About Them Ponies

Every pony convention has its special moments. Even after going to a dozen or so of these, every con has some unique special moment that jumps out, some wonderful little thing that you didn't expect which made your day. Normally those moments are things like getting to be a panelist on a friend's Pipp panel, adding an octave effect to Silver Quill's voice as he sings during an impromptu light saber duel, running the lighting rig for half of the concert and adding some really cool effects, winning a button during the SFM animation panel, blasting Discord while driving around Chicago, eating snow cones at a room party, etc. All those moments happened during this year and are treasured in my heart. But Whinny City this year was a different kind of special: it was the first time I performed on mane stage as a musician, leading the ukulele bronies to perform at the grand galloping luau. It's kind of a shock to me that this even happened. That I actually performed on Mane stage. That I made it; that I am a real musician.

I want to start this off by saying I'm damn lucky to have been able to go to 7 MLP conventions in person. That's 7 more than your typical fan. I became addicted to the idea of them ever since I watched the bronies documentary in 2014, before I had even finished watching the first season of the show.

I love them so much because they give me something that I find harder and harder to find these days: a strong sense of community. Walking in to my first BronyCon in 2016 and seeing dozens of bronies before I had even set foot in the convention center was exhilarating! None of us had to watch this show, none of us had to be here in, yet here we all are, together, 7500+ strong! That feeling of community, of connection, of being apart of something so much larger than yourself, is the most powerful emotion I've ever felt and something I will remember for a lifetime.

What is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? "It's just a show." That's what people say. "It's just a show." That's what people say when they don't want others to know That it's a show for little girls... That people on 4chan started watching too... That lasted for 9 seasons, 6 seasons longer than planned... That impacted millions of people around the world... That amassed millions of images of fan art... That inspired thousands of fan fics and thousands of fan songs... That gathered thousands of fans together every year at conventions... And changed our lives forever

It's just a show, yet I know of no other that has all this. Call it a fandom, Call it an obsession, Call it a movement, Call it insanity, it's indescribable.

The show that brought us all together has ended. Today is the first Saturday after the finale, and I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking about what we’ll now do on Saturday mornings since there will no longer be new episodes to watch. It is the dawn of the next era of the fandom, and with that dawn comes a surge of content into the fandom as the creatives all make a final tribute to show how much the show has meant to them all these years. I know I’ve made one, but one tribute alone is not enough to encompass how much I appreciate this show, and ideas continue to bounce around my head as to what I’d like to make next.

This post is not a final tribute to the show because 1. I’m not ready to make one, and 2. I want to reflect on something else in this moment. The show may be over, but the fandom is not; it is merely adjusting to a new reality without the Saturday ritual of watching a new episode. This ritual is something everyone in the fandom experienced, but each their own way.

Since I started watching in 2014, the first ritual I experienced was the binge. All four seasons of the show were available on Netflix for me to watch as fast or slow as my heart desired. In those early days, watching the show felt like a secret, so I would stay in my room until my parents were asleep, then sneak across the entire house to the TV room and watch an episode or two. Other times, I would watch an episode after school, like the day I wore my first pony shirt to school when I watched “A Canterlot Wedding” for the first time. So many episodes so quickly fueled such an obsession that I remember more about pony that year than other things during that senior high school year. When the binge finally ended with me watching “Twilight’s Kingdom” one night, I remember lying in bed thinking, ‘I wish I could die right now’ because I was so satisfied, so fulfilled by the show that I couldn’t imagine how the ride could get any better. Silly me. If I had died back then, I would have never watched so many great episodes, met so many new friends, or gone to so many conventions!

The second ritual began around a year after the first one ended. Then, I had started my freshman year of college and discovered that the guy I sat next to in math class also watched the show. From then on out, we watched the episodes together usually on Sunday right after each episode came out. In the fall we’d watch them in my dorm room, in the spring we watched them in his dorm room, and during the hiatus we’d still meet up to watch new or favorite fandom content. The next year when another tracked me down because I had a Fluttershy keychain, we started reserving rooms in the library to watch the new episodes every week, and an MLP club was born! We were never a numerous bunch, but by my senior year of college, there were four of us, and a subset of us would get together fairly regularly. Even after I graduated, I still got to meet up with the whole gang when I returned for homecoming, and though some had to leave early, two of us still got to watch the fourth to last MLP episode together.

Watching pony with friends took on a few different forms over the years. For example, sometimes I would be with my family during school breaks when a new episode came out. Occasionally, some of them would watch the new episode with me. Other times, I’d connect with friends through a voice client like Discord or Skype so we could watch it together. But the idea was always the same: pony with friends is better than just pony alone.

The third ritual is similar to the second, yet different, because meeting up with a bunch of people you’ve never met before to watch a new episode is different than watching with a few close friends. However, when I was abroad in Washington DC as part of an engineering co-op, I either had to watch the show alone, or venture into the real world. I chose the latter, and that’s how I met the lovely D.C. Bronies! Even though I only watched a small portion of all episodes with them, those few times stand out. I will always remember taking the metro across all of DC to meetup in the basement of a library where we gathered to play Twilight Sparkle’s Secret Shipfic Folder, watch the season 7 finale, jump back onto the metro to head to China town and eat dinner together at the Hard Rock café.

But when the series finale came, I was yet again in a new town where I didn’t know anyone who watched pony, so for the last time, I experienced the fourth ritual: tuning into to a fan hosted live stream to watch the episode with fans across the world. It’s not the same as watching it with others in person, but for the many who know not another fan, this is the way they watched the show together. I always tuned into Bronystate because of a youTube poop (nicknamed the anthem) which played before every new episode. Dancing to that strange, weird, song while the chat constantly spits out their favorite dumb lines from that five minute clip every week provided a sense of consistency and tradition that pulled the experience together. I always enjoyed staying for the Bronystate after show when the chat was less explosive and people stayed an extra half hour to chat about the episode, frame by frame. For the series finale, they even invited those in the regular chat to join the discord, which was quite fun despite everything being completely out of sync with the discord call a few seconds ahead of the stream. Four hours after the finale, the stream finally shut down, and we all went our separate ways.

Now that the show’s last episode has aired, we will still have the episodes, the characters, the entire fictional world, and we’ll still have the fandom, the fan fiction, the art, the animations, the music, the conventions, and most importantly, the friends, but we will no longer have that weekly ritual. That’s what’s really gone now, and I know I’m holding back tears as I write this. However, it also reminds me of just how many different ways I experienced the show while it aired, and I’m so glad that I got to experience it all.

I first started watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic in the middle of the season 4 to season 5 hiatus. At the time, there was no announced fifth season; the end of season 4 was simply the end of the show as far as I knew. I remember feeling so content after watching that final battle between Twilight and Tirek that as I fell asleep that night, I thought “That was so good! It cannot possibly get better than this. I’m so happy I could die in my sleep tonight.” Woah, that’s a grim thought. I wasn’t even 18 years old and I was already content enough with my short life to be fine with dying right then? What strange drugs I must have been on!

Needless to say, my life continued on, and I’m so glad I did. Only after watching the entire show would I attend BronyCon, create my own MLP club at college, join the amazing DC Bronies for the semester I was away, and discover all the amazing art, music, animation, parodies, PMVs, and so much more that this fandom has made in its nine years of existence! In that time, there’s also been disappointments: never again has a season’s finale topped my experience of seasons 4’s (or season 2’s), and neither did the MLP movie. This isn’t to say that I do not enjoy episodes from the newer seasons (there’s several that I enjoy from every single season), but rather the magic, the obsession, has long since faded.

