption or whatever so anything with less than 10 hp dies immediately.

Go into the venn diagram created by the overlapping fields and start activating the boots. Free action activation, adding one spell level to each field in turn. Don't have the paperwork on me, but the end result is you contantly spawn swarms of 10,000 creatures, which are killed and generate a higher caster level through sublime chord/ur priest/spellthief, which is used for te next casting of dean knell, giving you a higher CL cap for killing the next swarm...

It costs approximately 13,000 gold to set up, generates NI caster level for 1 hour per (NI) level, and takes five rounds. It caps eventually, where the number of creatures killed is no longer sufficient to generate an appreciable increase; this is because you start to gain only a fraction more CL instead of the massive boosts. If I recall it falls apart after 14, 15 iterations. More with more synergy; having one of every casting class plus ur priest nets you somewhere like 15 CL a pop, though.

I have a whole pile of stuff that's labeled "could slip past DM but why bother?".

I need to run a game for you.

Originally Posted by Thanqol

"Here's your delivery, sir!"
"Oh wow, that was fast."
"They don't call me 'Rainbow' and 'Dash' for nothing!"
"Ha ha ha... what?"
"Nothing. That'll be $23.85."

Thanqol is best pony.
Well, Thanqol and Esper. And SiuiS. And Phoe. And Raz.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Originally Posted by Rebelhero

GACK! slowdown guys! Trixie asked us to wait this time!

I thought we'd all agreed that artificially slowing and rushing the thread is a Bad Thing (TM)?

Originally Posted by Dispozition

Ok guys, I'm gonna say I'm not a huge fan of these threads because they're typically too much RP for me, and move way to fast, but I'm going to post because I have a feeling you'll all appreciate these and hopefully like them as well.

I can very much sympathize. But I keep coming back, myself. It's such a strange effect...


Also, welcome, Beeskee! I forgot to quote anything by you to welcome you properly, but... welcome anyway!

Edit: On the subject of Ponyconomy: If Hasbro's going to make show-accurate toys, they should hurry up and do it. If they won't, or it's not feasible for them, that's a bit disappointing but I can give my money to the Bronies who make the stuff I want instead. What I really disagree with is that they want us to buy what we've already expressed displeasure in before we get what we really want. Yes, they have the toys they have now to get rid of, but products that the consumers don't want don't sell. And plenty of people are buying them anyway, already.

[Aotrs Commander]

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Related to the above, that's drawing a horribly incorrect conclusion from over-thinking it. MLP is a show designed for and marketed to youg children. Girls, especially. Any theory which requires more effort than "she's a nice, magical pony" must explain itself, because human nature can't be counted on.

In candy land, lord Liccorice is evil because he's dressed mostly in black, scowls and it says so on the box. Queen Frostine is good, because she's not a bad guy and you are trying to save her. I think. Can't remember the point of candyland...

Celestia is good because she is the princess (of which there are very few evil versions, always a subversion) and mentor of, the main character. Her people are happy because they are magical ponies, not because of brainwashing. There is very little/no crime becUse they are magical ponies in a paradise land, not because of secret police and abundant executions. Nightmare Moon was redeemed because she is a princess who was just upset and over-reacted, not because it's a clever political gambit.

Seriously, here. People come up with all sorts of silly theories based off of "human nature" and the way things are, but it's always horribly flawed. "that's how I would do it" cannot be true; the premise is not "how would it be handled" but "how would it be handled in a paradise land where you were already completely happy".

What use is a complex, machaivelian system for control when control is unneeded? These theories rely on incomplete and over-complicated suppositions. I don't know if I'm being clear, but this has always bothered me.

Exactly.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

And these are for you, commodore.

Spoiler

Pony size comparison
Twilight Sparkle
Height: 2-3/4" w/ ear, 2-1/2" at horn/top of head
Cannon: 1"
Rump: < 1-1/2"
Hoof width: 1/2"
head height: 1" width: 1"
Anomalies: head cocked, Anterior Right leg crooked; AR hoof between 3/8" and 1/2"; Posterior Left leg has shorter proportions.

Cheerilee
Height: 2-3/4"
Cannon: > 1"
Rump: < 1-1/2"
Hoof width: between 3/8" and 1/2"
head height: 1-3/8" width: 1-1/4"
Anomalies: legs inconsistent with each other, vrey poofy mane (I swear, she has a bump-it or something), 2 plastic seams deform lifted AR leg; least proportional looking model.

Pinkie Pie
Height: 2-7/8" with mane, 2-3/4" at ear
Cannon: 7/8"
Rump: EXACTLY 1-3/8"
Hoof width: approximately 1/2"
head height: 1-3/8" width: 1-1/2"
Anomalies: poofiest mane; best pose for measuring; best hoof measurement (oblong, semi-triangular shape like an iron- width is closer to 3/8", length is 1/2")

Rarity
Height: > 3" at mane/horn tip- of course Rarity poses the most regally XD
Cannon: Between 7/8" and 1"
Rump: > 1-1/2"
Hoof width: 1/2"
head height: 1-3/8" width: 1"
Anomalies: Good. God. That mane. THAT MANE.

That should cover it, I've got consistent numbers across the board.

Cannon measures from hoof to rear elbow crook. The numbers here came out weird. The difference depends on the position, as the elbow is almost in the same spot no matter where it would be on an animal. That is, a 45• angle leg and an 80• leg both have the elbow in the same position, though logically they should be differently located.

Rump measures from ground to top of the PPB (pert pony butt^TM). Belly averages 1" from ground, meaning torso is 1/2" thick at halfway point.

