Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself? Who are you, and what do you do?

Hey there happy readers, Im Ryan K Lindsay and Im an Australian writer. I spread my time writing comics as well as writing about comics and am relatively new on the scene for both. Ive been writing seriously for years now and its exciting to see things really coming together as we draw deeper into 2013.

What other major projects have you worked on as a writer?

This year, Ill have a lot of comics appearing but not a lot of it is all-ages, unfortunately. Id like to change that as I have two small children and want something they can read within the next decade. Ive got an ongoing comic called GHOST TOWN coming out from Action Lab Entertainments Danger Zone imprint and Ive got a book of essays about Daredevil being published by Sequart called THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS: EXAMINING MATTMURDOCK AND DAREDEVIL, as well as a slew of other small and great things in both the comics, prose, and literary worlds.

But most importantly, March is going to see the release of the MY LITTLE PONY MICRO SERIES: RAINBOW DASH one-shot which I wrote and am super excited about.

Were you a fan of the older generations of My Little Pony?

Yknow, I was more of a Care Bears kind of kid, honestly. MLP wasnt something I ever really found.

Were you a fan of the current generation before being put on the team for the Rainbow Dash comic?

I also have to shamefully admit that I wasnt watching the new incarnation of the show. Im a teacher, a husband, a father, and a night time writer, thus I barely watch any TV at all so when I do Im trying to catch up on all those awesome cultural icon shows from last decade because I am so ridiculously far behind.

Plus, my kids arent quite old enough to watch the show, Im still miring them in educational television instead, poor little ones.

So, tell us a little bit about the comic- just an overview. Whats the dealio?

This one-shot is my analysis of Rainbow Dash and what makes her tick. Ultimately, I found Rainbow to be an incredibly strong and motivated character so I wanted to test her convictions. I set up a situation where Rainbow has to work out why she is so stubborn at times, why she always tries so hard, and then I test just how hard a force she will push against, and what will truly motivate her to do her best.

In the story, a cloud full of negative emotion sucking gremlins invades Rainbows airspace and brings sadness to the land. Rainbow tries but consistently fails to get rid of them causing more frustration, which the gremlins then food upon. Rainbow needs to work out a way to get a victory but its not going to be easy. Its a tale of struggle but with some laughs thrown in, too.

What was your first reaction when you were handed the task of writing the comic?

Honestly, I was worried as to whether I could do it. Ive written a lot of comic pages but most of them are relatively adult in nature. My writing often feels like a form of therapy, it comes from the gut, and so I didnt think this was in my wheelhouse at all. I stared at this glorious email with uncertainty for a day or two, I didnt want to take on such an important property if I didnt think I could do it justice or have something to say.

Then, as if a sign, my wife and I went in for a pregnancy scan and we discovered our second child will be a girl. It was this real moment where on the drive home it started me thinking wouldnt it be cool to have something she could read and I could read to her? This unlocked some part of my brain and suddenly I had more ideas than I knew what to do with. It was great and I know Ive written something shes going to love in a few years.

What sort of research did you do in order to get started? Were you prepared for what you found in the course of said research?

I went straight online and dug in. I spoke to Katie Cook (she who is writing the fantastic main MLP comic) about which episodes of the show I should watch in order to get a great grasp on the character of Rainbow. I went through scores of websites to see how the fandom thought of these characters, what their favourite moments were, and then analysed how I could present this vibe in my own script.

I spent a fair bit of time looking at the various MLP memes that proliferate the information highways. These were great because it showed me what moments and what dialogue really resonated with the fans.

Probably my greatest asset was a girl in my class. I teach Year 5, so 11 year olds, and just as I landed the gig I heard her mention something about Ponies. I inquired and found out what a huge fan she was. I surreptitiously asked her about Rainbow who it turned out is her favorite – and why she liked the character so much. It was great to hear from a young girl exactly what she got from the series as Im writing this for that demographic and I want them to get so much from this issue.

As for my level of preparedness, ha, yeah, I was fine. Im a major comic book fan, Ive seen all levels of fandom and all the MLP stuff I found was really awesome and definitely inspiring. I may have been singing auto-tune YouTube clips around the house for quite some time.

Were there any limitations (story or otherwise) set upon you by the powers that be? What couldnt you fit into the comic, but perhaps wanted to?

The only limitations, I guess you could say, was that I had to remember this is a kids comic. My tendency is to go dark so I had to ensure I didnt veer into the black. That being said, I did try to bring a pompous level of evil to my gremlins and Im really pleased with how theyve come out. My artist on the issue, Tony Fleecs, has done an amazing job bringing these creatures to terrifying life.

Hasbro is the ultimate parent of this project, they get final say on everything, and theyve been A-mazing to deal with. Their notes are always clear and make the story better and theyve been champs about letting me tell my story.

What was your favorite part about working on the comic? Was there anything that particularly bothered you about it?

I think my favourite part of writing this issue was coming up with some of the big moments that I think readers will love. I try to use MLP language in new and inventive ways to drop some sneaky references and make the audience smile. Im also really pleased with one terrifying moment that occurs as the page turns where Rainbow realises what sort of threat shes up against.

To be honest, and I really mean this, there wasnt anything about this project that bothered me. When youre writing something so fun and awesome you kind of get filled with that spirit every time you sit down to make the words flow. It was an honour.

Are there any parts that you can tell us about that the brony community might particularly like?

For my bronies out there, yeah, Ive managed to drop in some pretty awesome references to other cultural experiences. It might only be a line, or it could be a full page, but if you look closely youll see Blade Runner, youll find a sneaky Nolan/Batman moment, and my salute to a structural slice of The Dark Knight Returns should make people smile. Oh, and then theres the pony Ive simply credited in my script as Redford Pony, Im pretty happy with how hes come out.

Any final thoughts?

Absolutely, I want to thank every MLP fan out there whose support of the franchise, and the phenomenally great sales on the comic, have made this opportunity come to life. Im pretty certain fans are going to go nuts for this issue because its got high stakes, its got some funny moments, and its a great morality tale spun around the core concept of who Rainbow Dash is. I had so much fun writing this book, Tony Fleecs is doing amazing things illustrating it, and I hope we all get to do this again some time. Until then, let me know your feedback on Twitter as @ryanklindsay.