Luna Reviews FIM Season 3: Introduction · 4:22am Dec 8th, 2014
OOC:
I suspect that this series might bring in readers who are not following At the Inn of the Prancing Pony, so perhaps a little backstory is in order:
In a world where there was no such thing as a “My Little Pony” cartoon, a portal was accidentally opened between the throne room in Canterlot and downtown Pasadena, California, USA on January 1st, 2010. In Equestria, this happened right after the events of “The Return of Harmony Part Two”. Once the language barrier was cracked, trade and tourism sprang up between the two worlds. An anonymously-written book, Friendship Is Magic: The Adventures of a Unicorn and Her Friends in Equestria, became a best-seller on Earth, and led to the creation of a web-animated series named Friendship Is Magic. This in turn become popular enough on its own to lead to the creation of a website devoted to writing fanfiction about this obviously real place.
Meanwhile Princess Luna, responding to what she considered the well-justified fear and suspicion of her Equestrian subjects since being freed from being Nightmare Moon, has decided to move more or less permanently to Earth, to act as a goodwill ambassador for ponies among humankind. Among her large circle of human friends are this universe’s versions of McPoodle (an Equine translator and sometime author) and Hope (an IT tech and freelance consultant). It is at their prodding that she has begun blogging reviews of various aspects of human pop culture that she has encountered, using poor McPoodle’s account for this purpose.
Oh, and I suppose I should mention the color coding: text in black was written by Luna. Text like this in blue was written by the actual, living and breathing McPoodle (as opposed to the fictional one). Fictional McPoodle is in orange. And fictional Hope is in purple. To make things even clearer, OOC indicates “out of character” sections where I’m not pretending to be royalty, and where I know that magical ponies aren’t real. By default, though, you should assume that everything is IC, or “in character”.
OK, have we got all that? Heads desked firmly into your tray tables, which are all in the lowered and head-deskable positions? Then let’s begin!
IC:
My experience with MLP Animation’s Friendship Is Magic series is rather limited, despite using this website as one of my primary mouthpieces. For a long time, “The Mysterious Mare Do Well” was the only episode that I had seen, and it had left a decidedly unfavorable impression.
Hope: I agree with the distaste regarding that episode, as it seemed too heavy handed with its moral, and applied it entirely in the wrong way.
However, I was curious how Cadance and Shining Armor’s wedding would be translated into forty-five minutes of family-safe animation, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I had heard that the shadowy figures behind MLP Animation had committed to the fiction that there was no Portal and no human presence in Equestria for their series, and they admirably stuck to that position, despite the fact that it rendered portions of the two-part serial utterly incomprehensible. The fact that those episodes could be so good despite those flaws, and despite having to work around the veil of state secrecy that prevents me from saying what really happened for a good fifty years, frankly astounds me. Also, they gave me a cameo, despite the fact that I was in Brussels at the time watching the whole thing live on television with the Belgian king and prime minister. So I’ll give them major kudos for that.
It’s been more than a year since “A Royal Wedding Part Two” was released to the Internet, and Season Three is going to premiere tomorrow, airing one episode per weekday for the next two weeks. Hope informed me at the time that this was a viable means for a web series to roll out its content, and I think I heard something about a decidedly un-nautical form of piracy before I tuned her out. (Sorry, Hope. Did I mention that I had just spent the past twenty-four hours marathoning Doctor Who?)
Hope: It’s fine, I can’t expect everyone to be cheerfully attentive when discussing the economics of internet-based entertainment.
I’m intrigued by what this independent group of web animators will do for Season 3. Now I’m basing this on what Hope told me, but apparently Season 1 of the series was taken directly from Twilight Sparkle’s unauthorized biography, yes? And Season 2 was made using some lesser anecdotes from the same source, combined with research into actual events that happened in Ponyville after the book came out. Most infamously, the royal wedding incident came out while Season 2 was wrapping up production, and so the originally planned season conclusion was rapidly swapped out, and the writers were chagrined to discover that they hadn’t even dropped a single mention of Twilight’s brother or foalsitter up to this point, thinking that neither character would ever affect her life after moving out of Canterlot.
