My Little Pony XXXI: The Great and Powerful XXXie!

[legomaster00156]

So...guess who's party ran slap into seven Spirit-Bound Liches (well technically six Skeleton Warriors and a Lich, since the former were Swordsages.)

That learnt 'em, it did.

They are sort of winning, as we closed for the night, but they were looking suitably panicked as the fight progressed. It helped - for once - my dice rolls have been superlatively good! (I got FOUR HITS off of Avalanch of Blades¹. Four. And not on a low AC target, either (I rolled a 20 on the last one...)

The Paladin actually went down, har har. In fact if the wizards hadn't made the Lich Cleric use some of his time dispelling Black Tentacles, they'd have been in real trouble, since his next action would have been to go "Inflict Critical Wounds on everyone!" That'd ruin their day (since we have scaled Cure and Inflict to actually worthwhile levels of damage.)

I've been looking forward to this fight (and the next one) for this entire module. They're probably the hardest fights they'll have.

Fun.



¹ (which allows you as many attacks as you like, so long as you keep hitting, but each successive one is at -4).

Odd thread to post this in...

[Mando Knight]

Odd thread to post this in...

Hi, you're new. This is the Pony thread. If you ignore the fact that 90% of the posts are about ponies, the thread makes Random Banter look positively orderly.

[BlasTech]

Odd thread to post this in...

QUICK! We need to find some way to link Liches and ponies together!

Oh wait, found it!

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Edit: Imagedump from the latest drawfriend. So many good ones, hard to pick which ones to take out and put here.

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Aaand, Pirate Ponies!

[AlterForm]

If you played L4D1, it is the same thing but even better. It also has all the L4D1 maps as well. Or at least most of them. With bots it is pretty fun, but it was really meant to be played with friends, and Versus mode is awesome.

Buy the 1st one. I'm sure its like 10 bucks now. If you like it, get the second.

Crash Course just got added in to L4D2 this last weekend (or the one before? not sure), so there's really not much point to buying the original anymore.

Also, if you (or anyone else) is looking to buy it, hold out until Steam's Thanksgiving sale. It'll almost certainly come down in price to something like 10 bucks for both games (it's 20 per right now). If you can hold out to Christmas you can probably pick up the combo pack for 5, even.



And some pony:

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[Gaelbert]

Midnight, what are you doing, you don't even have a licence.

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Heh. I love it.
It reminds me of 99 Problems:

The years 2011 and my trunk is raw
in my rear view rear is the ponyloving law
I got two choices y'all, pull over the car or
bounce on the double, put the pedal to the floor.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Odd thread to post this in...

Come to our IRC channel and we will show you the true insanity heart of pony devotion.

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

Welcome to our crazy thread, both of you. Resisting? Why, that's no fun. Just give in...

Thanks! Well you have to resist a little. What pony doesn't enjoy the thrill of the hunt??

[Topaz]

Must... resist... pull... of... ponies... cannot... succumb... to... virus... Sonic Rainboom... too... cool...

♫ Welcome back my friends
Where the Pony never ends
We're so glad you could attend
Come inside, Come inside ♫

random poll time....
best Lyra/Bonbon pic

It's a difficult choice but I'm going to go with #3.

And now for some silly. Just wanted to share what happens when I'm in an RP, need to think up a song for an exiled Canterlot composer, and realise I can't compose to save my life. How do I do it? By stealing the heck out of an existing song of course!

Ponyplay - Viva La Vida

Hey it works for me!

Then again, I've discovered that I can't hear Warren Zevon's For My Next Trick I'll Need A Volunteer anymore without immediately thinking of The Great & Powerful Trixie.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Then again, I've discovered that I can't hear Warren Zevon's For My Next Trick I'll Need A Volunteer anymore without immediately thinking of The Great & Powerful Trixie.

You are suddenly my favourite person here.

[RdMarquis]

I rewatched the latest episode today, and I thought of something.

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Applebloom pulled off some pretty amazing stunts with her hoop, including getting airborne. Was that an effect of the Cutie Pox, or can anypony with a cutie mark employ their special talents to accomplish similar feats? Arguably, the Mane Six have already done so, but they're pretty special. I just have this image of Mr. and Mrs. Cake building Sugar Cube Corner through sheer skill at making sweets.

