Truffles

I'm most interested in "To Change a Changeling," because I'm a sucker for episodes that tackle serious topics. On that note, "Marks and Recreations" sounds interesting for the same reason, especially when it's an episode that explores characters dealing with self-identity, which both these episodes seemingly do.

Honorable mentions go to "Triple Threat," because, well, Spike, Thorax, and, Ember all together in one episode. I'll be disappointed though if the Thorax-Ember interaction is limited to the last few minutes of the episode. Also, "Once Upon a Zeppelin" for Sparkle family interaction, but I'll be majorly disappointed is Spike is excluded from their family vacation. 

On 7/29/2017 at 4:03 PM, Mirage77 said:

Yes - we always have Rarity...

 

That video must have been produced from the earlier seasons - it's missing the funniest Rarity moment of all - her "nom nom nommimg" on ice cream in "Inspiration Manifestation." 

As for a lack of slapstick, I wouldn't say it's gone away completely but has been modulated for an older audience. Case in point - Fluttershy covered in insects in "Every Little Thing She Does." That's a very funny moment in that episode, even if what Starlight did to her wasn't itself funny.

On 8/7/2017 at 10:04 AM, Lambdadelta said:

I am annoyed when Spike sings the song 'A Changeling can Change' and Starlight said that he is a reformed changeling, COME ON, he is not a reformed one, he already a good guy in the beginning.

Ahahaha, irony, the upcoming ep of S7 is To change a changeling, which technically an episode about reforming bad changeling...

That why i dont like The Time They are a changeling as much as people do.

While I agree with you Thorax was born different, there was a bunch of time between his birth and the invasion of Canterlot that we have no inkling as to how he behaved.

As @CypherHoof stated, Chrysalis was likely culling The non-conformists in her brood, so it stands to reason he took part in a great many missions that would give others pause as to how "good" he really was. Missions that involved him mimicking other ponies and sucking their love to return it to his queen, just so he could survive and not stand out too much.

Even if he backed out at the last minute during the invasion and left after that, he probably did some things in his past he's not particularly proud of.

It would be really awesome if they had an episode where he was feeling guilty and had to confess this to his new dragon and pony friends in a flashback episode, but I'd be surprised if they would do this because there's so many characters in the show now giving him a whole episode to himself seems unlikely. Unless it somehow tied into Chrysalis' return and revenge.

On 8/4/2017 at 7:24 PM, MegaSean45 said:

I wanna see some school pony have a crush on Spike! One of the underused school pony characters, I mean!

Then I want him to go along with it to not hurt her feelings, only for it to get out of claw. Only then would he realize he's been doing the same thing to Rarity all these years and it's him who apologies to her and tells her he's not going to do that anymore.

Won't happen before the movie, though, since it's part of his character bio for the film. I guess it'd be funny if a fish crushed on him and this all was a subplot during that segment of the movie. Kind of like "The Incredible Mr. Limpet." 

13 hours ago, ShootingStar159 said:

Poor Starlight, demoted to printing press.

Now she knows what's it's like to be Twilight's fax machine. 

3 hours ago, KH7672 said:

While I can't remember where I heard this but I'll keep it in a spoiler bock if this is true:

  Hide contents

I think unlike Party of One it's confirmed Rainbow Dash actually does not like pie. I seem to recall people saying they were going to rewatch all the episodes to she if she ever eats pie because of this confirmation (might have been a tie in comic now that I think about it). So with that in mind the outcome is going to be different but could be plot 3.

 

Heh, if that turns out to be true, SoarinDash is doomed as a ship. XD

Since he took on the form of a teenage pony as Crystal Hoof, that to me is an indicator he's a teenager. Plus the voice is a dead giveaway.

Spike is too charming to fit the stereotypical "nerd" archetype. But it's true he's a nerd in the sense of the things he's good at, as @Discordian stated above.

I guess that makes him a nerd in housework, too. 

Interesting idea. I think it was meant as a general insult aimed at dragons, since griffons and dragons were no doubt in direct competition with one another back when their species were in their heyday.

