My Little Pony XVIII: Perfect Isn't Easy

[Trixie]

Spoiler

Show

Trixie's Great and Powerful Guide v1.94d
Rarity & Trixie Edition

Brief Introduction

Spoiler

Show

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a reboot of the MLP franchise by Powerpuff Girls artist Lauren Faust, currently viewed by (almost) the entire Internet, not only the intended audience. Here is a place where we discuss the joy of friendship.

> My Little Pony? Seriously?

It's a clever show. It has excellent writing, character dynamics, humor, animation, and generally treats kids seriously rather than condescending to them. It has every right to be a 20 minute corporate committee designed infomercial, but it's not.

> Isn't this a show for little girls?

Pixar technically makes shows for little boys, and produce some of the best animation in the world.

> Okay, fine. I'll give it a try. Where do I start?

No Brony could ask for more. I recommend watching the episodes in order. They're all up on Youtube. Unusually, Hasbro seems fine with having the entire series up in public because they've made no move to bring down any of the episodes. Search for "Friendship is Magic Episode 1" and you should find the series pretty easily... Or search for "Sharing is Magic" Google Doc. That is all.

> Okay, I'm going to watch it but this had better live up to the hype!

Whoa, calm down there. The show is light hearted, optimistic fun but it's not for everyone. It's good fun, the community is good fun, and everyone can do with a reminder that friendship is magic but if it doesn't gel for you we'll love and tolerate you anyway. Plus, you might hit the wrong episode. Ask first?

> Iron Hoof/Fan Theories/Shipping/Binding

All in good fun! If it's not your cup of tea, skim it, but this show has triggered a great creative outpouring from the Internet. Pony themed fan-art is abundant and often excellent. See below for some examples.

> Derpy Hooves/Doctor Whoof

Two minor background characters who were adopted as emblems of 4chan. Derpy Hooves is so named due to an animation error in the first episode that had her eyes facing in different directions; 4chan has assigned her the role of Ponyville's mailpony, and her only line so far has been "Muffins". The show's animators are aware of Derpy's popularity and she's shown up a few times recently with her eyes obviously derped. Currently made canon in Feeling Pinkie Keen and in Faust's picture showcased below, Derpy was deemed important enough to appear in storyboards for Season II.

Dr. Whoof is a pony with an hourglass cutie mark; he and his kin save time and space very quietly off camera.

***

Ponytar Artists

Spoiler

Show

Alarra
Alterform
Crown of Thorns
Dirtytabs
Irbis
Kairaven
Khosan
...and a lot more, too many to keep track of, now.

If you do/don't want to be here, make a note in the thread.

Note that we're looking for more as the above are a bit swamped with requests currently.

New: Official PonyPic Request Thread!

General Resources

Spoiler

Show

Fan Fiction and News: Equestria Daily
Discussion Image Forum: Ponychan
Pony Emotes: FiM Emotes
Pony Images: Ponibooru
Know Your Meme: Ponies!
Allspark MLP Discussion Thread

Art Resources

Spoiler

Show

OC Pony Creation Guide:

>useful link<

Deviant Art Links:

Lauren Faust

14 Bis
ButterSS
Csimadmax
DonKoRR
Irving Zero
Johnjoseco
Kloudmutt
Palestorm

Tutorials:

How to Draw Luna
MLP Art Guides
MLP Colour Guides

Kloud TV

Concepts:

On the Design of the Mane Cast

Concept art by L. Faust:

AJ/AJ
Pinkie/Surprise
Rarity/Sparkler
Twilight/Twinkle
Derpy/Ditzy

Group Shot

5 Best Pictures [IMHO]:

TG&P Trixie 1 2a 2b 3
Twilight Sparkle 1 2 3
Rainbow Dash 1 2 3 3.6
Fluttershy 1 2 3

Pony Games

Spoiler

Show

The most recent one.
Pacderpy
Two very similar dash based cloud gathering sidescrollers
Pony generator I
Pony generator II
Pony generator III

New: Pinkie licks cupcakes. And a playthrough for it, too.
Collect Cupcakes, Lick Ponies! 2.0

Nice Fanwork



Art Challenges

Spoiler

Show

MyLP Challenge:

Do you want to try your hand at something fun? Feeling need to draw fanart? How about trying MyLP Challenge?