[Bayonet Priest]

A question involving possible spoilers of the last episode:

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Does changing my avatar to pony Lebowski from the last episode count as spoilers? If so how long should I wait?

Also a question about general art etiquette, should I get permission from the original artist before cutting and resizing an image and using it as an avatar? My gut says yes in case it matters.

[Thanqol]

A question involving possible spoilers of the last episode:

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Does changing my avatar to pony Lebowski from the last episode count as spoilers? If so how long should I wait?

Also a question about general art etiquette, should I get permission from the original artist before cutting and resizing an image and using it as an avatar? My gut says yes in case it matters.

I don't think it counts as a spoiler, otherwise I think Wednesday is the cutoff

And my understanding is just sig a credit.

I'm sorry. What?

What sequence of events could possibly have led up to this?

Also, I think you forgot her horn!

It's behind her mane, I promise. It was there on the sketch layer but got cut off by the top of the car.

Heh. I love it.
It reminds me of 99 Problems:

The years 2011 and my trunk is raw
in my rear view rear is the ponyloving law
I got two choices y'all, pull over the car or
bounce on the double, put the pedal to the floor.

Oh yeah, and Skyrim is totally the reason why I'm not posting right now. I saw something cool on the horizon, spent 25 minutes navigating towards it, find out that it's a lighthouse, go inside, and find an elaborate quest involving thousands of poisonous bugs coming out of the floor. This was such an out-of-the-way, middle of nowhere random dungeon that had serious levels of thought and an hour and a half of gameplay that most people would simply never see. I love that. Exploration is one of my favourite things to do in games, and the main reason I loved Oblivion.

I am also playing catgirl Palpatine and it's fantastic.

I'll be back with the ponies in a while.

[Roninhirox]

Am i the only person on the planet not giving a fudge cupcake about skyrim?

Edit: Aparently not. *Hugs Deadly* Don't leave me...

I am excited for it I just need to wait till my new computer shows up and then I magically find 50 dollars to buy it with and then I finish the pile of games I have in front of it.

Sweet Celestia no. Don't really care for the series at all. They can go on about how 1st person is more immersive all they want but the fact remains that melee combat in 1st person is awkward as all heck.

Ya that's why I quit my martial arts class. (I know you meant in game but...)

[Gaelbert]

I rewatched the latest episode today, and I thought of something.

Spoiler

Show

Applebloom pulled off some pretty amazing stunts with her hoop, including getting airborne. Was that an effect of the Cutie Pox, or can anypony with a cutie mark employ their special talents to accomplish similar feats? Arguably, the Mane Six have already done so, but they're pretty special. I just have this image of Mr. and Mrs. Cake building Sugar Cube Corner through sheer skill at making sweets.

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I get the feeling that pretty much anypony can use their cutie marks like that. There are some that are more exploitable than others (Twilight), but even Pinkie uses her party talent to get airborne. Balloons, I guess, and a number of other ingenious devices.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Wait there's a drawpony thread? Why was I not informed of this??? I could be doubling my amount of poorly drawn garbage!

[Zevox]

I rewatched the latest episode today, and I thought of something.

Spoiler

Show

Applebloom pulled off some pretty amazing stunts with her hoop, including getting airborne. Was that an effect of the Cutie Pox, or can anypony with a cutie mark employ their special talents to accomplish similar feats? Arguably, the Mane Six have already done so, but they're pretty special. I just have this image of Mr. and Mrs. Cake building Sugar Cube Corner through sheer skill at making sweets.

Spoiler

Show

It was an effect of the Cutie Pox. When Twilight was reading off the description of the disease it included "causing the victim to perform the talent" of the cutie mark, so obviously the disease also gave the talents associated with each mark. Hence why she was able to do things like speak french when the other marks appeared.

Ya that's why I quit my martial arts class. (I know you meant in game but...)

And if first-person gameplay in video games were anything like real life, that might mean something. But before you get anywhere near that you'd need to be using Wii Motion+ or Kinect-esque motion controls. And using 3D to give proper depth perception. And somehow give the video game proper peripheral vision. Among other changes.

