Let's talk about Mouth Supremacy.
In Gen5, hooves were buffed massively, to the point where Sunny could hold onto a trolley with her hoof while wearing bloody roller blades. Now nopony is using their mouths to manipulate objects. This is in contrast with Gen4, where pegasi and earth ponies used their mouths all the time. I think it was cute! And really pony-like! Why did they get rid of this?
[](/derp) Probably for simplicity's sake. Holding things with mouth requires the animators to rethink some basic things and also brings its own implications. Holding things with hooves makes no sense, but it is the simpler solution.
Sadly, mouth-holds are something that (along with a lot of other actual pony-like behavior) was championed by the original staff (including Faust) but which quickly fell away after they started to drift off.
Which is a pity, because mouth holds and other pony stuff was really, really cute.
But yeah, like the other comment said - it makes you think more carefully about plotting your scenes and limits what you can do in them. And unfortunately, without someone telling the writers/key artists "Hey, don't be lazy, you need to actually make them act like ponies.", then nobody's going to put in the extra work.
Someone else had a theory that this was due to Covid.
Hasbro didn't want to potentially encourage unhealthy practices during the pandemic.
It could also be because it's easier to 3d animate magnethooves.
This is a supremely self-indulgent topic, but that's what these threads are for, right?
A friend and I were workshopping our OCs the other day, and hit on the idea of musical themes that sum up each character's vibe. For example, my [curious, innocent fishpony](https://derpibooru.org/images/2814604) is best supported by some [breezy strings and woodwinds](https://youtu.be/BmLFCAlG2Y8).
Meanwhile, my friend's [novice dream mage detective](https://derpibooru.org/images/2783030) has a spookier, synthy [neo noire drone.](https://youtu.be/8o1zKIULwSg)
**Have you ever assigned music to your own OCs?** Or certain canon characters whom you depict in a way that is unequivocally your own? I myself am still searching for a song that fits EqG Cozy Glow, whom I portray as a bipolar tykebomb kept in check by medication and Sunset Shimmer's watchfulness.
[](/twinklewinkle) I guess this is what I've been doing these last few years. Originally it was only just Lyra, Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine having a metal band called the Steel Unicorns, mirroring the Rainbooms of the second EqG movie. Already at the time I had specific songs assigned to them and when I wrote their fanfic, I had specific songs in mind when I wrote their songs. I had [Werevolves in the Sink by Transport League](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqC3Nho7IB4&ab_channel=TransportLeague-Topic) in my mind when I wrote the lyrics for Warriors of Cheese, which was meant to serve as their introductory song. Since then, the idea of the Steel Unicorns have expanded far beyond the scope of just some metal parody of Rainbow Rocks, but that's a little beyond the scope of a pony thread.
The point is, I have a huge collection of songs that I now associate with different members of the Canterlot Gals, although in a very weird workaround way and they technically not even the same characters..
[](/sp)
[](/lyra) Through Lyra did get her own theme song in my head: [Hellion - Bad Attitude](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv2QTFN7Glc&ab_channel=Metaldog38%27sHomeOfMetal). Those lyrics are basically how I wrote her in that Steel Unicorns fanfic.
[](/sp)
[](/kgarble) That's not the only case of me putting a song in a fanfic. {The True Lord of the Dragons} has a rap number in it, based on [Whip$ and Chain$ by Flobots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zk-7hK5uIU&ab_channel=LimosRock1). In a way it is Garble's song.
[](/twibeam)
#[The True Lord of the Dragons](https://www.fimfiction.net/story/490956/the-true-lord-of-the-dragons)
*by [JesterOfDestiny](https://www.fimfiction.net/user/295369/JesterOfDestiny) | 23 Mar 2021 | 323 Views| 6.06K Words | Status: `Complete` | Rating: `Hidden`*
When the dragons find out that Ember won the Gauntlet of Fire through cheating, they revolted and forced her to call for another gauntlet. This time, the rules were slightly different.
**Tags**: `My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic`, `Original Character`, `Ember`, `Dragons`, `Garble`, `Adventure`, `Drama`, `Crackle`[](//sp)
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I think its a lot easier for canon characters, because you can find actual fandom songs written for them.
