Batbrony

Good evening, everypony, and welcome back to another Poniverse Q&A!!!  Today, I'm very happy to welcome a super special guest to our beloved forums, an incredibly talented and super friendly up-and-coming artist in the brony fandom, mirroredsea!!!

Now, many of you may not be familiar with the name, and that's perfectly alright and understandable if you're not.  You see, mirroredsea has only been actively posting art in the fandom for a little over a month, but he is already making a big splash simply because, to be perfectly honest, his art is absolutely gorgeous!  Mirroredsea displays talent and skill which few artists except for some of the very best and well known ones in the fandom have displayed from their earliest days of posting in the fandom, and it has been exciting to see not only how beautiful his art already is, but that he's continuing to improve as well.  We're very thrilled for one that we were able to land such a great artist for a Q&A like this so early into his time as an active fan artist within the fandom, especially considering it's increasingly rare these days to see exciting new artists emerge within the fandom.  He's been incredibly gracious and humble in our reaching out to him and getting this set up, and is very excited for the Q&A itself today!  For the next 2-3 hours, he'll be available to take and answer your questions, and we hope as many of you can join us as possible.  These Q&As have always been fun community events and gatherings, so please, come with your questions and ready to get to know mirroredsea a bit more!

If you'd like to get to know a little bit more about mirroredsea before joining the Q&A, you can visit either his DeviantArt or MLP Forums profiles here and here.  I would also highly recommend you peruse as much of his art in his DeviantArt gallery as you possibly can, and below you'll find just a small sample of some of the truly stunning pieces he's already produced!

Finally, as a bonus announcement, I'm super excited to announce that mirroredsea will be doing the top prize art commission for Poniverse's next fanfiction contest on Fimfiction, set to be officially launched tomorrow afternoon!  We're very thankful for his generosity in agreeing to do this and hope that it makes the contest even more exciting for the contest participants than it would have already been!

With all that being said, let's get this show on the road!  I'll start things off with two questions, a pretty basic one and a slightly more complex one.

First, mirroredsea, we all seem to have our own stories for how we joined the brony fandom, so what drew you to it in the first place?

Second, your art is incredibly unique in a variety of ways, but I'm especially enthralled with your breathtaking coloring and shading.  How do you manage to mingle so many vibrant colors together in your pieces and end up with works that look simply perfect rather than a garbled mess, which art with so many colors blended together could easily look like in less talented hands than your own?

Good afternoon, everypony, and welcome back to another edition of "Batbrony Reviews"!!!  Well, the midseason finale has arrived, and while I can't say that our final episode before the Season 7 mid-season hiatus was amazing, it was still a very, very decent episode that was very enjoyable to watch.  Not flawless, but not in a maddening way whatsoever.  This should prove to be a fairly short episode review since there's not too much to cover, so without further ado, let's begin, this is "Not Asking for Trouble"!

OK, not gonna lie, that's bucking adorable 

So as there's not too much to cover with this episode, let's start with the most complex aspect of it, the lesson.  This was both a strength and a weakness, oddly enough, and for very similar reasons.  It was admirable how complex and subtle the lesson itself was, but at the same time it was almost too complex and subtle for its own good.  The best way I can put it is that, in execution, this lesson was "confusingly nuanced."  Jeric pointed out to me that unlike with most episodes, the lesson here wasn't telegraphed; this is not to say that we as an audience are too stupid to learn lessons unless they're spoonfed to us, but it's not like telegraphing lessons has ever been a big weakness of MLP, they usually do a good job of delivering lessons without making it seem like they're patronizing or belittling the audience.  It's not even to say that MLP can't have subtle lessons, they have many times.  This one, however, wasn't even apparent by the time the final frame had ended; the episode was far more about WHAT was happening than about WHY or what we were supposed to take away from it.  After all, what happens is very simple: (1) Pinkie Pie goes to Yakyakistan to celebrate Yickslurbertfest with the yaks, (2) she celebrates with them, (3) avalanche buries Yakyakistan, (4) things suck for the yaks and they try to cope while Pinkie unsuccessfully tries to get them to accept help from the ponies, (5) she leaves Yakyakistan and secretly comes back with her friends, (6) they unbury Yakyakistan, the day is saved, and the yaks are grateful despite having insisted on no outside help.

And... that's it.  That's the whole episode.  So what are we to take away from all of this?  I think two things contributed to why this lesson was so confusing: (1) the pacing, seeing as about rather than 2/3, it seemed like more like 3/4 of the episode were devoted to Yickslurbertfest and setting up the conflict itself, before Pinkie ACTUALLY fixed the problem, and (2) the fact that the lesson seems to be more applicable to a problem for individuals, but what we had before us was a national crisis for the entire nation of yaks, which made it harder to understand the nature of the problem and the lesson.  The first point is forgivable considering Pinkie Pie was trying to help the yaks, she just didn't want to be a bad friend by going behind their backs and wanted to get their permission to seek help from others before she did (both considerate and a wise course of action considering the yaks have proven just how hot-headed they can be in the past).  The second point I'm still trying to make sense of, but I think Jeric put it best to me when he said that the writers probably intentionally left it vague and muddled so as not to give younger viewers unfortunate implications.  You see, the lesson at play here is basically that sometimes, friends or family who we deeply care about are in some sort of trouble or get themselves into some sort of trouble, but aren't willing to admit that they have a problem, even as the problem gets worse.  Such self-destructive behavior usually arises because of one's stubbornness or pride preventing one from admitting they have a problem or being willing to ask others for help, or even an addiction that people are so hooked on they can't even see they have a problem.  This makes it a little clearer why they would've kept things so vague and centered on a problem as strange as the yaks being unwilling to accept help with unburying their village; it's not like we'd be likely to see an individual character struggling with an addiction of some kind on this show, after all, that'd be a little too mature even for this show.  So what we got instead was Prince Rutherford letting his pride get in the way of doing the right thing and stubbornly refusing to ask for help, even though he really did WANT help.  And that's really what the lesson boils down to: sometimes pride, or stubbornness, or addictions prevent those we care about from asking for help, even if they really do want it, and when that happens it's up to us to step up and help them anyway, even if they haven't asked, because we care about or love those we want to and try to help.  It's certainly not a bad lesson in the slightest, it was just oddly executed is all, but again, not in a way that really bothered or annoyed me.  It was just... odd, overall, neither the best nor the worst lesson we've ever seen presented or executed in this show.

Someone needs to seriously dub Andrew W.K.'s "Party Hard" over this scene! 

