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Shimmer Down

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  1. Shimmer Down
    This started (and ended) as a post in the "Would You Have Closure if EQG Ended as a Trilogy Thread", and I realized I wrote QUITE a lot, so I decided it'd make a pretty decent blog post too. So let's talk about it. Oh yeah, and SPOILERS.
     
    Honestly, I'd probably be pretty OK if we were done with EQG. I'd be sad if we never saw Sunny again, but let's think about it a second.
     
    The EQG series is 100% about Sunset Shimmer as a character. It's about Wrong-Doing, Repentance and Redemption.
     
    In the first movie, you have Sunset Shimmer as the villain. Now I have a ton of nitpicks about why the story in EQG1 is contrived, convoluted and catastrophic at best, but let's ignore that for a minute.
     
    ~Equestria Girls~
    EQG1 introduces Sunset Shimmer as a former apprentice of Celestia (similar to Twilight's position, pre-Alicornication, though you can debate that she's still an apprentice). Sunny, like many good-turned-evil apprentices, got frustrated when the magic required patience and practice instead of immediate gratification. She left Celestia's side and all of Equestria of her own accord, found a new world where she could manipulate people into doing what she wanted. She decided that coupling this with Equestrian magic would allow her to invade Equestria take over, and most importantly, upstage Celestia and prove that you can get what you want with cruelty and cunning.
     
    Then Twilight shows up, blah blah, Magic of Friendship, big rainbow laser, villain KO'd, gg no re.
     
    The important thing to take away from EQG1 was that, Sunset Shimmer was offered a chance to repent for her sins. She'd done horrible, nasty, awful things and the HuMane 5 took her in as one of their own. This becomes more relevant when we get to...
     
    ~Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks~
    In EQG2 we're quickly shown two things: 1) Sunset Shimmer and the HuMane 5 are getting along swimmingly, and 2) Sunset Shimmer and the students of Caterlot High School are NOT getting along swimmingly.
     
    At the beginning of Rainbow Rocks, it's very clear that not a whole lot of time has passed since the Fall Formal, and most of the school still outwardly blames Sunset Shimmer for being a heinous bitch. This is in spite of all the work that was done in the first move to show CHS that coming together as a school benefits everyone and the school as a whole. She's an outcast amongst an entire student body that banded together in a crisis situation.
     
    Even among friends, things seem a little off. Beginning with the first in-character song, Sunset is seen sitting off to the sidelines while the HuMane 5 (and Twilight) rock out. While they may have accepted her into their circle, it's Sunset that seems a little shy about getting close to them. She still feels like she has a lot to repent for after the Fall Formal (see her reaction to the multiple uses of "no offense") and that the whole school is doing a great job at reminding her of that, including her friends.
     
    Regardless of this fact, and the constant taunting by the Sirens, Sunny busts her flank to maintain that she's changed and all she wants to do is help, even going so far as to jump Rainbow Dash mid-solo to keep their magic hidden (let's be honest, if anyone was gonna screw it up for the group, it was gonna be Dash). This is seen as an affront to the group dynamic and the friends that she'd been working to hard to keep. It's only near the movie's climax that Sunset Shimmer, the outlier of this group of tight-knit friends notices that there's something incredibly wrong. She's been shown friendship and is beginning to understand it, enough so that she knows that disagreements happen, but bickering to the point of breaking up the band is NOT friendship. It's conflict, something that a former villain understands all to well. Something that Sunset Shimmer originally placed between these friends in the first place.
     
    This is her repentance. She was the one to originally break apart this group of friends. Now she has her chance to reunite them and remind them all what friendship, a concept they taught her, is really about. Then we enter the climax. Even when Sunny saves the band, and Vinyl saves the show, Sunset Shimmer is still backstage, behind the curtain, wishing all her friends luck. She still doesn't consider herself good enough to be a part of the band. She's reminded them about their friendship and that's good enough for her. Except it wasn't good enough to save the day...
     
    But when the going gets tough, the tough take off their leather jackets and belt out a few bars! When Sunny steps up to the mic, it's the first time she's really participated in a group activity with the HuMane 5 (+ Twilight). She's completed her rite of passage to truly be one of the girls, signified by her Pony-ing Up for the first time. The Rainbow Laser of Friendship also solidifies this by adding Sunny's color (Red, because Orange was already taken by AJ) to the spectrum, turning into a giant Rainbow Alicorn and saving the day.
     
    Immediately following their victory, the HuMane 5 ask Sunny to join the band. In this scene we can finally see that she's forgiven herself, since instead of humbly turning down their request, or even accepting it, she picks up a nearby guitar and shreds a quick riff, leaving everyone's mouth agape.
     
