Sounds of 2012: No. 1!

Here we are at the end of "Sounds of 2012", and I did – just – get the series completed before year's end after all! Not that it matters by this stage in proceedings, but here are the usual inclusion rules:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the artist
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion

01: The Living Tombstone – Discord (Remix)

Come on, were any of you surprised? Let's get right on to the waffly bit:

01: The Living Tombstone – Discord (Remix)

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 21 Jan 2012
People who don't listen to much brony music know about The Living Tombstone's remix of "Discord". There are people who barely know the fandom exists who can sing it. These days, some people even believe it's about the chat app, despite this remix having been released several years before the app existed! It's closing in on 35 million views on YouTube, but even that doesn't really get across just how massive this track became, and to a considerable extent still is. It has seven times the views of Eurobeat Brony's original, so it's unsurprising that many fans even in 2019 are surprised to find that Tombstone didn't do this first. (This misconception has been both a source of slight irritation to EB and a source of slight embarrassment to TLT.) The remix itself is classic Tombstone electronica, but however many times you hear it, it's hard to deny its staying power. The chorus is perhaps a bit dull compared with the original version, but as a dancefloor number it hits all the right notes. There's a 320k MP3 download in the video description.

And there you are! "Sounds of 2012" is a wrap! In answer to the question so many of you are desperate to know the answer to: yes, I do plan on doing "Sounds of 2013" during 2020. I won't get going on that immediately – I have to make up some ground with my S1 rewatch, for a start! – but I hope it won't be too long. Meanwhile, thank you to everyone who stuck with this series right from the beginning. :)

Worcester Shires quiz – answers!

I hope a few people had fun with this quiz, even those who didn't post comments attempting any of the questions. Here are the official answers:

Worcester Shires Hearth's Warming Quiz 2019

Q1: Whose voice was the first ever heard in Friendship is Magic?
Nicole Oliver

Q2: In "Hearth's Warming Eve", who were the three assistants to the pony tribal rulers? (1 mark for each)
Clover the Clever, Private Pansy, Smart Cookie

Q3: Who was the main interior artist on the first IDW MLP comic?
Andy Price

Q4: What is the name of Tirek's estranged brother?
Scorpan

Q5: In "Slice of Life", what do Celestia and Luna bicker about?
Whose turn it was to bring the present

Q6: Complete the song line: "Cupcakes, so sweet and tasty…"
"...cupcakes, don't be too hasty!"

Q7: In the 2017 film, what is the name of Queen Novo's octopus servant?
Jamal

Q8: What was the name of the large convention held for a few years in France?
BronyDays

Q9: In the popular [Worcester meet] card game "Chase the Ace", which family are said to be cursed?
The Cakes (both the decks we use have Cakes as low-ranking cards)

Q10: Which is the only G1 pony to be included in Friendship is Magic's Mane Six with her name and design largely unchanged?
Applejack

Q11: What is the name of the toy line that includes Cheese Sandwich's party tank cannon?
Guardians of Harmony

Q12: Who wrote the official MLP chapter books?
G. M. (Gillian) Berrow

Q13: In "Hurricane Fluttershy", what wing power number is required to produce a tornado?
800

Q14: Who are the four officially-named Our Town residents with speaking parts in "The Cutie Map", not including Starlight? (1 mark for each)
Double Diamond, Night Glider, Sugar Belle, Party Favor

Q15: Which pony was the first figure to be given away with the [UK] monthly magazine?
Pinkie Pie

Q16: After the parasprites have finally been run out of town by Pinkie's polka performance, which city does Princess Celestia say has been hit by an infestation?
Fillydelphia

Q17: Another movie question: who voices Capper?
Taye Diggs

Q18: Which School of Friendship student is terrified of confined spaces?
Gallus

Q19: In the song "Pinkie's Present" from "A Hearth's Warming Tail", which character is seen operating a gramophone?
DJ-Pon3 / Vinyl Scratch

Q20: What is the very last word spoken (not sung) in Friendship is Magic?
"You." ("I know just where to send you.")

