Metemponychosis

Baloney is also used for 'nonsense'. You guys really need to work on your google-fu.

I'm not sure I agree. I mean, you could be right, but I'm not seeing that. That would be true for any detail on their models.

No. My first hook was the story of the Royal Pony Sisters. It felt like legit mythology inside the fictional universe and the connection of the ponies with the nature of their world further solidified it. It felt like a mythical story inside a real, thought-out fantasy world. The less contemporary atmosphere helped a lot too. The movie didn't even come close. Honestly, I wasn't convinced that lack of magic even was an issue. If something like that happened in G4's world, it would have ended.

Not laziness. I'm 100% sure it was done like that because of the toys. Also, magic may not necessarily correlate to destiny. What bothers me is that cutie marks definitively lost their importance. I can 't remember a single one from the movie. Now, my opinion: it's further evidence that the correlation to G4 is half-hearted. TO ME the movie feels like a completely different world.

I'm just waiting for it to turn back to crystal during the series.

Yes. I understand what you mean. It would be much more jarring to see a visual joke such as a mailmare dropping a piano on a character in G5's style. I can imagine they tried brainstorming about how to deal with that problem of the hooves holding stuff and they realized that it was an unsolvable problem and decided to ignore it. Unless he got the same thing from his parents and just calls it research for reasons. Unlikely... I could imagine Argyle exploring ruins and that sort of Daring Do stuff. Maybe they would have explored this if they had more time? I would like to think so. It's the sort of thing I believe the series could pick up the slack on. Flashbacks of Argyle doing his stuff might be worth it. I'm not entirely sure how the royals being able to fly would make them safe. It felt similar to stuff like Aztec priests that pretended they could control sunrise through their deities. But yeah, whatever reason that made pegasi think that flying royals was important. Maybe it related to magic. Pegasi saw that they had that magic that was lost and that made them special. I figure pegasi also supposed, based on that, that the royals had other capacities that they lacked. Which is a rather good analogy for the whole divine mandate of kings. Honestly, I'm very interested in seeing if Haven, Pipp and Zipp will regain their royal status or not. I don't even know how I feel about that. But I doubt that the series will ever elaborate if the queen ever had any sort of political power.

Can you link? I'm curious. Do they mean it "woke" in a good or bad way?

The great schism of My Little Pony begins. Actually, this is likely the fourth or so, but still...

Hasbro. Hasbro, pls...

What do you mean? Hitch is the new Spike. A valuable and valued member of the group that is always ready to be the butt of the jokes. Just you wait for the series to start. This is a political message. Fear makes people let idiots who don't really know what they are doing lead them simply because they are the ones that talk the loudest. That is literally the joke. The idea is that he thinks he is above the common citizen because he's a deputy. It's 'the badge effect'. Izzy even comments on it with Hitch, saying that it was kind of good that he lost his badge because it was creating a toxic atmosphere. I was more disappointed that Sunny's activism seemed cheap. She and her father were the only ones that believed what they believed and for no reason other than her father had told her. I think the audience is expected to understand that because 'magic=friendship=good' from G4. But I feel like a overt demonstration that something wasn't well in the city was in order to give some weight to her believes. Because I legit believed that Canterlogic's products were serious inside the cartoon's logic and that Phyllis' efforts were genuine. Maybe it would've been better if thar cartoon showed other ponies that silently agreed with her because the factory consumed so many resources they were lacking in something. Or something of the sort. I feel like more than a statement about technology levels, this was an argument about their different cultures. Which were really all the same, but quirky versions of it. That's called panic. It should be. They lived in luxury due to being the royal family. They used resources. Also, it could be spun as identity fraud. If her title was inherited from her mother/father, she would never cease to be 'majesty'. It's the 'blue blood'. That is why regicide was a thing in our world. She might not be queen regnant, but she would still have status of royalty. The rule of funny still reigns supreme in MLP. That is just dumb. And that is why I say that hitch, who was doing it the right way is the new Spike. I think that the intention was that they cooperated. As in Sunny struck the spark and Zipp fanned the flame... But it just came out as weird and mean-spirited towards Hitch. It should have been Pipp doing the dance. They I feel like someone decided they needed Sunny needed the Ma-Rey Sue treatment. I think it's meant as PoNy. If anything they should be worried that the unicorns can now actually zap them with horn lasers and pegasi can sweep down from above... Earth pony magic has always been a point of contention. People say strength, others say their ability to farm. Others even say that it is their ingenuity. Honestly, the movie kind missed me on that because from my point of view, the ponies had that without magic... Very thorough and insightful review.

