I've realized something lately. Something very concerning. Well, in terms of fanon anyway.

Bon Bon is poorly unrepresented.

Well, that's half true, I suppose, since there are loads of LyraBon fics. However, there aren't many Bon Bon fics without Lyra in them. It seems to me, that Bon Bon has become a pony that has to be attached to Lyra to work. And to that, I say neigh!

Therefore, I am on a mission. The brief? Give Bon Bon her own story, with as little Lyra as possible. The purpose? To develop Bon Bon further than what she currently is, that usually being the straight man for Lyra. So, essentially, a story with lots of juicy character development. Yum.

I'm determined to do this so it will happen. I'm just not sure when yet. Got to have solid footing before you jump off the ledge. Does that analogy even make sense? Eh, you know what I mean.

And how can you say no to this face?

So, that's something to look forward to, right? It should be interesting, so see you then.

-JJ

P.S Bon Bon has a weird tail, doesn't she?

Just look at it. Weird.

This is for fans of Symphony and the Winningverse in general.

The following pony is now eligible for her own fic:

So, if you're interested in giving Colgate her own perspective in the Winningverse, give me a call.

That is all, so until next time, see ya.

-JJ

P.S.

Lately, there seems to be a rise in the number of brony videos where someone explains their headcanon to the audience, often to incredible depths. While I don't think that these videos are bad (I actually like some), I do think that sometimes, some people over analyse too much into something that isn't there... although it's acceptable if they justify it. Still, I think there's fun in leaving things as a mystery.

Anyways, I'm going to do it myself. But this isn't anything to do with Equestria's history, no, this is all about the coolest pony around: Rainbow Dash. So let's begin!

So, I have a question: why can Rainbow Dash perform a Sonic Rainboom?

It's a good question. How come Rainbow is the only pony that's able to pull it off? I have two suggestions to this. One boring, one... not so.

Let's get the dull one out of the way. Simply, this theory is just that she can do it because she's Rainbow Dash. Well, kind of. She has a rainbow mane and when she flies fast, we see a rainbow blur behind her. So, simply put, the Sonic Rainboom is just a Sonic Boom, Rainbow edition. By this token, anypony skilled enough could pull it off. Can you imagine Spitfire making a Sonic Fireboom? That'd be awesome.

Now for the second, more interesting theory.

So, what are rainbows in Equestria? Pretty powerful things, apparently, if this is anything to go by:

So what if, as a baby, Rainbow happened to get exposed to high levels of pure rainbow? The rainbow in her system would then give her the energy to pull off the incredible feats she does, including the Sonic Rainboom. How?

...

Magic?

Okay, I'll admit, this theory needs my work, but it is fun to imagine sometimes, right?

-JJ

I have a request, but I'll put that at the end. I like to give you guys some content before I start begging for help.

So, Lyra the Dictator is almost done. At least, the first chapter. I never planned this to be a one-shot, y'know. I've enjoyed writing it though, as its challenged me in some ways, which for me as a writer, is probably a good thing.

The first challenge is that this isn't a one-shot. I could easily type out some one-shot of the same story and make it all crazy and random. One-shots, from what I've seen anyway, can get away with that, as they don't require much investment from the reader.

Therefore, since this is a story, the random levels need to be toned down. It's still comedic, but I'm building up the characters to be way more three-dimensional than they might be in a silly one-shot. They have their goals and their reasons too. This is especially important for Lyra, but I got her reasoning down just fine. She isn't a caricature by any means, but she's still a little silly.

This leads me to the next challenge.

Writing ensembles is difficult!

Trust me, trying to give nine ponies equal screen time in one chapter, while setting them all up, is pretty tough. However, I think I've got that issued tackled.

Point is, if you're a writer, challenge yourself. Do prompts, or go for something completely different. You'll learn something about your skills, or maybe even gain new ones in the process.  And, for me at least, it's pretty fun.

Now to my request. Since Dictator has been a challenge to write, I'm not certain to its quality. So... I may need pre-readers. If you have the time, drop me a PM. Past experience is preferable, so, y'know, gimme.

Thanks for reading and take care of yourselves.

