Via Anonypony

There has always been a lot of talk about the “Portal to Equestria.” Would you go if you could? What if you couldn’t come back? What if this? What if that?

If you ask me, this line of thinking is missing the point. The portal to Equestria isn’t a great big hole in the wall. The portal to Equestria is our hearts.

You go there every time you show kindness to a stranger. When you stand up and tell the truth regardless of the personal cost, when you make someone laugh and bring a smile to their face, when you are generous with what is yours to give, what you’re really doing is reaching out and touching a piece of Equestria.

Ponyjoy is an energy. You can use that energy to make the world a better place. Even if you only do it in small ways, (with a listening ear, or a helping hand), you are still bringing Equestria home. Because Equestria is a dream – the kind of dream that changes the world. But the problem with dreams is that they can only begin to take on lives of their own when you act on them.

Equestria isn’t some place you can step into and leave all your friends and family behind, and hope to live happily ever after. Equestria is that feeling you get when you stand by the ones you love, even when Earth happens to suck.

It’s not some far away, out of reach place that you can never find, no matter how hard you wish for it. Equestria is right here, right now, right under our noses. It’s the spark of friendship that, as Twilight Sparkle put it, “lives in the hearts of us all.”

Equestria is us.

Equestria is you. When you stop and think about it, it always has been.

—Sprocket

You can now also follow Help, My Heart Full of Pony at heartfullofpony.tumblr.com.

Image Source: Double Rainboom

“There is so much talent in this fandom” is a sentiment and a phrase you hear again and again, and it is, of course, true.  However, with all the amazing art, and fic, and music, and animation going around, sometimes it’s easy to forget that, at the end of the day, even the most gifted among us are still amateurs who are learning as we go.

Recently, two eagerly anticipated and highly ambitious fan animation projects premiered, Snowdrop, and Double Rainboom.  While everypony has a right to their criticisms, and I don’t think anypony could reasonably describe either of these films as perfect in every conceivable way, (few actual episodes even are), I was stunned to see how harshly they were torn down by some reviewers and page admins.  One Facebook admin was actually legitimately furiously angry with Double Rainboom for having animation that wasn’t on par with the ponies we see broadcast on The Hub every Saturday – a show produced by a team made up of individuals who are not only paid professionals, but innovators in their field.

Now I know that most people’s reactions weren’t quite as ridiculously overcritical as this, but we as a fandom, by and large, have gotten addicted to perfection.  Every fanimation project to come out in the last year has gotten the “it’s no Picture Perfect Pony” criticism.  Why do we feel the need to keep “raising the bar”?

While Jan’s animation skills blew us all away with that particular project, the notion that other projects should have to match it in order to be enjoyed is, quite frankly, insane.

Now I’m not putting down the act of critique, nor am I looking to play the “what is this fandom coming to” card, but rather, encouraging people to celebrate the positive things in the fan media they consume, rather than sniping at flaws, because honestly, there’s just so much out there that’s worth celebrating!

The first piece of fan music I fell in love with was the power metal cover of the Cutie Mark Crusaders Theme.  It was cute, it was well done, it was fun, and it had a lot of heart.  By today’s fandom standard, it wouldn’t have gotten very much attention at all because its production values were maybe two notches below professional.

There is a lot of heart and soul and talent in fan works being produced today, but the “industry standard” (of what we expect to see and what we expect to hear) is robbing us of enjoyment of some truly remarkable works.

Over the past few years, many bronies have written heartfelt online testimonies about how Pony has helped them open their eyes to the good in the world around them.  Wouldn’t it stand to reason to apply that same positive outlook to our own fan materials?  ’Cause if My Little Pony fanimation projects are making you angry, there’s something seriously wrong with that picture.

I’m not going to use the “let’s see you do better” argument, because frankly, it’s weak.  It’s okay to have criticisms of the fan media you consume.  However, if you ever find yourself feeling angry or disappointed in the fan works of others, you would be doing yourself a favor to stop and remind yourself of The Best Night Ever.  Maybe your expectations are just too high.  You may also want to keep in mind that the producers of the material are not faceless distribution houses in some faraway Hollywood office, they are people like you and me, and they are often lurking in the same forums and communities where these critiques are vehemently expressed.

The fandom is not an entertainment industry.  We need to see it for what it is – a tribe of amateurs using our talents as best we can to share our love of pony with one another.

We should never forget that.  It’s a beautiful thing.

-Sprocket

Now you can follow Help!  My Heart is Full of Pony!  on tumblr.  http://heartfullofpony.tumblr.com

Source: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Episode 1, “Friendship is Magic.” Airdate: October 10, 2010

Many many fans have confessed to having found the lessons of My Little Pony to be surprisingly useful in moral predicaments. The show has a remarkable knack for taking themes in moral philosophy and distilling them to their most basic components – exposing the plain and simple truths underneath, and demonstrating them in ways that even children can grasp. What a lot of us have discovered is that, when it comes to the human heart, this elegance – this purity – is exactly what we need. It wipes the scales from our eyes. It invigorates our belief that we can be forces for good in the world. That kind of inspiration and proactive energy is precisely why we have collectively raised over $100,000 for various charities (in 2012 alone), and why so many individual fans have found that their love of Pony has made them happier, healthier people.