Good to know that Equestria is not the only culture in this world that has a problem with ridiculously high levels of sugar intake on a regular basis 

Thankfully, everything else we got was incredibly likable and fun in this episode.  Pinkie Pie had a far better episode than her last starring outing in "Rock Solid Friendship"; she was her fun, lovable, caring self, but her behavior was never unnecessarily too over-the-top, this was clearly a writer who understands how to healthily balance Pinkie Pie's fun-loving side with her serious, being-a-good-friend-and-solving-friendship-problems side.  Considering how much of the episode was devoted to Pinkie just touring Yakyakistan and learning about and partaking in Yickslurbertfest (gosh that name is hilarious), I was very surprised that none of it ever got boring or felt like padding, it was actually a ton of fun to watch Pinkie just hanging out with Prince Rutherford and the yaks!  Yakyakistan was pretty cool to see more of, and Prince Rutherford and the yaks themselves were just as hilarious as they were the first time, though thankfully not as insufferable either.  Rutherford in particular was a hoot, and some of the bits where he trolled Pinkie or delusionally tried to act as though everything were OK with the yaks after the avalance were pretty hysterical.  I do have to wonder how their village doesn't get buried more often by avalanches considering it seems like a festival like Yickslurbertfest would be very prone to setting off avalanches, but this was a silly enough episode that that point doesn't bother me too much.  The Mane 6 were in the episode about as much as they needed to be (RD's line in particular about them not playing Pinkie Pie's roadtrip game was hilarious), and Gummy was quite funny here as well as only he can be.  Also, Pinkie Pie is officially an honorary yak now, which just seems right and is also just kind of amazing and perfect.  Overall, I really don't have too much to say about this one.  It was a perfectly fine episode, not great, but very enjoyable in spite of some of its minor flaws, and a fine finish to the first half of Season 7.  We're entering the mid-season hiatus now, but don't worry everypony, new MLP episodes will be back before you know it, and when they are I'll be right here as always, ready to write more reviews!  Until next time, everypony, this is Batbrony signing off.  I'm off!!! *cue dramatic exit*

BEHOLD!  PINK YAK, CUTEST YAK!!!  

All in all, pretty decent episode.  I should have my review of it up later, which hopefully won't be too long of a review.  Until then, later everypony! 

Good morning, everypony!  Well, I have absolutely no expectations for this episode, but hopefully it proves splendid and entertaining, and a better outing for Pinkie Pie than she had in her last episode. 

Lol, that opening was pretty funny.   I like to think that that's just Pinkie's idea of being subtle. 

Oh goodness me, this is funny so far.  The yaks are thus far far less annoying than last time they showed up (though of course that could change now that the problem itself has arisen, but let's hope it doesn't).  Those festival scenes, however, were hilarious! 

Just now, Jeric said:

@Batbrony and @PathfinderCS how old do you think I sound? Do I sound like I'm in my 40's?

You sound somewhere between your 20's and 30's, maybe early 30's if I really pushed it.

Horn/10 (much horn, such fabulous)

Good afternoon, everypony!  Well our last Q&A with our very own Lady Kiriness went simply splendidly, and as promised at the end of it, I am already happy to announce our next Q&A guest.  Fillies and gentlecolts, I am incredibly happy to announce that our next Q&A guest will be none other than MLP fan artist mirroredsea!!!

Now, many of you may not be familiar with the name, and that's perfectly alright and understandable if you're not.  You see, mirroredsea has only been actively posting art in the fandom for a little over a month, but he is already making a big splash simply because, to be perfectly honest, his art is absolutely gorgeous!  Mirroredsea displays talent and skill which few artists except for some of the very best and well known ones in the fandom have displayed from their earliest days of posting in the fandom, and it has been exciting to see not only how beautiful his art already is, but that he's continuing to improve as well.  We're very thrilled for one that we were able to land such a great artist for a Q&A like this so early into his time as an active fan artist within the fandom, especially considering it's increasingly rare these days to see exciting new artists emerge within the fandom.  He's been incredibly gracious and humble in our reaching out to him and getting this set up, and is very excited for the Q&A itself!  In fact, he may even have a fun little activity in store for all of you prior to the Q&A, which will be announced later should getting it set up work itself out (though I can make no promises, that will largely depend on his own discretion).

But for the time being, mark your calendars, because on Saturday, June 24 at 7 PM EST, mirroredsea will be available for 2-3 hours to take and answer your questions!  Trust me when I say that you won't want to miss out on this one; not only is mirroredsea a phenomenal artist, but he is also an extremely nice fellow and I think many of you will enjoy having the chance to get to know him for that alone.  Aspiring artists should also definitely check out this Q&A if they'd like some great tips on how to improve their craft!

If you'd like to get to know a little bit more about mirroredsea before the Q&A, you can visit either his DeviantArt or MLP Forums profiles here and here.  I would also highly recommend you peruse as much of his art in his DeviantArt gallery as you possibly can, and below you'll find just a small sample of some of the truly stunning pieces he's already produced!  That's all for now, everypony, have a wonderful rest of your day! 

Ya know, switching their coffee instead of their cutie marks might have honestly been a more dangerous move on Starlight's part

Good afternoon, everypony, and welcome back to another edition of "Batbrony Reviews"!!!  Well, after the horror that was "Hard to Say Anything," and the mixed results of "Honest Apple," we needed something extra special to wipe the bade taste of those two episodes out of our mouths.  After today's episode, I am very happy to say that we got just that and so much more!  "A Royal Problem" is easily, for me at least, the best episode of Season 7 so far, and the only disappointing thing about it at all is that since it premiered early in Canada, pretty much half of the brony fandom has known how great it is for weeks and let the other brony fandom know early on just how great it was.  It's a very little thing to complain about, I know, but it really would have been nicer if the episode had debuted in both Canada and the U.S. at the same time so that the majority of bronies would have seen it at the same time.  Still, if that's my sole complaint, you just know we must be in for quite a treat, right?  Right you are, so without further ado, let's dive into a truly spectacular episode, this is "A Royal Problem."

NOTE: Because this episode is complex in content but simple in the number of pieces involved in its execution, this review will largely be divvied up into the main players involved, that being (1) Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, (2) Starlight Glimmer, and (3) Twilight Sparkle.  Miscellaneous items will be covered towards the end of the review, but the meat of the review will be found in covering these three characters.

The Royal Sisters: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna

So despite the Cutie Mark Map and Starlight Glimmer initiating this episode, this episode is really about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.  As you can see below, I've labeled Starlight Glimmer not as the "Problem Resolver," but rather the "Problem Confronter," and that's because she really doesn't resolve things, and honestly that's not a bad thing.  I'll go into more detail about that later, but really, the primary actors here are Celestia and Luna, because ultimately they have to be the ones who resolve their differences.

