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[Conkersbadfurday]

Hmm...wasn't feeling this episode.

I didn't like the premise and Rarity as well as most of Canterlot conforming to ONE pony's critique on food really bothered me. Rarity of all ponies should know better than to conform to the status quo despite the place being in Canterlot and being a fashion designer. Even when Pinkie was advertising the place, she couldn't even convince Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine to try out the place even when they're friends. That just didn't sit right with me. And Rarity managing to get a crowd of ponies to try out the restaurant by herself was a little unbelievable to me.

The Bollywood-like song was good however.

I was feeling this way as well. Rarity has a business in fashion, and that means her entire career is standing out from everyone else. To go "eh doesn't apply here" just came across as really wrong.

I understand the counterarguments people have come up with, but during the episode, it really rubbed me the wrong way.

Song was indeed awesome, even if Rarity wasn't acting like Rarity in it.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Late, but here's the episode roundup.

PREVIOUS EPISODE
Sibling Photo
College Boy - Go to source for larger version.
Simpler Times

NOTES
ED's episode followup noted that the food at The Tasty Treat actually was Indian food, including common foods like naan and samosas. I guess I didn't recognize those two due to the art style. They also note a couple of other chef cameos not in that picture I posted before.

SCREENSHOTS
I hadn't realized that the waiters at the fancy restaurants actually did all look a bit different.

The inside of the Tasty Treat is nice. Saffron is getting a lot of attention, but this painter pony has an interesting design too. You know, Pinkie's tail really is comfy looking.

Also, meme that's been appearing on Derpibooru.

GIFS
I liked when Starlight did this. Lamprey Pinkie.

And two Windows memes. One (small), two (small)

FANWORKS
A bunch of Saffron art.
Making Curry - I think the first art of her to appear
Speedpaint
Keep It Traditional

Japanese art
Some Spice
Oh, and there's also art of this character, Sweet Biscuits, who originally appeared in "Canterlot Boutique" in Rarity's imagination in her song.

I love this MrPoniator gif

 

[ZealousD]

Lamprey Pinkie.

That's a horrifying image. Somebody with more talent and patience than me can photoshop that one.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Friendship is Magic #43 - Ponies of the Dark Water part 1
This was a pretty decent issue overall. I like that this arc appears to be more lighthearted than the 4-issue arcs, but I'm not sure there's enough to carry three issues. Scrooge McDuck Applejack was amusing, though I was hoping for more Scroogisms. I love Dr. Doom Rarity. Rainbow Dash just flying around quickly doesn't seem evil so much as annoying. We didn't see much of the others. I was wondering if they were going to do a pony version of Midnight Sparkle from Friendship Games, but it doesn't look like it. It's nice that Luna is playing a big part in this story

The art is generally good, though I was initially confused by the panel where Pinkie pushes Twilight into the water, since it looks more like Twilight reacting to someone else jumping in.

Silver Quill had some amusing comics for this issue, including one that addresses the anime in the room and all of the delegating going on. My favorite is this.

==

Screenshot and some details from Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree from a Danish dubber. The picture is just a shot of Sunset talking to Rainbow. The details are that the movie is still incomplete, and a trailer will probably come out soon. And one of Twilight's lines is, "Oh no no no no..."

==

MLP adult coloring book announced! For those unfamiliar, it's not that kind of adult, but rather a coloring book with very detailed line drawings. This has become popular as a form of relaxation recently.

Similarly, four kids books announced. At least two are just adaptions of show stories, but the level 1 reading book about Starlight appears to be original. The last is just an activity book.

==

I might as well use this post to unleash some Saffron art that's appeared since my last post. I feel kind of weird posting a bunch of pictures so soon after my last picture dump, so have some ant-sized thumbnails.
Saffron Masala
Same title
It's gonna work out just fine you'll see
Pinkie and Saffron
Another one just called Saffron Masala
And one last one called that

At least three plushies have been made. One, two, three.

And lastly, some remixes of "It's Gonna Work". Not a fan of the middle one, but the other two are decent enough.

 

[Strider_Blaze]

MLP The Movie logo.

Kind of disappointed with no subtitle, though the logo looks otherwise good. Plus the fact there is already a MLP movie titled "MLP the Movie," so there is the worry of confusion.

 

[SigmasonicX]

That "MOVIE" part of the logo feels way too big. Like you see a poster and go, "Ooh, a movie, but what's it a movie for? *squints* Pony... Little... My... oh, My Little Pony."

As for why no subtitle, it's based on why DuckTales: the Movie failed while A Goofy Movie (Goof Troop: the Movie) was a modest success. You name it after a well known IP instead of a particular series, so parents won't think they have to have watched Friendship in Magic in order to watch the movie.

 

[Strider_Blaze]

Hmmm you make a point. It was more of a personal nitpick on my part; and it shouldn't exactly matter, so as long as the quality of the writing and animation turns out great. Plus the competition is hopefully not that great, the only films potentially being close in the month of October being a Blade Runner sequel (?) and a 4th Insidious film and the Grinch being delayed another year.

Course the November following that, is giving us Thor: Ragnarok, Justice League (dear lord, didn't know it would be released around the same time) and Pixar's Coco. So here is hoping the film does pretty decent by then.

