Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 (April 5th 2014 22 minutes)

I haven't done these in awhile, as I've been busy doing other things (pony and otherwise). So I'm making the effort to catch up again. Because of that big gap, I'm going to re-iterate my disclaimer:

My intent here is not a review or a critique. That's not what I do. Instead this is watching the various episodes of My Little Pony with the intent of pulling out any details that can help inform the worldbuilding around the setting itself. That includes cultural events, festivals, architecture, clothing styles, references to other cultures, and whatnot. I've done this for all MLP episodes (including prior generations).

I put in all my notes I take when watching the episode, usually the *second* time I watch an episode, and include comments on non-worldbuilding stuff just to keep myself engaged and watching. I rarely go back and edit them, but I do pause the video on occasion to go look stuff up. Also, I will very rarely go into whether I thought the episode was 'good' or 'bad' unless it's something so glaring I can't put it aside to look at the worldbuilding elements. Again, I'm not a reviewer or what many are calling an 'analyst'. My purpose is the gather information.

Right off the bat Twilight is reading about a spell that can have permanent effects, but only under certain conditions. Indicating that magic effects don't necessarily need to be maintained by the caster if the caster does it the 'right' way. Which is interesting given how few permanently enchanted items there appear to be in this world. So the 'right' ways must often be unknown or extremely difficult.

Newly formed Wonderbolt Reserves. So this is a new concept for them, they didn't have 'Reserves' before. However... this feels like we're seeing the episodes out of order. I get the distinct feeling this should have occurred before the Wonderbolts Academy episode in Season 3. Or to be more precise, that the Wonderbolts Academy episode should actually be after this one.

Lampshading the ponies' tendency to sing about stuff on occasion. Cute.

Ahhhh. More evidence that Twilight actually hates books. Highlighting is a relevant study method, but it wrecks the book, so I always avoided it.

Another cute lampshade on Twilight's apparent growth since alicorning.

Actually, why not? Why not watch the movie? If she retains it better, and the movie is in fact reasonably accurate, it's a valid way of learning.

Actual History! The EUP Guard was formed after the Nightmare Moon incident, with the name the 'Protective Platoons'. Platoons were originally a way to organize firing regimes rather than a proper military unit. Within a battalion, there would be several groups of soldiers either aiming, firing, reloading, or moving. Each group was called a 'platoon'.

It appears the calendar is actually dated from the banishment of Nightmare Moon, that being the first 'Celestia Year of Peace'.

Here is reinforces that the Wonderbolts were at one point a division of the EUP Guard, which has changed into just 'the Guard' we see now. That doesn't mean the Wonderbolts still are a division of the Guard, of course, but that's where they started. And the Guard at one point had a complex and deep rank structure with titles like 'Admiral', 'General', 'Colonel' and the like. Unless those are just the bizarre names those particular ponies had, and their ranks were actually different.

And of course FyreFly is the handle Lauren Faust uses online, referencing her favorite G1 pony Firefly.

Wait, 'Fourth Celestia Era'? So... those thousand years since the banishment had distinct eras? Interesting. I wonder what distinguishes them from each other?

Rainbow Dash does have a tendency to panic, doesn't she?

There is actually a really good reason to know the Wonderbolts history, as a Wonderbolt. The Wonderbolts are modelled after the stunt flying teams of the Blue Angels, the Snowbirds, the Red Arrows, and so on. They're actually budgeted in the various militaries as recruiting tools. The members are expected to be able to stand up at the various events, and be able to talk intelligently about their teams, and how wonderful it is to be part of the team, and of the military itself. Knowing their history is critical and is part of the entrance requirements in real life.

I... what? I'm not sure how Fluttershy expected this to work. It's silent, and barely representational.

Okay. Pinkie. I... what? Fun, very fun, but what? I mean, rhyming and music is in fact a valid learning tool. I just... wow.

And Rarity. As a costumer, and a historian, I appreciate what she's trying to do, but no. What this does illustrate is that the styles of Wonderbolt costumes are moving through several periods of history that map fairly well to our own world. Most of the costumes are ponified models of actual historical military uniforms from the late 18th century up until at least the 1980's. Time does progress, but just like other evidence we've seen, these costumes seem to be from the past 300 years or so of human history, not the 1,000 years it would be expected. So we have yet another indicator that pony culture is slower to change than ours, or that an Equestrian year is not equivalent to a Earth year. Thought the uniform Fluttershy is wearing is a bit odd. The fabric recalls a lot of 50's and 60's 'hip' clothing, not something you'd normally see in a uniform.

Pinkie's actually pretty good at extemporaneous rhyme.

Another helicopter-like device. This one pony-powered. That appears to be quite a heavy design for a single pony to be powering.

Rainbow Dash's emotions have an actual effect on the clouds. Interesting.

While peripheral learning is in fact another real method (hiding facts in the background of scenery), it's rarely retained in such a way to do testing well. It's really the same as the subliminal messaging techniques used by marketing companies.

Neat to see the entire town getting involved.

I could have sworn I heard that one pegasis using the same voice that Grey Delisle used for Derpy in a fan-short. That wasn't Derpy, as the pony in question was blue, but still.

But I agree with several reviewers, that should not have been a 100% result. It should have been a pass, yes, but not *that* good. Unless the 100% means something different than what I understand.

Lots of details in this one, as you would expect of a 'learn the history of x' episode. The info is a bit repetitive, but again that's part and parcel of the premise of having a character in the show 'learn the history of x'.