Before I go any further, let me first just say that it is about damn time we FINALLY got an episode focused on both of these two, especially Celestia.  While Celestia did have a great appearance in the season premiere, it was still in the same role we've always largely seen her in, that of mentor; while it makes sense that Luna has had more appearances to date since she does have more personal issues to tackle than her sister, pretending like Celestia had no issues of her own would have risked making her out to be a Mary Sue.  While I still don't think that Celestia has as much to deal with in her personal life as her sister does, it is nice to finally see her flawed side as well, and really I just want to see even more after this of these two just doing sister-things together.

But back to the meat of things.  What is the problem they need to deal with?  Basically a sibling problem.  No really, that's it.  Even after Luna's return, they still haven't learned how to truly appreciate each other, mostly on a professional level.  They clearly love each other, but they run into a problem that many siblings can run into as they get older, busier, and more distant (while these two live in the same castle, they run an entire country and celestial bodies, so it's not hard to see how they might be more distant even living in such close proximity to each other): they fall out of touch with each other's lives, what the other is up to, the challenges and struggles they face on a daily basis, what their priorities and schedules are, and just forgetting how to make time for each other in general.  It's actually a very understandable problem especially for people who have siblings (especially those in two-child households like myself); keep in mind, in a two-child household with siblings not that far apart in age, your sibling is probably your first best friend, but also someone who as a kid you most likely live with on a daily basis and the best friend you are least worried about getting into spats big and small with because you know that, unless something REALLY bad happens, you'll still be loving each other at the end of the day.  After years of living together, you can easily take for granted the time you get to spend with one another, but before you know it you're growing up, moving away, and seeing each other far less than you used to.  This can be even harder than seeing parents less, because just as you tell or do things with parents that you wouldn't do with anybody else, you also talk about or do things with your sibling that you wouldn't do with anyone else, and they get you in a way that not even your parents can since they're usually pretty close to you in age.

So they're distant and don't appreciate what the other goes through on a regular basis, seems easy enough to resolve, right?  Well, not really, especially for these two.  I would argue that since they're the rulers of all of bucking Equestria, they like to think that this was either a problem that would either fix itself, or was not even a problem at all, just something they could ignore.  Most of the time in their daily lives they have to worry about what they can do for others, not necessarily what they need for themselves.  This made it easy for these issues to slip under their radar, though it's not untrue to siblings either; siblings often let problems between each other fester under the surface until they can't any long and they just explode.  This seems to be where Celestia and Luna were heading before Starlight intervened, and thank goodness she did because who knows how things may have exploded if she hadn't.  What doesn't help is that they literally operate polar-opposite daily schedules (although this episode left me confused as ever as to how much Luna does typically stay awake during the day; Celestia clearly sleeps at night, but Luna often makes daytime appearances, so what the buck is it?  I suppose that the most likely possibility is that she gets 7-8 hours of sleep after going to bed somewhere around 7 or 8 am, which would mean that the latest she's waking up typically would be at 4 pm, with possible exceptions to that rule, of course.  And if the situation really calls for it on special occasions, I'm sure she can get up around noon or early afternoon for special events and get some shuteye later in the day too), so they really only see each other normally in the morning, late afternoon, or early evening, and even then they're usually super busy.  They do, it should be noted, both do little kindnesses for the other, something which in my experience as a sibling older ones often do since they no longer have 24 hours a day to do something nice for their sibling; Celestia makes pancakes every morning for Luna, which always goes unacknowledged since Luna is really too tired to care and just wants to get to sleep, and Luna tries to make the castle as peaceful a place for others to sleep as possible, which Celestia can never really notice or acknowledge since she's usually still busy with kingdom affairs and is on her last leg of the day by that point.

After figuring out that this is how the situation is (doing some very good research I might add), Starlight of course does her old cutie mark-switcheroo on the two so that they have to see for at least a day how the other has to live their lives and what kind of struggles they have to put up with, just so they can appreciate what the other goes through.  Just what do they find out?  Basically that they have an older sibling-younger sibling dispute very much rooted in an old trope about older and younger siblings, that being who they are as a result of how they grew up.  Luna learns that Celestia, as the older sibling who has always taken the lead being the face of the two, largely has to devote most of her time and energy to fulfilling societal expectations, very similar to how older siblings and firstborns may often feel more pressure from their parents to succeed professionally.  Celestia needs to constantly worry about where she's going to be next, who she needs to help her with something, who needs her help, and doing all of this with the same calming, serene smile on all the time, even if it's not what she's feeling at the moment.  After a thousand years she's great at it, but what she's come to take for granted is the idea that her life is as hard as it could get.  What she craves from Luna is just some quiet moments where just the two of them can slow down and not be so perfect, just sisters doing sister things.  Celestia in turn starts to learn that Luna, as the younger sibling who has never garnered as much attention as her elder sister, largely devotes most of her time and energy to working behind the scenes, doing her most good in the Dreamscape, where she can assist ponies one-on-one in the deepest depths of their psyche.  She no longer craves the praise of her subjects as she once did before becoming Nightmare Moon, in fact she seems rather comfortable with working alone (something Princess Celestia clearly is not), but, as the more neglected publicly of the two, Luna resembles very much the archetype of the younger sibling whose parents put less pressure on them than their older sibling to succeed, and as a result they can often feel neglected.  Like this archetype, Luna does not seek affirmation from her subjects, at this point she just wants to help them (emphasized nicely by how much her botch of the fundraiser for a field trip for a bunch of foals bothered her so), but she does seek affirmation from those closest to her, and since her parents aren't still around, that happens to be her sister, her elder sibling and in a sense a semi-parental figure to a certain extent.

After seeing what could be the extreme result of not resolving this problem, that being the return of Nightmare Moon and the emergence of Celestia's own dark side, Daybreaker (an extreme fear no doubt, especially considering Starlight is the one who dreamt it up, but nonetheless not outside the realm of possibility with such powerful beings), Celestia manages to defeat their demonic dream-selves (which works for me considering I would argue that Luna was having a harder time personally dealing with Celestia's neglect, or at least it was hurting her more, while Luna's neglect of Celestia was something Celestia was just trying to bury under a smile, not exactly too hard for her after centuries of wearing smiles day-in and day-out), and the two sisters proclaim and reaffirm their love for one another, resolving to make things right and make time for one another no matter how busy they may be, since, well, there's no pony more special to them than each other.  Their relationship is too unique and precious to squander, and you get the sense that even though it will be a lot of little things making up the bulk of it, that alone will be enough for those two to show each other how much the other truly does love them, plus it should make it easier to go about their own business every day.  A fantastic lesson learned by two characters who, although not the biggest messes in the world since they are so mature from centuries of life, do deserve more development than they have gotten considering they are easily two of the most complex characters on the show.  What more can I say other than everything with these two was perfection, plain and simple.