Anyways, the first half of season 6 releasing on Netflix's streaming service on July 30th. Jeez gotta wait another month! :/

 

[SigmasonicX]

Hmmm you make a point. It was more of a personal nitpick on my part; and it shouldn't exactly matter, so as long as the quality of the writing and animation turns out great. Plus the competition is hopefully not that great, the only films potentially being close in the month of October being a Blade Runner sequel (?) and a 4th Insidious film and the Grinch being delayed another year.

Course the November following that, is giving us Thor: Ragnarok, Justice League (dear lord, didn't know it would be released around the same time) and Pixar's Coco. So here is hoping the film does pretty decent by then.

Even without competition, I can't see the MLP movie doing particularly amazing, both in terms of critical reviews and box office. Even with fans, the show is usually something that grows on you over time, and initial impressions are rarely great. Critics will likely just consider it an acceptable kids movie, even if it has a lot of qualities the fans like, and I just know there will be a ton of reviews that go, "The movie was alright, but it didn't turn me into a brony."

Concerning the box office:
* For general audiences unfamiliar with bronies, the only ones likely to see it are little girls and one or both parents. MLP is still too much of a "girls-only" franchise for parents to take sons. This will by far be the largest group that goes to see it, and it's still not that large of a group.
* For non-bronies familiar with bronies that have negative views of them, they mostly wouldn't have seen the movie in the first place, but a small number of them overlap with the parents in the above group, and thus might be unwilling to take their daughters to watch it out of fear of encountering bronies. I wouldn't be surprised if some widely read article went online warning other parents about bronies around the movie's release.
* For non-bronies familiar with bronies that have neutral to positive views of them, they may or may not watch the movie in theaters.
* For non-bronies that hear the show is good but hadn't gotten around to watching it, they may or may not watch the movie in theaters.
* As for bronies themselves, you will still have a lot of people uncomfortable with expressing their interest in the show publicly, so only a relatively small portion will actually watch it in theaters.

I'd be impressed if the box office got past 20 million dollars. That said, home media releases have a much greater chance of success, which I'm sure is what Hasbro is actually banking on. I think the theater release is better understood as advertising for a home release, drawing the attention of parents and galvanizing the fans. I wouldn't be surprised if they even made a deal with Netflix to put it on instant watch quickly.

 

[SigmasonicX]

And in less cynical news, September comic solicitations.

Friendship is Magic #46

Ted Anderson (w) • Agnes Garbowska (a & mc) • Sara Richard (sc) • Caytlin "Pixel Prism" Vilbrandt (ric)
It’s election season in Ponyville and Mayor Mare looks to have the race in the bag. But when Filthy Rich throws his hat in the ring, all bets are off!
* Part one of a timely two-part event!

Friends Forever #32

Ted Anderson (w) • Jay Fosgitt (a & sc) • Tony Fleecs (mc)
The shiest pony who’s ever shied, Fluttershy, meets the most adventurous adventurer ever: Daring Do! When the two embark on a perilous journey together it may be up to Fluttershy to teach Daring Do the meaning of bravery!

I'm not a fan of how the comics have consistently portrayed Filthy Rich as an evil businessman character, when he seemed nice enough in his one major episode, but it could be a fun arc. As for Friends Forever, I was actually hoping for a while that we'd get a team up between Daring Do and Rarity, in reference to Temple of Doom, but this still looks like a potentially fun combination. I'm surprised that Ted Anderson is writing both issues that month.

EDIT: Fried Pie variant cover for #44, notable for being the first time pony Sunset Shimmer has been on a cover.

 

[Choppasmith]

Phew finally caught up after missing a bunch of episodes. After my DVR flubbed and didn't record anything past the 2 part season opener, I didn't have a chance to catch up. I was waiting for a good time to buy the episodes on iTunes (Hasbro has been really inconsistent with offering Season Passes) Finally purchased the episodes and caught up last week.

Some thoughts

3. The Gift of the Maud Pie

So-so episode, but it DID have Maud Pie.

4. On Your Marks

Again, I felt this episode was okay, but it WAS a natural progression of the CMC getting their cutie marks. I was really surprised that the revelation of a simple misunderstanding on Apple Bloom's part was just "Ohh.. whoops, moving on"

5. Gauntlet of Fire

Yay dragons! Felt like an intentional nod to How to Train Your Dragon at some points. Really hope we see more Tsundere Ember in the future.

6. No Second Prances

Good episode. Glimmer and Trixie work so well together. I think the only thing "bad" about it was suffering through Twilight's ignorance and failure to see the problem. I almost want to say they dumbed her down for the sake of the episode, but thinking about it, they didn't really.

7. Newbie Dash

Never been one for Dash episodes, but this was pretty good between Dash NOT wanting to be called Crash because of her bullied childhood and trying to act like her friends. Must've been hard for Ashleigh to do Rainbow Dash imitating Applejack without actually doing Applejack, but the result was hilarious!

8. A Hearth's Warming Tail

Best episode of the season by far! I was amazed not only by the fact they it's a fresh take on Christmas Carol, but the fact they managed to squeeze it in a single 20 minute episode! Looking forward to finding remixes of THAT song.

