For the longest time, I've been wondering what happened to Moondancer, seeing as she was briefly mentioned in the series premiere, only to seemingly be completely forgotten, due in part to her simply being irrelevant to the show's storyline until now. Finally, I know what those background ponies really think of Twilight after she turned them down. I know a lot of people like MontagnaMagica were always curious of what would become of them after Twilight left them. M.A. Larson managed to use this to his advantage as made these open ends the basis of an entire episode... And a great one, too!
I'm glad to see Twilight coming to terms with her problems. It's immensely satisfying to see characters develop (yes, actually develop, not shoehorn a pointless pair of wings on said character's back and use "character development" as an excuse for contrived writing and/or a bad concept) and overcome their flaws as they mature, standing firm after finding their place in life with full conviction, and it really does show here, with Twilight of all characters being the one to tell the antisocial bookworm to get some friends, all while feeling completely natural and in-character. Yes! Thank you, writers! This is how Twilight should be! Until now, the most I've gotten out of post-Season 3 Twilight was usually little more than a mere shell her former self, often coming off as forced and unnatural. But here, it actually feels genuine, and as a long-time Twilight fan myself, that's a huge plus in my book (pun not intended)! Despite this show only being about five years old, the nostalgia was through the roof! In fact, let me go on and rave about how well this episode went full circle. First and foremost, Spike, the one who usually receives letters from Celestia, is the one to give Twilight the idea to go back to Canterlot and help some other ponies learn a valuable lesson about friendship... And who knows, that pony might even unite with her friends (and various other background ponies, like the citizens of Ponyville, such as the ones we all saw in Slice of Life, and maybe even the ponies from "Our Town", I'm calling it) to save Equestria from a major villain (perhaps even the one who was spying on them in Donut Joe's bakery, hint hint). That would really bring things back around and actually give Twilight a good reason to be an alicorn princess for once, rather than simply being one to sell toys! Or maybe something even better... Regardless, I'm really liking the way things are shaping up this season! I haven't even mentioned how awesome it was to see Twilight's old library, exactly like she left it (minus the dust and cobwebs)! Everything from the Predictions and Prophecies book being left on the page about the Elements of Harmony, to Spike's gift for Moondancer still sitting around torn open through the middle, to the ladder being tipped over, and more shows that the animators really went all out in this episode and it shines! It's a great scene and is easily one of my favorite moments in the entire show, if only for the visuals alone. I even eyed that giant hourglass (which we now know may very well have been a gift from Minuette) to see if any minor spoilers would show up, only to find out that there were none... But we do see a certain familiar unicorn in Donut Joe's bakery, like I mentioned earlier in parentheses. The music was epic, too, even without any vocal songs. The background scoring fit perfectly, especially in the aforementioned scene in which Twilight and Spike enter the old library. The way the clarinet slowly plays a melody eerily similar to the song heard when Twilight was invited to Moondancer's party in the series premiere just gives me chills, especially when you consider just how much has happened outside the library. Basically, the music, along with the visuals, are emphasizing the fact that this is the only thing Twilight knows of that hasn't been changed, which is actually really deep when you think about it. Everything else about Twilight (even her physical self, being an alicorn now) has grown and matured except for this one dark corner. Even after all these years, it's stayed the exactly the same, albeit slightly less inviting now that it's been abandoned, just like Moondancer. The fact that I can go on and on about all the symbolism in just this one scene alone shows just how well thought-out this episode truly is.
Speaking of Moondancer, the conflict was well-written, for the most part, even despite the lack of interaction between Twilight and Moondancer up until now. Rather than ignoring it, the writers instead used this to their advantage, with the lack of interaction between Twilight and Moondancer being the reason for the conflict.
However, as much as I liked Amending Fences, there are two major issues I have with this episode.
First of all (besides Twilicorn, since I've already beaten that dead horse enough), Moondancer's reaction to the whole thing was far too drastic. She abandoned all the rest of her friends, the very same thing that made her so upset in the first place, over something so trivial as one party? Seriously? Even so, that doesn't excuse her bitterness toward Lyra Heartstrings, Lemon Hearts, Minutte, and Twinkleshine. They did nothing to deserve that, and it's never explained outside of Moondancer stating that she didn't want to give friendship another chance.
Then there's one more major issue I have with it: Twilight's friends from Canterlot. Who are they and why should we care? Apparently they were classmates that spent some time together and got to know each other presumably in magic kindergarten. But how? We never see any of that. In fact, it's hardly even mentioned at all! Outside of Amending Fences, the only interaction we've ever seen between any of them and Twilight was the brief exchange about Moondancer's party in the series premiere, and that was nothing more than the average "She's having a party, wanna come with us?" invitation. That's hardly an indication of any sort of long-time friendship at all! In fact, I've had more engaging conversations with door-to-door salesmen! You're really milking it, M.A. Larson! Actually, didn't A Canterlot Wedding basically confirm that Twilight had no friends in Canterlot, hence the reason why she referred to her brother as being her "best friend forever" as a filly? For crying out loud, she even had an entire musical number dedicated to just that! Remember?! What? Are we supposed to forget any of that ever happened now? Apparently so, because this episode practically retcons all of it now! It's those little details that can easily become a giant Achille's Heel in terms of storytelling. Call me a killjoy nitpicker, but this is a serious problem. Because of the way this episode lazily throws these characters in your face, saying "They're friends and they've been that way since before the show even started, so deal with it!" like a poorly-written fanfic, the whole storyline is dragged down as a reslt. Give us a reason to believe you! Give us some substantial backstory! I'm not asking for a whole Cutie Mark Chronicles flashback montage here. I just want one reason why I should believe that Twilight knows these ponies beyond one brief exchange about some party five seasons ago! Not to mention, people will from now on constantly be arguing over whether episodes like A Canterlot Wedding are even canon anymore, thanks to this one tiny instance of obliviousness on M.A. Larson's behalf! Uggh! What a mess this episode has caused, and all because one minor flaw! Just one! It's instances like this that show just how significant little details truly are. They can drastically change the outcome of something entirely, just like it did here with this episode's storytelling. It's because of this that I can't in good conscience say that this episode is the best Twilight-centered episode, even though I love what the writers were going for and still think they did a great job here. Looking back, it's truly amazing how much this show has matured since 2010. It's not something I see often in shows, especially nowadays, and it brings liquid pride to my eyes to say that about this show.