My Little Pony LI: FE

[Tiki Snakes]

As for SiuiS, Pinkie isn't an eldritch abomination, she just channels the energy of The Pink One as one whose mind can comprehend and manipulate the powers without going mad. Or as the Lich would post, Superpowers, superpowers everywhere.

Sentance is too long.
Pinkie isn't an eldritch abomination.

That's it, that's all. She's just a silly pony. She doesn't even regularly break the fourth wall, outside of fan-works and one-off gags.

[thubby]

Sentance is too long.
Pinkie isn't an eldritch abomination.

That's it, that's all. She's just a silly pony. She doesn't even regularly break the fourth wall, outside of fan-works and one-off gags.

you just keep thinking that

[MCerberus]

Sentance is too long.
Pinkie isn't an eldritch abomination.

That's it, that's all. She's just a silly pony. She doesn't even regularly break the fourth wall, outside of fan-works and one-off gags.

Well at the very least we know that she's thinking with portals... and doesn't need to even have fancy effects like Twilight does.

[DigoDragon]

- Having the statue of a chaos god on hand makes a really good deterrent for people planning on hitting your capital with an orbital strike.

Except for Ponythread.

If you chucked Discord on a trajectory out of the system, the statistical likelihood is he would not encounter ANYTHING. At ALL. EVER.

True, that is the most likely outcome, but there is a non-zero chance he eventually encounters something. Moreso if Lix's Narrative Causality statement comes into play.

[Aotrs Commander]

True, that is the most likely outcome, but there is a non-zero chance he eventually encounters something. Moreso if Lix's Narrative Causality statement comes into play.

It's a darn sight lower than leaving him unguarded in the garden.

Same as killing the Joker. It might well not stop him permenatly, but I think even Mr J would find it ever so slightly harder to escape being, y'know, dead, than Arkham Ayslum's revolving door system...

And if narrative casualities always says "screw you" then nothing you ever do ever matters in the first place, so why bother?

But I, personally, don't believe that, anymore than I believe that all the preportedly unkillable concept personifications (e.g. Unicron, Galactus, most demon lords blahblahblah...) that continuously spout off about how they can't be defeated are really unkillable.

[Tiki Snakes]

Same as killing the Joker. It might well not stop him permenatly, but I think even Mr J would find it ever so slightly harder to escape being, y'know, dead, than Arkham Ayslum's revolving door system...

Well, actually killing the Joker should, by all accounts, do the job.
Or at least get the universe to drop the normal, non powered human claim and admit he's a mutant or mischeif spirit incarnate or something.
(Much like how Batman is clearly a low-grade mutant, with instinctive grasp of martial arts and a minor regeneration factor).

[Eakin]

90% more humor with the addition of your signature.

I know right? I've been waiting for this moment since I first met him. He has given me remarkably few shots at using it though.

It's my signature because I know how important proofreading is

You have a fundamentally different understanding of the situations than I.

The good guys are always trying to catch up to the bad guys. It's almost never the other way around.

Only if you limit yourself to where the status quo for the setting favors the good guys. The entire spy thriller genre, for example, exploits the tension of the outnumbered good guys trying to stay one step ahead of the evil army/secret police/wave of all-devouring energy. You can see this trope in works ranging from Lord of the Rings to Schindler's List

Well, of course. The problem is Dragon Ball Z.

Power means amount of energy that can be summoned up for a magical feat. And it is exceedingly difficult to display power in non destructive form. In fact, let that be my challenge to you all. Display power in a way that is not KAMEHAMEHAAAAAAA! And without establishing arbitrary difficulty ("oh wow, that's the hardest spell ever and she did five at once!"). Celestia is a healer, nurturer, a guide and morale lifter. Luna is mysterious, tempestuous, emotional, sensual and fey. One subtly guarantees all life and most chemical processes and basically 95% o EVERYTHING continues, the other accidentally made lightning bolts and cracked the ground when even Celestia landing only made a hearty thump. It's like fire and gravity. Sure, gravity is superior but for destruction you want fire.

If Celestia's Arbitrary Mana Reserve of standardized pony power units is 9,001 against Luna's 6,000 but Luna has a more damaging spell, a broader array of debuffs and several save-or-dies, she is the "more powerful" of the two. Even though Celestia has healing spells, regeneration, delay death, contingent revivify and resist elements. Luna can't "win" but is most powerful. Entirely academic, entirely based on a biased understanding of power.

Celestia has a bigger reserve and a much wiser, long term application. Luna has a slightly bigger bus and can generate considerably more change in the world acutely.

OK, first of all I'll accept your premise that power = magical death beams, even though other forms of power (political, economic, etc) are often more interesting to write about although not germane to this particular topic.