-JJ

P.S. No Lyra today. Only Rainbow Dash.

Oh? I never told you that the eleventh Doctor is my favorite? Another time then, fillies and gentlecolts...

Oh boy! My favorite time!! When I have ideas floating around in my head, but have no idea which ones to commit too!

Will you help me with my ideas?

...

Speak up, kids!

...

Celestia, this is lame.

Let's get on with it then, shall we?

Colgate and the Tooth Fairy

I looked through FimFic and while I saw various stories featuring the Tooth Fairy, none of them featured Colgate.

Clearly, this must be fixed. But with such a concept, there's so many ways it can go. Do I go all out and have Colgate explore a new world of fairies? Or do I write something simpler, that being Colgate as a filly chasing the tooth fairy, which really doesn't exist. Don't blame her, she's just a kid.

Personally, I prefer the filly option, but anything goes. Except anything especially dark. Or sex.

Lyra the Dictator

Whoa! Slow down and come back! Lemme explain! This isn't offensive, I promise! You still here? Okay, good.

Lyra, discontented with Celestia and Luna's rule, decides to make her own political party, with herself as the leader. She recruits quite a lot of background ponies to help her cause (well known favorites, and maybe more obscure ones too). Together, they work towards getting the support of the ponies of Equestria in the hopes that Celestia and Luna will back down and hand over power to them.

There's just one problem. Several actually.

Lyra is totally incompetent and surrounded by bumbling fools and ponies who constantly undermine her authority. Their methods are actually peaceful. Too peaceful. Seriously, it's at the point where if there's one more bake sale, Lyra might just have somepony lined up against a wall and shot. With whipped cream.

Basically, they completely suck and the fic follows their attempts to get power. This fic will have shenanigans galore, as well as poking fun at the idea of Dictators, Royals and politics in general.

Feedback is appreciated on these ideas, guys. The more I get, the easier and quicker it'll be to come out with something good.

Take care of yourselves.

-JJ

P.S. Both ideas feature Lyra. You cannot escape her. And neither can I.

Relevant.

I found this little game and decided to play along, 'cause zombie apocalypses are great fun!

Credit goes to TrollestiaSubject for creating this.

Without further ado, let's begin!

The rules are: Play with cast member ponies, no OC's but your ponified yourself. answer auto-inserting yourself.

Select just one answer, don't skip questions, don't go back to change answers, copy the question, and underline your answer, and delete all options, except the one you chose.

And don't move ahead without give an honest answer first, remember that the game is funnier, if you don't know what's expecting you ahead.

You're now a random pony who is visiting Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration, when suddenly out of nowhere...

A Zombie Ponycalypse starts:

A.- Your first reaction after hearing about the Ponycalypse is:

A) Laugh, and keep on skeptical about it.

B) Try to inform yourself of what is happening.

C) Alert friends and family first.

D) Shut the hell down in a basement.

I'd go for B here. Since I've only heard about it, and it could be a prank at this point. No use panicking about it just yet, although it's not something I'd be able to ignore either.

B.- The Ponycalypse is witnessed for your own eyes, you expect to... ?

A) Survive a matter of hours, or days if you're lucky.

B) You don't see yourself surviving for more than some days or a few weeks.

C) You could easily survive this for years, or even the whole thing.

D) You would've killed yourself when this all started.

B. Seriously, when you watch The Walking Dead, you know your chances are probably going to be slim. And hell no, I ain't killing myself.

C.- If you could save 6 characters of the cast of MLP:FiM, who would they be?

(Assuming that the entire cast of main, and background characters, is gathered there for the occasion.)

1.- Lyra. So much. Yes, I'm definitely saving her flank. She will be the Clementine to my Lee.

2.- Rainbow Dash. She's fast and could get out of a sticky situation, as well as being great for getting supplies. Plus, she's just awesome.

3.- Pinkie Pie. Morale is important in an apocalypse. Plus, her Pinkie sense and general randomness may come in handy...

4.- Derpy. For the reason above and because she's Derpy.

5.- Cloud Kicker. From the Winningverse. She has military training, so, y'know, she's gonna be damned useful.

