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Neigh Anything (Comic Issues 11-12, September 24th, Octover 30th 2013)

Summary: The story of how Shining Armor and Cadance met, from their own perspectives. Sort of. Maybe. Accuracy of flashbacks not guaranteed. Definitely.

Issue 11

We're at Tealove's Tea Room, in Canterlot. Tealove is one of the ponies Big Mac got shipped with last arc, wandering around Ponyville. Canterlot is close enough to Ponyville that you can see Canterlot castle distinctly from the village, so it appears there is a *lot* of traffic between the two locations.

And we have a temporal placement, this is taking place *before* the previous arc as the Summer Wrap-up Festival hasn't started yet. So the Canterlot Wedding episode took place at the end of Summer, near when this Summer Wrap-up Festival takes place, as they're talking about an anniversary party.

Ah, so here is a High School equivalent. Canterlot Academy.

It appears Shining Armor is a musician, as he's got books on composition and Flugelhorn music, plus they have an ROTC program (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) for the Canterlot Royal Guard. This seems to be indicating that the Royal Guard is considered a branch of the Equestrian Armed Forces, not the entirety. So I wonder what the other branches are? There will be an Army-equivalent, the Wonderbolts would be the elite from the Air Force equivalent. Does Equestria have a Navy? They have airships, would that be part of the Air Force, or a separate branch like the Coast Guard? Hrmmmm....

In the basement, drinking Honey Dew, playing Oublietes and Ogres. Hrmmm. I wonder what they're parodying...

An old-fashioned wringer washer. Believe or not, you can still get new ones of those. Home Queen makes them in Saudi Arabia, specifically for areas that don't have enough water pressure to run a modern washing machine. They're very popular for small farms that are barely on the grid.

Heh, lampshading. Poindexter pointing out there are a lot of festivals and galas in this world.

Gaffer is interesting, in that he has a two-tone coat. The word gaffer has a lot of different meanings, so it's hard to tell why he's named that. In England 'gaffer' is a generic term for boss or old man. It also be an electrician, a glassblower, a part of a sailboat... so many options.

Yep, Shining Armor plays the Flugelhorn.

Okay, this is a shame, but I can work with it. In the background there are writer awards on the wall, and a reference to Daring Do. However, events in the series (which I haven't reached yet on this blog) specifically say that Daring Do has a different author. Luckily, the award for Daring Do is not the same award as the writing award. It's two different plaques. Twilight's mom was an award-winning writer, but the award for Daring Do is something different. She's moved on in her career and become a *publisher*.

This is a horrible idea. I love it.

Zacherle Stadium. Nice. Bonnie Zacherle was the *original* original creator of My Little Pony, called 'My Pretty Pony', who sold the IP to Hasbro so many, many years ago.

An electric keyboard? Specifically a double keyboard? That's pretty bold shifting of technology forward.

No, I'm wrong. It's the ketar that does that. Keytars have been around since the 70's, but that's specifically a Yamaha SHS-10 from 1987. It's not even derived from it, it's that exact model. Keytars were popular with Glam Rock bands which brings us to:

Oh, the costumes. We've got Devo, Boy George, Gaffer seems to be doing Men at Work, and Shining is *rocking* an Adam Ant outfit. That and they're doing a rewritten Oingo Boingo song that would get you arrested if you tried to do it straight now-a-days.

Playing Polo. Polo was originally a game developed as a training exercise for cavalry.

There is apparently another Academy in Manehattan. Interesting that they seem to consistently use the term 'Academy' rather than high or secondary school. Traditionally, 'Academy' in a non-military context means an dissenting school, one that is run independent of the state/national government's education system. For those in the US, it's basically like the charter school system.

The letter jacket tradition. Kind of daft really, but I can't say I don't have one stored away from my high school... You know, I cannot even remember what I got the letter in? The only sports I did weren't through the school. I did heavy eventing at the Highland Games. Caber toss, hammer throw, that kind of thing. So what the heck *did* I do to get the letter? Huh. The 80's were a bit of a blur for me.

Issue 12

I do have to say, I love this version of the Shining Armor/Cadance/Twilight dynamic. These characters may be silly, but they actually have depth here rather than the cardboard cutouts we seem to be getting in the main series.

Wide ruled paper has 11/32 inch spacing between the lines. Academy ruled is likely College ruled, which is 9/32 inch spacing. There is also a Narrow ruled which is 8/32 inch.

My Tiny Gecko! They *need* to make this a thing.

And the Sunshine, Sunshine rhyme, but a version that sounds so much more like schoolyard stuff.

Okay, that architecture is... unique. It looks like something Frank Lloyd Wright would design.

Oh lord, Wyld Stallions poster.

Standard 80's formal outfits. Nothing spectacula.... oh my. Mayor Mare as a goth lolita. That's hilarious.

I'm skipping a lot of these references, because they're coming a bit thick and fast.

Steeplechase team. Yeah, that would definitely be a valid sport for ponies.

Buck's father is a congresspony. They have a Congress? Interesting.

And finally, more star trek references, and a Quantum Leap one.

Oubliettes & Ogres

A couple of bonus comics again. These tend to be a bit of fun, so let's see.

Heh, they're using a crown royal bag for their dice. Classic.

Kale Crispies nacho flavored. Ah.

Poindexter's elf-pegasis is a lawful evil bard named Lejandar Gygax. Ooookay, then.

And of course Twilight would normally be part of this group, playing a... sorcerer? Okay, they're using 3rd edition rules then, which is odd given this is supposed to be an 80's equivalent.

PTV

Bunches of ponified 80's references. Not much else here. Most of you are probably aware of how big MTV was in the 80's, and that it changed significantly at some point and the Internet basically ate it's lunch.

However, we now can talk about being Rein-rolled.