Less-than, greater-than, and between-measures are due to using an imperial measuring stick. Some measurements were just at, just between, or crossing the lines of measure. Pinkie turned out perfect, sitting dead center on an otherwise poorly painted line.

Ace. That's gone into notepad file for future reference.

Unfortunately with Shapeways's expletiveing announced price-rise, doing 144th ponies is going to be a great deal more expensive or impractical (unless I do umpteen dozen). So we'll see.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

[season 2] [spoilers]

Spoiler

damn. I was really hoping that wouldn't catch on... Poor Fluttershy. You'll never live this down

And disQord did get shafted. Up until the very end, I was hoping he was unaffected by the elemental rainbow, and they'd have to bargain with him. Then at he end he was all "oh noes! *statue'd*" and I got sad.

Spoiler

I kinda like that sort of comupance, though. The bad guy's all "muahaha-victory-is-mine" ('cos he's not as smart as me) and then the protagonists do something stupidly awesome and he's like pupils-narrow-to-pin-pricks, frozen-in-horror-with-just-eneough-time-to-go "Oh, [EXPLETIVE]!" and get totally blasted away. For me personally, seeing that frozen moment, the moment the moment the bad guy realises that he's going to kark it and there's nothing he can do about, and that all he's done, all his effort and planning and schemes are for naught- that, that to me is the biggest payoff.

This amuses me far more than it should.

Spoiler

[Grif]

So, I finally finished my latest chapter of Pony Effect.

Yay. At one point I thought I would never get it done.

[EsperDerek]

Originally Posted by InkwellPony

Yeesh, can't leave this board alone for a day, especially after a new episode comes out. ^^' I'll catch up in a bit. For now...

WiP for the pic I had shown the other day. Doing this now because it's kinda neat without the filling.

Spoiler

I still love that picture, I can't wait to see it finished. Aurora is adorable, and Mature Midnight is amazing and graceful.

I'm not sure I'll ever feel that graceful, though.

Originally Posted by Rebelhero

ESPER!

Spoiler

I would beat you if i didn't love your work so much...
That last part just made me recall the sheer panic i faced on 2 separate occasions.
One, when i lost my baby sister in the house when i was young. Could not find her anywhere. i could hear her crying, but i still could find her.
2. Being lost in a rather substantial sized forest in a park, after the park closed. Leaving us not only LOST but TRAPPED as well. A forest where several murders had been discovered in years prior.

Well, you know what?

Good.

That level of panic is exactly what I want somepony reading that part to feel. So I'm glad that it's very effective. Even if you want to beat me.

Originally Posted by Kris Strife

Also, loving these. Again, they still run into the Prequel issue for me, but I'd prefer that to some kind of twist ending.

Well, yes, the Prequel Problem is always an issue when coming up with an idea earlier in the time line after you and others have written later first.

Originally Posted by Kurgan

Esper! I see another excerpt! I need to read this at some point, tomorrow perhaps since I'm about ready to pass out for X hours right now.

Sleep, goshdarn it! You ponythreaders and your keeping awake.

When you do read it, feel free to do your usual critque and suggestions, I really do appreciate them.

Originally Posted by Beeskee

EsperDerek, that's.. wow. That's really good. I haven't read any fan fiction before, mostly because I felt certain that there was a lot of bad pr0n out there and I wanted to avoid it.

*bows*

I'm glad that you approve. If you feel like continuing your fanfic adventures, be sure to check out the first post, there's a list of amazing fanfics from some wonderful ponyauthors. (And me.)

Originally Posted by Thanqol

"Here's your delivery, sir!"
"Oh wow, that was fast."
"They don't call me 'Rainbow' and 'Dash' for nothing!"
"Ha ha ha... what?"
"Nothing. That'll be $23.85."

That poor guy is going to be confused for the rest of the night. Hahaha.

Originally Posted by Thanqol

We don't have enough pony to fill a subforum. We have enough friendship to fill a ponythread.

Pretty much exactly how I feel. Phrased wonderfully. It's got an amazing party atmosphere that would be just ruined if we start seperating.

Originally Posted by Diego Havoc

I oughta get an OC, but I can never decide on designs, much in the same way that my favourite pony changes every week. I'm fickle. So I'm thinking I may as well also take the "shapeshifter" route. It's actually something I've been thinking about for a while but never really came up. Mainly 'cos I don't RP much here.

Do what I did and cheat, and get a legit artist to decide on the design for you.

Originally Posted by Lix Lorn

Thanqol is best pony.
Well, Thanqol and Esper. And SiuiS. And Phoe. And Raz.

Everypony is best pony at some point in the thread. That's what makes the thread wonderful.

And unless a thread I saw elsewhere on the boards is lying to me...

Happy birthday, Mentor! *lots of naughty, naughty gifts!

[Strife Warzeal]

Originally Posted by Beeskee

I'm just not interested in pony pr0n at all. I realize it's some people's thing and that's fine, I don't begrudge them their interests. That's just not my interest. I know fanbases in general tend to write a lot of adult material so I avoided looking up any pony stories.

I have no problem reading erotic sci-fi or fantasy in general, I just want to keep the ponies pure in my mind lol.

The story posted a little earlier in this thread was fine.

Well in this fanbase as long as you don't too far out it's easy to avoid. If you look at Equestria Daily for your fix of ponies, the pre-readers keep out the bad stuff essentially. Most Shipping stories (like the story Esper wrote that created the excerpts currently being posted, was at first a Twixie, TwilightXTrixie story) are generally tame and there isn't much to freak out about. There are some that are borderline and some full stop pr0n stories but the most I've seen in passing have a warning or some such. Or just avoid Shipping in general if that's not your thing.

