Pony Music Library 59: "Hope Shines Eternal"

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Season 9 of Friendship is Magic begins tomorrow, but in this latest edition of Pony Music Library I'm inducting an Equestria Girls song! This has been one of my favourites from that sub-franchise for a while now.

What? "Hope Shines Eternal"

Who? Daniel Ingram (music and lyrics)

Which? Equestria Girls song

When? October 2016

Why? It took me a while to warm to Legend of Everfree, and I don't think it's ever likely to dethrone Rainbow Rocks in my affections, but there are parts of LoE that I've always enjoyed. The outro song, "Hope Shines Eternal", is one of them. With its folk-rock style and message of optimism and friendship, it fits very nicely indeed over the end credits of an MLP film about a summer camp. It's fairly short, and an extended version with an extra verse or so might have been nice, but even as it is this is a very satisfying way for the movie to go out.

Words, words, words

This post is not actually about fanfic. It's about why I prefer to do the bulk of my fandom interacting in spaces like forums and blogs. Although I use Twitter a good deal, I don't even have a Facebook account, and I find FB's insistence on covering half the page with a banner even after you click "Not Now" to be intensely, intensely obnoxious. It's the kind of behaviour you might expect from a particularly childish middle-schooler.

But, as so often, I digress. I am a regular attendee at the twice-monthly Worcester meets. It's quite a small group, but we have a nice time. These are planned in this thread on the UK of Equestria forums, and they always have been. I am extremely happy about this state of affairs, and there are reasons for that which go beyond simple convenience. (My usual disclaimer here: I am a long-standing member and moderator on UK of E.)

A really important factor is openness. I have nothing to hide about being an MLP fan, and I find it very pleasing that UK of E has no hidden forums for members only. (There's of necessity a little bit of staff-only discussion, but that's all.) Anyone, whether logged in or not, can browse the forums and see what we all talk about. Anyone, whether a member or not, can read about our planning for the Worcester meets, including the venue.

I would be significantly less comfortable if these meets were planned on a closed Facebook group, even if I had a Facebook account. While I've been around the internet long enough that silly insults of the "you're all insert-slur-here" type rarely bother me, I do think it's a huge plus point that we can invite literally anyone to share in our thoughts and comments about the fandom. This is also one reason I'm glad our meets take place in public.

Blogs and forums are also more permanent than social media, making it easier to refer back to what you or someone else said on a topic. This isn't an entirely unmixed blessing, of course, but I think the pros outweigh the cons. You get time to consider your comments. And of course, you get a lot more words to play with. Even 280 characters isn't very much if you want to expand on why Scootaloo is Best CMC or whatever.

As I said, I use Twitter a lot these days, so I'm certainly not in the "social media is evil" camp. But blogs and forums suit my writing style better; maybe it's also one reason I'm quite happy on Fimfiction, with its excellent forum-style discussion format and 1,000-word minimum. Fimf, too, is a public place, which again I think is a good thing. We all know that our fandom isn't a front for anything sinister, but being open helps us demonstrate that.

Ponyfic Roundup 244: Freeway Fighter

It's happening! As promised last week, I have no fewer than five ponyfics to talk about here today. Okay, so they're all short – in most cases, very short – but they're all here nevertheless. In honour of this remarkable occasion, I should like to say that... er... hey, look! Ponies!

Read it Later story count: 260 (-6)

Having hyped this up a minute ago, I'm now going to have to... um... unhype it down? Dunno. Not that these fics aren't worth talking about in their own right, of course. There's actually little I enjoy more on PR than discovering a hidden gem. Let's see if there are any today.

Time-Out Tuesday by Majin Syeekoh
The Fall of Discord by Blackbelt
Applejack Is Full of Squirrels by shortskirtsandexplosions
Scabs by 4EverFreeBrony
Morning Light by RadiantBeam

★: 0 | ★★: 3 | ★★★: 2 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

EqG Mini-review: "Spring Breakdown"

"The Discovery what app?"

Yesterday we got our latest Equestria Girls special, "Spring Breakdown", which saw our favourite humanised seven off on a cruise. This was by way of being a warm-up for Friendship is Magic S9 for me, but I know plenty of people really enjoy EqG, so here's my three-para review of Nick Confalone's latest effort. Spoilers ahoy after the break!