10. Saddle Row & Rec

This episode fascinated me for how different it was. Lots of fun Easter Eggs and references. Loved it!

11. Applejack's "Day" Off

I'm kinda indifferent on this episode. It just wasn't that interesting to me, and the fact that the big revelation for Applejack's wasted time was this long, silly ritual, that she no longer actually needed to do just fell flat with me. I think it might've been better if Twilight and Spike did AJ's chores in the way they'd expect to do them only to have trouble and finding the only way to do them WAS AJ's silly rituals.

12. Flutter Brutter

Yay! Flutterhshy's family! LINK PONY!! But seriously, interesting episode, I saw the post saying that Fluttershy was assertive and not really shy this episode and yet felt in character the whole time, so yeah that's it all right. I think it's interesting that in older episodes Fluttershy would've been more like her parents and the contrast shows just how far she's come along.

13. Spice Up Your Life

Fun episode. Great new characters. I was surprised by the ending too. I figured they were going to pull a Ratatouille and have the critic pony have a change of heart once trying the food but they went for a "Form your OWN opinion" type moral. I like it! Great song too!


Anyway, hope to be a regular viewer of these threads again. I just want to give a HUUUUGE thanks to SigmasonicX for you nice summary/fanart roundup posts. In the early days of the fandom I was really on top of all the fanart and remixes that came out. It was because I only worked 3 eight-hour days a week, so I had PLENTY of free time for that stuff. But then around the time Season 4 started I got bumped up to 5 eight-hour days which really cut into my free time. Well, recently my new boss has got me down to 5 five and a half-hour shifts giving me more free time again. The only thing is I've missed so much, I just don't know where to begin! It's overwhelming! Your posts are a nice start though, so again, thanks!

 

[SigmasonicX]

Thanks for the compliment. I made the roundup posts specifically for people catching up to or revisiting the threads, so they could get fanworks contemporary to the episodes without needing another site open. And I largely agree with your opinions about the episodes.

And now that I'm not in danger of a triple post,

Liev Schreiber talks a bit about his role in the MLP movie on Jimmy Kimmel. We knew he was in it, but now we know he plays the villain. A bit of a disappointment for me, since I was hoping for a female villain, but I'm sure he'll be good. He joined the cast because he wanted to be in more family-friendly films after playing so many villains that aren't child-friendly, only to ironically be cast as a villain again.

And a Guardians of Harmony toy package also has the movie logo. Maybe we're going to get a big battle scene with everyone decked out in army and impractical weapons in the movie.

 

[draetenth]

Liev Schreiber talks a bit about his role in the MLP movie on Jimmy Kimmel. We knew he was in it, but now we know he plays the villain. A bit of a disappointment for me, since I was hoping for a female villain, but I'm sure he'll be good. He joined the cast because he wanted to be in more family-friendly film, only to ironically be cast as a villain again.

Weren't there early leaks about the villain being an evil male alicorn or something? I think it came up from the Sony leaks so it probably isn't even true...

Over/under on how quickly Celestia and Luna get their asses kicked and need Twilight's help?

 

[PaulloDEC]

Anyway, hope to be a regular viewer of these threads again. I just want to give a HUUUUGE thanks to SigmasonicX for you nice summary/fanart roundup posts. In the early days of the fandom I was really on top of all the fanart and remixes that came out. It was because I only worked 3 eight-hour days a week, so I had PLENTY of free time for that stuff. But then around the time Season 4 started I got bumped up to 5 eight-hour days which really cut into my free time. Well, recently my new boss has got me down to 5 five and a half-hour shifts giving me more free time again. The only thing is I've missed so much, I just don't know where to begin! It's overwhelming! Your posts are a nice start though, so again, thanks!

Yup, you do great work Sigma. I don't post here as often as I should, and you're basically carrying Ponygaf at this point.

And a Guardians of Harmony toy package also has the movie logo. Maybe we're going to get a big battle scene with everyone decked out in army and impractical weapons in the movie.

This is interesting to me specifically because I really want to know if Guardians is more than just a toy line. I've fancied the idea of FiM spinning off into a new series while the MLP brand gets rebooted for a while, so links between the film and Guardians interest me greatly.

Weren't there early leaks about the villain being an evil male alicorn or something? I think it came up from the Sony leaks so it probably isn't even true...

Over/under on how quickly Celestia and Luna get their asses kicked and need Twilight's help?

Pretty sure you're right on the first bit, though the Sony leaks date back to March 2014 so much could've changed since.

As for the Celestia/Luna situation, I'm pretty curious as to how that's gonna pan out. Celestia has the potential to be a Dumbledore-like figure in the film, so just tossing her into a cage or whatever might not be the direction things go in.

 

[DrForester]

Over/under on how quickly Celestia and Luna get their asses kicked and need Twilight's help?

Meghan is writing it, so based on her previous two parters....

So Celestia and Luna will most likely be out of the picture before the end of the first act. The other 5 will be shuffled off to do some busy work while Twilight has the adventure, but will return in the last few minutes to be fuses in the magic friendship cannon.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Meghan is writing it, so based on her previous two parters....