It's not clear from the comment whether dragon eggs really get moldy and get discarded by the parents, or whether due to their coloring griffons got the idea that all dragon eggs are moldy and went with it as a general insult even if it wasn't true.

It is curious Gilda didn't have more disdain for Spike in that episode, however. She clearly wasn't happy with him, but it probably had more to do with his eating her cake and doing a running commentary on the pranks at the party.

It would be cool to have a Gabby and Spike episode that explored the history between dragons and griffons.

Spike's dragon song is the best part of the OOC wreck that is "Spike at Your Service," but even that scene makes me feel bad for him because the low self esteem he has is most evident during this part of the episode as he goes through a rapid-fire list of things he can do for AJ as her slave. 

@Dark Qiviut had the video that accompanied the episode topic header cued up to the song part, so I saw that first.

The song was very sweet and emotional and just from that alone I could tell this was going to be a very different episode from the usual fare.

But then I remembered this adorable couple were both gone in the present day and it got me all choked up.

...

Okay, maybe more than a little choked up... ≤_≤

Apologies in advance for straying off the topic of the episode for a bit....

9 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

I don't think I was ever a fan of Rugrats, even when I was ostensibly in the target demographic back in its heyday, so I personally would prefer explanations other than that one, haha.

I enjoyed it back in the day, and I -wasn't- their target audience, lol. It hasn't aged as well as some other shows I used to like, however, and the initial run I felt was better than the reprise. some years later

The episode that hooked me on it was "I Remember Melville," which, in a strange confluence of events here in how the latest posts have been on the topic of kids handling death, was an episode that dealt directly with Chuckie having to deal with the death of his pet bug. I was surprised a kid's show would be bold enough to handle such a touchy topic and not pull any punches. So I guess that episode alone brought about enough good will in me to follow the rest of the series until it ended.

5 hours ago, Meeps said:

I still remember the lava storm that followed the death scene in How to Train Your Dragon 2. While much more graphic, I was actually astounded at how many parents felt the need to explain to their children that "the character isn't dead, they just had to go away and the dragons will bring them back later." Seriously?!??

I have to admit the death in that film bummed me out about part 2. By the end of the film, it seemed like a pointless thing to do to that character. I thought maybe it would affect Toothless in some way and add to his development but by the end of the film he didn't seem to have any negative impact on his psyche.

I guess for that reason alone and because MLP really isn't a serial with a continuing story between episodes I really don't want to see them kill off any main characters in the show. It would seem senseless in the show's current design and tone.

So I wonder why AJ parents in her dream

<_<

6 hours ago, StitchandMLPlover said:

About the scene with Pear Butter and Bright Mac as toddlers, it might be that to the adults they are making babbling goo goo type noises but can understand each other…kind of like in "Rugrats"

The idea that they were communicating ala "Rugrats" had crossed my mind as well, and in fact was my initial thought. But I liked @Jeric's narrative theory so much I've adopted it as my headcannon for that scene.

Though I can't entirely discount the possibility that the story being told was accurate and that they really were toddler sweethearts. 

2 hours ago, Ganondox said:

In order for Braeburn to be Applejack's first cousin Bright Mac would have to have siblings.

Hmm, I'm going to have to go back and watch that episode to see if there's a specific statement as to how they are related to one another as cousins. That would definitely mean Bright had siblings if they're first cousins!

Plus I don't need much of an excuse to go watch Huffy the Magic Dragon get some respect by the buffalo again. 

4 minutes ago, Music Chart Fan said:

If that is the case, I wonder if it would be possible for Grand Pear, Granny Smith, and the Apple siblings to facilitate a wider reconciliation between the two families.

With Grand Pear living in Ponyville now, it sounds like the ultimate side character map episode. If it could call on those two, it would answer once and for all whether any pony can be called on by the map!

On ‎6‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 7:08 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

I think what makes me a little skeptical of and cynical about the flashback story of Bright Mac and Pear Butter is that the two of them are portrayed in the episode as essentially perfect in every way. Their friends and family recall them with nothing but the greatest fondness.

...

I suppose that Bright Mac's and Pear Butter's friends and family could be (intentionally or unintentionally) remembering and telling the Apple siblings only the positive memories they have, or maybe Bright Mac and Pear Butter just didn't tell anyone else about any issues they might have had with each other.

