Taobao strikes again?

If accurate, the first MLP logo without a heart since G2 two decades ago!

As reported on EqD the other day, a new MLP logo (above) has been spotted over on Taobao. It could be nothing, but the source is interesting as Taobao has seen genuine Pony things surface for the first time before, and more than once to boot. Slightly later, also via EqD, an intriguing animatic turned up from someone who is reported to have worked for Boulder Media.

I'm not sure I'm all that convinced by the animatic, since there's simply not enough to go on. The fact that the upload was rapidly deleted after becoming known doesn't say very much, as you could imagine someone making one as a fanwork behaving the same way if they didn't want the hassle. The logo, though... I could see that turning out to be real, I really could. We'll know one way or another in due course!

Who was that unmasked pony?

She's even darker than this on the page

There are many things to interest and intrigue in issue #1 of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic from IDW, of which the least is probably the fact that at last the colon seems to have been made canon. Ahem. But while I'll be posting a full review of the comic in the near future (short version: yay!) I wanted to single out one mystery first. It's not spoilery, and in any case it's also in the section used for the comic's credits section inside the front cover, so I'll put this out here in the open.

My question is simple: just who is this striking dark green background pony? She doesn't play any significant role in the story, but I wonder. She has a non-standard eye design, for one thing, which suggests she may not just be there to fill in space. She's also an unusual dark green colour, plus her cutie mark is rather strange. I do have one hunch, though: could this, just possibly, be the "Jade Singer" mentioned in the brief synopsis for issue #1 of the forthcoming micro series?

(Of course, if JS turns out to be a stallion, this post will look especially silly...)