My Little Pony LX: 60 Ponythreads? That's an Academy record!

[DigoDragon]

The reason Lightning Dust isn't a tragic hero is that she does not inspire pity of and fear for herself in the audience

If only she showed actual regret for nearly smashing Dash's friends...

Thoughts?

Could be interesting if the royal sisters take a day off from running the nation to just be sisters. Having them parallel with Rarity/Sweetie sounds like the better choice for who they should be relating to.

For example, whenever someone comments on my comic Together We Fly that these ponies are too young to make out, I always get an urge to write a really graphic story where they do much more than just kiss.

Kids making out I think happens more often then grown ups realize. >_>
But yeah, I get what you're saying about using taboos to provoke people. Heck, one of the very definitions of art is to provoke various feelings and reactions out of people, good or bad.

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"Friendship is MAGIC, not CARROTS!!"

[Yana]

I'd read it. Mind, it would be somewhat difficult to set up; does Luna appear to Sweetie in a dream? Maybe Rarity gets a social gig at the palace and brings Sweetie along? How does Luna act towards the bright, vocal filly?

I was thinking more along the lines of Luna coming across the letter that Sweetie and Rarity wrote from SHS and then deciding to see for herself how a younger sibling acts towards an older one (y'know, seeing as how Luna was imprisoned for 1000 years) without having to cave in on every discussion or disagreement. I kinda wish I were at all competent at songwriting, because a duet with Sweetie and Luna (using ROYAL CANTERLOCK) would probably be hilarious.

Could be interesting if the royal sisters take a day off from running the nation to just be sisters. Having them parallel with Rarity/Sweetie sounds like the better choice.

That would be an interesting thing to go off of, but then I'd be wondering how the nation would run without Celestia or Luna available.

I will give an award of a to be determined number of internets to the funniest comment in response to this pic:

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"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-"

"I think she's sprung a leak."

Can't claim credit for thinking that one up though, obviously.

[DigoDragon]

That would be an interesting thing to go off of, but then I'd be wondering how the nation would run without Celestia or Luna available.

Well, you could point it out at the beginning of the story as a hook-- Celestia's ahead in the paperwork, ponies are having some pretty content dreams lately, there's no eldtitch abomination threating Equestria. Thus the royal advisers ask Celestia when was the last time she had a day off?

So then the royal sisters take the day off and... huh. So what DO the royals sister do when not running the nation? That question sounds like an interesting hook. They've been so busy running things they forgot some of the basics of being sisters.

[Aotrs Commander]

I like to explore taboos and provoke people into questioning things, because people are all too quick with knee-jerk judgments.

Therein may be part of the reason. From the recent debates we've had, it's clear that your take on Equestria is different to some of the rest of us (e.g. from prior debates on what you think constitues "dark" and your ambivilent relationship to the cartoon-ier aspects of the show). It may simply be that the things you want to explore in your stories are not necessarily things that a lot of people are immediately interested in. There's nothing wrong with that, of course (Planescape Torment, the best RPG of all time, had only mediocre sales at the time, I think!); I'm just pointing out that if ponythread is vaguely representative of the fandom, your tastes may be slightly more towards the minority. Which makes hooking people in that much more difficult for you.

(It's also worth noting that a lot of the writers who started writing when EQD was the main source of fanfic - i.e. before fimfic really got off the ground, it was easier to achive notority. And thus those authors have their own fanbases. (I know sometimes I'll see a concept - usually in the feature box, if I'm honest...! - for a story that I think "meh" and then I'll see who the author is and go "oh, well, that's worth a shot, then!" (E.g. anything Decendant or Skywriter writes.) Which, as I suspect I am not alone in, tends to mean they hit the feature box more often. And also the longer a fic goes on, and the more chapters put out, the more interest you'll naturally generate over time. And I'm sure EQD features definately help too. But getting established now is more difficult, due to just greater volume (though Chengar of Winning Pony fame and his cadre seem to have made it, so it can be done.))

But, I suspect, a very great deal now the fandom is more heavily established, is luck and the oh-so-critical presentation of your summary.