I tend to think it's what you describe above - a "respect for the dead" thing. Though it's equally as likely their friends simply forgot a lot of the negative stuff since anything negative that isn't long-term relevant in our lives tends to get buried, anyway. It's easier to live with the good memories than the bad ones.

I'd imagine they did have some arguments couples usually do, but as you say they could have done their fighting in private where there'd be no one else to relate the tale. Though considering the length of their romance (literally starting when Bright was a toddler, however that could be an exaggeration I'll get to below) it doesn't seem likely they could totally avoid being seen at odds with one another, so the first paragraph is the more likely scenario.

I suppose if this had been an Equestria Girls-length movie instead of a 22 minute episode, the flashbacks would have covered both the ups and downs in their personal relationship, the bad stuff related to their families' feuding aside.

On ‎6‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 7:08 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

On a related note, the scene where the two of them meet as babies/toddlers and Bright Mac first coins Pear Butter's nickname, plus the fact that the two of them remember that meeting and even base an anniversary on it, all seems to me a little too precious for its own good.

The scene of them "talking" with one another when they look to be even younger than the Cake twins was kind of amusing. As @Jeric mentioned in a later post, the story of how they fell for one another could just be a narrative technique used by the ponies telling the tale, and the flashback is essentially an exaggeration of what really happened. Kind of like how many tall tales are exposited. In this case, it's something like, "They were so much in love they knew they were meant for each other before they were even out of diapers!" (Yeah, I realize they had no diapers on, but you get the point. =) )

Having said that, it would be pretty cute if they really did have crushes on one another at such an early age. If it's true, Bright at least probably holds some kind of record for "earliest shipping" in the MLP universe. XD

It was kind of startling to see a couple of solid pupil-styled characters talk given how they have yet to show Pound and Pumpkin talking. I guess the show doesn't want to give them voices even though they are a good few years old by now.

On ‎6‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 7:08 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

But then, at the wedding, when Pear Butter says she's choosing to be an Apple and staying in Ponyville, we see Granny Smith seemingly sympathizing with and comforting Pear Butter. Going by that moment, then, it might appear that Granny Smith isn't upset that her son is in love with, and married, a member of the Pear family.

After you pointed that out, I had to go back and rewatch that scene and you're absolutely right. It makes a lot more sense now that Granny was willing to welcome Pear Butter into the family now that she and Mac were married, and solidifies the idea that she was getting upset over the bad memories and not the feud and AJ and Big Mac were simply under the wrong impression.

I have to admit, I guess I missed her reaction because I was walloped by the reaction of Mayor Mare. I don't think I've ever seen a character in this series look so uncomfortable and shocked when the whole scene with Grand Pear effectively disowning his daughter went down.

On ‎6‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 7:08 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

Is her initially suspicious reaction to Grand Pear at the end of the episode a result of her being upset with Grand Pear personally, and perhaps believing that Grand Pear might still adhere to the feud, even as Granny Smith herself is willing to forget about the feud otherwise?

That seems very likely, especially considering Granny probably had long talks with her daughter-in-law over the years and how much the events at the wedding hurt her, and the fact that in the end she was never able to reconcile with her father because he was so stubborn.

On ‎6‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 7:08 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

It might have been nice to hear a little of Granny Smith's side of the story, but then, there might not have been time in the episode to do that.

Indeed. This is the part where I thought the ending was rushed. There needed to be some dramatic moments between Granny and her kin to really drive home how she really felt. But like you said, there didn't seem to be time and I'm at a loss like with so many other good episodes as to what parts of the story could be jettisoned to make room.

On ‎6‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 7:08 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

Grand Pear could have other children running the farm in Vanhoover, I suppose, but it's hard to imagine that Grand Pear would then move away from them to live in Ponyville. It might make more sense that Grand Pear's wife passed away, and he has no other children or immediate family, and so he realized that his only remaining family is the Apples in Ponyville.