So Celestia and Luna will most likely be out of the picture before the end of the first act. The other 5 will be shuffled off to do some busy work while Twilight has the adventure, but will return in the last few minutes to be fuses in the magic friendship cannon.

The first part is inevitable, but as for the second part, we already know, from the posts starting here, that

Spoiler

the story involves the Main Six meeting seaponies and hippogriffs, with Twilight using a transformation spell on everyone, which matches up to information from the Sony leaks that they're gathering three stones. I'd be amazed if these meetings with other species weren't used to showcase the non-Twilights.

Incidentally, looking at the ED link now, it's rather surprising that ED was forced to remove their pictures and information at some point.

In general, one thing about the movie I wonder about is how the non-Twilights will be handled. Rarity in particular could be a difficult character to present correctly in the time allotted. They'd have to present her as being more useful than you'd expect a dressmaker to be, while still making sure they don't shoo away her fashion aspect, which would imply that being fashionable isn't a "good way to be a girl". Fluttershy would also have to be reestablished as being shy.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Friends Forever #30 - Twilight and Cadance
This was a pretty decent issue. From the cover, I was expecting Cadance to be considered less important than the other princesses, but instead it's about her becoming self conscious about being nothing more than the pretty one, which no one else actually believes. The way she felt down about the way she thought people perceived her felt pretty realistic.

I liked the gags with the merchandise, particularly the costumes. Twilight and Cadance's incognito names of Twiggy and Candlewick were cute. It's too bad we didn't get a reference to Shining Harmer from the roller derby scene in the Rarity/Babs issue possibly being Cadance. I liked when Shining Armor's subordinates brought their dispute to Cadance and everyone had o_o faces.

One complaint is that the placement of the word bubbles was confusing at times, particularly when a response was higher up than the initial statement.

It's weird that there was another preview for the first issue of the Strawberry Shortcake comic at the end. There was an issue months ago that had the exact same preview, so it must have come out a while ago, in which case, it isn't a preview.

SIlver Quill's review is much harsher on the comic. He brings up that while the comic criticizes the way Cadance is presented in official merchandise, it doesn't offer any alternative, leaving her to wallow in self-pity until Twilight boosts her confidence.

So ultimately we have a story that calls attention to Cadance's limited presentation, but does not offer an alternative. We're assured that she does offer leadership and inspiration, but witness her fail at both. We see a hint that she wants to grow, yet by the end we've been assured for the status quo. Despite this comic's efforts, I can't say she's evolved beyond the image of a pretty, popular, pink princess.

Which, yeah, I suppose is a good point, but I don't think the comic was quite going for that. While I could definitely use more stories where Celestia and Cadance actually do stuff, I don't think the proper resolution to Cadance becoming upset about how others view her is for her to go out adventuring and such, when the issue was that she didn't actually understand how she was viewed. I thought it was fine for the comic to never actually show Cadance performing her role as a princess well, since I don't think it was necessary for the comic to prove to us that she usually does that. Still, it wouldn't kill the franchise to give Cadance more to do. Oh, and Shining Armor, I suppose.

==

On another note, update on the official pen and paper RPG. It looks like the art will be done by Amy Mebberson! Or maybe just the cover? It's a bit unclear.

 

[PaulloDEC]

I enjoyed the Cadance/Twi comic, but I'm somewhat in agreeance with Silver Quill. Rather than just having Twilight give a pretty speech, it would've been nice if Cadance has been able to do something to remind herself of her own merit. If she'd had the chance to solve some kind of problem she'd could've seen her value not just in herself, but in the way her people react to her actions.

Like Quill says, it ends up being a story about Cadance doubting her usefulness while spending the whole issue not being useful. Twilight tells us she's useful, but we ought to have seen it.

 

[DrForester]

Kind of surprised that the Twilight and Cadance comic got approved. I enjoyed it, but it really is just putting a giant spotlight on the fact that the show has totally screwed up this character.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Kind of surprised that the Twilight and Cadance comic got approved. I enjoyed it, but it really is just putting a giant spotlight on the fact that the show has totally screwed up this character.

I see what you're saying, but I doubt the production team see Cadance as someone they "screwed up". If the Mane 6 are A-tier, the CMC are B-tier and Celestia and Luna are C-tier, then Cadance is basically D-tier or lower in terms of importance.

The TV crew are probably happy for the comic writers to explore a character they aren't much interested in exploring themselves.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Zap2It lists August 6 as the end of the hiatus. I was expecting late September, so this is a big surprise. Just one more month!

Google had episode synopses listed, and one of them was confirmed by the above, so both are probably real.

13. Stranger Than Fan Fiction - August 6
Rainbow Dash meets a pony at the Daring Do Convention in Manehattan who hates Daring Do as much as she loves it.

14. The Cart Before the Ponies - August 6
The Cutie Mark Crusaders get the chance to race in the annual Applewood Derby; their teammates Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash take over the competition.

It's unlikely that the second episode actually is airing on the same day as the first, so it's probably just a placeholder. It's not listed on Zap2It yet.

While I'm disappointed that we aren't getting a story where fans imagine what the Mane 6 are like, both sound potentially fun.

