Exploration of Ponyville’s Edge, or, Another Rain Dust Entry
Greetings, dear diary!
It has been quite some time since I wanted to write about my new home and town.
Or rather, what all I wanted to find and write about in my new home and town.
For a town that was once at the epicenter of the God of Chaos’ newly released wrath, not many exciting things seem to go on here. There is the occasional school filly who plows through the streets on her scooter but other than that, nothing interesting has been happening.
And to be honest, it’s disheartening.
I specifically chose Ponyville due to its history and attraction of insanity!
I’ve read newspaper clippings and countless reports about this town: stampedes of cows and rabbits in the same week, Parasprite infestation, royalty moving into castles that suddenly appear from the ground, even the guard of TARTARUS, CERBERUS, APPEARING!
Then there was that supposed zombie outbrea
Not to mention this town exists RIGHT on the border of the Everfree Forest, the most chaotic and magically disproportionate place in all of Equestria. You would think something would run straight from the woods seeking more territory, or if ponies go missing in the forest, or even if the decrepit ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters have horrific disgusting beasts hidden in their walls!
But no.
I chose to move here for research.
And what have I received in the first few days of living in this town?
A party from a poofy pink pony, fashion advice from a unicorn who really needs to keep to her own business, and a Timberwolf that howls at my window at 8pm on the dot.
It’s as if I walked into a library to start a new series of books, and the first and second volumes are gone! Always the worst fuc
Maybe I set my expectations too high? Or, I was looking too deeply into this whole situation?
I may sound like a brat, but I really was hoping for some sort of inspiration for my research.
Perhaps I’m just not going to where the scares creatures terror inspiration is.
I’m going to pack a bag and try to explore the edges of Everfree Forest. Staying in a town where it’s “safe” is only going to prove difficult. Plus, I have that spell. I can handle myself quite well.
I’ll give full notes and explanations later, diary.
This season is really doing everything and pulling out all the stops to make sure the show is tied in a neat little bow.
The Tree of Harmony is now the Treehouse of Harmony, villains have returned to obtain vengeance, Celestia and Luna are ceding their throne to Twilight and her friends, and characters are evolving beyond their original purposes.
And if these promos are anything to go from, we are in for a long and emotional ride for the next few episodes.
I figured going from episode speculation and predictions would be the best, so first up is the new episode for this week.
“The Summer Sun Setback” - The Mane Six try to make Celestia and Luna's final Summer Sun Celebration extraordinary.
- Obviously, another step towards the Royal Sisters in retiring, and another chance for Twilight and her friends to really show their stuff as future rulers. And another chance for Twilight to freak out like she did before.
- I’m hoping to see some growth from Twilight here in terms of her mental state. She’s learned to calm herself in the past, i.e. “Games Ponies Play”, but she still lets her anxiety and perfectionism get the best of her. She’s under the impression she needs to be Atlas, and carry the weight of the kingdom and ruling it on HER shoulders alone. Almost like she’s becoming the perceived idol image she’s held of Celestia all these years.
- It’s not just her inheriting the kingdom. She and her friends are going to rule together. And as she learned - or needed to learn - in “Between Darkness and Dawn”, delegating duties is a necessary tool for a ruler. No one person can do anything ALONE. They can’t just shoulder every little responsibility themselves. They need to learn to ask for help and seek it accordingly.
- On another side note, I hope we see more of the “League of Villains” here. Now that Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and Lord Tirek have Grogar’s bell, I want to see if there’s something more they can do with it. Control it, use it’s powers, develop their bond and possibly become friends and use it against him - you know.
- Watch me call that.
“She Talks to Angel” - Fluttershy seeks help from Zecora to understand her pet bunny, Angel.
- An Angel episode? Now this may be interesting. Angel’s personality is one that is far from appealing. He’s often seen causing more problems for Fluttershy than solving them, and he has a bit of a sadistic streak.
- And a love for Starlight, but that’s something that may not be picked up on ever again.
- I hope we get more insight into Angel and his relationship with Fluttershy. I want to know how exactly these two met, and what their dynamic really rests on.
- And I want to see more of the animal sanctuary. The last we saw of it was a season ago when it was created, and then a few mentions here and there for the students at the Friendship School. And as Pinkie Pie mentioned, Fluttershy helps run the sanctuary, so her newfound responsibilities may be more than she bargained for with all these animals running around.
- Angel may be jealous, he may want to help, it may be a monster attack - either way, I’m in.
“Dragon Dropped” - Rarity worries she’s done something to upset Spike when he stops making time for her.
- . . . this is gonna read like a break-up episode, isn’t it?
- I’m not one for Spike/Rarity shipping, so this is something I was hoping the show would NOT tackle. I’m a fan of Rarity acknowledging Spike as a friend and treating him with respect, but I’m not fond of her using him and thinking she could possibly be manipulating him with his crush to do things for her.
- I know it’s Rarity. I know it’s Spike. I know the implications here. I’m gonna tread lightly and pray that the writing here will be done with care.
- As an addendum to this, I’m okay with a show like MLP tackling romantic relationships. I’m not fond of it using Rarity as the jealous girlfriend archetype because Spike gets over his crush and the fandom twists this into some newfound “confirmation of their ships”. That may sound mean, but I don’t sugar coat things.
“A Horse-Shoe In” - Starlight Glimmer attempts to find a Vice Headmare for the School of Friendship.
- I was hoping for more Starlight Glimmer this season. And this is a valid point to make. With Twilight and her friends ascending to the throne, the School of Friendship will need to be maintained with something other than them. And Starlight can’t run a place like that by herself.
- See my point above.