That would definitely be a bittersweet aspect of his life if the only family he ever had was the one he tossed aside. I suppose, however, if he did have any other kids it could be that he told them fixing things up with the Apples (particularly his grandkids) was just something he had to do before he passed on and they understood, knowing how much pain he must have felt when Pear Butter died.

7 hours ago, Jeric said:

The Apples would have the full force of the Elements of Harmony and four Pony Princesses available to stop any threat to Pear Butter and Bright Mac. Even if they did 'fake their death' they would certainly have endured that their kids would have known about how they met. Granny wouldn't be so grief stricken that she couldn't talk about that story.

For that matter, one would think the Map/Tree of Harmony would alert AJ to a "friendship problem" if her parents were still alive and needing to hide out due to some evil force. Doesn't make sense for it to not want an Element Bearer to not be reunited with her long-lost parents.

And I just realized something: If I follow that logic, I guess that means Spike's parents are dead, too, since he is just as important part of keeping harmony going as the Mane 6. For the same reasons as the map revealing where AJ's actually-not-dead parents are, it would make sense for it to reveal Spike's as well.

Though I suppose if it knows he has some sort of destiny to fulfill first, then that might be a reason it's still hiding the truth from him since a dragon's lifespan does allow him some leeway to get to know them before they die of old age if they really are still alive.

But I suspect now they're dead. 

6 hours ago, Jeric said:

Two explanations. One is the one that is directly stated before they were interrupted. They knew the tree would outlast them, and always be a symbol of their love. 

That's what I thought when they planted the seeds. Just like how their marks were carved into the rock so others would remember their love, the two trees represent the love they had as a family and others visiting the grove could feel that love by their act of planting the seeds.

2 hours ago, Dynamo Pad said:

Especially the cat that is bigger and tougher than the others. I can't say if that's a bob cat or whatever species of cat, but it sort of reminds me of a guard dog for Goldie.

I didn't like the way that cheetah/leopard/bobcat was staring her down at the end, ready to pounce and make a meal of her. Instead I'd prefer to imagine the two of them have a continuing contest as to whether she can get to that particular volume or not in a timely manner and he was trying to get the jump on her. 

2 hours ago, Dynamo Pad said:

I don't remember that in the episode, "The Times They are a Changeling." After re watching what you meant, I was surprised the show put a sort of adult moment. Especially what Burnt Oak said made sense and it was hilarious.

Oh, I was being straight-up about the word "asset" - meaning the Flash asset that was used to build the Crystal Hooves puppet.  I was amused that they could reuse a teenage male pony torso interchangeably with a teenage female torso.

However, now that you brought it up, I too noticed the bit of harmless innuendo as to what part of Pear Butter proved to be enough of a distraction to cause Bright to run into the water tank. I guess even in a remarkably romantic story such as this one, it still managed to remind us that he's still allowed to have slightly less-than-romantic thoughts about the pony he's head-over-fetlocks over. 

1 hour ago, Jeric said:

True story - a bunch of fans brought Hayden sand bags during this year's Celebration in Orlando. It was a glorious moment. To his credit he was laughing the entire time

That makes me happy. I don't really follow the behind-the-scenes of Star Wars too much, and the last I had heard he was bummed over how fans had reacted to the prequels. Glad to hear that's not necessarily the case.

45 minutes ago, Music Chart Fan said:

I get a little bit of an urge to be a contrarian and make a case that's the opposite of almost everyone else.

Now you're bringing out the critic in me as well. There's a lot to cover, so I'll have to respond to it separately as you brought up some interesting points I hadn't noticed.

1 hour ago, Dark Qiviut said:

This is the first one they actually write plausibly. The Sister Writers put time to show us not only who Buttercup and Bright Mac are as characters, but also the chemistry to show us how them falling in love makes perfect sense.

It was amazing how they managed to take two new characters who in the past had been known only as "AJ's MIA-but-probably-deceased-parents" and made them feel completely real and fully developed in less than 22 minutes. It's true there are other new characters that have been pretty well developed in single episodes, but with Bright Mac and Butter Pear I feel like I've known them all of their lives after watching this episode.

21 minutes ago, Dynamo Pad said:

The ball of cats reminded me of that video game, Katamari.