In my opinion. in the children's category, on Netflix. That's gonna take a while.

The conversation killer....

I'm not surprised. The movie stands leagues above the competition.

@Neo_ShironYou ignore it. Understand that what fans make has really no impact on the canon.

How do you know that the hats didn't have that ability? How do you know that the traps didn't prevent telekinesis? I mean, I know that I don't know either, but at some point there was a conflict and there is no reason to believe that Canterlogic doesn't know what they're doing. It seemed that everything and the kitchen's sink stopped unicorn magic when it was convenient. You see? This is part of the problem. Phyllis didn't know about the other races either! If she was actively lying so that she could profit from the fear, and Canterlogic products were useless, then yes, but she was legitimately trying to help. And Earth-ponies have more reasons to live in fear now that unicorns got their magic back and that pegasi can fly. They would have dropped her out of the city? I understand what you mean, but I don't see the difference it makes. I don't know. I'm assuming that I wouldn't know the difference between having one or two eyes. I have no idea how that would affect me. I do know that for an adequate depth perception one needs both eyes. I suppose that my life would improve. Yes. Marginally. The problem is that pegasi being able to fly doesn't come 'without a cost'. Unicorns now have their magic. And did the movie ever explain why the pegasi were afraid of the earth ponies? I guess that the problem really is that there is no reason that I can see why being able to fly makes coexistence with the other races any better. But they were. The whole flying thing is petty and may not be worth it if it also means that the unicorns now do have magic.

In G4 it was an external threat that made ponies unite. The Windigos. Even in the finale, there was a threat that made everyone unite. In Sunny's case there is no threat at all. And from the perspective of earth ponies, she's making things worse with her views. Understanding G4 seems to make it worse for me. I suppose you could say that the fear itself, which is the big villain in the movie, is a threat and that she defeated it by uniting the different kinds. But there are bigger issues with that notion... Hold this thought. Would you say the same thing about Maude Pie? Because that is where I'm coming from. If the unicorns didn't dress in that particular style... There is better visual language to express this colloquial use of depression. Especially in a movie that explicitly expresses the fact that the pegasi can't fly and that each believes lies about the other. I'm not sure what you meant about inclusiveness and tolerance as a mere necessity. But... Potential? Maretime Bay, somehow, has a more advanced industry than ours, without magic. Did you see that giant pony mecha they built in days? That implies they have access to raw materials and processing techniques that allow them metal alloys and electronics, not to mention energy sources, to build complex machines. Compare anything that Canterlogic created to the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, that literally went as far as requiring in situ unicorn magic to work. The same goes to Zephyr Heights. Twilight communicated with Princess Celestia by sending letters with a dragon by her side. Princess Pipp has a freaking smartphone. They have television. Modern telecommunications. Without magic. All of that requires maintenance and nothing is breaking down. Their lives are better than they were in ancient Equestria. If anything, it makes me feel like ancient Equestria was held back by their ideals. Because in the present they didn't need to interact. The movie doesn't even mention other creatures, such as griffons. Yak. Dragons. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if griffons had a space program by that point. In the face of all that, 'Zipp wanted to fly' sounds like me going 'I wish I had a Tesla' and then going on a crusade to change mankind so that I could have a Tesla. Especially since she was a privileged individual to begin with! The whole magic thing is so petty! Actually, living in isolation, by the movie's logic, was what made everything work and I don't see a reason why they couldn't just live in isolation given that they lacked for nothing. Before they didn't know that the other races didn't have their magic and ability to fly and they just kept distance. Now the earth ponies have more reasons to be afraid because they know that changed. Picture Sprout. What is keeping a random unicorn from going King Sombra on everyone just because now he can? Sprout is more justified now than he was before. Or even better. Look at Pipp. She lost everything. What about Queen Haven? What is she doing with her life now? Are pegasi just going back on that prison thing just because they all can fly now? I suppose that the series should expand on that. But I doubt it. It would go against the movie's message, which is broken to begin with. I mean, I can see how things improved for pegasi and for unicorns. But how did it improve for earth-ponies?

But is kind of my point. Things only went haywire because of Sunny. Look at what I told Pentium100. If that was the point the movie was trying to get across, that is what should have happened to motivate Sunny. It seems that now their fear is more motivated than it ever was, because now the other races are a threat.