Sounds of 2011: Number One!

Well, here we are at last. This is the song that made the top spot of Everfree Radio's 2011 Top 100. I'm honestly not sure how many people would have guessed that this would beat everything else – I certainly wouldn't. If you'd asked me to guess, I'd probably have gone for "Nightmare Night" – but that didn't quite make it and this did, so there y'go.

1: Mic the Microphone/The Living Tombstone/WoodenToaster – Beyond Her Tomb

Yes, this is it. From Mic the Microphone's channel, here is the song that got more votes than any other. The original "Beyond Her Garden" was down at no. 53, with Silva Hound's remix at 34, but this one had popularity on another level. Why? Well... in all honesty, I don't know. Admittedly I'm not a rap fan, so I find it hard to judge the quality of the lyrics. They're quite well integrated with the original music, at least. I have a sneaking suspicion the reason for this being top may be little more than bronies of the day going, "Wow, these three guys together?!? Isn't that amazing?!? Let's vote for it!!!"

There's quite a lengthy explanation of the story behind the song in the video description, but in essence: Carrot Top has Earth Pony magic that lets her give life to barren land. She's burned as a witch but survives. Months later, outsiders who've heard of her return to "finish the job", but now the villagers are on her side. Nevertheless, Carrot Top gives herself up to prevent conflict. They really do burn her this time, but after the smoke has cleared a garden blooms in what remains of her house.

...yeah. That's the official explanation, courtesy of Mic himself. Can't say it exactly appeals to me, but oh well. I'm just here to report the chart as other people voted for it, and "Beyond Her Tomb" got the most support, so here it is at number one. If you want this at better-than-YouTube quality, then there's a 320k MP3 download in the video description. Oddly, there's a separate one for the lyrics; that's not something I've seen before. So we do at least end this series with something unusual.

Next time: You'll have to wait for "Sounds of 2012" for that! I will do it at some point, with a few tweaks to the format, but it won't be soon. If I remember, though, there will be another "Pony Music Library" entry before S9 gets going.

Ponyfic Roundup 243: It Says that They Liked Jousting

I could make some highly opinionated comment here on Brexit or Article 13 or something, but I'm not going to. Anyone who wants to know my political views probably already does, and I'm not going to inflict them on the rest of you. Well, not usually. This blog is staying rooted firmly in Equestria!

Read it Later story count: 266 (+1)

Thanks to a lot of work and some emergency painting (of the DIY type, not the artistic type) there are only two fics in today's Roundup, which only just qualifies it as a roundup at all. But off we go anyway.

My Full Sized Goddess Horse by PresentPerfect
Applejack's Day Off by 1Bit

★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 0 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

Sounds of 2011: Nos. 3 and 2

Time for the last-but-one instalment of this Everfree Radio 2011 Top 100 series! Just the two songs for you today, one of which is now much better known than the other in my experience. (Other people may have different ones, but they're not writing this. At least, not unless they're hypnotically mind-controlling me or something.)

3: WoodenToaster & Mic the Microphone – Nightmare Night

This song is the one that's retained its popularity; I don't know whether it would score as high as this these days, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it well inside an all-time fandom top 20. WoodenToaster uploaded this just nine days after "Luna Eclipse" aired. Its rap sections are a bit on the inconsistent side: "She's gonna blow you all back with her Equestrian Voice" is a great line, but "With a royal farewell and an animate spell" is less so. The beat is very strong, though, the opening instrumental section is great and the track has heaps of energy. When Mic played this track at BUCK 2014, it was very well received. No HQ download, I'm afraid.

2: Griffin Village (Jackle App) – Summer

Sometimes subtitled "Lyra and Bon Bon", this is the first of the "Seasons" tracks that Jackle App made long ago. Unlike "Nightmare Night", this wouldn't get into an all-time most popular list today, which is a slight shame. It's about a pegasus who accepts L&B's hospitality after being injured in a flying accident. Even back then, the two mares were widely considered an item by the fandom, and the lyrics reflect that. Jackle App said he was going for a "cheesy, electropoppy sound" and wanted to make it sound a bit like Owl City. There's certainly a pretty strong resemblance there. You can buy this song in HQ on Jackle App's Bandcamp for a dollar.

Next time: We finally reach the end as Everfree Radio's top-rated brony song of 2011 is revealed!