==

Mike Vogel and Meghan McCarthy are working on some project that they will reveal soon. It may not be related to ponies, but I think it's worth speculating about. There's Guardians of Harmony, which still hasn't obviously tied into the show, so this might be related to that. Another guess of mine is a TV special that has the Equestria Girls characters come to Ponyland. It would also be interesting if it was some original property.

Future Edit: It's Guardians of Harmony, which wasn't actually officially unveiled until this point.

==

New soundtrack on Amazon, notable for including "Pinkie Pride" tracks that were left out of previous soundtracks. It was previously theorized that they weren't included because of Weird Al's singing, so I guess whatever rights issues were involved got resolved.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Zap2It lists August 6 as the end of the hiatus. I was expecting late September, so this is a big surprise. Just one more month!

Google had episode synopses listed, and one of them was confirmed by the above, so both are probably real.

13. Stranger Than Fan Fiction - August 6
Rainbow Dash meets a pony at the Daring Do Convention in Manehattan who hates Daring Do as much as she loves it.

14. The Cart Before the Ponies - August 6
The Cutie Mark Crusaders get the chance to race in the annual Applewood Derby; their teammates Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash take over the competition.

It's unlikely that the second episode actually is airing on the same day as the first, so it's probably just a placeholder. It's not listed on Zap2It yet.

While I'm disappointed that we aren't getting a story where fans imagine what the Mane 6 are like, both sound potentially fun.

==

Mike Vogel and Meghan McCarthy are working on some project that they will reveal soon. It may not be related to ponies, but I think it's worth speculating about. There's Guardians of Harmony, which still hasn't obviously tied into the show, so this might be related to that. Another guess of mine is a TV special that has the Equestria Girls characters come to Ponyland. It would also be interesting if it was some original property.

==

New soundtrack on Amazon, notable for including "Pinkie Pride" tracks that were left out of previous soundtracks. It was previously theorized that they weren't included because of Weird Al's singing, so I guess whatever rights issues were involved got resolved.

Those synopses sound pretty neat, and the broadcast date is pretty sweet if correct.

Intrigued about Meghan and Mike's secret project. I'd like for it to be some GoH related, but I'm not going to get excited just yet. Could easily be something totally unrelated to pony.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

So the pony at the Daring Do convention is just a troll?

 

[SigmasonicX]

So the pony at the Daring Do convention is just a troll?

I really do hope that that pony is just at the convention to complain to everyone, and isn't like a staff worker or someone forced to be there like some have suggested.

And on a related note, Zap2It changed the air date for "Stranger Than Fan Fiction" to July 30, so just four weeks until more pony!

 

[PaulloDEC]

So the pony at the Daring Do convention is just a troll?

Maybe an employee?

Makes me think of this guy:

 

[SigmasonicX]

New episode synopsis.

15. 28 Pranks Later - August 13
Rainbow Dash's excessive pranking gets out of hand; the ponies decide to give her a taste of her own medicine.

Uh... huh...

My thoughts immediately went to this being "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well 2", but then I realized that they've been pretty good at taking into account past character development this season. We know for a fact that the crew knows about MMDW's reception, so maybe this will actually have the commonly suggested fix for that episode, where the other girls also go out of control.

Now, my biggest hope for this episode is a part where Twilight suggests a prank that involves a complicated spell that alters the state of reality in a certain region, only to be rejected for going too far.

On another note, the Guardians of Harmony Celestia figure was put up for prerelease and has already sold out. Hopefully that means it sells well and we'll get more official toys like that.

 

[PaulloDEC]

New episode synopsis.

15. 28 Pranks Later - August 13
Rainbow Dash's excessive pranking gets out of hand; the ponies decide to give her a taste of her own medicine.

Uh... huh...

My thoughts immediately went to this being "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well 2", but then I realized that they've been pretty good at taking into account past character development this season. We know for a fact that the crew knows about MMDW's reception, so maybe this will actually have the commonly suggested fix for that episode, where the other girls also go out of control.

Now, my biggest hope for this episode is a part where Twilight suggests a prank that involves a complicated spell that alters the state of reality in a certain region, only to be rejected for going too far.

On another note, the Guardians of Harmony Celestia figure was put up for prerelease and has already sold out. Hopefully that means it sells well and we'll get more official toys like that.

I had the same initial thought re: Mare-Do-Well, but as you say, I don't imagine the writers would be silly enough to fall into the same hole twice. It'll be interesting to see where they take the story, that in mind.

Nice to see those Guardians figures selling well too. I've no intention of buying any, but it's great to see high quality merch getting good sales.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Details about Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree put on official website.

Synopsis:
When Canterlot Highschool goes on a trip to Camp Everfree, they’re surprised to find a magical force is causing strange things to happen around camp. With the help of the Mane 6 and especially Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle must confront the dark “Midnight Sparkle” within herself and embrace her newfound magical abilities to save the camp.

Character bios (see the link for pictures):
Gloriosa Daisy
While the kindhearted, warm natured Gloriosa Daisy is always trying her best to make Camp Everfree the best it can possibly be, there is definitely a lot more she is hiding behind her always upbeat smile.