Zevox

[Kindablue]

Wait there's a drawpony thread? Why was I not informed of this??? I could be doubling my amount of poorly drawn garbage!

It's here. And I'll, uh, I'll totally start posting in it again soon.

[Spamotron]

I need some help fleshing out a possible fic idea.

The basic premise is that Fluttershy is out in another pony town on an errand by herself. Some sort of potential disaster threatens the town. Word leaks out that "One of the 6 heroes who saved the world from Nightmare Moon and Discord is here!" Fluttershy suddenly has an entire town of strange ponies looking to her for leadership in a time of crisis.

So I have the core concept down. But everything else needs a lot of fleshing out.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

I like the part where they said "Apple".

[Vent Reynolt]

Thanqol has a thread somewhere, which had a conversion of Midnight to the World of Darkness rules (specifically, Mage). He said something along the lines of "I gave her points in driving because a pony driving is a hilarious mental image."

Search for the OOC thread if you're up to it. It's hilarious, though there's a chance after reading you'll ne'er want to look us in the eyes again for fear.

*Finds said thread*

So Much Text! How in the world can you manage to keep up with that, Ponythread, the IRC, and still have time for real life?!

My only guess that that is what happens when four of the most brilliant minds in Ponythread are all together at once without the distractions of us lesser ponies.

Edit: Will attempt to read later... wish me luck.

It's behind her mane, I promise. It was there on the sketch layer but got cut off by the top of the car.

Sure it was...

Anyway, the only thing that would make the image even funnier would be to somehow include Goku and Piccolo driving as well.

Don't worry everypony, I'm still alive! I just wound up spending all weekend doing RL pony stuff. Eeeeyup, I was a a Boston Pony meet!

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That's me in the front row, third from the right. Yeah, the dude with the coffee. Of course.

I'll get ya'll a quote post on Monday! (I'm slightly distracted with Skyrim right now, like a good little nerd. SkyrimPonySkyrimPonySkyrimPony)

Welp it's Tuesday now, and I don't remember seeing that quotepost.

Seriously, though. Sounds like you had a great time there! Tell us more about it, Please!

[Thanqol]

*Finds said thread*

So Much Text! How in the world can you manage to keep up with that, Ponythread, the IRC, and still have time for real life?!

My only guess that that is what happens when four of the most brilliant minds in Ponythread are all together at once without the distractions of us lesser ponies.

Edit: Will attempt to read later... wish me luck.

Joke's on you! I don't have a life!

If you do read through that entire thread and have any thoughts or questions, I'd love to hear them, by the way. Part of this game setup is to really refine my GMing process and produce a better class of game than I've historically run. Send me a PM or something

Sure it was...

Anyway, the only thing that would make the image even funnier would be to somehow include Goku and Piccolo driving as well.

Not a yoshi!

I need some help fleshing out a possible fic idea.

The basic premise is that Fluttershy is out in another pony town on an errand by herself. Some sort of potential disaster threatens the town. Word leaks out that "One of the 6 heroes who saved the world from Nightmare Moon and Discord is here!" Fluttershy suddenly has an entire town of strange ponies looking to her for leadership in a time of crisis.

So I have the core concept down. But everything else needs a lot of fleshing out.

Right. What do you need help with, in particular? In general you're in pretty ephemeral raw concept space. I'm more than happy to work on details, but if I get involved at this level I'll decide I want to write that story and get angry when you don't write it the way I imagined it. It's what I do.

What's the basic structure and feel of the piece?


P.S. As far as my own ficwriting goes, I basically encountered some structural problems, got clashing ideas of the mood of the piece, and was having trouble keeping the entire thing solidly tied together. Multiple influences contaminated the process. Still waiting for my mind to settle right.

[BlasTech]

P.S. As far as my own ficwriting goes, I basically encountered some structural problems, got clashing ideas of the mood of the piece, and was having trouble keeping the entire thing solidly tied together. Multiple influences contaminated the process. Still waiting for my mind to settle right.

Sounds familiar. Also, I think I've found out that my brain has a problem where it latches onto a scene and wants to flesh it out so much that I run out of similies for nouns and actions after a while. I then go and delete it and feel like it's missing detail, haven't quite developed the writer's balance yet.