    Sunny saved her friends, saved the day, and most importantly, saved herself (from, well... herself).
     
    ~Equestria Girls: Friendship Games~ (aka the best pony movie ever)
    This was everything I ever could have hoped for. Even in the opening credits, we see minimal Twilight and the insertion of Sunset Shimmer in all of the HuMane 6 (yes, 6, as Sunny is now an OFFICIAL MEMBER) art work. The movie makes it very clear that Sunset Shimmer is kind of like the new Twilight for these girls. She's their expert on magic and the team member who clearly doesn't get what all this high school BS is about (funny, given that she's been going there for 3 years).
     
    She's also the one being tasked with a difficult and complex problem. Her situation very closely mirror's Twilight's from EQG2. She's being relied on heavily to solve a problem that she doesn't fully understand. The only difference really being that Sunny reaches out for help, it just isn't available from the person she's asking.
     
    Multiple times over the course of the movie, Sunset Shimmer is rallied around by her friends and peers. Notably first, at the end of the Acadeca, when she loses to Other Twilight. Despite her failure, which sends her reeling, the HuMane 6 see it as a victory. Sunset Shimmer is the reason they actually almost BEAT Crystal Prep. For the first time. Ever. A similar event happens at the end of the relay event, when Other Twilight's stolen magic breaks loose, Rainbow Dash Pony's Up, and Sunny blames this all on herself for not figuring out how to keep the magic in check. Principal Celestia forgives Sunset Shimmer for not understanding the magic that she has no control over, but Sunny seems determined to blame herself.
     
    One of the most interesting, grounding, and humanizing (for a pony movie) scenes in the movie is when Other Twilight absorbs Rainbow Dash's magic after the Relay. Sunset Shimmer, clearly very frustrated with Other Twi for interfering and stealing her friends magic, UNLEASHES this torrent of rage on Other Twi, who runs away crying. Now, some have said this is a slip for Sunset Shimmer back to the days of being a villain, but I disagree. Sunny is under and INSANE amount of stress, and is not only upset with Other Twilight for stealing magic and messing with forces she doesn't understand. We have to also consider how frustrated she was at NOT receiving an answer from Princess Twilight, in addition to the fact that Other Twilight's lack of understanding mirrors her own. She's not being "evil". Sunset Shimmer is very clearly upset with HERSELF in this instance, and is taking it out on the person who LOOKS like the friend that isn't answering her. Immediately following this outburst, she knows that she's done wrong, and in the final event, looks to make up for it.
     
    Speaking of the final event: BEST. SCENE. EVER. Other Twilight gets conned into unleashing the magic for extremely selfish reasons, both on behalf of her school and herself. This concentrated magic converts Other Twi into something I can only describe as a "raging she-demon". Sound familiar?
     
    Having been in her position, Sunset tries to reason with Other Twi, telling her that power, magic and megalomania are NOT the answers. Other Twi refuses to listen and begins to go on a rampage of wanton destruction.
     
    This is her moment. This is Sunset Shimmer's redemption. Like a phoenix burning bright in the sky, Sunset Shimmer calls upon the EQG Elements of Harmony, unifying all five of them to unlock the sixth element and ascend to becoming the Alicorn Princess of Friendship (of EQG). In the final moments after their beam battle, Sunset Shimmer makes the most important gesture of her character arc.
     
    "Take my hand Twilight. Let me show you there's another way, like someone once did for me."
     
    Sunset Shimmer has now come full-circle. She has defeated a powerful evil with the magic of friendship, and offered the villain an olive branch, a chance to join them and show them the way and the healing power of friendship.
     
    Which, for me, firmly solidifies her as the Princess of Friendship.
     
    In the end, we get a little blurb about Other Twi joining CHS, and later, Princess Twilight pops in to say hi, and mention something about a time loop.
     
    ~In Closing~
    Sunset Shimmer has come full-circle. Starting as a villain and being battled as a demon, she was being offered an olive branch by the Princess of Friendship. Though friendship, she learns how to deal with her own personal demons, and how to be a better friend. Then, with the help of her friends, she accomplishes the same feat: defeating a demon and offering to help them learn about the magic of friendship.
     
