Bubblegum

I haven’t watched every episode yet, but “Ali-conned” is my least favourite episode of Make Your Mark so far. There are definitely parts that I thought worked very well, and some that really didn’t. So I’ll start this review with the negatives, and gradually move towards what I did like and end on a more positive note. I didn’t really like how the story painted every pony in Maretime Bay as being shallow and one dimensional, only interested in alicorn Sunny. I get why it was done this way, but it does leave you disliking everyone that isn’t the Mane 5. I think it’s the same vibe a lot of people got from G4’s “Fame and Misfortune”. Suddenly making every minor character act flatly and rude to Sunny is a little uncomfortable to watch, compared to if they’d focussed this behaviour in on just certain characters a bit more. If they’d put more attention on the Filly Four as the antagonist ponies, I think Sunny’s plight would still be just as relatable. The idea of “childhood classmate acquaintances returning and liking you now because you’re popular” is something worth exploring. I also rolled my eyes at Toots’ only role in the episode being eating doughnuts, and this being portrayed as a bad thing. Ha-ha, look at the funny fat horse. He’s so unhealthy! Really wasn’t keen on the message here by showing this – it feels a bit mean-spirited and fat-shaming, even if there was nothing wrong with Sunny’s community garden project. I guess this brings me to my least favourite aspect of the story. I found Pipp annoying and less likeable in this episode. I get that she is supposed to be a humorous caricature of an influencer, but they take it a bit too far this time. I was hoping that her video at the end wouldn’t be as popular as she liked, so she could learn that not everything she creates has to be an instant success, and that’s okay too. I think it’s important, especially with the younger audience this show is aimed at, to show that these tendencies and obsessions with getting high numbers on social media is actually unhealthy and potentially destructive. Having Sparky and Pipp’s videos instantly become viral anyway kind of took away from this plot. I hope it’s something that they explore more carefully with her character in the future, if they are going to keep up with this social media obsessed aspect of her character. I will admit that her poses and facial expressions were very entertaining throughout her antics. It really showcases how much more expressive and fun the animation has got since the Make Your Mark pilot. I think not every episode needs to have a subplot, especially as this one took something away from the main conflict with Sunny. One of the most interesting hooks of this story for me was Opaline manipulating her and exposing her insecurities through the mirror. It would have been nice to have more time focussed on this plot-thread, with Sunny being genuinely afraid that part of her self thinks this way, that she really has a latent power-lust within her. Perhaps we could have had scenes of her trying to keep herself away from the mirror versus her curiosity in opening it, leading to her hiding it under her pillow when she breaks down in the Brighthouse. I did like the exploration of how Sunny’s powers work, beyond when she needs them to literally save ponies. I think they’re doing a good job and portraying her internal struggles in coping with her confusing new ability, and if ponies really like her for who she is. Her insecurities clearly link back to everyone dismissing her beliefs in pony unity growing up. The bedroom scene is genuinely touching, and I liked Izzy’s little speech too. Misty and Opaline’s interactions were as entertaining as ever, and the former discovering smoothie was very cute. I can see Misty becoming a fan favourite! The community garden is a nice set piece, and I hope we see it get some use in later episodes as a fun experimentation field for Earth Pony magic. “Portrait Day” has been my favourite of the batch so far, and I absolutely want to see more of that style of writing and quality moving forward. It’s a shame “Ali-conned” was a lot more flawed in execution, and I hope it’s just the one weaker link in this series. Also, first post here in eight years. Hello!

Yesterday I was out walking and I bumped into something that someone had thrown out onto the pavement, likely assuming the magical rubbish goblins would take it away on their behalf (a common occurance in my hometown). However, I had a look and despite being coated in mud, I could see that it was a pony, and that on closer inspection it was Applejack. On the way home, I picked her up and quickly washed her clean. This left one mystery - where exactly did she come from? She has a G3-ish mold, but is clearly the original G1 design for Applejack. My first thought was that she was a well done bootleg, but after I cleaned her the inscription on her belly became clear - "2008 Hasbro China" If anyone can identify her, that'd be great. If she is a bootleg, I don't really mind since it's still a cool and unexpected find . EDIT: She's a 2010 blind bag set that was a call back to G1:

I don't think I can top the opening to my last review on here, so instead I'll just post this distracting gif: This episode was clearly going to be sort of follow up (or atleast written somewhat in the style of) Hurricane Fluttershy and Wonderbolts Academy. While I greatly enjoyed the former of these two episodes, I've never been the biggest fan of 'Academy'. Not that I outright hate it (I don't think that is the case with any episode so far), but I just felt that it was slightly weaker than some other epsiodes. I think one of the reasons might have been the sudden change in character for Spitfire. I can understand why they did it in the context of the episode, and I also understand the need for characters to have flaws, but to have a shift in character that much without a given explanation was a bit jarring (although I guess we hadn't really seen all that much of Spitfire in action beforehand, asides from a couple of breif conversations). Knowing that Rainbow Falls was going to feature the Wonderbolts again, I was curious in seeing how this was going to be adressed. Well, it was sort of addressed, and it sort of wasn't. Spitfire (and Fleetfoot) were again treated as minor antagonists, if not more so this time, although it was nice to see that they did learn something of a lesson this time. At first it felt slightly adrupt - with them instantly apologising to everyone and putting Soarin' back on the team (who was also very quick to accept, considering the way he had been treated ), but seeing them do well in qualifying while also happily supporting the Ponyville team and having Spitfire give Rainbow her 'key' made it a little more believeable. We'll just have to stay tuned for future episodes to see how the Wonderbolts are handled in future appearances.... Anyway, moving along to the rest of the episode, I really liked it, as I have done with all of Corey Powell's episodes so far. It has probably got to be one of my favourite epsiodes of the season so far, and it didn't feel out of place with the other 'key' episode we've had (I predicted from the synopsis that this would be Rainbow's box episode. I guess we can see a pattern forming here now!). The theme of the six keys/box always sends a chill for some reason, it's a very nice piece of score! It was very enjoyable to see the the return of lots of the supporting cast and background ponies we haven't seen for a while, such as Soarin. While I know some didn't enjoy it, it was nice to see Snowflake Roid Rage Bulk Biceps have a larger role. When I first heard about this, I wasn't expecting him to have a prominant role throughout the episode, but I did think it really helped add to the comedy ('Um, "Rainbow Dash" actually starts with an "R"'). Speaking of comedy, in a lot of recent episodes (I'm probably thinking of some of Season 3 as well), Pinkie Pie has felt less funny than she used to (atleast for me, but I know I'm not the only one that's flagged this up). However, her line in response to Dash's feeble backstory to her injury excuse was the big laugh out loud moment in the episode for me. I also loved her silly costumes and Rainbow Dash wig And last but not least (as if I could ever forget), the triumphant return of Derpy. I did predict that she would come back in this episode (not believing her to be retired at any point, yes even during Season 3) , considering the pegasus focus, and later made hints from Meghan Mccarthy's Twitter feed, but this return was even more spectacular than I could of imagined. I like how she doesn't seem to be phased by what's going on around her, and intercepting the team photo at the end. I also enjoyed the anecdote about not putting her in any Season 4 episodes up until this one to make her return more fun . Naturally I celebrated with a banana muffin after the show So yeah, all in all a fun little episode that had me smiling out-through, although perhaps not as strong overall as Rarity Takes Manehatten. Whose key will it be next?

Scootaloo wants to be cool, and also wants to be like her hero, Rainbow Dash But that's not something she can do so easily, due to her inablity to fly It's simply not her way, her style, her talent lies on scooter skills Still, she wants to fly high, so she can reach the highest of all the heavens Somebody will be waiting for her So she has got to fly higher But soon she realises that she has many friends who can help her out And in return she can help them, by playing a part in the flag carrying routine And she learns that her scooting ability is something only she can do And together with the Cutie Mark crusaders, no one's alone! *Ahem*, sorry about that..... I've been looking forward to this episode, and it was a lot of fun. It was nice to see them touch upon Lauren Faust's original ideas for Scootaloo, and that was quite a tease at the end.... Most of the humour in the episode came from the dialogue exchanges between Rainbow Dash and Ms. Harshwinny, and the latter's facial expressions, although I also liked Sweetie Belle's 'I really don't like her' line. Speaking of Rainbow Dash, I loved how she was written for in this episode, a healthy mix of her usual overly energetic and brash personality combined with her more caring nature towards Scootaloo as introduced in Sleepless in Ponyville (my favourite Season 3 episode). The call-back to Scootaloo's scooter tricks with Granny Smith (complete with high five!) also raised a smile from me. The only thing I'd say is that the song didn't feel very memorable to me, for some reason it reminded me of Equestria Girls's more mediocre pieces. I might like it better on a second listening, but it's no 'Babs Seed' or 'Perfect Stallion'. It was very nice to hear Claire Corlett singing as Sweetie Belle for the first time though Also, hey this is my first post on here since the Season 4 Comic Con animatics were released. I bet nopony remembers me

Pony-girl! Sort of like catgirls you see in Japanese media , but with ponies! It did sort of feel like they were doing a kind of semi-reference to the 'magical gril' thing with EQ at times.....

Went to Tescos on a whim on the way back from the dentist and discovered that they had heavily restocked the pink isle, meaning money mysteriously disappeared from my bank account . Now have bindbag sized Rainbow Dash, Gilda, Wonderbolt, Pinkie Pie (the second ), Zecora, Lotus Blossom, Applejack, Applebloom, Diamond Tiara, Twilight Velvet (Twilight's mum) and THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRRRIXIE! That was a mouthful....