6.- Big Mac. He's gonna be a freaking tank and the stoic one of the group. Probably not the leader, but the stallion that everypony else can rely on.

D.- Somepony in this group is going to be most attached to you, and you will be most attached to somepony else.

Who you think these ponies are?

Hoo, boy. This could say a lot about me, maybe? Aw, screw it.

A.- Derpy will be most attached to me, because we share a bubbly attitude and optimism that may stay relatively unchanged, even during an apocalypse.

&.- You will be most attached to Pinkie Pie because innocence and cheerfulness like hers needs to be preserved.

Hah! Thought Lyra would pop up, didn't ya? Well you're wrong!

... also I just realized that this doesn't explicitly refer to love so, there's that.

E.- In this group, you rather:

A) Collect food, water, and weapons, at day in the outside, for the group.

B) Defend the base, fighting all night against incoming pony zombies.

C) Cooking, sewing, singing, storytelling, and repair the refuge, working for everypony.

D) Provide advice and counsel to all others, and try to find a cure for the zombie infection.

I'd go for... A. Pinkie, Derpy and Lyra could do all the counselling, singing and maintenance (well, maybe not Derpy for the last one). Me, Rainbow and Cloud can go out and fight the zombies. With those two covering me, we should be fine.

F.- Somepony in the group, has to be good gathering resources, besides of you, who in your group is this pony?

A.- Rainbow Dash. For what I said above, plus she's super fast.

G.- Somepony in the group, has to be good defending the refuge, besides of you, who in your group is this pony?

A.- Cloud Kicker due to her military training.

H.- Somepony in the group, has to be good working on household chores, besides of you, who in your group is this pony?

A.- Pinkie Pie. Purely because Derpy is Derpy and Pinkie can provide cupcakes pretty much instantly.

I.- Somepony in the group, has to be good providing counseling, and find a cure, besides of you, who in your group is this pony?

A.- Derpy. She might be a klutz, but she's far from dumb and super caring.

J.- Somepony in this group had thought about how survive in a zombie ponicalypse before, who is it?

A.- Lyra, probably. Seems like something she must have imagined at least once.

K.- Somepony in your group is a potential traitor/deserter/murderer for convenience.

In the end you discover it was all true. who was it?

(you have to choose from somepony in your group, and his/her treacherous ways)

A.- Geeze. This is difficult. All the ponies in my group are super nice!

Going to have to say... Rainbow Dash. I can see her losing control and accidentally killing another, or perhaps stealing some supplies for herself. But because she's loyalty, she wouldn't leave us (I wouldn't allow) and I'd forgive her.

L.- If you would need to sacrifice somepony to save the rest of the group, who would be it?

(from the 6 you had chosen before)

A.- Aw, come on! This is just cruel!

... but I suppose it could happen.

*sighs* Can't believe I'm saying this, but...

I'm sorry Derpy. It was between you and Lyra and... Lyra's the only unicorn. I'd try to make it quick and painless for you. Promise.

M.- Somepony in your group, other than you, was bitten. But didn't say anything until it was too late, who was it?

A.- Going to say Rainbow. I think she'd try to shrug it off and reassure herself that everything was fine.

N.- The situation gets worse, that bitten pony turns into a zombie and attacks everypony in the refuge.

Your shelter was compromised, and you ran away, but now you're in the open and alone, and the only survivors you could find were:

An Earth pony, a Pegasus, and an Unicorn, who would they be?

(They may have been in the refuge with you, or not. Alicorns count as any.)

Wait... what? Damn. This went to hell fast.

E.- Pinkie Pie.

P.-Cloud Kicker.

U.-Lyra.

They were in the refuge with me, so I can still have them!

O.- Running in the exterior, you find somepony turned into a zombie, that you just need to kill by yourself.

Who is it, and why do you had to risk yourself, just for kill this pony?

A.- Bon Bon. I'd kill her so Lyra wouldn't have to.

P.- Your new group finds a hideout somewhere, and you find somepony turned zombie that is endangering your group,

But you just can't kill that pony yourself.

Who is this, and why kill this pony had to be so hard for you?