    With this, Sunny's character arc completed, I could be fulfilled in knowing that there aren't any more EQG movies on the horizon
     
    Not that I don't want more of them...
  2. Shimmer Down
    ~Equestria Girls Sountrack Tier List~
    S: Rainbow Rocks
    A: Friendship Games
    B: Equestria Girls
     
    ~Equestria Girls Song Tier List~
    S+: Helping Twilight Win The Crown (Cafeteria Song)
    S: Rainbow Rocks, Under Our Spell, Acadeca, My Past is Not Today, Dance Magic, Life is a Runway
    S-: Better Than Ever, Time To Come Together, A Friend For Life, Right There in Front of Me, Friendship Through The Ages
    A+: Tricks Up My Sleeve
    A: Shake Your Tail, Welcome To The Show, Let's Have a Battle (Of the Bands), Shine Like Rainbows, This is Our Big Night, CHS Rally Song
    B: Friendship Games, What More is Out There, Unleash the Magic
    C: Awesome as I Wanna Be
    D: Equestria Girls Opening (EQG1), Music to My Ears
     
    tl;dr - EQG OP and Music to My Ears are trash tier. Helping Twilight Win The Crown is the best song and is on the worst soundtrack, and is part of the worst movie.
  3. Shimmer Down
    Last week I talked a lot about how the seasons in Equestria didn't make a whole lot of sense. Then suddenly they didn't, and now thanks to THIS BUCKING EPISODE and the one airing this weekend, they don't anymore. Unless, of course, you take into account the fact that the broadcast network and/or Hasbro are manipulating time for the sake of coinciding with holidays again.

    I just want to point out that Season 5 wasn't going to make it all the way to Christmas, so there was no point in saving Hearthbreakers for the holidays. Better for them to turn around and make sure Scare Master hits on Halloween.

    But enough about wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey nonsense. Let's talk about the episode.

    When I saw the synopsis for this episode, I was already worried. We were gonna stick the boring-as-balls rock farmers together with the cheerful upbeat apple farmers. Color me anything but impressed. Hearthbreakers proved to be pretty much anything but entertaining as I found myself being able to call half of the episode before hand, and facepalming the other half.

    On the analytical end, there wasn't much going on. From the single sentence synopsis and the title of the episode, we knew the Pies and the Apples were gonna have a bad time. Figure in some clashing traditions, both families getting upset, and a resolution that brings everyone together and happy.

    One thing I got hung up on was how quickly the Pies were to shun the Apples and their traditions. From a pacing standpoint, it was pretty obvious that this was done primarily to create conflict and bring us to a quicker climax. However, my disappointment stems from the fact that at least the Apple family put effort into stomaching things like rock soup, rock dolls, and the rock hunt (which ended up being a PICTURE of a rock, not an actual stone). It would have been nice to see just a little bit more give from the Pies, before ultimately asking the Apples to leave.

    One of my big issues is that, fundamentally, most of the blame can be placed squarely on the Pie family. The Apples managed to endure the Pies rocky traditions, but the rock farmers were really quick to jump down the throats of the Apples. Even if we ignore the whole thing about Holder's Boulder, Igneous, Cloudy and Limestone were very firmly opposed to deviating from their practices, or rather, embracing the new ones brought by the Apple family.

    In the end, Pinkie and Applejack reconcile and decide that they should both share and learn about each others traditions, instead of trying to force their own ways upon the other. I'd be okay with this moral, if it hadn't already been done to death.

    Hearthbreakers pretty much mirrors morals that we've seen since the dawn of the show. Episodes like Look Before You Sleep, Over A Barrel, Sisterhooves Social, Apple Family Reunion, Bats!, Pinkie Pride, Castle Sweet Castle and Party Pooped all have similar messages about compromise and not trying to force your particular way of life on others. Hay, even the original episode about the holiday Hearth's Warming Eve was about unity and bonding, which should have done a better job of setting the mood for the holiday than it did.

    All together I feel like the plot was way too predictable and that there wasn't enough time spent developing a meaningful conflict. In addition, let me touch upon a few specifics that really ground me down:

    1) This bucking scene:


    This joke sucked, went on for too long, and felt very uncharacteristic of Applejack.

    2) The way Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz talk.

     
    ARRRRGGGHHH. I had a hard time piecing together what they were trying to say as an adult. Nine-year-old me would have been lost. It was like playing Tetris. I kept waiting for the next piece to drop so I could finish the puzzle.

    3) Limestone Pie.

     
    Literally the only pony in this episode with a seriously bad attitude. Might have felt a little bit more sympathy for the Pies if it weren't for this bitch.

    4) This joke. AGAIN.


    But let's look on the bright side. There were actually a few things I really did like about this episode.

    1) Ponyville looks absolutely AMAZING with holiday decorations.


    Including Twilight's Castle:


    2) Maud Pie returns!