Indeed, when I first watched the show, I fell under a magic spell that would cause me to think about ponies non-stop, would make me go crazy anytime I saw a piece of pony merchandise while out and about, would make me rewatch seasons 1 through 4 four times within the course of a single year, would make me identify as a brony first before any other identity. It was a complete and total obsession that I can only compare to falling in love, and oh boy, I fell so hard! I can go on and on with clichés about how the show filled me with endless joy and changed my life forever, but I don’t need to because if you understand that I “loved” MLP:FiM, all my strange behavior will make sense.

When I first fell in love with FiM, I couldn’t watch other shows because I felt I had to reserve my entire heart for this one show. Eventually, I moved past that thinking when my obsession lessened, and I found my heart was big enough to also love other shows like the Powerpuff Girls, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, and Gravity Falls. Finally, the lunacy declined enough to reach normal levels, and I still watch the show, but through jaded eyes which only see the past. This of course, is the lifecycle of love; it starts out as all-consuming, but with enough time, the intensity goes away and the relationship changes.

So when I think about the final season of FiM and what that means to me, I first have to recognize that my experience of the show, from discovering it, obsessing over it, plunging into the fandom, and finally taking a step back away from it all, is largely over even before season 9. The obsession phase started in July 2014 for me, and I remained completely obsessed up until I started college in August 2015. There on out, I entered my fanatic stage: still very dedicated and engaged with the show, but not obsessed like I once was. That lasted at least until the end of season 6, and arguably through January 2017 since I was still regularly writing this blog regularly up until that “Leaving the Fandom” post in February. Then on out, I’ve been in this “casual fan” stage; I’m still following the show, going to meetups, and having the time of my life at conventions, but the effort to participate in the fandom by writing blogs, making music, producing videos, is pretty much gone. The great love I once felt is now my nostalgia.

In that time, the show has also changed significantly (which I analyze in this video). I think we all agree that the show needed to change in order to survive this long, but I also find some of the changes essentially removed core aspects of the early show. In any case, it is what it is and the changes are here for good (I personally like the addition of the friendship school but could live without the map and reformed Starlight Glimmer).

And season, we’ll have season 9, almost 10 more hours of new pony! The question is, what expectations do we have of it, if any?

For me, we’re so far away from the original stories which began in season 1 and ended in season 3/4/5 (depends on which story and who you ask) that the show could honestly do whatever it wants as long as it completes a story. 26 episodes that are entirely serial? Why not? Follow only the student 6 in some kind of new adventure? Sure, I’d be down. Let the megaspells hit and unleash the armageddon? The show’s still for kids, so turning it into Fallout: Equestria’s probably not going to happen.

More broadly, what I really want is for the final season to invoke some of the same emotions that I felt during earlier seasons: the awe of when Rainbow Dash performed the sonic rainboom in season 1, the joy of Pinkie Pie singing the smile song, the tears of happiness when Twilight got her wings in “Magical Mystery Cure” and the CMC their cutie marks in “Crusaders of the Lost Mark”, and the feeling of togetherness when the mane 6 collapsed in exhaustion after making all the apple cider in “Super Easy Cider Squeezy 6000.” There’s so many emotions in those earlier seasons that I don’t think it’s possible for the writers to produce them all in one season, but even if they only succeed in one episode, that episode will be something to treasure.

But even if that doesn’t happen, and all my fondest show moments remain in those earlier seasons, it’s still been such a lovely ride. My love for the show might be a thing of the past, but it’s better to have been in love and then out of love than to never experience that love at all. Over the years, so many fans from so many places have loved My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and I’m glad I got to take part in it. Once a brony, always a brony.

I am one of the luckiest in the fandom.

I thought I was unlucky at first; when I didn’t get in to university in California, I thought “Well, there goes my chance to get to BABScon for three years” only to be able to go to school in New York State, spend all three of my summers on the East coast, and make it to BronyCon during each one.  Every year for the last three years my life has been filled with a great joy that I sometimes forget is indeed possible here on Earth.

When I attended BronyCon this last weekend, I knew it was likely my last; after all, my time in college would come to an end in 2019, and post college, I have no guarantee of where I’ll be for the next few years of my life. Maybe I’ll go to grad school in a new state; maybe I’ll get at job where I’m interning, maybe I’ll return home to Colorado, maybe I’ll apply for Teach For America a second time and actually make the cut. The future is often uncertain, but it also follow patterns.

I remember my first year at BronyCon in 2016, one of the panelists warned that the show would end one day, maybe not tomorrow or the year after, but eventually, there would come a time when it was no more. We’ve always known that the number of MLP episodes and the number of BronyCons are finite; all that’s changed is that we now know precisely how finite they are: the last MLP:FiM season will be season 9, and the last BronyCon will begin on August 1st, 2019.

The forces which have determined the final season count to be nine are vastly complicated, but the forces which have determined the number of BronyCons are much more understandable. To see what I mean, here’s the attendance numbers for BronyCon since its inception, courteous of Wikipedia:

YearAttendees LocationJune 2011 100 NYC Seminar and Conference CenterSeptember 2011 300 Chinatown ManhattanJanuary 2012 850 Hotel Pennsylvania NYCJune 2012 4000 Meadowlands Exposition Center NJ2013 8407 Baltimore Convention Center 2014 9607 Baltimore Convention Center 2015 10011 Baltimore Convention Center 2016 7609 Baltimore Convention Center 2017 6319 Baltimore Convention Center 2018 5465 Baltimore Convention Center

The main take away from these charts is that from 2011 to 2013, the convention more than doubled its number of attendees each iteration, and from 2013-2015 continued to grow. But 2015-2016, the Con lost 2000, and lost 2000 more by this year. This is not to say that the 5,465 people who attended this year are insignificant, but we also need to factor in the convention location. With BronyCon essentially quadrupling in size over half a year in 2012, the convention was moved to Baltimore because the 61,000 square feet of Meadowlands Exposition Center wasn’t enough. The Baltimore Convention Center, by contrast, has 1,225,000 square feet making it 20 times larger! This consequently means it’s going to be a lot pricier hosting the con there rather than a smaller space, which means they need attendance rates to be high enough to break even. Keep in mind, that there’s some sort of contract between BronyCon and the Baltimore Convention Center, which may legally bind the con exclusively to that convention center. Thus, now that attendance has fallen, the con might have its hooves tied and no longer be able to sustain itself. If that’s the case, it makes perfect sense why BronyCon would choose to party like there’s no tomorrow rather than face a slow, inevitable demise.

However, since we ourselves don’t know the exact state of BronyCon’s finances and contracts, we cannot know for sure if there was a possibility to keep BronyCon alive for a few more years, or whether going out with a bang was the only option. What we do know is that as is, BronyCon would continue to diminish in size as long as the fandom does so. But by marking BronyCon 2019 as the final BronyCon and bumping its length to four days, it’s setting itself up to be one of the craziest fandom events ever. It does, however, come at the cost of potential future BronyCons.

This is a tradeoff we all see throughout our lives: do we choose to maximize our happiness in the present, or do we plan carefully to maximize our happiness in the future? Different people will call this shot different ways, but if you ask me, the MLP:FiM fandom is in the present, not the future. We know FiM will end in 2019, so in 2019, we need to party like there is no pony tomorrow. Because while MLP will live on into G5, the magic of G4 is only with us here and now, and in 202X when G5 takes the world by storm, there’ll be a new G5Con we’ll be celebrating at instead.

One more season of pony.

One more BronyCon.

As of right now, I’ve seen the MLP film twice, on Thursdaynight right at 7:00 when it came out, and Saturday early evening at the same theater.I didn’t have too many expectations going in as a lot of what I loved about theshow has changed and gone away over the years, but I digress.

