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Sunny Fox

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  1. Sunny Fox

    Jack's Back! (Episode XCII)

    By Sunny Fox,


    Samurai Jack Final Season
    Very recently in a close-by land...A wish really did come true... Yes, cartoon fans, Samurai Jack is back on the grid! A mere 13 years after the series was left in limbo, a final ten-part conclusion is airing. Jack's back, babe! And he is sporting a new beard, a new ride and a new attitude. It's beau coup cuckoo, babe! Skeeeee-dee-bab-bab-boo! (That's scat speak for SPOILERS AHEAD, YO! - and those spoilers will cover more than just the first episode - you've been warned!)
    What Happens
    The first episode of the new season begins with a trio of aliens (rather cute anthropomorphic dog-ant hybrids of some sort) running from Aku's minions. The three (either a mother, daughter and babe-in-arms, or a big sister, little sister, and a babe-in-arms, or some combination of those - does it really matter?) are quickly surrounded by the robotic bugs. Thinking this the end of the line for them, the two eldest each give a final message of "I <3 you", using their antennae to spell it out. All of a sudden a warrior in samurai armour riding a motorcycle appears and quickly lays waste to the robotic bugs, using spiked wheels, a staff/spear/trident thingie and even various guns. During the fight, his mask gets destroyed, revealing a familiar face with a distinctly unfamiliar amount of facial hair. "Jack"   "?" signals the middle child. After defeating the final attacker, the Jack rides off wordlessly, with the grateful middle sister signalling "Thank you!" to him as he leaves.
    The intro plays... we get a voice over from Jack (Phil LaMarr reprising his role as the eponymous samurai) stating that "Fifty years have passed..." He also mentions that he has found that he is not aging and expresses his despair that Aku is choking the past, present and future. Despite the bleak overtones, Jack's final words show he is still determined to succeed... "Got to get back... back to the past... Samurai Jack!"
    The new season wastes exactly zero time in clarifying that it aims to be far darker than previous seasons, with a silhouetted scene of a woman crying out in the throes of childbirth. As each of the seven children is born, they are held up by the Cult of Aku and then placed on a altar. The high priestess (also the new mother of the seven - how she can bare to stand up and then doesn't die from blood loss, I have no idea) pledges the seven daughters to Aku's service - specifically to kill Jack, thereby succeeding where all others have failed.
    The next scene is Jack riding through a bleak desert (no symbolism there, no indeedy) and then finding himself in the Running of the Leaves.

    Shouldn't that involve actual running?
    He sees a column of smoke in the distance, but decides to ignore it. He comes upon a stream, and refreshes himself. He is soon disturbed by visions of his father, mother and his people, crying out to him and asking why he never returned to save them from Aku; accusing him of leaving them to die. He then sees a mysterious ghostly apparition of a warrior on horseback wearing samurai armour, which finally scares him enough to run towards the smoke. Stopping to make camp, Jack finds the visions returning in even greater force when he rests, pushing him to make haste.
    In an odd example of Time Dilation Story-telling, we see the Daughters of Aku training as they grow from toddlers to young adulthood. One of them in particular (named Ashi) stands out... first by making a mistake during the martial arts training (and being told that one mistake = death), then by sneaking away to gape at the beauty of the world outside their conclave enclave cave while the others face off an Amazonian fighter of their order (which scene incidentally provides us with the central tenet of the Daughters' training and indoctrination: Aku is a powerful and beneficent creator and the Samurai is an evil monster who seeks to desecrate what Aku has created - the jury's still out on whether the Cult as a whole believes this, or if it's just a convenient way of instilling a wish for Jack's demise into the Daughters). Later on, a teenage Ashi almost falls off a pillar, just managing to hold on with one hand. Another sister attempts to help her, but is stopped by the High Priestess, who states that "the weak have no place with Aku". She then grinds her staff on Ashi's hand and demands "Are you weak?!"... to which Ashi gives a kiai yell and then regains her footing and pushes on... to the approval of the HP.
    Back in modern day, Jack finally reaches the smoke, and finds an entire village (more like a city) in ruins, its now-dead inhabitants sprawled everywhere. As the smoke clears, the perpetrator is revealed... a robotic assassin who introduces himself as Scaramouch the Merciless (plus a tithe of titles too tiring to type). He exhorts Jack to take out his ka-ray-zee sword, and is delighted to discover that Jack no longer has his sword... a quick flashback reveals that it fell into a pit (presumably) many years ago. Scaramouch attempts to contact Aku via phone to relay this vital info, but Jack puts the kibosh on that by throwing a kunai at the phone and then firing a few Consecutive Normal Punches at Scaramouch's face. Unfortunately, Jack is not Saitama, and Scaramouch manages to recover and gain some distance.
    Scaramouch uses his magic flute to animate the rubble into a golem to attack Jack. Jack defeats the golem but then starts hallucinating starving children pleading for him to help them, prompting Scaramouch to observe that he's gone beau coup cuckoo. Scaramouch sends some rocks flying at Jack, inadvertently snapping him out of his reverie. This time, Jack manages to destroy the flute. Scaramouch is not particularly put out, using his scatting powers to remote control his scimitar and pulling out a "tuning fork" sword - anything it hits soon explodes. This causes one of Jack's daggers to blow up. Scaramouch declares "No one plays the blades like I do... NO ONE!" and sends his scimitar at Jack again. Elegantly dodging the attack, Jack allows Scaramouch to hit his final remaining dagger three times... and pause... (kidney punch!) Scaramouch declares it's been fun, but the outcome of the fight is clear... Jack's going to lose and die... until Jack nonchalantly throws the dagger at Scaramouch just as it explodes. This gives Jack the opening to cut Scaramouch in twain with his own scimitar. Scaramouch declares "th-th-th-the-the... that's all folks!" before exploding. Jack takes the tuning fork sword and strides off, once more victorious.
    Next we switch tracks to the Daughters as their final trial is at hand. The seven climb a spire, fighting off the best fighters of the Cult. Ashi dodges a few arrows, and uses one to stab the archer in the eye, before stealing her bow and shooting two of the Cultists her sisters are facing, also in the eye. Both turn and mutter "Ashi." (The Daughters do, I mean, not the Cultists, who are in fact dead now.) All seven make it to the top, to be greeted by the High Priestess, who declares their training complete and them ready...  "You are Seven... but now you wear the face of One... One Purpose, for which you were born... to kill THE SAMURAI!" They exit the temple and WATCH OUT! Gotta get back, back to the past... Samurai Jack!
    Thoughts on the Episode
    Hmm, let me guess which of the Seven Daughters of Aku is going to feature most heavily from here on out... it's got to be... Grumpy! Oh, wait, that's one of the seven dwarfs... my bad. I doubt I'd have been hailed as any kind of seer for predicting that she would become one of the central characters this season (since she does). More on that later. The whole concept of the Daughters, from the depiction of their birth with attendant screams of birthing pain, to their brutal training regime, to their final violent test of readiness, highlights that the new season is going to be far darker and bloodier than previous... and I say, bring it on! Not to mention that their tight-fitting catsuits really accentuate their, um... skills.
    Jack himself is quite understandably having difficulty after fifty years of non-stop wandering the land, not even aging; a side effect of being flung into the future, it seems. The loss of his sword, being in itself a massive development, has forced him to update his armoury and adopt the use of guns (Holy Sidearms, Batman!) Then there's the hallucinations - his people alternately drowning in streams, burning alive, children begging them to save him, "have you forgotten?", "why have you forsaken us?" and all the rest... understandable manifestations of his guilt, although pretty disturbing to watch. And we haven't even met HalluciJack yet! Although we do first see the Samurai Apparition in this episodes. Some fans think this ghost represents someone Jack fought in the past and now wishes to escape. I'm more of the opinion that the Apparition represents Jack's final "solution" - killing himself and joining his ancestors. Which is really kind of messed up, now that I think about. Where there's life, there's hope, but Jack definitely is struggling with finding the will to keep going. Small prediction here: Jack will get his sword back - it is still the only thing that can actually defeat Aku. Unless he finds some other way, but if he hasn't managed to do so in 50 years... I also think that Ashi will help him to do it, maybe sacrificing herself in the process.
    Moving on to the villain of the first episode (the Daughters don't count): Scaramouch the Merciless, babe!

    "Hiya, Jack, baby, welcome to Scatman's World!"
    This guy is just a lot of fun, combining over the top theatrics with a pretty BA skillset. He also has a bit of hidden pride, seen when he declares "No one dances the blades like I do, babe. NO ONE!" while giving Jack a death glare, right before going back to Affably Evil scatting. His weapons of choice all fit right in with his theme of musical assassin - a scimitar he can control by scatting, which is heavy enough that Jack himself has to drag it along the ground, a pipe that can control the debris around him and even form it into attack monsters, and finally that sword that sets up a resonance on anything non-organic, causing it to shatter explosively. Although perhaps he is not as valuable to Aku as he suspects, since Aku doesn't recognize him over the phone. Despite being quite fun to watch, he is totally a bad dude, and Jack's fully justified in ending him for killing an entire village just to draw Jack out.
    The fight itself is pretty spectacular, demonstrating that while Jack may have lost his sword, he hasn't lost his skills. In the end, Jack doesn't even really seem to be pushed to his limits. Without his PTSD getting in the way, it would have been even more one-sided. The way he simply tosses his final dagger as an improvised hand grenade is not only made awesome by his sheer coolness, but also demonstrates that he has brains as well as brawn... although, that was never really in doubt for anyone who knows about the previous seasons.
    A quick mention of the animation - gorgeous as always! Just looking at some of the establishing shots of the landscape, I could weep for their sheer beauty. And the action is wonderfully animated too. This is currently my desktop background:

    So the final season of Samurai Jack is at long, long last under way. It hasn't disappointed me yet, 4 episodes into its 10 episode run, and I don't expect it will. What do you think of the continuation? (Not a reboot, thank Odin, Ra and Vishnu!) If you like, leave comments below and WATCH OUT! for my next review of Samurai Jack season 5, babe!

     
     
     
  2. Sunny Fox
    Let's face it.... there are two songs from Rainbow Rocks, (one sung by RD and one sung by ... ugh... Trixie) that are pretty pedestrian, compared to such gems as "Welcome to the Show" and "Let's Have a Battle". Neither RD nor Trixie are exactly my favorite characters, and their respective songs don't do them any real favours in that respect.
    But for this entry, I'll focus on Trixie's "boast song". And it contains this wonderful line:
    "You're from the past, I'm from the Space Age..."
    Ummm.... Trixie, darling... you do realize the Space Age started in 1957,right? So I don't know quite what you're trying to get across here.
    Yeah, this entry is pretty thin on content... Oh well, stay sunny side up anyway...
  3. Sunny Fox
    Long ago, when I was a little pony, things were very different here in Ponyville… 'cause there was. No. Ponyville! – Granny Smith
    Today’s review is for an episode that reminds us all that the older folks in our life deserve a great deal of respect, no matter how strange their ways may seem to us.
    It’s late at night at Sweet Apple Acres, and the timber wolves begin to howl. Granny Smith is outside, banging pots together and shouting about how the Zap Apples are a-coming. This delights the rest of the Apples, particularly Apple Bloom, who is finally old enough to help her granny make Zap Apple Jam.
    The following day, the family starts making preparations for the coming Zap Apple Harvest, and many of these preparations require somewhat… odd steps to be taken. One such step is for Granny Smith and Apple Bloom in matching bunny costumes to leap over watering cans while singing the Alphabet Song.
    Diamond Tiara and her father Filthy Rich arrive at the farm to negotiate the rights of selling the first hundred jars of Zap Apple Jam, and DT starts smirking at seeing the rather idiosyncratic process in progress. She offers some faked sympathy for Apple Bloom having to deal with such apparently senile antics from her Granny. While Apple Bloom hadn’t considered her granny’s behaviour strange before, she certainly does from that point on.
    A newly-embarrassed Apple Bloom accompanies Granny Smith on a shopping expedition, and mortification sets in at seeing her talking to the bees, biting the cooking wares, calling her by pet names etc. Even worse, both DT and Silver Spoon are present, adding to the shame.
    At school the following day, Apple Bloom is still moping, while Filthy Rich is making a presentation for Family Appreciation Day, talking about how his shop cornered the market and made him… well, Filthy Rich, of course. Most of the class (even Silver Spoon) is bored to the point of stupification, and Sweetie Belle is fast asleep, but Diamond Tiara is perfectly attentive. It’s the first time she’s been seen smiling a purely joyful smile without any hint of mockery or cruelty, and it’s when I first considered that there might be some redeeming qualities to the here-to-fore unremittingly negatively portrayed little filly.

    She loves her daddy, she can’t be all bad.
    After Cheerilee thanks Filthy Rich for his talk, she checks to see who the next student due to bring in a family member is. Of course, it’s Apple Bloom. She explains that both Big MacIntosh and Applejack will be busy with the harvest, since the Zap Apples will disappear if not picked quickly enough, and won’t be available. Diamond Tiara, in a return to form, mentions that Granny Smith will be available, as she is certain that it’ll result in yet more embarrassment for Apple Bloom. So is Apple Bloom.
    As the weekend passes, the Zap Apples gradually mature. The CMC try various methods of avoiding having Granny Smith speak at school, including faking an illness for AB, impersonating Granny during her nap to cancel her appointment with Cheerilee, and even trying to pick the apples off the trees prematurely.

    Sweetie Bot enacting Bucking Protocol 11.802B…

    ACCESS DENIED!
    Every attempt fails. Even sending Granny Smith out of town to visit Uncle Apple Strudel just ends with both of them showing up at the school.

    Ha ha! The senility has been doubled!
    Just as Apple Bloom resigns herself to the knowledge that her life is destined to be an endless succession of humiliation, Granny Smith starts to speak of a time when Ponyville wasn’t even on the map. Here the story shifts to a sepia-toned historical flashback.
    We see Granny Smith as a cute little filly, traveling across Equestria with her family of seed collectors. They eventually travel to an old timey Canterlot and meet the ever youthful Princess Celestia, the most regal of ponies, who sees how worn out they are and gives them a plot of land near the Everfree Forest, where they decide to settle and plant an orchard.
    A quick comment here: many fans criticized Celestia for reckless endangerment for putting them so close to the Forest, but Granny Smith does mention that it was made clear that they should stay out of it, so I disagree there. Most of the dangerous critters stay in the forest anyway. Even the parasprite from Swarm of the Century was found very close to the edge of the forest. If Fluttershy hadn’t brought it into town, there would have been no problem. But to continue...
    However, since the orchards they planted would take time to grow, there was a problem with getting enough food. Driven by hunger, Granny Smith decides to go alone into the Forest to find food. She eventually comes across the Zap Apple trees, but after getting a few of the fruit packed away, she is chased out of the Forest by the timber wolves. Luckily, she finds a pot to bang, scaring the wolves away.
    The Zap Apple seeds, once planted, sprout immediately into full grown trees, solving the food shortage. The Smith family learned about the magical ways of the trees, and Granny Smith also learned that there were special rules for making the Zap Apple jam. All her silly methods actually turned out to be the result of a long process of trial and error, and not a sign of senility, after all. Attracted by the Zap Apple jam, more ponies came to settle, and eventually founded Ponyville.
    Back in the present, Granny Smith’s story is applauded by the youngsters, starting with Silver Spoon of all ponies. This does not please Diamond Tiara, who exclaims that Granny Smith is “just a kooky old lady”. Apple Bloom immediately jumps to her Granny’s defense, saying she’s the most amazing pony in Ponyville, and even apologizes for not realizing it earlier. The story ends happily for everyone except DT, who is forced by her father to put on a bunny suit and join the others in jumping over the water cans.
     
    Thoughts on the Episode
    The best part of this episode is the moral: respect your elders. The way it’s brought across is a little esoteric, but this is a magical land of talking equines, after all. It’s also a great exercise in world building, explaining the origins of Ponyville itself, and adding to the lore of the world with the Zap Apples.
    As I stated above, this episode first hints that Diamond Tiara can be a better pony that we’re usually shown, she looks really cute when she genuinely smiles. Silver Spoon also gets a bit of credit, since she was the first to begin the applause after Granny’s story. We even get a bit of an insight into Filthy Rich. Although there it’s a bit more ambiguous… did he punish Diamond Tiara because he is a responsible parent, or did he do so just to keep up appearances and avoid damage to his reputation? Or maybe a bit of both. Apart from his frowns whenever someone calls him by his first name (which is understandable, all things considered) he seems a pretty decent pony, so I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
    The main weakness in this episode is the fridge logic it generates. It was stated in Winter Wrap-Up that Ponyville hasn’t used magic to clear up winter for hundreds of years, and it hardly seems likely that Granny Smith is as old as a few centuries.
    The “failure is the only option” aspect of the plot is a little forced, culminating in the mother of all coincidences, with Uncle Apple Strudel waiting at the station for Granny Smith, but as this is kind of a standard plot in TV shows, it’s not a major gripe.
    Highlights/Quotes
    Granny Smith: Here, take this.
    <hands Apple Bloom a branch and twigs>
    Apple Bloom: Is this one of your gazillion secret herbal ingredients for the Zap Apple Jam?
    Granny Smith: That there’s a broom. Now get sweeping, pipsqueak!
    Apple Bloom in a bunny suit. Her ears even react with her emotions!
    The scene with Cheerilee visiting the farm is wonderful, especially when Granny wakes up and assures the rather confused teacher that she will be attending after all. Watch the movements of her still-CMC-controlled limbs: she ends up patting Cheerilee on the head and squishing her cheek before slowly being pulled up towards the second story. It makes me chuckle every time I see it.
    Granny’s story is pretty cool, and as stated before, Silver Spoon begins the applause.
     
    Pros: A great moral for kids. Some funny events. Silver Spoon gets a pet the dog moment.
    Cons: A few too many coincidences. Some of what is shown here contradicts previously established information.
     
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!
    Next episode, we’ll move from a story about the previous generation to a story about the next generation. I wonder: will my review engage you? I’ll do my best to make it so. Until then, feel free to comment, compliment or complain, and stay on the sunny side!
  4. Sunny Fox
    Hold on to your hooves! I am just about to be brilliant! – Chancellor Puddinghead (Pinkie Pie)
    Apart from the characters, one of the biggest draws of this show is the intriguing world of Equestria itself. In this episode, we’ll get to learn a bit more about the history of this place of wonder, magic and pastel-coloured ponies.
     
    Summary
    The Mane Six (and STEVEN! I mean, Spike) are in Canterlot to put on a play about the founding of Equestria. As they head to the Palace, they play a game of I Spy, although it seems that ponies don’t actually know how the game is supposed to work, instead just shouting out things they can see. As they are donning their costumes, a few squabbles mar the group’s usual harmony, exacerbated by an open window letting in frigid air from the blizzard raging outside.

