Heck yeah, ponies.

(Because I think I used "some pony stuff" too much as a title. And now: with photos!)

(Quilt photos will come later. I have to mow the lawn and do a couple things yet this afternoon, so I might not get to them until tomorrow)

I started Dr. Whooves. So far I just have a head with ears but he looks like he's not going to be TOO much larger than the other ponies (like Derpy) I made off the Elisabeth Hartman pattern, so he will be in scale. (I'm using the Nerdy Knitter pattern for Dr. Whooves). Also, this is going to go a lot faster than Chrysalis did because of the smaller size and NO HOLES to make. (Also very few "extras" - he has a mane and tail but they don't look too complicated, but no wings or horn, just a collar and tie)

 This is really intended to show scale, but:


 I can't help captioning that in my mind, "I know you said you wanted to get ahead, Doc, but this is kinda ridiculous."

Also, the most recent episode of Ponies - "Amending Fences" a/k/a Twilight hunts down her "old" friends.

Yeah, Twilight feels guilt that she wasn't a better friend to Minuette (which I guess has to be her canon name; Colgate is a brand name) and Lemon Hearts and....who was the third one, who didn't talk a lot? Oh yeah, Twinkleshine. And Lyra Heartstrings, but unbeknownst to Twilight, she has moved to Ponyville....So she flies over to Canterlot with Spike (I guess she's getting better at flying) and decides to search them out.

Meeting Minuette is easy enough - Twilight is afraid she'll be mad, but instead Minuette is super-bubbly and happy to see Twilight ("You old so-and-so!") and seems to be totally unconcerned that Twilight walked off without so much as a goodbye. (If anything, she's a little TOO in awe of Twi's new "celebrity" status, at least at first)

(This changes my headcanon of Minuette a little bit - I thought of her as a shy, maybe daydreamy sort of pony, but actually, she seems really excitable and happy)

And then, with Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine in tow, they go to look in at their old school.

(Side note 1: "Remember when Lemon Hearts got her head stuck in a beaker" and then a moment later, they show her with her head in an ERLENMEYER FLASK. I'm probably one of the few who noticed that, but yeah....)

And then Twilight asks: what ever became of our OTHER friend?

Oh, Moondancer? The one who became a creepy recluse shy, book-obsessed pony?

So they go to meet her. Moondancer isn't interested in friends. Moondancer only wants her books. So Twilight kind of stalks her.... Moondancer goes from the library to her house and back, nopony talks to her, nopony smiles at her. (Minor moral there: SEE the others out there. Don't ignore a person because he or she seems shy or not friendly. And yeah, there are plenty of Eleanor Rigbys in the world, and it's very easy to kind of become one, and that's sad)

Twilight tries to talk to her in the library, even using Haycartes' method (I see what they did there, and that's one of the things I LOVE so much about the show, the little things that if you're paying attention and have a bit of an education, you go, "Wait, did they just refer to..." and then you giggle, because, yes, they did) to get her attention.

Twi tries to get Moondancer to come out to dinner with them. It doesn't go so well.
(Side note two: much of the fandom is making a big deal about a pony off in the corner....a pony who, from the glimpse of her mane behind the menu, could just be Starlight Glimmer. (DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNNN!)

Moondancer isn't that good at being a friend (from lack of practice) and she kind of pushes the other ponies away.

So Twilight feels like a failure.

So she goes and gets her Secret Friendship Weapon. Pinkie Pie. (Twilight must have become a MUCH stronger flyer, to be able to not just carry Spike, but Pinkie, too). And Pinkie uses her answer to everything: throw a party.

Actually, here, it kind of works. Apparently the thing that drove Moondancer over the edge was Twilight not showing up for a party she threw all those years back.

And, okay. Here's where I'm going to depart a little from the psychology of the show, while at the same time recognizing that maybe since the show is aimed at kids, it would make more sense in a kid-milieu.

A lot of adult fans are talking about how they're feeling a lot from this episode. And you'd think I would, too, seeing as I have had (as I said) enough peer-rejection between the ages of 8 and perhaps 14 to last me my entire life. In fact, I had a friend, who, before the age of 13 I would have described as my BFF, who became a princess  got "invited" to sit at the "popular girls'" table, and therefore wanted nothing more to do with me. And I have to admit that that kind of broke me in a number of ways, especially at 13, and I admit I still remain kind of disbelieving now that BFFs are a "real" thing. (Some people seem to have them. Maybe it's like a "soul mate," that some people get to have them and some don't)

But. If my erstwhile BFF showed up on my doorstep and wanted to "make amends" for having been a "terrible friend" all those years ago, I'd kind of shrug and go "meh" and note that my lack-of-many-close-friends-now isn't really HER fault. And that it's too late to change things now. And that we were 13, and all thirteen-year-olds do stupid stuff that hurt other people. And that if it made her feel better, I forgave her but I don't really need her tying herself in knots over it now.