Oh yeah, and character naming. I mean how do you name a character without it sounding as common as "Bob" or as strange as "Neureek, Retut or Squalookle"?

In other news, somepony is storyboarding a fan animated episode. Had me fooled for a moment into thinking the storyboarding was for a real one O_o

(Can't wait till I get home where DA is unblocked so I can see the rest of it though )

Ep 7 Speculation

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I kind of have this feeling RD will sing a song in this one about flying, but maybe that's just because I've been listening to her solo in Best Night Ever one too many times.

Also, skyrim related:

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Fluttershy makes the cutest dragonslayer

[SiuiS]

Odd thread to post this in...

He's checkin' in. If he doesn't give us updates we tend to interfere with his business.

That, plus I tend to have an interest myself. I'll restrain myself until the battle is over though.

I don't think it counts as a spoiler, otherwise I think Wednesday is the cutoff

And my understanding is just sig a credit.

Yes. And yes.

Oh yeah, and Skyrim is totally the reason why I'm not posting right now. I saw something cool on the horizon, spent 25 minutes navigating towards it, find out that it's a lighthouse, go inside, and find an elaborate quest involving thousands of poisonous bugs coming out of the floor. This was such an out-of-the-way, middle of nowhere random dungeon that had serious levels of thought and an hour and a half of gameplay that most people would simply never see. I love that. Exploration is one of my favourite things to do in games, and the main reason I loved Oblivion.

I am also playing catgirl Palpatine and it's fantastic.

I'll be back with the ponies in a while.

Ah, that explains it.

Ya that's why I quit my martial arts class. (I know you meant in game but...)

Then I fear Skyrim may not be for you
Too bad though. Once you get past the machoman "im a bad mamma jamma" phase, Martians arts are good for you.

Wait there's a drawpony thread? Why was I not informed of this??? I could be doubling my amount of poorly drawn garbage!

Ye were tol'. Twere fact te say seein' this were what sent Ye away fer "six more weeks o' winter", aye? Do Ye nae remember, laddie?
(appologies. I've had a touch o' the tipple. It let's slip the tip o' the tongue, which speaks wi' a brogue here, a burr there, and nary a slur te be had.)

I need some help fleshing out a possible fic idea.

The basic premise is that Fluttershy is out in another pony town on an errand by herself. Some sort of potential disaster threatens the town. Word leaks out that "One of the 6 heroes who saved the world from Nightmare Moon and Discord is here!" Fluttershy suddenly has an entire town of strange ponies looking to her for leadership in a time of crisis.

So I have the core concept down. But everything else needs a lot of fleshing out.

Sounds good so far. I'd read it. Well, as much as I read anythin'.

*Finds said thread*

So Much Text! How in the world can you manage to keep up with that, Ponythread, the IRC, and still have time for real life?!

Real life?
My day was
Wake up -> IRC -> Nap -> tell Braz about IRC + coffee -> some video games while Braz chatted with ponies -> Go to work wi' Braz, skim the net all day -> come home and ponies -> dinner and ponies -> check OOC thread for the billionth time -> Blame Lix Lorn -> Ponies -> tipple -> and now ponies.

My only guess that that is what happens when four of the most brilliant minds in Ponythread are all together at once without the distractions of us lesser ponies.

You blighters got a fourth to replace me? And their smart?
I've been replaced by Phoe?

Actually I can't even mock rage at that. Now I wanna see what kind of Mage she'd come up with XD

Welp there goes that joke.

Edit: Will attempt to read later... wish me luck.



Sure it was...

Anyway, the only thing that would make the image even funnier would be to somehow include Goku and Piccolo driving as well.

Welp it's Tuesday now, and I don't remember seeing that quotepost.

Seriously, though. Sounds like you had a great time there! Tell us more about it, Please!

In my defense, Twere much simpler when I was makin' said posts than goin' back through 'em were. Didnae prevent me from goin' back through a couple o' times any wee, but...

Seriously though, giver a go. You'll see a brilliance te Raz and Esper tha' I thought Twere mythical. But it's real.

Joke's on you! I don't have a life!