The idea that the pony with less power can never win a fight is over-simplistic, as if the two combatants were just comparing a single factor and the one with more of it wins automatically.

Who wins depends on tactics, psychology, discipline, and even what "winning" means to each combatant. So if even if Celestia is 50% stronger or whatever than Luna, if Luna can goad her into a running battle that takes her away from something Celestia is supposed to be guarding while an Earth pony with a power level of 0.2 sneaks in and hits the self-destruct button, Luna wins.

Even in a toe to toe fight, two fighters can have different criteria for what they call a win. See: Rocky.

I thought about this a lot when I was writing Duel Nature

Huh. Well, it makes me think of the depiction of Amaterasu in Okami.

Amaterasu has some really good pony fan art, actually

Spoiler

Show

[Lix Lorn]

"Ahh! Oh, right. Now I remember. Ponythread."

*Does her best to ignore Lix tackle-hugging Sundancer from no-where*

(snuggles the adorable, lost pony)

It's a darn sight lower than leaving him unguarded in the garden.

Oh, no mistake. Imprisoning the joker is an action you take at the START of the story, or in the middle. Killing or shooting them into space is the end of the first story, leading into the sequel.

And make no mistake, there's always a sequel with a villain like Discord.
And in my experience... yeah, the universe DOES screw you over. But it does so in interesting ways.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Have anyone ever seen some of the more.... descriptive Pinkie x Dicord fics?

Her nickname there is Kinkie Pie.

[Eakin]

Have anyone ever seen some of the more.... descriptive Pinkie x Dicord fics?

Her nickname there is Kinkie Pie.

Damn it I was going to use that name for a gag in the last chapter of Always Has Been!

Although probably in a much more PG context than you read it in.

Oh well. I'm still using it.

EDIT: Not THAT kind of gag, you pervs

[Dark Elf Bard]

What do you mean not that kind of-


Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[Pendulous]

I see the "FE" on the title name, and I think it means "Friendship Express". I don't know. I hate, hate, hate acronyms, so one that's never used becomes my ultimate pet peeve.

I have no news really, except that a fellow MMOC brony and awesome artist Valcron/Dreatos(I think is his name on DA) has a new Tumblr. Fans of Calvin and Hobbes should enjoy it

http://twilightandsmarty.tumblr.com/

[Tvtyrant]

I see the "FE" on the title name, and I think it means "Friendship Express". I don't know. I hate, hate, hate acronyms, so one that's never used becomes my ultimate pet peeve.

I have no news really, except that a fellow MMOC brony and awesome artist Valcron/Dreatos(I think is his name on DA) has a new Tumblr. Fans of Calvin and Hobbes should enjoy it

http://twilightandsmarty.tumblr.com/

The title spells LIFE. That was my intent when I came up with it, ponies seem to imbue it with all sorts of strange meanings.

[Siosilvar]

I see the "FE" on the title name, and I think it means "Friendship Express". I don't know. I hate, hate, hate acronyms, so one that's never used becomes my ultimate pet peeve.

*facepalm*

That's really all I have to say, aside from that I've been having computer issues lately. *sigh* Why is "Reinstall Windows!" always the solution?

[erikun]

Have anyone ever seen some of the more.... descriptive Pinkie x Dicord fics?

Her nickname there is Kinkie Pie.

I'm pretty sure there's a Kinkie Pie asktumblr out there. It's pretty much what you'd think it is.

I see the "FE" on the title name, and I think it means "Friendship Express". I don't know. I hate, hate, hate acronyms, so one that's never used becomes my ultimate pet peeve.

So did you like the episode MMMotFE?

[Eakin]

*facepalm*

That's really all I have to say, aside from that I've been having computer issues lately. *sigh* Why is "Reinstall Windows!" always the solution?

Because you use windows? /unfoundedcomputerelitism

[Aotrs Commander]

I hate, hate, hate acronyms, so one that's never used becomes my ultimate pet peeve.

It rather pleases me to think that you burn a little more every time you see my screen name...

[thubby]

It rather pleases me to think that you burn a little more every time you see my screen name...

wait, that's an acronym?
what in equestria for?

[Lix Lorn]

Army of the Red Spear.
KEEP UP

[Pokonic]

"I liked that cutie mark. It was cool and unique! Now I'm just going to have to go home and buck apples until I get my apple bucking cutie mark,"

The pony formerly known as Metal Mask rolled her eyes. "I suppose it was inevitable."

"Telaports"

Can I offer you a jo- oh, huh. Err, do I know you? Also, I suggest the mask with the moving swirly parts on it.

I see the "FE" on the title name, and I think it means "Friendship Express". I don't know. I hate, hate, hate acronyms, so one that's never used becomes my ultimate pet peeve.