    You thought I was going to put some kind of Frozen reference here, didn’t you?
    A somewhat beleaguered Spike is serving as narrator to a packed audience of ponies. He sets the scene as some number of years BC (Before Celestia) in a land that is close to, yet is not Equestria. In this age, the Earth Ponies still grow the food, which they provide to both the Pegasuseseseses (Yes, I stole that joke from Pinkie and no, I’m not sorry about it) and the unicorns in exchange for controlled weather and a basic day / night cycle respectively. However, despite this cozy arrangement, the three tribes view each other with animosity and hatred.
    Unbeknownst to the three tribes, their mutual ill-feeling has attracted some weird flying horse spirit thingies, which create a protracted blizzard that threatens to starve / freeze them all to death. They set up a summit between the tribe leaders: Princess Platinum for the unicorns on behalf of her father, played by Rarity (the princess, not the father); Commander Hurricane of the Spartanesque pegasus race, played by Rainbow; and Chancellor Puddinghead of the earth ponies, played by Pinkie Pie.
    The summit fails as each leader is unable to resist blaming the other races for the current predicament instead of trying to work out a solution. They each return to their associated underling: Clover the Clever (Twilight), Private Pansy (Fluttershy – a flower, not a tree, but close enough) and Smart Cookie (AJ) and declare an intention to break away from the other tribes and found a new land.
    After some shenanigans, each leader finds Equestria and tries to claim it for their tribe, only to find the others there too. As they argue, the Windigos and their blizzard catch up to them, forcing them all to take shelter in a nearby cave. The close proximity only fuels their feud, and eventually the three leaders are frozen mid-rant (a power I wish I had, sometimes). This leaves their three assistants alone against the Windigos, whom Clover the Clever recognizes from a description given to her by a certain wizardly unicorn of some renown.
    As the ice encroaches on them, the three find that they don’t share the dislike of the others that their leaders have, and forge a friendship, just as they too are covered by ice. Suddenly, magical fire appears from Clover’s horn. It unfreezes the three of them, and then immolates the Windigos in the most graphic manner, marking the first onscreen casualties of the show… if you consider the Windigos alive in the first place, of course. With the Windigos gone, the leaders unfreeze and have a change of heart, deciding to live in harmony from this time forth in their newly minted land of Equestria.
    Back in the modern day, the Mane Six finish the play with a song, the audience joining in. As they congratulate each other backstage, the window flies open again, provoking another round of arguing. This is quickly ended when they hear a Windigo in the distance, reminding them of the perils of disharmony. Rainbow agrees to close the window, and everypony laughs as the Hearth’s Warming Fire burns brightly in the night.
     
    Thoughts on the Episode
    I do love that world building.
    The most interesting part of this episode is to me is the dual nature of the narrative. In some parts, it’s clearly a play performed by the Mane Six, with stage props and painted scenery, while at other times it seems to be the actual historical events. Switching back and forth between the two is a very interesting way of telling the story, somewhat more ambitious than simply showing flashbacks, which is as far as previous episodes ever went. There’s even a rather meta joke thrown in, where Private Pansy declares “I can see my [Fluttershy’s] future house from here” while in the historical context, blurring that line just slightly.
    When this episode aired, there was quite a debate over the flag seen at the end having a motif of the two Royal Sisters, who it was declared earlier were not yet in power. I don’t really understand why it’s a difficulty: you can also see painted scenery in the background, so it’s the play context we’re dealing with here, making that flag a mere modern prop. Sometimes this fandom can come up with some really convoluted theories to explain something that is really rather simple.
    It’s interesting that Starswirl the Bearded was name-dropped as being a mentor of Clover the Clever. Quite how that ties into the timeline and the eventual arrival of the Royal Pony Sisters is currently unknown (and please, let’s not involve the comics in this discussion). Although I doubt the historical personages actually looked like the Mane Six, it’s possible that Clover the Clever is an ancestor to Twilight herself, and the fire produced by the three assistants is an early version of the Elements of Harmony. However, I find it unlikely that we’ll ever get straight answers to these questions, given that it’s been three seasons and the writers are all different these days. C’est la vie…
    Ultimately, there’s not much more to say about this episode. As mentioned earlier, it’s a little disturbing to see the Windigos pretty much burn to death on-screen, as they do seem to be experiencing pain. They’re evil spirits, fair enough, but still, it’s quite graphic for a family show like this. There are no real flaws in the story itself that I think it can be marked down on, but I don’t think it does enough right to give it full marks.
     
    Pros: World building. The framing for the narrative is ambitious and well done. A good song.
    Cons: There are many unanswered questions, and presumably they will remain so. A rather disturbing “death” for the Windigos. That’s not how “I Spy” is supposed to be played.
     
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!
    Here endeth the lesson… feel free to comment below if you think I missed anything in this episode. It looks like the next couple of episodes are going to be pretty family based, with both the older and the next generations getting their turn in the spotlight, and I’ll be there to tell you what you should I think about it. Until then, take care and stay on the sunny side!
  5. Sunny Fox
    Spike WANT! – Spike
    Sparity doesn’t really get much focus in the show (although the same can’t be said of the fandom) but in this episode it does come into play. So take a seat (on second thought, leave the seat, but sit down in it) and we’ll dive right in.
     
    Summary
    It’s Reshelving Day at the Golden Oak Library, and Twilight wants no distractions. Unfortunately, it seems at least two of her friends didn’t get the memo: Spike, giggling to himself about a delicious Fire Ruby he has been saving for his upcoming birthday, and Rarity, who has come to the library to get a book on ruffled taffeta capes. Nice Sorcerer’s Apprentice musical reference, there.
    Upon seeing the Fire Ruby, Rarity is beside herself with admiration. Ha! I would never let the sight of something beautiful distract me from my goal, I’m focused, I’m…

    Um… what was I saying, again?
    Rarity gets an unpleasant surprise when she hears that Spike intends to eat the jewel as a snack, but after seeing her gush over how lovely it is, Spike decides he’d rather give it to her. A surprised and delighted Rarity thanks him profusely and gives him a smooch on the cheek before leaving. Even Twilight comments on how generous a gift it was, and Spike promises never to wash his cheek again.
    We cut to Spike’s birthday party a week later, and we see that Spike’s kept to his word and has a rather grimy cheek as a result. Twilight decides the dirt has got to go, and uses her teleportation on Spike to try to pull him close enough to get it gone.



    I’ve heard of a running gag, but this is ridiculous!
    The impasse is ended decisively when Pinkie somehow gets teleported in instead. Her arrival allows Twilight to close the distance and sanitize the cheek area. Meanwhile, rest of the Mane Six have arrived with presents, leaving Spike rather bewildered, since he usually only gets one present, from Twilight, and you have one guess what that always turns out to be. Twilight retreats with a sheepish grin. Rarity is also in attendance, having set the Fire Ruby into a golden choker, and again thanking Spike for the gift. She calls it the most generous gift she has ever received, and that it’s inspired her to make capes for all her friends.
    Spike hears from Pinkie that the Cakes have something for him as well, and he heads to Sugarcube Corner to get it – a sapphire cupcake. Musing on how nice it is to get non-book presents on one’s birthday, Spike runs right into Cheerilee returning from a shopping trip. After apologizing, and helping Cheerilee to gather her spilled goods, Spike explains that it’s his birthday, leading Cheerilee to give him a hat for her present.
    Hitting on a new strategy to gain more stuff, Spike uses the fact that it’s his birthday as a tool to part ponies from their things, getting more demanding as he goes.

    I guess you could call him a “smooth criminal”?  YEEAAA… no.
    Twilight stops him, but only briefly: as soon as her back is turned, he has turned back to gathering. And he’s acting a bit more reptilian than usual…
    The next morning, Twilight finds Spike buried under a pile of ill-gotten gains, and a lot bigger, to her consternation. A visit to a pony pediatrician and then the local veterinarian yield no answers. Oddly, Spike is more annoyed by the pediatrician babying him than by the vet treating him like a dog… maybe the writers of Equestria Girls took note? A visit to Zecora finally gets results – Spike is growing up because he is hoarding stuff, a natural trait of dragons, it seems. Unfortunately, it’s a vicious cycle: the more he hoards, the bigger and greedier he gets. (The most popular fan theory is that dragon mothers carefully control this behaviour in their kids in order to avoid what is happening to Spike.) During the explanation, Spike takes all of Zecora's things and books it.
    By the time Twilight finds her way back to town, and locates Spike, he is already beyond reasoning, even trying to take Scootaloo’s scooter, and has descended into Hulk speak, such as demonstrated in this entry’s quote above. As Spike’s rampage continues, Applejack gets roped in to help, much to Dash’s amusement.

    "Um... Should I leave you two alone?"
    Fluttershy and Pinkie are pulled in, too, and finally, the now gigantic Spike grabs Rarity herself in a reference to King Kong, no less.
    Ponyville panics as air raid sirens blear and a few ponies have near misses with Spike’s stomping. Seeking larger and larger containers for his booty (I can weirdly relate) Spike steals the watertower, dropping a wave of water onto Ponyville. Fluttershy and Rainbow try to talk Spike into dropping Rarity, but instead he uses his tail to flail at them, eventually trapping them in Rarity’s ruffled taffeta cape, which tears off and dunks them into the local stream.
    The Wonderbolts arrive, driving Spike out of town and up the mountainside first introduced in Dragonshy. He puts all his hoarded items into a cave and then uses the watertower to trap the Wonderbolts, letting out a roar of triumph. Rarity is unimpressed, however, telling him off for (among other things) ruining her cape. This reveals her Fire Ruby, and when she sees that he’s noticed it, refuses to give it to him, because it’s a present from her friend Spikey-Wikey. However, the sight of the Ruby brings back the memory of Spike’s generosity in giving it to her, and undoes the whole transformation – revealing that the rampaging dragon is none other than Spike, but also leaving the two of them in midair. Cartoon physics, what’re ya gonna do?
    As they plummet, Rainbow and Flutters grab the torn bit of cape and fly towards them in a race against gravity. Meanwhile, Spike begins to confess his crush to Rarity but she stops him with a gentle hoof to his lips – she already knows what he wants to say. They share a touching moment of understanding… and then die on impact with the ground… Nah, I’m just kidding.   Of course Rainbow and Fluttershy catch them, and lower them safely to solid ground.
    Spike contemplates the wreckage of the town, and is depressed at what he caused… but Rarity gives him a pep talk, saying that he managed to stop himself in the end, and that he’s her hero, even giving him another smooch. A little later, Spike sends a Letter to Celestia to tell her that he has learned that while it’s good to get presents, the greater joy is in giving gifts to others, while Rarity gives the others their completed capes. The episode irises out on the framed kiss mark on Spike’s cheek… m’wah!
     
    Thoughts on the Episode
    Let me get this part out of the way. Rarity obtaining Spike’s Fire Ruby is NOT an act of greed on her part. I’ve made this argument when looking at Rarity’s flaws, so I’m disinclined to repeat it here. Feel free to follow the link if you need further convincing, but if anyone were to mention that event as an example of Rarity being greedy or selfish, I can put it no more bluntly: that person is wrong. Objectively wrong. (And I don’t say that very often.) Moving on.
    There’s quite a bit of food for thought in this episode, as it relates to Spike. We’ve seen a magically aged Spike in Season 1, and this form doesn’t match that one at all. This is apparently a natural version of growing up for dragons, so the form shown in this episode is probably the “correct” one. One thing the forms agree on, though, is that even as an adult, Spike has no wings. He’s a wingless dragon. That theory was pretty much demonstrated as true if you look for the clues in that S1 episode itself...

    ...but at least this gains us some more confirmation.
    There’s humour and to spare here. From the visual gags such as Pinkie being teleported in instead of Spike; to the dialogue, such as the “assaulting him with cake” line; to even some more medium aware jokes like the close focus on Twilight and Zecora’s faces in their discussion, which allows Spike to ransack the hut. There is plenty to laugh at. Yet there is still excellent action, and some really touching moments. It’s the great balance of all these different emotional elements that really make this one for the record books.
    The characters are also perfectly represented, with Twilight being a firm but caring disciplinarian, Pinkie being funny and energetic, but not overbearingly so, and Fluttershy and Rainbow combo-pleading-demanding Spike to drop Rarity. There’s also Rarity herself, determined to share the generosity that was shown to her by giving something to her friends.
    Of course, no review of this episode would be complete without a discussion of Spike’s midair confession. It’s a pretty clear homage to a scene in Spirited Away, even down to the tears “falling up”. It’s also one of the few moments where Spike’s crush on Rarity is given more attention than a quick joke here and there. And wow, does it tug on the heartstrings. It confirms that Rarity is aware of Spike’s feelings, even if she perhaps can’t answer them. As I’ve surmised before, she might be avoiding dealing with it directly in order to protect Spike’s emotions from her inevitable rejection. If one wishes to view that in a positive or negative light, that’s a personal choice. I think she’s doing it for good reasons, not to take advantage of Spike, but that’s just me. This whole confession scene is also a bit of a triumph for Fluttershy and Rainbow, for the former showing she can keep up with Dash when motivated, and for the latter demonstrating her loyalty, speed and quick thinking. That this touching moment leads to no real change in the status quo is more a criticism of later episodes than something that should be used to mark this one down.
    It’s interesting that they showed Spike’s memory of gifting the Fire Ruby as different from the earlier scene, because it’s actually very true to life. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your memory of any one event probably doesn’t mesh particularly well with what actually happened. All memories are more similar to a reconstructed dream of the event than to an objective video record. Odd but true. And the further back the memory lies, the more lies the memory backs. Psychology is so fascinating. But I’m getting off topic.
    If there is anything of a flaw in this episode, it’s that Spike’s rampage doesn’t really have any consequences, considering the huge amount of damage caused. Even though Rarity does try to put the best spin on it she can, the truth is Spike very nearly killed ponies, and did cause enough damage that it would be a very taxing thing to fix. A more complete acknowledgement of this would have been a good move. One other gripe could be that the moral, while a good one, seems a bit esoteric. “Tis better to give than to receive”… because receiving things makes you grow to gigantic size and steal things, and giving things away puts things right?
    Overall, though, there’s just not much wrong with this episode. I’m sad Junebug doesn’t get any attention, though.
     
    Highlights/Quotes
    At the party
    Rainbow: Don’t you know you get presents on your birthday?
    Spike: Well, this the first birthday I’ve had in Ponyville. I usually get just one present. <Noticeably less than enthusiastic> From Twilight. <Even less so> A book.
    <A sheepishly grinning Twilight backs away while hiding a covered book behind her back as a bleating SFX plays>
    Spike raids Sugarcube Corner
    Twilight: Pinkie, stop giving him cake!
    Pinkie: I’m not giving him cake! I’m ASSAULTING him with cake!
    <Spike grabs all the cakes>
    Pinkie: HOW DARE YOU TAKE THE CAKE!?
    Rarity takes the gigantic rampaging dragon to task, despite being in its clutches
    Rarity: Oh, be quiet. You've got nothing to be proud of. You steal everypony's things, terrorize the town, and use me as a weapon against my own friends! Which, as horrible as it is, I can almost understand because you're a dragon and all. But this! <shows him her cape> This is a crime against fashion!
    <Bonus points for Large!Spike making a "blah blah blah" motion with his claw as she's speaking>
    The Confession Scene. No more need be said.
     
    Pros: One of the best balances of humour, heartwarming and hijinks yet produced by the show; every character is given the respect they deserve; Sparity, while not explored, is acknowledged; good references.
    Cons: The moral is somewhat oddly presented; there are no consequences for Spike’s rampage.
     
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!
    Next time on Dragonball Z Sunny Fox Reviews Season 2, we can look forward to getting some of that good world-building. Until then, as always, stay on the sunny side of life.
  6. Sunny Fox
    What croquet mallet? – Rarity
    I love Rarity but this episode really tries its hardest to make me dislike her. I mean love as a character, not romantically – whatever floats your boat, but that’s just not my kind of thing. But in the words of the Cat!Inquisitor, “This is your judgement day, bud. I gotta be cruel. There can’t be no favours.” Enough stalling, let’s do this.
    Summary
    Rarity is in Canterlot to buy fabric, and is staying at the Castle as a guest of Princess Celestia by way of Twilight’s request. She decides that making Twilight a dress for her upcoming birthday party would be the perfect way to thank her. She has a chance encounter with a pair of Canterlot socialites, Jet Set and Upper Crust, who admiringly ask about her hat. When she is outed as being from Ponyville, the two retract their approval and insult Rarity as being “country”, before sticking their noses in the air and leaving. This snub spurs Rarity to show her class by making Twilight’s dress super fancy and something “worthy of Canterlot”.
    On her way back to her apartment with necessary supplies, she literally runs into a pony of very high social standing named Fancy Pants.

    He doesn’t even wear pants!
    Stammering apologies, Rarity lets slip that she is a guest of the Princess, which Fancy Pants thinks makes her worthy of his attentions, and he invites her to join him in his VIP (Very Important Pony) box at the Wonderbolts Derby. After a brief internal debate about whether to prioritize the social boost spending time with FP will bring, or the time needed to make Twilight’s elaborate dress, she chooses the former.
    Joining FP are other important high society ponies, who are shocked to hear her contradict him in who is most likely to win the Derby. As it turns out, Rarity’s inside knowledge of the Wonderbolts, which of course comes from Rainbow Dash, means her prediction is vindicated. This further impresses FP and his hangers on. I like this scene for its treatment of both Rarity and Fancy Pants. First, it shows Rarity is not afraid to speak her mind, and second, it shows FP is quite gracious when contradicted and proven wrong. As a bonus, it’s the first time Fleetfoot is named.
    Unfortunately, this is almost immediately followed by Rarity lying about who Rainbow Dash is, saying she’s the Wonderbolts’ trainer. This is bad because, well, lying is wrong, and inexcusable, even for one’s favourite pony. Secondly, it’s a lie that makes no sense: she could just as easily told the truth. Rainbow Dash is the winner of the Best Young Flier competition, and one of the ponies who saved Equestria twice, and a pony who clearly has the ability to become a Wonderbolt herself. Which should be plenty important enough for anypony. Nice going, writer!
    Suddenly being the center of attention, Rarity is invited to various events by the socialites. She tries to refuse so as to work more on Twilight’s dress, but eventually gives in, by way of a musical montage. I love this song, Becoming Popular. I don’t care who you think is the best singer out of the Mane Six, unless you say “Kazumi Evans”, you’re simply wrong. (Okay, not really, music is very subjective… still, you can’t deny she has a lovely voice.)