Just a thought - it might be worth getting the people who've beta-read your stories to beta-read and/or suggest alterations for your summaries too, and maybe conflab with ponythread on what images to use for the presentation. Like thread titles, there is an art to summaries and titles. Past Sins was I think was among one of the first to have a big title image (though now a lot of stories do), and it was certainly one of the more evocative ones at the time which I think that had a lot to do with it's notority.



But at the end of the day, all you can really do is write the best story you want to write. Even if only a few people read it, if you brighten one person's day, that's what it's all about, isn't it?

(There's a chap on Fanfic who's writing a big long Generation X story (over five years now and 320k words) and it's only (criminally) got about 30 reviews - most of which are yours truly - I don't normally review every chapter, but for this one I make the exception. But he keeps at it anyway, because he likes writing; which is good because it's about the only place I'm likely to get Jubilee stories at the moment...! I make a point to make a comment every chapter, just to let him know that there's at least one person religiously reading it (even if it sometimes takes me a while to get to it!))

[Deadly]

Kids making out I think happens more often then grown ups realize. >_>

Yeah, I kept telling people that when I first posted the comic.

But yeah, I get what you're saying about using taboos to provoke people. Heck, one of the very definitions of art is to provoke various feelings and reactions out of people, good or bad.

Aye

Therein may be part of the reason. From the recent debates we've had, it's clear that your take on Equestria is different to some of the rest of us (e.g. from prior debates on what you think constitues "dark" and your ambivilent relationship to the cartoon-ier aspects of the show). It may simply be that the things you want to explore in your stories are not necessarily things that a lot of people are immediately interested in. There's nothing wrong with that, of course (Planescape Torment, the best RPG of all time, had only mediocre sales at the time, I think!); I'm just pointing out that if ponythread is vaguely representative of the fandom, your tastes may be slightly more towards the minority. Which makes hooking people in that much more difficult for you.

Some of my stories certainly aren't for everyone, but really, a lot of them are perfectly safe reading. I guess the topic and description of my latest story might have made a lot of people turn away without giving it a chance. I had hoped the title and Comedy tag would give them enough of a clue, though.

Not all of my stories are all that dark or anything. Even my Dark stories aren't usually as dark as people might expect. I could probably have dropped the Dark tag on II without anyone complaining, maybe given it the Adventure tag instead.

Part of the problem is that, if there's likely to be just one little scene where one pony gets slightly hurt, then I'm likely to give it the Dark tag just to be sure, where I've seen others who didn't even give it to stories where ponies die horribly. Maybe Adventure does cover ponies getting hurt and dying, but I just don't want people to read my stories thinking it's just like the show and then complain that one little pony got a little hurt.

(It's also worth noting that a lot of the writers who started writing when EQD was the main source of fanfic - i.e. before fimfic really got off the ground, it was easier to achive notority. And thus those authors have their own fanbases. (I know sometimes I'll see a concept - usually in the feature box, if I'm honest...! - for a story that I think "meh" and then I'll see who the author is and go "oh, well, that's worth a shot, then!" (E.g. anything Decendant or Skywriter writes.) Which, as I suspect I am not alone in, tends to mean they hit the feature box more often. And also the longer a fic goes on, and the more chapters put out, the more interest you'll naturally generate over time. And I'm sure EQD features definately help too. But getting established now is more difficult, due to just greater volume (though Chengar of Winning Pony fame and his cadre seem to have made it, so it can be done.))

But, I suspect, a very great deal now the fandom is more heavily established, is luck and the oh-so-critical presentation of your summary.

Being established helps, but there's "unknown" and "famous" and pretty much nothing in between. It's either or in my experience.

I'm a little sad that I got on FiMFiction so late, after I had had three stories on EqD. If those three stories had been on FiMFiction at the time I would likely have had more of a following there.

Just a thought - it might be worth getting the people who've beta-read your stories to beta-read and/or suggest alterations for your summaries too, and maybe conflab with ponythread on what images to use for the presentation. Like thread titles, there is an art to summaries and titles. Past Sins was I think was among one of the first to have a big title image (though now a lot of stories do), and it was certainly one of the more evocative ones at the time which I think that had a lot to do with it's notority.