What it is? Just click on the linked template.

How does that work? Don't be scared, just complete the template to the best of your ability. Have one two three four examples made by other ponies

Starting thread and more examples can be found here.

***

ATTENTION EVERYPONY!!!

Great & Powerful Trixie made a bet. A bet I'll procure 12 pictures of Trixie - like the one in my sig, of similar quality - before next weekend. Trixie cosplaying, doing weird stuff, finding herself in unusual situations. So! I need ideas! Sketches of Unicorn ponies (I'm willing to vectorize them for free if they're good enough)! Moments from the show showing ponies with unusual poses and/or designs I could use to inspire myself! Finally, if someone would also like to draw something, I'd be glad to repay in some manner :P

Any takers?

Important GitP Links

Thread I - Because Friendship Is Magic
Thread II - Now About 20% Cooler
Thread III - The Great & Powerful Thread
Thread IV - Friendship is Sufficiently Advanced Technology
Thread V - Art of the Thread
Thread VI - MUFFINS!
Thread VII - The Grand Galloping Thread
Thread VIII - Friendship is Music
Thread IX - The Best Thread Ever
Thread X - We Trot 'til We Drop
Thread XI - "Mmph!"
Thread XII - No One Can Groove Like the Girls with the Hooves
Thread XIII - Fast/Fine/Fierce Thread
Thread XIV - Boots on Hooves / Bikinis on Top
Thread XV - The Greater and Powerful-er Thread
Thread XVI - There's a Pony for That!
Thread XVII - Call Upon the Thread Ponies!
Thread XVIII - Perfect Isn't Easy

Operation: Indiscriminate Friendship
My Little Pony: FiM RP Recruitment
Pony Week Discussion Thread
Pony Crime Pulp Fic/Game Thread

[Titanium Fox]

Yay new pony thread! All hail the Great and Powerful Trixie!

[RdMarquis]

*Stretches* Woke up just in time for the new thread.

Check this out. Doesn't Twilight look awesome? http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/view/40181

[MCerberus]

Ponythread has been classified a Level 5 cuteness hazard. Read at own warning.

Many Moods of Ponythead: Repost

Spoiler

Show

More ponymotes:

Spoiler

Show

[Trixie]

Um... So... <rolls die> Soft Serve wins this naming round, and, since we haven't had these bi-pony threads in a while... :P

Sorry, my browser freezes, give me one second to fix the OPic size issue :(

[the_druid_droid]

Mmm...do my olfactory processors detect that new thread smell?

[Beacon of Chaos]

Hi, I'm Diego Havoc! You may remember me from such threads as "My Little Pony XVI" and.... uh... that's it.

Yeah so. I posted like 3-4 times and then my PC died on me. I'm sure no one noticed I was gone, but I'm back anyway. I figured I'd wait for a new thread to start so... here I am!

So.... Um.... Have a random image dump!

Spoiler

Show

Also, a couple of threads back, Thanquol (I think) did a fic thing called "The Old Stories". Does anyone have the link to it? I lost it when my computer went down.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

First new thread! It's a strange new world!

I hope I'll make it out alive.

Also, this is the best thing ever:

[MCerberus]

TF2 match-maker put me in the Pony Fortress 2 server. Much love and tolerance was had. Then I abused the love and tolerance by being epic Spy and getting 3 achievements by stabbing Derpy lots.

[Kyouhen]

...

...

...

First off: hugging a Lich? Bad idea.

Nonsense! Once they're paralyzed they'll hug your forever!
...I should probably do something about that Con damage next time though... That could hurt...

Get this massive pile of semi-concious, frozen, Con-drained miniature equines The. Hell. OFF me!!!!!