The Problem Confronter: Starlight Glimmer

There's not nearly as much to say about Starlight or Twilight, thankfully, but both did have pretty great episodes in their own ways.  For Starlight, this was the very first time the Cutie Mark Map has called her, and to top it off in another first it called her alone, the first time it has called anyone alone.  While this could have potentially fallen into the trap of "Ohhhhhhhh, Starlight Glimmer is too special to go with anypony else to solve a friendship problem," it actually was executed great here and made perfect sense.  We know the map seems to understand how both a character's strengths and weaknesses can help resolve a conflict, and it even seems to have some innate sense of how delicate situations may be.  In this case, the problem did not need someone who was going to be able to actively teach Celestia and Luna what they were doing wrong (not entirely at least) so much as somepony who could confront the problem in the first place, make it known to Celestia and Luna that they were having problems.  Starlight was oddly well-positioned for this; unlike Twilight she didn't have any particularly close attachment to Celestia or Luna, but she's about as observant and measured as Twilight can be as well, making her ideal for identifying that a problem exists in the first place, studying the situation more closely, identifying what the problem is, and confronting both sisters about it.  She was also ideal, oddly enough, for forcing these two to confront their problem head on, more so because of who she is than anything else.  It's not hard for Starlight to imagine worst case scenarios, but for very different reasons than Twilight; Twilight almost always considers in even the most banal situations what a worst case scenario could be just because it's who she is.  It's just another thing on her checklists that she takes into account.  Starlight, on the other hand, tries not to worry about worst case scenarios most of the time because if she does, she knows that she's going to spiral into a deep spell of depression and anxiety.  Why?  Because she was at the heart of a worst case scenario when she was a tyrant and almost destroyed Equestria to boot.  Normally she has a pretty good lid on these anxieties, but it's not hard to see why she easily fell into these anxieties here.  After all, she was dealing with a problem that not even Twilight herself had ever confronted involving the two most powerful rulers in all of Equestria, so given that her frighteningly real (to her) nightmare involved the Royal Sisters spiraling in their hatred for each other into Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker, it's clear that she would have held such a scenario to be her own failure.  Her anxiety inadvertently forced Celestia and Luna to remember how much their subjects depend on them, which means they even depend on the two of them maintaining harmony between one another.  So while she may not have ultimately taught them the lesson or fixed things single-hoofedly, Starlight nonetheless was the best pony to initiate the confrontation of and resolution of Celestia and Luna's squabbling, even if she herself quickly realized that it would take them more than her since she was, even early on, quite in over her head.  A very good episode for Starlight all around, in a very odd way at that considering her ultimate contributions were, to a certain extent, pretty limited beyond giving Celestia and Luna the tools to patch things up between one another.

Starlight Glimmer looks far cuter while eating pancakes than anypony should, at least for the sake of the audiences' health

The Beleaguered Comic Relief: Twilight Sparkle

This episode found Twilight in a place we very rarely see her, especially these days: primary comic relief while being a supporting character!  It's rare enough for her to be the primary comic relief in an episode nowadays, but usually even when she is she's still the main character.  Here she was most definitely a supporting character and very deliberately did not have anything much to contribute towards fixing things, which is where most of her humor stemmed from.  We already know that Twilight absolutely hates the idea that there are problems she can't help out with or tackle herself, but it was even more maddening for her to think that there might be something wrong with her precious mentor and her sister which she could not help resolve.  Of course, the fact that Celestia is such a beloved mentor to her is exactly why she couldn't help; she hold Celestia on a pedestal, even more than most ponies typically do, and while this usually isn't a problem, here it would have been.  Compounded with the fact that she has had to help Luna with many personal problems in the past, it's not hard to imagine that Twilight could have easily thought that Luna alone was to blame for these problems, not the both of them.

Thankfully, her displeasure and anxiety at these circumstances leads to some splendid OCD-Twilight freakout moments.  The best running gag of the whole episode (and one of the funniest running gags this whole season so far) was the spell Twilight used to animate some kind of ballet figurine on a music box or something, which ended up being as hilarious as it was creepy.  I especially enjoyed that the Royal Guards by Starlight could easily hear her talking to Twilight and thought that she was going insane.  Besides that, Twilight didn't do much else but spend most of the episode freaking out, but to her credit she did trust the map and let Starlight go on her own in the first place, and it's not like she gave Starlight any bad advice, even if none of her advice turned out particularly helpful either.  All in all, while hardly a serious appearance for Twilight, it was a splendidly funny one!

I like to think that Twilight was freaking out from this so much that she spent about two straight days maintaining that spell so that she never missed a moment that Starlight was in her room... 'tis a most amusing thought, indeed! 

Miscellaneous Items

-The pacing of this episode was absolutely fantastic and proof that fast-paced does not always equal frantic or dumbed down.  There was a ton to fit into this one, but the episode managed to do so without ever feeling like it rushed or didn't cover something properly by largely staying on point, not having any subplot outside of the few times Twilight conversed with Starlight, and keeping the focus on a handful of characters.  Excellently fast-paced episode and kudos to the writers on a job well done there!

-I love little details like the fact that Celestia makes pancakes (or some kind of nice breakfast) every morning.  While it initially might sound like some kind of Mary Sue character trait, it actually invites closer inspection from the viewer.  Upon further consideration, it does not seem like Celestia makes her other meals on a regular basis (probably because she's so busy normally during lunch and dinner, and run-ragged by the time dinner arrives), just breakfast.  I like this detail for a couple of reasons.  For starters, it probably started as something she did because she knows the value of a good breakfast for starting your day off right, and eventually it warped into a peaceful little routine of hers that she seems to enjoy doing by herself.  A little something that's only hers and helps her start her day off right.  Considering this, it makes her gesture of making Luna breakfast every morning all the more touching; it's clearly a nice little way she tried to reconnect with her sister, even if Celestia focused more on its convenience for her as well as what it means to her rather than if it would make any sense to her sister.

Mmmmmmmm... hey, Celly, if Luna doesn't want any I'll totally have some panca-

Damn it, Celly, don't just throw the pancakes away!  I'm sure one of your servants or guards would enjoy what appear to be heavenly pancakes!!! 

