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Couch-Crusader — Forward Progress
Published: 2012-12-18 05:10:19 +0000 UTC; Views: 64449; Favourites: 1279; Downloads: 508
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Description
I had the idea for this comic the night before an O-chem exam. Guess that goes to show you where my priorities lie.So I've noticed that the show's been kind of nice about giving Rainbow Dash things over time -- way back in Season 2, ~RizCifra drew this up after we realized how not alone Dash was anymore with Tank. Then "Sleepless in Ponyville" aired, and take that, Faust -- Dash's gonna try and be a responsible big sister. That said, we STILL haven't seen any mention of pegasus families for either Rainbow, Fluttershy, or Scootaloo (and I'm pretending the middle satisfies herself with bears or something for the sake of a joke), and the episode slots to explore those things are running out.
I can't say I WANT the show to go into their histories, though. Making up stuff like this is, in an attempt to get me labeled something derogatory, fun. I personally believe Rainbow Dash comes from a very happy family who she can count on when times get tough, but I just had to draw this first.
Thank you for reading. I'd love to know your thoughts on this, especially from the art angle if you could spare some critique!
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic belongs to Hasbro, but the art is mine.
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Comments: 542
Thanks for commenting, Tiffy!
Backgrounding is at once very easy and yet fairly time-consuming, too. Easy in that you can get a great firs approximation of the show style just by laying down blocks of solid color, and then going back and adding subtle gradients to them later. Backkgrounds in the show tend to be a lot more detailed, though -- flowers and grass swirls, scratches in the dirt, massively more complex clouds than the ones I just sketched out up there... that's what I gripe about. And don't even get me STARTED on architecture XD I'm scared to draw houses!
If you wanna draw backgrounds like the show, the best way to go is getting screenshots of settings you like from various episodes and trying to find the shapes that make them up, remembering to take layering into effect, too 
The family panel definitely took up the most time, and I can definitely see a few issues with it regarding relative pony sizes and layouts. Oh, well, onward and upward.
And yeah! You have ~RizCifra to thank for that, since she's the one who get me drawing ponies XD I just love her style so much.
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yeah, where in Celestia's name is RD's family?
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Oh, damn... poor Dashie.
I've never really given it much thought, but you make an interesting point: none of the pegasi (except for Pound Cake) are really shown as having families, are they? Perhaps it's just because they hail from Cloudsdale rather than Ponyville; perhaps it's also because pegasi do these things differently. Perhaps instead of having individual families, they all consider each other family, and no pegasus foal is raised by their biological parents: instead, everyone takes care of all the foals, and the foals might not even know who sired them and gave birth to them, as that isn't considered to be of any particular importance by anyone in pegasus society.
Pound Cake might be explained as a continuity error in this light, BTW; but then the question of whether pegasi beget pegasi, unicorns beget unicorns and earth ponies beget earth ponies or whether the three pony varieties all come from the same stock and appear the same way that e.g. coat or mane/tail colors do is pretty much wide open, anyway. The Cakes seem to suggest the latter; OTOH, the Apple Family, for instance, seems to consist pretty much exclusively of earth ponies.
As for Dashie... others have depicted her as having a "proper" family; I specifically recall this lovely picture [link] by ~EQUESTRiABOY . If pegasi do indeed have individual families, then I sure hope that Dashie does, too, although I do have a soft spot for tragedy, struggle, and troubled characters, too, checkered pasts, current unhappiness, uncertain futures and so on. So Dashie having no family and being lonely to the point of having nightmares about the fact appeals to me, in a way: not because I want to see her unhappy, mind you, but because I can relate to her all the more that way.
And ever since the ancient Greeks it's been known that tragedy is deeper, more profound and more thought-provoking than comedy (although there very much is a time and place for both, and I wouldn't want to miss either!).
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Buh, hu- wha-
...
WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?
-DELTA-
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Very well made, great art work, but sad as hell at the end.
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O-Chem is EEEEVIIIIIL! Not looking forward to another semester of that.
Poor Dashie. Now I want to give her a hug.
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Oh come now, Dash. You've got more than half a dozen sisters.
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HOW COULD YOU WRITE SOMETHING LIKE THIS I AM JUST... I CAN'T TAKE THIS... (she's my favorite one) BECAUSE OF THIS NOW I'M IN THE EXACT SITUATION AS RAINBOW IN THE LAST PANEL CRYING! (sorry if I freaked out a bit too much but seriously I would do anything for her that she asks... she's just... my favorite let's just leave it at that...)
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COME ON HASBRO! Give her some parents!!!
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Ow. Right in the feels. I have to get a new feeler now. Thanks.
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Someone once joked about how female pegasi are abandoned at birth and raised by the state...