Tie-breaker! (We didn't need this, but I'll include it anyway.)

QTB: How many words are there in the fanfic My Little Dashie?
12,524

Sounds of 2012: Nos. 3 and 2

Here we go with the penultimate post of "Sounds of 2012", a series counting down the tracks voted by Everfree Radio's listeners back at the end of 2012 as being their fandom favourites of that year. For form's sake, here are the usual inclusion criteria, though anything that ranks in the top three is damn well going in anyway!

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the artist
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion

03: Bronyfied – Brony Metal Medley
02: AcoustiMandoBrony – Loyalty

I normally put a page break here, but I won't bother with that for this post or for the final one, as they won't end up all that long. Here we go...

03: Bronyfied – Brony Metal Medley

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 1 Apr 2012
This seven-minute extravaganza from Bronyfied is pretty much what it says on the tin: a collection of fandom hits, all played in an orchestral metal style. Bronyfied called it "a sort of love letter to all the musicians in the community", and it's accompanied in the video by a collection of art pieces made specifically for this project. The eight or so songs chosen are all well known even today, ranging as they do from Eurobeat Brony's "Luna" to The Living Tombstone's "September". I'm not sure this really deserves to be number three, but it's enjoyable listening for sure. Almost inevitably, the Dropbox link given to download the song is long dead. It's interesting that Mediafire links are nearly always still working years later, whereas Dropbox links are pretty much universally not. Oh well.

02: AcoustiMandoBrony – Loyalty

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 24 Jan 2012
This is still, almost eight years after it was released, AcoustiMandoBrony's biggest hit by far. That may be slightly irritating to both MandoPony and Acoustic Brony (now Re:Make), who both released heaps of music after this, but I doubt it's going to change now. The first of the "Elements" series (which still lacks "Magic" to finish it off, but apparently that's coming), this is very much a paean to Rainbow Dash. The production quality here isn't all that amazing, but the song has a tremendous energy that not many other tracks can match. I can vouch for the fact that it sounds very fine live, though I've only experienced it all through once. (BUCK 2014. At UK PonyCon 2019 I had to leave after one verse to make the Pub Quiz!) There's a 320k MP3 download link (a direct one, too) in the video description.

My Little Repeats 15: "Feeling Pinkie Keen"

"Er, Twi? You sure about this new spell o' yours?"

S1E15: "Feeling Pinkie Keen"
Written by Dave Polsky
11 Feb 2011

My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 7.2

The one with Pinkieus Pieicus

Thoughts: Dave Polsky makes his debut, completing the S1 lineup, and he does so with an episode that was an early source of significant brony controversy. You can see why some fans felt Pinkie's eventual convincing of Twilight over Pinkie Sense felt a bit like a "faith beats science" moment, though I've softened a little on that since Polsky's BUCK 2014 panel inluded a spirited defence of the episode. (I was at that talk, and a lot of attendees were impressed.) It still doesn't quite feel right, though at least we get plenty of good ol' Snarky!Twi first. We also get the series' first out-and-out fandom nod, with Derpy – now with deliberately derped eyes! – prominent in the aerial removals squad; the ep also sees Gummy's debut. Plus a good, fun – that fourth head – and dangerous monster in the hydra, though it was barely seen again. (Fluttershy didn't know how to calm it, either, though at least she remembered how to hop, skip and jump later.) We didn't see much more of Twi's basement lab, for that matter. Oh, and the episode also featured Twilight's well-remembered Rapidash moment. Plus she did charge the hydra, consciously channelling Rainbow Dash's bravery/stupidity, something worthy of note. While the episode does still rub me up just slightly the wrong way at times, there's a good deal of fun to be had here. Enough for three stars, when once I'd probably only have given it two.

Choice quote: Spike: "Can you do that? Can you explode twice?"

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Sonic Rainboom", an episode I like – after all, it gave this blog its name! – but not one I adore as much as some of the fandom. Will that change this time? Wait and see!