-Speaking of breakfast, I kind of adore that Luna just DOESN'T do breakfast.  Don't get me wrong, I love breakfast and it's sad that anyone wouldn't enjoy it, but let's keep in mind what it means to Luna.  Let's say ponies are typically in bed between 9 and 10 (late night exceptions notwithstanding).  That means Luna is working essentially a 10 hour shift in which she's monitoring the dreams of every pony in Equestria, one-on-one.  By the time she gets off, breakfast to her is the same as what dinner is to some poor schmuck who just worked a full shift and is getting home after 8 pm, ready to have nothing but a frozen meal he can make in five minutes and just fuel himself with.  I absolutely died when she bit right into the side of a pineapple and ate a banana peel (girl must have a stomach of steel, though I couldn't help but think she was also trying to spite Celestia just a tad both times), and her I don't give a buck face made it even better!  The cherry on top was when she made the shittiest pancakes ever, which again, makes sense, but hopefully from this point on she'll be more willing to have actually good breakfasts with her sister, and get to spend some quality time with her to boot.

She either REALLY hates pancakes, really hates Celestia's pancakes, or just wanted to prove how much stronger her bite strength is than Celestia's.  JAWS OF STEEL ON THAT MARE!!!

AND A STOMACH OF STEEL TO BOOT!  That's just... noooooooooo, Luna, noooooooooo.  Why you do that poor banana that way, what that banana ever do to you?

Also, dat sibling death glare... drink it in, folks, because it is terrifying.  Note to self, NEVER say no to Celestia's pancakes.

-The 'talking to themselves' bit between Celestia and Luna was handled masterfully.  If they'd done it poorly, we would have seen Luna doing it earlier, then Celestia, THEN they would have been like at the end "Were you talking to yourself???"  But the way they did it here was so much better.  We first saw Celestia doing so when she was trying to do Luna's duties, which was made even funnier considering you realized just how much she relies in her professional work on working with others, and how weird working in solitude is for her.  But when Luna said to her at the end "Did you talk to yourself," that suggested that Luna does the same, and I LOVED that that's how they showed us that.  Heck, I could totally relate because I ALWAYS talk to myself, in fact, I love it, I don't understand why some people think it's weird talking to yourself when you're all alone.  Heck, it's my favorite time to vent about anything because I don't have to lash out with my most extreme emotions at anyone when they're actually there.

-I really need to know now if Twilight really does know ballet.  I know it's just the object she was using, but she looks too cute in a ballet outfit for me not to know.

-Luna's dream was bucking terrifying.  Between the creepy foals surrounding her in a dimly lit room and her bucking TEETH falling out, holy shit, that was all downright bone-chilling.  That was wayyyyyy creepier than anything in Starlight's dream.

-Daybreaker has a very distinct personality from both Nightmare Moon and Celestia.  She's about as campy and over-the-top as Nightmare Moon, but just as Nightmare Moon as a lot of the same self esteem issues as Luna, Daybreaker takes Celestia's general confidence to an extraordinary level of contemptuousness and pride.  Like Celestia, she is very sure of herself, but in a prideful manner that leads her to reject the notion of needing anyone else at all, and only needing power.  Whereas Nightmare Moon in a twisted sort of way still wants to be loved, even if it means enslaving ponies into loving her out of fear, Daybreaker couldn't care less what others think of her and is clearly happy to just flaunt her power.  Overall, whereas Nightmare Moon represents a cold, distant Order based on devotion to her and her cold, distant Moon alone, conversely Daybreaker represents a fiery, raging Chaos based on trampling all who would dare challenge her or just the idea that she couldn't handle and control everything there was to handle with her power and her Sun.  Her design was pretty awesome too, while I'm at it, and it was great seeing the show daring to go such a dark place as it did in Starlight's nightmare.

"Mwahahahahahah, bow before me mortals, behold all these flame wars on Twitter I totally started!  See the destruction I have wrought online and quiver in fear of my ability to anger others with my unbearable s***-talking and trolling ways!!!  NYANYANYANYANYANYANYAAAAAAAAAAAAA, I'M SO EVIL!!!" 

Sweet Celestia, she truly is an unspeakable evil unlike any other! 

-I really want Celestia's pancakes now because they looked so delicious.  Also, I think this might explain why Twilight loves pancakes.

Luna's, on the other hoof, I will pass on

"Oh... they're... lovely, Luna." 

"Oh I know they're not, I just wanted you to have as s**tty a breakfast as I usually do!" 

-The dream bubbles floating past Celestia was one of the best parts of the whole episode.  On the funny side of things, we got (1) Discord in a pillow fight with the Smooze, (2) Cadance jamming out with DJ Flurry Heart (and I have no bucking idea who was dreaming that one), (3) Pinkie Pie surfing on Gummy, (4) Fluttershy on a giant Angel Bunny (come to think of it, the idea of a giant Angel Bunny is kind of terrifying), (5) Flim and Flam swimming in loads of bits Scrooge McDuck style, and (6) best of all, HER ROYAL LORDSHIP, EMPRESS DERPY, FIRST OF HER NAME, LONG MAY SHE REIGN!!!  On the sadder side of things, we had (1) Doctor Whooves with what appeared to be a Weeping Angel, and (2) most bucking importantly of all, APPLEJACK AS A BABY CRADLED IN THE ARMS OF HER PARENTS!!!  I don't know if AJ was dreaming this or if Granny Smith was, but this is the closest we've ever come to seeing them, and it's as important as it is sad.  Her dad appears to be pear green (very much like Granny Smith) and her mother appears to be grey or tan.  Very similar to some of the background information we got about Derpy and other characters in "Parental Glideance," this has just put the death of AJ's parents once again front and center to AJ's character, and central to how she's turned out like she has.  If this is supposed to be set-up for the episode later on this season which will be focused on how her parents met, I have to say that I am loving it DHX, please give me MORE!

-Luna getting tired from smiling was too funny.  Don't have much else beyond that, I just think it was hilarious how hard it was for her to do it all day.

-I love that both Celestia and Luna turned on their sibling-sass the second they switched places and made it a competition as to who could handle the other's duties most easily.  That's just such a sibling thing to do and I could easily see myself doing that with my sister in similar circumstances.

-Starlight's "Heheheheheheh, oh buck, I may have just pissed off the two most powerful rulers in the world, please don't blast my flank to the moon or the sun" face after impulsively switching Celestia and Luna's cutie marks was perfect and I don't blame her for freaking out after what she did.

Dat moment you're this close to getting sent to the moon and the sun at the same time 

-Luna's facial expressions, particularly whenever she was tired in the morning after a long night of working, were too funny and I could look at them all day!

