Welcome back to the season four wrap-up of My Little Friendship: Pony is Magic/AIDS!

Today, we're taking a look at the penultimate episode before the two-part season finale, Equestria G-...........wait a minute....................okay, no, good, that says "Equestria Games", not "Equestria Girls". *shivers*........ Ooookay...so, this is the episode that finally finishes the Equestria Games arc that we've been building up since the twelfth episode of season three: "Games Ponies Play". Therefore, there's some big shoes to fill. So what did I think of this episode when it first spared?

On 5/3/2014 at 2:15 PM, PrymeStriker said:

For an event we've been building up to for 25 episodes, this episode was kind of an anticlimax. Not to mention some of the inconsistencies that carried over from Rainbow Falls were less than pleasant to be reminded of.

............................WELL ISN'T THAT REASSURING? This is "Equestria Games".

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So this episode opens up with Rainbow Dash on the train to the Crystal Empire with the CMC, Bulk Biceps, Fluttershy, and...some other...random generics, as they prepare for the Equestria Games. Rainbow Dash herself doubts that she, Fluttershy, and Bulk Biceps will be able to beat the Wonderbolts, all the while I have the worst "Rainbow Falls" PTSD that sends me into a cataclysmic spasm. After the "Skip Intro" button sends me into a catacl-...wait...SHIT I used my "Skip Intro" joke too early. FUCK!! *sigh*.....after I skip the intro...we...hold on, I'm not done with the "Rainbow Falls" shit. Rainbow Dash is still competing in the Equestria Games with the lowest common denominators. Just like with "Rainbow Falls", WHYYYY?! It still makes no sense. Also, did Fluttershy just forget her "stage fright" from the fuck-up opus that everyone loves, "Filli Vanilli"? 'Cause the Equestria Games is going to be a big event with lots of people staring at her. Why would she not realize this? Fuck me. Why the fuck do I watch this fucking show? Anyways, once we arrive in the Crystal Empire, Spike is whisked....whipsed....whifflefluffle...whatever the fuck the word is....away by the royal guard to meet with Princesses Cadence and Twilight Sparkle, where he learns he's basically a God in the Crystal Empire for saving the crystal heart. Remember that shitty episode? Me too, I think. 

"Bringith thy Rarity in so thout may port her legs like the red sea"

The princesses tell Spike that they want him to light the torch for the Equestria Games, which he agrees to. However, once he arrives, he realizes he has......st......stage fright. Oh, come on, please, not another "Filli Vanilli". PLEASE. He goes up and due to his fright, is unable to light the torch. Like, physically, he can't generate fire breath. Hmm...that does give reason to why he couldn't just burn the timberwolves in "Spike at Your Service", but it's not like I'm exactly in the mood to remember every shit episode of this show. So Twilight helps him out from her throne all the way in the audience by doing a little magic trick-aroo mcfuckson and, boom, fire! Spike ends up thinking this is because he can light fire with his mind, but Twilight bitchslaps him and puts the little prick in his place. This makes him mope as you might expect, but screw that, it's time for the main event! The relay race, with Fluttershy ignoring all of her redundant character development! How delightful. At the games, a disabling spell is cast on unicorns to prevent cheating, which comes into play later. Otherwise, Ponyvillle ends up coming in second place to the Wonderbolts when I start realizing I don't care about this event. Like, yeah, this something we've been building up to for a season but...almost every episode in the arc was bad. So this is less of an anticlimax and more of what's expected. Except, we've got a Spike story to follow, so, maybe we should direct our attention to that first and foremost. Spike then asks Mrs. Harshwhimmy (I don't care if that's misspelled) to do something else after the faux lighting of the torch. He offers to sing the national anthem instead....of Cloudsdale. See, he thought he was gonna sing the Ponyville anthem, but Ponyville didn't win. So he'll have to sing a song that he's never heard, and has no idea how to sing. Alas, it's a bit too late when he realizes this.  