Perhaps that was meant as a joke, "Catamari?" XD

I like the artistic style of Goldie Delicious' cats. I could find myself watching a TV series just about them alone if they could talk.

26 minutes ago, Dynamo Pad said:

I liked how we got different time frames of Bright Mac and Pear Butter's lives together.

Indeed, as I say above I feel like I've known them all their lives now. As an aside, Butter Pear as a teenager during the water tank mishap seems to be reusing Crystal Hoof's (aka Thorax's) torso asset, which I found mildly amusing.

1 hour ago, Jeric said:

The show did give is the background that Granny gets upset at the mention of the Pear clan. So, it's actually kinda in line with long term grieving.

Y'know, thanks for pointing that out. It was bugging me a little bit as to why AJ and Mac were so panicked over Granny finding an item from a Pear at the start of the episode, the inference being that she was still mad at the Pear clan due to the longstanding feud. If that had been the case, then how did she manage to live under the same roof with a Pear for all those years since the ending left Granny and Butter Pear's relationship somewhere between indeterminate and strained? Furthermore, she reconciled so fast at the end it seemed that her grandchildren's impressions about her feelings were off right from the start, which didn't make sense.

But you bring up a good point: She likely wasn't getting upset all those times in front of her grandchildren because of the feud, but was upset because such items brought back memories of her lost daughter. She probably didn't reconcile with Grand Pear even after both of their children died probably because she thought he still hated her. So no discontinuity there after all.

Thinking about it a little more, it's even sadder because while it's bad enough having to attend a funeral for a loved one, going to one where the two families don't get along makes it even worse.

Since this episode contained major spoilers, I figured this should be another one I should watch early.

Damn, if this isn't the most touching episode of the series so far then I don't know what is. 

The song had me in tears, I loved the little touches like Big Mac going back to Burnt Oak to ask if he could come back another day to hear more stories about his dad, and the love between Bright Mac and Pear Butter felt so real and they had such a good repore with one another it was amazing. Best two new characters of the season.

Now that's how you do romance in a show "for little girls". "Hard to Say Anything," eat your heart out! 

If I have one minor complaint, I guess I felt the ending was a bit rushed. I wanted the drama during the reconciliation scene to be drawn out a little longer. As it is, it's not enough to hurt the episode. Best episode of the season, and it's somewhere in the top 3 overall in the series. Bravo, DHX and Hasbro.

On ‎5‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 1:52 PM, Lambdadelta said:

The scenes with Yaks culture are dragged out for too long, Party Pooped done it better, they should shorten the first act, focus more on Friendship espionage, make Rutherford go ape shit in the climax and somehow make thing worse and he finally need ponies help, the end, you get a very simple episode with better pace and overall enjoyable 22 minutes. Rutherford just accepted TOO QUICKLY, where the drama!? where the climax? Where the CONFRONTATION????.

I think you explained very well why I felt so "meh" about the first half of this episode - they spent too much time showing us yak culture, and frankly we pretty much got the idea the first time of what it would be like in "Party Pooped." While there were some funny moments, it felt like half the episode was dedicated solely to exposition.

On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 4:54 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

How is Pinkie's "official friendship ambassador" ribbon staying in place as Pinkie wears it? It normally seems like the kind of thing which we would pin in place on our clothes, but I certainly hope that's not the case here!

Pinkie takes a piercing for friendship! Ouch! XD

On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 4:54 PM, Music Chart Fan said:

Is Rutherford saying that helping others who need it without having to be asked is "the yak way" now?

...

Did the yaks ever learn the root cause of the avalanches, so that they can avoid causing more of them in the future?

I find it plausible that "the yak way' means helping others without having to ask to help them first since their mannerisms seem pretty brusque, so that didn't bother me too much. However the end of your statement brings up an interesting point that does bother me about the moral: While it may be a good lesson to jump in and help others without their permission in some circumstances, the haphazard way yaks do things make me think their idea of "helping" isn't going to go over well with other cultures.

I know from what @Jeric and @Batbrony said, the lesson is more subtle than that - namely, pride can get in the way when someone is struggling with someone. It's just the way they handled the message at the end seems a little superficial as you alluded to above: Out of nowhere Rutherford proclaims helping without needing to ask is the yak way. I just wonder if it couldn't have been refined to be more evident so as not to send viewers taking the lesson to heart on the wrong path?