[Rainbow Dash especially](https://youtu.be/oqUG70hp8kQ).
Well not just with MLP but generally with characters and OCs that I make up, I sometimes like to make songs for them, although I suck at it so I only give them sets of lyrics, but hearing how I imagine it would sound in my mind just makes me think about that character every time those non-existing songs get stuck in my head.
weird but true
Oh, now this is a good question!
As it happens, the vast majority of music I listen to is derived from soundtracks to various media - films, TV shows, and so on. (Power metal and orchestral make up a much smaller but still significant share, while other genres fill out a far-distant remainder.)
As a result, I'm very conscious of the concept of the leitmotif, and do often think about which would work for different characters. (At one point I was actually trying to write full lyrics for songs for particular characters. Turns out this is very, very hard to do.)
But what I do *very* frequently is 'score' scenes in my head as I'm writing them. This is both a boon and a drawback, however. Certainly it does drive my creative juices, helping me fix and define the emotions I wish to convey in a scene. However, it is also limiting: [As with temp music in filmmaking](https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/12/12893622/hollywood-temp-scores-every-frame-a-painting-film), am I letting my scene be enhanced by the music or letting my preconceived notions of the music guide the scene?
I might have to come back here, later once I'm home, and link some examples.
[](/pinkiesmug) **How exactly does Sugarcube Corner work?** We're familiar with [the outside view](https://www.deviantart.com/daafroman/art/MLP-FiM-Sugarcube-Corner-Vector-299223336) and we've seen that Pinkie lives in that middle tower bit. We know that it also serves as the confectionery that the Cakes are operating. We know that it's deliberately made to look like a gingerbread house. But what is beyond that?
For example, do the Cakes also live here? Presumably, yes, because when Twilight offers to help with the twins, she appears at the door of Sugarcube Corner, implying that is in fact their home. But where exactly?
[](/sp)
[](/party) [This fanmade image](https://www.deviantart.com/pix3m/art/WIP-House-of-Sweets-second-milestone-460037733) offers a pretty good explanation of how things work over there. The building is two stories tall, plus two more with the tower bit. The confectionery is the ground floor and the second floor is where the Cakes live... It doesn't actually offer an explanation of where they live exactly, but we can presume that maybe there's some other rooms on the other side of the house, that are obscured in the image. We do see two windows on the front and [this shot from Baby Cakes](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/1/1c/Pinkie_Pie_more_scary_things_S2E13.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20130519013824) does imply that there is an additional corridor somewhere. Probably by the stairs on the second floor.
[](/sp)
[](/pinkieawe) How did this arrangement even come about? **How did Pinkie end up living with the Cakes? What is that tower in the middle of the building? Did the Cakes build the house themselves, or did they repurpose it from a previous plan? If so, what was its original purpose?**
So this is the thing about locations in MLP. Once you start thinking about them, it kinda breaks your brain a bit. This isn't exclusive to Sugarcube Corner, but to basically every location. As testamented by all the fanmade layout maps and groundplans that are available of different places. **What is that one location that you keep trying to make sense of? What location layouts have confused you before? What is your favourite location to try and figure out?**
The answer to why Pinkie lives in the cupcake tower: [https://www.derpibooru.org/images/357369?q=artist%3Aegophiliac%2C+pinkie+pie](https://www.derpibooru.org/images/357369?q=artist%3Aegophiliac%2C+pinkie+pie)
[](/pinkieeager) That is the comic I was alluding to; is nice to see it again.
[](/sp)
[](/pinki) It has been a while, though. I forgot that Pinkie became a co-owner of Sugarcube Corner.
> Sugarcube Corner
One possibility is that it might actually be two (connected?) buildings on the same lot, with the Cakes' home standing behind the front end store - but since the store is still the "publicly facing" side, it's where ponies go to ask for them.
Actually it kind of makes sense then that Pinkie would live above the store: As a boarder, she might have come along when the Cakes already didn't have more "house" rooms, but still had a space above their workplace.
> What's up with SCC? Did the cakes build the house themselves, or did they repurpose it from a previous plan? If so, what was its purpose?
