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Games Ponies Play (February 9th 2013, 22 minutes)

Summary: Can the Mane 6 win the bid for the Crystal Empire's hosting of the Equestria Games?

Yet again, a title reference, but this one even more vague. There's a variety of songs by this name, most of which were supposedly inspired by a 1964 book on human psychology and transactional analysis.

From a presentation point of view, the conceit of this episode and Just for Sidekicks is pretty neat. Running two episodes that are taking place simultaneously. Personally, I would have reversed them, with this one coming first, but that's just me.

Equestria Games being their equivalent to the Olympics. Now, our Olympics is named after Greek mythology while it appears that the Equestria Games is a bit more prosaic. Also, they're including the Crystal Empire as a valid place to have the Games, which is implying that the Crystal Empire is officially part of Equestria and not really a separate country. As I've mentioned before, it's been indicated that Equestria was once part of the Crystal Empire, and this is now a role reversal of sorts, with the region now known as the Crystal Empire being a much reduced form.

So Cloudsdale didn't host the games. How would that of worked, anyway? All those Earth Pony and Unicorn competitors, unable to actually be in Cloudsdale proper. Unless that plateau we saw in the Wonderbolts Academy is officially part of Cloudsdale? That would explain a couple of things we'll see in later episodes.

Also the youth of RD in that scene seems to be implying that the Equestria Games, like the Olympics, only occurs every so many years. Given the way this series does it, I wouldn't be surprised if it was '50 moons', or whatever works out to four years.

I still don't get why Cadence is relying on the mane 6 for this. It's way outside of their normal scope, and is a serious imposition on the mane 6 when they could be working on a bid for Ponyville itself. Now, I can see *Celestia* asking the mane 6 to take an active hoof in an effort to speed up the re-integration of the Crystal Ponies into modern society, as that's the kind of thing she tends to do, but she's not mentioned. Unless she's doing the chessmaster bit again, working through Cadence's relation to Twi rather than going directly. Seems a bit needlessly complicated to me.

The Crystal Ponies are all in full crystal form now, and that appears to be permanent, but with no indication of any pegasi or unicorn versions.

And Cadence and Shining Armor are showing no signs of crystallization. So the crystal ponies do appear to be a separate breed. I'd be curious to see if a normal pony born within range of the crystal heart would be born a crystal pony instead? Much like the idea that you can be born an alicorn if one of your parents is an alicorn. Which would mean that the theoretical Skyla some bronies are still anticipating may not be just a born an alicorn, but actually born a crystal alicorn. Somehow, I doubt it, but still.

Wait, several of the ponies being tended to at this royal spa aren't crystal ponies either. They've got the manestyles typical of crystal ponies, but they don't have the crystallization. Are these other guests of Cadence?

I like the messenger outfit. Pillbox hat, mandarin collar, little winged shoes... with trim that matches her coat color. Nice.

That accent could be Oklahoma, or Kentucky for that matter, it's kind of generic 'southern' and is wandering a bit. Cute little lace collar, with a neckerchief bow beneath it. With the pink shirt with breast pocket, this was something I saw occasionally as women's service uniforms (waitresses, stewardesses, etc.) when I was in midwest America in the 70's-80's.

Uhhhhh. The drill & bit is a mite... disturbing.

And the accent wanders down into Texas for a moment.

In a way, I'm surprised claustrophobia isn't more common in ponies. In real life, it's a common training issue having horses walk under or into structures. They're not really built for dens the way other animals are.

Yes, they do. It's a rotunda. Neo-Gothic, also known as Gothic Revival, was an architectural style from the early 19th century. It's typified by high pitch spires and towers, tall thin windows with pointed arches (lancets), plus lots of finals, scallops, and heavy decoration. Actual Gothic is somewhat plain in comparison, while Neo-Gothic is all stretched out and over-decorated.

The rest of the Mane 6 don't know where they're going, but Twilight seems to know the layout of this place pretty well.

The brim on Shining Armor's hat seems a bit overenthusiastic, but honestly, given how long pony muzzles are, it makes sense. All the ponies he's coaching appear crystalized as expected.

You must meet Princes all the time... how many Princes are there, for her to be meeting them all the time? Even allowing for flattering exaggeration, that seems to imply that there are a good number of known Princes.

Mustangia. Not mentioned on the official map of Equestria. Mustangs are feral horses (domesticated horses that have returned to a wild state), descended from a variety of Spanish horses (The Iberian group) brought over from Europe. True native American horses having died out thousands of years prior.