That means that the same writers who had three years of experiences to put into Season 2 had only two or three months to put into Season 3. What could this season possibly be about? Will every episode focus on a single day in a life of one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony? (Hope: I certainly hope not, that can only be done so many times before it loses its charm) Or will perhaps the focus be moved to some other pony, living in Ponyville or some other Equestrian town? After all, Friendship Is Magic was not the only biography of a pony to be published in one or more human languages in the past three years. Perhaps they will abandon the focus on the present day and tell stories from Equestria’s past? This is what I would recommend, especially if they are still adamant about leaving humans out of the series. It must be nearly impossible to tell an important story about contemporary Equestria without humans at this point. So I am interested to see what they will do.
I intend to blog about each episode as it comes out. Nothing as long as this essay, just my general thoughts. (Oh, and Hope? I may need to consult with you about any references to episodes I haven’t seen or oddball human pop culture references. Please make yourself available for online chat between the hours of eight P.M. and midnight on show days.)
Hope: I am at your command, your Royal Highness. (Luna: Ah, you did remember my little essay on how to properly address reigning princesses!)
For those of my readers who might have inside information about episodes, please do not put any spoilers in the comments, or I shall be cross. No, not even synopses. I’d like to go into these prepared with nothing in advance other than the titles. Now as McPoodle is still doing business for me in Griffonica, I’ll ask Hope to do any necessary pruning of comments before I read them, just in case. And in the rare case that somebody from MLP Animation is actually reading these posts...well, the same rules apply to you. I can’t be playing favorites, after all.
Here’s looking forward to Season 3.
I dunno, I've always been thrown off when a fic needs key chart to understand who is saying what. It gets confusing to me.
Now I'm curious what part of the Wedding didn't make sense... maybe that mysterious 'Warning' that got Shining Armor to spring up his shield? Or what exactly Chrysalis intended to do once she got married to him before his shield went up?
I also assume the violence was toned incredibly down... human weapons clearly had an impact on the tragic event of that day...
OOC:
Now I am curious about this royal wedding. I wonder about things. You have done an amazing job in maintaining and keeping things so very in universe, what with the blogs and the stories themselves.
IC:
Well now, I look forward to hearing about your thoughts your Royal Highness? I hope I am getting this correct, Not too knowledgeable on Royalty decorum. Typing from the United States of America.
I look forward to your reviews as I am always liking to hear what others think about episodes and I am sorry you had to see Mare Do-Well. That is one of the poorer of the episodes.
I shall end this at the moment, and I hope you enjoyed Doctor Who.
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McPoodle: Wait, you actually thought that Queen Chrysalis' true goal was marrying Shining Armor, when there's a poorly defended portal to an entire world ripe for the conquest located in the same room as the wedding ceremony? (Well, she thought this world was vulnerable--boy was she surprised.)
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Me: I hinted a bit as to what "actually" happened above. And thank you for the compliment.
Luna: Yes, you do have my form of address correct, dear sir. And as for Doctor Who, I have not yet completed the revived series, but I have seen all of the classic series--I wrote a three-part blog series on one serial in particular. Perhaps you've seen it?
2640068 Ah see that detail I didn't know. I didn't think the portal was in the same room...then again Voltaire's portal was in the Throne Room... despite the ending point on Earth being continents apart, both portals ended up at the castle... What about The Roman?
Is there some sort of mystical property, maybe a dimensionnal weakpoint, inherent to the Canterhorn mountain? Is that partially why the capital was move to Canterlot??
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I did see it, and I think I commented on it. Still, I am pleased to hear your foray into part of the British Culture there.
Another good series you might like to try is Star Trek. I would recommend what fans call the TOS era.
If I may be bold enough to leave a comment on what I have read of your story so far.
Amazing, great humor, good use of humor about Earth customs, as well as what I feel are jokes about DnD that frankly go over my head. I enjoy that because it makes it feel real, that their is stuff happening that is well researched that I missed but others will get. So I congratulate you on that part.