    Art Gallery Rarity – the true masterpiece on display.
    Rarity, having made little progress on Twilight’s dress, is about to return home in time to finish it, when she gets a written invite to the Canterlot Garden Party, courtesy of the two snooty ponies she wasn’t important enough for before. She decides to go, despite this meaning she will miss Twilight’s birthday. She next perpetrates the biggest lie ever written in the show, claiming Opal is too sick to travel as an excuse for why she can’t be there. Despite the entertaining histrionics, this is again a lie that is pretty unnecessary, and y’know, wrong. (It might even be… badong!) The simple truth would probably have been accepted.
    Rarity is about to leave for the party when the Mane Six surprise her: they decided to move the Twilight’s birthday to Canterlot so Rarity could attend despite Opal’s condition… when they ask to see Opal, Rarity douses her with water to make her look sick, which earns her a face that promises retribution…

    Of course you realize, this means war?
    Luckily, Twilight prefers thinks the plain dress and thinks Rarity deliberately made it that way. The group head to the Canterlot Ball Room, which Pinkie has decorated using her party canon (first appearance!), since the Garden is being used for the Garden Party. As the evening proceeds, Rarity joins in the party antics of the Mane Six, but decides to try to split her time between the two parties. This leads to one of the funnier sequences in the show, plus what I consider the best visual gag ever:


    Of course, splitting her time between two parties tires her out, and she ends up being found out when she accidentally brings in a croquet mallet from outside. She tries to apologize, but Twilight still doesn’t realize she was being dishonest, and thinking of her as just being business savvy, is perfectly okay with Rarity going to the other party.
    Then disaster… Rainbow Dash suggests they all go to the other party, which they promptly do. This is probably not as presumptuous on Dash’s part as it might seem; after all, they had no idea that Rarity had been specifically invited, or that it was an exclusive party. Still, their behaviour at the party is pretty disruptive and boorish.
    Rarity tries to pretend she’s not part of their group, but when Fancy Pants asks about Twilight’s dress, the jig is up. Twilight proudly proclaims that Rarity made her dress, and she loves it. Fancy Pants asks if Rarity does know the other ponies, and she hesitates… however, seeing the dismay starting to appear on the faces of her friends, Rarity confirms that she does know them, and that she considers them wonderful ponies and wonderful friends. When Jet Set and Upper Crust deride them all as “ruffians”, they are unexpectedly defended by Fancy Pants himself, who says they are “charmingly rustic”.
    Rarity starts a Lesson Letter to Celestia, but gets to deliver it to her in person instead, saying that one is a product of where they come from, and they should always be proud of it.
    Thoughts on the Episode
    This episode is entertaining, but it really does a number on Rarity’s integrity. She tells blatant lies for her own benefit, sneaks around behinds the back of her friends, and generally behaves more like a weasel than a pony. And this is coming from ME, so you know it has to be bad! Perhaps even worse, her lies and bad behaviour are never discovered, never acknowledged or even noticed in-universe. I also feel that her treatment of Opal was reprehensible. Never mind Rainbow’s treatment of Tank; this was outright animal abuse. I can only hope Opal gave Rarity a good few bites and scratches when they got home, because they would definitely be deserved. And although she was polite to her poor, put upon bellhop, neither she nor Princess Celestia really seemed to care about his problems. The moral too pretty much comes out of nowhere, and the lesson pretty meaningless considering she spent much of the episode trying to deny her roots. Worse, she sacrificed nothing of herself to learn the lesson. Oh, and one more big flaw in the episode: No Spike! At Twilight’s birthday party! He’s not even mentioned. Not cool, writers, not cool!
    Now that I’ve fully acknowledged the bad, allow me to focus on some good. First, we see that Rarity really does have what it takes to make it in Canterlot. As in real life, making the right connections socially is an important part of making a success of your endeavours, especially in a society where status is paramount. Her ability to think on her hooves is demonstrated as well, even if it is mostly used in devious ways.
    Fancy Pants was a great character to introduce. Despite his position as an elite of Canterlot, he seems quite down-to-earth, friendly and kind. (And he has a huge… horn… wink wink, nudge nudge) He’s nowhere near humble, of course, but he still provides a wonderful contrast to Jet Set and Upper Crust. Our first view of these two is them stalking about, noses in the air. And they’re a pair of trend chasers, too. They are snobs, through and through, and give the lie to anyone who ever described Rarity as such. There’s a difference between pride and arrogance, and arrogance is needed for someone to be a snob. Despite her poor showing in other areas in this episode, at least Rarity is not anything like those two.
    Also, it should be acknowledged that she did make the right choice in the end. And she didn’t have to actually make the bad decision and then somehow make it right, as happens in some other episodes. When push came to shove, she came down on the correct side.
    I enjoyed the humour in this episode too. The two-party sequence is extremely funny, and is done with minimal dialogue, letting the visuals and facial expressions do the work of portraying the hilarity.
    Highlights/Quotes
    The song: absolutely spectacular.
    Party cannon becomes part of the canon!
    The aforementioned conga line gag. Plus Rarity absently dipping her hors d'oeuvres into the chocolate.
    It’s all in the details, Dash:
    Dash: Okay, what’s with the croquet mallet?
    Rarity (muffled): What croquet mallet?
    Dash: Duh, the one in your mouth.
    Pros: Great humour, especially visually; some nice firsts introduced in the form of FP and the party canon.
    Cons: Rarity really misbehaves and yet avoids due karma mostly through luck; a clumsy, tacked-on moral; no sign of Spike.
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!
    Woah, ironic. At any rate, I think I’ve spoken enough ill of Rarity… in the next episode, there’s a scene where I can actually defend her actions, and thus the rightful order shall be restored to the universe of this sunshine vulpine. Until then, remember that honesty is the best policy (even if you think you can get away with lying) and stay on the sunny side.
  7. Sunny Fox
    I hate being alone. – Rainbow Dash
    You know that I said this is a bad Rainbow Dash episode? Well, I take it back. It’s a bad Mane Six episode. Heck, it’s a bad Ponyvillian episode. Nopony is going to come out of this one looking good.  Let’s get this over with.
    Summary
    It’s a sunny day in Ponyville, but the local weathermare is reporting a high chance of DOOM! in the local area. Rainbow Dash helps out some of the ponies when disaster strikes, and is duly given due praise. However, she starts liking the praise a bit too much, and it starts inflating her ego. After a few too many boastful comments, the Mane Six start to get annoyed with her.
    Sometime later, a thief has apparently stolen Twilight’s balloon, and wrecked it, and is plummeting to her DOOM! while Dash delays her rescue to sign some autographs. When she does get on the case, the balloonist is instead rescued by a mysterious masked figure, leaving Dash to get tangled in the balloon. The fickle fools of the town immediately decide that this new hero is the bee’s knees, and Mayor Mare makes the new arrival eponymous. Dash is none too happy at being overshadowed.
    Over the course of the next few subjective hours of screen time, a pattern becomes evident. Dash arrives to help prevent a runaway vehicle, but fails. Mare-Do-Well pitches up and stops the cart, proving that she’s stronger than Dash (who is a Pegasus, why should she be strong at all, anyway?)
    At a construction site, a mechanical failure leads to a building falling apart. Dash’s attempt to boast is cut short by a plank flying through the air.

    Actually, I think Spiderman threw that one because Dash stole his catchphrase.
    She does manage to save one construction worker who would surely have been DOOMED by being crushed under falling bricks, but Mare-Do-Well saves the other four, by apparently being able to sense when debris is going to fall before it actually does. Not that the worker Dash saved says “thanks” or anything, the ingrate.
    Next, Rainbow sees a leak in the dam, and plugs it with a hoof… actually causing the crack to widen. Then she literally pats herself on the back, leading to the collapse she was trying to prevent.

    Quick! Get Superman to spin the earth backwards! We’ve already ripped off Batman and Spiderman, so why not?
    Mare-Do-Well saves her from the flood and magicks the rocks back into place, leaving Dash to wonder how she can compete. She tries to console herself by thinking about the fact that she can fly and Mare-Do-Well can’t… only she CAN.
    Dash sulks while the Mane Six discuss how wonderful Mare-Do-Well is: strong, fast, magical, fashionable and best of all, humble about her heroics. Dash shouts at them all and storms out, looking for something to prove she is better than Mare-Do-Well, but the DOOM! seems to be expended. Stupidity ensues, and eventually Dash gives up.

    She’s looking pretty DOOM!y… I mean, GLOOM!y.
    Things get even worse when she finds out Ponyville is giving Mare-Do-Well an award for her good deeds. Dash decides to unmask the Mare, and chases her around, eventually tracking her down and pulling off the mask to reveal Rarity. Then more Mare-Do-Wells come out and reveal themselves as the rest of the Mane Six. They were taking turns playing the Mare in order to show Dash a lesson about being a hero with humility. Dash gets the point, and this interminable episode grinds to its conclusion.
    Thoughts on the Episode
    There’s a comic in the episode discussion thread that perfectly sums up this episode’s huge fatal flaw. I’m sure you’ve already seen it. Despite the fact that sitting her down and just telling Dash that she was making too much of herself would probably have avoided this entire problem, their first reaction is to gang up on and humiliate her. The burned hoof may teach best, but you don’t go grabbing the hoof and thrusting it into the flame deliberately. There’s also not much point in having a moral of “don’t talk yourself up too much” when they were doing just that in praising Mare-Do-Well, who was them all along. One could perhaps argue that they were aware of that, but doing it purely to try to get through to Dash, but really, they could have just owned up to it right there instead of allowing Dash to leave.
    This episode doesn’t give Dash much respect either. Yes, she can be boastful, but not to that extent. And while she’s not book smart, she isn’t an idiot either. Once she saw that Mare-Do-Well had both a horn and wings, she should have immediately realized it could only be one of the Alicorn Princesses or multiple ponies sharing the wearing of the cape. The Royal Sisters are ruled out due to size, since they’re noticeably larger than most ponies and Mare-Do-Well is certainly not. That she didn’t cotton on is pretty much a middle finger to her from the writers.
    The citizens of Ponyville look pretty bad by the end, too. As soon as Mare-Do-Well makes the first rescue, they instantly forget about Dash. Even Scootaloo, who has always idolized Dash, turns on her. The construction worker whose life she saved runs off without a word of thanks, or even an acknowledgement that both of them were needed for the rescue. The whole town comes across as fickle and forgetful.
    Is there anything good to be had here? Maybe one or two of the jokes can get a slight chuckle. There’s also some continuity nods here and there, like Pinkie Sense playing a role in the construction site scene. The design of the Mare-Do-Well costume is pretty cool, despite being lifted from Batman. On the whole, though, this episode is just a chore to sit through, and it’s probably worse for Dash’s fans on account of how she gets treated… by the other characters and by the writers.
    Quotes (There are no highlights)
    Twilight: Call me silly, but I think all this attention might be going to Rainbow’s head…
    Pinkie: I think you may be right, Silly.
    Pros: Maybe one or two gags worthy of a smile; Pinkie Sense gets a reference.
    Cons: Everypony gets a slap in the face; utterly predictable; a botched moral; both Marvel and DC should sue for copyright infringement.
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the mooooon!
    Well, thank Celestia that’s done. After two episodes of Dash, the next one will focus on Rarity, with some bad behaviour on the part of my favorite fashionista pony. Hey, she’s not perfect, I can admit that.  Tune in next time, same website, same blog, and as always, stay on the sunny side.
  8. Sunny Fox
    This isn’t a game, you know… Now these games will determine which of you is fit to be my pet. – Rainbow Dash
    Could it be? A Rainbow-Dash-centric episodes that doesn't totally suck? This must be my lucky day. How did DHX manage it? Let's take a look at May the Best Pet Win! and see.
     
    Summary
    Rainbow Dash is speeding through the air one fine day, and is joined by Owlowicious. The two begin to race, and oddly Owlowicious is even faster than Dash. She doesn't particularly care, just having fun with the pure rush of speed and joy of competition. Wait a moment... Rainbow Dash is losing a race, and she doesn't care? Well then, this has to be a dream. This is confirmed when Owlowicious starts morphing into a mix of all the Mane Six' pets. The appearance of Opal popping out of Angel Bunny's mouth, hissing, shocks Dash enough to jar her awake from a nap (a nice callback to the habit mentioned in earlier episodes), to find all the pets around her.

    Welp, that's my next month's worth of nightmares prepared... Thanks, DHX!
    The Mane Six also appear, having arrived for their weekly Pony-Pet Playdate. Fluttershy is worried that Dash might be angry at being left out of the loop, but she agrees that since she doesn't have a pet of her own, it didn't make sense to invite her. But after hearing how much fun she is missing out on, she decides to get a pet of her own, to Fluttershy's delight.
    Back at the cottage, Fluttershy and Dash sing a duet as she shows off all the potential pets in her menagerie. It takes a while, but Flutters finally gets the hint that it needs to be a creature that can fly. Dash decides the only way to find the best pet is to have a competition. This takes the form of various contests to ascertain speed, coolness, bravery and other factors Dash is looking for in a pet. Flutters begs Dash to let a tortoise compete, despite not meeting the flying requirement. He totally tanks the tests, too.
    Finally, though, the field is narrowed down to four fliers: an eagle, an owl, a falcon and a bat. Dash announces the final event... a race through Ghastly Gorge, with the competitor that crosses the finish line with Dash being the winning pet. The tortoise competes too, despite not making the cut earlier.
    While the various hazards of Ghastly Gorge hamper the rest, Dash manages to sail through, having flown the course multiple times. However, her nonchalant attitude becomes her downfall, as she fails to watch where she's going, and smacks into a cliff face. This causes an avalanche of falling rocks, one of which pins her wing to the ground, while the other racers pass her and leaving her behind. Trapped, scared and on the verge of tears, Dash is delighted to hear someone is coming. She's less delighted when she sees it's the tortoise. However, he is able to get his head under the rock, and lifts it, freeing her.
    Meanwhile, the Mane Six are waiting at the finish line, and grow concerned when Dash isn't the first to cross. Seeing the rockslide in the distance, concern turns to panic, but they soon spot the tortoise heading their way, carrying a rather rueful Rainbow.
    Although the first one to finish the race was the falcon, Dash points out a technicality... she had said that the pet who crossed the finish line with her would earn the right to the space left in Team Dashie, and that was the tortoise. The falcon accepts this disappointment with dignity, and a wing shake for the winner.

    Poor fella; don't worry, you're still a champion in my book.
    Perhaps the guilt at not trying to assist Dash in her predicament is the reason he takes it so well... or maybe it's because he can't actually speak up to object. Toss a coin to decide. Either way, Dash dubs her new pet Tank, in honour of his determination. When Fluttershy points out that Tank, being a tortoise, can't fly and will keep Dash grounded (but not in the good way), they rig up a propeller for him. Maybe she should rename him Helicopter.
    Dash closes the episode with a Letter to Princess Celestia, delivering the moral: speed, ability to fly and coolness are all worthy things to have, but physical ability is not as important as having the right attitude.
     
    Thoughts on the Episode
    I'm not a huge fan of Rainbow Dash, and to be honest, many of her focus episodes don't help her case in the slightest. Some of the most disappointing episodes in the series for me are Dash episodes. This is not only because she's possibly my least favourite Mane Six, those episodes truly do suck over and above that. Here, however is a Dash episode actually done well, developing and improving her character by having her learn a valuable lesson about tenacity, as well as introducing Tank to the series; would that all of her episodes could do so well.
    While the final outcome is no real surprise, there is adequately competent foreshadowing throughout the episode. That Tank can lift objects with his head was demonstrated early on, during the bravery test. In the song, Tank briefly dons a pair of sunglasses when Dash mentions that she wants a cool pet, and we see Dash wearing a pair of her own, so there's a minor link there too.
    The humour of the episode is pretty good. There are a few running gags, such as the whole turtle-tortoise debate, deliciously subverted at the end by Fluttershy being the one corrected on her nomenclature, and a brick joke or two such as Dash saying "gesundheid", first to the eagle and then to Twilight. Drill sergeant Dash is pretty funny, too. The best gag is where Twilight objects that coolness, awesomeness and radicalness are all pretty much the same thing, earning her a condescending pat on the head from Dash. And doesn't she just look delighted?
    The musical number of this episode is also pretty great, and to this day I still enjoy listening to the song when it come up on my MP3 player. Speaking of the music, there's also a bit of fourth wall joke made when Dash whistles a few bars along with the background music ("Ride of the Valkyries", unless I miss my guess) during the race. It's a minor touch, but I thought it was creative anyway.
    The moral of the episode is pretty standard, but it's a particularly good lesson for Dash to have learned to see value in things other than speed and coolness, particularly determination and perseverance, the things that I appreciate in Dash's character myself. It's also pretty appropriate that Tank convinces her by demonstrating her own Element, Loyalty; another example of how they complement each other.
    The episode is not without its flaws, however. Dash's dismissive attitude towards Tank in the beginning and her treatment of him don't fall far short of animal abuse, until he actually saves her hide. She's also remarkably blasé about the setting the final race in a place like Ghastly Gorge, with its not inconsiderable dangers to life and wing... those Quarray Eels in particular are pretty nasty. It's played for laughs, but the bat ends up basically eaten, and only escapes through the eels nose. There's also the fact that Dash seems more interested in being first than seeing the ability of the animals: she outright says "But I'm supposed to win!" when she gets trapped and sees the others flying away without her. She also used the trick favoured by all five year olds (people, not ponies) of speeding up the ready-set-go for an unfair advantage.
    She also exploits the loophole of "the one who crosses the finish line with me is the winner" to deny the falcon his rightful prize. She specifically states that requirement as necessary to prove that the winner can keep up with her, which Tank assuredly can't. She may be sticking to the letter of the law, but she sure is violating the spirit of it (not particularly unknown behaviour from her.) It might have made a stronger statement is Dash admitted that the falcon actually had won the right to be her pet, but she was reversing her decision in light of Tank's heroic assistance.
     
    Highlights / Quotes
    The song.
    Rainbow Dash: <snip> Coolness. Awesomeness. And radicalness.
    Twilight Sparkle: Aren't those all the same thing?
    <beat>
    Rainbow Dash: You would think that, Twilight. And that's why you would never qualify to be my pet.
    The bat plays the MLP theme on a set of glasses, then shatters them with a hypersonic shriek.
    Rainbow Dash: Whoa! That was truly awesome! But I'm afraid this is the radicalness competition, so I'm gonna have to take some points off.
     
    Pros: Dash develops; good humour; a worthwhile moral; that falcon rocks.
    Cons: Some questionable actions from Dash; perhaps a spot predicable; loophole abuse.
     
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moooooon!
    So that was a good Rainbow Dash episode... give or take the odd wobble. Next up, unfortunately, is an episode set to upset all the gains from this one... until then, stay on the sunny side.
  9. Sunny Fox
    I'm jutht too impathient to be pathient... - Apple Bloom
    Our intrepid Cutie Mark Crusaders Pin Twins Three Strikes Bowling Dolls arrive at the Ponyville Bowling Alley, aiming to get their cutie marks in bowling. However, bowling soon turns to blowing it: Sweetie Belle gets only gutter balls - and is incongruously happy about it - and Scootaloo bucks her ball so hard it ends up ricocheting all over the bowling alley, earning her some shocked stares from the other bowlers. On her turn, Apple Bloom appears successful in getting a strike. She also hears a spectator pony happily pointing out a cool, new "bowling" cutie mark. She is bitterly disappointed to find out that both the successful strike and the new cutie mark belong to another filly a few lanes over. Her own ball just manages to reach far enough to nudge the first pin.
    Although this technically makes her the best bowler out of the three, it sends her into a funk that nothing seems able to lift... not a cake from the Cakes, nor a hat from Rarity, nor a party from Pinkie. Still disconsolate, AB splits from the others and heads into the Everfree Forest. A trip over a root causes her to fall down and break one of her front teeth.