But here’s the thing: friendship can be complicated; life can be complicated. Sometimes you get stuck in a lose-lose situation, or faced with a friendship problem that can’t be solved with a simple apology.

I have found myself at times wishing that there was a Letter to Celestia that would sum up a particular problem I was having, (and present an easily applicable solution to it). However, the show is not a handbook to life, or even to friendship. It is not intended to be.

What it is is a doorway – an invitation to a new way of thinking – a reintroduction to that aforementioned purity of heart. Use it as such. If you find yourself in one of those tricky situations, a direct lesson from the show may not be able to help you, but that optimism, that hope, and that purity can.

In the latest episode, Twilight Sparkle graduated to a new level of study and took a blind leap into the great beyond. The magic of friendship is not the sort of thing that can be taught through apprenticeship for very long, even if your teacher is somepony as old and wise as Princess Celestia.

The show has much to teach us, but we can’t look to it for literal guidance in all things any more than Twilight can look to the Princess for a lifetime of hoof-holding. (For starters, that would lead to disappointment in the show itself, and worse yet, in our lives). This may seem like a fairly obvious statement, but it’s easy to get wrapped up in our own enthusiasm sometimes and lose perspective.

It’s okay to look to the lessons of the show for guidance, but it’s better to look inside at that feeling it gives you (your ponyjoy – that spark of friendship “that lives in the heart of us all”) – for inspiration.

A spark that does not kindle a fire is just a flash. It comes, it goes. When you look at your present predicaments or future uncertainties, you have to use that joy that the spark of friendship ignites in your heart. You need to become that light if you are to look ahead and know what it is that you have to do.

You need to write your own magic.

The show may not be able to write it all for us, but hay, it makes us smile, and it makes us cry, and it gives us the warm feeling (and the strength) we need to pick up that quill and give it a shot. When you think about it, with all of that in your arsenal, you’re already more than halfway there.

—Sprocket

Cheerilee is a strong, independent mare who don’t need no stallion (even when her cutie mark is an animation error).   Source: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  Screencap.

Hearts and Hooves Day / Valentine’s Day can be a tender and sweet holiday, or an annoying obligation to spend money romancing your loved one, depending on who you ask.  For a lot of people, however, it’s something a lot worse.  It is a bitter reminder of their own loneliness.  They haven’t found their special somepony, and all the lovey dovey hype this time of year just pours salt in the wound.

If you feel alone this Hearts and Hooves Day, I implore you to take this time to contemplate your friendships – the people in your life who catch you when you fall, who hug you when you break up with your significant other, the people who help you move, the people who check in on you when you’re in the hospital.

Because that’s the stuff real romance is made of, not a bunch of candles on a table propped up near some overpriced food.

Every couple of months, the newspapers grab a hold of a human interest story – a couple who has stayed happily married for 50, 60, 70 years.  The reporter always asks the same question, “What’s your secret?”  The answers always boil down to the same three things: trust, communication, and yes, friendship.  While Hollywood sells us a fairy tale idea of romantic love, (and in the meantime, paint romantic partners and platonic friends as opposing forces in one’s life), the fact of the matter is if you’re not friends with your special somepony, your relationship simply doesn’t stand a chance.  Friendship is the core foundation of any successful relationship.

From the moment we are born, we are bombarded from all directions with the idea that romantic love is what’s magical.  What makes My Little Pony so revolutionary is that it puts forth the idea that friendship is magic.  MLP is on to something.  The bonds we form – the connections we make with our fellow human beings, regardless of whether they be romantic or platonic – that’s the stuff real magic is made of.

Celebrate that this Hearts and Hooves Day.  Tell your friends how much you appreciate them, and all they’ve done for you over the years.  Remind yourself just how much you matter to your friends.

Don’t despair.

Because love isn’t just for lovers.  It is also an important ingredient in friendship, and as long as you have good healthy supportive friendships, you’re never really as alone as you may feel.

So celebrate love, celebrate friendship, celebrate every connection you make and every bond you form with your fellow human beings.  If you’re feeling alone, look around you. Take stock of your friendships.  Chances are you’ve got more magic in your life than you may think*.

-Sprocket

*-  If you do take a look around, and still find yourself low on true friends who have your back, don’t worry.   You will find them.  The series started with Princess Celestia sending Twilight Sparkle on a simple but sacred mission – to make friends.  She did it; so can you.  What better place to start than right here in the brony community?

Help!  My Heart is Full of Pony! is now also a tumblr.  
http://heartfullofpony.tumblr.com