I just wanted to restore ancient aaa-aaa-arrr-rrttttt! Waahhh! – Rarity

Season 4 continues to show its quality with this episode. When watching it, I felt very much as if I were watching a Season 1 episode instead. Perhaps a lot of it has to do with the interactions between Rainbow and AJ, which hailed back to their friendly rivalry as shown in "Ticket Master" and "Fall Weather Friends". The second partnership in this episode is the one between Fluttershy and Rarity, again reminding us of the fact that these two are also closer to each other than to the others in general. The premise of this episode is a simple one: all of the Mane Six end up in the castle, each for their own purposes, and hilarity ensues, as each group unknowingly bounces off the other.

The title itself works on three different levels. First, it references the Castlevania game series, second, it's a play on the word mania, and third, the Mane-ia part catches the general chaos of the episode very nicely.

So the episode opens with the welcome return of Twilight's exasperated groan that first appeared in "Lesson Zero". Spike is getting his usual butt-monkey treatment, first by having his feather duster smashed by a book tossed in frustration, and then by being buried under a pile of books that topples over on him. Good thing he has those thick scales...

Celestia says, "Clean up those books, Spike!"

I am the only one worried that Celestia is not only clearly magically spying on Twilight, but also writes letters pretty darn fast? I mean, I know, physical goddess and all, but still... the only thing I can think of is that she wrote that letter ahead of time, just knowing Twilight will go through all her Ponyville Library books in vain, and waiting for her to say that line... curse you, Trollestia! The letter informs Twilight that more information might be found in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. So it's off to the Everfree Forest again, which now is apparently so safe that they can go in ones and twos with nary a care; perhaps the Tree/Elements of Harmony are making it safe now? Intriguing...

...is what Twilight no doubt thinks on finding the Library in the castle.

Twilight: *Sccchhh-winggg!*
Spike: I need an adult...

Meanwhile, Pinkie and Gummy are officiating the dariest dare of all darey dare dares between Applejack and Rainbow Dash... no, no, NOT THE BEES! They are covered in them, but the real test is who blinks first... so why are the bees even needed? Anyway, the beekeeper pony (I'm calling him Johnny Bee Good, but who knows what the fans will come up with) whistles them back to their hives, leaving the contest undecided, and the contestants in beekeeper suits. Tailor fit for their manes and in RD's case, wings... huh... wonder if Rarity had anything to do with modifying them? AJ has an idea how to resolve the tie, though.

Meanwhile... meanwhile... the pretty purple-maned pony herself is en route to the Castle, Fluttershy and Angel Bunny in tow, having decided that the tapestries of the Castle could do with a touch-up, and maybe even get some inspiration out of it herself... a twofer. They are followed into the castle by a large, mysterious shadow...

AJ and RD soon rock up as well, and AJ expounds on her Granny Smith's story of an evil pony of shadows, a being created by some left over evil of Nightmare Moon. Woooo!

I'ma tellin you, Rainbow Dash, I once caught a fish thhiiiss big!

As the episode goes on, the two pairs end up unintentionally scaring each other, helped out by the Castle itself, which is apparently tricked out with tricks and stuff. Rarity gets a good dose of irony, being interrupted in the middle of a speech about how they must be very careful, only to have Angel Bunny send her and Fluttershy through a trapdoor by accident... or was it? Dun dun DUN!

Well...

...my work here is done.

Applejack comes clean to Rainbow about why she brought them there (to continue their dare challenge - first to leave forfeits) while Angel Bunny manages to find Twilight and Spike, accidentally scaring Spike into revealing another hidden chamber... one with a journal left by Celestia and Luna. Poor Fluttershy is worried about her precious bunny friend, while Rarity provides some light. Fluttershy frets about Angel being trapped by fallen debris (hint hint) or being trapped in a dark place with no way out. Rarity calls her on that one...

Setting horn phasers to snark...

Despite getting out of the hole, (after unintentionally scaring RD and AJ away) Rarity has had enough, but Fluttershy convinces her to stay and look for Angel Bunny.

Twilight reads about "The Organ to the Outside" just as the mysterious shadow is revealed to belong to a mysterious cloaked and hooded pony, who begins to play said organ. Spike's concerns about the mysterious sounds are brushed aside by Twilight, and even Angel Bunny starts laughing at him. A new low for Spikey-Wikey. The organ appears to control the traps... don't know why that comes as a surprise, since the page we saw clearly shows the connections between the organ and the different rooms where traps are located. Applejack is separated from Rainbow, Rarity is separated from Fluttershy, and part of one of the tapestries is separated from the rest of it, much to Rarity's dismay. Meanwhile, Angel is given more carrots, which is apparently enough to keep him from missing Fluttershy. Rarity declares to the Castle that despite its ingratitude, she WILL restore the wall art.