Yessir! Sorrysir!

*slightly muffled sigh*

Success!

These days if we have, like, two inches of snow - will you stop doing that, Pinkie! - the entire country shuts down. We seem to be less geared up for it now than we were twenty years ago. (I reckon everyone just uses as an excuse to skive off myself...)

Yeah, I still laugh when stuff like that happens. Like recently when there was, what, 3? 4? 10? inches of snow in Washington and the entire city shut down? Because of that?
And yes I'm aware of the fact that they probably don't have the resources to deal with that much snow and not everyone is likely running around with their tires properly set for that, but it's still such an alien concept to shut down the city for such little snow.

There you go, sir, all free.

About. Freaking. Time.

Right. As soon you get a location, open a Gate - vertically - and desposit these paralytic pony projectiles right over Kyouhen's head.

...

Somepony better get ready to give those poor ponies a Restoration or seven to restore all their Con Drain, and something for all the damage caused by the Cold criticals.

...

...

Rassumfrassum see how he likes an equine avalache mutter mutter lousy pony-related weaponry gripe moan complain.

OHGODSPONIES.
...
I'mokwiththis.

My roomate heard that when it turned on, and bolted down stairs.

"Dude, did you REALLY just get meatspu- ****ING PONIES."

And then he stormed back up the stairs.

...Your roommate ran down that fast to laugh at you getting meatspun? You sir have an awesome roommate. Mostly for his response when he realized what happened, but the point still stands.

Almost every time a discussion of a popular story pops up somewhere, I feel like an incredibly snooty bully (the kind with fishnet stockings and a monocle), because my first instinct is to drop in from the skies and talk about all the flaws and reasons why the story doesn't deserve the accolades it gets. Maybe it would be better if I acted like a proper lady afterward and invited everypony to tea, but... argh.

I have become everything I hate. I am so wrapped up in literary critique that I have lost sight of the real reason why fanfiction exists: the enjoyment and delight of the authors and the readers. Things that achieve this deserve praise, regardless of their flaws. The flaws don't really matter outside of a discussion comparing the various stories.

Actually, could that be what sets me off? Am I taking the phrase, "one of the best" as a call to arms?

Go ahead and take it as a call to arms. Just make sure you don't do it out of spite and avoid saying anything that makes it sound like you're attacking the author. Really, these are only fanfictions. We're not talking about Lord of the Rings or anything here, there's going to be plenty of mistakes. If you can find reasons it doesn't deserve the title of Best Ever then help them fix it so it does!

[Capt. Ido Nos]

TF2 match-maker put me in the Pony Fortress 2 server. Much love and tolerance was had. Then I abused the love and tolerance by being epic Spy and getting 3 achievements by stabbing Derpy lots.

Where is this server/why didn't I know about this??

Unrelated: I've only recently come into the possession of one of those newfangled "smart" phones, and I'm still discovering the ramifications of what is now possible. For instance, it has now dawned on me that I can access this forum from literally anywhere. This may prove to be... detrimental to my sanity.

[MCerberus]

Where is this server/why didn't I know about this??

Picture relevant

Spoiler

Show

[EsperDerek]

So.... Um.... Have a random image dump!

Spoiler

Show

Oh my god. Oh my god. We were wrong all along. We were trying to compare the size of ponies by assuming the scale was identical in Equestria as it is on Earth, but we were wrong!

If Equestrian Ponies were to ever come to Earth, they would be giants striding along the land!

[the_druid_droid]

Nonsense! Once they're paralyzed they'll hug your forever!
...I should probably do something about that Con damage next time though... That could hurt...

Pony constructs! Not having a Con score does wonders for eliminating touch-based Con-drain...

*hugs the lich*

[Trixie]

Have relevant image dump #1? :P

Spoiler

Show

[Aotrs Commander]

Pony constructs! Not having a Con score does wonders for eliminating touch-based Con-drain...

*hugs the lich*

Does diddly-squat for the cold damage, though.