    The tooth hurts.
    Luckily, Zecora soon finds her and takes her back to her hut. She even mixes up a potion to mend AB's dental disaster. Realizing that Zecora has a potion, brew or tincture for any occasion, she suggests that Zecora might be able to mix a potion that reveals her cutie mark. Zecora denies this as a possibility and continues to mix up another potion to help a rooster who has lost his ability to crow. She shows AB one of the ingredients: "heart's desire", a flower that can be used to fix any problem. When Zecora has to leave to find a missing ingredient, she leaves behind AB... who begins to scheme...

    ¯You're a sneaky one, Apple Bloom...¯
    At the school the next day, AB is proud to present her (literally) shiny, new cutie mark, a silver circle. She claims it's something called a Loopdy Hoop (I guess Hula Hoop is a trademarked name) and demonstrates her skills with it. Even Cheerilee is eager to see what tricks she can do. In the middle of her routine, another cutie mark suddenly appears... this one for spinning plates. Since no pony ever has two cutie marks, DT and SS (who else? ) declare they must both be fake somehow. (They're right, as it happens.) When AB is challenged to show she can do this second talent too, she does, eventually involving most of the town in her combination demonstration.
    A weary but proud Apple crew return to the farm, and AB says goodnight. Shortly, though, Applejack is awoken by a strange sound coming her her lil' sis's room...not that, actually it's tap-dancing. A third cutie mark has appeared, and AB now not only can tap-dance, she has to...

    I guess Gloria Estefan was right... the rhythm really IS going to get you...
    Applejack takes her to see Twilight, who was just reading about strange diseases. Spike finds her the right book and she reads out information about the Cutie Pox (roll credits!), a mysterious medieval malaise that makes multiple marks and adjudicates arbitrary acting out of the associated abilities. Worst of all, there is no cure listed...
    Hoping that Zecora might know of a cure, they try to head through town to her hut, but are slowed by Ab's involuntary talenting (I know that's not a real word, just go with it) including chess, window washing and lion taming. The townsponies panic and run when Spike lets slip that AB has the Cutie Pox. This gives Zecora, who has just arrived in town, the impression that the ponies are still afraid of her. After the misunderstanding is solved, Zecora reveals that she does indeed have a Cutie Pox cure... the seeds of truth, a plant that will only grow and flower when true words are spoken. She also makes it clear she knows that AB went behind her back and used up the last of her heart's desire. Pinkie tries to confess to eating more corncakes than she was allowed, but as high as she goes, it seems she's hedging, eventually begging for it to stop. Jeez, guilty conscious, much?
    Since there's a dearth of truth from El Pinko, AB finally admits to using up the last of the heart's desire to make a potion to fake her cutie mark, and that she didn't earn them honestly after all. This confession is enough to make the seeds sprout and grow a flower. AB quickly eats it, erasing all her marks and leaving her a Blank Flank once more. She apologizes to SB and Scoots for being dishonest about her cutie mark.
    Given the chance to report to Princess Celestia, AB explains that she has learned that she should be patient, and not will resort to dishonest means to get what she wants. She states that she will wait patiently for her cutie mark to appear.... yeah, that lasts about as long as you'd expect... When it's pointed out that AB actually managed to whip up quite a mean potion on her own, the CMC decide to try for their cutie marks in potion making, and head off at a gallop.
     
    Thoughts on the Episode
    While the premise for this episode might seem pretty fantastical, there are actually historical precedents, notable various forms of dancing mania, in which people seemed to be compelled to dance, even to the point of exhaustion, heart failure and death. I don't think it's a coincidence that the first uncontrollable action affecting Apple Bloom was a kind of dancing, nor that the Cutie Pox itself was last seen in Equestria many hundreds of year ago, mirroring the fact that such events were recorded in the 1500s. There's too much correlation for coincidence, and I do like it when we can see that the writers have done their research.
    The opening bowling scene was rife with Big Lebowski references. I see a little bit of parental appeal creeping in there. It's always fun to see ponified versions of characters from various movies. But, like, that's just my opinion, man.
    Continuing the theme of patience being a virtue, as most CMC episodes do, here again we see that AB's attempt at using the heart's desire to get what her heart desires backfires spectacularly. That magic is unable to make a cutie mark manifest before its time is also made apparent. Since the heart's desire seems to grant low level wishes, it "did its best" to give AB what she wanted, but since her actual mark appearing was literally impossible, what the heart's desire ended up doing was making something possible (if highly unlikely) happen instead... such as a sudden outbreak of a disease once thought gone for good. Similar to the dancing mania, this is a reference to something that does happen in real life, where diseases thought cured return to bedevil us as a species.
    As for things to mark the episode down on, there really aren't too many. Some fans were a bit offended by Applejack's comment about Zecora having a "zebra sense", which was perceived as AJ being a wee mite racist. Although Zecora always has had shades of the Magical Negro trope, that it was "Deep South" Applejack making the comment might come off as hitting is little close to home, and this could be considered carelessness on the part of the writers.
    There are also a few too many coincidences. That Zecora just happened to be making a potion with heart's desire, and that she just happened to have the cure for the Cutie Pox when she came to Ponyville to find a replacement for what AB had used up, and that the cure just happened to require a truthful confession in order for AB to learn her lesson... it all adds up to being a little too convenient. Almost as if Zecora planned it all along... hmmm... that bears looking into...
    But these issues are relatively minor, and could be considered nitpicks (where not outright paranoia... ) Overall, this episode is pretty enjoyable, and despite the ending subverting the moral, the moral itself is a pretty good one. This is not quite an indispensable episode, and it doesn't really gain anything on a second viewing, but there are no major defects in it.
     
    Highlights/Quotes
    The scene with a certain pink party pony confessing to conspicuous corncake consumption was pretty amusing, and totally in character for the somewhat gluttonous Pinkie Pie.
    Ponies in hazmat suits. That is all.
     
    Pros: Some real life research went into this. Some references for the adults in the audience. Good humour. A worthwhile moral.
    Cons: Possible unfortunate implications about "zebra sense". Some convenient coincidences for the plot to work.
     
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!
    Stay sunny side up, everybody!
  10. Sunny Fox
    Well, then, maybe I’ll try the Sisterhooves Social without a sister. In fact, I think I’ll try the rest of my life without a sister! – Sweetie Belle
    Rarity is having a wonderful dream which is intruded on by the smell of smoke. Thinking it’s a fire, she wakes up and tumbles downstairs… only to find that her sister Sweetie Belle is the culprit. The smoke is an intended “breakfast in bed” burning. An annoyed Rarity is about to give her sister a piece of her mind when her parents surprise her with a cheery morning greeting. It turns out, they’re going on holiday, and leaving Rarity to look after Sweetie for an entire week.
    After the parents leave, Rarity suggests they clean up the kitchen and prepare an actual edible breakfast. However, Rarity being Rarity, she ends up doing everything herself, to which Sweetie protests. Rarity reluctantly allows her to garnish the finished breakfast, but even that comes with overbearing oversight and demands that it be carried out perfectly. The tension between the sisters continues to rise as Sweetie tries to be helpful, but only ends up messing up something – she washes Rarity’s one of a kind sweater, shrinking it; uses up her stock of rare baby blue sapphires to draw a picture of the two of them, forcing Rarity to go find more; and worst of all, tidies up Rarity’s Inspiration Room, which only serves to disrupt her creation process. Rarity only just manages to push down her anger, but states that she needs a little alone time.
    A dejected Sweetie Belle goes for a walk, bumping into Apple Bloom, who listens to her tale of woe. Trying to be helpful, Apple Bloom suggests that Sweetie ask Rarity to join her for the titular Sisterhooves Social, an annual event held at Sweet Apple Acres in which sister teams can compete. Sweetie’s enthusiasm is swiftly dashed, as Rarity tells her that “playing games in the dirt” is simply uncouth. Angry that Rarity is so unwilling to do anything except on her own terms, Sweetie decides that she’s going to disown Rarity as her sister. In the heat of the argument, Rarity is only too happy to agree to these terms, and the two part ways.
    Sweetie ends up being consoled by the Apple sisters, and they show her how they work together at almost everything. As Sweetie remarks, it’s like they’re just one pony. Even when it seems like AJ is going to get angry on account of AB splashing her with crushed grapes, it ends with just a playful tussle, much to her relief.
    Meanwhile, back at her boutique, Rarity finds that the previous disasters Sweetie caused all seem to have unanticipated benefits: the shrunken sweater is perfectly sized for Opal Wopal, and her newly neatly organized Inspiration Room ends up giving her an idea for another line of clothes: “Full Spectrum Fashions”…

    Hey! I should sue!
    Although Rarity tries to rationalize away the good fortune so as to maintain her indignation, she finally comes across the picture that Sweetie drew of the two of them, showing that she really does love Rarity and appreciates the fact they are sisters. Overcome with remorse for her earlier behavior, and wanting to make things right and get her sister back, she heads out to find Sweetie so they can make up.
    When she does find Sweetie later that evening, who is having a camp out with the Apple sisters, her attempt at patching things up is quickly scuppered by her own inability to realize that she still wants everything, even the reconciliation, to happen her way, and Sweetie quickly rebuffs her, deciding to adopt AJ as new big sister… to the consternation of everypony else.
    Rarity is understandably put out by her failure to return to her sister’s good graces, but AJ finally makes her understand that being sisters requires a give and take, and that Rarity is failing because she is not willing to compromise. Rarity comes to a decision…
    The following day is the day of the Sisterhooves Social. Sweetie sadly wishes the Apples luck, but perks up immensely when Apple Bloom steps aside to allow Sweetie to be AJ’s sister for the day… and she means one day. As they come to the first obstacle, a mud pit, AJ falls in and re-emerges covered in mud. (SPOILER! ALERT: It’s actually Rarity, as one could see with a closer look at “Applejack”.)

    The eyes have it…
    Working together, the two manage to come within a gnat’s wing of victory, but ultimately get second place. Her spirits not dampened in the slightest, Sweetie Belle gives a big thank you hug to “Applejack”, knocking off her hat and revealing a unicorn horn. Rarity quickly shakes the rest of the mud off, and Sweetie realizes that the Apple sisters were in on the plan too. Given proof that Rarity really is able to put her own wishes aside in favour of doing something nice for her little sister, Sweetie Belle forgives Rarity and readopts her as sister. Rarity suggests they celebrate: with a trip to the spa. She’s quite serious about it, too. Fortunately, despite the spa joke and final semi-disagreement, Rarity really has learned her lesson, and is now willing to compromise with Sweetie… even if it does involve getting a little a lot just the right amount of dirty on occasion.
     
    Thoughts on the Episode
    While the basis of the episode is Rarity being selfish in her relationship with her sister, it’s not too much of an out of character thing for her. Rarity likes things to be organized, or not, the way she likes it in her own home, which is fair enough. I know from experience that sometimes an older sibling might be slightly less willing to do things that they would do without hesitation for their friends, in a “darkest under the lighthouse” kind of way.
    Both sides have a point here; Sweetie is driven by nothing but affection for her older sister and a desire to help her out, but good intentions don’t always equal good results. On the other hand, a sibling relationship does require a certain amount of compromise, and Rarity was at fault for not being willing to do that. The good part is that she does learn her lesson, and it stays learned. In a series that quite frequently has characters forget previous morals and lessons and so have to relearn them, this is quite the refreshing aversion, as we’ll see in some of the later episodes.
    Praise should also be given to both Applejack and Apple Bloom for not only behaving like sisters should behave to each other, but also AB being willing to relinquish her “sister rights” and a chance at competing in the Sisterhooves Social, and AJ for her sensible wisdom and wholesome advice. We have seen in previous and following episodes that that relationship is not always as perfect as presented here, but that’s an understandable move on the part of the writers, to contrast the one-sided relationship that Rarity and Sweetie have at first with a more equal partnership, as the Apple siblings represent.
    There was some decent humour in this episode, even if it wasn’t a laugh riot. The jump cut with Sweetie confidently predicting that Rarity will love the idea of the Social, to Rarity disparaging it is classic. The voice acting is great, with Rarity’s declaration of intent to get back her sister and Sweetie’s pretty spot on impersonations of her sister being fussy being highlights. Oh, and two words: “One. Day.”
    It’s interesting to see the contrast between Rarity and the rest of her family. Her parents, while seeming like good ponies, are nothing like their refined and elegant daughter, and it’s pretty clear that Sweetie takes after her folks much more than Rares does… especially the cooking skills. Rarity points out the burnt juice, but personally, I find it more impressive (for a certain value of “impressive”) that Sweetie is able to melt toast.
    There is really very little to criticize in this episode.
     
    Highlights/Quotes
    That previously mentioned cut:
    Sweetie Belle: That sounds like the perfect way for us to hang out! Rarity will think it's an excellent idea.
    <CUT>
    Rarity: What a ridiculous idea.
    The uncouth discussion… about being uncouth:
    Applejack: 'Uncouth'? She said the Sisterhooves Social was 'uncouth'?
    Apple Bloom: Yeah! Uncouth? [belch] Wait. What's uncouth?
    Sweetie Belle: It's not just the Social. She thinks I'm uncouth.
    Applejack: Honey, Rarity thinks everything's uncouth.
    Apple Bloom: [with mouth full] What's uncouth?
    Applejack: It means uncivil. Y'know, bad mannered?
    Apple Bloom: [belch]
    Applejack: Exactly!
    This epic fail at persuasion:
    Sweetie Belle: Hm. You want to me to go home with you, so that we can do what YOU want to do?
    Rarity: Um… yes?
    Sweetie Belle: Just forget it!
    She may be willing to lend out her sister, but not for very long:
    Applejack: Sisters for a day!
    Sweetie Belle: No way!
    Apple Bloom: One. Day.
    <A little later>
    Apple Bloom (poking Sweetie): One. Day. Good luck!
    Any example of Squeaky Belle, really.
    This moment:

    Even mud knows better than to dare stain Rarity... her fans can be a little protective!
     
    Pros: A good moral that sticks; some fine voice acting; AB and AJ are great here; some chuckles to be had.
    Cons: Nothing really worth marking the episode down on.
     
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!
    Stay sunny side up!
  11. Sunny Fox
    Twilight Sparkle! You old so-and-so! What are you doing here?! - Minuette
    Summary
    After Spike comments that Twilight was a bad friend before coming to Ponyville, she decides to make a trip back to Canterlot to find her old “friends” so that she can apologize to and reconnect with them. The two revisit Twilight’s old quarters, to “start at the beginning”.

    Apparently, it’s a very good place to start…
    I will give the writer a point here, for making a clever simile about how Twilight left her previous quarters and her friendships in the same incomplete state. Treasure that, writers, because you got virtually everything else wrong… but I’m getting ahead of myself.
    Twilight tracks down Minuette (Colgate to the bronies), and after a brief photo op, they head off to find Twilight’s other old “friends” , Lemon Drops and Twinkleshine. At Joe’s Donut Diner, Twilight apologizes for being a bad friend in the past. The three manage to brush it off while still somehow making Twilight feel worse.
    A visit to the school science lab triggers a flashback for Twilight, who asks where Moon Dancer (another “friend”) is. They track her down, but find she isn’t interested in seeing any of them. Twilight follows her for a bit, and sees she’s very isolated. She then finds out from Minuette that there was a time she seemed to be opening up… until the party Twilight blew off in the pilot episode. Twilight realizes that her nonattendance is the reason why Moon Dancer is so introverted and shy now. She resolves to apologize and help Dancer to overcome her past pain.
    Oh, the old awkward conversation in the library with everyone going “sssshhh!” bit. Really pushing the comedic envelope on this story, aren’t they? After that, Twilight takes Moon Dancer back to her old quarters, and proffers the key to the library, on condition that that she joins the old gang for dinner.

