By now, if you haven't heard the latest uproarious news, you're living under a rock without internet connection and thus are obviously not reading this blog post, so screw any spoiler warnings.

I'm talking about the whole Twicorn thing, of course. Again, I'm not going to go through all the spoilers and the people's reactions to them, and all the worries they have, running the whole gamut from "understandable and reasonable" to "ridiculously histrionic and pessimistic". I am going to look at two particular worries that I see showing up quite often, though!

First, a lot of these reactions are actually rooted in the fear that alicorn Twilight will blow up people's headcanon about Celestia and Luna - something we also saw, although to a lesser extent, when Cadance appeared in "Canterlot Wedding". It's funny how little the show has actually addressed the origins, nature or exact powers of the Sisters, leaving us to come up with our own explanations and pet theories. On one hand, this is great, as it encourages us to flesh out and build our own cosmologies and takes on the setting and the Princesses, and has led to some of the finest ponyfics in existence. (Some of my personal favorites of this sort are Paradise, Merely a Mare and Eternal; if you haven't read those yet, you really should!) On the other hand, it easily leads to people internalizing fanon - whether their own or not - as "canon", sometimes even impacting your ability to enjoy the show. (*coughChatoyancecough*)

My reply to these fears is to point at "Luna Eclipsed", an episode that blew people's fanon about Luna to Tartarus. Although many got the living anachronism part right, to the best of my knowledge nobody saw the whole Metal Princess of the Night thing coming. And in the end, we loved it! Luna is, if anything, even more popular now than she was before that. So I think the show has earned the benefit of doubt when it comes to this.

Second big worry that I've seen is that Twilight becoming an alicorn is going to screw up the dynamic of friendship among the Mane Six by elevating her above the rest in status and power. And it is an understandable worry; the character interaction between the six friends is the core of the show's appeal, and their Friendship being literally Magic is as important in-setting as it is out of it. People worry that Twicorn will overshadow the rest, or alternatively become a background character to avoid doing that.

To this, I'd say that Twilight Sparkle is already a magical powerhouse, personal pupil and protege of pony Princess, a Heroine of Equestria many times over, and the leader of the Elemental Harmony Squad. The others are no slouches, and are exceptional ponies in many ways, but Twilight quite clearly is the most powerful and important member of the Mane Six. And that does not matter, because the show is about friendship, not power, and even in the adventure episodes the solution is never just having Twilight use her magical power to solve things. If she gets wings and a power boost - and the latter is far from certain - none of this is going to change. Besides, do you really think her personality is going to instantly change if she is transformed into an alicorn? Again, the show is about friendship, not power!

Finally, to take an out-of-setting view of the whole thing, we must always keep in mind that no matter how much we bronies and pegasisters enjoy the show, it is ultimately aimed at the kids. And having the S3 finale kick the Status Quo Is God trope to the curb, and tell the audience that change and growth are inevitable, but that does not mean you have to give up on your friendship; that friendship itself is something that can and should change and grow along with yourself... That would be a very good moral for the kids to learn, and for us adults to be reminded of.

Remember how the show started? Twilight Sparkle, settled and secure in her roles as Princess Celestia's student and as a friendless bookworm in her Canterlot library, is forced out of her comfortable niche. She's sent to a town she's never been to, on a mission she doesn't like or appreciate, to meet ponies she doesn't know nor want to know. And she fights the changes, going along with the letter of Celestia's letter but undermining the spirit of her task because she doesn't see why she should change. Yet it ends up changing her life completely - she gains six great friends, the first ponies of her own age she's ever been close friends with; she becomes the bearer of the Element of Magic, with all the responsibilities and dangers that brings; she even leaves Canterlot, the city where she was born and raised and where she has lived her whole life up until now, moving to Ponyville to live along with her new friends. And it ends up doing her a world of good!

Now, as season three draws to close, she's lived three years in Ponyville, learning about her friends and friendship in abstract. She has become settled and secure in her roles as a member of the Mane Six, as  the town librarian, and the voice of reason and authority in crisis situations. Indeed, it almost seems like she could live here for the rest of her life! But life goes on, and people change and grow. It's the perfect moment to shake things up before either Twilight or us in the audience get too used to the idea that this is it, that things should not change.

Well!

Again, they thwarted my expectations, this time by not thwarting my expectations! See, here I was all prepared for the episode's moral to be "You need two people to be friends; no matter how much you offer your hand in friendship and reconciliation, if the other guy does not take it, it won't work."

Instead, they went with "Even bad people can desire friendship (even if they don't realize or admit it) and giving them the benefit of doubt can be a good thing. But that doesn't mean you have to be a doormat for them, however!" which is so not what I expected, but still a reasonable enough moral.

The only real problem I have with this episode is that it would worked better as a two-parter, with more build-up. Or even with a montage showing Flutters and Discord interacting more. As it is now, the pacing feels kinda abrupt, which detracts from the episode... but does not ruin it by any means.

So, I have now seen the S3 premier, having managed to avoid the previews and much of the spoilers from earlier. This blog post, however, is spoilery as heck, so if you haven't seen "Crystal Empire" yet, I suggest you stop now.

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Overall, I really, really liked it! CE may not be the kind of an outstanding, expectation-smashing wonder like A Canterlot Wedding, but it's still very good, very fun, very exciting episode and a fine start for the new season. Cadence and Shining Armor return, and get some beautiful moments of love and awesomeness; the Mane Six are good, and Spike gets to shine; there's Luna and Celestia and lots and lots of interesting worldbuilding bits and hints to all sorts of mysteries about Equestria's history, magic and more.