 (I was fully expecting Moondancer to snap, "Get OVER yourself, Twilight, you weren't that important to me then and you aren't now." Except I guess she was. And maybe that's a secondary moral: you never know when brushing off someone's friendship will affect them deeply, which is a pretty darn heavy moral to lay on kids, seeing as "You're skipping one party away from making your friend a creepy recluse" isn't exactly something you want six year olds thinking about)

Another place where the real world departs from Equestria: throwing one party for the sad loner isn't going to transform her into someone who can "do" friendship and do it well. (And maybe, though, that's another way that Equestria is better than the real world: at the end we DO see Moondancer making an effort, and going out and playing something (like a pony version of field hockey, maybe?) with her friends)

And, okay, a little of my "Stuff" here - As I've talked about here at too much length, I wasn't a popular kid in school. I didn't have a lot of friends and some of the ones I had were kind of flakey. I didn't get invited to birthday parties and stuff. And yeah, as an adult I'm kind of a loner. I don't have a lot of my-age friends, though part of that is most people in my age group are involved currently with raising teenagers or keeping up at work - I have more friends who are either younger (and not married yet and are earlier in their careers) or who are older (and whose kids are grown, and even in a few cases, are retired).

And here's a strange and sad confession: As an adult, I regularly find myself a little amazed that as many people like me as do. Because I remember from my childhood very few people seeming to like me, unless they were "required" to like my teachers or my cousins. And I sometimes wonder: did I change (I was kind of an insufferable egghead at times as a child), did they change (That's possible; lots of young kids are seriously lacking in tact and are somewhat self-centered), or what? (Or was my perception of things very off?)

I'm still, I confess, not that great at the friend thing. I'm awkward, I need my space, sometimes I get my head into my work a little too much, I don't like going out at night. It was easier in grad school because most of us were all in the same place in our lives. (Heh....and when I rewatched the episode today I thought, "Moondancer is like every serious grad student ever: "Sounds great; I'll be out in about five years" when her friends tell her they're drinkin' beer and playin' frisbee and having fun") But we still managed to have fun - we went to movies together, we had parties (and not the typical college party: I guess there WAS beer at them but the focus was more cooking out or playing bocce ball and there was plenty of soda or bottled water for the designated drivers and others who didn't want to drink alcohol)

I suspect that was because a lot of the students were far from "home," the other grad students were their main support structure, and even the married students didn't generally have kids yet....it becomes very different, I think, when you become more settled in your life; I think it's harder to make close friends as an adult.

Anyway. A few other things:

- I guess heavy-eyebrow ponies are a thing now? First Treehugger, now Moondancer and her sister. It's a slightly odd look.

- This contributes to my headcanon that Twilight came from a very well-off family: she had a freaking multi-story library to live in when she was at the equivalent of college!

- Really, really nice callbacks to some Season One stuff in this episode. They are really doing continuity well in this series.

- Pinkie Pie knows, and is friends with, Minuette. BECAUSE OF COURSE SHE IS, SHE'S FLIPPIN' PINKIE PIE. Heh.

- I think donuts must be the Equestrian equivalent of going out for a drink with your buds. (And didn't Pony Joe have to cut Spike off with a curt "Haven't you had enough" in the Grand Galloping Gala episode?)

- I'm guessing there's no eyeglass-repairing spell in Equestria like there was in Harry Potter.

- Pin The Tail on Celestia. What other country has a party game where you get to stick pins into its ruler/godhead? 

- "Friends" are not just peer friends - the librarian, the bookseller, and Moondancer's sister come to the party. As someone with few peer-aged friends I like that that little reference was made.

- I can't find a screengrab of her, but there is a pony (the Bookseller pony) who HAS to be a reference to Honey Lemon from Big Hero Six and also she is super, super cute.


And one last, unrelated, pony thing:

When I was making my bed most recently, I had been kind of flinging (Yeah, I know) the Ponies off of it so I could strip it and remake it. But Fluttershy tumbled into a funny position and I had to photograph it:



Flutters, why you got to be so cute? (I wonder, would Ponies do yoga? I could totally see Treehugger promoting it....)