    Oh, hai, Starlight Glimmer! By the way, how’s your stalker life?
    It doesn’t go well. Twilight, desperate to fix her mistake, enlists Pinkie Pie’s help in throwing a party for Moon Dancer. After Twilight again apologizes, Moon Dancer finally opens up and confirms that Twilight skipping her party really hurt her and made her retreat back into her shell. Seeing all the friends Twilight has gathered for her (including her sister), Moon Dancer decides to give friendship another chance. Spike gives her a photo of her friends, and the episode ends with Moon Dancer (now fulfilled) and the others heading out for a game of Calvinball.
    The Bugz
    I cannot understand why fans are praising the writing in this episode. I think it’s horrendous. Now don’t get me wrong… if you connected emotionally with Twilight and Moon Dancer’s story because you’ve had similar experiences in the past, and you like it on that account, I have absolutely no issue with that. Entirely without sarcasm I can say that I’m happy for you. But I will try to show that the story itself is very poorly written.
    The plot is artificially kicked off by a random comment from Spike. It’s not the first time this has happened (Lesson Zero comes to mind) but in this episode, going this route is missing a huge opportunity for the Cutie Map to come into play. Yes, remember that Map? The express purpose of the Map is to highlight situations requiring the magic of friendship. One would think that a pony that isolated, and (ostensibly) made so by the Princess of Friendship herself, would merit a response from whatever is controlling the thing. But not even a blip. Nearly halfway through the season, the Map has been used a grand total of twice. This was a perfect time to increase that count. It would also have been much more effective for Twilight to arrive in Canterlot, not sure why she had been summoned there, and then on encountering her old “friends”, had the realization that her past actions had led to this situation, and that she now had to fix it. Basically, I think it would be cool to have a moment of realization: "I'm not just here to fix the problem... I AM the problem!"
    You might have noticed I’ve been using quote marks every time I type “friends”. This is because whatever relationship Twilight had to the ponies she knew in Canterlot before moving to Ponyville, “friends” is not an accurate description. The pilot goes out of its way to establish that Twilight was isolated and antisocial. In the pilot, Twilight is tasked by Princess Celestia with “making friends”. Not “making new friends”, not “making friends in Ponyville”, “making friends”. There are many other lines that imply heavily that the Mane Six are her first set of friends. But perhaps you don’t consider that proof enough. And that’s fair, it’s got some wiggle room. Now how about A Canterlot Wedding? I don’t need the BBBFF song to make the point. Even before she starts singing, Twilight upright states the following: “Before I came here and learned the importance of friendship, Shining Armor was the only pony I ever really accepted as a friend.”　There is no wiggle room or ambiguity there. Shining Armor was her only friend before Ponyville. And she didn’t even mention him until that episode. Now much less must she have cared for the “friends” who in Amending Fences are suddenly so important to her? She couldn’t even remember their names!
    Oh, and that’s a running gag that pretty much negates any and all emotion in the episode. Twilight can’t remember her friend’s names, her friends apparently don’t remember Moon Dancer until she brings her up, and Moon Dancer calls her “Twilight Twinkle” accidentally. Yet we find out that they were all friends before and Moon Dancer was so fixated on Twilight being her only chance to find friendship? Somehow, I don’t find that convincing.
    I can guess what you’re probably thinking. “Sunny Fox, didn’t you say in your Tanks for the Memories review that you don’t let continuity negate emotion? Aren’t you backpedaling here?” No. I still think an emotion connection with an episode trumps issues of continuity. But here, the emotional connection becomes unbelievable because what we’re given in the episode runs counter to what has been already firmly and unambiguously established. This is no minor point of fridge logic or a continuity error that can be handwaved; this is a full blown retcon of past events for the basis of creating a plot.
    The second major difference is that the emotional connection that is the focus of TftM, between Dash and Tank, has been built up over a few episodes, such as the quick, surreptitious nuzzle in Just for Sidekicks, and involves a pony that we already know very well and can connect with, ourselves. We feel Dash’s emotional pain because the relationship is believable in and of itself, and because the closeness of their relationship has already been established prior to the episode. This is most certainly not the case with Twilight and Moon Dancer. (tl;dr: Emotion trumps continuity, but only if the emotion is convincing.)
    Other decisions puzzle me as well. The flashback in the science lab has no real purpose. It doesn’t establish any meaningful backstory, other than to confirm Twilight and Moon Dancer went to school together. It certainly doesn’t help convince me that there was anything worthy of the name of friendship between the two. At best, it serves to remind Twilight that she hasn’t seen Moon Dancer yet… which is also unnecessary, since Spike already mentioned her as one of the “friends” to reconnect with, so Twilight doesn’t really need a flashback to justify bringing her up.
    Edit: @@Dark Qiviut has pointed out something I missed regarding the flashback. It establishes that Moon Dancer is very similar to Twilight (a bookworm and antisocial) and would therefore probably feel closer to her than the others, which might help explain why she took Twilight's rejection so hard. Good catch, DQ!  
    That’s enough ripping the story to pieces. Let’s look now at the characters.
    Minuette was extremely annoying with her constant giggling. I previously described her as a “discount Pinkie Pie”. My mind hasn’t changed. And then when all three get together, the giggles have been tripled! She’s not entirely useless, as she is the main source of exposition for Twilight, but she really grated on my nerves the whole episode.
    Speaking of Pinkie Pie, she is brought in (rather unnecessarily, I feel: Twilight couldn’t have planned a party on her own?) to set up the party at the end, and to just be Pinkie. I get the feeling gravity has just entirely given up on being able to control her. It’s worth a chuckle, but it’s still reducing Pinkie from a character to a gag machine.
    The episode doesn’t do any favours for Twilight, either. She just assumes she’s so important to other ponies that her losing contact with them is causing them terrible suffering. She was right in Moon Dancer’s case but that’s, what, one out of five? She only could be about 20% wronger if she tried (hur hur hur). Her demeanour in the flashback reminded me more of Diamond Tiara than Twilight. How does one reconcile that with the happy filly who leaps around shouting “yes yes yes yes!” in the Cutie Mark Chronicles? This episode doesn’t make Twilight fallible and thereby relatable, since her mistake was made before her character development. I don’t consider her a Mary Sue, like some of her detractors do, but this episode certainly makes me wonder if they might not have a point about her being represented as infallible these days. The previous episode had a similar problem, because her “failure” wasn’t due to her, but rather to the yaks deplorable tendency to make a huge fuss over tiny inconsequential details. I mean, what kind of immature idiot behaves like that? (Ha HAH, self-burn!)
    Now we come to the real millstone around the neck of this episode: Moon Dancer herself. Let me start with a question: if this character were to be introduced as someone’s OC, what do you think the response would be? Overwhelmingly negative, is my guess. A minor positive point is that they use the colours of G1 Moon Dancer, but she’s just a Twilight recolour with glasses and eyebrows; two thirds of Groucho Marx, as it were.
    Apart from her lackluster design, her fixation on Twilight is one of the least justified elements of the story. Apparently, Twilight hurt her by not attending the party she organized, thereby causing her to give up on friendship. There are a number of problems with this. First, she never actually invited Twilight to her party, or made it clear in any way that it was important to her. Twilight was given an off-hand, second-hand invite by Twinkleshine. Second, why was Twilight so important to her in the first place? That flashback indicates that their similarlity might have caused that. But oh-so-similar Twilight wasn’t the one who started to bring her out of her shell. Moon Dancer literally credits the three of them (Minuette, Lemon Heart and Twinkleshine) for making her think she might want to be more social, and as far as we’re aware, everypony but Twilight was at the party. Their support and friendship apparently wasn’t worth anything in Dancer’s eyes; it was Twilight or nothing. Third, as Spike mentions, Twilight was given an assignment by Princess Celestia, and so couldn’t have attended the party even had she wanted to. Princess Celestia knew she needed to send Twilight to Ponyville to stop Nightmare Moon (she as much as says so at the end of the second episode), so the assignment would have given to Twilight regardless. Because of these points above, her reaction to Twilight’s absence from her party becomes an overreaction, and Twilight shouldn’t be blamed for that. All in all, I personally don't find Moon Dancer's reclusion and subsequence outburst at Twilight was justified, which really rips out the heart of the emotional conflict the episode is built around.
    What moral are we meant to take from this? "Attend every event you're invited to, just in case someone's self esteem relies on you being there"? "It's okay to shut yourself off from society because one person snubbed you once"? "Focus on one person and if they won't be your friend, give up on people entirely"? Or just maybe, it might be "Be careful of what you do, because even the smallest action may have consequences"? Yeah, let's go with that one. My point here is that the moral is kind of confused. They may have been going for something like the last one above, but I don't think they did a very good job of it.
    The Shrugz
    It was interesting to see Starlight Glimmer stalking Twilight. I admit I was not observant enough to notice her for myself when I watched the episode, so I only found out by reading the episode's thread. It has to be deliberate, and I'm glad to see that the writers are trying to build a continuing story arc. It doesn't make the episode better or worse, but it's definitely worth mentioning.
    I found this entire episode to be in a sense unnecessary. Going back to a single scene, that in all likelihood was there just to establish Twilight's credentials as a antisocial bookworm, and expanding on it, doesn't really contribute to the story of Twilight and the Mane Six learning good lessons through friendship. It's going back and revisiting your past, not improving yourself for the future. I want to see Twilight moving forward, not going back and trying to fix every mistake she's ever made. Let her make new mistakes and learn from those.
    Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis appear to be a couple again. So much for my Rarity x Fancy Pants ship, huh? Or is Fancy Pants just a two timer?
    Yeah, I call shenanigans on the idea that Spike's tail can perforate and crush a present, disemboweling a teddy bear in the process, yet leave the picture (which generally would have been placed on the bottom of the box with the teddy bear on top) untouched. Minor nitpick, though, so it's a neutral rather than a negative.
    And what's up with the title of the episode, anyway? "Mending Fences" would have been just as accurate a title, with the added benefit of actually being an existing expression. Why "amending fences"? It just comes off as trying too hard to make the title some kind of pun (not a new problem with FiM...)
    Twilight can invade Flatland, if only for a few minutes. I find it somewhat amusing that some fans have praised this idea for showing a limit on Twilight's magical power. She can go from three dimensions to two and make herself into a sentient line drawing, and because it's a temporary effect, that makes it a restriction?! Do tell.
    The Hugz
    As I've mentioned in the episode discussion thread, there is a lesson to be learned here, about how a single act of thoughtlessness can lead to hurting someone, and that one should be careful of that. It's somewhat mired in the poor writing, but I think that's what they were going for.
    Spike at least got a little screen time that didn't involve him getting dumped on by the universe. He also showed his more thoughtful side, by presenting Moon Dancer with a present. Which she apparently treasures, even though it didn't come from Twilight.. *cough*... bullshit... *cough*
    Pros: An interesting premise, and there is a good moral in there somewhere, trying to get out.
    Cons: The premise is poorly executed, the central conflict is based on one pony's obsession with Twilight, the characters introduced are nowhere near as likeable as our Mane cast is, the moral is rather unclear.
    Final Thoughts
    I had hoped that on reflection, I would find a few more positives in this episode. Unfortunately, the opposite happened. The more I think about this episode, the clumsier and more nonsensical I find it.
    Final Ranking:
    Rarity’s Cutie Mark Rank – A scintillating story! Sure to be rewatched frequently.
    Rock Candy Rank – A highly enjoyable episode, but it couldn’t avoid a cavity or two.
    Tom Rank – Average. While it looked like a diamond, it turned out to be just a rock.
    Boulder Rank – Below average. Take it out once or twice, and then leave it in your pocket.
    Rock Farm Rock Rank – A terrible episode. Leave it where it lies.
    Wow. What has happened to me? Have I become jaded? I've spent most of a day typing up a scathing condemnation of a simple story about righting past wrongs. I blame Slice of Life... it all went downhill from there...
    Stay sunny side up, or whatever.
  12. Sunny Fox
    I had good intentions! Honest! Until I… didn’t, any more… – Spike

    Twilight's hittin' the hay books.
    Summary
    Twilight has been making arrangements for an Equestria-wide Conference, to the point where she is asleep on her feet. Princess Cadance charges Spike with seeing that she gets some uninterrupted rest before the conference proper starts. Spike tries his best to keep the environs quiet: moving a noisy polo game elsewhere, convincing a gardener to stop trimming some top heavy Dragonsneeze trees with his chainsaw, and stopping a construction pony with a jackhammer from working on a damaged water main.
    During a celebratory snack of some rubies, Spike is confronted by two of the delegates who have been double booked for their speeches. Soliciting the advice of the groggy Princess proves useless – she’s too addled by sleep deprivation to make any sense. Spike, seeing no other option, suggests that the two ponies simply share the hall. Believing the suggestion actually came from Princess Twilight (and not “Princess” Spike), the two accept it. This leads to Spike deciding he has free rein to make all decisions on Twilight’s behalf. He even starts taking on tasks that Twilight was due to complete, so that she won’t have to bother with them.
    Despite Princess Cadance’s increasingly concerned remonstrations, he continues to make decisions using Twilight’s authority, some of which turn out to cause trouble. Confronted again by Cadance, he admits he might be taking it too far, but in his defense, nothing really bad resulted…
    Of course, right then, disaster strikes. A stray shot from the polo players knocks over the Dragonsneeze trees, one of which falls on the water main, breaking the pipe and sending a torrent of water into the main hall, flooding it. Cadance is able to stop the water with some (never-before-seen) crystal magic, and an untimely opening of the main hall door by Fancy Pants himself lets the water flood out. Just when Spike thinks the disaster is averted, some broken branches from the Dragonsneeze trees that were washed into the hall make the dragon sneeze (fancy that!), shattering the centerpiece of the conference… a statue make up of gems from each of the cities in Equestria.
    Seeing the ruination, Fancy Pants rounds on the construction and gardening ponies, demanding to know why his orders weren’t carried out. They both state that Princess Twilight made the decisions that led to disaster, and Spike can’t find the opportunity to own up to his transgression before the angry mob of delegates head for Twilight’s chamber to confront her over “her” poor decisions.
    Spike manages to get there first and lock the door, just before Twilight wakes up… refreshed and ready to join the conference. Confronted by the furious delegates, Twilight is bewildered until Spike lets her know what he’s been getting up to. They all go back to the main hall, where Spike comes cleans and apologizes to the ponies. As a sign of forgiveness, they help him rebuild the statue.
     
    The Bugz
    Hoo boy! The Spike Abuse is strong with this one. And it starts early in the episode: he doesn’t even get to finish saying a few words before one of the ponies in the audience interrupts him. Throughout most of the episode, he tries his hardest to do the right thing in what is quite frankly an untenable position: Twilight needs to sleep, but the delegates need her to advise them. And there are THREE other Princesses, any of whom could have been the ones to sort out these important issues. Maybe they’re busy elsewhere, but that is never established in the episode, so it seems Princess Cadance is just throwing Spike in the deep end of the pool. Yet she’s only too happy to wag her finger at him when things go wrong. He shouldn’t have been put in that position in the first place, and his only crime is not being genre savvy enough to realize it’s all going to end up biting him in his scaly backside. If you ask me, Cadance is the one at fault, not Spike.
    Not only the Princesses, but the universe in general seems to hate Spike too. I mean, come on… DragonSNEEZE trees? Dragon Quest established that ponies have virtually no knowledge of dragons, but they do know what kind of trees give them allergies?  I guess the ponies who planted them couldn’t have foreseen a dragon having problems with them, but why would they plant trees that get so top heavy that a small knock is enough to send them tumbling? Isn’t that just a little bit of a safety risk, presence of a dragon or no?
    Even the end of the episode refuses to give him a break, heavily implying that he destroys the statue yet again with another sneeze.
     
    The Shrugz
    What was up with the griffon delegate? Either she comes from Griffonstone, or there’s another griffon city located in Equestria itself. If it’s the former, I have to wonder how such a struggling society can afford to part with a gemstone of that size (it’s not the smallest gem by a long way, even if it isn’t the biggest.) So is Griffonstone back on its feet already? If it’s the latter, then why is there a city of griffons within Equestria? Did the griffons we saw in Equestria Games and Rainbow Falls come from the former or the latter? Too many questions!
    Oh, and there’s Gustav making a cameo. Continuity nod! Speaking of continuity nods…

    Agent Sweetie Drops is under cover again!
     
    The Hugz
    Fancy Pants returns, and we see that he is dedicated to maintaining Canterlot’s reputation. Even if he did take a chance on getting special treatment, he accepted “Twilight’s” ruling that it would be unfair to the rest of the delegates gracefully enough. He was also the first to step up after Spike’s apology and attempt to rebuild the statue. The scene where all the ponies (and one griffin) help Spike rebuild the gem statue brings the feels, even if the ending kind of ruined it. And where is Fleur? Did Fancy Pants perhaps dump her to make a play for Rarity?  Intriguing!
    I also like Twilight snuggling up with the books when she’s tired. Adorable! Plus it could be considered a funny call back to Equestria Girls and Twilight sleeping on a bed of books.
    There also seems to be a much greater variation than usual in the shapes of the ponies, as highlighted by the delegates of the various cities.
     
    Pros: Some heartwarming moments. Return of a few characters.
    Cons: Spike is set up to fail in a situation he shouldn’t have faced in the first place. Spike Abuse continues to be a thing.
     
    Final Thoughts
    While this episode had one or two highlights, for the most part, it’s just Spike getting dumped on by the universe again. It makes it really hard to accept that Spike is in the wrong when he’s been thrust into a position where he’s basically set up to fail, which really pulls this episode down in my opinion.
     
    Final Ranking:
    Rarity’s Cutie Mark Rank – A scintillating story! Sure to be rewatched frequently.
    Rock Candy Rank – A highly enjoyable episode, but it couldn’t avoid a cavity or two.
    Tom Rank – Average. While it looked like a diamond, it turned out to be just a rock.
    Boulder Rank – Below average. Take it out once or twice, then leave it in your pocket.
    Rock Farm Rock Rank – A terrible episode. Leave it where it lies.
    Stay sunny side up!
  13. Sunny Fox
    … – Vinyl Scratch
    Summary
    Cranky Doodle Donkey and his love Matilda are set to get married on the morrow, when the aptly named one mentions that everypony is asking him if he is nervous about getting married… today! Realizing that the invitations are for the wrong date, the asinine pair (no, that’s not an insult, that’s literally the latin term meaning “donkey”) rush to finalize the preparations a full day early. Hijinks ensue. Memes ascend. The wedding eventually goes off without a hitch, thanks to the Power of Wubs. Wow. That is literally the shortest summary I’ve ever written.
     
    Analysis
    First up, let’s get a few things clarified before I review this strange offering: one part episode, one part congratulatory hand…. shake for the brony community.
    Yes, the episode is very heavy on the fan service. And in some ways, that really annoys me. When I saw that Cranky was shouting at the pony who had made the mistake on the invitations, that it was Derpy messing something up again, and even worse, her first instinct is to placate him with muffins, I literally double face-palmed. I just sat there, head in hands, weeping inside, until the opening credits ended. And then I sucked it up and continued to watch the episode, because I try to reserve judgement on an episode until I’ve seen the whole thing (usually more than once too). And the fan service just kept coming.
    Fan service will always be a very subjective thing. I don’t care for it, in general, unless it’s subtle enough not to be a distraction from the story. That claim isn’t valid here, the fan service is front and center, interwoven as it is with the central “rushed wedding” story. And yet that story could have been told without it. Cranky and Matilda’s story is also Pinkie Pie’s story, so it could have been a Mane Six episode. (Did she even get a line? In the episode which central situation she was instrumental in bringing about? For shame.) I consider it a bit of a waste of a plotline to sacrifice that potential to serve as the vehicle for a “day in the limelight” for the (popular) background ponies of Ponyville.
    But here’s the thing I really want my readers to understand: apart from the above caveat, I can make peace with the fan service. And I don’t think it should influence how one views the quality of the episode, either positively or negatively. Sitting through this episode was somewhat of an ordeal for me, but that doesn’t in itself make it bad.
    And for those of you who also found the fan service hard to stomach, think of it this way: the writers obviously took the most popular and well known fan theories to ratify into canon. Essentially, they’re giving us what was voted by the majority of the brony community as the most popular! Democracy in action! If you don’t like it, you’re probably not part of the majority whom they were trying to please with it. Whether this point makes you less critical of the fan service, or more critical of the concept of democracy, isn’t for me to choose. It makes for an interesting case study of memetics, too.
    To reiterate: the fan service aspect of this episode isn’t going to change my opinion on it. Disclaimers out of the way, let’s move on.
     
    The Hugz
    There are plenty of returning cameos, continuity nods and the like. Listing them all would take a really long time. I’ll focus on just a few.
    The sea monster / serpent reappears, now definitely named Steven Magnet, and we find out that he’s an old friend of Cranky, and they had many wacky adventures together. I like this, it makes a connection between previously unconnected characters, harks back to Cranky’s comment that he’s “made many friends” in his journeys around Equestria and creates an awesome pair of bookends. There’s also the part where Steven cuts off one half of his beloved MUstache to serve Cranky as a replacement wig. A touching moment, and more proof that experiencing generosity leads to one showing generosity. Rarity influences this episode just by her pure generous awesomeness!  

    It rubs off on everyone!
    Speaking of the wedding, I really enjoyed seeing that Changeling (another odd friend of the groom, it seems). If I liked nothing else about this episode, I would consider that worth the price of admission! His or her reaction to the other guests staring at him or her is great.
    There was also the interesting aside with Derpy's eyes, where we see that she can straighten them for a while if she wants to. This detail retroactively explains an observation I had made (but never pointed out) about Season 1's episodes: apart from the pilot, and up until "Feeling Pinkie Keen", Derpy (or perhaps I should say Ditzy Doo) was actually lacking her trademark derp. Every time she was in a scene, her eyes were straight. Obviously, about that time, the staff became aware of the popularity of "Derpy" and decided to roll with it.
     
    The Shrugz
    I can handle the confirmation of Vinyl and Octavia being house mates, (since I never cared about it one way or the other) but the decision to split the house down the middle as a representation of their… oppositeness… makes me tilt my head.

