Music of the Day #171

What do you daydream about? Is it realistic? Or do you have super powers and run around as an agent for a secret organization that protects earth from threats that no one knows about, with your sidekick pony Lyra?

Have some music! We have 9 this time around.

Spotlight Parody Music: Welcome to Ponyville / Dirty Little Seed

It's parody time, which means we need a parody image to start it off.  Twilight just looks so uncanny in this one.

We start with some Green Day from Mandopony, followed by an All-American Rejects parody from 4EverfreeBrony.  Get them below!

1.) "Welcome to Ponyville" [LIVE!] -- a parody of Green Day's "Welcome to Paradise" by MandoPony
2.) Dirty Little Seed - (All-American Rejects parody)

Comic: Just Different of Class / The Games we Play - Carnival Arc / Torn Apart

So, Fluttershy voters; what did you specifically focus on with her overall character when giving her the victory? Was it her personality? Or did you just chase after the one with the best tail?

We have a maralyn monroe parody to start, followed by Luna and Celestia at the carnival, and some oldschool Lyra pants stuff to finish it.  Click for full.

Story: Princess Sparkle's School for Eccentric Unicorns

[Adventure][Shipping]

Author: ColtClassic

Description: WANTED:
The newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle has set up a bold new initiative to discover new magic, and is sending out an open call to the unicorns of Equestria to apply for her research team. No experience in magical theory or research necessary. Enthusiasm and out-of-the-box thinking a must. The Equestrian government is not responsible for any physical, emotional, or magical trauma experienced during the course of the project or the application process.

Princess Sparkle's School for Eccentric Unicorns

Additional Tags: Magical Theory, Hopeless Love, Hijinks

Discussion: What Would You Change in the Friendship is Magic Opening?

It's no secret; the Friendship is Magic opening tends to scare people off.   The initial "My Little Pony" jingle has quite the negative association for those that haven't heard of the reboot, or want to dive in for the first time.  Even I was hovering over the volume slider my first time venturing into the world of pony.

Lets pretend season 4 is going to completely change it's opening.  Everything from the theme song to the clips are going the way of the dodo.  What would you like to see?   Or if you are a huge fan of the current setup, what do you like most about it? 

Plushie Compilation #125

Poor Rarity, beaten out by Fluttershy for the crown in the fan poll. So she doesn't bust down in tears we're going to give her the header for today. Don't worry darling, there is always next time!

Time for plushies guys, check them out after the break.

[1] Source
Rarity

Artist Spotlight: Overarrow / FoldawayWings / Pridark / Zookz

Welcome once again to another artist spotlight you guys! Glad you are liking the artists we have spotlit so far and I hope to bring you many more especially since I am making a change to the submission criteria. I've seen several artists that do fantastic work but fall out of the range of my own set limit of 500 faves for most popular submission and that has been a frustrating hassle since I think so many others could easily be spotlit without that silly rule. So, I am getting rid of it! Submit whoever you want regardless of the number of faves, I'll decide who I think would enjoy a little bit of time in the spotlight.

As usual, these posts are in similar style to the Tumblr Spotlights, a group of 3-4 artists will be spotlit each entry along with a small short description along with a small selection of their artwork! In order to make this feature work though we need people to suggest artists to us so make sure to send artists you think need some exposure to calpain@equestriadaily.com. Please also include a short biography I can work with as well as what medium you work in most.

What sort of artists count? Suggestions should follow these criteria:

• No clop or extensive gore galleries as those typically violate our content guidelines. If the artist has a safe for work gallery separate from their not safe for work stuff they or their fans can submit the safe for work gallery. If there is a mix of SFW/NSFW on a gallery the decision whether or not to include them will be judged on a gallery to gallery basis.
• Don't be afraid to spotlight yourself as well as others!
• Artists of all types accepted -vector, OC, traditional, digital. As long as it is pony and of quality it has a chance of being spotlit. 

Now on to the artists!

Learn How to Equestria Girls Stomp

I have a feeling this wasn't marketed at the majority of the brony audience.  A bunch of you have kids though, so maybe they will get a kick out of it.  The MLP Equestria Girls Youtube page has tossed up a guide to doing the dance from the movie/live action thing a few days ago.  Head on down below the break for that, as well as some behind the scenes stuff!