Ponyfic Roundup 277

Read it Later story count: 230 (-3)

As I've mentioned before, there will be no Ponyfic Roundup on New Year's Day. Instead, I plan on posting PR 278 on 8th January. You can find an idea of what will be in that edition at the end of this edition. And talking of this edition, I've managed to get through five stories for a change – and I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed reading every one of them. Here's the list of what's under review today:

Apple Cider Caramels by iisaw
A Faded Touch of Blue by Tofazz
Calendar Chaos by Impossible Numbers
Conversations with Eternity by Sunchaser
It Doesn't Have to End Here by Soothing Stone

★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 3 | ★★★★★: 0

Sounds of 2012: Nos. 6 to 4

And we're back! It's getting very near the end, as the Beatles once sang. There are no Beatles songs in Everfree Radio's fan-voted Top 100 tracks from 2012, but the bronies of seven years ago did vote for some numbers that have very much stood the test of time. Just three of them in today's post, then two next time and the Number One song in the last of all. A quick reminder of the inclusion rules:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the artist
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion

06: ponyphonic – Lullaby for a Princess
05: Tsyolin Befriends WoodenToaster – WoodenOverture
04: Forest Rain – Join the Herd

As usual, there's a bit more on each song, including an embedded YouTube video containing the track, after the break. Come with me!

My audio review of Season 9 of FiM

There will be no post tomorrow. I hope to have a "Sounds of 2012" instalment for you on Boxing Day, and then Ponyfic Roundup 277 will appear on Friday 27th December. Note that there will not be a PR the week after that; all being well it will return on 8th January 2020. Now, on to today's business...

( Text link )

Here's your Christmas treat! (Or possibly Christmas trick, depending.) My review of Season 9 of Friendship is Magic, touching briefly on the usual stuff: which episodes I liked, which I didn't, how Fluttershy got on... you get the idea. The video takes a little under a quarter of an hour all told. It was recorded on my phone and only given very basic editing, so I do ask for your indulgence there. Even so, I hope you will find at least some of it interesting.

For those who find it easier or preferable to read, the script I used when making the video is given past the cut. Happy Hearth's Warming!

Sounds of 2012: Nos. 10 to 7

Into the Top Ten we go! Everfree Radio's countdown still contains a few more surprises before we hit the most popular song of them all that year. Today, we're down to four tracks, and while I think anything that makes it this high up a chart is pretty much notable and includable by definition, just for form's sake here are my usual inclusion rules.

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the artist
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion

10: ponyphonic – The Moon Rises
09: MandoPony – Picture Perfect Pony
08: Archie – Love is in Bloom (Archie remix)
07: Alex S. – Party with Pinkie [VIP]

Please continue past the cut to find YouTube embeds for the four songs featured, as well as the usual little bit of waffle.

The Worcester Shires Hearth's Warming Quiz 2019

Last week, at the final Worcester Shires ponymeet of the year, we had a little quiz. I wrote the questions and, even though we were a little pushed for time, it all seemed to be quite well received. I hope it won't be the last quiz we have. Anyway, I thought I'd share it with you fine people. There's no prize (that went at the meet!) so it's just for fun. All the questions are to do with MLP, and most (but not all!) are to do with Friendship is Magic.

Since a couple of questions have multiple answers, the maximum number of points available is 25, or 26 with the tie-breaker. At the meet we ran the quiz for individuals rather than teams, allowed about one minute for each question, and naturally had the common rule that answers had to be from memory without resorting to resources such as Google or Fimfiction. I'll be posting the official results in about a week, so do feel free to have a go! :)

If you were at the meet, you may have an unfair advantage. On the other hand, if you weren't at the meet then Q9 may be an unfair question! :P

Worcester Shires Hearth's Warming Quiz 2019

Q1: Whose voice was the first ever heard in Friendship is Magic?

Q2: In "Hearth's Warming Eve", who were the three assistants to the pony tribal rulers? (1 mark for each)

Q3: Who was the main interior artist on the first IDW MLP comic?