A.- Honestly, I wouldn't have much trouble killing anypony who was a zombie. But I must obey the question, so...

Twilight. Knowing that she got bitten and infected would be hard to cope with. It'd be like another light in the darkness just got snuffed out.

Q.- Your new group is small compared to the previous one, you would give priority to:

A) Gathering resources

B) Defending the refuge

C) Household chores

D) Mental health, and finding a cure

I'd go for A. As long as we get resources, we can keep living and moving on.

R.- One of your three new companions has been bitten by a zombie, who is it? Could you kill him/her yourself?

Wait, new? Aw, screw it, let's keep going anyway.

A.- Lyra & Yes/No, because she's the least useful of the group now. ... damn it.

S.- Your team is again in danger, and you can get out of this, but you have to sacrifice one of your two last team members.

Who will be it this time?

Come on!!

This is going to be a real tough choice...

A.- Cloud Kicker. She can probably handle a sacrifice well. Hay, she'd probably step up to do so.

T.- Now only you and a partner remain alive in all Equestria. Could you both repopulate the world?

A) Yes.

B) No.

C) I whish we could.

D) Hell, no. I rather die.

Huh... yeah, we can.

Huh.

U.- You and your partner are the only survivors, you now decide to... ?

A) Leave to a desert island, to start all over, and maybe repopulate a new Equestria.

B) Leave to a major city, that should have still plenty of resources, shelter, and maybe find more survivors.

C) Stay where you are, and fight every zombie you find till the end of your days.

D) Wander all over the world, looking for a cure for the zombies.

B. I think it'd be something both me and Pinkie would be determined to do. Plus, at this point, I don't think I'd believe a cure exists...

V.- You found somepony that you thought dead. He/She is alive but in danger, Who is it?

A.- Scootaloo? The hay you doing out here?! Hold on, we'll save you!

W.- This latest survivor in danger, you... ?

A) Let him/her die, you never liked that pony anyways.

B) You sacrifice your life for that pony, it's the best pony after all.

C) You sacrify the life of your partner to save this new survivor.

D) You try your best to save him/her without sacrifice anyone

(if D was your first thought, you're all dead now, no matter what.)

(if C was your first thought, they both are dead now, no matter what.)

... crap.

I DUN GOOFED. WE'RE ALL DEAD.

X.-If you still alive, and with a partner. Would you sacrifice your life to save him/her?

A) Yes.

B) No.

C) You say you would, until you don't have to prove it.

D) Yes, but just because I see my partner, as a romantic interest.

Okay, so say I lived.

I'd only die again. Damn it.

But yeah, A.

Y.- You have been bitten by a zombie, now you... ?

A) Don't tell your partner, maybe you're inmune inyways.

B) You don't have any parter already, so you can't really care.

C) You kill yourself in the spot.

D) Tell your partner goodbye, then run away.

E) Tell your partner, and ask him/her to kill you.

F) Get crazy, and expect to turn your (probably imaginary) partner, into a zombie, and live happily forever after.

G) Work really hard to find a cure in the next 15 minutes of life you got.

H) You would fight to the death.

I) you try your hardest to escape, knowing this ordeal is coming to an end.

J) Give up, and let the zombies eat you.

E.

It'd be hard, telling Pinkie to do something like that, but I'd never want to be a zombie. I just hope she would've gotten used to all the tragedy at this point...

Z) Now your partner is the only survivor of this zombie apocalypse, but has become unstable.

Walking outside, he or she notice somepony alive, but pale and feverish...

He/She then realizes, it's coming, all over again. What would you expect he/she to do?

1)  Kill the pony right then and there.

2)  Scream, then go on trotting crazily.

3) Do nothing, and prepare for the zombies to come again.

4)  Kill himself/herself.

1.

After killing me, the only other survivor with her, I think Pinkie could've killed anything at this point.

...

That ended depressingly. Still I enjoyed it.

I wonder if they are anymore games like this...

-JJ

P.S In honor of the forgotten:

Rainbow Dash: Was bitten while me, Cloud Kicker and her went hunting for supplies. She went through a crowded room full of zombies to get medical supplies we needed.