The characters are real, and I feel utterly invested in them. I hope their fates will be kind at the end of this adventure.
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McPoodle: No, it's Voltaire's portal--the Roman's portal was on the future site of the Pie family farm (which explains the source of young Pinkamena's dreams of Earth). The marriage was in the throne room, right? Or, like, right next door? All castles only have one big room where they do everything, right? Right?
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Me: And again, thank you for your kind words. The story's getting pretty close to its climax, which means I need to hurry up if I want to get out all the side blog entries I had planned...
2641590 why did Voltaire's portal move to California?!
And no it wasn't the throne room, the windows didn't have stained glass covering them.
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You are welcome McPoodle. I really have enjoyed what Princess Luna has Written. I must say you seem to attract some interesting users of your account. Thank you for your allowance of that, and how is Griffonica that is if you can say anything, never want to ask things that might get folks into too much trouble.
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Maybe it was an animation Error?
You're just starting season three? I'm looking forward to seeing your reaction to the episode where Scootaloo is possessed by a fell beast from beyond the stars. I shan't give too much away, so I shall only say that it does not win any of the crusaders their cutie mark, which is probably lucky. The elder sign would probably be a very bad cutie mark to have.
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McPoodle: That end was tied to the wooden floor of the second storey of a particular Berlin mental institution, which was later pulverized and recycled into a Pasadena parade float.
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McPoodle: Griffonica is great! The Wi-Fi here is on average even faster than America! (Insert usual rant about American Internet coverage if you're not a USA-ian.)
I've been kidnapped about three times so far by rival companies trying to drain my brain of precious human technological secrets. Too bad I barely know how a toaster works. I suspect I'm due to get snatched again any mi
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Luna: I've got my eye on you, Mr. Pilcrow, and you'd better not be right about this Scooter pony. Oh wait, that was that one orange creature from The Muppet Show, yes? Silly Pilcrow, this is the pony cartoon, not the muppet cartoon!
(Note to self: Check with Hope to make sure there isn't a pony named Scooter.)
(Note #2: Send a polite note to the Griffonian embassy to check on McPoodle's current status.)
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Well, uh, I hope you are able to be returned soonish, that makes number four I am guessing? Also, American Internet actually from what I am told is better then Australian Internet. I was informed of this by an Australian so, take what you want from that.
Still I am amazed to hear that Wi-Fi is working nicely in Griffonia. How does Wi-Fi work over there? Wouldn't they have been asking the tech wizards as I call them who installed the hot spots how they work?
Sorry to interrupt, but I like the part in which Luna watched A Canterlot Wedding with the Belgian king and prime minister in 2012. Now, you should know that in OTL, King Albert II was the King of Belgians and Elio Di Rupo was the Belgian prime minister back then.
Of course this might sound stupid, but I have to ask, are these two persons also the King and Prime Minister of Belgium in this TTL at the time?
2641970 Scootaloo, princess. Yes. There is a pony named Scootaloo.
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McPoodle: Thanks for your concern. Yes, this is my fourth kidnapping, and I have to say, the swankiest yet!
To answer your question, the griffons run their wi-fi the same way that it works over here, which is why they were able to set it up so quickly.
Griffon society has dedicated itself to using technological solutions to problems ever since the days of Cogs Sparkle and the Revolution. That's why they are so keen to study human technology--I was up here as translator for some experts who suspected that they had even made some improvements that would be useful to us. My first group of kidnappers put them under much better guard than they did me, which is why I am three kidnappings away from them at present.
So in short, a strong investment in technology. And wings. Wings make it a lot easier to set up hot spots in mountainous terrain.
By contrast, the ponies have dedicated themselves to figuring out how to create their network using magic. It may take them a few years to figure it out, but the moment they do, they can hook up to their established magical network and have 100% coverage (including telepathic connection for most unicorns) instantaneously.
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Me: I don't see why they can't be the same people. I was purposefully vague talking about the American president in 2010, for those people who would like to substitute somebody else. (Rather similar to only reading fanfics where Twilight is not an alicorn princess in my opinion, but hey, whatever floats your boat....)