Q4: What is the name of Tirek's estranged brother?

Q5: In "Slice of Life", what do Celestia and Luna bicker about?

Q6: Complete the song line: "Cupcakes, so sweet and tasty…"

Q7: In the 2017 film, what is the name of Queen Novo's octopus servant?

Q8: What was the name of the large convention held for a few years in France?

Q9: In the popular [Worcester meet] card game "Chase the Ace", which family are said to be cursed?

Q10: Which is the only G1 pony to be included in Friendship is Magic's Mane Six with her name and design largely unchanged?

Q11: What is the name of the toy line that includes Cheese Sandwich's party tank cannon?

Q12: Who wrote the official MLP chapter books?

Q13: In "Hurricane Fluttershy", what wing power number is required to produce a tornado?

Q14: Who are the four officially-named Our Town residents with speaking parts in "The Cutie Map", not including Starlight? (1 mark for each)

Q15: Which pony was the first figure to be given away with the [UK] monthly magazine?

Q16: After the parasprites have finally been run out of town by Pinkie's polka performance, which city does Princess Celestia say has been hit by an infestation?

Q17: Another movie question: who voices Capper?

Q18: Which School of Friendship student is terrified of confined spaces?

Q19: In the song "Pinkie's Present" from "A Hearth's Warming Tail", which character is seen operating a gramophone?

Q20: What is the very last word spoken (not sung) in Friendship is Magic?

Tie-breaker! (We didn't need this, but I'll include it anyway.)

QTB: How many words are there in the fanfic My Little Dashie?

My Little Repeats 14: "Suited for Success"

Call me a fashion philistine, but I rather like some of these designs

S1E14: "Suited for Success"
Written by Charlotte Fullerton
4 Feb 2011

My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 8.6

The one with Fluttershy's freaky knowledge of sewing

Thoughts: A bunch of magical talking ponies have dresses made for a formal ball at a magical princess's castle. They sing about it and have fashion shows. Is that clichéd "girls' show" stuff or what? In this case, it's "what". A lovely episode, easily Rarity's finest hour to this point and still right up there almost nine years on. The other Manes learn something important, too. The Broadway-inspired song is superb both times, barring the odd "make sure that it stays within our budget" line. Fluttershy adds a new string to her bow, and it's a shame her sewing knowledge was so rarely referred to hereafter. DJ Pon-3 becomes a fandom favourite with five seconds of head-nodding. And of course there's "20 percent cooler" – a phrase devalued by overuse in recent years, but here absolutely fresh and perfect. Actually, the dialogue frequently zings: the scene with Rarity locked in her room is wonderful, and Pinkie's "Give her time..." may be one of the best-judged and best-timed lines in the entire series. Hoity Toity isn't the most three-dimensional character ["No; he's a 2D cartoon!" —Ed.], but he does a job. Not quite a flawless FiM episode, but fairly comfortably a classic and an ep that was pleasure itself to rewatch. A high four.

Choice quote: Rainbow Dash: "It needs to be about 20 percent cooler."

New rating: ★★★★

Next up is "Feeling Pinkie Keen", the source of perhaps the first real brony fandom controversy. I have mixed feelings about it. Let's see how it does this time.

Hearth's Warming schedule

Don't take this as gospel, but I expect to slow down a bit with posting from now until the holiday period is over. My look back at "Suited for Success" should be up tomorrow morning, once I've had time to do the actual rewatch! I'll probably get a couple more "Sounds for 2012" entries in before the end of the year. If I do finish that silly ponyfic I mentioned a little while ago I'll of course mention it here. My audio review of S9 is currently being edited. I hope to have that done in the next few days, and of course I'll also post that here when it does get finished. Finally, as I said the other day, there should be one more Ponyfic Roundup before 2019 comes to an end, though there's unlikely to be more than that.