Timber Spruce
Smart, strong and ruggedly handsome Timber Spruce keeps Camp Everfree running. While he tries to stay in control as magic is going loose in the camp, he seems to be distracted by one Equestria Girl in particular.

For the synopsis, I'm surprised that they're bringing back Midnight Sparkle, though I imagine it's just going to be a mental block that stops SciTwi from using magic until the climax. Gloriosa seems like she'll be another take on Starlight's initial villain type. Timber Spruce... that's quite a chin there. He's nature themed, so I'm guessing they'll try to push him as Applejack or Fluttershy's love interest (the latter causing more rage than the former, I imagine), but maybe they'll just do Twilight again.

There is also a video that just shows off backgrounds, and they actually do look quite nice.

 

[draetenth]

Looks like new pony episodes has been confirmed for July 30th.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Looks like new pony episodes has been confirmed for July 30th.

That's settled then.

I hadn't realized that July 30th is International Friendship Day. One thing worth noting from the press release is that Hasbro is running a charity event.

Fans can join in on the fun by sharing their own acts of friendship via their social channels, tagging posts with #FriendshipisMagic and #FrienditForward or using the special MY LITTLE PONY filter on Snapchat, available on July 30th. For each act of friendship shared using #FriendshipisMagic and #FrienditForward between now through August 31st, Hasbro will make a $1 donation to generationOn, the youth division of Points of Light, up to $50,000.

There are also going to be online sales at certain retailers on the season's return, and the return will have a marathon of viewer-chosen episodes.

Select retailers and Discovery Family Channel will also be celebrating by “friending it forward” to their customers and viewers. Walmart, Target, Toys ‘R’ Us and Amazon will each offer an online promotion on July 30th on select MY LITTLE PONY merchandise, while Discovery Family Channel will air the mid-season premiere of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic on Saturday, July 30th at 11:30am EST followed by a mini-marathon of friendship-themed episodes, chosen by viewers at DiscoveryFamilyChannel.com/Friendship.

The entire "friending it forward" thing sounds really silly, though.

The press release mentions Comic Con, so here's the schedule for that, for those unaware. Only season 6 and Legend of Everfree are going to be covered, according to the panel details, but I wouldn't be surprised if we got some details during the Q&A.

==

On another note, I recently rewatched the season 5 episode "Brotherhooves Social" (the Big Mac drag episode), and I found it a lot more enjoyable the second time around. The ending is still the best part, though.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic : The Times They Are a Changeling

S06, E17 (First Aired: August 20, 2016)

When Spike travels with Twilight and Sunburst back to the Crystal Empire to visit Flurry Heart, they discover the entire empire in a panic due to the reported presence of Changeling spy.

 

[Infinite Justice]

Details about Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree put on official website.

Synopsis:
When Canterlot Highschool goes on a trip to Camp Everfree, they’re surprised to find a magical force is causing strange things to happen around camp. With the help of the Mane 6 and especially Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle must confront the dark “Midnight Sparkle” within herself and embrace her newfound magical abilities to save the camp.

Character bios (see the link for pictures):
Gloriosa Daisy
While the kindhearted, warm natured Gloriosa Daisy is always trying her best to make Camp Everfree the best it can possibly be, there is definitely a lot more she is hiding behind her always upbeat smile.

Timber Spruce
Smart, strong and ruggedly handsome Timber Spruce keeps Camp Everfree running. While he tries to stay in control as magic is going loose in the camp, he seems to be distracted by one Equestria Girl in particular.

For the synopsis, I'm surprised that they're bringing back Midnight Sparkle, though I imagine it's just going to be a mental block that stops SciTwi from using magic until the climax. Gloriosa seems like she'll be another take on Starlight's initial villain type. Timber Spruce... that's quite a chin there. He's nature themed, so I'm guessing they'll try to push him as Applejack or Fluttershy's love interest (the latter causing more rage than the former, I imagine), but maybe they'll just do Twilight again.

There is also a video that just shows off backgrounds, and they actually do look quite nice.

Sounds interesting and while i think it will be Twilght i would be pleasntly surprised if it was Shimmer tbh since i feel its already due lol


We'll see

 

[SigmasonicX]

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic : The Times They Are a Changeling

S06, E17 (First Aired: August 20, 2016)

When Spike travels with Twilight and Sunburst back to the Crystal Empire to visit Flurry Heart, they discover the entire empire in a panic due to the reported presence of Changeling spy.

Looks like we have a witch hunt on our hands! I guess the changeling flying toward the Crystal Empire was a hint toward the future after all. The fact that everyone is panicking obviously means either there isn't a spy, or the changeling isn't actually a spy.

The fact that Sunburst is specified instead of Starlight is interesting. It's nice that he's going to appear outside of a season bookend.

 

[brian577]

Patton Oswalt will be voicing the Daring Do hating pony in Stranger than Fanfiction.
http://www.equestriadaily.com/2016/07/new-character-and-guest-star-for.html#more

 

[SigmasonicX]

Patton Oswalt will be voicing the Daring Do hating pony in Stranger than Fanfiction.
http://www.equestriadaily.com/2016/07/new-character-and-guest-star-for.html#more

Unexpected. The previous guest stars (well, after DeLancie... so just two) had publicly expressed interest in the show beforehand, and I don't recall Patton Oswalt doing so. His IMDB, for those unfamiliar, or those like me who recognized the same but didn't remember what he was in. He's been in a ton of stuff, both for adults and for children. In particular, he played Remy in Ratatouille.

