2 Day Drawing Training Grounds - Service Edition

It's New Years! Why do these keep dropping on holidays?  I blame Applejack.   For the sake of all of your sanities as you recover from tonight, this will be two days long as opposed to the usual one day. 

As requested by Phoe, we will also be rolling with a single prompt to make things a bit easier as opposed to the three tier system that has been the norm.  This is the training ground after all!

Now have a goal: 

A pony has agreed to follow the noble dragon code! Draw them helping with something!

How they help, why they help, and what they do to help is up to you!

The usual rules apply outside two day deadline of Wednesday January 2nd 11:59 PM PST (7:59 AM GMT) deadline.  Late entries have a chance at sneaking in, but it will close some time after that so be ready!

Head on over here and click the "2 Day Drawing Training Grounds - Service Edition" event to submit. 

Story: The Secret Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (Update Part 3!)

[Crossover]

Author: Paper_mate_Pony

Description: Dearest Billy,

It is with a heavy hand that I must relay: He is dead, and passed away among his bees only some hours ago. I, too, am not long of this earth, thus it falls to you to publish my final wish. The attached parcel is my tin box--you have ferried it hither and thither before--and it is where notes from all our adventures, spanning two centuries, as many wars and three monarchs had been safely kept. The remaining bundles within, however, we agreed some time ago to never publish, lest our reputations be shredded. However, with his passing heavy on my mind, I cannot forget such cases, so singular and impressive that they prove, without a doubt, that Sherlock Holmes was the greatest detective London, Britannia, and Worlds beyond our farthest imaginations could ever have known.These cases will confuse you--perhaps even tarnish your memories of us--but mark my words: they are as true and real as the paper upon which you read this letter.

Most Faithfully,
Dr John. H. Watson MD

The Secret Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (New Part 3!)

Additional Tags: Sherlock Holmes crossover.

Simple PMV: Little Sister / Don't stop me now / Reach For The Stars

Scenes, ponies, and only slight use of filters. It's simple PMV Time! Find them below.

1.) Little Sister [PMV]
2.) My little pony - Don't stop me now, the remake
3.) Reach For The Stars PMV

Story: The Time We Have

[Sad] [Slice of Life]

Author: Sorren

Description: Time... it truly does fly. You don't realize you're out of it until the clock's about to ring.

The Time We Have

Additional Tags: Sad, Slice of life, Rainbow Dash, alone

Charity Reports: Donations from Each!

We had a few charities from around the fandom submit some financial reports on where exactly your hard earned money went!  It's  amazing how much we have sent off to support these various causes throughout the year.  You guys are awesome!

Head on down past the break for all of them!

Discussion: What Should Each Pony's New Years Resolution Be?

I had to re-use this Luna for science.

It's the new year! Everypony is deciding on what they will do to better themselves as 2013 rolls around.  As is the norm for ponies though, they need your help!

Pick your favorites, be they mane six, princesses, obnoxious blue antagonists, or background ponies, and give them some goals to strive for!

Drop your stuff below the break!

Hard Mode: Applejack can't have anything to do with apples or ponies named after apples.

Comic: Very Important Tasks / Family Issues / Spike Lighter / Thinking Outside the Blocks

Sadly enough, I can imagine Twilight actually doing this.  We have crossovers, insanity, and simple pixel stuff this time around. Click for full!

Season Finale Confirmed to be A Single Parter, M.A. Larson Writes It

I think it was pretty obvious based on episode numbers at this point, but Meghan McCarthy has confirmed that the season finale will in fact be a single parter, similar to season one.  She also let everyone know that M.A. Larson (Magic Duel, Cider Squeezy, Ect) is the writer for it. 

And finally, in other news, Corey Powell will be the writer for Just for Sidekicks. She was the same one behind Sleepless in Ponyville, so  I'm pretty sure the rest of the season is going to be epic.   

Thanks to Dan and Kein for the heads up!

(and in other, other news, I think Zap2it derped one of these episodes, unless we are going to see a new cast of ponies for one of these!) 

Fillydelphia Radio Top 50 Countdown

Fillydelphia Radio is holding a Top 50 countdown to end this awesome year of pony! If you need a soundtrack for your New Years Eve events, make sure to check these guys out for all your music needs as we head into 2013. Check out all the details after the break for guests, events, and how to tune in!

Puppet Rigs for all You Animators

A couple of staffers from the Double Rainboom project have released puppet rigs of various characters.  If you plan on animating some pony and need a little help, head over to this page to pick up Rarity, the CMC, and Doctor Whoof, or over here for Trixie!

Drawfriend Stuff #671

Have you ever smelled a rabbit? They don't smell good.  Lets hope Fluttershy is going to take a bath after this.

Have some art! 