And then it'll be 2020. The first year for a decade with no new Friendship is Magic episodes on our screens. Given the current uncertainty over Pony Life, who knows where that will lead? Whatever happens, though, I fully expect to be posting my silly ramblings on Louder Yay for quite some while to come. :)

Sounds of 2012: Nos. 15 to 11

Five posts left with Sounds of 2012! That's because, from here on in, I'm going to be reducing the number of tracks I cover each time by one. So today there are five, next time there'll be four, and the final post of all will be devoted entirely to the song that Everfree Radio's listeners voted to the head of their Top 100. The usual quick reminder of my inclusion criteria first – although really everything by this point gets in under Rule 3 if nothing else.

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the artist
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion

15: WoodenToaster & The Living Tombstone (feat. Rina Chan) – Lost on the Moon
14: H8_Seed & WoodenToaster – Awoken
13: Forest Rain (feat. Decibelle) – Great to be Different
12: AwkwardMarina – Anthropology (Lyra's Song)
11: WoodenToaster & The Living Tombstone – Love Me Cheerilee

If you feel like accompanying me past the break, you'll find that I've written a little bit about each track, as well as embedding a video for your listening pleasure.

Ponyfic Roundup 276

Read it Later story count: 233 (nc)

Here we go again! I currently do expect to post PR 277 next week, but I may well have a break the following week. We'll see. For the second successive PR, I have three fics under review. And for the second successive PR, my RiL story count is steady at 233! That does, however, hide a little bit of churn, as I've added a few new fics and removed a few I don't think I'm ever likely to want to read.

Observatory Hill by Skywriter
Scootaloot by Game-BeatX14
Everyone's a Changeling by Aquillo

★: 1 | ★★: 2 | ★★★: 0 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0

My Little Repeats 13: "Fall Weather Friends"

"Say, AJ, you're never gonna believe what happens to us when the show ends..."

S1E13: "Fall Weather Friends"
Written by Amy Keating Rogers
28 Jan 2011

My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 8.1

The one with rubber sap tapping

Thoughts: Viewers had to stick it out for three weeks for this episode, but it was worth the wait. Here we see Applejack and Rainbow Dash's long-running rivalry truly get started. The Iron Pony contest itself is great fun, with so many little touches, not least a very nice bit part for Fluttershy on scoreboard duty. (Some of it's rather less fun for Spike, though!) Then it's on to more lore: the Running of the Leaves. I love that Twilight's race number is 42. Applejack's battle with Rainbow Dash is always very watchable, though Dash does seem to bend the rules rather more than AJ does. Pinkie and Spike add some hilarity in their commentary balloon. The episode is visually lovely by S1 standards, with the reds and golds of the autumn leaves bringing a beautiful look to the woods. As for the finish, making Twilight come in fifth is so much better than the clichéd alternative of having her win the race. I've always found this episode very satisfying, and I haven't changed that opinion at all.

Choice quote: Celestia: "Fall is one of my favourite seasons."

New rating: ★★★★

Next up is "Suited for Success", which is an episode I've been looking forward to reaching since the start. Will it live up to my high hopes?

Sounds of 2012: Nos. 21 to 16

At one point I was hoping to finish Sounds of 2012 by the end of 2019. I may not quite manage that, but I'm going to have got reasonably close, at least. On we speed today with Everfree Radio's Top 100 of that year! A quick reminder of the inclusion criteria:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the artist
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion

21: MandoPony – Sweet Apple Acres
20: AcoustiMandoBrony – A Long Way from Equestria
19: Aviators (feat. Bronyfied) – One Last Letter
18: Forest Rain / Various – The Massive Smile Project
17: Friendship is Witchcraft – The Gypsy Bard (Extended)
16: ShadyVox – Pony Rock Anthem

Come with me to the casbah past the break for a little bit more about each of these songs, with pointers to HQ versions where I can.

My Little Repeats 12: "Call of the Cutie"

"What do ya mean, meme faces aren't a thing yet?"