Originally Posted by Grif

On other, more pony-related news, I think this will delight Touhou fans. (and Starcraft II ones as well I suppose, but they're only there strictly as enemies.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZndB83Umrz0

(How do you guys even play the game? It gave me a headache trying to see how you avoid all those bouncing balls.)

It's actually easier than it looks. I thought the same thing when I first tried one of the bullethells (I think it was Bullet Heaven if you want to look it up), but once you notice the patterns and understand the movement it gets easier.

[Kyouhen]

Originally Posted by Kris Strife

s2

Spoiler

I never implied redeemability, I just said I'd prefer it if Discord hadn't been a 100% pure for the EVULZ villain. I would have liked to have seen him be a little sad at broken Twilight, for the same reason Q would have been sad if Picard had just quit.

Have him accept his defeat, be a good sport about it, strike a funny pose, etc.

S2

Spoiler

Key difference between Discord and Q though seems to be that Discord actually intended to win, and was doing so in a way that would net him a few laughs. I'm still not even entirely sure he would have been able to discord Twilight with his spell, I think he actually needed to break her. Q, on the other hand, was more interested in teaching Picard a lesson. That and Picard does give up. Or at least he acknowledges defeat. He does it twice in the episode where Q introduces them to the Borg.

Originally Posted by Thanqol

"Here's your delivery, sir!"
"Oh wow, that was fast."
"They don't call me 'Rainbow' and 'Dash' for nothing!"
"Ha ha ha... what?"
"Nothing. That'll be $23.85."

Not S2

Spoiler

Originally Posted by Kalinda

We may very well be running up against a similar mindset. Does anyone know in hard numbers how many bronies are actually out there and ready to buy toys? I mean we see a lot of posts on message boards about it, but as a big toy company Hasbro wants hard data before they start retooling production lines. A few online petitions with a few thousand sigs? Forget it, that's a joke to them. It's like expecting China to free Tibet because you copy/pasted something on facebook.

Fun fact: Online petitions are a joke. Period. No exceptions. It's entirely too easy to simply click a button, and far too difficult to actually confirm any of the data for anyone to ever take them seriously.

Originally Posted by Thanqol

Sure you -



- can. Hmm. I think the only solution is a hot air balloon duel.


Just saw some actual, legitimate Shaolin Monks do a 2 hour performance o.o Good god.


Uhh... something pony related to keep this topical. Pony... martial arts. How does it work? Anypony got any ideas?

*Looks at Rarity*
How does it work? Very well, apparently.

[otakuryoga]

Originally Posted by Beeskee

I'm just not interested in pony pr0n at all. I realize it's some people's thing and that's fine, I don't begrudge them their interests. That's just not my interest. I know fanbases in general tend to write a lot of adult material so I avoided looking up any pony stories.

I have no problem reading erotic sci-fi or fantasy in general, I just want to keep the ponies pure in my mind lol.

The story posted a little earlier in this thread was fine.

if by that you mean the excerpts from EsperDerek? yeah..he is awesome(and i should use today to finally read the guide to dating) and you can find the midnight stories over on EQD and the story of how Midnight came about is actually a pretty good example of the level of "action" you get in most fics

---the real Pr0n stuff you dont have to worry about if you stick to anything on EQD...that stuff is over on FimChan /shudder

we can certainly provide recommendations for plenty of "safe" fanfics

---it just depends on what your exact tolerances are

--- most fics will have some "action" in it(thats the nature of the beast) .... but its usually of the kiss/nuzzle, fade to black, rejoin later variety

---if even that is too much there are some that (gasp) involve no shipping at all

[Strife Warzeal]

Have some of the cutest Pinkie Pie animation I've seen recently. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz2hsvByNno

[Mysterious Pony]

Originally Posted by EsperDerek

Blarg. Having to resume such an odd shift is tiring. Kris, I know I still owe you a RP post, you'll get it tomorrow. As for now, everypony have a new Excerpt, if the grammar is a little bad, it's because I'm damn exhausted.

How To Care For A Newborn Foal

Excerpt 1

Spoiler

“TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT!!”

Twilight groaned, and covered her head with her pillow. Trixie had only gotten up a couple of minutes ago, damn it! It was her turn anyways! One thing that the books had never warned her about was how often a parent would need to get up to tend to a newborn foal. Perhaps they didn’t mention it because the authors were afraid that nopony would ever become a parent knowing that. Sleep was becoming a luxury, and other, more enjoyable, nocturnal activites were rapidly becoming the dream of a previous life.

If she didn’t know better, she would have believed that Luna had done something to their daughter to ensure that Midnight would be a night pony. Perhaps they shouldn’t have named her after a time of night, too...

That brought them to tonight. Midnight had been especially fussy, and both of them had been forced to be up with her multiple times already. Finally, finally, it seemed like she had settled down for a couple of hours, only for the peace of the house to be broken by weak crying. But it was Trixie’s turn this time, and she wasn’t going to get up! She was probably only messing up the diaper again anyways. Twilight couldn’t figure out how somepony who was so good with knots, was so terrible with tying up a diaper.

Of course, Twilight had to admit she was jealous on how easily Trixie was able to get Midnight to eat. She supposed that she had an edge in that department anyways.

No, she would just roll over, and pretend to be asl-

“TWILIGHT, SHE’S SICK!”

It was amazing how quickly she could move. She was halfway to the nursery before she knew it. She threw open the door, any trace of sleepiness gone. She nearly tripped over Spike, who, of course, was still asleep. It was truly amazing how deep that dragon could sleep.

For a moment, she thought it was Trixie who was sick. Trixie was paler than Twilight had ever seen her, save for the day of the reunion. The only thing breaking up that pallid look were her red-rimmed eyes. She looked frantically at Twilight, clutching the tiny bundle tightly against her protectively.