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Luna: Ah, thank you, Hope. I did a little research, and found out that she was one of the main characters in that "Mare Do Well" episode I had seen. I guess I was just blocking as many details of that episode as possible from my memory.
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Dang. Well I shall not ask any more questions, and I wonder what they think when as you mentioned, barely know how to explain a toaster. I do sympathize, I can talk about the history and the equipment used, but how they work? Sadly I cannot.
I am suddenly scared with the idea of telephathic connection to hotspots and how the, a unicorn trying to access the internet could prove disasterious. Too much information at once, or do I not understand Telephathy?
I hope they are treating you well. Also, just how are the Gryphons now compared to say, the book that was published about Voltaire? What might have changed between the book and now? Other then the strong interest into Technology and I would agree wings do help with hotspots in mountains, it makes logical sense to my mind.
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McPoodle: Well if you're worried about the potential future consequences of telepathic linking with the Internet, don't bother, because it's already happened. That's how Luna does most of her postings online. I believe at some point in the past I called her the Queen of the Internet? I wasn't joking.
Griffon technological development appears on par with late twentieth century America in many respects. No personal automobiles, because they don't need them, but plenty of heavy machinery for excavation work. I'd say the difference was mainly scale--griffons had motorized ships, but not to the immense size of cargo ships, for example. They had successfully reverse engineered the magical form of radio used in Equestria to one roughly identical to ours, including the use of frequency modulation; they just used a higher set of frequencies. Television was still in the experimental phase, but it was always intended to be two-way via wrist-mounted units rather than one-way (reception at the back of a cave was always going to be problematic). And no watches per se, because griffons are all survivalists and would consider somebody unable to work out the time without help as a "wuss".
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Oh wow, I might scratch any plans for visiting Gryhonia, I doubt a heart patient would be viewed kindly in that kind of culture. As for two way, like Dick Tracy? That is, Whoa Dick Tracy watches are going to be real on the other side of the portal? That is kind of cool and you get to see this being invented. As for the Tech comparison, dang, that is an amazing era, the time that we made our huge leaps into technology, from space rockets to Computers to being able to store entire libraries of music and documents into storage space that is now no bigger then a finger if not smaller. As for the linkage with the net, well, consider me a little worried still, but Her Royal Highness Luna (I am if nothing else a polite American) is an Alicorn, I rather hold off till I meet a Unicorn that has done so and proven it safe, then again even then I will admit that Equiestrians might be different then humans, I just, it sounds too much like the Borg to me, or potential. However another part of me, the part that loves knowledge is actually pondering if learning could be sped up by that way. Still, I better leave this here. I am happy to hear you are still safe, and are their plans to get you back away from the kidnappers or are you liking this current situation due to how Swankiness it is? Dare I even ask why that is?
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McPoodle: Well, it may have gotten out that I co-authored a story that seems to have awakened pony memories to the existence of the founder of griffon technology...and I suspect now that Luna knows about it that I will be "liberated" rather soon.
2643979 Ah, well, I am pleased to hear that, but I better get to sleep and be ready for school and work tomorrow. Stay safe and good luck. Also Good Night.
OOC
I hope you do not mind me picking up your style of IC and OOC
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Me: Why should I mind? It makes everything clearer.
McPoodle: Oh, I appear to have missed the bit in your last comment about your heart condition. I assure you, if your condition is congenital and you used technology to overcome it, the stereotypical "griffon in the eyrie" would have nothing but support for you. On the other hand, if like me your health conditions primary stem from a combination of a crappy diet and a non-existent exercise program, then yeah--no sympathy there.
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Ah, well that is good. It was Congenital, I live now with two mechanical valves... Might do better then in the Griffon nation then Equestria... Or I would be avoiding a lot of leafy greens due to blood thinners and I never thought I would be talking about my health on this site. Still, A very interesting event and I am happy to hear that they look at the history of a person. Yes I have this stuff, but I assure you, give me an inch and I will take a yard (Within reason.)