     
    Originally, I wasn't a huge fan of this character, but that's in part because her original episode was kind of like getting hit in the solarplexus. “Here'sthischaracterwhatdoyouthink!”
    I don't know! No air. Can't breathe. *faints*
    By the end of that episode, and with time, we got to process how Maud sort of functions, and see beyond her rocky exterior. And the bit about her carols absolutely killed me.

    3) Marble. FREAKING. PIE.

     
    Homigawd how cute was she!? Like a tiny gray Fluttershy without wings or words. Can. Not. Deal. Also:

     


    THIS SHIP SAILS. AND IT'S GOT CANONS.
  4. Shimmer Down
    It's easy to forget to acknowledge the passage of time in a children's cartoon, especially one that airs on a weekly basis. Every week, you come back, there's a new episode, and you assume that you pick up where you left off. However, this has to be far from the truth... or at least it was initially. In the first 2 seasons of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, there was a distinct change of seasons, marked by some rather important episodes, but things were a bit awkward at first. Let's take a look at Season 1.
     
    ~Season 1~
    For starters, I'd like to put forth the notion that the Summer Sun Celebration isn't actually the first day of Summer, but is in-fact, a mid-season celebration. This allows the events of Episode 4 - “Applebuck Season” to make a little more sense. Given that Applebuck Season is the Equestrian equivalent of Harvest Season, and that there are a wide variety of apples, some of which come into season during late summer and some not until mid or late autumn, we can build on this and say that the episode was most likely the beginning of the harvest season, and not a rush-job placed near the end.
     
    However, in Episode 11, it's clear that we've skipped a bit of time. We've worked our way not only through Summer and Autumn, but also through WINTER, as this episode is entitled: Winter Wrap-Up.
     
    Now part of me finds it difficult to believe that there's such and abundance of snow on the ground when Fluttershy was picking flowers just an episode earlier, before Celestia's estimated arrival in Swarm of the Century. However, I am willing to accept that Applejack was in the process of storing her cart of Apples for the winter when they got devoured by the Parasprite swarm, and not hauling them off to market as it may have appeared.
     
    Many times in Winter Wrap Up it's noted that Winter is now finally ending, and it's everypony's job to usher in Spring. Heck, we even sang a whole song about it! The song specifically mentions that it's been Winter for 3 months, everypony has been keeping their “hoovsies” warm at home, the food stored is running out and Rarity is tired of boots, EVEN THOUGH it's only been a week since Swarm of the Century aired where there were clearly no boots, nopony staying home, and no awesome holidays.
     
    Either way, if we take this all into account, We've still got a pretty coherent timeline from the Summer Sun Celebration (Season 1, Episodes 1 and 2) through Winter Wrap Up (Season 1 Episode 11). BUT, things get INCREDIBLY awkward when we approach Episode 13 - Fall Weather Friends, where Rainbow Dash and Applejack race each other during the Running of the Leaves, and AUTUMN tradition! This bizarre timeline implies that shortly after cleaning up Winter, and bringing about the Spring season, Autumn AGAIN reared it's ugly head. It's evident that this isn't just a freak occurrence, since most of the trees in the back drops, as well as during the running, all have leaves that have changed to Fall colors. In fact, the entire town of Ponyville seems to be painted in red, yellow and brown hues. Pinkie even specifically states that without the Run, the Autumn leaves of Equestria would never Fall. This is in stark contrast to a mere two episodes ago, where Twilight mentions that Winter Wrap Up is the first day of Spring!
     
    But what if Fall Weather Friends was meant to be aired before Winter Wrap Up?
     
    This is actually the best explanation as to why the Equestrian seasons are such a clusterbuck, and the best way to explain this is to look at the air dates. When Friendship is Magic premiered in October, Summer in North America had already came and went and we were clearly in the middle of our Autumn season. However, a cartoon is not bound to our Earthly seasons and had no reason to reflect our weather here. Unless there was a clever marketing reason. Like say, a holiday season that compels friends and family to purchase an absurd amount of gifts for each other?
     
    As we proceed on a week by week basis after the season went into full swing, there's something to be said for the sudden change of Ponyville's weather. Winter Wrap Up originally aired the day CHRISTMAS EVE, and may have been an attempt by the studio or the broadcast company to give viewers somewhat of a holiday or seasonal special. It wasn't until Season 2 that the writers delivered actual pony holidays like Hearth's Warming Eve and Hearts and Hooves day, which aired as close as possible to their respective holidays. Since entire seasons are usually written, filmed and shipped together, instead of being sent off episode by episode, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that Winter Wrap Up wasn't intended to air for another couple of weeks. Though, unfortunately I can't offer a logical explanation for why the ground wouldn't be covered in snow during the events of Episode 12 – Call of the Cutie, or in literally any other Episode in Season 1.
     