If you do read through that entire thread and have any thoughts or questions, I'd love to hear them, by the way. Part of this game setup is to really refine my GMing process and produce a better class of game than I've historically run. Send me a PM or something

PM heck! I wanna know, too, so Ye may as well post it somewhere.

Right. What do you need help with, in particular? In general you're in pretty ephemeral raw concept space. I'm more than happy to work on details, but if I get involved at this level I'll decide I want to write that story and get angry when you don't write it the way I imagined it. It's what I do.

What's the basic structure and feel of the piece?


P.S. As far as my own ficwriting goes, I basically encountered some structural problems, got clashing ideas of the mood of the piece, and was having trouble keeping the entire thing solidly tied together. Multiple influences contaminated the process. Still waiting for my mind to settle right.

rather level o' Ye to notice. Aye, I mesel' tend to do the same. I'm atrocious when Ye wan' te tell a tale I know. It's all I can do nae to steal it from Ye.

As he said, yeve got th' broad strokes. Fill in some more detail and ye'll ha' more room for advice.

[Rebelhero]

For those who worry about the first person combat in Skyrim...

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Join the companions in Whiterun, do a few quests for them, when you are told to meet in the 'underforge' accept the gift.
Become a FREAKING WEREWOLF. once per in-game day you can transform into a werewolf, combat swiches to 3rd person, and you run faster, jump higher and hit like a train.

Also, Skyrim pony mod is inevitable, and with the speed this fandom works at, id expect one within a few months.

[Spamotron]

Right. What do you need help with, in particular? In general you're in pretty ephemeral raw concept space. I'm more than happy to work on details, but if I get involved at this level I'll decide I want to write that story and get angry when you don't write it the way I imagined it. It's what I do.

What's the basic structure and feel of the piece?


P.S. As far as my own ficwriting goes, I basically encountered some structural problems, got clashing ideas of the mood of the piece, and was having trouble keeping the entire thing solidly tied together. Multiple influences contaminated the process. Still waiting for my mind to settle right.

Well my first problem is that I haven't written a story since my High School English class made me for an assignment

I'm breaking it up into conceptual pieces at the moment and tackling them one at time.

First up whys and motivations. Fluttershy is in a strange town on her own because she's trying to become more independent and assertive she considers facing a bunch of strangers without the backup of the other Elements a personal challenge to overcome.

Of course while she has some similar behavior in the show so far they've been mostly baby steps (and adorable). What would motivate her to take such a big challenging step relatively speaking?

Then fleshing out the threat. I want something Fluttershy can reasonably handle with the support of few competent normal ponies but it has to be big enough that it motivates her to act now and directly rather than just have the town hunker down and wait for backup from her friends. Simplest thing to do would have the threat be a powerful unpredictable wild animal. Play directly to her strength of talent and the Stare. A bit cheap and repetitive to the show though. My idea for the real conflict in any case is Fluttershy's internal one from being thrust into a leadership position where she has to show confidence and assertiveness lest the townsponies who see her as a major hero lose hope.

[legomaster00156]

Too bad though. Once you get past the machoman "im a bad mamma jamma" phase, Martians arts are good for you.

Martians appreciate art? Oh, good, I was worried they'd destroy the museums when they conquer the world.

[Thanqol]

Oh yeah, and character naming. I mean how do you name a character without it sounding as common as "Bob" or as strange as "Neureek, Retut or Squalookle"?

I love naming, it's one of my favourite things. My process is to stare at the screen, defocus my mind, and play word association. Just start writing whatever descriptive words come to mind. I collect 5-10 of them and then looking for either audio patterns or feel or sound. What works, what doesn't. Associations and metaphors are brilliant and the more of them that can be invoked the better. There are a few other rests, like how it feels to shout, what the basic attitude and volume is behind the name. How it sounds like when they say it, when someone who hates them says it, when someone who loves them whispers it.

You blighters got a fourth to replace me? And their smart?
I've been replaced by Phoe?

Actually I can't even mock rage at that. Now I wanna see what kind of Mage she'd come up with XD

Welp there goes that joke.

Phoe's got a standing invite to this game, if she ever stops being crazy busy.

In which case, I'm the weak link to go, so one of you has to run it.