Cloud Kicker: Lost to the horde, trying to buy time for me and Pinkie to escape.

Lyra: Got bitten when she strayed too far from the group to look for supplies.

Derpy: Separated from the group when zombie Rainbow attacked. Current situation unknown.

Big Mac: Last seen fighting off zombie Rainbow. Current situation unknown.

Never forgotten.

You come up to big, double oak doors. Ringing the doorbell, the doors swing open moments later, revealing Lyra Heartstrings.

She blinks, a little confused at your sudden appearance. "Oh, er, hello?" She blinks again, this time recalling something. "Oh! Apparently JJ was expecting you. Follow me."

She turns around and leads you into the house. Being polite, you avoid staring at her flank, because you are not in some eyesore of a second person fic. You know the ones I'm talking about.

Lyra takes you to another wooden door and stops, gesturing at it. "He's in there. Now, if you'll excuse me, Bon Bon was baking some delicious candies..." You watch her go, wondering if she's a butler or slave or something. You shrug and dispel your questions, opening the door.

You step into the room, the grand fireplace being the first thing that attracts your eyes. Embers flicker off the flames, the crackling of the fire being oddly comforting. Near the fireplace is a ginger dressed in a fine, purple dressing gown, a glass of wine in his hand as he sits, staring at the laptop on his lap. The sound of the door closing grabs his attention.

"'Bout time," he says with a grin, putting the laptop on the floor, before sipping from his glass. He then grimaces and spits the wine out, coughing. "Wine?! Why the hell I'm a drinking this? All alcohol is awful!"

You stand there awkwardly, saying nothing.

He tosses the glass away, spilling wine onto the lavish carpet. He then taps his chin in thought. "Bon Bon ain't gonna like that..." He shrugs. "Ah well." Then, all of his attention is put on you. "Welcome, welcome. You're here for the ginger rant, yes?"

You don't move your head.

The ginger sighs and rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Let's begin."

Why the odd opening? A few reasons:

a) I wanted to see if I could actually write 2nd person. I don't think I ever will again.

b) I recently got Poker Night 2 and I liked the opening to that. So I got inspired.

c) I felt like it.

Now, I know what you must be thinking:

So, let's start. (The following may contain spoilers for the new series of Doctor Who, so be warned. I'll try to be as spoiler light as possible though.)

Okay, I really don't like Clara Oswald, The Doctor's new companion. Why?

She's boring. Like, brick wall boring.

But I'm not without my reasons for thinking this. The problem, at least what I think, lies in who she is to begin with: a mystery.

My main problems with Clara is that I don't think she's developed enough. I only know a few things about her:

1. She's a mystery. That's obvious.

2. She's good with kids, as shown in various episodes (such as The Bells of Saint John). I'll admit, I do like this quality of hers.

3. She's a bit cheeky.

4. Argh, I'm starting to struggle now... um... the TARDIS doesn't like her? No, wait, that a TARDIS characteristic...

5. She's a woman? That counts, right?

0.6. She's a companion of the Doctor.

This reminds me of Mr. Plinkett's review of Star Wars: The Phantom Menance where he asked people to identify character traits for the characters in the movie. They honestly struggled. If you haven't seen that review, do so now. It's very analytically while being hilarious.

Anyway, the reason I don't think she's developed enough is because she's not a character at all. She's a mystery. Therefore, we can't know about her. Some of you will say that mysterious characters can work really well. And I agree. But not if they're going to appear in every episode, and not if we're going to relate to them. That's the point of a companion in Doctor Who. They are normal people, like us, dragged into a wonderful, crazy world full of things they don't understand. As they learn, we learn.

And Doctor Who can do mysterious characters really well. River Song, for one. She's fantastic! But I think that the reason she worked so well was because we only saw her infrequently. The mystery did not drag, it increased with every appearance.

Clara's there in every episode. The mystery is boring for me now. Especially when it's not elaborated on sometimes. Then you're just got a boring character trying her hardest to be likable and quirky.