I've heard some people getting mad about King Sombra and how he was handled here. Obviously, people will have different tastes and their mileage will vary, but I think this is something of an overreaction. Sombra is portrayed as a very different kind of a villain to the ones we've seen: Nightmare Moon is Luna gone around the bend with jealousy and loneliness; Discord is a chimerical chaos spirit and a mad, cruel trickster; and Chrysalis is a manipulative, emotion-eating succubus-fairy-bug. Sombra, in turn, is a shadow of evil and an elemental force of evil, who manifests as clouds of darkness and warped, dark crystal spires.

And I'm absolutely certain that this is not the last we are going to see of him. Seriously. If you watch the episode carefully, I'm surprised if you don't come to the same conclusion. This is not the end; this is just the beginning.

Hello, all you people who for whatever reason keep an eye on me here!

Here we have exactly what the blog title says: stories I think are good and need more love! And since we're in October, the creepiest month of the year (just ask Ray Bradbury's ghost), these are somewhat dark and scary stories.

First, The Stars, the Seal, and the Kraken by CLAVDIVS CAESAR, best known for his deeply delighting Ditzy stories. It's a really well-written pony adventure in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft that strikes a lovely balance between darkness and hope, and features some excellent character moments. Give it a look!

Second, Éadóchas, by Jake Was Here. It's another Lovecraft-inspired story, but takes a very different tack, focusing on the cosmic horror of insignificance and ephemerality that Lovecraft sought to present in his work. It's still building up, with a nicely mounting ominous undercurrent. I expect this story will go to interesting places; get on board now!

Third, Gobbling and Other Traditional Pursuits by LadyMoondancer - a bunch of Equestrian fairy tales, told in the traditional style. They're clever, inventive and practically dripping with style; go read them!

Finally, Twilight Sky Over Canterlot by TwilightFlopple. The author's own description is better than anything I could come up with: "On a trip to Canterlot to attend to some royal business, Twilight Sparkle learns more about kindness and forgiveness than she expected. Contemplation, melancholy, and a richly detailed world." Very much worth reading, and includes one of the absolutely best 1st-season takes on Luna.

Participated in my first-ever brony meet at Tracon today. A bunch of people (someone estimated about a hundred), with some really nice cosplay - a full Rarity suit (there was also a really cool Derpy suit, but I didn't notice her at the meet), a radically cool Rainbow Dash and a great Applejack (complete with apples!) and more.

There was a MLP:FiM quiz (questions ranging from trivial to fiendishly difficult), a group photo, and some pony karaoke. Turns out everyone knows Winter Wrap-Up by heart, and that This Day Aria gives you shivers even when it's being sung by a roomful of random people! Also, "Smile Smile Smile" is the greatest feel-good song ever, or thereabouts.

I had to skip the episode watching during the last hour of the meet because I wanted to attend another program, but overall it was remarkably fun!

Ropecon, the premier Finnish RPG convention, was held this weekend in Espoo, and I was there, too.

During those three days, I spotted two cases of pony cosplay (a Fluttershy and a very good Elusive, with top hat, too!), couple of people with pony-themed T-shirts, half a dozen folks with Mane Six badges and a guy with a Rainbow Dash cellphone decoration dangling from his bag. The official verdict is that bronies and pegasisters are well represented among the Finnish geekdom!

Well!

That was a real roller-coaster ride of a wedding, and season finale. I would have liked to have Luna in an active role, but even so, I was amused, thrilled, creeped out and excited by the whole thing. From here on, there are going to be some spoileriffic comments, so if you haven't seen the S2 finale yet (and why haven't you?), you may not want to read further!

Shining Armor and Cadence were both nice characters, and I quite wish them well. It's pretty obvious that she was given wings for toy-related reasons only, but I have no trouble explaining her as a mortal alicorn, a "mutant" version of unicorn that sometimes shows up in the noble lines [strike]descended from[/strike] related to Celestia. She's probably Blueblood's second cousin or something, except a) a mare and b) not an egoistical, pampered jerk.

Chrysalis and her swarm of Changelings? Best new villains! I mean, what's not to love about disturbingly insectoid, emotion-eating, shapeshifting evil fairy ponies?

Also, I think the whole warning about external threat was Chrysalis' doing, and intended to distract the Princesses from the internal danger that she posed, already controlling the Captain of the Guard responsible for a big chunk of Canterlot's magical defenses, using his love as a magical amplifier for her power, and - as soon as they would be wed - about to dismantle the defenses so that her swarm can swoop in when everypony, Celestia and Luna included, is distracted.

When Twilight and Cadence spoil her surprise, she knows the game's up, so Chrysalis orders the Changelings to break down the field through a brute-force attack (She can't just order Shining Armor to turn it off, not yet, but he can't reinforce it, either!). Hopefully, she can stand up to Celestia long enough that a battallion or two of her warriors can come to her aid... and then, much to her own surprise, she OMGWTFPWNs Celestia! Turns out that Shining Armor was much better a power source than she'd even realized.

Unfortunately for her, that means that Shining Armor is also the huge, honking vulnerability in her plan... and Cadence's magical talent is sparking and re-igniting true love. Whoops. Should have been practical and killed her, instead of dropping her into forgotten gem mines and throwing Twilight in after her in the hopes that Twi will shoot first and ask questions later. :D

As another brony and fanfic writer, it's about time I come over to this site. I've been writing pony fiction for a while now, but it's all been hosted on my dA account, and - inevitably - been eclipsed by the immense flood of brilliant pony fanart (and other art!) that's the focus of the site.

I'm noticing the difference already. Every fanfic author, no matter how much they write for themselves, loves to see that their stories are read and enjoyed by fellow fans, and I've never had such a positive reaction as here; the amount of readers and comments I've received for the stories I've posted here has almost floored me!

So: thank you, all of you who've read, commented and tracked my stories, and watched me. Thank you!