2014 has come and gone, and within it we saw the greatest hiatus ever in the history of the My Little Pony fandom. Things may have slowed, but that didn't mean the various forms of fan works were any less awesome.
To celebrate the new year, and another 12 months of glorious creations from all walks of the fandom, we have decided to start up a celebratory series of posts highlighting our picks from media, art, fanfiction, and general brony madness that we absolutely loved over the last 365 days. If something isn't in the list, or you just want to lay into our choices, feel free to hit the comments up! They are your domain.
Now go! Head on down below the break for our top 10 Source Film Maker videos that you cannot venture into 2015 without at least glancing at!
#10
I got an endless amount of satisfaction as I sat back and watched people that usually got a healthy 20-500k views from the pony fandom over a year on their music and videos, suddenly feel the brunt of millions of random people searching Five Nights at Freddies on Youtube and stumbling upon ponies. Truly a remarkable time. Every once in a while an indie game goes big, and this one went supernova. Ponies were going to happen, and happen they did in a glorious fashion with their very own animatronic models.
While the animation is stiff compared to a lot of the other videos here in the top 10, it works out in the end for the subject matter. That and 60 FPS. Glorious 60 FPS.
#9
Shipping has been a part of the fandom since the very beginning. There isn't a show, cartoon, or movie out there that doesn't have at least a few fanfics about one or more of the characters hooking up. It took a while, but it has migrated over to the SFM community in small capacity.
Have a bit of cute Twidash, because we wouldn't be a fandom without a little bit of romance.
(and for actually pulling off a pony kiss with SFM models. That concept took uncanny valley to creepytown a few years ago)
#8
Yeah, Frozen was a thing. The internet went through stages of collectively celebrating and hyping the hell out of it, to eventually getting completely burnt out after 3000th remix of "Let it Go". It's popularity was staggering, and with a Princess relationship like Celestia and Luna, the inevitable Elsa and Anna crossovers came in a flood. How could we have a top 10 list without including at least one?
Celebrate the OG princess ponies as they do that snowman thing with the moon instead in our #8 slot.
(I however never got sick of it. So hah.)
#7
We've had a few really impressive Rainbow Dash flight sequences since SFM first released a few years ago, but the 2015 incarnation of that genre kicked it up a notch with Envelope. While the giant wings were a little bit on the surprising side at first (And those unshorn fetlocks! For shame Rainbow Dash!), the reason for their existence fits the theme. They couldn't do it with small wings. Feel the g-force!
(The clip clop sound at the start is so satisfying too.)
#6
Ferexes knows how to set a scene, and 2014 didn't disappoint at all for those following his work. The almost creepy dreamworld mane 6 combined with the excellent usage of effects to really bring out the setting makes this one an easy top 10.
Though, the music does take that vocal splicing thing PinkiePieSwear used to do to the extreme.
#5
CELESTIA. Sometimes she ends up as the fandom punching bag. We take that regal Dumbledore level god queen and bring her down to our level, with bananas, and opera music.
But this is about Luna isn't it? Get banished and loss of sanity is inevitable. Watch this 10 times and you will probably join her. Luna's Banishment is madness incarnate, with some really impressive synching to the music in some of the later scenes. A worthy contender for the #5 slot!
#4
Such feels ;_;. Twilacorn grew up and became an alicorn in season three, and that situation unleashed all sorts of potentially emotional future baggage. Tie that to one of the few great things that happened in Final Fantasy 13 trilogy (dat epic music), and you have another one of these potential tearjerkers on your hands.
#3
Alright, I'm not gonna lie, Scout taking the role of whoever the main character of My Little Dashie was is a bit weird. That being said, this definitely does a great job of digging up those feels a lot of us got while reading it. How would you react to your little Dashie being taken back to Equestria fandom? Even the most hardcore anti-dashie /mlp/ badass out there would miss their favorite pony leaving them.
Once again, smooth animation and ridiculous length clock this in at the top of the list, setting it's sights on #3!
(Seriously though, we need new models that aren't the TF2 characters/maps)
#2
I don't think a single person on the EQD staff has actually made it all the way through the entirety of Fallout Equestria. The word count... IT BURNS.
That being said, most of us have ventured out into the capital wasteland at one point or another in the last decade (I can't believe Fallout 3 is so old, wow), so relating to Little Pip here is something all of us can do. That and she's cute.
For letting us relive our... childhood... through ponies with some of the smoothest SFM animation out there, Leaving the Stable from Argodaemon clocks in at #2!
(8 YEARS, I'M SO OLD)
#1
There are a few people here on the EQD staff who have no love at all for SFM videos, citing them as ugly, weird looking, or uncanny. Yes, the GMOD/SFM pony models are a little on the odd side, but they grow on you. Fortunately, this video cracked that boundry even for them, and used a majority of that GMOD model uglyness as a strength. Is it genius? Or just absolute madness? Hit the link above to re-bask in it's glory and decide for yourself.
Or be completely confused. That could happen too.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
It's incredible how popular Derpy is, and her endless fanon allows for all sorts of goofy situations because of it. Queue the Derp, and an entire day in her horseshoes. It's some of the stiffest SFM animation out there, but it;s still fun.
Ponies kicking Changeling ass, Matrixy SFM style. Why not give it another watch.
In an era where cell phone and casual games are slowly turning into money draining piles of garbage, It's nice to look back at the short golden age where things like Plants Vs. Zombies reigned supreme. The possibilities... why did everything have to go sour so quickly? I hope you are happy entertainment industry, with your Taylor Swift money printers. You ruined it for all of us.
And that about covers it for SFM! 2014 was amazing for the format, with a plethora of newcomers and some huge improvements from the veterans of the field. Here's to hoping 2015 keeps the train rolling, especially with Season 5 potentially adding an entire new cast of characters to clone into the GMOD ponies.
Feel free to drop your favorites in the comments below!
Look forward to our next one dedicated to the TOP animations of the last year in the next few days, along with a whole bunch of other categories throughout January.
(Extra note: A second compilation of "Short" SFM videos will follow this one. This covers the longer ones.)