  The first thing Inoticed was the animation because that’s the most noticeable difference betweenmovie and the show. That threw me for quite a loop, and within the first 10minutes, my expectations dropped to rock bottom. A lot of people really likethe animation, and many are praising it for being 2D and different from othermovies, but it’s not quite 2D (the film’s credits indeed have a 3D section). Thecharacters are 2D for sure, but some of the larger structures are 3D or basedfrom 3D models, and to me they stuck out like a sore thumb. There were also somereally green grass which also stuck out to me. Second time I watched the filmwas better, probably because I was more used to it.

 On to characters, the mane 6 weren’t written as well as Iwould have hoped. Twilight’s historically been the spark that held the grouptogether, but in the film she’s pretty much the only one tearing it apart. It’shard to like her based on her depiction in the film, which is a bit of aproblem since she’s the mane protagonist. The only “good” parts with her that Ican remember are her forgiving Tempest at the end, and her creating the hot airballoon escape, but that’s just me.

 Rainbow Dash’s role was fine, but it was Pinkie who reallystole the show overall. I wish that Rarity, AJ and Fluttershy got more of arole and less generic gags because they typically get fewer parts than theother three. It was personally sad to not see any Fluttershy impact on thestory, as she’s my favorite character, but it’s also impossible for them togive important roles to everypony. All 3 princesses were taken out in aninstant, which is disappointing, but not unprecedented. I don’t think thecrusaders even got a cameo.

 As far as new characters go, I think they nailed it. Everyone of the new characters made an impact on the story, and to me, they are themost memorable thing about the film. That’s pretty surprising, as in the show,I typically find that the new characters drag it down a lot more thanstrengthen it. However, the cost of developing these new characters so well is thatthe mane 6 inevitably are less significant overall.

 Daniel Ingram always does a good job with the musicalnumbers. I personally dig the ambient side of the soundtrack too.

 One interesting thing about the narrative is that it’s actuallysimilar to the original MLP movie. Both force the mane cast to abandon theirhomeland due to a threat they cannot defeat, and both have them then wanderaround seeking help from other races who they team up with to defeat theirnemesis. It’s also similar because we’ve seen many characters like TempestShadow before, the unicorn gone evil trope as explored by Sunset Shimmer, StarlightGlimmer, (kinda) Trixie, and that girl from EG, Juniper Montage. So Tempest isn’treally unique in any sense, but I also think she’s the best instance of thistrope; her back story isn’t just her not knowing how to make friends, it’s herbeing permanently scarred and injured due to a freak accident when she wasyoung, and her motivation is to undo that damage. That’s a lot better thanSunset or Starlight’s motivation, and her reformation is also the most naturalwith her not being forced to instantly join the ranks of the mane 6 like theothers.

 Overall, I think the film is okay. It has its charming charactersand its funny moments, but it’s not ground breaking, nor do I think it’s aspowerful as the show “Friendship as Magic” has been. I remember so many momentsfrom the show that simply left me in a state of awe: “The Return of Harmony”, “ACanterlot Wedding”, “Magical Mystery Cure”, “Twilight’s Kingdom”, and even “RainbowRocks.” I didn’t get that feeling after watching the MLP movie, so I don’t rateit as highly as I do these other pieces of pony. Some might think of that asbeing a failure of the movie, but I don’t. It also doesn’t surprise me that somuch of the fandom loves the movie so much (including my friend who I saw itwith). The fans today that are the most active are also the fans that love thenewer content the most; the people who don’t like the new as much tend to beless involved (or leave altogether *shudders*), so it only makes sense that themajority of the fandom will like it (though not necessarily real world critics).

For a show which started in 2010, it is an amazing feat that MLP:FiM has begun its seventh season in 2017. To say MLP has been around for a while is a bit of an understatement, because at the beginning of the 5th and 6th seasons, we could also have claimed that the show had been around for a long time. What’s significant about season seven in particular is that it precedes six, which means the show has lasted longer than twice its initially conceived length.

Because of Friendship is Magic’s inability to end after season three, every season premier following has changed the status quo significantly. In season four, it was getting rid of the elements of harmony and introducing the Mane6’s journal. In season five, this journal was then sort of forgotten about and the new craze was all about the cutie map. And in season six, the cutie map too was left out of the limelight in favor of casting it upon the new mentor-student relationship between Twilight and Starlight. This trend would predict that the season seven premier would try, like its predecessors, to introduce the new rather than rehash the old, but just like this premier breaks precedent by being in a single part rather than two, it also breaks precedent by not following this trend, and instead focuses its development on smoothing out some roughness in continuity.

For instance, one of my previous criticisms of Starlight’s story arc is that her story immediately jumps from her being a proud powerful dictator to her being Twilight’s insecure pupil. Because the season five finale focused mostly on the epic showdown between Twilight and Starlight, there wasn’t time to establish this relationship, and while we knew that Starlight was going to renew her studies under Twilight, it wasn’t made explicitly clear what that entailed. One could argue that the following episode, “Crystal Clear” provided more context for the Twilight-Starlight dynamic, but it still wasn’t much given that “Crystal Clear” focused more on Sunburst and Starlight (not to mention the soon to be named Flurry Heart).

So in some sense, the show made it all the way through the sixth season without ever formally establishing exactly what Starlight’s role would be within Twilight’s castle and the show at large. However, it is this uncertainty of purpose which drives the conflict of the premier, and instead of an epic two episode adventure, we get a single episode of Twilight alongside Princess Celestia worrying about just what she should do with Starlight Glimmer. While it’s not as intense as confronting a larger than life villain like in seasons prior, it does a lot more to connect the seasons together than “Crystal Clear,” whose plotline seems more like a random encounter rather than glue holding the series together.

Anyways, the primary means by which “Celestial Advice” connects the seasons together is the parallelism between Princess Celestia and Twilight’s relationship as compared to Twilight and Starlight’s. The mentor-student paradigm is obvious, but a voice in my mind begs the question of how similar the two relationships really are. It is hard to truly answer this question, as we never observed Twilight’s relationship with Celestia prior to her moving to Ponyville, however, we do know that Twilight studied under Celestia longer than Starlight studied under Twilight. As Twilight first began her studies as a filly when she gained her cutie mark, it’s likely that she studied under her for around four to five years, or however long it takes to grow from a filly to a mare. In contrast, Starlight’s been with Twilight for not that long; equating one friendship lesson with a time span of around a week, it’s likely she’s only been studying for a couple of moons. This is significantly shorter than the time Twilight spent with Celestia, so I am hesitant to directly compare the two. Starlight’s time with Twilight also has been studying friendship-lessons and not magic, adding further strain to the comparison.

But on a more subtle note, it’s also not particularly clear whether or not Celestia sending Twilight to Ponyville is the same kind of deal as Twilight releasing Starlight Glimmer¹ from her studies. The episode presents it this way, as it contains a flashback to Princess Celestia pacing back and forth pondering what to do with Twilight, mirroring Twilight’s uncertainty in the present. This flashback makes for a charming connection between the two princesses, but it also doesn’t really line up with what happened in the first two episodes. Recall that in episode one, Twilight sends a letter to Princess Celestia, and in response Celestia sends her to Ponyville on a brief mission to make some friends, and by coincidence or not, defeat Nightmare Moon in the process. Since the whole situation is prompted by Twilight’s letter, the decision to send Twilight to Ponyville doesn’t seem like some agonized decision made by Celestia, but rather a quick, witty response “you simply must stop reading those dusty old books” to Twilight. This, combined with the fact the second episode ends with Twilight declining to return to Canterlot, leads us to a conclusion that the assignment to Ponyville was temporary, and Twilight’s decision to stay there was by consequence rather than by Celestial design.

