Story Notes: 16 (North Star) · 5:37am Dec 27th, 2023
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/3071907
Happy 40th anniversary, My Little Pony! Here’s a special G1 bonus chapter to celebrate!
First things first, the above image is from the official comics and… that is blatantly a Hills store. The logo? Perfect match. The slogan? Perfect match. Hills was purchased by Ames in 1999; Ames in turn overextended themselves to make the purchase and went bankrupt in 2002. I’m an enthusiast of defunct retailers and that made my day when I saw it. The slogan on the shelf, in its entirety, is: “Hills is where the toys are.” Andy Price was going for maximum nostalgia when he drew that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_(store)
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/3057209
It’s no secret that I love all generations of MLP, so I wanted to do something special for the franchise’s anniversary. Since a party planned by two different Pinkie Pies (G3 & G4) wasn’t feasible, I settled for writing this. It took me most of the year, but it’s ready with a few days left in the anniversary year.
This may be one of the most important chapters in the story, and it doesn’t even feature one of our sixteen stars. Here’s where we get the real background on what happened. G1 is a thing. Our world has My Little Pony and it’s all due to these pegasi.
We’ve obviously seen North Star, Firefly, Surprise, Heart Throb, Wind Whistler, and the Williams’ earlier in the story. We see more G1 characters this time around. Paradise was right there with them exploring. Paradise wasn’t part of the later events (seen in Ploomette’s chapters). We probably won’t be seeing more of her in this story, though if inspiration hits… you never know.
Floom is one of the ingredients in Smooze, and the 1986 movies shows the plant spanking Reeka as she and Draggle try to collect the sap. This time, it’s poor Baby Brightbow that gets caught up in it. The interesting thing about her (and the other Year 9 Baby Rainbow ponies) is that unlike Baby Surprise, Baby North Star, Baby Heart Throb, etc., there was never an adult Brightbow to go along with the foal, so her official name is Baby Brightbow.
Talk about embarrassing. Some mothers torment their kids by breaking out baby pictures, while poor Brightbow will never get rid of that stigma since it’s her first name. I’ve obviously dropped that part of her name, but it may explain a few aspects of this pony’s character. She’s very childish, whiny, and completely out of her element. She’s trying to be something she’s not and failing miserably.
Brightbow was released near the end of the original G1 toyline, sometime around when the second G1 series (My Little Pony Tales, sometimes known as G1.5, though this will tick off the G1 purists since the generations are measured by toys, and there were no major changes between the 1983 ponies and the Tales-era ponies). I refer to it as G1.5. Don’t get me wrong, I understand where the collectors are coming from as a collector myself, but there needs to be a better way to describe the media, and well… I’ve never been afraid to step on tails when it comes to Tales.
I mention Tales with good reason, as Miss Hackney joins us from this series. She never got a toy, but she was a supporting character in the show. Tales is a fairly light and fluffy series, with a heavy emphasis on slice-of-life.
Trickles, Confetti, and Pinwheel are all G1s, and coincidentally, all three of them are on my computer desk, along with a number of other Basic Fun G1 (and G3) repops, as well as some G4 and Pony Life toys. And G3 Minty with socks. Because best pony has to be front and center in my herd. G3 Rainbow Dash (you know, the pony who always dresses in style 
) is right up front too.
That said, G3 ponies are already well-represented in this story, and none appear in North Star’s two chapters.
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North Star’s got her head a little further in the clouds than her friends. This isn’t exactly canonical to her character, but at the same time since it was never touched on, it’s also not non-canonical. I just thought it was a fun way to write her chapter, with a running gag of her breaking out of daydreams to get on with our story.
With this many changing perspectives, I like to keep things fresh. This is our nineteenth different first-pony perspective in this story.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/1300127
This is one of those ‘you wouldn’t expect this’ moments. One of the things that’s delayed this chapter is…
Polaris, the north star.
As North Star describes in the story, Polaris is a bright (but not the brightest) star in the sky, and it just happens to be aligned (currently) close to the North Pole. This makes it a ‘fixed’ star in the sky, and makes navigating possible.
Why would this hold up the story?
Because we have one major issue with the setting. In Equestria, the sun and moon are raised and lowered by ponies. This would imply either a flat Equus or an artificial sun. I’m going with the latter.