But the movie never brought that up. I think there should've been monsters roaming about (like in G4) to make magic a necessity. Still, I don't think that earth ponies even needed that to defend themselves.

Actually, now that they have their magic back, the unicorns and pegasi can do all the things that the earth ponies were afraid of. Remember King Sombra? Starlight Glimmer? Sunset Shimmer?

I don't know if I agree with that. Unicorns weren't depressed. That was their style. And I don't see why the pegasi needed to fly. They were doing fine without flying. I mean, I can't fly, and I live a perfectly fine life. Earth ponies don't fly either. Not having magic didn't prevent the unicorns from a perfectly fine life. In the same line, I don't see the problem with Phyllis profiting (was she?). I mean, Queen Haven was. At the same time, was that hurting the earth ponies or the pegasi? Zephyr Heights looked like a first world metropolis, affluent and filled with luxuries. Maretime Bay had an industry capable of building a (working) giant mecha pony (without magic). They had access to resources that allowed them forging steel and making electronics, the same as Zephyr Heights where they had mobile telecommunications. Better than what I have. No one seemed to be suffering because of the paranoia other than Sunny that insisted on rocking a boat that was perfectly steady and where everyone was happy. Life was better than it was in ancient Equestria. My point is that it was the movie's job to point out that things weren't going well to motivate a change. Instead it just made that giant straw man (straw pony) that uniting the three races (or tribes) is such a big deal without giving a good reason (or maybe i missed it.). I think the movie, good as it was, needed an external, or an overt internal threat. Maretime bay, Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood all seemed to be doing perfectly fine isolated the way they were. However, I agree with your point about the wrong pony type being born in a city, but the movie didn't bother with it. It's something I hadn't thought of and it genuinely a good point, but it seems to be the same problem with G4 trying to tell a story that is bigger than its age rating will allow. At no point the movie showed any issues, because you can't even say that the stuff Canterlogic produced were fake. The robot worked. The unicorn containment worked. Who's to say that at some time there wasn't a war and that all Sprout believed wasn't true? I mean... Starlight Glimmer. Sunset Shimmer. Tempest Shadow. King Sombra. Unicorns can become powerful as heck. I mean, now that they have their magic back unicorns can actually zap brains and pegasi can swoop in and steal foals. I don't understand how the earth ponies aren't MORE afraid now. Something like a unicorn being born in Maretime Bay was exactly what we needed. Actually, if Sunny was a unicorn or a pegasus born to Maretime Bay suffering from racism, discrimination, it would've been perfect. Or, to avoid anything that extreme, unhappy ponies that they have to work in the factory (I can't imagine a better analogy of the real world). Ponies complaining of the present situation that weren't yearning for whatever benefits uniting the three kinds would bring. Maybe ponies that were lacking for something because the factory consumed so many resources that there wasn't enough.

This is something that's been bothering me and I don't know if I just missed something obvious. What was the conflict in the movie? I mean, Sunny wanted all of them to be together, but why? Missing magic wasn't really an issue. Their cities were perfect. They lacked for nothing. Days and night wasn't an issue. Weather wasn't an issue. There was nothing wrong. In fact, their cities are better than cities in the past. In the end Sunny's motivation was 'it was like that in the past'. But so what? I feel like the movie put some G4 references and just forgot to add a need for things to go back the way they were. "Why do they need magic?" I think is the question that I fail to see in the movie. So what if pegasi didn't fly? It didn't seem to bother them. It all happened just because Sunny's father got into her head that they needed to unite. But all the problems in the movie only happened because of him and Sunny. When I fist saw the movie I believed that their leaders profited, somehow, of that fear. That, maybe, cause caused suffering with it, but turned out that they were just as clueless as the others and Phyllis' factory was just great and nobody complained. Nobody complained of the royals being the only ones that could fly. And the unicorns seemed to be living just fine in their forest. It seems everything happened because Argyle had a weird fixation with the past and there was nothing wrong with the present. What did I miss?

I notice a few people I know stopped watching because of season nine. What did it in for you?

Thank you for sharing this. When I saw the tree in the movie I thought of the Tree of Harmony. But it is not crystal so I thought it was just a random landmark for Sunny to recognize from the map.

I imagine we'll get answers to those in the coming series. Just with that they have material for seasons if they want to explore it.

I have a good one. What do you think? The way Sunny and the others tried combining the crystals only to realize that 'it' wasn't about the crystals, but about the pony races, is a beautiful rethread of Twilight realizing something similar about the Elements of Harmony and her new friends.