Come on, Spike. Sing it with me! "Blame Cloudsdale! / Blame Cloudsdale! / With all their weather hullabaloo / And that bitch Rainbow Dash too!"

Right..............actually that song was kind of funny. How did MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC pull off GOOD CRINGE COMEDY?! Have you SEEN their fandom? Christ. After the fuck-up, Spike decides to go into his room and pack before he leaves tomorrow. Huh....so Spike's been built up all episode to be knocked down to size? This......is once again.......another relatively good Spike conflict. I'm genuinely shocked. Later, during the ice archery contest, Twilight goes looking for Spike, but the CMC say he pussied out. So Twilight gets pissed and goes to find Spike so she can whip out the belt. Purple parents are the worst, but purple slave owners? Damn. Talk about a taste of your own medicine. Twilight confronts Spike and tells him that while, yes, those were some slow and embarrassing moments out there, ultimately everything went right for the games, so there's literally no harm in any of this. Purple bitch speaks too soon, though, as one of the ice arrows has shot up into a cloud above and created an ice cloud that's about to fall on the ponies below!

....Okay, a frozen cloud is a genuinely....cool concept. Heheheh...........................God my comedy is going soft.

There's no time to cut the disabling spell on the unicorns, and the pegasi can't lift the cloud on their own. There's only one person at the games that can save the lives of thousands! CAPTAIN AMERIC-I mean SPIKE! By hopping on several pegasi, he unleashes his mighty dragon fire breath to melt the cloud of ice. Once this is done, the crowd cheers in glory for his majesty Spike the great. The princesses even come to thank Spike personally for his act of heroism. Lucky bastard.

......................................

.............................................................................................fuck, that's gonna be taken out of context, isn't it?

Welp, suck my balls, queers. Spike receives all the praise from his friends and the entire city, and he reacts with a resounding boost of confidence. That is, that's how this episode would've gone if it was written poorly. Instead, Spike receives all the praise from his friends and the entire city, and he reacts with a resounding..."yeah, I guess". He says that it just so happens that he can breathe fire, and that if any of the others could've done something they would've. Twilight realizes that, throughout Spike's story, he's felt like he's let everyone down, but people keep telling him its all good. The only person who's gonna make Spike feel complete in what he's done...is himself. Later, in the journal he writes that all the praise in the world means nothing if you don't feel it in yourself. Holy shit, this........is a really deep moral. How...how did I miss this? Even at 15 I should've had some kind of grasp of these kinds of things, or else I wouldn't have started this review series three months later. I guess this goes to show you how time and maturation can change some things.

Err.....Spike? You've got a little...octopus cum on your face.

In the end, Spike gets to light the fireworks that close the ceremony. And so concludes "Equestria Games".

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Huh...that was...actually another good Spike episode.

I don't know what I was thinking before, but Spike's story is truly the saving grace of this episode. Sure, we get reminded of a bunch of different shit episodes, including Rainbow Falls given its seminal place in both the key arc and the Equestria Games arc. And, yes, this is something that bogs the episode down a little. But in the end, we get this really powerful moral about self fulfillment. Being a musician, this hits right home. I've actually directed people to check out some of my work, and then have them come back and say "Oh wow, this is pretty great. I like [song name]", and felt the chilling bite of realizing that the song they think is so great, is the song I hate the most and feel the most regret for. Their comment of praise for it meant nothing. I knew what was wrong with the damn song, I could hear every mistake, every missed opportunity, every piece of shit moment that made the song unbearable for me. My opinion of my work did not wane just because someone else thought it was amazing. That can be reassuring when it's praise for something your passionate about, but regardless, true fulfillment comes from yourself. So, yeah, like future episode "Canterlot Boutique", this is another moral that hits me right in the nuts. This is a genuinely good episode, and while it might have been an anticlimax for the Equestria Games arc...let's be honest...this arc was going nowhere fast anyway. I'll give "Equestria Games" a 9/10. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here we are, the season four finale. Come back next week where we take on both parts of "Twilight's Kingdom", and always remember that your family is edible!