Josh Haber and Mike Vogel will be the writers of that episode.

In other news, reviews of the new Discord and Celestia Guardians of Harmony toys.

Guide to MLP at SDCC.

And in odd news, Hasbro has acquired Boulder Media, an animation company that worked on Wander over Yonder and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Who knows what this could mean in the future, but it's unlikely to affect MLP for now.

 

[Orcastar]

Unexpected. The previous guest stars (well, after DeLancie... so just two) had publicly expressed interest in the show beforehand, and I don't recall Patton Oswalt doing so. His IMDB, for those unfamiliar, or those like me who recognized the same but didn't remember what he was in. He's been in a ton of stuff, both for adults and for children. In particular, he played Remy in Ratatouille.

His comedy special "Talking for Clapping", which is on Netflix, includes a section on My Little Pony, and he reprises the same routine in this clip from Conan.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Dungeons and Discord
Air Date: 9/03/2016

When the Mane 6 leave town, Discord decides to join Spike and Big Mac's role-playing game session.

 

[Choppasmith]

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Dungeons and Discord
Air Date: 9/03/2016

When the Mane 6 leave town, Discord decides to join Spike and Big Mac's role-playing game session.

disgunbegood.jpg

Seriously that sounds like a lot of fun. I imagine there'll be some fun Discord antics of making their game real.

And in odd news, Hasbro has acquired Boulder Media, an animation company that worked on Wander over Yonder and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Who knows what this could mean in the future, but it's unlikely to affect MLP for now.

On one hand Boulder does some great work. On the other hand, I'm a little sad, in the very small chance Disney changes their mind on WoY, it's likely a new season WOULDN'T be done at that studio, which is a real shame as S2 of Wander looked REALLY good.

 

[Choppasmith]

oops sorry accidental double post

 

[SigmasonicX]

His comedy special "Talking for Clapping", which is on Netflix, includes a section on My Little Pony, and he reprises the same routine in this clip from Conan.

Oh, I forgot about that part on Conan. I hadn't realized he also used that routine in one of his specials. However, he must have recorded for the show a while ago, so I think he was already in talks with the show at least by the time he was on Conan.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Dungeons and Discord
Air Date: 9/03/2016

When the Mane 6 leave town, Discord decides to join Spike and Big Mac's role-playing game session.

This sounds great, and it's another potential hit on my bingo card! (Discord and X episode, where X is not Twilight or Fluttershy). Although I'm a bit disappointed we won't get to see the Mane Six play an RPG. I wonder if they'll use Ogres & Oubliettes from the comics or come up with their own parody. These episodes where part of the cast is explicitly stated to be gone have historically meant that the next episode takes place at the same time. According to the leaked episode list, the following one is "Buck Ball Season", which I had previously assumed would be a "guy's night out" episode, but now that this turned out to be that, I'm not sure what it could be.

Also, it looks like they're skipping a week. No episode on August 27.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Tara Strong tweeted a picture of her in a recording booth with a Twilight cutout, but it's a slightly different design than in the show. Although she's been known to troll, I think it would be unusual for her to print a cutout of fanart that only looks slightly different from the normal design, considering her previous trolls have involved things like posting fanart of Twilight posing on a bed. Thus, I think it's safe to assume this is a new design for the movie.

From ED's comments, a list of differences:

1. More complex and 3D looking ears.
2. The mane casts a shadow on a pony's head/body, which adds more depth.
3. More distinct spiral ridges on a pony's horn.
4. More distinct eye-lines.
5. If a horn is in a way of a mane, the mane strands will go around the horn (in the show manes behave as if horns aren't present on ponies' foreheads at all).

We can't see the rest of the body though.

---

Also, keep in mind that Tara is holding that cut-out with some angle, so it's a bit distorted.

Also, the outlines are thinner and Twilight's feathers look different from what we can see.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Tara Strong tweeted a picture of her in a recording booth with a Twilight cutout, but it's a slightly different design than in the show. Although she's been known to troll, I think it would be unusual for her to print a cutout of fanart that only looks slightly different from the normal design, considering her previous trolls have involved things like posting fanart of Twilight posing on a bed. Thus, I think it's safe to assume this is a new design for the movie.

From ED's comments, a list of differences:

Also, the outlines are thinner and Twilight's feathers look different from what we can see.

My gut reaction is that I'm not keen; it actually reminds me of this artist's work:

Something about the proportions and the inconsistent thickness of the linework I think.

Quick comparison, shoddily warped:

Eh, anyway. Lots of difference between a standee and a fully-animated onscreen character. Happy to wait and see how things pan out.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Hasbro have very kindly thrown their latest soundtrack release up on Youtube for free.

Not a lot of big differences between the soundtrack and TV versions, with the exception of what sounds like a totally new recording and arrangement of "Pony Pokey" from Season 1, of all things. Weird.