So on one hoof, the show is definitely taking a close look at what’s happened across all the seasons and making connections between them, but at the same time ignores some of the finer details. Starlight isn’t Twilight Sparkle 2.0, nor is Twilight on the same level as Princess Celestia, so while I think the comparison is neat and I found the episode enjoyable at large, I am also a little miffed that to make these connections the writers have to ignore or contradict what we learned in previous episodes.

Footnotes:

If you’ve ever taken a course in literature, you’ve probably heard the dreaded s-word before. Symbols, hidden meaning disguised as objects, locations, and characters, sometimes obvious, sometimes obscure, but always present in great works of literature. While MLP may not be such a work, it is obvious that symbolism is present in MLP. The elements of harmony (laughter, kindness, honesty, loyalty, generosity, and magic) are directly embodied not in the gemstones of the show’s premier, but of the very characters that wore them. This relation between pony and abstract idea has been insisted upon so often during those first seasons that it’s a core aspect of the show, and perhaps forgotten when we look elsewhere for the show’s meaning.

But on a more debatable note, are there any symbols present in our fandom and what might they mean? Having spent as much time as I have in the fandom, it is through observation that I’ve come to realize that there is such a symbol, and it is Rainbow Dash herself. While all of the main characters in FiM receive a fair amount of love, Rainbow Dash gets an especially high dose. This combined with the fact that her image is frequent paired with the word brony and the fandom’s obsession with the phrase “20% cooler” are all indicators that Rainbow Dash may represent more than just herself, but bronykind in general.

Choosing Rainbow Dash, intentionally or not, as a symbol of the fandom makes sense when compared to choosing another member of the Mane6. Although the show revolves around Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle isn’t exactly your typical pony. She’s a very strong student, a book worm of sorts, and while there are fans who can relate to that quite well, it’s not a good fit for a fandom of mostly non-intellectuals. This leaves us with the rest of the Mane 6 for consideration, though given the introvert-extrovert foil of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, neither of these two ponies alone fit the bill. While Pinkie Pie matches the excitement and energy many of us have for the show, there are many of the quieter types in the fandom who relate much more with Fluttershy. This leaves AJ, Rarity, and Rainbow as choices. AJ runs into a similar problem as Twilight Sparkle, as much of her character is derived from her role at Sweet Apple Acres. Like with Twilight, I’m very sure there are some who share much in common with Applejack, but the dependable and honest agrarian leader isn’t the most fitting trope for a modern society.

This leaves us between Rarity and Rainbow Dash, both of which appear to fit quite well. Given the devotion this fandom has for creating art, music, etc, describing the typical brony as an artist (or more generally, art enthusiast) like Rarity is pretty spot on. Rarity’s melodramatic outbursts also match the fandom’s reaction to drama, and her acute attention to detail aligns with the fandom’s obsession over tiny aspects of the show. However, it is unlikely that a fandom compromised of many young-adult males will rejoice as symbolizing themselves as the most white, girly, unicorn in the show. Instead, the fandom has chosen the most masculine of the Mane6, Rainbow Dash, whose passion and enthusiasm for flying and the Wonderbolts is comparable to the fandom’s love for the show. The similarities do not end there though; Rainbow Dash’s bright colors set her apart from the other ponies in a way that our fandom’s bright colored avatars, t-shirts, cosplays, conventions, etc. set our fandom apart from others. I’d also say the attitude of most fans is not that of a radical group intentionally subverting norms by liking a TV show made for little girls, but rather an initial attitude of “This show is so AWESOME!” later followed by “Yeah, the show’s pretty cool,” both of which mirror dialogue Rainbow Dash says in the show.

But unless you’re in complete adoration of Rainbow Dash, you’re probably also aware that Rainbow Dash has many downfalls. Although she’s considered to be the element of loyalty, there have been just as many instances where she defects rather than be loyal (she traded Fluttershy for a book, she trained with the Wonderbolts rather than her own team, et cetera). She also tends to be the most clueless of the mane 6 in terms of reading her friends’ emotions and feelings, and there’s many moments when you wonder if she actually thinks (studying with Twilight for the Wonderbolts Reserves test, most of “May the Best Pet win,” et cetera). This isn’t to say that Rainbow Dash is a bad character or an unlikeable pony, it’s just that she isn’t the pony to turn to for intellectual matters and deep emotional support/understanding.

Continuing to think of Rainbow Dash as a symbol of the fandom begs the question if the fandom might have the same flaws that she does. Once again, I don’t find the typical fan to be as cerebral as Twilight Sparkle. Sure there’s definitely a few fans out there like that, but there’s also the drama, the emotionally driven squabble, which seems to dominate the fandom more than crystal clear logic. And in that squabble, it is more difficult to reach out and understand other fans on that emotional level.

But perhaps the most astute connection to be wary of between fandom and Rainbow Dash in my eyes is in the preoccupation both have with being cool, because if there’s one thing Rainbow Dash tries to be, it is cool. From her use of the phrase “chillax,” to her sunglasses, to the phrase “it needs to be twenty percent cooler,” there’s hardly anything Rainbow Dash does that doesn’t reflect her desire to be cool. The fandom at large also acts this way: with its endless pony memes and the insertion of pony into other popular works, the fandom actively keeps up with the latest internet fads, which in some sense is precisely what coolness is. This might not seem destructive, but keep in mind that something which is cool in the moment is often not in the future, and when something is no longer cool, what then? Especially now past the “peak” of the fandom in 2012, the phase when MLP was cool has been over for quite a while, so trying to play the cool game could be more harmful than not.

Before the internet age, every TV show, movie, book, and video game existed as stand-alone entertainment. Once watched, read, played, consumed, the story was over; maybe you’d watch it a few more times, maybe you’d discuss the work with friends or family, but eventually one would run out of entertainment, and one would move on quickly to the next show, movie, book, or game. The internet, of course, has changed that. With the ability to share anything with anyone, it became possible for those excited by a work to share that excitement online. Creativity ran rampant because the creatively inclined now had an audience to share their fan creations with. Instead of dying after the first viewing, the interest in a work could be fueled by fans, growing to become something much larger than the original show: a fanatic domain.

Because of fandoms, now it’s possible to enjoy a work twice; once for the source material, and once again through the eyes of fan art, music, animation, and more. In fact, if a fandom produces a lot of content like our own MLP fandom, it’s quite possible for one enjoy the same thing forever, and many seem determined to do just that. All you have to do is ask around, and I’m sure you’ll find those who say they’ll be faithful to pony to the end and beyond!

This has lead to an interesting concept we all know as “leaving the fandom.” In our endless enjoyment of pony, someone’s choice to leave the fandom might appears as a sudden shift from enjoying to disliking pony. This seems especially true when someone horse famous proclaims their disinterest loudly and vanishes in the blink of an eye; lesser known fans tend to model this behavior as they too leave in an angry huff. It’s a strange phenomenon because it seems unlikely that a fan of the show would suddenly dislike it enough to abandon it entirely. As most fans probably can’t ever imagine becoming that angry or suddenly disliking the show, to them leaving doesn’t seem remotely feasible, only an oddity that some fans experience.

But does it really make sense to stay in the fandom indefinitely, and how active does one have to be to qualify as “in the fandom?” In the same way that the astronomical universe will end either in a “big crunch” or a “big freeze,” the fandom could cease after FiM’s final episode, or if it pours into G5, the show might drag on so long that its content becomes less meaningful in the same way the universe’s energy becomes less concentrated. If the show ends but the fandom is still active, it’s even possible that a combination of the two might occur, with pony completely over but the fandom still dragging along.