“S-she’s b-burning up...” Trixie choaked. Twilight swallowed down her own rising panic, and gently pushed in to check on her daughter. The fact that she wasn’t crying worried her...

She was shivering gently, and Midnight’s normally bright and vivid eyes were dulled with pain. Trembling, Twilight checked beneath her coat, and saw that her skin was bright red. Her tiny horn was glowing, the occasional spark shooting forth from it. Midnight was letting out small little whimpers, her breathing was shallow, but stubborn. Twilight pressed a hoof gently against her forehead, and nearly recoiled. Trixie was right, Midnight was burning up, and it was a higher fever than she had been anticipating.

Those eyes looked up at her, already believing, knowing with all of her tiny heart, that her parents would be able to help her. To make the pain go away.

“W-What’s wrong with her? What do we do?” Trixie immediatly deferred to Twilight. This was not the time for pride, earned or not. Of the two of them, Twilight was most likely to know what to do, know how to help their weeks-old child...

“I...I...” Where was all the knowledge that she had prided herself in? Trixie and her daughter, they needed her, they were looking up at her, secure in the fact that she would think of something. Twilight Sparkle, most knowledagble pony in all of Equestria.

Nothing was coming to mind.

“I...don’t know...”

She never felt so helpless.

Excerpt 2:

Spoiler

It wasn't what Trixie wanted to hear.

"You don't know? You're telling me Princess Celestia's favorite student can beat an Ursa Minor, but she doesn't know what's wrong with her daughter?!" Trixie's voice raised, as she clutched Midnight tightly. She stared at Twilight accusingly, who flinched.

"I-I don't recognize the symptoms, Trixie! I mean, it's not that, I don't recognize this combination of symptoms! She's feverish, but not sweating! She's in pain, but I don't see where! I don't know why she's breathing so shallowly, there's nothing wrong with her chest, and I don't even know why her horn is glowing! A unicorn's horn shouldn't be glowing at all yet!" Twilight babbled out a defense, her own voice belying her panic. Why was she bringing up old wounds that hadn't been touched now of all times? It had been months since...

"You think you're Great and Powerful, but you can't do anything to help her!" Trixie yelled.

That was why.

Twilight rose up, and embraced Trixie. At the touch of her wife, Trixie immediately broke down, sobbing against Twilight's chest. She kept a tight hold of Midnight, as if sheer contact could heal the pain their daughter was suffering.

"We have to help her...I can't lose her already..." Trixie whispered, and Twilight nuzzled at her comfortingly.

They were going to need help. But who? Ponyville didn't have a hospital, they had a clinic, and she doubted Nurse Redheart would be able to help much, she was an expert in Earth Pony health. Zecora was out, it was too dangerous to go through the Everfree Forest during the night, especially with a sick filly in tow. Was there nopony else in Ponyville that could help them at this time of night?

Wait...how could she be so foalish? The answer had always been there.

"The Princesses!" Quill and scroll were already in the air. "Celestia will be asleep, but Luna..."

"Luna?" Trixie said uncertainly, when Twilight trailed off. Twilight had been reminded of a certain event that had happened only weeks ago.

It was still odd to them, Luna's heartfelt, almost desperate, request to be Midnight's parent, her 'third mother'. But then, they had accepted, hadn't they? That made her that third parent. That made this not just a matter of getting a Princesses help. She deserved to know that her daughter was sick, too.

Luna,
Midnight's sick, come quickly!
-Twilight

Not her most eloquent letter, but perhaps her most to-the-point.

"SPIKE!" The small dragon began to stir his his basket. He wearily lifted a head, sleepy eyes blinking.

"Twilight? Why are you-MMPHH!" His eyes widened, as the scroll was stuffed into his mouth. Reflexively, that green flame licked out of his mouth, burning the scroll into magical ashes, which floated out the window, to it's destination. Spike glared at Twilight. "What was that for? Couldn't you have asked like a normal pony?"

"Spike, Midnight's sick, we need Luna as quickly as possible." Twilight quickly explained, and Spike craned his neck, looking at the tiny bundle in Trixie's hooves.

"Oh, geez, the kid's sick? What's wrong with her?" Twilight bit her lip at Spike's question.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." She replied, turning back to her daughter.

Just in time to see Midnight's horn to catch on fire.

Trixie yelped, as green flames licked out from Midnight's forehead, the frightened newborn letting out a tiny little cry. Immediately the showmare's own horn flared, her magic creating a tiny raincloud, which rained down on mother and daughter. It did nothing to staunch the magical green flames.

Twilight rushed forwards, intent to do something, anything to help. Just inches away from them, her hoof outstretched, her magic at the ready, the fire flared brilliantly and consumed their daughter in an instant.

The magical ashes drifted out the window.

Excerpt 3:

Spoiler

Luna was aware of the irony of her situation.

Things had changed in the thousand years that Luna had been away. The main time that petitioners came to the court to request judgement on their grievances was now in the evening, the time when day and night met, while both sisters were awake. Even in this late hour, Luna was not alone. She had a horde of servants, cooks, guards, and handmaidens ready to attend to her every need. She had even slowly begun to notice that ponies were staying up later than she recalled a thousand years ago, and that they used the night for play and revelry.

That wasn't even getting into the hundreds, if not thousands of works of art, story, and song that had been made about the grace and beauty of the night.

In other words, Luna and the night had the love, companionship, and respect that she had so jealously craved as Nightmare Moon. How funny it seemed that she didn't want any of that now. How much of a burden it was now.

Finally having a moment to herself, she strode on to her balcony and looked out on Equestria. Her gaze focused in the same direction that it had last night, the night before it, and for the past few weeks. She looked far past Canterlot to the small country town in the distance. Such an insignificant little town in all respects.