There's some other minor stuff; we hear some lines that Cheese says at the end of "Super Duper Party Pony" that were inaudible in the episode, and in "Cheese Confesses" the little end bit follows directly on from the main part (i.e. the break in the episode isn't there).

 

[SigmasonicX]

Updated synopses, which completely change what we can expect from them.

Stranger Than Fan Fiction
Rainbow Dash attends the Daring Do Convention in Manehattan and meets a pony named Quibble Pants (voiced by Patton Oswalt) who despises Daring Do as much as she loves it. The two of them get wrapped up in a real life Daring Do adventure and must settle their differences if they have any chance of surviving the convention.

28 Pranks Later
When Rainbow Dash's pranking gets out of hand, the ponies decide to give her a taste of her own medicine zom-pony style!

I have to say, I didn't expect the latter to actually be based on 28 Days Later.

On another note, official audio books for the chapter books coming. If they somehow get the show VAs, this could really be worth checking out. And if they don't, it will be weird having someone else say their dialogue in an official release.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

New promo video

I'm now expecting Dungeons and Discords to have a "I want to cast Magic Missile" joke.

 

[SigmasonicX]

As a heads up, that promo appears to completely spoil the ending of "The Times Are a Changeling". If you care about that, I would recommend not watching.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Jim Miller explains how Patton Oswalt became a guest star.

John de Lancie says he won't be in the movie. It makes sense. Given that the movie is meant to be approachable for new viewers, adding the extra detail that they have a god of chaos just hanging around but also having to justify why he isn't doing anything to help would be a bit much. Plus, it's not like Q ever appeared in Star Trek movies.

A tiny picture on the Spanish MLP website for the movie. It's hard to see details, but you can see that the ears match what we see in the Twilight cutout I posted earlier.

Cover for the Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree novelization reveals an interesting character.

And on Hasbro's MLP YouTube channel, interesting videos with Pinkie telling Flurry Heart about previous events, with Andrea Libman voicing. Covered so far are "A Canterlot Wedding" and "Baby Cakes".

EDIT: Episode 3, covering alicorns in general.

 

[PaulloDEC]

New promo looks neat. I wonder which episode has the girls all rugged up?

A tiny picture on the Spanish MLP website for the movie. It's hard to see details, but you can see that the ears match what we see in the Twilight cutout I posted earlier.

Ran this through the waifu2x upscaler. Looks pretty show-authentic from what we can see.

And on Hasbro's MLP YouTube channel, interesting videos with Pinkie telling Flurry Heart about previous events, with Andrea Libman voicing. Covered so far are "A Canterlot Wedding" and "Baby Cakes".

Looks like a fair amount of effort went into these. Neat!

 

[SigmasonicX]

October comic solicitations.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #47

Ted Anderson (w) • Agnes Garbowska (a & mc) • Sara Richard (sc) • Lupi McGinty (ric)
Election Part 2. The election race between Filthy Rich and Mayor Mare is closer than expected! With disagreements between friends growing, will the town find a way to unify and chose the right candidate?
Bullet point:
* Ponies put election madness in perspective!

My Little Pony: Friends Forever #33

(w) • Tony Fleecs (a & mc) • Sara Richard (sc) • Trish Forstner (ric)
When a traveling rodeo come to town, Applejack must discover the secret history of Cherry Jubilee!

The main series arc is a bit more amusing now that ponies have somehow been pulled into the RNC news, but I'm still not a fan of this portrayal of Filthy Rich. As for Friends Forever, Cherry Jubilee is the last character I ever expected to appear in these. It could be interesting.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Equestria Girls: The Legend of Everfree is coming to Netflix on October 1st.

Trailer

Man, Dougworld seems to be this magic dumping ground for Equestrian villains.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Equestria Girls: The Legend of Everfree is coming to Netflix on October 1st.

Trailer

Man, Dougworld seems to be this magic dumping ground for Equestrian villains.

EDIT: YouTube link

Placing bets. Gaia Everfree was brought to Dougworld by:
A. Starswirl
B. Celestia and Luna
C. Celestia
D. Actually is native to Dougworld
E. Other

I feel like they have to know it has become a cliche, so they'll shake things up by going with D.

I imagine the story will go that Gaia at first looks menacing, but then turns out to be friendly, but then Gloriosa Daisy upsets it / takes control of its magic and we have a climax.

But anyway, movie news! We have a new character named Songbird Serenade, who is played by the singer Sia. She will provide two songs for the movie, though I'm not sure if both will be in the movie proper.

There's a lot of confusion about what her character in the movie is. The Hollywood Reporter article claims she's a pony pop star, but ED's liveblog describes a script reading for a scene from the movie, where she's described as the Queen of the Hippos. Note that earlier leaks have said

Spoiler

there will be hippogriffs, so it's possible she's actually the hippogriff queen and the characters themselves have it mixed up

.

Plus, there's this image Sia tweeted earlier.

It's unclear whether that's her character or her OC, given how much it looks like her. Though note how it has the same ear type from the stuff I posted earlier.

Collection of everything revealed during the SDCC panel, including some season 6 stuff.