"But JJ, she's only had a few episodes!" I hear you cry. Yes, I haven't ignored this and I'm hoping she'll get better. But let's look at the last companion: Amy Pond. In her first episode, we learnt many things about her:

1. When scared, she'll turn to beings higher than her (example: her praying to Santa as a child).

2. She was trusting as a kid, but that seemed to die down when she became an adult.

3. She wasn't afraid of being flirty, as shown by her occupation at the time being a kissogram.

4. Afraid of commitment, or at least not ready for being married to Rory at the time.

5. Brave, feisty and willing to speak her mind.

A lot more things than I can think of for Clara and I probably missed some too.

So, Clara isn't terrible, she's just... horribly bland. Although remember that this is all my opinion.

Plus, y'know, Amy Pond was amazing. I consider anyone else from her to be a downgrade.

I rest my case.

-JJ

P.S. Matt Smith is best Doctor.

The following might be a bit of a rant, so bear with me.

I have a theatre performance on Thursday. My group and I have worked really hard towards it and asked for feedback today.

We got torn to shreds.

Well, not completely. I won't say what the piece is about but essentially, character logic didn't make sense. This means a lot has to be worked over. Not everything, but quite a bit.

So why did I title this blog post with Optimism? Well, being the optimist I am, I took the criticism, accepted it and am now focusing towards bettering the piece. My group members, while being fantastic and awesome people in general, do not quite share my optimism. Not that I'm mad at them for it. It's a perfectly valid reaction. However, negative attitudes in the face of adversity do annoy me quite a bit.

Hence the blog post title.

If you get knocked down, whatever you do, you must get back up and face the odds. You need to view things in a positive light, as that will make you feel better and therefore you'll work harder. I cannot stress this enough.

Some say optimists don't get the full picture, that they miss things out and set themselves for immense disappoint. I actually agree with this. But what they do have, in most cases, is a drive. Spirit. Passion.

Take Pinkie Pie for instance. I really admire her, because she doesn't let things like how silly she'll look stop her from making other ponies happy. That's really admirable.

I'm not bashing realists or pessimists. As I've said, optimists sometimes miss the details, or maybe don't even a solid plan in mind. However, it annoys me when negativity gets in the way of the most important thing: the end goal.

That's my outlook anyway. It's not fact or anything. Just my thoughts.

I'll get back to writing now.

-JJ

P.S. Words of encouragement aren't required (not forcing you to or anything), but it'd be nice and help spur me on. Wednesday and Thursday are going to be hellish.

As a writer, one of my aims is to write and finish a proper adventure story. While Role Reversal was arguably an adventure, it's not the type I'm talking about here.

I want to write a story with action, journeying, trials and hardship. Most of all, a bit of worldbuilding.

The problem is, to make a story like that, you need a lot of planning. Every details needs to be fleshed out, otherwise you'll probably trip yourself up when writing the story. In addition, my imagination tends to get the best of me, resulting in the ramblings of a madman.

Regardless, I recently got an idea I really like. I won't state it outright, since I'm not fully committed to it yet (too darn busy), but I'll give clues and have fun as you lot try to guess what I'm cooking up in my head.

-It'll star Lyra and will have LyraxBon

Well, they are one of the best ships out there*.

-The Mane 6 will not make an appearance

At least, I don't think they will. I don't fit in characters for the sake of it.

-A new world to explore, with new characters

OCs, essentially. But don't worry, the main focus is on Lyra.

-Have images and music to get a feel for what I'm thinking of

Feel free to ask questions too.

Until next time, see ya.

-JJ

*Your mileage may vary.

Warning: the following story is not for those with the faint of heart. However, if you can handle over the top crude comedy, with Gilbert Gottfried and Nicholas Cage, then I may have the fic just for you.

Gottfried and Cage's fairly average journey is one of those crazy human in Equestria stories that is beyond crazy. It's not thought provoking, but it doesn't try to be. It is what it is: blunt humor starring two celebrities, who play off each other very well in this fic.

So, if you can handle it and want a good laugh, check it out. If not, read Merc's other fics. They might be more to your taste. Unless you hate humans.

But you can't hate humans, being one, right? Unless you're a pony. Or an alien.

Look, forget it, do what you want to do regardless of your species.

-JJ