So this is something that was started maybe 2 months ago, and I posted it on another forum. Me and my friends were hanging out and we came up with the idea to do a flash series of mlp and then we started discussing Spelljammer, an old Dungeons and Dragons setting from 1989 and thought it would be an interesting combination. For those who don't know of Spelljammer it's essentially Dungeons and Dragons in Space, the movie Treasure Planet is definitely close to Spelljammer and wouldn't be surprised at all if it influenced it. Basically it would have all of Ponyville, or perhaps even Equestria on board a gigantic ship kind of like the U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek, having 400+ crew drifting through space trying to find their way home through space. Before I dive in too deep let me break down some things about what the hell Spelljammer actually is.
This is a Spelljammer:
so is this:
There are tons more pics if you look on google images and Spelljammers can look about like anything, commonly normal ships or sea animals like this:
Spelljammers are ships, and as you can tell if you look it up, they can look damn near like anything. Next for those of us not familiar with SJ I will break down what exactly it is, why fantasy creatures are flying sea animals, bugs, and the kitchen sink around space, why the ships are called Spelljammers, and the laws of physics (or lack there of) that make up the Spelljammer Universe. And why it would be awesome to combine it with FIM.
Why are they called Spelljammers, why aren't they just called Ships? Well, the correct term would be Spelljamming Ships. What on earth is Spelljamming? Spelljamming is what fuels the ships, they are powered through magic. Not just any magic mind you. Each ship is equipped with something called a Spelljamming Helm which is basically a throne on which a magic user or magically inclined individual would sit and "pilot" the ship through magic. The Helm connects them with the ship and amplifies their magic converting it into power to fuel the ship. Where did the name Spelljammer come from? This thing, which is THE Spelljammer. Which all other ships are subsequently named after.
Yes, you are looking at a city. Built on a giant Manta Ray structure. Flying Through Space. The Spelljammer is elusive and some say its only a legend, oddly the Spelljammer doesn't need a pilot, it has a helm, but it just drifts through space doing what it wants with people living on it just along for the ride. Because it has a helm it can be piloted, but the people living there tend to fight over it. Next up, Physics!
Ok, in Spelljammer the first manual pretty much starts off telling you everything you know about space is wrong. While there is no air in space when a large body leaves a planet with an atmosphere it actually carries an air pocket with it, the reason you don't see people just casually floating around in space is because the size of the air pocket is relevant to the size of the object. The average human would only carry enough air for maybe a couple minutes of space travel before running out of air, while large ships can last months before needing to reenter an atmosphere to replenish their air. Also air can go "stale" and become dangerous and poison the passengers if it is not replaced every so often. Ships also have their own orbit within the confines of their air pocket, many experienced space travelers will trick newer explorers into standing on the deck while they throw an apple overboard with the right spin only to have it whip around and hit the newcomer in the back of the head. Gravity also only functions oddly, extending out from the middle, see this diagram:
Spelljammers universe also functions on the Bubble theory. Basically the way it is described is many different galaxies all coexist with different laws of physics and such. So in Spelljammer, yes the Harry Potter world could coexist with Narnia and MLP and Middle Earth. Even our world. There are these things called Crystal Spheres, each crystal sphere contains its own galaxy, the Spelljammers make it possible to travel in between Crystal Spheres, and thus into entirely different galaxies. The Crystal Spheres are afloat in this in-between area called the Phlogiston which is like a rainbow ocean of craziness that happens to be very flammable.
Something psychedelic like this I assume.
Now, replace all human-like races with Ponies. The plot would start off with something along the lines of Discord coming back and being the god of chaos makes all of Equestrias residents disappear and reappear in an unknown place aboard a giant ship forcing them to try to find a way home.
We have come up with various character designs to represent different humanoid races in D&D but ponified. For the Elves we are going a route similar to the Fluer de Lis design. Halflings are going to be a filly-like design, but more "mature" looking than normal fillies. Gnomes will be similar to halflngs but with more bulbus heads. Dwarves will be rather funny, being short stocky ponies that tend to be fuzzier with long beards. Half-elves will look remarkably like Fluer, and as for half-orcs it is still being debated to include them at all. There will also be other designs for creatures such as ponified Cthulhu-like creatures that are most definitely not going to be Mind Flayers *ahem* other creatures such as lizardfolk or large floating heads with lots of teeth and eyes, which are not going to be beholders *cough*, that will not undergo many changes or ponification. Maybe since it's somewhat of a parody we'll get away with naming the D&D creatures the proper names, we'll see: p
Currently a friend of mine is working with flash trying to help get the project going, here's the first three episode synopsis, plus a random episode synopsis (still not sure where to place it yet)
Episode 1:
A strange meteor streaks across the sky over Ponyville a couple of days before the Summer Sun Celebration, awaking an old enemy, then on the night of the Summer Sun Celebration Discord reveals he has returned from his stone prison with the help of an unusual pony. This time though he has no intention on going back to being stone and teleports everypony far away, not just from Ponyville, or Equestria, but far from the very world they know.
Episode 2:
Now faced with seemingly impossible odds to find their way home through the vastness of existence our intrepid pony adventurers acquire a rickety Spelljamming with which to traverse the Crystal Spheres. The lodgings are cramped and everypony is quite miserable, that is until they come across a much larger vessel under attack by hideous spider-like creatures. Celestia, Luna, and their comrades quickly leap into action to help. Sadly most of the new vessels original crew has already perished, they do fend off the invaders however, but not before being left with a huge responsibility, and Celestia finds herself with even more ponies lives in her hooves.
Episode 3: The newly dubbed U.S.S. Equestria lands on a small planet to trade for supplies and hopefully discover more about Spelljammers, Space, the Phlogiston, and so many other new things. While there they encounter strange new beings and pick up some new friends. Meanwhile Discord and his accomplice are creating chaos wherever they go enjoying the randomness in the cosmos, only they run into some disagreements on what is "acceptable" chaos.
Episode ?: Derpy has been feeling down about how she's not normal looking like most ponies when her, Octavia, Vinyl, and some other ponies are blowing off some steam while docked at an enormous space-faring city. While there Derpy meets a mysterious creature who grants limited "wishes"..... in exchange for Cutie Marks. Derpy asks if the creature can fix her eyes, and he can. Now there's a seemingly happy Derpy trotting around like a normal pony. Only she begins to wonder if she did the right thing, especially since someponies she cares about very much don't seem comfortable with the "new" Derpy. Meanwhile after finding out what happened Vinyl and Octavia confront the mysterious creature and demand that things be put right. The reply is he won't. Unless Octavia can beat him in a musical duel and if she loses Octavia must not only surrender her cutie mark, but her ability to play the cello as well.....
Here's a youtube video for voice auditions, but we're still working on the project so it may be a little while before we start recording lines and such.
Here's the concept art by Applelatch for the different pony species:
Halfling Pony
Gnome Ponies
Elf Pony (curved back ear)
Dwarf Pony (shorter tail)