Thanks to Kitty for the links! 

Drawfriend Stuff #913

Yesterday, someone told me bat ponies were under-represented here on EQD. Clearly this needs to be changed! EQD is supposed to be completely neutral on all pony races!

Onward to art.

[1] Source
'Siofra'

Story: Air (Update Complete!)

[Dark] [Adventure] [Crossover]

Author: Chromosome

Description: Pound Cake never cared for Canterlot. Why should he? This city has poisoned his existence, destroyed who he his, mutilated his body and soul and left him only shell of who he could've been. And so he leaves it behind by rising above it, taking up the dangerous job of runner and transporting documents from rooftop to rooftop, away from the prying eyes of the provisional government. But when his sister is framed for a crime that would make her the most wanted criminal in all of Canterlot, he must prove his sister's innocence while protecting the ones he loves and the lifestyle he has grown accustomed to.

Air (New Part 4!)

Additional Tags: Pseudo Mirror's Edge Crossover, Martial Law, Close-Quarters Combat

Seeds of Kindness 3: Three Tons of Flax, No Wait, Seeds

Seeds of Kindness 3 has a load of new updates for you all today, including funding progress, a forum, and a question for the masses out there.  Head on down below the break to check out their full press release!

Convention Compilation - September 2nd

Why are all of these convention OC's so amazing?

We have just two headlines today: 

• TrotCon 2014 Dates, Pre-Reg, and Guest Announcement
• Crystal Fair - Labor Day Pre-Registration Special!

Get the full press releases below the break.

Update: Wrong Link Used For Crystal Fair. Make Sure To Check The Updated Link!

Comic: Hot Stuff Pt 2 / Royal Scheduling / Fluttergroot

Ponies and puns seem to go hand in hand (or hoof in hoof I guess) so let's start off this morning with a little punny wordplay!

Comics guys. Click for full.

Russian Official Plushies Appearing

We have a new set joining the swarms of plushies taking over just about every corner of the globe. Each one includes an internal voice box, which quotes specific lines from the show (in Russian).  Costwise, you can expect to drop around 900 Russian Rubles (30 bucks) for 23 centimeters of pony.  Feel free to toss us a tip if they end up popping up elsewhere. 

Thanks to Сарана for the heads up and images.

Newbie Artist Training Grounds III - Day 18

It's difficult in the best of times to think of being sad. We retreat away from negative emotions like they were some kind of demon (or failing that an awful, awful spider or similarly terrible thing), because we long to be happy. But happiness is a peak best measured by our lows, and I for one find tears beautiful. This was a hard prompt for many of you, but you still came through with 282 ponies in various stages of emotion (or just plain falling to pieces), and I thank you for it. You've brought us up to a total of 6953 images. Let's make five digits our official goal! You can do it!

I realize it's also somewhat difficult to be bouncing around and excited when there's a weeping Rarity wearing a funeral veil just above me, and I kind of sort of apologize for that but not really because gosh darn that's pretty. Wow look at me, pretend swearing like a rebel on EqD. No one can stop me! Nyahaha! Never you mind that, buck up your courage and let's forge onward. There's only two more days until our second makeup gallery, so get ready!

A great deal of drawings and comments for tonight's gallery (and some e-mails) ask the question, 'why would you ever want to draw a sad pony?' This was also a major complaint when I ran a similar theme back in year 1. And I've covered some of it above, but first of all let me point you down to our gallery tonight and show you what it produced. Themes aren't typically just cobbled together; there's some point or purpose to all of them, and here I really wanted to get gears turning about composition with emotional weight, and facial expressions and all the different ways we look and feel and interact. You did splendiforously, which is a real word in scrabble I swear no please don't go get the dictionary.

But now we're up and on and out and moving on! It's time to set our eyes forward to another theme, another day, and another step closer toward our final goal! Eyes on the prize, people! Let's expand our thinking a bit and turn our attention toward richer pastures of imagination. Tonight, Draw a pony dreaming/Draw a pony with a plan. Submit all entries here by 11:59 PM, Pacific time on Monday, September 2. I have a plan, do you? Of course you do! Now execute it!