On a whim:
- The original structure, like many in Ponyville, had prior owners. It originally included just the lower two floors, which were used as a home and possibly small workshop during one of the resettlements of Ponyville.
- At some point, a pegasus married to one of the ground-bound tribes moved in. Wanting to live "in the air" but their partner not being able to walk on clouds, they added the tower as living quarters (and frequently used it as an entrance or exit).
- When the Cakes moved in, they recognized the extra space could be converted to a proper business. The entire exterior was redecorated, but structurally it was left the same. The only changes were a small addition for the ovens and firewood storage needed for baking.
> What is one location that you keep trying to make sense of? What location layouts have confused you before? What is your favorite location to try and figure out?
You think Sugarcube Corner is bad, try the *Treebrary*. It's particularly tricky because we just kind of assume the lower level is where the public section is, and indeed most of the activities seem to take place in a single open space in there. But there are numerous other spaces which don't fit cleanly in any place.
But if there's one place I *enjoy* theorcrafting about, it's Canterlot as a city. Like many locations in FiM, it has a mix of certainty, unknown, and contradiction: We know it has the palace, but also many other locations. More distant shots often seem to depict *just* the palace, but not always in the same configuration. Where is the rest of the city? Is it also part of the overhang, or set on some other flat? On the rear, unseen side of the mountain?
Canterlot, I think, is perfectly emblematic of FiM's strategy of offering tantalizing hints, but also leaving enough unknown and unseen to allow fans' imagination to run free. What else might one find in Canterlot? Is it fortified? Is there a cloud district? A lower-class one? Airship docks? Stately manors? Go wild!
[](/pinkie) I remember an old comic that had Pinkie visit Sugarcube Corner and try one of their goods. She liked it so much she wanted to work for them making the best treats.
I like the idea of the Cakes repurposing an old house or commercial building for their purposes. The tower I can see being mainly their way of incorporating a tower cake design into the overall look of Sugarcube Corner. Before Pinkie came around, it could have served as a guest room or a place for storage.
[](/twiponder) I have to admit not many other places make me think a lot about how it is laid out. Perhaps Twilight's two Ponyville homes?
In gen 5 Opaline said she dealt with Twilight Sparkle so what happened to the other alicorns and Discord?
Also alicorns 'earn the honor and privilege of becoming an Alicorn by doing a great deed(s) that benefits ponykind and promotes harmony and friendship between all', so what great deed(s) has Opaline possibly done?
Twilight growing taller was more jarring than her getting wings, and it’s weird to me that no one ever seemed to mention it. I think Raindbow Dash made one joke about it in ‘Testing, Testing 1 2 3’ but that was it 😆
Been on the hunt for legit pony metal from the days of yore. I'm particularly fond of [Equestrian Lord](https://youtu.be/Fyr1RPItE8Q). Is there anything else like 'em?
[](/tempestsmile) The L-Train is a relatively well known one. He specializes in symphonic/power metal, but he does experiment with other genres as well. Bronified is a quintessential one. Secret Metal is another classic. Cyril the Wolf and SDreamExplorerS are a bit more on the proggy side. Screams from Equestria, DivinumX and Glacier Frost for the more extreme side. Coltcrusher as well, if you don't mind gore. There's also the Russian Белый Аликорн. VisionsOfThePoet also existed at some point, but they're one of those who deleted everything and now you can only find archives of their work. I also made some under the name Bog-Down, but it's kind of a mix of everything, with a few bits of black metal thrown in.
Hey, welcome back!
It's been relatively quiet. We've had a few more G5 releases, [there's a new con in town](https://www.marefair.org/) getting set up, things pretty much cruise along as they have been!
Let's talk about Mouth Supremacy. In Gen5, hooves were buffed massively, to the point where Sunny could hold onto a trolley with her hoof while wearing bloody roller blades. Now nopony is using their mouths to manipulate objects. This is in contrast with Gen4, where pegasi and earth ponies used their mouths all the time. I think it was cute! And really pony-like! Why did they get rid of this?