For example, say someone is too old to use their lawnmower. Is it really a good idea to just jump in and mow it for them without asking? In that situation there's too many variables that could cause disappointment if the job isn't done correctly, leading to hurt feelings for everyone involved.

On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 11:31 PM, Batbrony said:

And... that's it.  That's the whole episode.

Seeing the scant number of comments on this episode bears that out, lol. It may even set a record of some kind as the lowest commented episode post S2!

On ‎6‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 1:05 AM, Justin_Case001 said:

Welcome to Meh'sville.  Population:  who cares?

That's comment made my day, thanks!

On ‎6‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 1:05 AM, Justin_Case001 said:

Holy crap, that's right.  I didn't even think of that.  Twilight: "Hey girls, I have a great idea!  Let's NOT bring the guy who saved the Equestria Games from a giant asteroid made of ICE with his FIRE BREATH."

I wonder if Spike would be up for the task? He did have a lot of motivation and adrenaline to pull it off because there was imminent danger back in the stadium. Here, the danger is not so evident, other than Rutherford refusing help and risking the lives of his people.

Plus, maybe he still remembers they tried to seriously hurt him after the player piano incident? 

On ‎6‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 4:42 PM, SparklingSwirls said:

Gotta love those little yak calves

They were a lot more endearing than their parents, weren't they? I actually felt sympathetic toward them in this situation compared to the adults because they weren't large enough to cause the avalanche and they wouldn't necessarily be expected to know better at their age that stomping the ground could do so. (Though for some reason they seemed wiser than any of the adults there, anyway... )

I was concerned at first they were still buried under all the snow for a long time because they didn't reappear after the avalanche occurred until near the resolution. <_<

Also, I swear the male one sounds like Snails long-lost brother. 

Did anyone else spontaneously break out into "Winter Wrap-Up" when the Mane 6 were clearing all the snow and fixing the plants? I sure did. XD

I was considering giving this episode a "meh" rating during the first half, but the second half was a lot of fun, so in the end I liked it. Plus it was great to see the Mane 6 as an ensemble again for the first time in a while.

I especially enjoyed the art style during the goat and bovine fable. I like it when the show lets the artists be creative.

You know who else could have gotten rid of all that snow in a big hurry? Ember instructing a bunch of dragons to use their fire. XD Guess there's some bad history between them, though.... Plus the dragons tend to be as indelicate as the yaks, they probably would have burned down the village along with melting the snow. <_<

11 hours ago, Hierok said:

I hope not. Nothing against Spike, but I think two different species musn't have a relationship. 

For example, I'm not gonna date with a cow, right? 

I dunno, equating Rarity's intelligence to that of a real-world cow seems kind of unfair to me. 

What did you think of the relationships presented in Zootopia or Shrek?

4 minutes ago, Music Chart Fan said:

Yeah, that makes me wonder whether the "Foal Free Press" title of the newspaper was intentional, or whether perhaps the animators reused a convenient newspaper asset and didn't notice or change the newspaper title. If it was the latter, then I wonder if they realized that viewers like us would take notice of little details like that and see what we can read into them!

They certainly managed to start a whole new line of thinking among viewers as to who's currently running the FFP right now and whether it's gone back to its bad old days like it was under Diamond. The asset idea is a good theory; the other possibility is "Ponyville Confidential" is one of the writer's favorite episodes, and threw the FFP in as a nod to the sort of articles it was publishing for a brief time.

Celestia even got skewered back then, and it started a whole meme about her and cake. XD

22 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

To start, when Luna is posing for the picture with the schoolponies, Luna should only have to smile right before the picture is taken; in fact, I've heard that letting your face rest just before posing a smile for a picture will make it "fresher", anyway.

The only issue I had with this scene was it might have made more sense for her to look bored rather than that awful scowl. I could see how she could get tired and relax her smile, leading the readers to think she was bored with having to work with schoolponies, but not how she'd go from a smile to a scowl. Unless she was really ticked off at this point at the photographer?