Save her heart was there.

She entertained a brief fantasy. Descending down on that small town, and spiriting away those three in the night. She would bring them back to the castle, to Canterlot, and make a home there. Twilight would resume her studies in Canterlot, and Trixie would have an even grander audience to perform to. Together, the three would raise their child, the filly that had stolen her heart from her. They would live and laugh together, as a family...

But no. She could not do that.

Ponyville was home to Twilight and Trixie, and they had fought hard to make it their home. She could not take them away from the place they loved most in the world, away from the friends and life they had forged and tempered so painstakingly. It was more than that, though. Her daughter deserved a chance to have a normal life. That she was the only child thus far from the Princesses would ensure that would never happen, could never happen if she were to grow up in the court of Canterlot and be surrounded by it's chaos. She would be seen as a pawn to be used by nobles jockeying for position and favor, and that thought terrified Luna. No, it would be better for her this way. Better for the three of them.

Even if it felt like Luna's heart was torn from it's chest.
Oh yes, Luna was well aware of the irony of her situati-

”Princess?” interrupted one of her handmaidens. “We have lunch prepared for you in the dining room.”

Her thoughts now jumbled by the words of the servant, she nodded and said, “Very well, I will be there in a moment.”

Luna was about to follow, when her keen eyes spotted something. The magical green ashes of a letter inbound.

That was unusual. Even with Trixie's letters to her, she usually woke up to them. Why would they be writing to her-or Celestia, she supposed-at this time of night? She swiftly unrolled the scroll once it manifested.

Luna,
Midnight's sick, come quickly!
-Twilight

Luna felt her throat constrict. Her duty and position meant nothing at that moment. Already she was weaving a spell she hadn't used since she was the Nightmare. Her body dissolved into stars and mist, and she swept away from the palace, shooting towards the important little town at speeds that could rival the fastest pegasus pony.

Closer to the town, her senses picked up something of interest. Apparently they had sent another letter, as a second patch of green mist and ash escaped from the library. Yet, this one was not headed for the castle. In fact, Luna could not figure out for the life of her why they had sent a letter in that direction.

After all, it was towards the Everfree Forest.

Excerpt 4:

Spoiler

”MIDNIGHT! MIDNIGHT!” Trixie screamed, springing from her chair in hot pursuit of the magic mist that their daughter had become. She pushed past Twilight, who stumbled to the floor, so shocked at what had just happened that her mind freezed up. It was only until she realized that Trixie was about to spring from the window did her brain start working again. Trixie’s hooves were just at the windowsill when Twilight caught her in her magic, stopping her in her tracks.

“Trixie, stop!”

“T-Twilight? Let me go!” Trixie screamed at the betrayal, her legs kicking helplessly in the air, trying to find purchase to dig in. “Our daughter! Our daughter is out there! Let me go!”

“You’re going to leap out the top-floor window! You can’t help Midnight with four broken legs!” Twilight yelled. “Calm down, Trixie! I-I’m sure that if she copied the transit spell, that she’s with Luna right now!”

It was a logical thought, and it was one that Twilight was clinging to, to keep herself from panicing and leaping out the window in pursuit herself. Trixie let out a soft whimper, straining for a moment against Twilight’s magic, but she finally gave in, no longer trying to dash herself to the cold ground below.

“How did she do that anyways, Twilight?” Spike asked, his eyes wide. It was a question that Twilight was trying to puzzle out herself. How did she do that? She had no idea. Perhaps it was some sort of instinctual mimicry? Midnight couldn’t possibly know the complex imagry that the spell required. It must have been some fashion of mimicry, but she shouldn’t of had access to that level of magic to call upon! She was just a little foal! What was...what was....

No! There was no need for panic. There was no need for panic. They would wait for Luna, Midnight would almost certainly be with her, and they would all solve this together. She released Trixie, who pulled herself reluctantly from the window, just in time for a cloud of mist and stars to flow in after her. Twilight inhaled. Luna had responded quickly, no doubt because Midnight was with her. She wouldn’t want her fellow mothers to worry for too long. The stars and mist coalesced, the dark beauty of Princess Luna taking form.

Midnight didn’t.

“Where is she? What’s wrong with her?” Luna immediatly inquired, stepping forwards to meet with her two fellow parents. Her eyes widened as she beheld the mortified looks on Twilight and Trixie’s faces, as reality came crashing down upon them.

Midnight wasn’t with her.

Luna gasped as Trixie immediatly pulled away from them. She galloped down the stairs, crashed through the front doors, and shattered the peace of Ponyville’s night with her cries, as if their child could respond to her. Luna looked at Twilight, who was struggling to refrain from taking off after Trixie to help her. The Princess needed to know what was going on.

“P-Princess...”

“Twilight, what’s going on? Where is Midnight?”

“We thought...We thought she was with you!” She explained to Luna everything that had happened, how sick Midnight had been, and how she somehow mimiced the letter transit spell, only with her body. As Twilight explained, Luna’s face drained of color.

“Oh no...oh no...I saw her, Twilight! I saw the smoke headed into the Everfree Forest!” Luna said, and Twilight staggered. A terrible image exploded into her mind. One of her tiny daughter, sick and helpless, lost in the Everfree Forest. Laying on the cold ground, exposed to the elements, and surrounded by hydras, dragons, and cocaktrice. Easy prey.

Twilight heaved, her hoof going to her mouth, as she nearly lost the contents of her stomach. Luna moved to help her, but Twilight forced it down. She couldn’t afford to be sick.