[](/derp) Probably for simplicity's sake. Holding things with mouth requires the animators to rethink some basic things and also brings its own implications. Holding things with hooves makes no sense, but it is the simpler solution.
Sadly, mouth-holds are something that (along with a lot of other actual pony-like behavior) was championed by the original staff (including Faust) but which quickly fell away after they started to drift off. Which is a pity, because mouth holds and other pony stuff was really, really cute. But yeah, like the other comment said - it makes you think more carefully about plotting your scenes and limits what you can do in them. And unfortunately, without someone telling the writers/key artists "Hey, don't be lazy, you need to actually make them act like ponies.", then nobody's going to put in the extra work.
Someone else had a theory that this was due to Covid. Hasbro didn't want to potentially encourage unhealthy practices during the pandemic. It could also be because it's easier to 3d animate magnethooves.
Competing Doyalist theories, I like it.
This is a supremely self-indulgent topic, but that's what these threads are for, right? A friend and I were workshopping our OCs the other day, and hit on the idea of musical themes that sum up each character's vibe. For example, my [curious, innocent fishpony](https://derpibooru.org/images/2814604) is best supported by some [breezy strings and woodwinds](https://youtu.be/BmLFCAlG2Y8). Meanwhile, my friend's [novice dream mage detective](https://derpibooru.org/images/2783030) has a spookier, synthy [neo noire drone.](https://youtu.be/8o1zKIULwSg) **Have you ever assigned music to your own OCs?** Or certain canon characters whom you depict in a way that is unequivocally your own? I myself am still searching for a song that fits EqG Cozy Glow, whom I portray as a bipolar tykebomb kept in check by medication and Sunset Shimmer's watchfulness.
[](/twinklewinkle) I guess this is what I've been doing these last few years. Originally it was only just Lyra, Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine having a metal band called the Steel Unicorns, mirroring the Rainbooms of the second EqG movie. Already at the time I had specific songs assigned to them and when I wrote their fanfic, I had specific songs in mind when I wrote their songs. I had [Werevolves in the Sink by Transport League](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqC3Nho7IB4&ab_channel=TransportLeague-Topic) in my mind when I wrote the lyrics for Warriors of Cheese, which was meant to serve as their introductory song. Since then, the idea of the Steel Unicorns have expanded far beyond the scope of just some metal parody of Rainbow Rocks, but that's a little beyond the scope of a pony thread. The point is, I have a huge collection of songs that I now associate with different members of the Canterlot Gals, although in a very weird workaround way and they technically not even the same characters.. [](/sp) [](/lyra) Through Lyra did get her own theme song in my head: [Hellion - Bad Attitude](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv2QTFN7Glc&ab_channel=Metaldog38%27sHomeOfMetal). Those lyrics are basically how I wrote her in that Steel Unicorns fanfic. [](/sp) [](/kgarble) That's not the only case of me putting a song in a fanfic. {The True Lord of the Dragons} has a rap number in it, based on [Whip$ and Chain$ by Flobots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zk-7hK5uIU&ab_channel=LimosRock1). In a way it is Garble's song.
[](/twibeam) #[The True Lord of the Dragons](https://www.fimfiction.net/story/490956/the-true-lord-of-the-dragons) *by [JesterOfDestiny](https://www.fimfiction.net/user/295369/JesterOfDestiny) | 23 Mar 2021 | 323 Views| 6.06K Words | Status: `Complete` | Rating: `Hidden`* When the dragons find out that Ember won the Gauntlet of Fire through cheating, they revolted and forced her to call for another gauntlet. This time, the rules were slightly different. **Tags**: `My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic`, `Original Character`, `Ember`, `Dragons`, `Garble`, `Adventure`, `Drama`, `Crackle`[](//sp) ----- This is a bot | [Report problems](/message/compose/?to=BitzLeon&subject=Bookhorsebot running BHB 0.0.1.0) | [Source](https://github.com/Bitz/BookHorseBot) | [Info](https://bitz.rocks/bookhorsebot/)
I think its a lot easier for canon characters, because you can find actual fandom songs written for them. [Rainbow Dash especially](https://youtu.be/oqUG70hp8kQ).