[1] Source
Fluttershy's Bunny Heaven

Wet Mane Silver Spoon Invades Gameloft Sale

As is the norm for the Gameloft Game, another sale is currently going down with a bit of Silver Spoon thrown into the mix.  The ad they are using that pops up when you launch the game is a bit different than the filly we usually associate with the name!  That's an interesting marketing strategy! Now all they need are socks!

thanks to David and everyone else for the heads up!

Story: Not By Its Cover

[Slice of Life]

Author: applecinnamonspice

Description: An ordinary afternoon at Canterlot's Summer Sun Faire becomes extraordinary when a young filly gets too curious and Princess Cadence experiences every foalsitter's worst nightmare. This is how one Princess discovered there is more to Twilight Sparkle than she ever imagined, and realized she is truly anything but "a regular old unicorn."

Not By Its Cover

Additional Tags: youth slice of life backstory

Untitled

Source

Nightly Roundup #540

You guys must all be busy with the holiday season as it has been a slow news period for us here at EqD, at least where Roundup news is concerned. That's ok, we need breaks every so often as well!

Tonight though, we do have some news as we bring the year to a close, the last Roundup of 2012! Hope you all have a great New Years Eve and I'll see you all again in the new year.

Celestia Radio's Top 100 Music Countdown

What are you so shocked about, Twilight?

What? We didn't post the Celestia Radio top 100 pony songs countdown stream that's going on RIGHT NOW?!

We'd better remedy that immediately!

Check below the break for the info!

Music of the Day #45

Music of the day time!  As always, I need to beg you guys to include a genre.  It's for your own benefit! Just an extra Genre: X in the email descrption is all you need.

Have some music!

Story: Your Beutifull (Update Part 4!)

[Shipping][Slice of Life] "And then Twilight Sparkle became a pre-reader." -Pre-reader who likes sky pirates

Author: theswimminbrony

Description: On what begins as a normal day, Twilight Sparkle receives a letter of a romantic and (very) grammatically incorrect nature. With the help of her friends and a newly discovered book, Twilight sets out to expose the author of this crime and teach them a lesson in proper grammar. And maybe, just maybe, she'll learn a thing or two about romance along the way.

Your Beutifull (New Part 4!)

Additional Tags: Twilight Sparkle is romantically challenged

Spotlight Vocal Music: Two Stars / Por el amor de Octavia / Metal Core Pony

We have a few vocal tracks this time around, starting with another Haymaker/Zahqo collab, followed by a bit of French, and finish with some Metalcore. Check them out below!

1.) zahqo - Two Stars (feat. Haymaker)
2.) Por el amor de Octavia (Opera Rock tema principal)[Original]
3.) Metal Core Pony (Feat. Prince Whateverer) -- Who I Am

Story Updates December 30th

I can't not use this Dash

I completely forgot to do this today! I blame ponies. Have some story updates.

Comic: Secret Agent Derp / Stan Writes a Letter / A Comic / Fall fo the Night / Clock Up!

Quite the mixed bag this time around.  We have crossovers, serious business, completely ridiculous, and more.  Click for full!

Story: Remnants of the Crystal King

[Dark] "This is a chilling tale with a nice blend of disparate styles that would feel disjointed in the hands of others. I'm glad stories like this are still around." -Pre-reader who likes sky pirates

Author: Troutking

Description: Twilight discovers the journal of King Sombra, and the unexpected secrets within.

Remnants of the Crystal King

Additional Tags: History Corruption Crystals Journal Twilight

Comic Cover Sketches on Twitter

Comic artist Katie Cook has tossed a few MLP sketch covers up on her Twitter page.  So far it's looking like these future variants are going to be pretty neat!  I'm going to have to create a separate book shelf to collect them all one of these days...

Thanks to Kein for the heads up! 

Tumblr Spotlight: Slice of Life / The Strange Adventures of Crackpot / Ask Discord

Greetings once again explorers of the Tumblr Poniverse! Calpain here yet again with another edition of the Tumblr Spotlight where we highlight tumblrs both big and small in order to recognize them for their hard work! We've got a few for you today we hope you'll enjoy so, let's get started shall we?

First off time is another Egophiliac favorite and one I have received in my inbox several times. I know I'm late on this one, but hey, better late than never, right? What I'm talking about of course is Ego's tumblr Slice of Life, a wonderful blog that revolves around the Cake family in the near future.

Starring Mr. and Mrs. Cake, their two kids, Pound and Pumpkin Cake and of course Pinkie Pie you follow the everyday lives of the family as they interact with Ponyville, their friends, and of course each other. Cute, fun, and full of spirit, I recommend it as much as I do Moon Stuck when it was featured a long time ago!

Slice of Life - Current Page - First Page

As usual, send in any tumblr suggestions to [email protected] and don't be afraid to send your own in! I've got quite a few people asking me if that is ok and indeed it is perfectly ok for you to send in your own tumblr as a suggestion as long as it follows EqD posting rules. Now, check after the break for our other two features!

