True, it's a power that must be used with restraint...

RainbowFaceProtege?

But I knew you were going to say that.

ImpracticalDino

You mean you lesser life forms can't mind-read?

ImpracticalDino

I love how Discord would literally do anything to protect Fluttershy, while at the same time being apathetic to almost everyone else.

^^^ yep, yep, yep, yep, yep

I never watched Spongebob, but just seeing people talk about cartoons, I've noticed it's often used as an example of a show going on too long for its own good. PBS's Arthur is another example that comes to my mind...when traditional animation gets a bad Flash makeover, you know things are headed downhill.

Oh yeah, I remember "Fame and Misfortune." As practically a direct response to fan reception of the show, I believe it was intended to be more of a tongue-in-cheek break in the fourth wall than anything else. I was just neutral on it...it was amusing enough at times, but it was too incoherently silly to become a favorite of mine.

I'm gonna say I'd rather live in the LBT universe, because the Great Valley is a nature-lover's paradise! (Even though I would have to go without colored pencils, and paper, and fabric, and needle and thread...guess I'd have some inventing to do? )

Would you rather be a flyer or ride on a flyer's back?

Well, the title of this story caught my eye.

I definitely enjoyed what you've written so far! The journey to find this other stone keeps seeming more ominous the more it follows the Gang's path to the first stone. It's as if you're warning that with everything being so eerily similar to the previous journey for so long, it's bound to hit the Gang hard when a change finally shows up...and when that change is revealed in the last sentence you posted, what a cliffhanger to leave us on!

For the most part, your characterization of everyone was very accurate. (I was happy to see that my personal favorites were as cryptically mysterious as ever. ) The only thing I'm going to nitpick over is how Cera began sobbing when she thought Spike was gone. While Cera would no doubt be upset if she lost any of her friends, I think this would manifest itself (at least at first) in a different way. She seems to be the type who would shout and kick things instead of breaking down and crying, or at least I don't think she'd let herself cry in front of anyone else. As a nitpick, however, this criticism only applies to a few sentences in a story where everyone is otherwise very well written.

I'm new to your fanfiction continuity, so I was unfamiliar with Pyra, but I'm assuming she's one of Cera's sisters from the first movie. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

In a nutshell, kudos for a job well done on this intriguing story so far! I'm anxious to see where this goes next!

Next week sounds fine by me!

I plan to have the yellowbellies enter through the valley first, probably after dealing with any sharpteeth characters if anyone wishes.

I have the feeling @Gentle Sharptooth wishes...

Just a question I thought I'd put out there! We all know which character from the TV series is the least popular (yes, he's an option in this poll anyway, deal with it), so why not see who ends up being the most popular (or if "popular" is too strong a word, then "least disliked")? Think on it, then throw somebody your vote! This should be kind of interesting.

  (Ruby isn't listed because she's a recurring character in the series. Plus, I'm already aware there's a good-sized amount of people who like her, and I didn't want to make the choice too easy for you guys!)

Nice Rhett drawing @Nanotyrannus!

That's an interesting thought, @Sneak--if Rhett actually got more screen time, he might prove to be an interesting character. The TV show wasted waaaay too much time on songs...and most of those songs were the worst! All those times when the characters would basically just start singing their conversation without it even rhyming...yuck!

@Flathead770 You have some really good points! Rhett's actions do make a lot of sense if you think about it. Growing up, I also met plenty of kids who, like him, were just doing whatever they could to fit with the crowd. Having some follow-up to this episode later on in the series could've gone deeper into this, which would've done a lot to make him a more sympathetic character. Giving Ali another episode where she actually had the chance for more screen time would've helped things, too!

This thread kinda seems to be pointing to the conclusion that without the Phony Ali problem, Rhett actually could have been a pretty decent character...

@Sneak Thank you! It's newer than some of the other stuff I've shown, but it's from last year.

@OwlsCantRead Aww, you're too nice! I enjoy drawing pictures with interesting lighting in them.

Which brings me to my second piece of art from the same story--and the color scheme is polar opposite my usual this time!
This is Chase (now a teenager) looking out over the Great Valley sunset with Chomper. They're like brothers to each other, these two sharpteeth! Chomper's especially happy he's met another friendly sharptooth--just look at that hug.

Anyway...shadows/highlights were pretty difficult for me here, and the resulting picture probably isn't totally consistent about which direction the sunlight is coming from.

Yep, and also the episodes where Fluttershy and Discord are together.

Ooh, yes! It's too bad they dropped those episodes altogether in the last two seasons. Yesterday I was re-watching the last one, "Discordant Harmony" from Season 7, and...squeeeeeeeee!!! Discord and Fluttershy are so adorbs with each other!!! (Though I don't actually go as far as to ship them, but they're just cute in any case!!) Several of my favorite MLP episodes ever involve these two!

Even before I lost almost all interest in watching MLP again, I did notice an overall downward trend in the quality of the episodes in my opinion.

Yeah...I agree, which is too bad. Even though I was so sad when the show ended, I guess it was probably a good time for things to stop. They just spent too much time focusing on characters that I didn't find very interesting, not to mention there seemed to be one OOC moment after another from the characters who'd been established for a while. And then there was that Cozy Glow...well, I'd better not even go there!