However! For a while, I was leaning toward making Equus’ north star equivalent be the brightest star in the sky just to try and avoid this issue. A flat Equus would also mean that there’s no North Pole. I could’ve hoof-waved that, too, by just saying that the north star is the brightest star in the sky, and that the direction ‘north’ was named for it.
I put way too much thought into this because the planet doesn’t actually orbit a star. Unless! Rather than moving the sun and moon, Celestia is rotating the planet. The moon orbits Equus, so there’s nothing stopping Luna from moving that around at her whim. That would explain how we’ve had both in the sky at the same time.
Physics. Even in a fantasy setting, they’re kind of important.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/1867092
Speaking of G1 and Polaris, there’s a new G1 pony named Polaris.
That’s right. A new G1 pony. Four of them, actually: the Celestial Ponies, who were shown as prototypes back in the ‘90s (at the end of the G1 run), but who never made it to production.
Thanks to Admiral Biscuit and my third place finish in the Cozy Glow contest, I’m now the owner of all four of these new ponies! Of course I spent my prize on ponies. Since there’s not much merchandise of Cozy Glow and I was limited to what was on Amazon, I couldn’t get anything specifically related to her. But hey, some new cosmic ponies for her to hang out with. I’m sure she can have all kinds of ‘fun’ playing with stealing the power from her new friends.
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Ember cameos specifically because she’s adorable! She’s just taken a leap of faith because she believes she can fly like a pegasus. It’s a good thing for her Firefly is lightning fast.
Per Lauren Faust, Ember inspired G4 Apple Bloom: https://derpibooru.org/images/486478
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/1540653
I’m not sure why this, but most of my favorite G1 ponies are pegasi. Unsurprisingly, they’re the five we’ve seen show up extensively in this story: North Star, Heart Throb, Surprise, Wind Whistler, and Firefly. Then again, most of my favorite G4 characters are also pegasi (Rainbow Dash, Flitter, Cozy Glow…), and we can’t forget G3’s Star Catcher and Thistle Whistle.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/1459812
Since I mentioned Hasbro’s ‘Baby’ naming convention, the below image is of Baby North Star, a totally original character, do not steal canon character to G1. She can be differentiated by only having two points on her compass rose cutie mark (and also by being smaller). She can guide you north or south, but if you’re heading east or west you’re out of luck.
There’s also a Baby Surprise, Baby Firefly, Baby Heart Throb, and Baby Lickety-Split, among others. Of the five G1 ponies who’ve played a major role in this story, Wind Whistler is the only one missing a baby version of herself.
Also shown: a bushwoolie.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/905485
Below we see North Star and Surprise (both flying), along with Paradise (looking over her shoulder), Galaxy (in the window), and Sweet Stuff (hiding in the doorway). This is Paradise Estate, one of the settings of G1 (and conveniently a playset, available at 1980s retailers worldwide, if one has access to both a DeLorean and a Flux capacitor…).
Also pictured: Mimic (wearing her golden horseshoes) and Baby Cuddles (lower left), Applejack and Cherries Jubilee (lower right), Fizzy (blowing bubbles on the roof), Cupcake (exiting the door opposite Sweet Stuff), and a pair of seaponies in the pool, Sea Shimmer & Surf Rider.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/936945
I can’t emphasize this enough. The earlier generations of My Little Pony are good. G1 kicks butt just as often as G4. G3 has a few action moments, but mostly it’s just really cute.
Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/896175
Even if North Star doesn’t appear in this next image, Surprise, Firefly, and Ember do. This chapter is a 40th anniversary tribute, and I’d be remiss not to include the below image as my outro for this blog post.
What a great rundown! Thanks also for the insights into the characters.
Minty was there from the beginning.
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She was, and still is even in G5. There must always be a Minty (except in G2). Best pony, then, now, and forever!
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Thank you, and you're welcome!
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Too bad she was only given a big animated role in G3...
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At least she had a cameo in a G4 short (and was the G3 representative in the crossover G1-G4 comic), and background status in Pony Life. G5 is interesting, since mint-Minty received a toy, while clover-Minty was a supporting character in an episode. Technically, both Mintys are canon to G5. The Mintys have been doubled!
She's been fairly stable in the toyline, so Hasbro recognizes her popularity.
My knowledge of G1 is fairly limited to the films (Tirec and Smooze). I can't remember if I ever watched G2-3 which would have been during my actual childhood years. I did like the daydream effect at the start of the chapter.
I look forward to seeing what you come up with this year.