Not a bad idea, and I have done that occasionally. Though in the case of an unfinished story it's pretty hard for an outsider to really give a sensible description of the story.

But at the end of the day, all you can really do is write the best story you want to write. Even if only a few people read it, if you brighten one person's day, that's what it's all about, isn't it?

(There's a chap on Fanfic who's writing a big long Generation X story (over five years now and 320k words) and it's only (criminally) got about 30 reviews - most of which are yours truly - I don't normally review every chapter, but for this one I make the exception. But he keeps at it anyway, because he likes writing; which is good because it's about the only place I'm likely to get Jubilee stories at the moment...! I make a point to make a comment every chapter, just to let him know that there's at least one person religiously reading it (even if it sometimes takes me a while to get to it!))

True enough, though feedback is still great, and once you've had it you really kinda want it again. Fame is addicting

[ICN]

I will give an award of a to be determined number of internets to the funniest comment in response to this pic:

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WHEEEELLLSSS?!

[Sean Mirrsen]

I will give an award of a to be determined number of internets to the funniest comment in response to this pic:

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The one I immediately thought of upon seeing it is "She's gonna blow!". :P

[Beacon of Chaos]

I will give an award of a to be determined number of internets to the funniest comment in response to this pic:

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..ooOO(URK! I hate flying. This turbulance is making me feel sick. Must not barf! Especially in front of Sparkle!)

[DigoDragon]

But, I suspect, a very great deal now the fandom is more heavily established, is luck and the oh-so-critical presentation of your summary.

I often feel that advertising is the 3rd pillar of the formula. If it weren't for EqD's Drawfriend and DA's Trixie supremacy group I think a lot of my pony art would have gone largely unnoticed.
One trick is to find several different venues (especially if they interact) and get some friends to make some comments about it just to get people talking (Often this is how artwork from professionals end up in modern galleries).


Also: have a Fluttershy hug, Discord.

[HamHam]

Also: have a Fluttershy hug, Discord.

I really do like when a more detailed style is applied to ponies, making it clear that they have fur and making the hooves stand out more.

Only problem with InuHoshi's stuff is that the way noses are drawn makes all the mares look really butch.

[Tiki Snakes]

Isn't she? In a theatrical tragedy sense, the hero is usually somebody noble doing something bad and suffering greatly as a result. Yes, everything I know about English literature I learned from Crash Course. So feel free to correct me on anything I get wrong. I suppose she's not literally a noble, but she is a great flier and a WA cadet, and therefore should be held to a higher standard, therefore "noble". On the other hand, WA is not a tragedy, because half the cast does not die from ear poisoning and brother-stabbing because of her actions, but that's a minor counterpoint. The major argument against her being a tragic hero for me is: she isn't being tormented by the situation as it unfolds and doesn't have the screen-time to do so. Which means if thе narrative was centered around her without changing any of the plot, she would totally become a tragic hero.

Not so clear-cut as "really, really", is it now?

Leaving aside the kind of valid thought of her being a tragic hero from her own perspective for a moment, no I really do think it is every bit as clear cut as that.

Lightning Dust is a natural bully. She's the worst kind of self obsessed ego maniac, with no capacity for empathy and no concern for the safety of her fellow ponies at all. She borders on being a complete monster quite frankly, in a way that even Trixie at her worst did not.

At least, in my opinion. None of which makes her a bad character mind you, rather the opposite when you look at how she is otherwise quite superficially similar to Rainbow Dash.

As far as I am concerned, whilst it is left nominally ambiguous, I don't think there's any question whether she was or should have been thrown out of the academy. Having nearly caused numerous deaths both of civilians and her own classmates via her near sociopathic disregard for others, you bet she was kicked out. The academy is a feeder institution for the single most prestigious organisation of it's type in Equestria she has quite comprehensibly proven she is unfit even to be considered at this point. If she is truly worthy, she will have to redeem herself and quite extensively prove that she has done so if she ever wants a second chance.

I think I might have quite strong opinions on the matter. Huh.

Edit - Regarding InuHoshi;
Dog noses. That is all.

[Raz_Fox]

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Snips and Snails just came back with the formerly fabulous and magnificent laundry of the Great and Powerful Trixie.