- I just know more Trixie in this episode will happen, and possibly some Discord. He wanted in on the school as a sub before, so now this may be his chance to introduce a whole new world of chaos magic to Equestria.
- Or, it’s Starlight being the new Twilight. And I use that saying very sparingly.
“Daring Doubt” - Fluttershy goes on a quest to find a mysterious writer that publishes his own renditions of Daring Do's adventures.
- So, someone else writes Daring Do’s stories another way? This is something I’m actually in for! And I’m surprised it’s FLUTTERSHY tackling this rather than RAINBOW DASH.
- Sometimes Kindness is needed more than brashness.
- I just hope this isn’t something in MLP that’s tied up neatly. Daring Do’s adventures are meant to be an Indiana Jones style adventure that continues, no matter the age or the environment. That’s a type of thing you can’t really conclude. Unless there was some sort of way to tie it up nicely. But eh, I can hold my tongue.
“Growing Up Is Hard To Do” - The Cutie Mark Crusaders discover that growing up is a lot harder than they thought.
- AND now I jump off the ship of speculation into the sea of questions.
- How do the CMC look when they’re older? Will they keep their VAs? How is this possible? Can there be more to their talents? How will this effect them when they turn back to normal?
- And on that matter, when they DO grow up, how will this effect the organization and their decisions on helping fillies?
- I think this is gonna be an existential episode. So, I’ll keep the tissues and the notepad at the ready.
“The Big Mac Question”
- THis one has no summary, but MAN do I know what THIS may be about. And talk about loose threads being TIED, eh?!
- Another pony marriage? Are they going to leave Big Mac and Sugar Belle as a romantic couple and let her want to focus on work? Will others come in and try to ruin things?
- Are we gonna get more canonical ships?
- Thus maybe more of a wham episode than most will expect!
Diary of Rain Dust, or Another Long Exposition-Filled Distillment
Hello again, diary.
I could say it’s been a while, but I think we both know how quick this entry was written compared to the prior one. And because of the insanity of unpacking and moving into this town, a distraction was sincerely needed.
I guess I should explain what in Luna’s name I’m doing here.
I’ll try to condense the story as quickly and easily as possible.
As I said before, I’m the only unicorn in a family of earth ponies. I have unicorn relatives, but earth pony parents. Therefore, I was often giving off magic bursts. As a baby, according to my mom, I would often turn things different colors and randomly “wink” in and out.
I got the term from my Grandma Cobalt. “Winking” used to be what everypony called teleporting. Or turning invisible. Either or. Kind of cute.
My grandma Cobalt was actually the one who often taught me spells and how to control my magic as I got older. She encouraged me to use magic when I could. And apparently, a lot of it came naturally. Levitation, writing, winking - the basics were already easy.
She taught me a few other spells, but my parents weren’t fond of my use of them. Don’t blame them.
My sisters, as infants, often enjoyed me levitating them and giving them little rides in the air. Hearing them laugh was just adorable . . . Bell loves it a lot as a baby.
She still loves it, to be honest. Says it feels natural.
As they got older, they kept asking me to perform magic for them and their friends. Mostly giving minor light shows, or turning cloth into toys and animal facsimiles.
When I wasn’t helping around the homestead or watching my sisters, I was researching: reading and cultivating knowledge, writing and recording it, and performing spells that I often read or heard of. I combined them with Grandma Cobalt’s spells. To see if they’d ease them a bit.
And I was half right.
As I got older, my magic skill and knowledge were at the point where my parents saw my potential. Staying in Appaloosa would only have held me back. They immediately sent for, and filled out, the paperwork for me to enroll in a prestigious school in Canterlot. Not Celestia’s School for Gifted and Talented Unicorns.
A different place.
And, I was happy regardless.
Leaving Appaloosa for the first time was not really overwhelming. Sure I missed my family, but it felt nice to not have several voices in my ears. No dirt that got stuck in my hooves. No sand in my eyes. Just students like myself who understood the finer points of education and magical prowess. I did find ponies who shared my interests.
A lot of my interests.
But, I kept most of my time close to my spells and my books. And a developing passion I had for the arts. Drawing felt natural to me. And I did get some stares when I said I could do it without magic. Didn’t let that get to me, though. Just kept at it.
After graduating the school, and rereading the notebooks I had accumulated over the course of several years, I realized a few things:
1) I was a studious unicorn who would easily have been mistaken as a hoarder, seeing as I kept notebooks from even the inane classes during school.
2) My research was always focused on several branches but always focused on one central genre and subject. Sure it diverged, but often times, it would come right back to the same subject. And I was, oddly, okay with that.
3) Telling somepony this stuff in full detail right off the bat would, for lack of better words, make them freak the fuck out.
So, I decided to take a logical course of action.
I packed my things, kept my notebooks, and moved to what I considered be the perfect place for research and further development of my spells.
Ponyville.
I’ve gotten a lot of flack from my parents about this decision, but deep down, they do support me. Somewhere deep down.
I just know I can find what I’m looking for here.
And in the process, I can even develop my knowledge.
Maybe, make a friend.
. . .
Oh wow, I wish I had some crackers because that was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever written. AS if making friends will allow me the chance to develop my magic. Develop my knowledge, of course.
. . . oh whatever. It’s late now.
Unpacking can wait after sleep.
Do entertain yourself, dear diary. We can speak again later.
I’m really legitimately asking.
Ever since Horseshoes and now Tommy left (although I’m pretty neutral on Tommy leaving considering his...split reception as a review..), it seems that there’s gonna be an uncomfortable trend of Analysis members leaving the fandom and saying the fans were the cause of everything falling down hill.
oh.