S1E12: "Call of the Cutie"
Written by Meghan McCarthy
7 Jan 2011

My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 8.0

The one with ultra pony roller derby

Thoughts: Into 2011 now, with Meghan McCarthy's first second FiM writing credit! This is where we find out properly about cutie marks, and even more importantly, where the CMC get together – albeit not until late on. (Though Apple Bloom seems to abandon Twist after this episode, poor thing...) We see AB demonstrating earth pony mouthwriting, and then... oh, hello Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, how glorious to see you, not. It's quite fun to see the bigger mares trying to help Apple Bloom get her cutie mark, though AB's desperation is a little saddening by the end. "Cuteceñeara" is a bit of a mouthful, but the party scene itself is fun. We hear the CMC instrumental theme for the first time; I have a vague memory that William Anderson didn't like it that much, but I do. This is a nice, solid episode that perhaps works better in retrospect than it did at the time, when we didn't know any of the fillies except Apple Bloom – although Sweetie Belle's squeaky voice in particular is quite startling now!

Choice quote: Bon Bon: "I didn't put those in my bag!"

New rating: ★★★

One little extra, which is down here as I don't have a source: I've heard that the working title for this episode was "Call of Cutie", but that Hasbro vetoed such a blatant pun on the Call of Duty games as they weren't suitable for kids. Hence the addition of "the".

Next up is "Fall Weather Friends", which I've always enjoyed a lot. I remember going back to watch it after the utter disappointment that was "Non-Compete Clause".

Ponyfic writing update

All being well, I'll have my look back at "Call of the Cutie" up tomorrow. I'd like to get on with Sounds of 2012 in the next few days, too. For now, though, I'll fill in by mentioning that I've acquired a cheap Bluetooth keyboard (one of these) after seeing it for £4.50 in a local charity shop. It works surprisingly well given the price, it runs on two AAA batteries which seem to last ages, and it's quiet enough that I can happily use it on a coffee shop table without disturbing other customers. Now that GDocs works offline, it's pretty fuss-free.

I've been using the opportunity to do a little bit of ponyfic writing. I tend to just sit down and tap away, and see what emerges. Most of it will never see the light of day, but I do have one that seems promising. It's just a light, silly little piece in which a union official working on Equestrian Railways visits Twilight to explain why the state of the rail infrastructure across the land makes it impossible for her members to continue working, and so they've gone on strike. This isn't exactly The Railway Ponies: Highball, but I'm having fun with it nevertheless.

Ponyfic Roundup 275

Read it Later story count: 233 (nc)

It's election day tomorrow here in the UK, so I suppose I should have read lots of political fics or stories featuring Mayor Mare or something. But I haven't, and while part of that reason is that I don't want my whole time online to be full of people (or ponies) yelling about politics, the main reason is that I just didn't think about it. :P Just the three to look at this time, and they are:

Twilight Sparkle Lays an Egg by Georg
Hang by AShadowOfCygnus
Hair of the Sister Who Bit You by Rao the Red Sun

★: 0 | ★★: 0 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 0

My Little Repeats 11: "Winter Wrap Up"

Rather serves you right for your attitude, Spike...

S1E11: "Winter Wrap Up"
Written by Cindy Morrow
24 Dec 2010

My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 8.4

The one with Twilight's "Nopenopenope" backwards run

Thoughts: Christmas Eve 2010 was quite an occasion for the nascent MLP:FiM fandom. We got so much lore about how much work ponies actually do to clean up winter – by choice, given that Canterlot uses magic. (And so does Twilight later on, much to AJ's annoyance!) It is really interesting – and very S1! – to see the details of how everything's done. Mayor Mare even gets a decent-sized role, plus we get bouncy grinning Lyra in the crowd! To be honest, though, I find Twilight's succession of failures a tiny bit sad to watch, especially when Spike outright laughs at her. Thankfully her organisational skills eventually find her a place, though far in the future ("Slice of Life") Amethyst Star will hint that maybe she isn't entirely happy at having been deposed as Ponyville's best organiser! One tiny, lovely touch: Twilight makes the bird whistle by magically controlling it. Later on, Fluttershy merely needs to wink. Buuuut we all know that, to many, this episode is all about the song. It must have been amazing in those pre-leak days to have a fully-fledged musical number of this quality sprung on you after little more than silly Pinkie ditties in previous episodes. I really like the instrumental reprise, too. This would have been a three-star episode without it, but the song is so good as to add an extra one.