Well not just with MLP but generally with characters and OCs that I make up, I sometimes like to make songs for them, although I suck at it so I only give them sets of lyrics, but hearing how I imagine it would sound in my mind just makes me think about that character every time those non-existing songs get stuck in my head. weird but true
Oh, now this is a good question! As it happens, the vast majority of music I listen to is derived from soundtracks to various media - films, TV shows, and so on. (Power metal and orchestral make up a much smaller but still significant share, while other genres fill out a far-distant remainder.) As a result, I'm very conscious of the concept of the leitmotif, and do often think about which would work for different characters. (At one point I was actually trying to write full lyrics for songs for particular characters. Turns out this is very, very hard to do.) But what I do *very* frequently is 'score' scenes in my head as I'm writing them. This is both a boon and a drawback, however. Certainly it does drive my creative juices, helping me fix and define the emotions I wish to convey in a scene. However, it is also limiting: [As with temp music in filmmaking](https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/12/12893622/hollywood-temp-scores-every-frame-a-painting-film), am I letting my scene be enhanced by the music or letting my preconceived notions of the music guide the scene? I might have to come back here, later once I'm home, and link some examples.
> letting my preconceived notions of the music guide the scene? I openly do this. Music comes first, even when it's inaudible in the final product.
I don't really have OCs that are me, but I do assign music to the scenes I write.
[](/pinkiesmug) **How exactly does Sugarcube Corner work?** We're familiar with [the outside view](https://www.deviantart.com/daafroman/art/MLP-FiM-Sugarcube-Corner-Vector-299223336) and we've seen that Pinkie lives in that middle tower bit. We know that it also serves as the confectionery that the Cakes are operating. We know that it's deliberately made to look like a gingerbread house. But what is beyond that? For example, do the Cakes also live here? Presumably, yes, because when Twilight offers to help with the twins, she appears at the door of Sugarcube Corner, implying that is in fact their home. But where exactly? [](/sp) [](/party) [This fanmade image](https://www.deviantart.com/pix3m/art/WIP-House-of-Sweets-second-milestone-460037733) offers a pretty good explanation of how things work over there. The building is two stories tall, plus two more with the tower bit. The confectionery is the ground floor and the second floor is where the Cakes live... It doesn't actually offer an explanation of where they live exactly, but we can presume that maybe there's some other rooms on the other side of the house, that are obscured in the image. We do see two windows on the front and [this shot from Baby Cakes](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/1/1c/Pinkie_Pie_more_scary_things_S2E13.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20130519013824) does imply that there is an additional corridor somewhere. Probably by the stairs on the second floor. [](/sp) [](/pinkieawe) How did this arrangement even come about? **How did Pinkie end up living with the Cakes? What is that tower in the middle of the building? Did the Cakes build the house themselves, or did they repurpose it from a previous plan? If so, what was its original purpose?** So this is the thing about locations in MLP. Once you start thinking about them, it kinda breaks your brain a bit. This isn't exclusive to Sugarcube Corner, but to basically every location. As testamented by all the fanmade layout maps and groundplans that are available of different places. **What is that one location that you keep trying to make sense of? What location layouts have confused you before? What is your favourite location to try and figure out?**
The answer to why Pinkie lives in the cupcake tower: [https://www.derpibooru.org/images/357369?q=artist%3Aegophiliac%2C+pinkie+pie](https://www.derpibooru.org/images/357369?q=artist%3Aegophiliac%2C+pinkie+pie)
[](/pinkieeager) That is the comic I was alluding to; is nice to see it again. [](/sp) [](/pinki) It has been a while, though. I forgot that Pinkie became a co-owner of Sugarcube Corner.
Slice of (Pony) Life was a great comic. It's a pity the author took their blog down.
[](/pinkiesad) It was one of my favourite pony blogs. At least it lives on in the booru archives.
Yet another example as to why booru archives are so important and why ignoring deletion requests on art is the morally correct thing to do.
