Why Lily Blossom is Best Pony. Or, How a Simple Recoloured Pony Helped me Reconnect with my Younger Self More Than the Show Itself.

I am a medical biochemist, and I work in ovarian cancer research. I've adored and studied science for many years and it's always been a great passion for me. However, imagination isn't exactly a highly valued trait where I'm from. I've always been all about understanding, memorizing etc. but, for the most part, no real creative outlets. I'm really not that good at art, I can't play any instruments or anything like that. So, I tend to get burnt-out and disconnected from my work after a while.

I discovered MLP:FiM about a year ago. I really enjoyed the innocence and simplicity of the show and the depth and changes the characters went through as the series went on. I could see bits of myself and many of my close friends in the mane six and it never failed to make me smile.

So, when I heard about the toys being given away at my local McDonalds, I made a point of making my way over to grab one, if only to have it sit at the side of my lab bench as I worked. Twilight was my favourite from the series so when I was given the Derpy-coloured Lily Blossom, I was rather disappointed. It was just a recolour and not even featured once in the show that I had come to embrace. But, I knew it would be rude and wasteful to just throw her away so I set her up on my work bench anyways.

That's when I started wondering about her as I worked. What was her story? What was she like? Where did she get her cutie mark? Since I had nothing to go by in the show, and all I knew about her was that she was supposed to be 'Elegant' I started making up my own story for her. Since then, I've managed to work out a full history and a personality for her.

It's obviously not her official back story. It will never be used by anyone else other than me when I'm daydreaming. But... I'm OK with that. In fact, that's why she's so special to me.

Through this little figure who I didn't even want, she has allowed me to explore and create just like I did when I was little. She gives me the chance to escape and imagine how she would react to the other citizens of Ponyville without the constraints a more developed character like Twilight would have had. And that creativity has allowed me to reconnect with my life, and my work, in a way I haven't felt in years. She's not just a character on a screen to me.

In this short amount of time Lily has become my muse, my mascot, my avatar... my little pony. (Gah... sorry, I couldn't resist. That line was asking to be put there...) Anyways, sorry for the wall of text, but I just figured you all would like to know how much she means to me. I know you all love the series so much, so I thought you would appreciate how it helped me out of my rut.

Thank you!

TL;DR: Unwanted Lily Blossom toy becomes muse to burnt-out researcher.