“SPIKE!” She yelled, and the baby dragon leapt to her call, clearly eager to help in any way he could. “Go get the others, and tell them what happened! Get them to organize search parties, and catch up with us!”

“I’m on it, Twilight! But where are you going?”

“Where do you think? There’s no time to wait for them, we’re going to catch up with Trixie, and get our daughter back!”



Deep in the Everfree,
A tiny voice cried out in need,
The forest heeded the call.

Very, very nice! You've gotten the panic of the three mothers for their child conveyed perfectly! I'm really feeling their emotions wafting through the screen of my laptop! And the note which this excerpt ended on? Soooooooo ominous! It conjurs a strong desire for the next installment (as if we weren't hungering ravenously for more already)!

And to think that this story wasn't planned as a seperate entity when you first began it! If you can come up with gripping material spontaneously then it makes me even more excited for things you plan ahead of time!

[Gamerlord]

Originally Posted by EsperDerek

Blarg. Having to resume such an odd shift is tiring. Kris, I know I still owe you a RP post, you'll get it tomorrow. As for now, everypony have a new Excerpt, if the grammar is a little bad, it's because I'm damn exhausted.

How To Care For A Newborn Foal

Excerpt 1

Spoiler

“TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT!!”

Twilight groaned, and covered her head with her pillow. Trixie had only gotten up a couple of minutes ago, damn it! It was her turn anyways! One thing that the books had never warned her about was how often a parent would need to get up to tend to a newborn foal. Perhaps they didn’t mention it because the authors were afraid that nopony would ever become a parent knowing that. Sleep was becoming a luxury, and other, more enjoyable, nocturnal activites were rapidly becoming the dream of a previous life.

If she didn’t know better, she would have believed that Luna had done something to their daughter to ensure that Midnight would be a night pony. Perhaps they shouldn’t have named her after a time of night, too...

That brought them to tonight. Midnight had been especially fussy, and both of them had been forced to be up with her multiple times already. Finally, finally, it seemed like she had settled down for a couple of hours, only for the peace of the house to be broken by weak crying. But it was Trixie’s turn this time, and she wasn’t going to get up! She was probably only messing up the diaper again anyways. Twilight couldn’t figure out how somepony who was so good with knots, was so terrible with tying up a diaper.

Of course, Twilight had to admit she was jealous on how easily Trixie was able to get Midnight to eat. She supposed that she had an edge in that department anyways.

No, she would just roll over, and pretend to be asl-

“TWILIGHT, SHE’S SICK!”

It was amazing how quickly she could move. She was halfway to the nursery before she knew it. She threw open the door, any trace of sleepiness gone. She nearly tripped over Spike, who, of course, was still asleep. It was truly amazing how deep that dragon could sleep.

For a moment, she thought it was Trixie who was sick. Trixie was paler than Twilight had ever seen her, save for the day of the reunion. The only thing breaking up that pallid look were her red-rimmed eyes. She looked frantically at Twilight, clutching the tiny bundle tightly against her protectively.

“S-she’s b-burning up...” Trixie choaked. Twilight swallowed down her own rising panic, and gently pushed in to check on her daughter. The fact that she wasn’t crying worried her...

She was shivering gently, and Midnight’s normally bright and vivid eyes were dulled with pain. Trembling, Twilight checked beneath her coat, and saw that her skin was bright red. Her tiny horn was glowing, the occasional spark shooting forth from it. Midnight was letting out small little whimpers, her breathing was shallow, but stubborn. Twilight pressed a hoof gently against her forehead, and nearly recoiled. Trixie was right, Midnight was burning up, and it was a higher fever than she had been anticipating.

Those eyes looked up at her, already believing, knowing with all of her tiny heart, that her parents would be able to help her. To make the pain go away.

“W-What’s wrong with her? What do we do?” Trixie immediatly deferred to Twilight. This was not the time for pride, earned or not. Of the two of them, Twilight was most likely to know what to do, know how to help their weeks-old child...

“I...I...” Where was all the knowledge that she had prided herself in? Trixie and her daughter, they needed her, they were looking up at her, secure in the fact that she would think of something. Twilight Sparkle, most knowledagble pony in all of Equestria.

Nothing was coming to mind.

“I...don’t know...”

She never felt so helpless.

Excerpt 2:

Spoiler

It wasn't what Trixie wanted to hear.

"You don't know? You're telling me Princess Celestia's favorite student can beat an Ursa Minor, but she doesn't know what's wrong with her daughter?!" Trixie's voice raised, as she clutched Midnight tightly. She stared at Twilight accusingly, who flinched.

"I-I don't recognize the symptoms, Trixie! I mean, it's not that, I don't recognize this combination of symptoms! She's feverish, but not sweating! She's in pain, but I don't see where! I don't know why she's breathing so shallowly, there's nothing wrong with her chest, and I don't even know why her horn is glowing! A unicorn's horn shouldn't be glowing at all yet!" Twilight babbled out a defense, her own voice belying her panic. Why was she bringing up old wounds that hadn't been touched now of all times? It had been months since...

"You think you're Great and Powerful, but you can't do anything to help her!" Trixie yelled.

That was why.

Twilight rose up, and embraced Trixie. At the touch of her wife, Trixie immediately broke down, sobbing against Twilight's chest. She kept a tight hold of Midnight, as if sheer contact could heal the pain their daughter was suffering.

"We have to help her...I can't lose her already..." Trixie whispered, and Twilight nuzzled at her comfortingly.

They were going to need help. But who? Ponyville didn't have a hospital, they had a clinic, and she doubted Nurse Redheart would be able to help much, she was an expert in Earth Pony health. Zecora was out, it was too dangerous to go through the Everfree Forest during the night, especially with a sick filly in tow. Was there nopony else in Ponyville that could help them at this time of night?

