Nightly Roundup #589

Busy, busy busy! You just got to love those days where you fall asleep at 10am after working on gene regulation problems through the night. Not to mention getting up two hours later to attend a dissection training exercise. Fun times!

Have a caffeine fueled Roundup tonight guys. I'll see you all tomorrow for another day full of pony!

Doctor Whooves And Fluttershy Molded Shipping From Hot Topic

It looks like those that ordered Doctor Whoof and Fluttershy at Hot Topic may be recieving them soon. Emails have gone out for a few with tracking numbers and confirmation. Hopefully you all lucked out and got the ones you wanted! Im hoping for the non transluscent myself.

Story Updates - February 22nd

Got a bunch of new updates for you all to leaf through tonight, so grab a blanket, turn off the lights and read some pony!

Wings Added to We Love Fine Achievements

We Love Fine has added wings to go along with the extra horns they recently added.  Right now the main color available is blue, and you need to earn them via the achievement system (or in this case, 125$ worth of merch will land you these.)

And in other news, their giveaway is still slowly making its way to the 10k mark if you still want to hop on it!

Panel Writeup: The Writer's Room

(ETA: Much as I wish I could be perfect with these things, I gotta thank the folks in the comment section and the reddit highlight post for catching stuff I missed. Hopefully I won't have anything to add after this last sweep!)

Greetings from Las Pegasus! CouchCrusader here with the Equestria Daily team. We're looking to try something new here at Unicon and bring you guys some tips and hits from some of the headliner panels here. This afternoon, we got to listen to Meghan McCarthy, Cindy Morrow, M. A. Larson, and Amy Keating Rogers explain how writing for the show all goes down, including this as-of-yet "alleged" Season 4.

The following are pretty much verbatim quotes from Meghan or someone else from the panel:

1. The evil corporate overlords summon the writers together with a list of demands for advertising next year's toyline.
2. So instructed, the writers pitch ideas at each other until they give up and start talking about hairstyles and daughters.
3. Premises are generated through copious amounts of Starbucks support. Any episodes concerning issues of race, politics, or religion go to Polsky. (Swear to Celestia, she said this.)
4. A new season of Friendship is Magic premieres on The Hub.

All of this was said, more or less.

If you're still reading this because you haven't holed your monitor by now, just hit the break and don't look back.

Plushies to Appear in Japan

Plushie news everywhere recently it seems! Even Japan, one of FiM's newer markets, is getting their own plushie ponies as revealed at the JAPEO 2013 arcade expo. These plushies will be prizes available from crane games across the country and will be available in two different sizes starting July of this year, with a second set to follow in August. Apparently those displayed are likely prototypes, so don't fret that some of the unicorns don't have their horns yet.

Original Article

Celestia Radio Thanks M.A. Larson Live

The team over at Celestia Radio have a special interview with MLP:FiM writer M.A. Larson live from Las Pegasus Unicon. Join live as DJKBrony brings you one of the creative minds behind the show. Join in and give all of your thanks!

Live Show at Las Pegasus Unicon
Celestia Radio

Untitled

(The last hour in the EQD hotel room)

HUB Reports High Finale Viewership!

Fantastic news on the viewership front you guys! The HUB released a statement mentioning that MLP:FiM took the top spot last weekend, beating out several larger networks in many key demographics. The HUB as a whole has been showing steady growth with many of its shows showing a significant increase in year-to-year viewership across several demographics. Good to hear that the network that gives us pony is doing so well!

Check out the official numbers and a link to the article after the break.

Happy Birthday Nicole Oliver!

Known to us as the voice of Celestia and Cheerilee, Nicole Oliver was one of, if not the earliest of the VA's to reach out and give interviews to a couple podcasts in the fandom. She was also amongst the first three VA's to come to Brony conventions, namely BroNYCon Winter 2012 and many since. It's rather appropriate that she is the first in a new feature that gives the Friendship is Magic staff a birthday to remember! From your faithful students, Happy Birthday Nicole Oliver!

Scroll on down to check out some awesome art fans have created for her birthday. For those of you out there who wish they could give the birthday princess a gift, consider donating to a charity she likes such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation or Make-A-Wish.

Nicole's Twitter Account (In case you want to wish her a happy Bday!)

