So many Ponies..

….so little time!

When I was a kid (kid-er), there was a itty-bitty bookshop full of random vintage books near the University Library. While the shop was open only for less than a year or so, it created some of the best memories I have. No sterile mall-like book shelves or designated play areas: just stacks and stacks of the cream of the 80s and 90s filling the heart with joy and the soul with the smell of old books!

And how I adored those books! Nothing was more pleasurable than picking them out and then taking them everywhere I went, like a long-lost best friend! I still have all those books in good condition, but they are packed away in boxes in Chennai and I miss them so!

As I mentioned, the bookshop closed too soon for my satisfaction and try as I might, I was never able to find similar kinds of books in Goa or elsewhere in India again- and mind you, I still ask for My Little Pony in every book shop I visit!! I would love to have the toys too! I used to fill out the order forms on every single book I owned but never got around to convincing my parents why sending a money order in Pounds half way across the world on a ten year old form for a itsy Pony was better than getting a baby Barbie downtown!

My Little Pony- that says it all! My Little Pony is a toy franchise in the USA which was really popular in the 80s and early 90s and apparently has been revived in the early 2000s. However, the current toys and movies have undergone changes and look too polished for my taste. I am a My Little Pony  Generation 1 person through and through!

Baby ponies, goblins, fairies, parties, cakes and pastries, moonlight and shining stars, lots of pink and blue and purple, pretty hair, magical powers, wishing wells, blue skies and blooming buttercups.. every little girl’s dream come true!

I was Googling heffalumps when I suddenly remembered my great love for My Little Pony and I found an amazing website which is a wiki for all generations of My Little Pony! I found the Gen 1 book covers and I definitely had these :

 Do you see the flowers on the purple pony and

lightning on the pink uni-pony? These were how we would tell Ponies apart, along with their distinct personalities and magic powers!

No, I didn’t have the audio books. The comics were released with the same covers and titles!

Oh I remember this one! The dwarf there conspires with his other dwarf goons to prevent the Ponies from enjoying their village fair! An apple cart topples somewhere in the tussle- but hey, I won’t give away plot details!! But doesn’t the smiling sun remind you of Teletubbies?

Oh in this adventure, the Ponies find a treasure chest full of Wishing Pearls with each Pearl granting one wish! I remember choosing my wishes and trying to fathom the concept of an infinite number of Wishing Pearls which I would wish for with the second-last Pearl- and find a way to organize the infinite supply of Wishing Pearls with the last Pearl of the first lot! Yeah, I have always loved organizing- even in my imagination!

Oh look, the sun is 😛 ! And that is Mr Potato Head! He was always so adorable! I would get some real potatoes out and play with them like one would with dolls and build intricate Mr Potato Head adventures!

I have always, always loved mermaids so I distinctly recall this one where the Earth Ponies team up with the Sea Ponies to save a mermaid in trouble! They went down sea caves with corals and beautiful greenish light. That is an oyster shell with pearls within that I believe she is holding up as a thank you to the Sea Pony!

And I want this now:

Doesn’t it seem like a charming read?!  I hope this book also has scratch-and-smell patches too, filled with the scents of roses, lavender, fresh grass, dew, strawberries, vanilla..

Ah.. Dream Land indeed!