Pinkie Sense could have prevented this accident.

This assault on her person convinces Rarity that the Castle is in fact, malevolent, and she starts to back away... Ditto for Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, and they all bump rumps. Scared out of their wits, none of them realize who the others are, and the ensuing mad Dash around the room ends up knocking one of the tapestries onto poor Rarity, who protests "I was only trying to restore ancient ar-ar-art!" as it falls. Bonus points for the tapestry being one of Luna, who shares a voice actress with Rarity. Fluttershy mistakes some debris for Angel Bunny, and is horrified when Applejack knocks a pillar onto "him".

The noise finally attracts Twilight out to the balcony to survey the mayhem below... she declares that everypony STOP! (A nice call back to Luna's "BE STILL!" from "Luna Eclipsed") and suits spell to shout, stopping everypony in their tracks.

STOP! Twilight time!

The ponies are surprised to discover that they are all in the same place, Angel Bunny shows Fluttershy he's okay, much to her embarrassment, and all the ponies explain what they've been up to. Rainbow thinks maybe Twilight has been pranking them by pretending to be the Pony of Shadows, to which Twilight replies, "That's just an Old Mare's Tale"... in the middle of the freaking Castle that proved to all six of them that Old Mare's Tales are sometimes true after all... logic, what's that?

The organ music continues, and they follow it to its source... Pinkie Pie! She explains why she's there, and it makes as much sense as usual for Pinkie. So in the denouement, Rarity fixes tapestries, Fluttershy babies Angel Bunny, Pinkie is Pinkie, AJ and RD seem set to continue their dare challenge, and Twilight provides our morals for the episode. "Friends can keep your imagination from going wild..." yeah, not so much, Twilight. Everypony was there with friends already. The real moral seems to be... "learning stuff can help you not be afraid and help you solve your problems", which makes more sense. Spike announces the non-existence of the Pony of Shadows, but the evil yellow eyes seem to prove otherwise...

No Pony of Shadows... Orly?

Of course, it could just be Zecora again...

Let's bring this overlong review to a close, shall we?

As I said before, this felt rather like a Season 1 episode. The way the ponies interacted and ended up scaring each other accidentally was well done, and entirely believable. You can quite forgive them for going crazy at the end there, considering what they had endured.

Rarity was in fine form, Fluttershy really got me in the feels when she thought Angel Bunny was being crushed, Twilight is her usual adorkable bookworm self despite the wings, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack played off each other as rivals for title of most daring pony well.

There are a few negatives, though. This episode continues the trend of Pinkie Pie being more caricature than character. Pinkie is best written when her nuttiness serves to conceal some actual intelligent thought processes going on behind the scenes, in other words, when there is some kind of method to her madness. For me, this episode just didn’t get it as right with Pinkie as they did with the others. Although if you listen to her explanation at the end, it's all to do with parties and Pinkie misinterpreting the others actions as part of a game, which admittedly is very Pinkie. It's the other parts, like the ringing the bell, the jumping around with funny faces, the gags where her score keeping is a set of kid's doodles, etc, that felt off.

It’s also a bit far-fetched that she could just “know” how to play the organ, despite never having done it before. Although she has demonstrated abilities to play multiple instruments, it’s clear that this isn’t some kind of Pinkie ability, like her Pinkie Sense. Otherwise, there would be no reason why she wouldn't be able to play the flugelhorn well in “The Crystal Empire”. In fact, instead of it being Pinkie, this was a perfect opportunity to bring in one of the musical background ponies for a moment in the spotlight. Imagine how funny it would be if we found out Vinyl Scratch enjoyed playing classical organ music as well as wubs, or if it turned out to be Princess Luna come to reminisce about old times, and even play a few pranks Celestia style... hell, even have it be Celestia. Just not the usual suspect of one of the Mane 6, which could only have been Pinkie. Opportunity missed? You be the judge.

Overall, a decent episode with a simple premise and a natural comedy that arises when the characters are simply themselves.

Final Rating

5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!

Sorry for the ramble, folks, but always remember to stay sunny side up, and I'll see you for the next one.