@ Spamotron: Your big question here is about threat, in which case I recommend making it a pony. Social situations are Fluttershy's weak point, and having an antagonist who can tease her about it really raises the stakes. I actually advise some sort of supervillain, or criminal, or mafia leader or something. Harmless'd due to pony, but still well out of Fluttershy's comfort zone.

[Grif]

Well my first problem is that I haven't written a story since my High School English class made me for an assignment

I'm breaking it up into conceptual pieces at the moment and tackling them one at time.

First up whys and motivations. Fluttershy is in a strange town on her own because she's trying to become more independent and assertive she considers facing a bunch of strangers without the backup of the other Elements a personal challenge to overcome.

Of course while she has some similar behavior in the show so far they've been mostly baby steps (and adorable). What would motivate her to take such a big challenging step relatively speaking?

Then fleshing out the threat. I want something Fluttershy can reasonably handle with the support of few competent normal ponies but it has to be big enough that it motivates her to act now and directly rather than just have the town hunker down and wait for backup from her friends. Simplest thing to do would have the threat be a powerful unpredictable wild animal. Play directly to her strength of talent and the Stare. A bit cheap and repetitive to the show though. My idea for the real conflict in any case is Fluttershy's internal one from being thrust into a leadership position where she has to show confidence and assertiveness lest the townsponies who see her as a major hero lose hope.

You know, this is the point where I say, "Fudge it!" and start writing. Obviously, I need to learn on how to plan my stories properly.

In all seriousness, there isn't much threats that will actually draw Fluttershy out of her shell, unless it directly threatens her friends (ala Dragonshy). In the same vein, I would suggest she came with one of the other mane six. Also, I don't see her going to a strange town on her own just to become more assertive, partly due to S2E1 which shows that she is quite comfortable with her weakness, and trusts her friends to help her when in need. Which brings me back to my first point. It is far more likely one of the mane six decided to was in Fluttershy's best interest to become more assertive and decided to drag her along. It'll make for some fun interactions as well.

(I suggest Rarity for this.

"Nonsense, Fluttershy. It is high time you learn how to handle yourself in a crowd."

"meep.")

[Lix Lorn]

I need some help fleshing out a possible fic idea.

The basic premise is that Fluttershy is out in another pony town on an errand by herself. Some sort of potential disaster threatens the town. Word leaks out that "One of the 6 heroes who saved the world from Nightmare Moon and Discord is here!" Fluttershy suddenly has an entire town of strange ponies looking to her for leadership in a time of crisis.

So I have the core concept down. But everything else needs a lot of fleshing out.

I LIKE this concept!

My day was
Wake up -> IRC -> Nap -> tell Braz about IRC + coffee -> some video games while Braz chatted with ponies -> Go to work wi' Braz, skim the net all day -> come home and ponies -> dinner and ponies -> check OOC thread for the billionth time -> Blame Lix Lorn -> Ponies -> tipple -> and now ponies.

whut. ;-;

Also, ponythread, I AM DISAPPOINT. I went to bed early, and not even ONE page by the time I get back?

[Istari]

Well my first problem is that I haven't written a story since my High School English class made me for an assignment

I'm breaking it up into conceptual pieces at the moment and tackling them one at time.

First up whys and motivations. Fluttershy is in a strange town on her own because she's trying to become more independent and assertive she considers facing a bunch of strangers without the backup of the other Elements a personal challenge to overcome.

Of course while she has some similar behavior in the show so far they've been mostly baby steps (and adorable). What would motivate her to take such a big challenging step relatively speaking?

Then fleshing out the threat. I want something Fluttershy can reasonably handle with the support of few competent normal ponies but it has to be big enough that it motivates her to act now and directly rather than just have the town hunker down and wait for backup from her friends. Simplest thing to do would have the threat be a powerful unpredictable wild animal. Play directly to her strength of talent and the Stare. A bit cheap and repetitive to the show though. My idea for the real conflict in any case is Fluttershy's internal one from being thrust into a leadership position where she has to show confidence and assertiveness lest the townsponies who see her as a major hero lose hope.

How about something not necessary super dangerous, but imminent and requiring leadership, like a herd of an animals that need to be rounded up.