Drawfriend Stuff #670

Considering all the dangerous creatures and magic that surround Equestria it makes you wonder how often conflicts really do occur. Whatever the case, I'm sure our ponies are more than a match for any threat they come across! Especially if they're outfitted with awesome steampunk technology!

Art time you guys!

Source 1
This is War

"Spike at Your Service": Episode Followup

Cereal Velocity is a man of many tolerances. If any of you doubt me, go ask PK why he continues to enjoy posting privileges here. When I met CV at Everfree, I came away from our conversations filled with awe at the glory of his perfect soul. He was the Norman Rockwell father figure I never had.

One day, Seth asked him to write the followup for this episode. Cereal refused. He then stormed out of the hypothetical Equestria Daily office building, going on to profane Applejack's name as he came to bed last night. I have since sent his ruined remains out to three of my relatives for safekeeping, and now this episode followup falls to me, CouchCrusader, to complete.

Hit the break for an (image heavy!) background-pony-free recap, since many of you non-believers don't seem to understand just how awesome Applejack and Spike actually are.

Spotlight Music: Chasing the Wind / Little Miss Rarity / Aloe & Lotus

Number one is making me all nostalgic and I haven't the slightest clue why.  It reminds me of one of those Japanese RPG's from the PS2 era, so that might be it. 

We have two instrumentals and a vocal rock track in the middle to break them up. head on down below!

1.) Chasing the Wind (Orchestral)
2.) Little Miss Rarity. Artist: Ethan Teel
3.) Nicolas Dominique - Aloe & Lotus (Chillout)

Spike at Your Service BGM

As is the norm, MrNewbyNewb has ripped some notable BGM Tracks from the recent episode.  Spike at your Service was one of the more actiony ones we have seen in a while, and these definitely reflect that!

Have some links:

Runaway Balloon
The Everfree Forest
Touching Moment
The Timberwolves

Comic: The Perfect Gift / Muffin Talk / The Annoying Porange

As the year begins to draw to a close I hope you all have been able to reflect back on your year fondly and that your holidays have been merry and bright! Anyhow, time for some more comics you guys!

Click for full view as usual.

Comic: 12 Books / Hearth's Warming Together / Better Call Kenny Loggins / Sweet Apple Fritters

As usual when an episode has aired, we get a huge influx of comics! So here's some more of them to help round out your evening.

Click for full.

Animaniacs Coming to The Hub!

You were all thinking it, I'm just saying it. But no, that's not quite what I'm here to talk to you about.

See, it's come to my attention that there are people out there who have lived their lives out without ever knowing the loving caress of the Animaniacs, otherwise known as one of the greatest cartoons of all time. That some of you reading this right now are blissfully unaware of how many Goodfeathers there are, or what it's like to take a spin on the Wheel of Morality.

Fortunately, our good friends at The Hub have realized what a terrible tragedy this is, and have picked up the rights to the syndication themselves! If you have access to the channel, you now have no excuse: go watch it. Of course if you have seen it, you don't need me prattling on to motivate you. But here's something you might enjoy, instead!

In celebration of their programming coup, The Hub got the old band back together and put the voice actors back in the studio to record a custom version of the classic opening song. It's fun, and it can send you on a nostalgia trip through the 90s like nobody's business. Go watch it while I see if Buttons has caught up to Mindy yet.

Ok I love you, buh bai!

Animation: Derpy and the Elusive Muffin

We can't let Spike steal Derpy's reputation of walking disaster area! Luckily the fandom is here to display her gloriousness via our own animation.  This one also doubles as a screensaver!

Check it out here!

Derpy and Rainbow Back in Stock at Hot Topic

A few hours ago, Derpy went back up for sale over at Hot Topic! It looks like the fixed bubble version from the image, and I don't see any other changes.  Chances are its going to disappear in a few hours after this goes up, so be sure to grab one if you want one (assuming it follows the trends of the last few times it went up in stock).

Find it here! 

Update: The less rare, but also hard to find Rainbow Dash is also available.  Find it here! 

Thanks to Bl8demast3r for the heads up

Random Merch: Shirts, Cards, Books, and More!

Someone from Hot Topic bugged me about this shirt a while back, but i wasn't sure if they were actually going to make it.  As far as I know it's one of the few that isn't included in Welovefine's collection.   I'm assuming some stores have it now if you want it, I'd call first though!  Thanks to Ohad for the image.

Anyway, onward to random merch!

Comic: A Dash of Pun / Pike and Airity / Sweet Apple Fritters / Bubblewrap / Better Call Kenny Log..,

Holy livestreams Batmare,  look at all of those!  Time for some comics! We have everything from horrible puns to baby ponies (which I still don't get any sign of cuteness fun, those beadie little black eyes are creepy!) and bubble wrap.  Click for full!