> Sugarcube Corner One possibility is that it might actually be two (connected?) buildings on the same lot, with the Cakes' home standing behind the front end store - but since the store is still the "publicly facing" side, it's where ponies go to ask for them. Actually it kind of makes sense then that Pinkie would live above the store: As a boarder, she might have come along when the Cakes already didn't have more "house" rooms, but still had a space above their workplace. > What's up with SCC? Did the cakes build the house themselves, or did they repurpose it from a previous plan? If so, what was its purpose? On a whim: - The original structure, like many in Ponyville, had prior owners. It originally included just the lower two floors, which were used as a home and possibly small workshop during one of the resettlements of Ponyville. - At some point, a pegasus married to one of the ground-bound tribes moved in. Wanting to live "in the air" but their partner not being able to walk on clouds, they added the tower as living quarters (and frequently used it as an entrance or exit). - When the Cakes moved in, they recognized the extra space could be converted to a proper business. The entire exterior was redecorated, but structurally it was left the same. The only changes were a small addition for the ovens and firewood storage needed for baking. > What is one location that you keep trying to make sense of? What location layouts have confused you before? What is your favorite location to try and figure out? You think Sugarcube Corner is bad, try the *Treebrary*. It's particularly tricky because we just kind of assume the lower level is where the public section is, and indeed most of the activities seem to take place in a single open space in there. But there are numerous other spaces which don't fit cleanly in any place. But if there's one place I *enjoy* theorcrafting about, it's Canterlot as a city. Like many locations in FiM, it has a mix of certainty, unknown, and contradiction: We know it has the palace, but also many other locations. More distant shots often seem to depict *just* the palace, but not always in the same configuration. Where is the rest of the city? Is it also part of the overhang, or set on some other flat? On the rear, unseen side of the mountain? Canterlot, I think, is perfectly emblematic of FiM's strategy of offering tantalizing hints, but also leaving enough unknown and unseen to allow fans' imagination to run free. What else might one find in Canterlot? Is it fortified? Is there a cloud district? A lower-class one? Airship docks? Stately manors? Go wild!
[](/pinkie) I remember an old comic that had Pinkie visit Sugarcube Corner and try one of their goods. She liked it so much she wanted to work for them making the best treats. I like the idea of the Cakes repurposing an old house or commercial building for their purposes. The tower I can see being mainly their way of incorporating a tower cake design into the overall look of Sugarcube Corner. Before Pinkie came around, it could have served as a guest room or a place for storage. [](/twiponder) I have to admit not many other places make me think a lot about how it is laid out. Perhaps Twilight's two Ponyville homes?
In gen 5 Opaline said she dealt with Twilight Sparkle so what happened to the other alicorns and Discord? Also alicorns 'earn the honor and privilege of becoming an Alicorn by doing a great deed(s) that benefits ponykind and promotes harmony and friendship between all', so what great deed(s) has Opaline possibly done?
Twilight growing taller was more jarring than her getting wings, and it’s weird to me that no one ever seemed to mention it. I think Raindbow Dash made one joke about it in ‘Testing, Testing 1 2 3’ but that was it 😆
Been on the hunt for legit pony metal from the days of yore. I'm particularly fond of [Equestrian Lord](https://youtu.be/Fyr1RPItE8Q). Is there anything else like 'em?
[](/tempestsmile) The L-Train is a relatively well known one. He specializes in symphonic/power metal, but he does experiment with other genres as well. Bronified is a quintessential one. Secret Metal is another classic. Cyril the Wolf and SDreamExplorerS are a bit more on the proggy side. Screams from Equestria, DivinumX and Glacier Frost for the more extreme side. Coltcrusher as well, if you don't mind gore. There's also the Russian Белый Аликорн. VisionsOfThePoet also existed at some point, but they're one of those who deleted everything and now you can only find archives of their work. I also made some under the name Bog-Down, but it's kind of a mix of everything, with a few bits of black metal thrown in.
What all has happened in the horse world since Nightmare Night?
Hey, welcome back! It's been relatively quiet. We've had a few more G5 releases, [there's a new con in town](https://www.marefair.org/) getting set up, things pretty much cruise along as they have been!
Things are changing in the con scene, I learn of a new con (in FL, so out of my usual travel radius) _and_ TrotCon moved to Dayton.