If you ask me, neither of these options sound that appealing, much like the death of the universe also doesn’t sound great anyway you put it, so the game will at some point become a judgement call: At what point is participating in the fandom no longer worth the effort? Even though the end times are not here yet, there are some days when I look at the past and present of FiM, and when I see my favorite things about FiM disappearing, I wonder whether it’s time to cut my losses and move on. In my time in the fandom, I’ve written fanfiction, composed music, put together a few analysis videos, and devoted so many hours to this blog. My greatest fandom aspiration, to attend Bronycon, has been fulfilled, and what excites me now is not FiM, but another, newer show.

It is this kind of attitude which I think is the actual cause of people leaving the fandom. Because at the end of the day, the story, not necessarily of the Mane 6, but of us engaging with the show must come to an end in order for it to feel cathartic and complete. People desire an ending, and with the show being very unclear about its end, it only makes sense that some will manifest that ending themselves, and some will slip away due to lack of interest in a story never finished. To those still in the fandom when another leaves, the departure might feel premature as it would if they were departing, but for those that left, it probably feels more like blissful retirement after a good many years at the job.

Of course, I’m never leaving the fandom, or at least not before the movie airs. I’ve been counting down to the date for over 750 days, and I’m not calling it quits yet :)

This is not something easy to write about. The subject I’ll be discussing is controversial, and it hits hard on an emotional level. Any attempt to discuss it usually is barred down by every kind of bias and logical fallacy in the book. Yet every time the subject is brought up, my mind screams with unspoken arguments and dialogue, and they haunt me, to the point that I’ve written and scrapped this essay many times. What follows is my best attempt to discuss this, and while it might not be perfect, I will finally be at ease sharing these words, knowing that I tried my best.

The subject is clopping, so if you’re not willing to have a mature, adult conversation at the moment, it’s best to stop reading now. Most of you are probably well familiar with the C word, though there will always be some who aren’t, so to be brief, a long time ago on the forums of 4chan, there was a set of “rules” declared that the internet must follow. While most of these rules are forgotten (you can look them up if you want), one stands out infamously. “Rule 34: There is porn of it; no exceptions.” R34 (as it is frequently abbreviated) is very much more like the law of gravity than a rule; there is no denying it nor its implications. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is not the exception of this rule, but rather the most prominent example of it. Tens of thousands of pornographic images of MLP characters exist, and there’s so much of it that MLP probably has more porn than any other fandom in existence.

Most people’s reaction to this fact is polar. In one camp we have the audience of this porn, which takes delight in its existence, and in the other camp, we have those who don’t view it and think it’s pretty messed up. This isn’t to say there is no middle ground in between; like all dichotomies, the reality is more of a spectrum, but for the most part, people’s opinions lie on the ends of this spectrum. Either you’re glad it exists, or you’re horrified by its existence. The point of discussing clop is not to change your opinion it; after all, the response to this material is an emotional one, and people can’t ignore what their emotions tell them. Instead, we must apply logic and reason to understand the issue, and what it means for the MLP fandom.

If you’re interested in why people seek out this pornography, ShellyD provides an excellent, objective commentary on the subject. While ShellyD does a great job addressing the “why” question, his presentation doesn’t delve deeper into what this means for to the fandom. It does, however, shed light on the complicated nature of human sexuality, which is something that our species has pondered for forever yet surprisingly isn’t openly talked about in nations like the US.

While sexuality is a very large and nuanced topic, in this day and age there are two ‘rules’ that are pretty much universally upheld. Sexual behavior must be consensual among all involved parties, and it also must be safe. In most cases, as long as those two criteria are met, the sexual practice in question is considered to be okay, regardless of how other people view it. It is from this angle that most people in favor of clop justify it. As clopping only involves one individual, it is consensual, and it’s obviously just as safe as normal masturbation, so many cloppers will ask, “What’s the problem? When did clop ever harm anyone else?”

I’d like to point out here that by the above logic, consensual and safe sexual behavior at any time, at anyplace, in front of anyone, is okay, and that’s just too large of a stretch to make. In the real world, there’s a lot more rules at play: laws, morals, social norms, etc. Why such rules exist is an interesting conversation in it of itself, but there’s no denying that here context is king; having sex with your partner in your own home is very different than having sex at work, in a school, or in public. The same applies for masturbation and all other sexual activities.

So when we talk about clop, we’re talking about a very specific context, the MLP universe. As well all know, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a show dedicated to ideas like kindness, generosity, honesty, loyalty, and laughter, all bundled up into an idyllic package. While this show means different things to different people, there’s two obvious things that we can say are true about FiM:

Its primary theme is the idea that “Friendship is Magic”

Its target audience is young girls

These two facts alone ensure that the show never is going to dive into sexuality at all, as it is not age appropriate but also not relevant to its platonic themes. This makes the show itself a bad place for porn, and I don’t think there’s anyone actually hoping for the show to include sex scenes any time soon.

What’s more controversial is whether the MLP universe is an acceptable place for porn and sexual activity. To be more definitive, the MLP universe consists not just what we see in the show, but also what we don’t see, and this is why it’s much harder to judge whether the universe is the right context. We simply don’t know everything. However, one can take context clues from the show to discern whether sexuality does exist within the universe.

The base assumption is that the show is representative of the universe like any smaller sample of a larger data set. So if sexual behavior (arousal, intercourse, etc) exists in the universe, we’d expect to see hints of it in the show. However (and perhaps strangely), there aren’t any hints of this in the show: the characters are never horny, they are never suggestive, and most don’t even experience romantic attraction with the exception of a few crushes. Even among pairings like Shining Armor and Cadence, and Mr. and Ms. Cake, their relationships aren’t different than that of close friends. The only hint towards any sexual experience like what humans have is that the opposite gendered couples have offspring. In other words, reproduction is possible, but its mechanism is unknown. We do, however, know of one canon mechanism of reproduction: parasprites reproduce asexually by vomiting their children.

Any further explanation starts making assumptions, but from what we’ve seen, it’s fair to conclude that the characters are asexual and only act in platonic ways (with an occasional burst of romance). This also aligns with Lauren Faust’s intention “to give girls a respectful interpretation of the thing they like.” Because young girls aren’t sexually aware, any world they would imagine would be platonic (perhaps with some romance) like Equestria. This all leads to the conclusion that the MLP universe isn’t the appropriate place for porn, due to the show’s design.

Rule 34 of course, states that there’s going to be porn, no matter what, so what happens when you take a platonic universe and make porn of it? The result is an act of transformation; in the original work all the characters were strictly platonic, and in the derivative work the characters all turned sexual (or hyper sexual, as pornographic works try to be as arousing as possible). As this transformation is from one extreme to the other, it’s not surprising that some fans dislike it. After all, if an individual likes a work because of its specific characteristics, removing those characteristics is a sure way to get them to dislike it.

But to look beyond the individual and their preference, what does this transformation, from platonic to sexual, mean to the fandom at large? The fandom (by definition I’d say) is a place to celebrate the show with others online and in real life, so the fandom’s goal should always be to do just that: celebrate MLP:FiM. This includes the creation of fanworks like art, music, and stories because these works typically reflect the same things we love about the show, whatever it may be. But because clop is transformative, it does not reflect the established characters and their platonic relationships.

This puts clop into a category I call non-appreciative fan works, and in it falls anything that celebrates ideas opposite to ones in the show, like blood and gore as another example. This doesn’t mean that these works are bad, evil, or shouldn’t exist, it’s just that they don’t celebrate the show like other fan works, and by using the same franchise to push the opposite message, these works can disrespect the show. How much they disrespect the show depends on the fan work itself; a long fanfiction with a well explained sexual relationship wouldn’t be disrespectful at all (it also wouldn’t be pornography), but an image showing the entire Mane6 being raped would be incredibly so. Typically, the more sexually explicit a work, and the less context provided, the more depreciative the work is, though this scale is different for every person.