...I didn't laugh.
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Ooooohhhhh NO! NO! NOT THE FEELS! NOT THE FEELS! Aaaaand the feels got me. DX
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My friend has this theory about RD's family and her pegasi race (seeing that she's the only Pony we've seen with rainbow hair)
In short, he said that she might come from a tribe of rainbow ponies who are sent out at a decent age to find their place in the world and to remind other ponies to stay positive. You know. Cuz rainbows are supposed to be happy~
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After we saw crystal ponies in the season premiere, your friend's theory isn't that farfetched! And I could see that whole positivity thing reflected in the show if that were to ever become canon.
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Indeed. But the show should have an episode about Dashie's familial background. it's not necessary, but it would be nice.
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The MLP writers have got to introduce Dash's family.
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Okay, headcanon time! I feel that Rainbow has always been a loner, fighting for herself from even a young age. Even when she becomes friends with Fluttershy and eventually the rest of the mane 6, she remains distant. She acts as a good friend, but without making strong emotional ties with anyone. When she becomes part of the elements of harmony, a spark was lit inside of her. She realized how awesome it could be to have friends and she started to take more notice in her friends lives. She saw the enjoyment they had with their pets and sisters and wanted to create stronger bonds with her friends by also getting a pet and a younger "sister." The problem is that she left her family to become the individual person she is, so they have lost touch and being pegasi they could be anywhere. This never bothered her before, but now with the influence of her friends it's starting to affect her.
tl;dr Rainbow Dash is best pony.
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Except Rainbow already feels a large sense of civic duty (clearing the skies in 10 seconds flat) and refuses to let her friends hang at the old Everfree castle -- and that's from the first two episodes. Still, I do like the idea of a distant Rainbow Dash slowly growing to appreciate the company of others. In fact, if you want MY headcanon on how she was growing up, I got Wingmares published on EqD last December. It's about how Shy and Dash met each other at flight camp and I'm quite proud of it, haha
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I think I can disregard the clearing the skies in ten seconds flat part, but I think I'm going to have to modify my headcanon a bit. I still really believe that the elements of harmony changed her.
Thanks for adding your thoughts. I might actually have to read Wingmares now.
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And someone on Derpibooru said that it went downhill just as fast. You English speakers confuse me and I was BORN in America.
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Well, that was unexpected. Nice Emotional Turnaround
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Ponies over life always lol. very interesting comic, i was seriously not expecting the depressing ending.
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Excellent! I've always wanted to pull the rug out from under a few feet, haha. Thanks for reading!
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Organic chemistry -- the class that turns potential doctors into apathetic biology majors.
Hope you survived. Glad you took time to allow for some creative release: that probably helped.
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I just realized what my comment might imply. At the university I attended, pre-med majors would often switch to biology once they learned they were required to take calculus and organic chemistry. Other than that, there weren't too many differences between the two, so they could still use it to get into med school.
Nothing against biology majors!
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I'm actually an English major.
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With a chemistry or biology minor, perhaps? If not, you're certainly a brave venturer.
Regardless, it's an enriching experience: I'm a much better thinker because of it.
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I know that feeling. My college requires Both for just the biology degree. Two semesters in the case of O-chem and, well... let's just say I still need that first semester passed.
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What a relentless curriculum! But that's a good thing, in my opinion. Your mind will be sharper and more fine-tuned even if you never use the material (which I can almost guarantee). I actually enjoyed both, but O-chem is no walk in the park. More like a walk in the Everfree.
I laughed when I saw your avatar because, in a way, it actually feels like you're a younger version of myself.
Best of luck to you.
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Sorry to hear that. Hope you had some tissues on hand!
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You made me want hug Rainbow Dash even more. Maybe she hides that sadness with her brash attitude. But she is sensitive too. Being Scootaloo's "big sister" will surely make her feel less alone.
We'll see her family in an episode I'm sure. Well, I hope so. Ironically, the next episode is about Applejack's family reunion.
Art talking, beautiful work.
I still want to hug her tight now...
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Out of all the mane 6, I'd think Rainbow Dash'd be the least accepting of hugs, honestly. But I can see where you're coming from, yeah -- that whole notion of wanting to impress others just 'cause she doesn't enjoy that same stability a family gives her friends, for instance.
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Hey what's that noise OH IT'S JUST MY SOUL SHATTERING.
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Do you need help picking up the shards? Apparently, someone said I don't have a soul, so this should be a piece of cake.
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No, it seems this comic was so sad that it ground my soul into dust and snorted it. Thanks for asking though.
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You fucking soul-less bastard, not even the Israelies are so cruel.
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After reading this comic, my inner child died
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I'll be your family if you want.... Please stop crying...
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