Or, for that matter, the pointy-end of an SK-4 series Snake missile...

Oh my god. Oh my god. We were wrong all along. We were trying to compare the size of ponies by assuming the scale was identical in Equestria as it is on Earth, but we were wrong!

If Equestrian Ponies were to ever come to Earth, they would be giants striding along the land!

I believe that theory has been pointed out

Spoiler

Show

once or twice

Spoiler

Show

Turns out that the scalar dimensions didn't mesh well, and even the Aotrs High Command wasn't expecting to fight eighteen-foot-tall, practically indestructible magic horses. Sadly, they didn't think to bring vehicular back-up; because who'd have thought Lord Death Despoil himself would be forced to withdraw from "little" ponies.) The Siege of Dream Castle is one of the blackest and most embarrassing days in Aotrs history.

before...

[Anarion]

New Ponythread. Woo. Now, to go see what I have missed since I stopped checking over the last 15 or so pages.

*Stretches* Woke up just in time for the new thread.

Check this out. Doesn't Twilight look awesome? http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/view/40181

That is a pretty good image. One of the best human versions of Twilight and Celestia imo.

Oh my god. Oh my god. We were wrong all along. We were trying to compare the size of ponies by assuming the scale was identical in Equestria as it is on Earth, but we were wrong!

If Equestrian Ponies were to ever come to Earth, they would be giants striding along the land!

/physicist
How can you judge scale from those pictures? It's true that Derpy looks large due to the zoom in and the fact that the earth seems to be curved in the background, but given the mutable nature of the Equestrian landmass, I don't think it's possible to judge scale accurately without some kind of known reference length. For that matter, do we even know that the Equestrian meter and the SI meter are the same length? Or that the speed of light is the same in Equestria as it is in the rest of the universe? Pinkie Pie seems to suggest that Equestria has different laws of causality than Earth does.
/end physicist

[Trixie]

And, Imagedump #2! :P

Spoiler

Show

[Titanium Fox]

Hi, I'm Diego Havoc! You may remember me from such threads as "My Little Pony XVI" and.... uh... that's it.

Yeah so. I posted like 3-4 times and then my PC died on me. I'm sure no one noticed I was gone, but I'm back anyway. I figured I'd wait for a new thread to start so... here I am!

So.... Um.... Have a random image dump!

Spoiler

Show

Also, a couple of threads back, Thanquol (I think) did a fic thing called "The Old Stories". Does anyone have the link to it? I lost it when my computer went down.

So. Much. Shipping. @_@

Also. I know you were around for a little while, but still.



You'll never escape us now...

One of us... One of us... One of us!

[the_druid_droid]

Does diddly-squat for the cold damage, though.

Or, for that matter, the pointy-end of an SK-4 series Snake missile...

You say cold damage, I say 'peak processor heat dissipation efficiency'.

The missiles could be an issue, however...

[Alabenson]

And now for a celebratory new thread image dump

Spoiler

Show

[Trixie]

New thread, and already so much win

[Rappy]

*Delurks*

Yay new thread!

*Relurks*

[Sunken Valley]

Now that's something you don't see everyday. A pony thread still on its first page.

[Mystic Muse]

Yay! My thread name idea was used! *glomps Trixie in thanks*

[MCerberus]

Now that's something you don't see everyday. A pony thread still on its first page.

That only happens every other day!.. or so it seems.

[dromer]

That only happens every other day!.. or so it seems.

Technically, it's every six days. I hereby nominate that this become a weekly holiday.

[TheAmishPirate]

Now that's something you don't see everyday. A pony thread still on its first page.

What's more rare is a pony thread still on its first page with no horrifying discussions or realizations. I think we're losing our touch.

[the_druid_droid]

Technically, it's every six days. I hereby nominate that this become a weekly holiday.

Who needs holidays when everyday is pony?

[MlleRouge]

Something about Big Mac in Diego_Havoc's image dump is very charming :3

He looks so nervous!