[1] Source
Nicole Oliver - Love, Frist

Drawfriend Stuff #724

We don't get too many zebra pics, which is a shame as I really do believe there is a lot of potential for world building regarding their culture. What art we do get at least is pretty amazing though, so we can take some solace in that.

Pics guys! Check them out after the break.

[1] Source
Zebra Tribes WIP03

Comic: Happy B-Day Nicole Oliver / My Big Brother Can't be This Cute

Hello everyone! Sorry for the slight delay in getting posts up. Being at work and in class does tend to hinder posting a little bit, but things should be much smoother from here on out. So let's start the "Rule of Calpain" with a double whammy consisting of Madmax and PixelKitties!

Click for full!

Canterlot TV Launch

Similiar to Ponyville Live a few days ago, another TV network has launched today with the coming of Unicon.  Celestia Radio has released Canterlot TV,  with convention coverage starting today.  Head on down below the break for the full press release!

Balloon Party #2 Rainbow and Rooted

 
The second installment of the Baloon Party project to get musicians the funds to hit up conventions has been posted!  Head on down past the break for all the information in press release form. 

What's goin' on, pony fans, didja miss us? Yes, it's Balloon Party's crew again, sporting a new look for community picked pony Rainbow Dash as "Rainbow & Rooted" with our upcoming album "Four's Fall Down" coming out on June 4th. Same as the last year. This sequel promises not just heavy moombahcore and dubstep but also new genres like trap, the hops, drum and bass, punk rock, and much more as we open up to other fast-paced or heavily-swagged out genres like eurobeat/chiptune/you name it! Rainbow & Rooted will see the return of several of the past contributors to the last compilation album and what we are seeing out of the upcoming talent has been no less than sensational.

Once again, the mission is to fund brony musician trips to conventions in the upcoming summer, and we hope to have your full attention this time as we break out the best tracks we can muster about your favorite ponies. We appreciate any and all donations received through the

Come check out our NEW kickplot tracks for the upcoming summer!

Here's our Bandcamp page! Check out over 100 songs of high quality pony music content!

If you wish to donate directly, please direct yourself over here!

Want the album for free? You've got it. Go right here, all yours, and everyone else's.

If you are a musician, head right over here and get some more information!

More KiKi Fundraiser Posters Availale

The Kiki fundraiser on eBay has tossed a bunch of new posters up for those of you that want to continue helping with her medical treatment and get some signed stuff in return.  You know the drill! Hit the shop up here!

Details on the Crystal Heart Spell Book

The Crystal Heart Spell is a pony book with an expected launch of April, but people that visit Scholastic bookfairs can pick it up a bit early (usually an elementary school thing).  The big thing here is the actual content.  While I can't check it here in front of me, the submitter (Sergio) is saying that it is a direct followup to the season finale, though the cover doesn't really hint at that.  The expanded synopsis on the back gives a bit of added information:

A royal event has turned Twilight Sparkle's life upside down. To learn how to handle her new status, Twilight goes to Princess Cadance for some guidance. The princess shares her own story about how she came to rule the Crystal Empire and a magic spell that helped her follow her heart. Inspired by Princess Cadance, Twilight Sparkle sets off on a quest for the Crystal Heart Spell!

Hopefully it pops up early elsewhere! I am honestly intrigued now. 

The Team is Away, so the Calpain Will Play

A little more informative than most of our 3am posts, but just to let you all know practically the entire team will be at Unicon this weekend. As a result I will be trying to pick up the slack when I can to try and keep things scheduled with the others occasionally popping in to post things when they aren't busy. Let's have a fun weekend everyone! There is science to be done!

Nightly Roundup #588

Life. Life is tough. We will experience in our existence a number of obstacles that will beat us down and push us to the brink, to the point where we believe all may be lost and we cannot possibly recover. But it is not the obstacles in our lives that define us, it is how we overcome the obstacles in our paths that define us, a boundless optimism we pull from within that pushes us forward through the darkness we face and overcome whatever is in our way. No matter how big or small these obstacles may seem to others, it is the obstacles in OUR lives that matter and ultimately shape us into who we are depending on how we deal with them.

If life was easy, we'd be done with it already.

Sorry for the lack of news folks! It has been crazy between everyone going to Unicon and science pony dealing with a rather busy week. Let's try and make that up with tonight's Roundup, shall we? Check it all out after the break!