"Get that bucking thing outta my face."

"I'm not touching you!  I'm not touching you!"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, memories... this makes me want to start randomly poking my sister in the arm for no reason other than to her annoy her 

And now, Batbrony proudly presents, "Drunk Luna Ain't Got Time For Your S***"

"Ah will boop you whenever I want as much as I want, Miss Twilight-Sparkle-with-Aqua-Highlights!  Ya know why?  Cause I'm the bucking Princess of the Night and just spent a whole night protecting your dreams AGAIN!  If ah wanted to, I could let your dreams drive you BUCKING insane with a flick of my wrist, no joke, you want Lovecraftian horrors up the ying yang, well that's what you'll get if you don't GIVE ME MAH BOOPS!!!"

"I don't understand, I just asked her if she could pass an apple over!"

"Well that was your real mistake, Luna's very protective of her fruit."

-I very much liked that neither Celestia or Luna were completely bad at what the other did.  Luna only screwed up at two tasks while doing just fine with the others and ultimately Celestia acquitted herself just fine in the Dreamscape.  A more annoying version of this kind of episode would have taken the blatant "Town Mouse - Country Mouse" approach of having them just fail at everything that the other normally does, and with characters that powerful, that just wouldn't make sense.

That being said, it is quite clear that unlike her sister, Luna is not a fan of checklists... and suddenly I now know where Twilight's checklist-fetish comes from... why am I not surprised by this? 

-At first I thought it was just plain stupid that Celestia and Luna haven't confronted this problem sooner.  It didn't bother me because I wanted this episode very badly, but the more I thought about it, the more I think it's actually justified.  You see, we know that years have passed in show-time since the show began.  Well, with most ponies pushing off such a problem that long wouldn't make sense.  The thing is, Celestia and Luna are immortal alicorns, so for them, time probably has different meaning than it does to normal ponies.  Years passing before they talk to each other about something personal probably doesn't feel like that long of a time for those two, so really, if one considers that, it actually makes sense that they would have allowed these circumstances to stay buried beneath the surface and just continue to annoy them more and more over the years, festering.

-Overall, this is one of those rare episodes that, for me, is just perfect in every which way.  It's perfect in knowing what it was and what it set out to do, remaining laser-focused on those goals no matter how fast the pace got, and ultimately being everything it possibly could be in knowing itself and embracing itself for what it was.  After the last two episodes, I love so much being able to say that.

That's all I've got for ya, everypony!  Hopefully, like I said earlier, now that this episode has happened we'll get more episodes starring Celestia and Luna!  I'd eat that up even if it was just "A Day in the Life of the Princesses" kinda deal where we see them just doing their own thing together, including activities as sisters.  But for now, until next time, this is Batbrony signing off.  I'm off!!! *cue dramatic exit*

D'awwwwwwwwwwww, is a wittle Daybreaker!!!  WHO'S A CUTE SUN TYRANT, WHO'S A CUTE SUN TYRANT?  YOU ARE!  YES, YOU ARE!!! 

"Mornings... not even once."

ALL GLORY BE TO EMPRESS DERPY!  LONG MAY SHE REIGN!!!

While not the first Batman to appear on television or film (and probably not even my favorite since the Batman I truly grew up with was Kevin Conroy's, being a 90's child, and if I'm being honest I still have to watch the whole 60's series at some point), Adam West was the first Batman in television or film who truly mattered to the public.  In that regard, he laid a far better foundation for Batman in media beyond the comic books in the decades to come than one would think upon first glance of the 60's series, and he also revived popularity for Batman during a time when he was alarmingly unpopular, thereby ensuring in a truly bizarre manner the trove of great Batman stories with completely different tones than his series ever had that we have gotten ever since the 60's series aired.  Above all else, no matter how silly the show was, West always embodied what is most important for any Batman to embody about the character: that deep down, even if he doesn't think so, Batman is a truly good guy out to do good things in the world and leave it a better place.  West's Batman believed that through and through and was always ready to fight injustice at a moment's notice, even if he didn't wear body armor so much as a spandex jumpsuit.  I don't know about you, but that strikes me as rather badass.  RIP West, you were not just a Batman, because no one who plays him truly is just A Batman; you belong in elite company, and just as every other person in that elite company (with the possible exception of George Clooney because buck "Batman and Robin" and buck Joel Schumacher) you were and forever shall be THE Batman.

OK, so... that episode was pretty much perfect in every single way imaginable and is easily the best episode of Season 7 so far.  Yeah... that's a bit of a mouthful but I think it's very much true.  Don't worry everypony, I very much plan on having my review for this one up today, it was too good not to review as soon as I possibly can!  Goodness gracious me, I needed an episode this amazing after the last couple of episodes.  Until my review is posted, later everypony, and huzzah for a perfect episode!!! 

Heheh, I do love it when things manage these days to bring out Twilight's old-freak out tendencies.   She's usually got such a good handle on it nowadays, but that makes the times she does flip out and go all OCD all the funnier.

Also, why am I not surprised that Celestia would be bad at spotting or fessing up to a personal problem between her sister and herself?  She's fantastic at overseeing all of Equestria, but it seems family issues still elude her to some extent. 

Called it.  And trust me, as an older sibling, I can attest to the fact that we siblings often HATE confronting our own issues with each other until we're blowing up at one another.  'Tis very much a fact of sibling-hood. 

Good morning, everypony!  Well, for those of us who've waited for this episode, if the early reviews are anything to go by, we are in for quite the treat this morning, and as someone who's always happy to see as much of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as possible, I couldn't be more thrilled!  I've wanted an episode centered on these two and their relationship as sisters for a long time, so here's hoping for a truly wonderful and memorable episode, and just the first of hopefully many more to come centered on our favorite Royal Sisters!!!   

Ahhhhhhhh, good evening everypony, and welcome back to another edition of "Batbrony Reviews"!  Well, this week's episode review should be shorter and considerably less angry than last week's for a few reasons: (1) this episode was far less infuriating, (2) I'm in a splendid mood after seeing "Wonder Woman" this weekend, and (3) I need to write a shorter episode review in general.  So without further ado, let's begin and dive into "Honest Apple."