I originaly saw it as Fallout: Equestria, if it makes you feel better.

I'm pretty sure there's a Kinkie Pie asktumblr out there. It's pretty much what you'd think it is.

Ehh, I always prefered Molestia.

..... Did I just type that? Huh.

[Deadly]

Names wanted!

I need some good names for the Shadowbolt equivalents of Spitfire and Soarin'. Anyone got any good suggestions?

That's what I'd call tone, not flavour. Tone belongs to the story, flavour is about the setting. Could you write a comedy in Lovecraft's universe? Yes. (and at this point I think we're agreeing, albeit with different words) A skilled writer could (and would have to) maintain the feeling that untold horrors lurk in the shadows, that a man's sanity is a fragile thing when exposed to the larger truths of an uncaring universe. The flavour can be delivered via non-euclidean éclairs and ineffable soufflés instead of tentacled monsters, provided the delivery is good enough. But the moment you remove the horrors, render them describable, present a man who's mind can resist the true face of reality... then you've completely lost the flavour. It is no longer the Lovecraft universe, just something that looks like it at first glance.

I think I can see your point. I will agree that a dark story will not have the same flavor as the show, because the show is obviously not very dark (despite a few slightly dark scenes, like petrified Twilight or evil Cadance trapping Twilight).

But the show and the setting are not the same thing. The show is a series of short stories with a particular flavor, set in this somewhat generic world called Equestria. If you were writing an episode then it would indeed be wrong, maybe you could even call it "out of character", to make things too dark because that's not the flavor of the show.

But there's nothing in the setting which won't work just fine as the basis for a dark story. There's nothing in the setting that says it's out of character for ponies to face war, death, grief, madness, crushing sadness ... whatever you like, or that they have to face these things with a laugh and a smile all the time (even in the show they don't always take things with a smile). Such restrictions exist in the show, to some degree, but not in the setting.

If we're arguing that it's OOC for the show then I will agree with you, but it is not OOC for the setting. It's not OOC for ponies in general.

Totally this. I'm greatly enjoying what I see as an open, frank and friendly discussion. I do hope I haven't come off as otherwise.

It's fine. I just have a tendency to spend more time on these discussions than is strictly good, it tends to occupy my mind. It's really my own fault

[Strife Warzeal]

Ehh, I always prefered Molestia.

..... Did I just type that? Huh.

Me too. I... ummm... *Ninja Vanish*

I follow pretty much everything pony related on my main tumblr. Leads to finding out a lot of things. It's amazing what mod-blogs can lead you to through re-blogs.

[Dark Elf Bard]

DeathFire and Slicin'.

[Pokonic]

Names wanted!

I need some good names for the Shadowbolt equivalents of Spitfire and Soarin'. Anyone got any good suggestions?

Charnel Pit and Preumbra?

[Lix Lorn]

Typhoon and Umbra.

[erikun]

Names wanted!

I need some good names for the Shadowbolt equivalents of Spitfire and Soarin'. Anyone got any good suggestions?

Frostfell and Tailwind?

I'm not quite clear if you want names for Shadowbolts that are equivalent to Spitfire and Soarin, or want names for the Shadowbolt-equivalents to Spitfire and Soarin.

[Deadly]

Frostfell and Tailwind?

I'm not quite clear if you want names for Shadowbolts that are equivalent to Spitfire and Soarin, or want names for the Shadowbolt-equivalents to Spitfire and Soarin.

The latter. Names for the leader and some random stallion of the Shadowbolts, they don't have to be similar names to "Spitfire" and "Soarin'"

Some good suggestions, but keep 'em coming

[Dark Elf Bard]

Lix and Lorn

[Deadly]

Lix and Lorn

Actually for some reason I think Flix (or maybe Flick) would be a really cool name for somepony, though probably not the Shadowbolts. I might have a different use for it

[DigoDragon]

It's a darn sight lower than leaving him unguarded in the garden.

Oh I agree. I'm surprised (now that there's a vacancy) that Celestia didn't put his stoned butt in the moon. I guess it doesn't work that way, but eh, deep space works for me.
Even if a floating Discord statue hits something in space, it's most likely going to be the gravity well of a large celestial object-- like a star.

Well, actually killing the Joker should, by all accounts, do the job.

As an aside, that is the primary reason I enjoyed the McGinnis Batman over the Wayne Batman. Villains had a lower survival rate against McGinnis.

Why is "Reinstall Windows!" always the solution?

From personal experience working in a computer call center, that was usually the fastest response to fix an issue. Particularly when the computer's Install Disk was programmed to be fairly automatic.

How did it go?
Time = Money. Money = Power. SQR(Money) = Evil.
-> Time = Evil^2