Wait...how could she be so foalish? The answer had always been there.

"The Princesses!" Quill and scroll were already in the air. "Celestia will be asleep, but Luna..."

"Luna?" Trixie said uncertainly, when Twilight trailed off. Twilight had been reminded of a certain event that had happened only weeks ago.

It was still odd to them, Luna's heartfelt, almost desperate, request to be Midnight's parent, her 'third mother'. But then, they had accepted, hadn't they? That made her that third parent. That made this not just a matter of getting a Princesses help. She deserved to know that her daughter was sick, too.

Luna,
Midnight's sick, come quickly!
-Twilight

Not her most eloquent letter, but perhaps her most to-the-point.

"SPIKE!" The small dragon began to stir his his basket. He wearily lifted a head, sleepy eyes blinking.

"Twilight? Why are you-MMPHH!" His eyes widened, as the scroll was stuffed into his mouth. Reflexively, that green flame licked out of his mouth, burning the scroll into magical ashes, which floated out the window, to it's destination. Spike glared at Twilight. "What was that for? Couldn't you have asked like a normal pony?"

"Spike, Midnight's sick, we need Luna as quickly as possible." Twilight quickly explained, and Spike craned his neck, looking at the tiny bundle in Trixie's hooves.

"Oh, geez, the kid's sick? What's wrong with her?" Twilight bit her lip at Spike's question.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." She replied, turning back to her daughter.

Just in time to see Midnight's horn to catch on fire.

Trixie yelped, as green flames licked out from Midnight's forehead, the frightened newborn letting out a tiny little cry. Immediately the showmare's own horn flared, her magic creating a tiny raincloud, which rained down on mother and daughter. It did nothing to staunch the magical green flames.

Twilight rushed forwards, intent to do something, anything to help. Just inches away from them, her hoof outstretched, her magic at the ready, the fire flared brilliantly and consumed their daughter in an instant.

The magical ashes drifted out the window.

Excerpt 3:

Spoiler

Luna was aware of the irony of her situation.

Things had changed in the thousand years that Luna had been away. The main time that petitioners came to the court to request judgement on their grievances was now in the evening, the time when day and night met, while both sisters were awake. Even in this late hour, Luna was not alone. She had a horde of servants, cooks, guards, and handmaidens ready to attend to her every need. She had even slowly begun to notice that ponies were staying up later than she recalled a thousand years ago, and that they used the night for play and revelry.

That wasn't even getting into the hundreds, if not thousands of works of art, story, and song that had been made about the grace and beauty of the night.

In other words, Luna and the night had the love, companionship, and respect that she had so jealously craved as Nightmare Moon. How funny it seemed that she didn't want any of that now. How much of a burden it was now.

Finally having a moment to herself, she strode on to her balcony and looked out on Equestria. Her gaze focused in the same direction that it had last night, the night before it, and for the past few weeks. She looked far past Canterlot to the small country town in the distance. Such an insignificant little town in all respects.

Save her heart was there.

She entertained a brief fantasy. Descending down on that small town, and spiriting away those three in the night. She would bring them back to the castle, to Canterlot, and make a home there. Twilight would resume her studies in Canterlot, and Trixie would have an even grander audience to perform to. Together, the three would raise their child, the filly that had stolen her heart from her. They would live and laugh together, as a family...

But no. She could not do that.

Ponyville was home to Twilight and Trixie, and they had fought hard to make it their home. She could not take them away from the place they loved most in the world, away from the friends and life they had forged and tempered so painstakingly. It was more than that, though. Her daughter deserved a chance to have a normal life. That she was the only child thus far from the Princesses would ensure that would never happen, could never happen if she were to grow up in the court of Canterlot and be surrounded by it's chaos. She would be seen as a pawn to be used by nobles jockeying for position and favor, and that thought terrified Luna. No, it would be better for her this way. Better for the three of them.

Even if it felt like Luna's heart was torn from it's chest.
Oh yes, Luna was well aware of the irony of her situati-

”Princess?” interrupted one of her handmaidens. “We have lunch prepared for you in the dining room.”

Her thoughts now jumbled by the words of the servant, she nodded and said, “Very well, I will be there in a moment.”

Luna was about to follow, when her keen eyes spotted something. The magical green ashes of a letter inbound.

That was unusual. Even with Trixie's letters to her, she usually woke up to them. Why would they be writing to her-or Celestia, she supposed-at this time of night? She swiftly unrolled the scroll once it manifested.

Luna,
Midnight's sick, come quickly!
-Twilight

Luna felt her throat constrict. Her duty and position meant nothing at that moment. Already she was weaving a spell she hadn't used since she was the Nightmare. Her body dissolved into stars and mist, and she swept away from the palace, shooting towards the important little town at speeds that could rival the fastest pegasus pony.

Closer to the town, her senses picked up something of interest. Apparently they had sent another letter, as a second patch of green mist and ash escaped from the library. Yet, this one was not headed for the castle. In fact, Luna could not figure out for the life of her why they had sent a letter in that direction.

After all, it was towards the Everfree Forest.

Excerpt 4:

Spoiler

”MIDNIGHT! MIDNIGHT!” Trixie screamed, springing from her chair in hot pursuit of the magic mist that their daughter had become. She pushed past Twilight, who stumbled to the floor, so shocked at what had just happened that her mind freezed up. It was only until she realized that Trixie was about to spring from the window did her brain start working again. Trixie’s hooves were just at the windowsill when Twilight caught her in her magic, stopping her in her tracks.

“Trixie, stop!”

“T-Twilight? Let me go!” Trixie screamed at the betrayal, her legs kicking helplessly in the air, trying to find purchase to dig in. “Our daughter! Our daughter is out there! Let me go!”

