Series 2 trading cards in the UK at last

Is it wrong of me to be more excited by the foil Fluttershy than by the Rainbow Dash S1 promo?

For those (many) fans who collect Enterplay's My Little Pony trading cards and would prefer to buy them in person rather than online, you can now get down to your nearest Toys R Us and find S2 cards in the usual dispensers by the checkouts. They cost £1.50 a pack, the same as Series 1 cards. They're pretty much the same deal as before, with foils appearing in 1:2 packs and standees/stickers in 1:4 packs each. And yes, again we get the irritating if inevitable adverts for awesome-looking sweepstakes — that we're not allowed to enter on account of living in the wrong country...

I'm actually very pleased with what I've seen so far of the S2 cards. I took a photo of the cards I obtained yesterday, minus the tattoos (which themselves included a Trixie and a Vinyl!) but with a S1 Fluttershy I was given and the Rainbow Dash and Discord promos I got in the last Enterplay flash sale. I think the S2 cards have a lot of interest to them: of course the foil Fluttershy I happened to get comes top of the list, but the Sombra standee is great, as is the Flim Flam Brothers card, Aloe & Lotus and "Clock... is... ticking!" Actually, there aren't many I don't like. I'll be getting more!

Hello to my readers!

Thanks to events this weekend, I now know that I have at least two. Woo! ;) And yes, I am making this post just so that something goes up rather than there being a huge blank space. I do have a review to post in the near future, but it may be a few days yet. Or not. Who knows? :P

Season 4 premiere synopsis released!

That ice tree thing is presumably not there just to add some local colour...

Thanks to Derpy Hooves News for this: The Hub (or, as they now call themselves, Hub Network) have published a synopsis for the opening story of Season 4 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. As you'd expect, it will be a two-parter, and as you'd also expect, it will be an adventure. I remember Meghan McCarthy saying that it will continue the story from "Magical Mystery Cure" in some way, so it'll be interesting to find out how. Anyway, here's what the press release has to say:

The fourth season begins with a revealing two-part premiere in which the newly crowned Princess Twilight must balance her new royal duties and her friendship with the other ponies. Amid preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in Canterlot, Princesses Celestria [sic] and Luna go missing and the Everfree Forest is taking over Equestria. These unexpected turn of events sends Princess Twilight and her pony friends on a quest to discover a mysterious foe who threatens to destroy everything. It is all up to Princess Twilight and her friends to help save Equestria from being destroyed. As part of the journey, Princess Twilight is given the chance to discover the secret behind the Elements of Harmony.

I'm absolutely thrilled by this! Ever since I read the comment in Lauren Faust's interview in The Elements of Harmony book telling us that the Everfree Forest had encroached on Equestria, I've wanted to know more about this. I've felt that the dark, unsettling nature of the forest itself (as opposed to its inhabitants, eg the Timberwolves) has been a little neglected ever since Season 1, but this looks like making up for that in spades. One month to go, and I can't wait!

DVD review: Call of the Cutie

How do you like them Apples?

Clear Vision have released the second in their series of UK-spec DVDs of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episodes. This time around, I found the disc in the enormous Asda in Minworth on the outskirts of Birmingham. It cost me £6, but if you don't have an Asda nearby then fear not: although there's a slightly annoying 9-12 day wait, Amazon.co.uk stock it too. Unlike with its predecessor Welcome to Ponyville, this disc's online price matches the supermarket's. Is it worth it, though? Come with me past the break and we'll see!

Finally, an official Season 4 teaser pic!

Maybe those butterfly wings Rarity had would have been a better idea

Okay, we had the animatics video weeks ago, but I think this is the first still picture. It's currently visible on The Hub's Facebook page and, while it doesn't reveal anything too startling, at least gives us a starting point. It looks as though, despite the end of "Magical Mystery Cure", Twilight is not instantly a proficient flyer, and it makes sense that she'd be taught by the best flyer around, Rainbow Dash. Whether this will be a major plot point or simply a small scene in an otherwise unrelated episode, though, we don't yet know.

Ponies Around the World!

There's just today and tomorrow left to enter Equestria Daily's Ponies Around the World event. Sorry for the late notice, but I didn't realise it was on myself until recently! Anyway, the idea of PAtW is that you take a photo of a pony toy of some description in front of a landmark of your choosing, then submit that according to the instructions on the EqD page I linked to. Unfortunately the weather hasn't always been kind of late, but here are my two entries anyway.

The first photo shows Twilight in front of the recently opened Library of Birmingham, the largest public library in Europe. (No wonder Twi is gazing longingly at the place!) The second picture was taken nearby, and shows Octavia posing in front of Symphony Hall, the home of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and one of the foremost concert venues in the world. Maybe she'll play there herself one day!

About time we had a music post again

One of the things I love most about the MLP fandom is the music people create... but it's fair to say that a few genres do get the lion's share of the attention. With that in mind, here's something you don't see an awful lot of: a piece of Pony-inspired classical music. This piece is called "Magic Duel" (from the episode of the same name) and is by the Argentine musician Night Breeze. It has a very Mozart-ish feel to it, and I think it's absolutely excellent. More of this sort of thing would be very welcome!