The best way to handle non-appreciative fan works is the tried and true method of tagging. Works that are particularly sexual or particularly bloody probably aren’t what fans of the show are looking for because FiM isn’t either of those things. It’s also better if the tagging systems are nuanced; there’s a big difference between a work that’s sexual, and a work that’s pornographic (in case I haven’t made the distinction clear, pornographic works are sexually explicit works with the intention or effect of being as arousing as possible). The same nuance holds true for the “saucy” works; is the pony’s butt there to be arousing, or is it there because that’s just where butts anatomically go? If done properly, this ensures that no one accidentally views works that contrast what’s explored in FiM.

Part of this is also not pushing the clop agenda in the rest of the fandom. As stated earlier, the fandom’s goals should be to celebrate the show for what it is, and clop deviates from that, so promoting it beyond acknowledging that it exists is unfair to people who wish to avoid it. The same holds true for people who intentionally attack cloppers; cloppers are also allowed to celebrate MLP:FiM, and seeking them out to yell at them is worse. Discussion with the intention to understand one another is always fine, but sadly it often turns toxic (for the brave souls who wish to understand, I applaud you and hope that you don’t receive nasty comments like I have).

The other issue that should be resolved is the misunderstanding between the two most opposite sides. It’s always okay if someone judges MLP:FiM as a bad place for sex because of the context, and it’s always okay if someone likes the porn. But when a member of the fandom discovers the clop (or a clopper), and they find the sexual transformation disrespectful, how do they know the artist/person isn’t trying to be disrespectful? Short answer is that they cannot know, unless cloppers/artists try to make that clear. For example, when someone states, “I love clop,” what do they mean? Is it the image of consensual sex between two of their favorite characters that they like, or is it the image of all the show’s cast being raped that they enjoy? These are two very different things, so if cloppers don’t want people to assume the worst, they should be more specific. The statement “I love clop because I like sexual fantasies between my favorite ships” is much more descriptive of what the person actually enjoys, and it also explains their motivation. Really, any short explanation should be enough to rid people of doubt that one is trying to be disrespectful.

Now to quickly summarize everything I’ve stated above: Clop is a hard thing to discuss. The subject tends to polarize people, which likely due to how complicated sexuality is. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with clop, though the judgement is ultimately based on whether one thinks it’s appropriate given the context of My Little Pony: Freindship is magic. Because it’s a show about friendship, and because it depicts its characters platonically, many will reach the conclusion that porn of the show is not appropriate. Anyhow, clop is a transformative work, which means that it should be tagged and available, but not promoted and not hated. Misunderstanding can hopefully be cleared up by having cloppers explain to non-cloppers that they mean no offense when the two worlds do collide.

“Why I Clop and Why You Should Not Hate Me For It” by Stealthypone

Humans are sexual beings. There may be exceptions here and there but in general that is a fact.

In terms of sexuality, you don't chose what you are attracted to. It just so happens as it does, maybe evolving over time, but it's not a deliberate choice.

With that in mind, take these characters we all grew to love. Their human-like behaviour coupled with their sentience and also cute looks makes them very appealing to their audience - not necesarrily in a sexual way, mind you.

We see many aspects of their life, but one of the main things in life is not dealt with - and for a good reason, the show is still foremost for kids -, namely the one mentioned above: sexuality.

This is were clop-artists and clopfic-writers and whatnot come into play, they allow us a glimpse at what we do not see in the show itself and it can be highly rewarding to consume what they provide.

Not to mention that the quality of some of what these people create is beyond impressive from a purely artistic point of view, whether the content is to your liking or not.

Of course there is not only pony-clop, there is humanized and anthro and everything in between as well, so it's no surprise that there are many people who enjoy those things, even if they might not be "into ponies in that way".

The important thing is to keep all this away from people who do NOT want to see it and sadly that sometimes fails which is just sad and I understand why noncloppers would be mad about that.

But your average clopper is not going to rub his favorite explicit things into your face if you do not want to see that!

As with everything there is a small obnoxious fraction that would do that and that sadly puts all of us in a bad light.

Clopping itself, though, is not hurting anyone, it is no reason to be ashamed and no reason for others to bash you for it.

If you are NOT a clopper, I am sure you also have some fetishes yourself that you did not consciously chose to have, that others might maybe even consider weird or worse.

But just because they are unusual, would you want others to give you a hard time for having them?

So please stop calling cloppers sick or anything like that, can't we all just get along?

“The Other Side: A response to Stealthypone’s ‘Why I Clop’” by brambleshadow4

In last week’s soapbox Stealthypone defended against the hate towards cloppers, but in that conversation, we never looked at why some fans feel so strongly about the subject, so I’d like to fill in with two reasons I think people are uncomfortable with clop.

One reason for discomfort is the discrepancy between the themes of FiM and the themes of clop. MLP:FiM is clearly about friendship, but looking at the strength and diversity of its female protagonists, it’s also fair to say FiM is about female empowerment. MLP r34 however, transforms these platonic relations into sexually explicit ones and portrays the characters not as complex figures but as sexual objects. Thus pornographizing MLP ends up discrediting the themes of the show, which make certain fans upset.

Another reason for discomfort is this idea of respect. If someone or something asks you not to sexualize them, doing so is disrespectful. While a TV show cannot directly tell us, the target audience and platonic narratives of FiM strongly suggest that it is a place to be left untouched by the sexual world. So when others create clop, it feels like an act of disrespect, and fans who wish to respect the show are consequentially upset.

To minimize this discomfort, it’s essential as Stealthypone says to “keep [it] away from people who do NOT want to see it.” However, this doesn’t change whether it’s icky or not, and it doesn’t stop fans from yelling at the other side trying to convince them they’re wrong. In short, isolation isn’t enough to resolve the issue.

There is one thing that I think can help bridge the gap besides ignoring the extreme on both sides: don’t let your stance on clopping define your place in the fandom. If you’re pro clop, be louder in your support of the show and ponies in general; if you’re an artist, make pony art that isn’t NSFW. Let your fanaticism for the show outcry your fanaticism for the porn because at the end of the day, it’s celebrating pony for the non-sexual show it is which brings us all together.

On the origin of these two essays:

The first one, of course, was a short essay posted on EQD through their “Community Soapbox”. Anyone is allowed to submit anything to be posted in that section, as long as it’s under 200 words. For community soapbox 12, they decided to roll with this essay as the headline, which I wouldn’t have deemed controversial except for the fact that it’s over double the max word count (it is 412 words long). Essentially, EQD broke their policy to feature an article defending clop, which can be interpreted as them taking a non-neutral stance on the issue.

“I'm afraid to go back to the village for the celebration.”

“But why, darling? You went back to apologize. They accepted. Everypony has moved on.”

“But have they? They don't really know how much I've changed. Or even worse, maybe I haven't changed as much as I think I have!”

This finale, like its predecessors, comes loaded with all the adventure we’ve come to expect from MLP season finales: dire situations, larger than life villains, epic showdowns, and inevitably saving the day through the magic of friendship. It’s good stuff, and I for one am very satisfied with how the writers keep finding new ways for pony kind to triumph over evil without feeling repetitive. But as one might guess from the quote, there’s another conflict and resolution in this episode that fascinates me, and it’s Starlight Glimmer’s internal conflict amidst the changeling’s takeover.

As Starlight was a new character in season 5, she started in the same state that all the Mane Six were for the first season; undeveloped with a gimmick or two to entice the audience to want to know more. Starlight was introduced as the leader of a small, happy village only to later be revealed as a villainous dictator with sorceress-like powers. Later confronted with the choice to destroy Equestria or start over with Twilight, she chose the latter, thus becoming a member of the secondary cast with a significant amount of backstory to take her in any direction the writers choose.