Now, while this episode is far superior to the dreck that we got last week, it was not without its problems.  My friend Jeric boiled it down nicely yesterday when he said to me that the main problem is that we had "Season 1 Applejack interacting with Season 7 Rarity," and I have to agree.  Applejack was behaving uncharacteristically OOC, and immature even; I'd even say that I'd have a hard time believing Season 1 Applejack would act this way, even with Rarity when they weren't quite as close.  It's not simply an issue of not taking her friend or her feelings and concerns into consideration, Applejack just displayed zero tact or discretion whatsoever, and that's just not like her.  I could buy Rainbow Dash in earlier seasons behaving like this, but never AJ; her element may be the Element of Honesty, but that doesn't mean she's blunt to the point of not considering the feeling of others.  She understands holding one's tongue, in fact, she's always been the small town ideal of just that; if she's uncomfortable with something, she'll usually have a subtle, wry, blunt comment to make about it, or just hold her tongue if the situation calls for it.  Whoever wrote this wrote her like a country bumpkin with no appreciation for higher culture (heck, at one point she's flat out insulting the work of Coco Pommel, a genuinely good friend of hers!), and in our current political climate I don't exactly appreciate those stereotypes being displayed when many of those stereotypes are how we got to such a polarized state in our country in the first place, especially when it's a betrayal of who this character is.  On top of that, she's uncharacteristically stupid as well; we know that AJ understands the idea of wearing clothes in different contexts and settings, not just for work or practical business (and sometimes fancier dress is required FOR business), because AJ herself has worn such outfits for such special occasions many times, much of it made by Rarity!  She may not get the art side of fashion, but she understands its appeal, that it has appeal, and that it's a whole other industry of its very own.  She doesn't walk around with this "If I don't get it it must be stupid and irrelevant" attitude that so many people seem to revel in these days.  It's a disappointing missed opportunity, because there was a great episode to be had here, it just needed some tweaking is all, especially considering RariJack is my favorite pair of friends in the Mane 6 and can be such a joy to watch when they are done right.  So yeah, not happy at all with AJ, and even less so when I consider that it was done in the name of making the lesson the writers had in mind work.

Sad AJ is sad, that's what happens when you writer her badly, writers!

So what is the lesson you might ask?  Well, it's basically an indictment of Internet s*** talking.  No really, I'm serious, the whole lesson is about watching what you say or how you say something to others, especially when critiquing something they've done or made.  You can't just consider your own thoughts or feelings when doing so, you need to take into account how your words are going to affect the person you're talking to as well.

Now, normally I'd have no problem with this lesson.  I mean, people not knowing how to be civil with each other or even display the most basic decency to each other on the Internet is a big reason people tend to get so heated with each other these days.  So on its face, the lesson is a good one.  However, here's why it doesn't work in this particular context.  The lesson was forced, at the expense of making any sense whatsoever.  We already went into how it forced AJ to be incredibly OOC, but it also doesn't make sense in the setting either.  The thing about this lesson is that it applies most to Internet communication because it's incredibly easy to dehumanize or become desensitized to the feelings of someone you're talking with online when all you see is a screen in front of you.  This episode, however, is all about face-to-face interactions, and the thing about face-to-face interactions is that people, especially genuinely decent people like AJ, tend to be far more sensitive to the feelings of others when talking in person to someone.  Only people who genuinely have no lid on what they say, either because they're that insensitive or have some kind of personality disorder, have no filter when talking directly to others.  So really, while the lesson was good, it just made no sense that it had to be taught to AJ of all people under these circumstances.

This troll, however, was HILARIOUS!

So now that the biggest issues are out of the way, what worked in this episode?  Well Rarity is the most obvious choice.  Her choice of AJ as a judge was creative but also showed her trust of her arguably closest friend (as well as understanding of her strengths), it was incredibly generous of her to organize an event like this to help others break into the fashion industry she loves so much, and her level of maturity displayed the whole episode was great.  She reprimanded AJ when she deserved it, but wasn't unduly harsh, plus her way of teaching AJ how she bucked up was hilarious and witty (also, Strawberry Sunrise is a hilarious s*** talker when it comes to apples).  Her biggest issue is that this conflict should not have been one sided; the ideal situation would have been both AJ and Rarity made mistakes to a certain extent.  AJ should have been uncomfortable with the judging and not sure what to say since she didn't know how to fit in, and Rarity should have not been aware of AJ's concerns for most of the episode.  That way they would have had something to teach each other.  She wasn't quite Mary Sue levels here, I can buy Rarity being this mature, it's just the conflict felt forced since one character suffered so much in order to make it happen, and it didn't do Rarity any favors either in doing so.

But oh well, the episode more than made up for it by giving Rarity the most amazing 10 seconds of the episode!

I have no idea where the buck that came from, but I want more of it!!!  All I know is that Rarity apparently has FANTASTIC methods of stress relief and venting!  SHRED GIRL, SHRED!!! 

As for the rest of the episode, it was pleasant enough.  I enjoyed that it was largely set in Ponyville, specifically the Canterlot Boutique and the Ponyville business district.  The return of Photo Finish and Hoity Toity (in speaking roles, no less) was positively delightful, and I very much liked all three of the up and coming fashion designer ponies as well (especially, for some odd reason, the valley girl one; very strange for me since I usually hate that character type in cartoon shows, but here for some reason I thought it was adorable and hilarious.  Possibly because the writers seemed aware of the stereotypes of the valley girl trope and seemed to playfully be poking fun at them while still making the character endearing by, you know, actually being good at stuff).

'Lit'rally' intensifies!!!

The set up and conclusion for the episode were both lovely, and the fashion show (along with the instrumentals that sounded very reminiscent of the fashion show in Season 1's "Suited for Success") made this episode feel like a spiritual successor to some extent to "Suited for Success" even.  But because of the problems that I cited earlier with both AJ and the forced nature of the lesson, what should have been a good to even great episode ended up just OK.  That's a damn shame, but it's nowhere near as infuriating as last week's wretchedness.  That's all I've got for ya tonight, everypony!  Until next week, this is Batbrony signing off.  I'm off!!! *cue dramatic exit*

To end things off, let's just have a bunch of pics from the better moments of the episode...

And finally, the 10 seconds we will always remember from this episode 

Beautiful 

1 hour ago, Lady Kiriness said:

Oh snap! It all comes down to this...I am prepared to answer your inquiry!!!

Marvel all day erryday.  

Nahhhhhhhhhhhhh, just kidding, I'm not THAT kind of fan!   Long as you like DC too, we're cool.   The only kind of fans of DC or Marvel I can't stand are the ones who don't like both; I don't care if you have a preference, even if mine is DC every year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. 