Not a big deal, but since I've already started down the road of how I'd make this episode absolutely perfect beginning with my Spike comments earlier, well... as they say - in for a penny, in for a pound!

22 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

I guess the photographer and the newspaper could have an agenda of making the Princesses look bad and embarrassing them whenever possible, but it would still be pretty callous of them to (apparently) make collateral damage of the earnest students' fundraiser in the process.

There's multiple aspects of confusion for me going on here. First of all, why is this being reported by the Foal Free Press? It's a Ponyville-local newspaper that really shouldn't be available in Canterlot. I guess it's possible after the Gabby Gums incident, it permanently expanded to a national readership (which says something about Diamond Tiara's real calling as an editor if that's the case) but if that's the case then it seems by the nature of this article there's another Gabby Gums at work again - somepony who also has a take-no-prisoners attitude when it comes to publishing gossipy or fake news to sell more copies.

Also, if this is the Foal Free Press, then why isn't Featherweight the photographer? I know it's been a few years since "Ponyville Confidential", but even if he got promoted, there should still be a school pony manning the camera. (And in fact, there should be colts and fillies manning the paper in general.) It's kind of unsettling that there's an adult pony photographer working for a school newspaper now, but in this universe such concerns are probably not warranted, I suppose.

22 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

But after Luna declares in the "traditional royal Canterlot voice" that there are no timberwolves, the delegates just run away, screaming that there are definitely timberwolves. I get that Luna's doing that might have been a little intimidating, but wouldn't the delegates want to talk about Luna's proclamation, dispute it, see whether she has evidence for it, etc.?

My impression was the way she said it sounded fake because modern ponies still aren't used to the "Canterlot Voice" and so maybe they thought she was trying to cover up the truth?

22 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

Couldn't such disputes be handled (and handled better) by an Equestrian court system or a trained third-party arbitrator or something like that?

Maybe that is all Equestria has under their current civic model - that the princesses decide disputes when two parties can't come to an agreement on their own? There is some evidence for that from how we saw disagreements settled in "Trade Ya" and "Princess Spike", though in the former I recall them saying it was somewhat of a historical tradition and not how things worked anymore, and in the latter it just made everypony seem stupid and helpless, lol.

22 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

Again, it seems very premature to conclude that Celestia's and Luna's issues were completely unsolvable at that point, and I see no real evidence that Luna was on the verge of transforming into Nightmare Moon or anything, which would supposedly necessitate taking urgent extreme action.

For most ponies (certainly ones like AJ, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity) they would see it the way you did and not over-react like Twilight did by suggesting to Starlight this was a definite possibility. But we're talking Twilight and Starlight here, and we've already seen those two are more alike than they'd probably want to admit. Help me out, here, Spike: XD

22 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

Did Starlight, in helping to fix the map back in "Spice Up Your Life", somehow get herself on the "call list" of the Cutie Map?

That's what I'm wondering, too. It could be that during her helping Twilight to fix the map she somehow imprinted on it due to her having to use magic in the repair, and doing so has allowed her access to the map missions.

I suppose if the show ever has another pony who is totally disconnected from the Mane 6/7/8 and who hasn't been a hero in some other way get called for duty, then we will know the map can actually call on any pony for a mission, even if their lives aren't wrapped up in the Tree of Harmony in some way.

22 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

Finally, as Celestia's and Luna's cutie marks are returning, Starlight puzzlingly says "wait, I'm not doing this". I'm not sure what that statement is supposed to mean. Did it just strike 24 hours after Starlight first cast her spell, and the spell is reversing itself? Or is Starlight's statement implying that the Cutie Map is reversing Starlight's spell because Starlight's mission was accomplished?

Yeah, this was a bit confusing as well. Since it seems a whole day had passed, I wouldn't have expected her to be surprised that the marks were reverting to their original owners. But the way the scene plays out it seems like the Tree of Harmony short-circuited the spell and changed them back as soon as the issue was resolved, even if it was going to expire soon anyway. I suppose there are good reasons for that - no need For the ToH to risk an epic pony war since with Luna is more of a warrior than a diplomat.