Beyond the darker tone and emphasis on adventure, its a special film to me because of what it means and where it came from. Journey of the Spark kinda came from the fears I had a lot when I was a kid. The fear of isolation and not being able to face your mistakes. Growing up as a kid diagnosed with a form of autism, I felt more alone in the world than I honestly would’ve liked. It wasn’t until I got into the Brony community that I found some of my best friends. Now, we’re a family of sorts.

So in many ways, Journey chronicles and deals with the themes of social isolation, depression, and forgiveness. Twilight is manipulated and forced into this extremely dark and alienating experience because of this one horrible mistake she causes. But that one mistake forces into effect the events of Twilight’s friends going off to find her through selflessness. There are things at stake with them going off to find her, but the true importance of them finding Twilight is so they can reunite and tell Twilight how much she means to them. Regardless of what mistakes Twilight has made, they only want to help set things right because they care too much about Twilight to abandon her completely. Its the near exact opposite of The Lion King. That is the heart of the story.

For me, when I look at the Pony community and how much its changed, it feels strange and alienating to a few. Its grown so much since the show first aired and in some cases, many people have felt lost amongst the massive crowd. At the same time, when I really think about it, the film is also kind of a commentary on the state of the Brony community as a whole. It sort of connects the changes and fears that we faced (and still face) to the backdrop of Twilight’s journey in the film. The movie isn’t trying to make a blatant statement or anything, nor is it really trying to shove it in your face, but its something to think about and I hope that we succeed in getting all of these things across when you guys see the film for yourselves.