    Hey, Octavia, Vinyl: Two-Face called. He wants his house back!
    Hmm, Derpy and the Doctor. I know this was always one of the most popular theories, but where is the evidence in the show proper that these two spend much time together, before this episode? Lyra and Bon Bon are inseparable from way back within the show, but Time Turner (or are we now meant to call him The Doctor or is his name Doc, like the dwarf?) and Derpy aren’t usually seen together. Heck, the last time I remember seeing him, he was walking around with Roseluck! In fact, I don’t see much point in the entire sideplot with the bowling ponies, it just seemed to take up time while not adding much. Then again, maybe that’s just the episode trying to justify its title with some navelgazing. Either way, this is one of the more complicated and problematic elements of the episode.

    Hey, Doc: Tom Baker called. He wants his… oh, wait, I did this joke already. Never mind.
    Gummy being a Catatonic Philosopher is just a straight up stolen idea from “Bravest Warriors”, as in the Paralyzed Horse. It’s also somewhat difficult to reconcile with the scenes where we’ve seen him actively doing stuff, like trying to catch the balloon in “Party of One”, or affectionately biting Pinkie like in “Feeling Pinkie Keen”. It works as a gag, though… barely.
    The last really important relationship explored in this episode was the Lyra and Bon Bon / Secret Agent Sweetie Drops. A nod to the “official” vs fan-made name issue there, props. It also seems that Celestia is not above a little governmental conspiracy and cover up. What else is Spymaster Celestia hiding from the pony populous, one wonders?
    But of course, the main controversy here is the whole shipping aspect. While the two ponies frequently repeat that they are just “best friends”, you’d have to be naïve to believe that settles anything. Fans who ship these two are not going to be put out in the slightest. Let’s be honest, there’s no way the writers could make any kind of romantic connection explicit, so the “best friends” line proves exactly nothing. In fact, it sounds very much as if they’re trying hard to convince themselves of that…

    “We’re just best friends!”

    “But what about, you know... last night?”

    “Oh, that was just ‘best friend’ sex… Meant nothing.”

    “But…”

    “Oops! Gotta go!”

    "Wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am? I guess you really ARE a secret agent!"
    You see my point.
     
    The Bugz
    The flower trio gets a really awful treatment here. In “Applebuck Season”, the joke works because their reaction to a life threatening stampede of cattle is the same as their reaction to a distinctly less severe stampede of bunny rabbits. The overthrow of expectation provides the humour. If they overreact in the same way to EVERYTHING, then there is no overthrow of expectation and so that humour is vitiated. In an episode dedicated to expanding on background characters, this flanderization is extremely out of place and jarring.
    I don’t want to say the resolution was forced… but it was. Seriously, Vinyl and Tavi burst out of their house in a “Wubmobile”, pick up the bride, groom, cake, and guests accidentally, fly through the air while reflected in Gummy’s eyes in one of the trippiest sequences this show has produced, they crash into city hall… and then everything literally falls into place, including the three layer cake! That somewhat strains credibility.
    The closing thoughts from Twilight were unneeded, too.
     
    Pros: Plenty of continuity; some fan favorites get a bit of development.
    Cons: Really forced resolution, some characters are flanderized far too much.
     
    Final Thoughts
    Many fans have opined that this episode should somehow be given a free pass from criticism, because it’s a gift to the brony community. I think no episode should get a free pass. It should be treated as any other episode. Does that make me ungrateful? Maybe. Just because it’s a present, doesn’t mean I have to appreciate it. If my cat leaves a dead rat on my pillow, it being a present doesn’t change the fact that I’m left with a rat corpse… and a reason to incinerate my pillowcase. Or, in a slightly less extreme example, let's suppose someone gives me a gift of some kind of food I really, really don't like the taste of. In reality I might be forced to tell a bit of white lie to avoid hurt feelings, but here, there's really no need to pretend to be happy if I hain't.
    For those who want to somehow disavow this episode’s canonicity on the same grounds, that’s a no-go too. This episode happened, it is canon. Deal with it. Speaking of that, while I find a certain sly amusement in the fact that Derpy is now canonically called “Muffins” (Check the closing credits), I feel Derpy’s fans should be a little more put out by the fact that the writers didn’t even have the balls to use her true name in the credits. Not that it’ll make her fans stopping thinking of her as Derpy, of course. Nor should it. I’m still going to use it to annoy ‘em, though!
    If you liked the fan service, that doesn’t mean I think there’s something wrong with you. If you like fanon becoming canon, more power to you. It’s simply not to my taste, and I feel like the plotline of Matilda and Cranky had potential was not realized in order to shove in as much of that as possible. Once you strip the fan service aspect away, you’re left with a pretty middle of the road episode. It’s not terrible, but it’s certainly not anywhere near the best the show has produced.
     
    Final Ranking
    Rarity’s Cutie Mark Rank – A scintillating story! Sure to be rewatched frequently.
    Rock Candy Rank – A highly enjoyable episode, but it couldn’t avoid a cavity or two.
    Tom Rank – Average. While it looked like a diamond, it turned out to be just a rock.
    Boulder Rank – Below average. Take it out once or twice, then leave it in your pocket.
    Rock Farm Rock Rank – A terrible episode. Leave it where it lies.
    May the next episode be less contentious (than the previous two), and as always, stay sunny side up!
  14. Sunny Fox
    None of us care about that dumb old idol. Don't you get it? We don't care about anything, and that's the way we like it! – Gilda
    Synopsis
    Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are sent by The Map to the capital city of the griffon kingdom, Griffonstone. Twilight’s history books say it was a great city, united many years in the past by King Grover, using an artifact called the Idol of Boreas. When they arrive, however, the two find that the current reality is much different. The place is falling apart, nigh literally, and no griffon will give them the time of day… unless it involves getting money from them.

    It's a little "eyrie", but the griffons call it home…
    The pair comes across Gilda, who is as rude as ever, but they also meet her Grandpa Gruff. For a couple of bits, the older griffon confirms the story in the history book, and also describes the loss of the Idol during the reign of King Guto. A monster broke in to steal the idol, but both fell into Abysmal Abyss. The loss of the idol broke the pride of the griffons, leading to a decline of the state into its current… state.
    Deciding that the Map sent them here to fix the problems of Griffonstone, Rainbow Dash aims to retrieve the Idol, leaving behind the more-thoughtful-than-usual Pinkie Pie. While Dash enlists the aid of a surly and apathetic guide to abseil into the Abyss in search of the idol, Pinkie returns to Gilda to try to find out more information. After seeing Gilda help another griffon, she realizes something and runs to find Dash.
    Meanwhile, Dash is stranded in the Abyss when the rope she is using breaks, and her guide, hearing that Dash has no more bits, leaves her to her fate. Pinkie arrives and after a few false starts, runs back to Gilda to enlist her help in the rescue. Gilda remembers the good feelings her prior friendship with Dash provided, via flashback to Junior Speedster Flight Camp. She agrees to help.
    While rescuing Dash, Gilda sees the idol, as well as the remains of the monster who took it all those years ago.

    What’re you staring at?
    Forced to choose whether the idol or Dash is going to take the fall, as it were, Gilda makes the choice to save Dash from her predicament. This leads to reconciliation between the three, with Gilda apologizing for her behaviour in her first appearance. Pinkie encourages Gilda to befriend the griffon from earlier, and replace the bonds once created by the idol using friendship. The Map then signals them to come home.
     
    My Thoughts on the Episode
    This is a mixed bag of an episode. The writing is pretty tight, and provides a lot of foreshadowing. Two particular examples stand out. The first is when they get off the train. The platform they are standing on is in a state of disrepair. This provides an early hint to the poor condition of Griffonstone itself. The second is when Pinkie steps over a crevice, and some of the rock crumbles and falls. This detail hints at the danger Dash will face later in the episode, when the ledge she is on likewise begins to crumble.
    There’s been some… shall we say “vigorous discourse”… in the episode’s official thread with regards to the worth of the moral, which I don’t think I need to rehash here. Instead, I’d like to focus on a related but different matter. As in the premiere, the ponies are given what I’ve taken to calling the “Mission Accomplished” signal at the episode’s end, where their cutie marks flash and chime. But what mission was actually accomplished?
    Both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie assume that the Map sent them there to “fix” Griffonstone’s problem. If Griffonstone is in such a bad way, it does indeed seem like the signal is given prematurely (¯Understatement, my old friend / I’ve come to talk with you again…¯) But that’s assuming Dash and Pinkie are correct in what they believe. Can I blow your mind, just a little? Maybe they’re not.
    If you look at what was actually accomplished, you might get the feeling that the Map sent them not to help Griffonstone, but to help Gilda. First point: if the objective was to help the entire griffon kingdom, it seems a little strange that the Map would send ONLY Pinkie and Dash, the two ponies who were wronged the most by Gilda in Season 1. Why not send the whole of the Mane Six?
    Second point: at the end of the episode, there are two things can be most definitely said to be “fixed”: 1. the relationship between Gilda, Dash and Pinkie, where she actually apologizes to them and they mend their fences. 2. Gilda's loneliness: she makes a griffon friend of her own, thus ensuring that she isn’t left alone again when the ponies leave. This feeling was strengthened for me by the fact that the Mission Accomplished signal is given after she returns and reports to the two ponies that her offering of a griffon scone was accepted and that she had been complimented by another griffon for the first time in her life.
    Third point: The Map accomplished one more thing with regards to Dash. Her broken friendship with Gilda was repaired. For one of the ponies whose new job it is to spread the magic of friendship, it might be considered somewhat of an albatross around her neck to have such a snarl of disharmony lying in her past. Biblical anecdotes regarding specks and logs come to mind. Perhaps the journey was as much for Dash's sake as for Gilda's.
    As a bonus, given this viewpoint, that controversial little moral becomes somewhat less of a glaring flaw in the episode. True, not true? I dunno. I just offer it as a different perspective on the episode. I think it holds up well enough to at least give it a bit of thought.
    Some other nice touches to this episode include the art shifts for the History of Griffonstone sections, yet another weird beasty (sadly deceased) to add to Equestria’s Monster Manual, a glimpse of the "aww, so cute!" filly and fledgling friendship in flashback form and some comedy provided by Gilda’s constant snark, as well as a few laughs courtesy of Pinkie Pie.
    The final scene was perfectly done. I know some people feel that it would have been funnier if Gummy had finished the cake, but c’mon, who do you think he is? Boulder? I find it much funnier to consider that he has literally been lying there in the same position throughout however long Pinkie’s trip took.
    So what are the negatives? (You know, apart from the obvious one…) Well, this tendency to name every single griffon using the letter G is really, really getting to the point of irritation. (Meet my newest sob story OC: Harrold the Griffon, banished forever for bucking the theme-naming trend.) Seriously? Grover, Guto, Gilda, Glenda, GRAMPA GRUFF (That’s a twofer, Celestia damn you!) It’s getting gauche, ghastly and groan-inducing!

    Good grief!
     
    Pros: Plenty of foreshadowing. There is a continuation of the arc started in the premiere. Gilda actually gets her redemption episode (finally).
    Cons: The moral is (from certain perspectives) as entirely broken as the houses. The griffons really need to explore the ramifications of the rest of the alphabet.
     
    Final Ranking:
    Rarity’s Cutie Mark Rank – A scintillating story! Sure to be rewatched frequently.
    Rock Candy Rank – A highly enjoyable episode, but it couldn’t avoid a cavity or two.
    Tom Rank – Average. While it looked like a diamond, it turned out to be just a rock.
    Boulder Rank – Below average. Take it out once or twice, then leave it in your pocket.
    Rock Farm Rock Rank – A terrible episode. Leave it where it lies.
    May the next episode be less contentious, and as always, stay sunny side up!
  15. Sunny Fox
    Who said anything about anger?! I didn't say anything about anger! I'm not upset! And I am not angry! Do I look angry?! – Rainbow Dash

     
    Summary
    As the time comes to unwrap winter in Ponyville, with the help of the Pegasus ponies from Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash finds that her pet Tank is acting even more sedately than usual. Hearing from Fluttershy that he is gearing down for hibernation, Rainbow Dash is unable to accept that she needs to say goodbye to him until spring. When her attempt at halting the inevitable advance of winter fails, she goes into a deep depression. Via a touch of tough love, courtesy of Fluttershy and her other friends, Rainbow Dash finally comes to accept the truth, and makes her peace with the idea of a petless winter. The Mane Six bid a fond “see you later” to Tank as he digs himself a place to sleep.
     
    Thoughts on the episode
    While the episode has a simple premise, and follows a simplistic view of the 5 stages of grief, it really manages to be emotionally effective. I would even go so far as to suggest that this is as close as this series will ever get to being able to portray a character actually dealing with bereavement, albeit a symbolic and temporary one. Let’s follow Dash on her journey.
    1. Denial: Dash immediately denies what Fluttershy tells her about Tank needing to hibernate, and makes flimsy excuses to discount not only Fluttershy’s words, but even solid evidence confirming what she doesn’t want to believe. She even goes to get a second opinion. From Spike. When he seconds Fluttershy’s prognosis, Dash begins to segue into the next stage… 2. Anger: As the quote above attests, as Rainbow becomes less able to deny what is happening, she starts lashing out at Pinkie Pie and the others before storming off. 3. Bargaining: As it becomes clear to her that Tank really is going to hibernate, Dash tries anything and everything to stop the inevitable from coming to pass. Extra points for irony: her efforts just serve to speed the process.
    Is there mushroom in Ponyville for snow?
    4. Depression: A textbook case, Dash secludes herself in her room, ignores the Mane Six when they come to check up on her, and responds to any attempt at engaging her with a subdued “whatever”. Then Fluttershy happens. With one sentence, she shatters Dash’s composure, finally forcing her to fully face the facts. 5. Acceptance: With the cathartic relief of a good old crying session behind her, Rainbow comes to terms with the fact that Tank will be leaving her for a while, brings him to the others so that they can also say goodbye, and even decides to stay a while after he covers himself to read him a bedtime story. I think it was a great idea to have Fluttershy be the one to force Rainbow Dash to face the truth, having learned that lesson in Season 4 with the Breezies. Sometimes kindness needs to be dropped in favour of some tough love, baby. There’s definitely a bit of a “what the hell?” moment with Rarity here when she says, “I can’t bear to see Fluttershy cry!” Fluttershy? What about Rainbow Dash?
    Yet even within this emotional turmoil, this episode finds a few opportunities for a good laugh. The whole weather pony conversation with Open Skies, Clear Skies and Fluffy Clouds is a great example of Who’s on First. There’s also the part where Pinkie says that Applejack “cries on the inside”. I mean, like, duh! Right? Rainbow Dash also manages to show off a great many new expressions. The thing about Dash is she usually tries to act cool and stoic, so when she does show her emotions, it tends to be very funny.
    Of course, this episode is not entirely without its flaws. There are some continuity issues that ruin the experience for some fans. If we assume the episodes May the Best Pet Win and Heart’s Warming Eve are aired in chronological order, then this isn’t the first winter that Rainbow has weathered with her pet, so this hibernation issue should have come up before. It doesn’t bother me much personally, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we can loosen the assumption above, and suggest that the wintry events of Heart’s Warming Eve happened before Rainbow ever met Tank, eliminating the continuity flaw. After all, as far as I can remember, Tank never appears or is he referenced in that episode. Even if this isn’t possible, it’s probably best to just accept that the writers stuffed it up, and that this is the first winter Tank and Rainbow are facing together.
    This brings me to my second reason for not being too concerned: the focus of this episode is the emotions Rainbow is experiencing as she bids farewell to her pet, and I’m not one to let a continuity error vitiate the emotion. I would encourage others to accept it as a flaw in the writing, put it on the backburner of their minds, and just enjoy the roller coaster ride. I guess what I’m trying to say is that continuity is the servant to the story, not the other way around. Still, the irony of the situation doesn’t escape me: they go to lengths to include the Running of the Leaves, the weather factory from Sonic Rainboom, etc, precisely for the purpose of establishing continuity and then make what appears to be a massive error in the same area.
    As with many other episodes, Rainbow’s crazy actions don’t yield any consequences. I can only suspect that the weather factory explosion was brushed off as an act of Celestia, and Dash’s involvement covered up. This definitely hurts the resolution a bit, and is not a good moral for the kiddies to learn.
     
    Final Ranking:
    Rarity’s Cutie Mark Rank – A scintillating story! Sure to be rewatched frequently.
    Rock Candy Rank – A highly enjoyable episode, but it couldn’t avoid a cavity or two.
    Tom Rank – Average. While it looked like a diamond, it turned out to be just a rock.
    Boulder Rank – Below average. Take it out once or twice, then leave it in your pocket.
    Rock Farm Rock Rank – A terrible episode. Leave it where it lies.
    Overall, I enjoyed this episode as a metaphor for dealing with loss in an emotionally engaging way, not shying away from the sadness but still sprinkled with just enough humour to keep it balanced. It’s flawed, but to me, endearingly so. Now let’s see if the writers will have the cojones to put one of the ponies on a bus!
    Stay sunny side up!
  16. Sunny Fox

    Equestria's Joys

    By Sunny Fox,


    General
    Sing this to the tune of “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music.
    Verse 1:
    Doctors with Roses,

    And whiskers on kittens,

    Diamond Dog diggers

    And boastful magicians,

    A Bear brought to town by a pair of dumb boys,

    These are a few of Equestria’s joys.
    Verse 2:
    Derpy-eyed ponies delivering mail,

    Hostile takeovers, all doomed to fail,

    A whole town of ponies in love with a toy,

    These are a few of Equestria’s joys.
    Bridge:
    When the Queen schemes,

    When Tirek roars,

    When you’re feeling sad,

    Simply remember Equestria’s joys,
    And then you won’t feel so bad…

    Verse 3:
    The Magic of Friendship defeating the bad guys,

    An Alicorn Princess controlling the night sky,

    Great female role-models for all girls and boys,

    These are a few of Equestria’s joys!
  17. Sunny Fox
    If I can’t find a friendship problem… I’ll make a friendship problem! – Twilight Sparkle
    Season 2 contains some of my favorite episodes in the show. Up there, but no longer at the very top, is the episode I will review today: Lesson Zero. In many ways, it shows its original place as first in Season 2, some of which are explored below.
    What the episode is about
    On finding out that she’s in danger of missing a (self-imposed) Friendship Report deadline, Twilight desperately tries to find a friend with a problem she can solve, but comes up goose eggs, getting more and more unhinged. Beleaguered assistant Spike goes from concerned to downright anxious as her madness progresses, eventually sending her to see her friends at the picnic they had planned for that day, hoping it will take her mind off the problem.

    Wazzuuuuupp!
    However, her friends are less than solicitous, thinking that she’s overreacting to the situation, and sending her storming off. Things go from bad to worse when she uses an old toy named Smarty Pants and a magic spell (Want-It-Need-It Spell: works every time) to cause a fight between the CMC that she can break up and so have something to report. However, the situation escalates as the entire town gets brainwashed into loving and fighting over the doll.
    Running back to her friends, Twilight explains the latest mess she’s gotten them into, just as the sun goes down… and Princess Celestia herself arrives, for the first time in the show actually angry at Twilight. A simple counter spell sets things to rights, and a stern Celestia tells Twilight to meet her in the library. Twilight sadly bids her friends goodbye, certain she’s being sent back to Canterlot as punishment.
    As Twilight confronts Celestia, the others come in to defend her, claiming that they were at fault for not taking her concerns seriously. Princess Celestia hears them out, then agrees not to punish Twilight… as long as all six of them agree to send in friendship reports from now on... but only in their own good time. Celestia compliments Spike: he was concerned about Twilight, and asked her for help. As the Mane Six dictate a group letter about the moral of this episode, “always treat your friends’ concerns seriously”, Spike attempts to add his own self-congratulatory note, only to be stalled by a stern glance from Twilight. Everypony laughs!
     
