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MMMystery on the Friendship Express (April 7th 2012, 22 minutes)

Summary: Who murdered the Cake? Not the Cake family, but the desert. Honestly, you people.

This time the title actually does reference something. Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie with Hercule Poirot as the detective.

Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness. Yeah, I can see that. It's basically a cheesecake base (using mascarpone, which is a very creamy cheese), with meringue as filling (as per Meringue de Angel), using marzipan as the top coat on the cake (typically wedding cakes used to be glazed this way, but nut allergies means everyone has moved to fondant instead), plus marzipan fruit decorations. The marzipan is absolutely necessary here to prevent the meringue from pulling the water out of the air, which would make the entire desert collapse. What? My mum used to run a bakery before she retired.

Yeah, that would be heavy. That's not sponge cake, that's *cheesecake*. That... Heh. Had that problem once. How to get the stupidly huge cake through a tiny side door. You're basically done without making a wider entranceway, as you can't turn decorated cake sideways without damaging the coverings.

The train hasn't left Ponyville yet, so all these other entrants are using Ponyville as a staging ground for this competition? Interesting.

The gryphon has the stereotypical French chef going on. Given the 'official' map of Equestria that follows, as the arrow pointing towards the Gryphons would be pointing towards the Europe-equivalent, so it wouldn't surprise me to find out the Gryphons are supposed to be originally French, Italian, or Spanish.

Donut Joe in a real speaking part. Another Italian-esc Brooklyn accent, seems to be a common one.

And a Julia Child knockoff, as a Mulia Miles? Oooookay then. Julia's accent was pretty much hers and hers alone, mostly Pasadena California though. This moose mousse is a common joke and is normally presented as a hard chocolate shell with the actual mousse as a filling.

Sherlock Holmes reference.

Ah, Snidely Whiplash, which everyone always points to silent films for, but is actually pretty rare there. This villain is more from mid-nineteenth century stage productions, along with the tied to the train tracks thing.

And a James Bond reference, specifically the Roger Moor version. Though honestly that Con Mane? That's so stretched of a pun I'm surprised they went with that.

Hahhahahahhaaaa! Okay, Samurai Jack reference. Thank you, Amy Keating Rogers, who was a writer on that show as well. For anyone who hasn't seen it, I recommend it.

Why does Twilight have a selection of tall brown kraft envelopes?

I wonder who the portrait is of? Obviously military type, with the shoulder epaulettes that are still in fashion with some nation's dress uniforms. Just for reference, epaulettes started during the 17th century as a means to keep shoulder belts (bandoleers) from slipping while on horseback.

It takes anywhere from one full day to a day and a half to get from Ponyville to Canterlot on a train.