Choice quote: Rarity: "Oh, Spike! It's not so bad. Maybe the birds can use it as a..." Spike: "An outhouse?"

New rating: ★★★★

Next up is "Call of the Cutie", an episode that in hindsight is far more important than it may have appeared at the time. I remember being a bit meh about it the first time around.

S9 audio review coming soon...ish!

A friend asked me a little while ago whether I was going to do a Season 9 review in the same way I did one for Season 8. I thought about it briefly and decided that yes, I would. At the time I was asked, the online world was still swirling with rumours and counter-rumours about the future of YouTube creativity, but now that that's died down a bit I've decided to make the piece anyway.

I've done the basic recording, and the raw file comes to about 15 minutes, which I think is reasonable. It will take me a little while to edit, though I'm not going to do that to pro standards by any means, and then I'll upload it. Hopefully it'll be before Hearth's Warming, at least. I also intend to provide a text transcript for those who find audio a problem or would simply prefer to read.

Please note that this is a season review, not a show review. I may eventually do a piece that encompasses the entirety of Friendship is Magic, but you really shouldn't hold your breath for that. What you'll be getting here is the usual stuff: best and worst episodes, a quick look at the songs, how Fluttershy did, that kind of thing. I've also stuck in a brief section on Rainbow Roadtrip.

My Little Repeats 10: "Swarm of the Century"

About time I got back to these! For anyone joining me here: these are not meant to be full-featured reviews, and I assume that readers have seen not only the episode featured but the entire series. (Or, at least, that they don't care about spoilers any more.) I'm not really interested in a blow-by-blow account of every single scene, more in how the episode strikes me after all these years have passed. I'd love to know how you feel about the episode now, too!

Dash wouldn't be this affectionate towards a creature again until she adopted Tank

S1E10: "Swarm of the Century"
Written by M. A. Larson
17 Dec 2010

My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 7.8

The one with "Princess Celest".

Thoughts: Mr Larson's debut! Not one of Fluttershy's greatest moments, given she's the one who stops the parasprite problem being resolved after Applejack's herding. Mind you, not Pinkie's either: whatever the girls say later, she could easily have explained herself properly at the time instead of rambling on about trombones! Still, her Parasprite Polka remains a memorable performance. Interesting what a big deal a visit from Celestia was at this point. Carrot Top's "We couldn't fit it all in!" has gone down in fandom folklore. I think this is the first time we see Rainbow Dash's cloud house; but I think wrongly! See comments. Even so, it'll never stop being, well, awesome. First mention of Fillydelphia too, yes? The parasprites eating the words somewhat anticipates Discord doing something similar a few seasons later. All in all, one of the silliest, most cartoony episodes of the early days, but one that's a good deal of fun almost throughout – as long as you can overlook the slightly rickety structure. Of the episode, that is. Not of Ponyville. Though now I think about it...

Choice quote: Pinkie Pie: "Me? I'm not the ruiner! I'm the ruinee! Or is it ruiness? ...ruinette?"

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Winter Wrap Up", where of course the first big song appears. The interesting thing for me will be seeing how the episode beyond the song holds up.

Sounds of 2012: Nos. 27 to 22

Today, "Sounds of 2012" is moving into the top quarter of Everfree Radio's Top 100 fan-voted songs from seven years ago. Below you can see what's covered this time and read a bit more about each track, but as usual I'll begin by giving you my criteria for inclusion:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the artist
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion

27: The L-Train – A Symphonic Metal Tribute to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
26: Twitch – Flutterborn
25: The Living Tombstone – Octavia's Overture
24: The Living Tombstone feat. Lauren G. – Magic
23: Dasha and The Living Tombstone – Good Girl
22: All Levels at Once – Pony Should Pony Pony

I expect most of you know the form by now, but for those who don't – or who need reminding – I'll have videos and a bit of writing about each song after the page break.