[Tectonic Robot]

Leaving aside the kind of valid thought of her being a tragic hero from her own perspective for a moment, no I really do think it is every bit as clear cut as that.

Lightning Dust is a natural bully. She's the worst kind of self obsessed ego maniac, with no capacity for empathy and no concern for the safety of her fellow ponies at all. She borders on being a complete monster quite frankly, in a way that even Trixie at her worst did not.

At least, in my opinion. None of which makes her a bad character mind you, rather the opposite when you look at how she is otherwise quite superficially similar to Rainbow Dash.

As far as I am concerned, whilst it is left nominally ambiguous, I don't think there's any question whether she was or should have been thrown out of the academy. Having nearly caused numerous deaths both of civilians and her own classmates via her near sociopathic disregard for others, you bet she was kicked out. The academy is a feeder institution for the single most prestigious organisation of it's type in Equestria she has quite comprehensibly proven she is unfit even to be considered at this point. If she is truly worthy, she will have to redeem herself and quite extensively prove that she has done so if she ever wants a second chance.

I think I might have quite strong opinions on the matter. Huh.

Edit - Regarding InuHoshi;
Dog noses. That is all.

Woah, woah, woah. We didn't see nearly enough of her to say things like 'complete lack of empathy' and 'self obsessed egomaniac'. She was rather callous, and quite obviously didn't care much what others thought, except proving that she was better than the others. Her tornado antics were, well, reckless to the extreme, but not based on any active decision to harm others; she just wanted to be the best by as much as possible. My main problem, though, is that Spitfire supported her every action until the climax, when she suddenly (I assume, at least!) kicked her out of the academy. She should at least have been giving a warning or something, in my opinion.

In other news, sometimes I think I overthink this show. 6-9

[Maxtronaut]

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*To Snips and Snails*

You. Did. WHAT?!

*rage buildup engaged*

[MCerberus]

Speaking of Wonderbolts Academy, I had a thought that I don't think I've seen anywhere yet. Spitfire gave Dash wingpony because Dash doesn't push herself hard enough, right?

Well, we all remember the wonderful news reporting of the Foal Free Press, right?

Rainbow Dash sure does

Well, what if Spitfire's evaluation was actually colored by that article eventually making its way to Cloudsdale?

Well when Soarin isn't terrorizing pastry shops, he's at the spa...

[Tiki Snakes]

It wasn't just the tornado, at almost every step her barely disguised contempt for anypony not as gifted as her shone through bright as day. She didn't just not care what other ponies thought, she had literally no interest in the feelings of other ponies and simply had no interest in whether those ponies not up to her standards lived or died.

Simply put, if you weren't a useful tool in her pursuit of joining the Wonderbolts you were less than an object, you were nothing. Even Dash was just a means to an end. Functional Sociopath. The only thing she cared about was herself and her own greatness and she was literally incapable of the act of empathising, putting herself in the place of other ponies. Even when directly confronted on her wrongdoings.

There was no active, deliberate malice, sure. Never said there was and I quite agree. Except perhaps here and there like in the scene where she forces her way past the team ahead of her, but that's more her not caring what happens to them again than her actually giving a damn about them once she'd gotten past.

But that all fits perfectly well with her being an egomaniac with sociopathic tendancies.

[thubby]

Woah, woah, woah. We didn't see nearly enough of her to say things like 'complete lack of empathy' and 'self obsessed egomaniac'. She was rather callous, and quite obviously didn't care much what others thought, except proving that she was better than the others. Her tornado antics were, well, reckless to the extreme, but not based on any active decision to harm others; she just wanted to be the best by as much as possible. My main problem, though, is that Spitfire supported her every action until the climax, when she suddenly (I assume, at least!) kicked her out of the academy. She should at least have been giving a warning or something, in my opinion.

In other news, sometimes I think I overthink this show. 6-9

what did she do that spitfire was aware of? keep in mind that she's the leader of what is likely one of the most prestigious schools containing a horde of highly ambitious ponies.

[Tectonic Robot]

It wasn't just the tornado, at almost every step her barely disguised contempt for anypony not as gifted as her shone through bright as day. She didn't just not care what other ponies thought, she had literally no interest in the feelings of other ponies and simply had no interest in whether those ponies not up to her standards lived or died.

