And the magic goes on... · 8:28pm Oct 14th, 2019
What a way to end the series. From a story-crafting standpoint, I have some complaints about how the final two-parter got rolling, and the resolution isn't how I'd have handled it.
The overall execution, however, and especially the final final episode, were wonderful.
I never would have imagined that I would take a liking to My Little Pony. My brother decided to take a chance on the first episode on somebody else's recommendation, and I figured I'd share the pain with him. I wasn't hooked immediately, but I could see a genuine effort to tell a proper story, and so I pressed on to see when and if things would fall apart.
They never did. Friendship is Magic's first season was far from perfect, but there was so much care and depth put into the characters and some genuinely good jokes alongside the morals, that I just couldn't stop.
I decided to use Equestria to kick-start my writing, using the setting and Mane 6 to support a set of characters I'd been workshopping. Order-naries and Z'nai came out well enough to get past Equestria Daily's pre-readers (who were less strict about things back then, admittedly), and so I found the encouragement to keep going.
Then we met Discord. And then the Changelings. So much potential in villains and worldbuilding that the show itself couldn't possibly explore fully due to its format.
Now, I was hooked, and I have never found a reason to regret it. My world is brighter for having the ponies in my life, and my writing ability is light-years ahead of where it would be without the show and the communities that sprang up around it.
But now the show itself is over, I find myself looking ahead to the Season 10 comics and Generation 5 with guarded optimism, and yet I also know that even if both fall disastrously short of my expectations, I'll never lose what I gained just from these nine years of Friendship is Magic.
Thank you to everyone who has read, commented, and rated my stories over the years. you all are as central to my pony experience as the Mane 6 and my OCs. Those of you who are still around, I hope you'll find reasons to continue sticking around with me. The show is over, but the adventure never ends.
Once I've had time to process the finale and sort out exactly how I'm going to adjust it for the Order-naries verse, there will be one or two new fics from me. And at some point, I will get Aitran 4 back in motion, although I'll admit I'm finding that a lot harder to focus on than the previous three entries.
Yeah... it's been one heck of an unexpected ride.
I still remember how it all started for me so many years ago. I'd been seeing random pony related things showing in the strangest places. At first I thought it must be an ironic meme, I mean highschool boys of all thing couldn't genuinely like a little girl's show... could they... and even if they could surely there wasn't anything that I in my 30s would get out of it?
Eventually curiosity got the better of me, and so while taking time off for my birthday I decided to binge the whole first season. I wasn't exactly hooked from the start either, but was amazed at just how much quality effort was on display. I mean, this show made an episode about slumber parties entertaining, but the best was a few episodes later when Rarity was singing a song about making dresses and I actually found myself humming along. That was when I knew I was hooked, and also a major contributing reason why Rarity is my favorite.
Well, maybe I wasn't quite hooked yet. I didn't immediately move on to season 2, which only had three episodes out at the time. Instead I though I'd wait, binge another batch for my next birthday... but over the following week I just couldn't keep the show off my mind. I kept going back to rewatch clips of my favorite scenes, and in doing so read the first comments from other fans, which eventually led me to Equestria Daily.
Discovering a whole new world of art and fanfiction I dove down the rabbit whole, mostly out of curiosity, or so I told myself. The show was good and all, but surely there had to be some catch somewhere, but the deeper I dove the more I saw people taking its messages and morals to heart, echoing it with there own ideas and concepts. I voraciously read story after story, I just couldn't get enough, and I wanted more... not just to read, but a growing desire to give my own creative endeavors a try.
Thing's haven't always been easy, but MLP changed my life. Through this fandom I've met some of the best friends I've ever had, including one special person who became very near and dear to my heart... they couldn't make it all the way to the end of this ride, and losing them has made this last year rough for me. As I counted down each episode to the finale I couldn't help dwelling on their absence, wondering what they would have thought?
I don't know if I'll ever be able to answer that question, but now here on the other side of one finish line as I uncertainly ponder what comes next, I look back over both the show and my own life, and while everything might not be perfect, I find myself happier for having taken the ride, for give a silly show about cartoon ponies a chance.
Oh, and a special thanks to you specifically. Your Ordernaries fics were among the earliest and most influential fics that helped get me here today. I think I've maybe fallen a bit behind, but now is as good a time as any to try catching up again so I can look forward to your own adaptations and aftermath to the finnale.