    What the episode gets right
    1. The cold open provides a throw away gag, with Twilight’s first item on her To-Do List is to “make a to-do list”. Her grin as she delivers this line makes the moment, as does Spike’s exasperated groan. 2. Speaking of which, Twilight’s own exasperated groans after her friends prove less concerned about things than she is, along with her squeak (Da’oh!) when she realizes Rainbow Dash is about to bomb an old barn of Applejack’s are some of the highlights of the episode for me. 3. The scene in Sugarcube Corner is interesting, showing not only Mrs. Cake’s kindness, but also foreshadowing Twilight’s later neurotic breakdown, where just for a moment her expression changes to this:
    Unleash the beast!
    4. There are a lot of visual changes and upgrades, making this the first true Season 2 episode. The glow of a unicorn’s horn and the aura surrounding the object being manipulated is much more pronounced, with a darker colour and an undulating border replacing the vague pink glow of previous episodes. It’s also colour-coded for your convenience: Rarity’s aura is sky blue, Princess Celestia’s aura is a sunny yellow, and Twilight’s aura is reddish pink (Making them Cyan, Yellow and Magenta respectively! No black magic, yet, though.) 5. While the day starts out with the sun moving normally, as soon as Twilight realizes she might miss a deadline, it starts moving in increments, with an audible ticking sound. Even the windmill moves in time with the sun across the sky. This is an interesting and thematic visual, reinforcing the urgency Twilight feels as time proceeds without pause. Twilight’s mane getting more and more untidy as she slips further into her madness is a great touch. And those expressions… 6. The first half of the episode is Twilight trying to find a friend who needs help. Epic fail after epic fail results. Rarity only lost a ribbon; Rainbow Dash is smashing Applejack’s barn on orders rather than out of anger, and Fluttershy is apparently killing a bear! Lucky it was only a chiropractic/massage session. 7. There’s lot of rule of three in this episode: Twilight’s imagine spots that Spike has to interrupt; Sweetie Belle’s line “I really like her mane…?(!)”; Rarity’s line “Of all the worst things that could happen, this is the worst. Possible. THING!” For both sisters, the final repetition contains some sort of a joke. Sweetie’s third is delivered with as much enthusiasm as the previous two were missing, and Rarity follows hers up with “What? I really mean it this time!” when the others are staring at her after Twilight gets into trouble. 8. And boy, does she ever. Celestia is not pleased to find the entire town in the grip of a mind-altering magic spell. Some have suggested that this is partly due to Twilight messing with pony’s minds right after having Discord do the same, which makes as much sense as anything. 9. The scene of Twilight and Celestia in the library is great, because you can see Spike listening in and holding onto his tail. You might just think he feels bad Twilight is in trouble, but it goes even further… he is the reason she’s getting the dressing down in the first place, and is feeling guilty about it. Luckily, Twilight is happy to hear that he was taking her concerns seriously enough to call on Celestia for help.  
    What the episode gets wrong
    1. Once upon a time, I would not have hesitated to give this episode full marks. Alas, time has made me more jaded. There is a massive, massive problem with this episode: it relies on distorting Twilight’s organized, list-making personality to absurd levels to make the plot work. In this way, it is no different to, and even precedes,The Mysterious Mare Do Well andSomepony to Watch over Me. It’s one of the methods the writers keep using that I think is really irksome, and to find it in an episode I thought was so good otherwise is a major disappointment. The best episodes are always those where the character’s personality is natural, and the plot develops organically from that. I put Look Before You Sleep (S1) and Castle Mane-ia (S4) in this category, and those episodes still hold a special place in my heart. 2. Twilight’s deadline is self-imposed… Celestia never mentions a once-every-week aspect to the Friendship Reports. This makes the entire episode seem a little silly when you consider it. Even Spike is confused as to how Twilight came to that conclusion.  
    Other Thoughts
    1. Okay… now Pinkie Pie is a fourth wall observer, that’s already established. There’s a scene at the picnic, when she uncovers her picnic basket, only to reveal balloons and the basket floats away. Many fans seem to think this is breaking the fourth wall. It isn’t. She is looking at Fluttershy, not at the “camera”, and it’s Fluttershy’s confused expression that she reacts to. 2. At the end of the episode, Celestia shows that the ability to teleport isn’t unique to Twilight. Moreover, she can apparently teleport via the moon… well, I suppose she did spend 1000 years raising it and the sun alone, so that makes sense.  
    Highlights/Quotes
    Rarity: “Please tell me I did NOT forget the plates! I did! I totally forgot them!”
    Summons a couch to lie on
    Rarity: “Why? Why? Whyyyy…? Ugh.”
    Notices the others staring at her.
    Rarity: “What? You didn’t expect me to lie on the grass, did you?”
    What Rarity says about Twilight, after spending the episode freaking out over trivialities.
    Rarity: “Ugh, what a drama queen! … Ahem, relatively speaking…”
    Her self-conscious smoothing back of her mane as she realizes the hypocrisy in the statement makes this work.
    Twilight telefrags the CMC’s beach ball and then:

    “Hiiii, guuuurllllz!” BRRR!
    The CMC fighting as hard as they can to NOT play with Smarty Pants, and Scoots waving a hoof by her temple to indicate Twilight’s gone round the bend.

    Mayor Mare outpaces the entire field, and is only overtaken by the flying ponies… so much for her being old!

    Celestia: TWILIGHT SPARKLE!
    Applejack (Removes hat): Woah, nelly…
     
    Pros: Makes many changes to the visuals and even to the premise: now it all of the Mane Six who are learning friendship lessons. Comedic episode with great running gags. There are some truly classic lines.
    Cons: Twisting the traits of Twilight for the sake of the plot. The whole problem is self-inflicted.
     
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!
    Season 2 reviews are underway. I may be taking a holiday from the site soon (for reasons), but I’ll probably drop in occasionally to update this humble little blog 'o mine. How long can I stay away? Who knows? Who cares?
    Stay sunny side up!
  18. Sunny Fox
    I have some good news and some bad news for you, dear readers. The good news is that there were some great Season 4 episodes. The bad news is that there are some real stinkers in there too. I ascribe to the idea that in situations like these, one should have one’s choice as to which kind of news to hear first. In the interests of following that principle, you will find my picks for the Best and the Worst episodes in Season 4 under the appropriate headings, hidden behind spoiler tags for your convenience (or perhaps inconvenience).
    It shouldn’t need to be said, but it will be anyway: these are just the way I personally feel about the episodes, and if you loved an episode I hated (or vice versa), that doesn’t mean I’m right and you’re wrong (or vice versa). Everyone reacts to things in their own unique way, and that is to be celebrated. If you think I got my facts wrong and want to correct me or wish to offer an alternative interpretation of events, feel free to do so. No guarantees you'll manage to convince me, but I'll try to weigh the evidence fairly.
    And so, I invite you to join me in a roundup of Season 4’s thrills and spills.
    The Good News
    The Bad News
    And there you have it, folks! Season 4, all tied up with a pretty little bow. Feel free to comment (politely, of course ) if you think I got the wrong end of the stick, or if you saw good or bad things I missed in any particular episode.
    See you in Season 5, and stay sunny side up!
  19. Sunny Fox
    You know who's disappointed in you, Spike? You. And only you can make it right with you again. What would that take, Spike? – Twilight Sparkle
    The time has finally come for the Equestria Games to begin. As their train nears the Crystal Empire, Rainbow Dash takes the opportunity to give the Ponyville athletes a final pep talk. She encourages them to go for the gold in all their events, before admitting that it might be a bridge too far for the Aerial Relay team of herself, Bulk Biceps and Fluttershy (along with Derpy as reserve). They’re up against the Wonderbolts, after all.
    This scene highlights just how far Rainbow Dash has developed as a character. She shows a great deal of maturity, and is even willing to be vulnerable and forthright in front of others. This is a far cry from the Rainbow Dash who used to hide her concerns under a layer of bluff and bluster, even from her closest friends. Scootaloo is also impressive here, not only by showing that she can at least hover briefly at will, but also by encouraging Rainbow Dash in return. Well done, writers!
    At the train station, Spike is happily doing his usual task of looking after everypony’s luggage, while the Crusaders look on. He tells the fillies that he has a system to calm himself whenever he’s under pressure: he counts to ten, and afterwards is calm enough to do the job right. No sooner has he finished explaining this than he is swept up into a chair by two Crystal Empire guards, and brought to Princesses Cadance and Twilight. The Guards are contrite about unceremoniously dumping him out the chair as they bow, making Spike even more confused at their words and behaviour.
    His confusion is cleared up when he learns that, due to his heroics in the Season 3 premiere, he is considered a VID (Very Important Dragon) within the Crystal Empire, even having had a giant statue made in his likeness. Princess Cadance then asks him if he will do the honour of lighting the torch for the opening ceremony of the games. He readily agrees.
    Under the less than indulgent eye of returning character Ms. Harshwhinny, Spike comes out to do his duty… only for the enormous crowd filling the stadium to trigger a sudden bout of stage fright. Even his handy trick of counting backfires, as it makes him even more aware of the tens of thousands of ponies watching. At least now we know how he counted all the grass at Sweet Apple Acres so fast. Even after getting the signal to light the torch from Ms. Harshwhinny, he finds the pressure to perform is causing, shall we say, "a reptile dysfunction"?

    I’ve heard of having a “limp lizard”, but this is ridiculous…
    Unable to breathe fire, and without a backup (really, not even one just in case?), Spike tries to use himself like a lighter, recycling a visual gag from Apple Family Reunion in Season 3. Nothing works, and the crowd is starting to get restless at the delay. Princess Cadance eventually asks a guard to go down and help Spike, but Twilight acts faster, using her magic to secretly ignite the torch for him.
    A short time later, the Mane Six are congratulating the Crusaders on their flag waving routine, when Twilight joins them, and confesses her role in the torch lighting. They all agree the best thing to do is come clean to Spike. When he arrives, however, he is now convinced he has the ability to set things on fire with just his mind!
    I’m not sure how I feel about this joke. Spike is many things, but he’s not usually so stupid as to conclude he has new mental fire-lighting abilities, rather than realizing the more likely cause of his success. After a very awkward conversation with some of his Crystal Pony fans, Twilight mercifully puts Spike’s misapprehension to bed. The truth that he really DID fail in front of thousands of spectators depresses the young dragon, and he wanders off disconsolately.
    As the Aerial Relay takes place, Spike asks Ms. Harshwhinny if he can do something else for the Games. However, she doesn't know the whole story, and thinks he's just trying to gain even more popularity. She sarcastically comments that next he'll want to do a rock concert. At this, he gets an idea. An awful idea. The dragon got a wonderful, awful idea... After Cloudsdale's Wonderbolts narrowly beat out Ponyville for the gold, Spike volunteers to sing the Crystal Empire anthem, despite Shining Armor's best efforts to stop him. However, since Cloudsdale won, it's their anthem that is due to be played, one to which he doesn't know the words or even the tune.
    What follows next is without a doubt the hardest sceneto watch in the entire show, including all four Seasons and associated spin-offs. Spike has to make up the words himself, and he does about as well as you would expect, repeating lines about "being fast", "having wonderful trees" and "I hope this song is over now..." ad nauseum.

    Captain! The "dafuq am I listening to?" levels are off the scale!
    Only Pinkie isn't gob smacked over how horrible this situation is, bopping her head in time with the horrible singing (later done again in Rainbow Rocks, with Pinkie and Sonata) She even screams out "Nailed it!" in the ensuing stunned silence at the song's end. Now, am I the only one who sees the simple solution here? All they had to do was give orders for the music to be played really loudly (it can be heard in the background anyway). Then Spike could just mouth any words he likes, and they could claim that the music "accidentally" drowned out his singing. Soblem prolved!
    In the wake of the recent events, Spike decides to wait out the Games in his room, moping. The Crusaders try to persuade him to come out for the final day of the Games, but he refuses. Twilight, eventually having had enough, sternly orders him to come with her to view the final event: Ice Archery. Reluctantly and in disguise, he follows her, saying that she can't understand how he feels for having let everypony down. Twilight says she does understand, since she has let ponies down too. Spike still turns away...
    Out on the field, one of the ice archers is paying a little too much attention to his Cloudsdale competitor. He trip and accidentally fires an arrow into a low hanging cloud, which ices up and begins to fall onto the panicking crowd. Since all unicorn and alicorn magic is now locked by a spell to prevent in-game cheating, things look bad... until Spike, using various pegasii as stepping stones, leaps into the air and uses his fire breath to melt the iceberg and save everyone. The crowd cheers, and the Mane Six and even all three Princesses thank Spike for his bravery. Despite this, he still feels like he isn't worthy, leading Twilight to the epiphany voiced above.
    To give him back his confidence, Spike is tasked with lighting the fireworks in the closing ceremony of the Equestria Games, and delivers his final thoughts as he does so successfully... the person whose view of you is most important, is you. Bonus points for the fireworks exploding in purple and green... and even Ms Harshwhinny seems much kinder at the end.
     
    Thoughts on the Episode
    Once you get over the vicarious embarrassment of the anthem scene, you're left with another great Spike focused episode. Apart from that aforementioned scene, and the "I can light fires with my mind" joke, which thankfully is used to somewhat of good effect and then resolved before continuing with the plot, it's really just Spike struggling with a poor self-image, something we can all relate to at times. At the end of it all, he steps up and saves the day again, further cementing his status as saviour of the Crystal Empire... and let's face it, Precious Scales deserves it after all the crap he's been put through in previous episodes. And the ponies couldn't be happier for him. That's nice, isn't it?
    The writing was pretty good throughout this episode, from the opening scene showing Rainbow "Developed" Dash, to the excitement of the Games and the final action scene. Just one thing bothers me... where did Spike get that umbrella?
    There was a lot of good character jokes to be had here, and Pinkie was really on form, comedically missing the point in the fiasco that Spike creates, and "panicking" over the medal count. The Crusaders were also on form, with Scootaloo showing possible progress in her flying, and her surrogate sister relationship with Dash growing ever stronger. Speaking of Dash, her attempt to be nonchalant and overdoing it is perfectly in line with her character , as was Spike simply not noticing.
    Some other nice touches were various cameos in the crowd, including Prince Blueblood, the Maretonia Rarity clone, Cherry Jubilee, Fancy Pants, Braeburn; the list goes on. There are plenty others, go see how many you can find, even in this one picture....

    I particularly like the one pony who is definitely Bulk Bicep's mom. He always did strike me as a momma's boy...
    There's also the griffins making a comeback!
     
    Highlights and Quotes
    Spike's reaction to giant statue of him with the Crystal Heart.
    Spike: Hullo, gorgeous!
     
    All the unicorns have to have their magic locked during the games. Rarity's reaction is priceless!
    Rarity: Hmph! <struts off>
     
    Ms Harshwhinny's reaction to Spike wanting to do MORE for the Games
    Spike: Maybe there's something else I can do for the Games. Y'know, something really worthy of the Crystal Empire's admiration?
    Ms. Harshwhinny: What are you talking about? You lit the torch for the whole thing!
    Spike: Uh, well, actually, that wasn't really–
    Ms. Harshwhinny: That wasn't worthy enough for you? Ugh, for pony's sake! Next thing you know, you'll be asking to put on a rock concert. *snorts to herself* Celebrities...
    After Spike's disastrous singing of the Cloudsdale Anthem
    Stunned silence...
    Pinky (From the crowd): NAILED IT!
     
    Pros: An episode that gave Spike the respect he deserves, while still making him suffer for his happy ending. Good character based humour. Concludes a major Season 4 story arc just in time for the finale. Related to the previous, many cameos. Visually spectacular.
    Cons: Some really cringe-making humour. Spike's belief that he can light fires with just his mind (the burning feather from Owl's Well notwithstanding...) also contributes.
     
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!
    Goddamn finally finished all the Season 4 reviews! It took a while, but sometimes the inspiration just refuses to strike. But it did, and it's done! In the next few entries, I'll look at an overall review of Season 4, exploring why it's possibly the best one yet, and also explore the many awesome songs and rank them, before turning my attentions to Seasons 2 and 3. There's also some other stuff I want to get going on writing, like some of my fanfiction, and even maybe some entries about shows that are not Friendship is Magic. Plus some Rainbow Rocks stuff, naturally! Looks like 2015 is going to a busy one for this fox!
    In the meantime, don't shoot ice arrows at any clouds, and of course, stay sunny side up!
  20. Sunny Fox

    The Equestria Girls Franchise Saved Your Life

    By Sunny Fox,


    Equestria Girls
    Yes, you.
    Science is now recognizing the significance of so called "butterfly effects". Even small, essentially undetectable variations in the starting state of a deterministic system can lead to vast different outcomes over time as the system states diverge. Essentially, if you can calculate values to a million decimal places, a difference in the million-and-first decimal place will eventually grow and wreck your prediction.
    The upshot of this is that even the smallest effects can change the course your life takes.
    The usual shorthand is "a butterfly flaps its wings, and <somewhere> gets a drought instead of a flood." I'd prefer to rephrase this as, "a butterfly distracts you for a second, causing you to avoid getting hit by a car you would have been hit by if the butterfly hadn't distracted you."
    So, let's replace that butterfly with the entire Equestria Girls franchise. Imagine you are walking home, and come to a red light. Maybe you were musing on the utter failure of the EQG concept to deliver a satisfying movie. Your musing leads you to miss the light changing green. Just as you realize this and are about to step forward, some jerk, driving while talking on a cell phone, sails through the intersection at a great pace, and misses you by mere centimeters. Thus you live when you would have died. Equestria Girls just saved your life. You're welcome.
    Now, wait, some of my more astute readers might be thinking. If I accept that the existence of EQG leads to me living when I would have died had it not existed, doesn't it work just as well the other way around? To whit, by the same logic, there have to be people who would have lived, but died because EQG existed.
    And to those readers I would say... "Good job! Have a Smartypants, you gold star, you!"