Simply put, if you weren't a useful tool in her pursuit of joining the Wonderbolts you were less than an object, you were nothing. Even Dash was just a means to an end. Functional Sociopath. The only thing she cared about was herself and her own greatness and she was literally incapable of the act of empathising, putting herself in the place of other ponies. Even when directly confronted on her wrongdoings.

There was no active, deliberate malice, sure. Never said there was and I quite agree. Except perhaps here and there like in the scene where she forces her way past the team ahead of her, but that's more her not caring what happens to them again than her actually giving a damn about them once she'd gotten past.

But that all fits perfectly well with her being an egomaniac with sociopathic tendancies.

I think you're assuming quite a bit, Tiki. We didn't see enough of her to decide whether she thought of others as less than objects. Being annoyed with other people because they weren't moving as fast as her doesn't mean she thought of them as literally nothing.

Do you have anything to say on Spitfire's 180?

what did she do that spitfire was aware of? keep in mind that she's the leader of what is likely one of the most prestigious schools containing a horde of highly ambitious ponies.

Um. I assume she was aware of most things she did. She didn't see her knocking her teammates out of the way, I suppose. And she heard about the tornado, which is what got her kicked out... but still, my point still stands. Lightning Dust may not have been aware that Spitfire wasn't aware about what she was doing.

[BlasTech]

I will give an award of a to be determined number of internets to the funniest comment in response to this pic:

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Trixie shouldn't have eaten those beans.

[Kairaven]

Should we spoiler discussion and comments about the documentary if we talk about it?

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Ultimately I am slightly saddened by the possibility that the producer and makers of the feature might lose money over the project.
Not that I expect them to be rich off the proceeds. (Nor do I think they should) But I do wish them some rewards and compensation for their efforts.
The reason I think monetary loss is a possibility is because as exciting as the documentary is to us bronies, if seen from a non fandom perspective, it really is not exceptionally entertaining. Not saying it was bad, just rather generic documentary, imo. It serves to inform, but I am uncertain of its power to incite curiosity and interest among people that are not already predisposed towards ponies.*

*: I guess my own come back response would be
"But everyone will join the herd."

[Tiki Snakes]

I think you're assuming quite a bit, Tiki. We didn't see enough of her to decide whether she thought of others as less than objects. Being annoyed with other people because they weren't moving as fast as her doesn't mean she thought of them as literally nothing.

Do you have anything to say on Spitfire's 180?


Um. I assume she was aware of most things she did. She didn't see her knocking her teammates out of the way, I suppose. And she heard about the tornado, which is what got her kicked out... but still, my point still stands. Lightning Dust may not have been aware that Spitfire wasn't aware about what she was doing.

All I'm assuming is that what we see of her is typical of how she actually is. As we see nothing at any point that contradicts this, not even when directly confronted on nearly killing half a dozen ponies, I feel comfortable in my assumption. I could be wrong, she could have been tragically cracking under the pressure and desperately acting out her idea of the ideal wonderbolt despite her distaste for such behaviour, but that would require more assumptions on less evidence.

I don't really have much to say as far as Spitfire goes. I'm not sure there was a 180, in as much as she was both clearly wearing the mask of drill sergant and didn't possess the full information. We see her breifly without the mask when she catches up to Dash and then takes the appropriate, dangerously overdue action of removing Lightning Dust from the course before she kills somepony.

[Maxtronaut]

Trixie shouldn't have eaten those beans.

He wins, hooves down IMO.

[Darius Kane]

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I'd play that.

[Topaz]

Topaz is a married pony, Topaz is a married pony...

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[erikun]

Should we spoiler discussion and comments about the documentary if we talk about it?

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Ultimately I am slightly saddened by the possibility that the producer and makers of the feature might lose money over the project.
Not that I expect them to be rich off the proceeds. (Nor do I think they should) But I do wish them some rewards and compensation for their efforts.
The reason I think monetary loss is a possibility is because as exciting as the documentary is to us bronies, if seen from a non fandom perspective, it really is not exceptionally entertaining. Not saying it was bad, just rather generic documentary, imo. It serves to inform, but I am uncertain of its power to incite curiosity and interest among people that are not already predisposed towards ponies.*

*: I guess my own come back response would be
"But everyone will join the herd."