    The only thing that seems to conflict this theory is that in Winter Wrap Up, most of the trees in the background seem to still have all of their leaves, even when covered in snow. However, I'm going to chalk this up to laziness in animation, and a desire to merely recolor the background, instead of redraw the whole thing for seasonal accuracy.
     
    Now, if we swap Fall Weather Friends and Winter Wrap Up on the timeline, we have possibly one of the best representations of a year on the Equestrian timeline, assuming that our years correspond to their years, and their seasons mark the passage of roughly a quarter of the year. Though I have to say that I do find it intriguing that Celestia sends out invitations to The Grand Galloping Gala shortly after the Summer Sun Celebration, but that we've effectively worn through at least 3 seasons before the Mane 6 actually attend! Even if we leave the airing order alone, and assume that Equestrian seasons occur in the order of Summer, Winter and then Autumn, this means that it's probably roughly Spring by the time Twilight and her friends actually get to go to the ball.
     
    I think it's fair to assume that even though only 8 months passed in our world, the ponies completed the rough equivalent of a year. Some minor stumbling blocks were encountered, but lets take a look at how those were fixed.
     
    ~Season 2~
    I feel that it's worth noting that the writers and broadcast company actually did a significantly better job at lining up episodes with North American holidays in Season 2. Luna Eclipsed aired roughly a week before Halloween, Hearth's Warming Eve was aired the week before Christmas Eve, and while we wouldn't receive a new episode MLP after that until the New Year, and Hearts and Hooves Day landed right on the weekend right before Valentine's Day. Season 2 performed much more admirably in it's display of the passage of time. However it's also the LAST time this mirror of seasons and holidays was attempted.
     
    Moving forward through Seasons 3, 4 and 5, no further holidays were added, and none were revisited. Instead, we're treated to major events like The Equestria Games, and to a lesser extent, the Apple Family Reunion, and a second Grand Galloping Gala.
     
    Wait... a second Grand Galloping Gala? When Twilight first receives the tickets in The Ticket Master, Rainbow Dash is quick to mention that the Wonderbolts perform at the Gala “every year”. For someone who's as big a fan of the Wonderbolts as Rainbow Dash, it's hard to believe she'd miss a Gala. In fact, with the Mane 6 being Celestia's right hand, it's hard to believe the girls wouldn't all be receiving invitations on the regular.
     
    Now, it's quite possible that the Grand Galloping Gala had been stalled by a number of other events. There was that whole business about Discord, Shining Armor almost married a bug, but then didn't and married an Alicorn, who then became the Princess of the Crystal Empire that had vanished a thousand years ago that they had to go and save. Oh, and don't forget that part where Twilight became an Alicorn, and then later had to save all of Equestria from Tirek the evil Centaur-Demon.
     
    However, I'd like to point out that during Make New Friends but Keep Discord, Fluttershy mentions that she met her new friend, Tree Hugger, on a trip to see the Breezies. You remember, the hideous butterfly creatures that serve absolutely no purpose what-so-ever in that obnoxious episode from Season 4?
     
    This feels like a subtle nod to the fact that there are plenty of events occurring with the Mane 6 outside of what gets aired on the show. MLP isn't a reality series where cameras follow everypony through their every day lives. It's only natural that there are events that happen off camera. With this in mind, I think it's safe to assume that the girls have been to more than one Gala, and that the rest weren't televised. This idea that not every little bit of daily life shows up on the TV show is a great way to promote side-stories and character development through other media such as books and comics.
     
    All in all, I think that the story-telling in Friendship is Magic has come a long way from it's humble beginnings, where seasons where sort of tossed wherever and whenever the writers felt like they could use it to make a point, to mimicking North American holidays, to just sort of being outright abandoned.
     
    New Idea: Throw away everything I JUST said. On October 24th, 2015 we're getting a return to Hearth's Warming Eve. The following week, the morning of Halloween, we're getting another Nightmare Night episode.
     
    This basically means one of two things: 1) I'm correct, and the season is being broadcast out of order AGAIN, for the sake of coinciding with a holiday, -OR- 2) Equestrian seasons really do occur in the order of Summer, Winter, Fall, Spring. Except this too isn't possible because Spring comes after Winter in Winter Wrap-Up and UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH...
     
    Who's right? YOU decide. Let me know how you feel about seasons and holidays in MLP and what your take on the airing order is.
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