“You’re going to leap out the top-floor window! You can’t help Midnight with four broken legs!” Twilight yelled. “Calm down, Trixie! I-I’m sure that if she copied the transit spell, that she’s with Luna right now!”

It was a logical thought, and it was one that Twilight was clinging to, to keep herself from panicing and leaping out the window in pursuit herself. Trixie let out a soft whimper, straining for a moment against Twilight’s magic, but she finally gave in, no longer trying to dash herself to the cold ground below.

“How did she do that anyways, Twilight?” Spike asked, his eyes wide. It was a question that Twilight was trying to puzzle out herself. How did she do that? She had no idea. Perhaps it was some sort of instinctual mimicry? Midnight couldn’t possibly know the complex imagry that the spell required. It must have been some fashion of mimicry, but she shouldn’t of had access to that level of magic to call upon! She was just a little foal! What was...what was....

No! There was no need for panic. There was no need for panic. They would wait for Luna, Midnight would almost certainly be with her, and they would all solve this together. She released Trixie, who pulled herself reluctantly from the window, just in time for a cloud of mist and stars to flow in after her. Twilight inhaled. Luna had responded quickly, no doubt because Midnight was with her. She wouldn’t want her fellow mothers to worry for too long. The stars and mist coalesced, the dark beauty of Princess Luna taking form.

Midnight didn’t.

“Where is she? What’s wrong with her?” Luna immediatly inquired, stepping forwards to meet with her two fellow parents. Her eyes widened as she beheld the mortified looks on Twilight and Trixie’s faces, as reality came crashing down upon them.

Midnight wasn’t with her.

Luna gasped as Trixie immediatly pulled away from them. She galloped down the stairs, crashed through the front doors, and shattered the peace of Ponyville’s night with her cries, as if their child could respond to her. Luna looked at Twilight, who was struggling to refrain from taking off after Trixie to help her. The Princess needed to know what was going on.

“P-Princess...”

“Twilight, what’s going on? Where is Midnight?”

“We thought...We thought she was with you!” She explained to Luna everything that had happened, how sick Midnight had been, and how she somehow mimiced the letter transit spell, only with her body. As Twilight explained, Luna’s face drained of color.

“Oh no...oh no...I saw her, Twilight! I saw the smoke headed into the Everfree Forest!” Luna said, and Twilight staggered. A terrible image exploded into her mind. One of her tiny daughter, sick and helpless, lost in the Everfree Forest. Laying on the cold ground, exposed to the elements, and surrounded by hydras, dragons, and cocaktrice. Easy prey.

Twilight heaved, her hoof going to her mouth, as she nearly lost the contents of her stomach. Luna moved to help her, but Twilight forced it down. She couldn’t afford to be sick.

“SPIKE!” She yelled, and the baby dragon leapt to her call, clearly eager to help in any way he could. “Go get the others, and tell them what happened! Get them to organize search parties, and catch up with us!”

“I’m on it, Twilight! But where are you going?”

“Where do you think? There’s no time to wait for them, we’re going to catch up with Trixie, and get our daughter back!”



Deep in the Everfree,
A tiny voice cried out in need,
The forest heeded the call.

As always, awesome.

[Nameless]

Originally Posted by BlasTech

Out of interest, which one was that?

Applebuck Season. Although to be fair, it did get a little repetitive. Then again, most of the episodes are repetitive.
Made me giggle a lot though.

Originally Posted by SiuiS

Spoiler

Pony size comparison
Twilight Sparkle
Height: 2-3/4" w/ ear, 2-1/2" at horn/top of head
Cannon: 1"
Rump: < 1-1/2"
Hoof width: 1/2"
head height: 1" width: 1"
Anomalies: head cocked, Anterior Right leg crooked; AR hoof between 3/8" and 1/2"; Posterior Left leg has shorter proportions.

Cheerilee
Height: 2-3/4"
Cannon: > 1"
Rump: < 1-1/2"
Hoof width: between 3/8" and 1/2"
head height: 1-3/8" width: 1-1/4"
Anomalies: legs inconsistent with each other, vrey poofy mane (I swear, she has a bump-it or something), 2 plastic seams deform lifted AR leg; least proportional looking model.

Pinkie Pie
Height: 2-7/8" with mane, 2-3/4" at ear
Cannon: 7/8"
Rump: EXACTLY 1-3/8"
Hoof width: approximately 1/2"
head height: 1-3/8" width: 1-1/2"
Anomalies: poofiest mane; best pose for measuring; best hoof measurement (oblong, semi-triangular shape like an iron- width is closer to 3/8", length is 1/2")

Rarity
Height: > 3" at mane/horn tip- of course Rarity poses the most regally XD
Cannon: Between 7/8" and 1"
Rump: > 1-1/2"
Hoof width: 1/2"
head height: 1-3/8" width: 1"
Anomalies: Good. God. That mane. THAT MANE.

That should cover it, I've got consistent numbers across the board.

Cannon measures from hoof to rear elbow crook. The numbers here came out weird. The difference depends on the position, as the elbow is almost in the same spot no matter where it would be on an animal. That is, a 45• angle leg and an 80• leg both have the elbow in the same position, though logically they should be differently located.

Rump measures from ground to top of the PPB (pert pony butt^TM). Belly averages 1" from ground, meaning torso is 1/2" thick at halfway point.

Less-than, greater-than, and between-measures are due to using an imperial measuring stick. Some measurements were just at, just between, or crossing the lines of measure. Pinkie turned out perfect, sitting dead center on an otherwise poorly painted line.

The existance of this doesn't surprise me, but it does worry me.