With time, we expect to learn more about each character, slowly, steadily, as we watch how she interacts, how she confronts challenges, and how she embraces her successes and failures. Season one definitely achieves this for the Mane 6; each character was featured in multiple episodes but never in the same role or for the same purpose. A great example of this is Rarity, who was initially characterized as nothing more than your typical girly girl, but whose episodes involve her confronting characters with opposing viewpoints, developing her artistic passion, being kidnapped, and dealing with jealousy.

However, Starlight Glimmer’s development has been fundamentally different than that of the Mane6. With the exception of “A Hearth’s Warming Tale,” all her episodes are a mix of her struggling with her past. The season finale (as well as premier) are definitely clear on this front with Starlight constantly reminding herself of how badly she screwed up, but I’d also argue Starlight’s trouble in making new friends is linked to her struggle with her past. In “No Second Prances,” she directly states “I think everybody knows about my past” as reason why she’s having difficulty making friends, but also nagging at her in both episodes is this overwhelming fear of failure which seems to have surfaced from her earlier “failure” as village leader.

In any case, her panicky moments seem to be a subject that her episodes are fixated around, preventing us from learning more about her character like we did when the Mane6 were introduced. It also doesn’t help that she doesn’t appear in secondary roles alongside the Mane6 in their episodes. However, I’d say the primary reason for why Starlight’s limited development is the discontinuity from season five to six.

At the end of season five, Starlight Glimmer was a powerful, strong willed, and rebellious unicorn who intentionally used magic to manipulate others. It was no accident that she stole Star Swirl the Bearded’s spell and used it to try to get revenge on Twilight. She stopped of course, Twilight forgave her, and consequently Twilight began introducing the magic of friendship to Starlight. Fast-forward the hiatus to season six, and Starlight’s back as Twilight’s apprentice, but she’s not exactly the same character as before. She’s less rebellious and her self-confidence is completely diminished. Her physical appearance is also different, further suggesting a dramatic shift in character. For me though, the most obvious sign of a change is how Starlight constantly regrets her previous actions, and this is something I don’t believe Twilight would encourage, nor something season five Starlight Glimmer would do.

So we know Starlight Glimmer changed quite a bit besides what we saw of her reformation in the season five finale. Perhaps these changes felt natural, or perhaps not, but it certainly wasn’t something captured on screen. Thus, when the camera turned back on, Starlight’s episodes may have be an effort to “catch up” and show the audience how Starlight felt about her past self, at the cost of not being able to immediately move forward and develop her next chapter. On one hoof, it’s an improvement over the six seconds of sobbing in which Sunset Shimmer was reformed, but on the other, having Starlight struggle with the same fundamental issue for episode after episode feels repetitive; after all the finale began with Starlight’s regret and fear from the premier in place: “Maybe I haven't changed as much as I think I have.”

Hopefully though, this era of regret being Starlight’s defining characteristic is coming to a close. Keeping up the comparison to Sunset Shimmer, the season six finale would then be to Starlight what Rainbow Rocks is to Sunset: a chance to prove that one has changed for the better. And just like Sunset was the heroine of RR, Starlight was the heroine of “To Where and Back Again.” This and the fact Starlight was able to approach her village friends and explain her concern to them are good indicators that Starlight really is overcoming her doubt, and that she will able to develop beyond her backstory, though not until season seven.

The penultimate episode of the season is always one I look forward to. With the finale’s story almost always occupying the last two episodes (usually due to its adventurous narrative), it is episode 24 that stands as the slice of life conclusion of the season. This episode also stands as the final opportunity to squeeze in another map episode, and since the map dictates that “There shall be three map episodes per season, and every mane 6 pony shall be in a map episode,” it’s not surprising that the output is a map episode featuring Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and the new ponies involved with the inevitable friendship problem.

To cut to the chase, this story is one about Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail. It also is about T Sparks’ and the Dashinator’s approaches to solving problems, but the most emotional conflict definitely revolves around the former pair. For once, the “friendship problem” isn’t a family feud, family business, bad economics, greedy economics, or community building; it’s actually a problem in between two friends, or rather, the lack of acknowledgement that there is a problem. When Twilight discovers Vapor’s secret about her helping Sky, the audience knows that at some point there’s going to be a confrontation, and it’s not going to be pretty. Curiously, when the Mane Six pairing bring up this conflict to Vapor, Twilight doesn’t immediately force the two into this confrontation. Rather, they help out until Vapor becomes upset with Sky and angrily reveals that she’s the reason for Sky’s every success.

This scene marks a transition in Vapor’s characterization; before she is depicted as weak, more of a fan filly of Sky rather than a talented flyer in her own right, but after an afternoon with Rainbow Dash, her passion and excitement about flying emerges. It is here that she discovers her own ambition to become a Wonderbolt, and with her flying technique improving rapidly, this goal is quite feasible. No longer can we view her as Sky’s weak sidekick because we now know that she’s the stronger flyer of the two, and that she’s also willing to put forth the effort needed to achieve this new dream.

It is this newly found ambition that immediately clashes against Sky’s own in the middle of the episode; with Vapor realizing how much she loves flying, she’s upset and angry when Sky’s own ambition (not to mention arrogance) threatens to take some of that away from her. Suddenly the pair of friends become rivals (if not enemies), though interestingly, it’s hard to blame either’s ambition as the lone culprit. Without Sky’s desire to be a strong flyer, neither Sky nor Vapor would been able to attend the academy, but without Vapor’s desire to improve her own flying, the duo most certainly would have failed their individual flight tests. Thus, I’d argue that the real problem isn’t ambition, but instead the way their relationship is configured. Vapor clearly will sacrifice her own ambition in order to help Sky’s, but the reverse isn’t true, as Sky doesn’t give a crap about her triumphs in face of his own shortcomings.

It is this set of give-it-all/take-it-all mentalities which strongly suggest that the relationship between Vapor and Sky is more male dominance than actual friendship. Sky Stinger exudes many aspects of being the alpha male with his arrogant talk, impressive flight maneuvers, and his “cool” (but actually obnoxious) attitude. Vapor Trail, on the other hoof, is quiet, supportive, and “weak;” a perfect subject for a male to dominant over with the irony that Vapor’s actually a better flyer than Sky. In the real world, such subservience might enforced by the male, but in this episode it’s purely accidental; Vapor just happens to care more about having a friend, thus she strives to help Sky achieve his ambition rather than pursue her own. It’s also important to note that Sky is oblivious to Vapor helping him, so it’s unlikely he’s intentionally trying to prevent her from perusing her own passion.

The result, however, is the same regardless of whether Sky’s dominance is intentional or not; both pegasi lose out when the pair only pursue Sky’s ambition and not Vapor’s. As demonstrated in the episode, when Vapor’s only purpose is to create wind for Sky, Vapor loses out on learning aerial tricks, but Sky also loses out on learning how to fly on his own. A much better outcome is what the episode concludes with: two independently strong flyers each fueled by their own ambition. Thus the episode yields both a warning against one-sided relationships as well as a lesson about the good that can come from pursuing your passion alongside others.

Waaaaaaay back when in the very first episode of the show, Twilight Sparkle and the audience were introduced to Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Without knowing why we were introduced to these characters, episode two continued their story, and by its end, we were not only seeing them as typical protagonists, but symbolic manifestations of divine ideals; Pinkie was laugher, Fluttershy was kindness, Rarity was generosity, Rainbow was loyalty, and AJ was honesty. Inspired by such ideas, the early fandom left the religions of the world and formed a new one with its holy tenants sacredly referred to as “the elements of harmony.”