Ponyfic Roundup 274

Read it Later story count: 233 (-1)

And we're back! I read one story last week when I wasn't feeling very well, and I added another four this week. That means there are five fics under the microscope this time around – the first time for a little while that I've managed that. I'll also quickly remind folks that my star ratings are largely a measure of how much I enjoyed reading a story, not an attempt to measure the story's objective literary worth. With that in mind, let's get going!

Keeping Your Hooves on the Ground by InsertAuthorHere
Save the Records by TheBandBrony
The Derpy Files by Soge
The Gift of Winter by Banana Prince
RadioActivity by Zh3sh1re

★: 0 | ★★: 4 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0

My Little Repeats 9: "Bridle Gossip"

This is a noticeably detailed and colourful episode for so early on

S1E09: "Bridle Gossip"
Written by Amy Keating Rogers
10 Dec 2010

My original rating: N/A
IMDB score: 7.7

The one with "Appletini" riding Rainbow Dash.

Thoughts: Hasbro's veto on exploring more of zebra culture means Zecora, who debuts here, is the only one in show canon, and indeed nearly the only one in all official stories.* One oddity near the start: AJ tells her sister not to mention the name Zecora, then almost immediately does so herself! Anyway, Twilight is pretty solid in this (and amusingly S1-snarky), though her Super Naturals stubbornness feels a little forced. It's also a notably good pre-CMC ep for Apple Bloom – but the other Manes are pretty thick: not even knowing what a zebra is? One of my favourite bits of lore, though: the Everfree forest "ain't natural" because its plants, animals and clouds move without pony intervention. A real shame that stuff got left behind later in the series. It's the Poison Joke stuff that everyone remembers, of course. Probably fair to say the show team wouldn't have risked Twilight's floppy horn problem if they'd known about the fandom at the time! Flutterguy is funny to this day, especially her song. First mention of "Rainbow Crash", too. And Applejack gives us a "Thank Celestia" at one point – one for the "Is Tia a goddess?" debate, I guess. Still, overall I think this episode has dated slightly. It's still amusing, and "Don't judge a book by its cover" is a fair, if hackneyed, moral – but it doesn't fit together quite well enough to feel like a classic. Three stars, then.
* Braze, the male zebra in the Rainbow Dash and the Daring Do Double Dare chapter book, is the only other one I can think of who gets a speaking part.

Choice quote: Spike: "I got nothin'. Twilight Sparkle. I mean seriously, I can't even work with that."

New rating: ★★★

Next up is "Swarm of the Century", the debut of one M. A. Larson. Another I haven't rewatched for years and only vaguely remember as "a bit silly".

Flashfic 150 is go for December!

For once I'm remembering to promote this thing, so Flashfic 150's December contest is now live. The prompt this month is "Things Unwritten".

Very briefly, FF150 works like this. You write a story of no more than 150 words in response to that month's prompt. After three weeks, the contest closes. Anyone who wishes is welcome to provide feedback on the entries. I read them all and pick a winner. That winner gets to choose the following month's prompt. (You can't win two months running, which also means you can't win if you pick the prompt.) There is very deliberately no prize beyond that.

Stories must be E- or T-rated, must be related to MLP and cannot be crossovers (because judging those is near-impossible). Anyone with a Fimfiction account is welcome to join the Flashfic group, and anyone in the group is welcome to participate. There is no compulsion to enter regularly – if you just want to write occasionally, that's entirely fine. In theory the Flashfic group can also be used to discuss flashfic in general, but in practice it's almost entirely about these little contests.

At the last count, we had 152 members in the group. Only a minority are regular participants, but if the concept appeals then you'd be more than welcome to join their number!