    A surprising accurate reflection of my expression at the time of writing this...
    But here's the clever bit. Those people aren't really in a position to read this entry. Presumably, they have ceased to be, pining for the fjords; or they have either loftier concerns or more pressing problems to occupy them right now. Only people who are still on this mortal coil thanks to EQG can read this and potentially recognize its applicability to them.
    Now the chance that it actually applies to any one reader of my humble little blog is vanishingly small, that is true. However, as the time since EQG came out grows, so more people will be exposed to it. Secondly, the longer this blog entry exists, the more people can potentially read it and can apply it to themselves. So the chance that it will apply to at least one reader approaches 1 the longer time goes on.
    The logic is inescapable. Eventually, it will be true of someone who reads this blog entry. It might even be you.
    Until next time, stay sunny side up, and look both ways before crossing the street!
  21. Sunny Fox
    Spike! Never, ever, ever, ever take another book out of the library at the castle without asking! – Twilight Sparkle
    The preparations for the Ponyville Foal and Filly Festival are done, and the event is about to start. Pinkie Pie is of course thrilled at the prospect of having a giant party with the young ponies of Ponyville. But Rarity is also looking forward to it as she puts the finishing touches on a puppet theatre she was commissioned to do, with Spike looking on and complimenting her, as is his wont. Unfortunately, Rarity lets her tendency for form over function get the best of her again, and her client ends up with a really beautiful but utterly useless puppet theatre. It neither travels nor has enough room for the performance, and the puppeteer promptly announces his disdain at the offering before storming off. Rarity is naturally devastated, and goes into a funk, curled up on her chaise longue, crying over her failure and gorging on carton after carton of Vanilla Oat Swirl ice cream. Unable to console her, Spike decides to visit the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters Library, along with Owlowiscious, to find a spell that can help her.
    Behind a secret door, Spike finds a spell book bathed in lurid green light on a pedestal. The lock on the gate is no match for his fire breath. He grabs the grimoire, oblivious to the obviously evil exterior and the fact that the stairway is crumbling beneath his feet as he casually walks back to the main room. Owlowiscious is far less sanguine, but his hoots of protests are brushed off by Spike as he reads the title of his acquisition: Inspiration Manifestation (roll credits *ding!*). The subtitle explains more: the spell instantly brings ideas to life.
    Returning to Rarity, he succeeds in convincing her to try out the spell despite her lingering depression. Reading the spell, Rarity’s own magic is replaced by the magic of the book. As part of the incantation, we learn the only way to break the spell: speaking words that are true.

    …wrong episode, Zecora.
    After upgrading first the cover of the book and then her fainting couch to prove the spell works as advertised, Rarity thanks Spike before setting out to adjust the puppet theatre to something more practical. The new design is a hit with the puppeteer, who declares that Rarity has redeemed herself, despite being suspicious as to how exactly she managed it. Rarity quickly silences Spike when he’s about to let Opal out of the bag and claims “trade secrets”.
    Having saved the day, Spike decides to return the book to the Castle, but Rarity asks him if she can keep it for just a bit longer. He agrees, and goes home for the night. Returning the next day, Spike goes to the Boutique to get the book, and finds that Rarity has been up all night effortlessly creating design after design. About this point it becomes clear that Rarity’s sanity is slipping under the influence of the spell. She ropes Spike into a new endeavor: secretly (just between the three of them) using the book to provide “beautifying upgrades” to the village.
    After a morning of incognito transmutation, Spike is finally realizing that Rarity is going too far. After she runs off alone to do more “improving”, Spike meets up with Twilight. She is of the opinion that some kind of new villain must be responsible. Resolving to steal the book away and end the spell, Spike chases after Rarity, after finding a subtle hint as to where she might have gone.

    Hey, look, they got Blossomforth right this time. Looking at you, Rainbow Falls. 
    Finding her on a nearby hill, Spike eventually manages to pickpocket the book away from her, and is forced to swallow the book whole (presumably destroying it with his fiery dragon digestion). Despite this, it seems the spell is still very much in effect. Realizing she doesn't even need the book anymore, Rarity totally loses her perspective, claiming that she is going to entirely transform Equestria itself with her new-found powers.

    And that’s the right way to turn Rarity into a villain. Looking at you, Nightmare Rarity comic. 
    Seeing just how far round the bend his friend and crush has gone, Spike flatly refuses to let her continue down this path. He finally tells her what he really thinks of her recent actions: that while she might have the power to change things, that doesn't mean the changes are good, and that he fears he has let Rarity become “something awful”. With these candid words, Spike inadvertently triggers the ending condition for the spell, the magic dissipating and leaving behind a rather disorientated Rarity, who seems surprised to learn that she was the cause of “something quite terrifying” happening to Ponyville. She also tells Spike that he should never be afraid to be honest with his friends.
    Spike writes the friendship lesson he learned into the journal, just before Twilight returns home, having spent all day with both Princess Cadance and Princess Luna fixing his mistake. She firmly reprimands him for taking spell books out of the Castle Library without asking. Spike applies his new lesson and tells her that she doesn't look so good right now, making this perhaps the first time Twilight hasn't been happy at the end of a story.
     
    Episode Analysis
    This episode is certainly a much better offering than the previous episode, which I gave a pretty hard time. First and foremost, it was a Spike episode, which is a… I don’t think I need to make that joke, you make it in your head already… while Rarity was in more of a supporting role. Spike actually learns a decent moral, and even the way the secondary moral is brushed aside is very much in line with Spike’s tendency to miss the point. He also deserves praise for being brave enough to tell Rarity "no", despite thinking it would be the end of their friendship. On the negative side, one could say his usual obliviousness was taken to extremes for the sake of the story. Which is, I have to say, one of the less worthy ways to generate a plot.
    On the positive side, I feel that this episode was presenting a rather realistic (in terms of the show, of course, not real life) way in which you could turn Rarity into a villain – give her the power to effortlessly realign the world into something more congruent with her own sensibilities, under the belief that she knows better than other ponies how they and the world should be. The scariest demonstration of the power of the spell comes in during the party scene. There, she quite clearly altered the appearance and behaviour of the clown and musician ponies themselves. Although most of the time she seemed to stop short of actually overriding the will of the “benefactors” of her power, that seems more like a decision on Rarity’s part than a limitation of the power of Inspiration Manifestation itself. A frightening thought, indeed. Given that it took three alicorn princesses to undo the damage (with difficulty) that was done by one pony (effortlessly), one wonders whether even Discord could defeat Rarity when she is wielding the power of her. Creative! GENIUS! Oh, and Inspiration Manifestation, of course.

    There would be a caption for this picture, only I just got turned into a golden statue of a fox...
    Some other random thoughts: it was an interesting inclusion of Sweetie Belle’s parents actually spending time with the filly, and we finally see her dad without a hat to confirm that he is actually a unicorn. I also noticed Dinky was “paired” with a pony who was definitely not Derpy (Amethyst Star, I think), while other known sibling groups were also shown, such as Thunderlane and Rumble. Speaking of Derpy, did she even appear in this episode? I don’t recall seeing her. Not that it’s evidence against the common fanon of Dinky being Derpy's foal, but they could have used that opportunity to confirm the link for certain. (What double standard?)
    The other Mane Six all made token appearances, providing a few yuks, especially the bit where the poor robin was trapped in his new birdmansion. Although that was a bit of fridge logic…

    Fly towards the eye of the pony giving you the directions, ya dumb boid!
    All in all, an enjoyable episode, focusing on the problem that Spike almost unleashed upon an unsuspecting Equestria.
     
    Highlights and Quotes
    First...
    Rarity: We shouldn't even tell anypony that it's me who's behind all the fabulous changes I'll be making! Won't that be a fun little secret for the three of us to share?
    Spike: The... three of us?
    Rarity: You, me, and the book, of course.
    Then the brick joke:
    Spike: *sighs* I can't do it. I promised I'd keep all of this between the three of us!
    Owlowiscious: *hoots*
    Spike: Of course it's weird she meant her, me and the spell book. But– The spell book! Of course! If I can get it away from her, I bet she won't be able to use its magic anymore! *Owlowiscious rolls his eyes* Oh, come on, it's the perfect plan! I... just have to figure out which way she went.
    Cue ponies crying out about the blinding gold-paved streets.
    When Spike blames Owlowiscious for taking the book, the hapless owl gets this long-suffering expression on his face as if to say, "Whelp, time to take one for the team..."
     
    Pros: A good day in the limelight for Spike. A believable “start of darkness” story, and rather frightening potential for Rarity to become a true force of evil. Spike learns a good moral about being honest.
    Cons: Perhaps he should have learned “don’t take things without permission” moral instead. Stretching Spike's ability to ignore details to an uncomfortable degree.
     
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!
    May you never be improved against your will and stay sunny side up!
  22. Sunny Fox

    Flash! Ah-AAHHH!

    By Sunny Fox,


    Equestria Girls
    Let's talk about everyone's favorite character in MLP evar... That handsome hunka hunka he-man, with the wicked blue hair and the mad guitar skillz, Twilight's destined future provider of wedded bless and 80 babies and a happily ever after for good measure, that god among men simply known as Flash Sentry.
    No, no pictures... his awesomeness is too much for this blog to bear should even his image appear in it. Maybe some of other bigger blogs could handle his radiance, but even then it would be too risky. Best not to try containing such munificent, angelic glory with a simple...
    Okay, that joke has outstayed its welcome. Much like another joke, referring to Flash as Brad. I did a little bit of research into his derisive little nickname, and was surprised to find that it started a full month (May 16th 2013) before the movie even came out (June 16th 2013). Now if that is not prejudging a character, I do not know what is. This name is apparently based on the idea that Flash is a jock. He is not. (Well called, people, well called.) He's a rocker.
    Now before you dust off the old rope and unfurl the map to the lynching tree, I will state that Flash Sentry is indeed a very flat character. He has no flaws at all, and that's simply unrealistic. It does not make for an intriguing character. Rainbow Rocks, ironically, did LESS with the character than even the feeble attempt of the original Equestria Girls in making him relevant to the plot. He does have some slight relevance... okay, stop tying that noose for now and just hear me out... in the original, since he dated Sunset and is probably wise to her tricks, making it somewhat understandable that he would investigate and prove Twi's innocence. In the sequel, he was put under the sirens' spell and then sidelined, and any bad behaviour he exhibited must be attributed to their mind control, and not to potential character developing flaws of his own. Anti-Flash fans happy yet?
    Despite - put that down! - this acknowledged lack of well roundedness, I still find myself liking him, because he does have all those nice guy qualities. Attribute it to whatever lack within me that you will, I simply think I could be friends with the dude. He isn't vain, doesn't mind things being spilled on him, he tries hard, he perseveres despite apparent rejection, he runs into things when he's a little self conscious (which is adorable) and he stands up for what's right.
    Now does that make him and his relationship to Twilight something we should support or decry? Do I think the ship is a good one? Brace yourselves, your flabbers may be ghasted... No. I don't. It just doesn't appeal to me, even though I suspect I would say they're not so different as to make it unworkable. Besides, it would be too pedestrian.
    Who would I pair Flash up with, if I could? Actually, Sunset Shimmer. Their former relationship is one mystery that I would love to have some more insight into. They dated, and although Flarebutt claims she only did it for popularity, there had to be something about him she liked. After all, he doesn't seem that popular within the school itself, and we only have Sunny's word for it that dating him would have helped her in that regard at all.
    In fact, one intriguing tidbit for ol' Flashy is that HE dumped HER. And this was long before Twilight entered the picture. Do none of the anti-Flash fans feel any inkling of curiosity about this fact whatsoever or what it may reveal about Sunny, Flash and their relationship?

    So what would I like to see? A story about Flash and Sunny getting back together, with her now the feisty gal he first was attracted to without any of that nasty, ulterior-motive, set-a-horde-of-teenage-zombies-on-Equestria baggage, and with him now being cut out of actual corrugated cardboard instead of the thin stuff. It should be set after Rainbow Rocks, but with flashbacks (no pun intended, or indeed, called for) to what happened in their former relationship. That would be the minimum.
    Naturally, Flash would need to be developed at least a few steps over the course of the story in order to make it more appropriate for him to date the now more fleshed out Sunset Shimmer. It would make Flash less two dimensional, neatly tie up the loose ends, and leave Twilight free to remain in Equestria, being the Princess of Friendship. Everypony wins! Well, as long as I can find a safe place to hide from all the Pro-Sunset-Shimmer-but-anti-Flash-Sentry fans who no doubt will now be after my hide.
    Oh, crap, I hear the battering ram already... stay sunny side up!
    * Sunny Fox escapes out the window *
  23. Sunny Fox

    Sonata's Lament

    By Sunny Fox,


    Equestria Girls
    I just don't get why so many fans wanted or expected a heel face turn from Sonata Dusk. As for me, I never saw any hint of remorse or doubt about her actions as a member of the Dazzlings. Not once did she look even the slightest degree uncomfortable with what was going on.
    Yeah, I get that she's ditzy and that she's cute, and that she loves tacos.

    I even compared her to Avatar: The Last Airbender's Ty Lee, who <<don't click if you don't want spoilers>>
    But really, I never saw any hint of redemption in Sonata herself throughout the entirety of the film. And it baffles me that anyone could look at the character and seriously see any hint of desire to turn from her evil ways. Oh, well. -_- I guess if you look cute and ditzy, you can get away with anything.
    To make the point, I offer this:

    After watching Twilight outright cry because of what Flash Sentry said to her and how he behaved, this appears directly afterwards, and Sonata is smirking the entire time (not to mention channeling Doctor Evil). Like, so a villain. And a moment later, she laughs just as loud and long as the other two do. Why no expectations of "coming to the Light side" for them?
    To conclude... Sonata does not want to be redeemed. She does not deserve to be. She is a villain, end of story. A cute, somewhat distracted villain, but a baddy nonetheless.
  25. Sunny Fox
    I... I know the history! I know it all! But how in Equestria did that happen? – Rainbow Dash
    Rainbow Dash is busy NOT preparing for an important test on the history of the Wonderbolts, so that she can get into a newly formed Reserve squadron for her dream team. Twilight tries to get her focused, and help her with her own study methods, but the distractible Rainbow Dash finds them to be entirely useless. Reading and highlighting, listening to lectures, using flashcards: all are apparently of no avail when applied to the ADHD addled Pegasus. She’s too busy goofing off to actually learn anything.
    When Twilight finally gets through to Rainbow exactly how much important learning this knowledge is, panic sets in, and they start to argue. Fluttershy, of all ponies, breaks it up, and suggests some alternative methods for shoving the history into Rainbow’s brain. Her own recommendation is a play with the pets portraying princesses and ponies alike. Pinkie Pie then weighs in with an old skool rap style number, which Rainbow finds more entertaining than actually useful.
    Rarity’s fashion-based tour through Wonderbolt history also fails to help her. Applejack doesn’t have a study method to suggest at all, and in a rather unusual ditzy moment for the down-to-Earth Pony, starts teaching Rainbow the history of apples instead. Finding the group arguing over which useless method is least useless, Rainbow finally gives up entirely and goes into a funk and flies off. Also taking to the air to try and encourage her, Twilight almost flies into a pony in a helicopter.

    Hot air balloons are, like, SO last season…
    Rainbow manages to push her out of the way, and mentions that she noticed the danger despite carrying on the conversation. She further explains that she keeps her eyes and ears on everything while she flies, maintaining some kind of hyperaware state that lets her subconsciously record even the tiniest details, and consciously keep track of the most relevant ones. Realizing that this skill might be the key to helping her, Twilight bolts off to again enlist the help of the rest of the Mane Six without an explanation, leaving Rainbow…

    …under a dark cloud, on top of a dark cloud.
    Later inviting the still despondent Dash for another flight, she tries to make small talk as they go, with Dash producing some Eeyore-worthy responses. At the end of the flight, Twilight asks her what she can remember, and Dash begins to rattle off the history of the Wonderbolts perfectly. Shocked and delighted, Rainbow asks how it happened. Twilight tells that during the flight, the whole town was acting out the history below her, and shouting out the important facts – all of which Rainbow was absorbing without even realizing it. This lets her pass the test with flying colours.
     
    Highlights and Quotes
    Twilight looks at Rainbow’s highlighting, and we get this obvious parental bonus:

    Naa naa nanana naa, and Twilight is the centerfold!
    Followed by:
    Twilight: Hey, I am not that tall!
    Pinkie’s rap, complete with art shift.
     
    Rainbow Dash sees Rarity dressed up in the original Wonderbolt costume.
    Rainbow: Rarity, you look ridiculous.
    Rarity (unoffended): I am going to ignore that comment out of my desire to help you.
     
    After the historical fashion tour fails.
    Applejack: Why, I could tell you every little thing there is to know about the history of apples, but I picked all that up over years in the field as a labor of love. How much time you got?
    Rainbow Dash: Twelve hours.
    Applejack: (beat) Oh, then you are up a creek.
    Rainbow VisionTM.
     
    The Good
    While certainly not a laugh-a-minute kind of episode, there was a bit of humour to the proceedings, mainly generated by Rainbow’s class clown antics. And she looked adorable rocking back and forth on her stool, completed by the fact that it ended up being a whole percussion number with the aid of Owlowiscious and Spike.
    The dialogue had some gems, such as Rarity’s “I’ll just ignore that” line, and Applejack slipping in a fact about Granny Smith discovering granny smith apples. I was also impressed with Fluttershy’s assertiveness in stopping Twilight and Rainbow from arguing. It’s satisfying to see some of her character development being acknowledged and used in the episode. Even the pets got a bit of time in the spotlight (literally).
    It was a heartwarming scene when the entire town stepped up to help out, and a rather subtle joke was worked in there. The CMC shout E! U! P! and Big MacIntosh repeats it as EeyUP! This also doubles as a nod to “Flight to the Finish”, where the CMC represented the three races coming together. Along with Rainbow, we learn a lot of the history of the Wonderbolts, and world-building is always a big plus in an episode for me. It included a mythology nod to Firefly, a G1 pony who was also Lauren Faust’s favorite character, and probably deserves a share of credit for the high quality of G4 and the resulting brony fandom.
    Visually, the animators did some really interesting things, such as changing the entire look of the Pinkie rap to resemble old VHS footage, and later “rewinding” and zooming in on the different details as Rainbow sees them on her flights. The shadows of the two ponies moving along the ground and warping as they travel over objects is a fantastic touch, particularly considering that the shadows in the show are usually just circles.
    Finally, I want to mention the Aesop of the episode. The moral “everyone has their own way of learning” is worthy enough…
     
    The Bad
    …but it gets a little bit diluted by the implication that for some, that way of learning is basically a superpower. It also required an entire town of ponies playing dress up to pull off, so I question the practicality there.
    Also, I think Rainbow getting 100% is a little bit unnecessary. Couldn’t she just pass, or get A+ or something? I suppose it’s meant to reinforce the lesson, and maybe be a little bit of a bone thrown for her after so much stress during the episode itself, but full marks? Even the examiner seems to think something’s hinky. Plus we know she’s going to pass, so the whole “did she pass or fail” moment is an obvious red herring.
     
    Final Thoughts
    Overall, Testing is a worthwhile episode. The negatives I mentioned are mostly nitpicks, but the moral really does end up suffering due to the way the conflict was resolved by what is pretty much a Rainbow Sense, and not by hard work on her part. Still, there were great visuals, engaging dialogue, and a lot of interesting background on the Wonderbolts. Most importantly, we saw a happy ending for Rainbow Dash and her getting just that much closer to obtaining her dream. Fight on, Rainbow Dash!
     
    Final Rating
    5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently.
    4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great.
    3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced.
    2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden.
    1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon!
    Be sure to visit Sunny Side Den again soon!
     
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