Okay, the above story isn’t really how the elements of harmony came to be. A much better executive summary would be that Lauren Faust, with only 50 minutes of animation time to reboot the My Little Pony franchise, had to come up with some interesting idea to grab the audience’s attention, thus the elements of harmony were born. Each one was assigned to a pony, and while these traits align nicely with their personalities depicted later on, at the moment it was a bit strange. Aside from it being necessary for the sake of the plot, did these ponies really exemplify the traits they were typecast to?

This action of labeling each character with an element essentially conforms (or tries to conform) their personality to box in the same way stereotypes do. If someone notices a person wearing glasses, that person might assume that the bearer of those glasses is smart, not because of their character, but because of that nerds-wear-glasses stereotype. Similarly, when we are told that Rarity is the element of generosity, we expect her to be generous independent of everything else we know about her. But is she actually generous? Sure, there are times when Rarity does make grand gestures of generosity, but we also see interactions between her and Sweetie Belle where she refuses to give Sweetie even a lick of attention.

When characters like Rarity and Rainbow Dash act out of their element, we question not about why they struggle to uphold their character in that moment, but rather how strong the analogy to the Elements of Harmony really is, because neither of these characters have conformed to their element well. Rainbow Dash, for all that she is, has never actually shown the unconditional loyalty we expect. Even more interesting is that, according to Lauren Faust , Rarity’s original element was not generosity, but rather inspiration. In some sense, we actually expect these two character to act more out of their element than in, and when they do conform to their element, it actually feels more out of character than less, as they suddenly switch from not being loyal/generous to being very much so.

However, the other three element bearers (Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie), do conform to their element, affirming that the elements of harmony actually do correlate with actual character traits: Fluttershy always tries to be kind, Pinkie always is up for a good laugh, and Applejack always tells the truth. The above is true so often that it is an invariant, meaning anytime we see either of these three characters, we can count on the fact they will be upholding these traits. The only time they are called into question is when each pony is the focus of an episode. Usually by design, the plot in these episodes is designed to try the protagonist’s character, and while they might not follow their element throughout the body of the episode, the invariant is still upheld by episode’s end.

One of the criticisms of the protagonists always conforming to their traits is that it makes their characters simple. If Applejack always spits out the truth, we might assume she’s programmed to do so, and we begin to think of her as more of a computer (she is an Apple™ after all) blindly following instructions rather than a character with complex motivations behind her actions. The other side effect is that there is no room to explore scenarios where Applejack might actually lie to others because we know such situations will never happen, and thus we lose out on an interesting story.

This is why deviation from a pony’s element becomes insanely interesting; not only is it surprising, but it allows for the character to explore another side of them as well as find motivation for why their character is as such. All of this is done masterly in “Where the Apple Lies” (yay! We finally got to the episode, it only took 750 words xD). The episode is a flashback to Applejack’s past before she was the element of honesty, so there is no contradiction of character here when she lies. Furthermore, her incessant lying creates a perfect storm of a story, with the whole thing blowing way out of proportion in a true comedic farce. But most importantly, Applejack’s truth telling and lack of is given motivation. In the past, she lies in hope of a deal that will benefit Sweet Apple Acres, demonstrating not only her commitment to the farm, but also a desire to be the responsible one making decisions. Years later, AJ’s motivation to tell the truth arises from this earlier disaster, showing that AJ doesn’t blindly tell the truth, but rather tells the truth based on wisdom gained from earlier experiences.

In all, the episode provides a lot more insight into AJ’s character than the title of “Element of Honesty” will ever do on its own, as it shows part of the journey AJ took to become an honest mare. I hope that in future seasons we might see something similar for Fluttershy and Pinkie (as this can’t be done for Rarity and Rainbow since they don’t stick to their element, and Twilight’s journey we have already seen). However, this might be difficult to pull off, as backstories which lead to Pinkie and Fluttershy’s outlooks are likely few and far in between.

In every episode of MLP featuring the Mane 6, we should expect the Mane 6 to enter a state of conflict. While Equestria & Ponyville at large may be at peace, there is no reason why the same should hold true for every pair of two characters at any given time; it’s just not statistically likely that everypony always has a perfect relationship with every other pony. Thus, there must be a conflict (that’s why we have a show after all), and assuming the protagonists remain friends, this conflict must be resolved.

However, this argument says nothing about how each conflict is resolved, so throughout the show’s episodes, we encounter many ways the writers choose to do so. There’s the classic blast ‘em with friendship method, usually followed by the villain reformation in five sentences or less, but in less action oriented episodes, the conflict is usually resolved with either the admittance of some mistake or the clarification of an earlier miscommunication. In fact, pretty much the entirety of Season 6 falls into one of these two categorizations with “No Second Prances,” “The Saddle Row Review,” “Flutter Brutter,” and “The Times They are a Changeling” all being examples of some character messing up, and “The Crystalling,” “Newbie Dash,” “Spice up Your Life,” and “The Fault in Our Cutie Marks” all being examples of miscommunication.

Knowing this, it’s remarkably easy to initially watch P.P.O.V with the expectation that once again, the episode will be resolved with some pony admitting fault. This outcome seems especially probably when all three of the ponies involved refuse to admit any fault at the beginning, each blaming another for the capsize of their ship. Each pony’s story offers a different interpretation of events, which leads the audience to believe that the ship’s sinking is probably the result of multiple causality, in which all three are about equal to blame for the ship’s capsize.

However, Twilight reveals at the end of the episode that the actual cause of wreck was a tri-horn bunyip, and its sudden appearance at the scene of the crime establishes that no pony was actually at fault. This is rather comical as blaming the disaster on a mythical sea creature would normally appear to be a farfetched excuse, yet it is the truth of the matter here. Functionally, the bunyip serves as quick but effective way of scapegoating all blame off of our protagonists, changing the course of the episode’s plot to arrive at a different resolution.

This is an interesting narrative choice, because Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie probably would have gotten back together as friends without the bunyip, so why bother throwing one in? The bunyip acts as a deus ex machina of sorts, arriving at the last possible second to save the protagonists from having to admit their own fault. Because of its existence, Twilight doesn’t actually need to reconcile her friends, and an opportunity to demonstrate the give-and-take of healthy friendships is wasted. The bunyip, like all instances of deus ex machina, can feel contrived; the only reason it exists is to interrupt that one scene and “save the day,” although as pointed out earlier, there is no reason for why the day needs to be saved.

However, in contrary to the above, I think the bunyip’s inclusion makes the episode better, not because it’s necessary, but because its inclusion throws the audience for a loop. What I’ve described in the prior paragraph is what we expect from the show after so many episodes: a friendship problem solved when a neutral third party (in this case, Twilight) shows the others the error of their ways. In essence, it’s another resolution by admittance of fault, and it’s very predictable. By contrast, no expects a bunyip to be under the boat, and its revelation causes the resolution to be driven by the discovery of previously unknowable knowledge. At worst, such a resolution might seem a bit odd, yet its oddness reflects how the real world also can act in strange ways at times. At best, this resolution can be seen as self-aware and meta; the writers know we are expecting nothing more than a pep talk from Twilight, so instead they skip over it and throw in a bunyip to take its place. For this reason, I find the resolution of this episode to be clever and not illogical.

Even so, there’s more to this episode’s resolution than just the bunyip because once the cause of the wreckage is known, it still remains up to Pinkie, AJ, and Rarity to amend their friendship; the blame has been discarded, but the disconnect remains. From this point of view, the bunyip functions as a way of transforming the conflict from fault-finding to miscommunication, the other major category of conflicts. Here the bunyip is less of a game changer as Twilight still needs to help her friends reconnect, but even so, the bunyip still provides that unpredictable twist. This gives the episode the best of both scenarios; a little of the expected Twilight being the Princess of Friendship and a little of the unexpected, “I forgot we were in Equestria and there are magical monsters everywhere.”