I am not sure about the necessity of spoilers, as it sure doesn't take up that must space in the thread. Yet.

I will say this: I am disinclined to pay to watch the documentary, at least at this point. Part of my problem is that I am disinclined towards buying purely digital goods, without some assurance that I'll be able to make use of it 20 years down the road. (Before you ask: Yes, I still have a working VCR and yes, I still have a working tape player. Thank you.) I am not familiar with scrnland.com and without a physical copy, I have no indication of how long that $13 spent will be available for viewing. Wait, wasn't it $7 a short while ago?

This doesn't mean I'm ignoring their request not to pirate the documentary. It just means that I'm not watching the documentary. I'm curious, but not enough to ignore the courtesy to the creators. Perhaps I will pay for it and watch it at some point, but for now I am simply documentaryless.

All I'm assuming is that what we see of her is typical of how she actually is. As we see nothing at any point that contradicts this, not even when directly confronted on nearly killing half a dozen ponies, I feel comfortable in my assumption. I could be wrong, she could have been tragically cracking under the pressure and desperately acting out her idea of the ideal wonderbolt despite her distaste for such behaviour, but that would require more assumptions on less evidence.

I'm not sure that being mean and inconsiderate automatically counts you as a bully. In fact, I get the impressing that Lightning Dust is too full of herself and busy practicing to spend time intentionally harassing someponies.

This doesn't necessarily make her nice, of course. But it makes her worst traits rudeness and hastiness, not intentional malice.

[Deadly]

Today I learned that Rolling Stones did a song called Paint it Black. Old one. I've never listened to Rolling Stones before, but this is good stuff.

*rocks along on repeat*

And then suddenly Applejack was inspiring and I've got a story to write, a story which unlike the song has nothing to do with death. Surely the world is ending.

[Dirtytabs]

Today I learned that Rolling Stones did a song called Paint it Black. Old one. I've never listened to Rolling Stones before, but this is good stuff.

*rocks along on repeat*

And then suddenly Applejack was inspiring and I've got a story to write, a story which unlike the song has nothing to do with death. Surely the world is ending.

Aw, man. I thought it was about the narrator having no joy in life and shutting everything out after someone left him. That wouldn't involve Applejack associated with death.

[Anarion]

Octavia and hilarious Vinyl Scratch Face. I knew it all along

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Or if you publish it under an alias and constantly wonder if anyone will recognise your style and call you on it.

Are you thinking of anyone specific? Like yourself?

I will give an award of a to be determined number of internets to the funniest comment in response to this pic:

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Houston, we have liftoff.

Well when Soarin isn't terrorizing pastry shops, he's at the spa...

Well yeah, but that's Soarin we're talking about. Soarin. It's totally different.

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I'd play that.

I think after that comic, maybe Twilight will stop playing it.

Although...maybe Derpy is actually more powerful than Shining Armor is activated at the right moment.

Today I learned that Rolling Stones did a song called Paint it Black. Old one. I've never listened to Rolling Stones before, but this is good stuff.

*rocks along on repeat*

And then suddenly Applejack was inspiring and I've got a story to write, a story which unlike the song has nothing to do with death. Surely the world is ending.

I love that song and I will look forward to reading the story that comes out of it.

[Gamerlord]

Well well well, look at what has recently turned up in a toy magazine. *Kind of-Maybe-Sort of Spoilers?*

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Well, I think it's pretty safe to say now that Alicorn Twilight is happening.

[Deadly]

Aw, man. I thought it was about the narrator having no joy in life and shutting everything out after someone left him. That wouldn't involve Applejack associated with death.

I believe that summary is about right, although it's "died" rather than "left him" by my understanding. I could be wrong, obviously.

Octavia and hilarious Vinyl Scratch Face. I knew it all along

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I love it! Octavia is soooo cute ^^

I love that song and I will look forward to reading the story that comes out of it.

I just hope you don't expect it to be too much like the song