Anyways, it looks like our time with Lady Kiriness has come to an end.  I'll keep the thread open for a few more hours in case there are any last minute questions (and Kiri, feel free to answer them at your own leisure).  Thank you so much again LK for taking the time to answer questions this afternoon, it was very kind and thoughtful of you and I hope that everyone involved has had a lot of fun!  Until our next Q&A, everypony (which should be quite shortly and with a very cool guest), this is Batbrony signing off!  I'm off!!! *cue dramatic exit*

25 minutes ago, Lady Kiriness said:

I don't read full-blown fics, but from time to time, I check in on "Dash Academy" and "Friendship is Magic" (by Mauroz). I absolutely love the illustrations in both comics. SorcerusHorserus is amazing at pacing, and I think Mauroz's anime-like take on the human versions of the ponies is so captivating!  

Ahhhhh, "Dash Academy" is simply splendid!  I forget, were you around when we had SorcerusHorserus as a Q&A guest?  That was loads of fun and she's super nice and talented!

Anyways, real question time, like, super, duper, legit serious... DC or Marvel? 

20 minutes ago, Lady Kiriness said:

I've been drawing for as long as I can remember, though I think the past ten years or so is when I started to really hone in on my skills. 

Excellent!  Bit of a personal question on my end since I write some myself, so here ya go: do you read any MLP fanfiction?  If so, what genres?  Also if so, what are your favorite fics? 

Ah, very good!  How long have you been honing your skills as an artist? 

Good afternoon, everypony, and welcome to the return of Poniverse Q&As!!!  Today we get back into the swing of things starting with MLP Forums very own Lady Kiriness!

Lady Kiriness has been a member of MLP Forums since 2015, and a delightful presence since she joined.  With her friendly personality, it was no surprise that she quickly joined staff, and today she is one of our most active and outgoing moderators.  She's always happy to connect with new members and friends on the forums, and for the next 2-3 hours, she'll be available to take and answer your questions, and we hope as many of you can join us as possible.  These Q&As have always been fun community events and gatherings, so please, come with your questions and ready to get to know Lady Kiriness a bit more!

If you'd like to learn a little more about Lady Kiriness prior to the Q&A, you can visit her forum profile here and check out her art on her Tumblr page here.

So with all the formalities out of the way, I'll start off our Q&A with a pretty basic question: Lady Kiriness, what initially drew you to join MLP Forums, and the brony fandom as a whole? 

Well, it certainly wasn't perfect, and I have plenty of critiques, but it wasn't the shit show that last week's episode was, so for that alone I give it plenty of credit.

OK, Rarity was pretty darn adorable in that opening scene (even if it doesn't make much sense that AJ would be a judge for a fashion show ).

YAY!  Photo Finish and Hoity Toity are back, that's a splendid little Season 1 callback! 

Alright, alright, alright, time for some new pony (here in the U.S., at least)!  I always love me some RariJack, so hopefully this proves delightful!  

4 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

@Batbrony, Your review made me so happy!  I've said it before and I'll say it again: the one upside of bad episodes is that they're really fun to review, and fun to read others' reviews of.  That Krusty the Clown bit, oh, that just had me rolling! 

Glad you enjoyed yourself and the review, that is the only cathartic pleasure I can possibly derive from the wretched experience of watching this episode. 

2 minutes ago, Jeric said:

Oh so this is that AMA session? So, I shall endeavour to ask my questions while I have Christmas music playing in that background. Have to get on the spirit yo!

Looks like you already are if your avatar is anything to go by, Glimmy. 

27 minutes ago, Kyoshi said:

Damn, the responses to this episode are brutal and I have yet to watch it at all despite having it downloaded since the Canadian showing. Not sure if I should avoid this one like the plague still or watch it just for sadistic funsies. 

Watch it.  It needs to be seen, at least once, to be believed... nah, I'm being overdramatic, it's basically if you crossed MLP with a bad Fairly OddParents episode... still a thing that should never have happened, for the record, and still my least favorite episode of the show ever right now. 

Hey kids, it's your friendly, neighborhood Batbrony!  Gee whiz, another Saturday, another new episode of MLP, boy oh boy I sure am excited!  Well, let's embark on what shall surely be an enlightening and fulfilling experience for all of us and watch another new episode of our favorite show, MLP!!!

*one episode of I don't know what the buck I just watched later*

...

No really, what in the hell did I just watch?  Because it sure as hay wasn't MLP!  Uh-uh, I refuse to call that MLP, not in a thousand years would I call that MLP!  What was that piece of ass strutting around pretending to be MLP?!?!  Guys... I have to tell you.  I never thought this day would come, and I really hoped it wouldn't, but, it is official... after five years of "MMMMystery on the Friendship Express" being my worst episode of MLP ever, I... I now have a new worst.  It is this.  Fillies and gentlecolts, "Hard to Say Anything" is... it is only TECHNICALLY the worst MLP episode I've ever seen, because I still refuse to consider this abomination to be an actual episode of MLP.  It. Is. That. Bad.  There is no truly easy way to sum up everything that hurts about this episode, so I'm just going to have to go through the whole episode from beginning to end, sharing exactly what I'm thinking as I first watched this... thing.  Well... here goes nothing.  This is *throws up in his mouth a little* "Hard to Say Anything."

Alright, so things start off with the CMC getting some old costumes!  Well, nothing wrong with that really, seems a bit odd that they'd be excited about that at this age, but OK, I'll bite.  Well then it turns out that the "costumes" are a clown wig, a pirate hat, and mustache-gag-glasses.  Uhhhhhhhhhhh, guys, you do realize that even five-year-olds know those aren't costumes, right???  Well as long as it's just some throwaway gag I guess it's no big- wait, what's that?  These stupid not-costumes are a crucial plot-device that keep getting brought up throughout the episode?  Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... why?  I mean, really, why?  The CMC (as demonstrated multiple times, including the past two episodes) are at a point in their lives where they're mentally and emotionally mature enough to solve problems with their intellect and by reasoning things through.  The last time they needed costumes for anything was when they tried to get their cutie marks in a talent show, and (1) those were actual costumes that they made, (2) they were younger, and (3) it was just a bucking talent show and one of dozens if not hundreds of things they tried to do to get their cutie marks, not a potentially life changing situation like in today's episode!  OK, so... not exactly off to a great start now, are we?  Well, what comes next?

Wowwwwwwww, that... yeah, that looks pretty bad guys.  Frankly, your apple disguise in this episode was a better disguise than these...

...and that should tell you everything you need to know about how these work as disguises

OK, Big Mac's here, and we learn he's taking some apples off to Starlight's old village for the fifth time in a single week.  First of all, that doesn't seem possible for a number of reasons.  First, the Mane 6 had to take a bucking train to originally get there when they first found the village.  Because, ya know, it's in a pretty remote part of Equestria, and all.  Big Mac, as far as we can tell, is just dragging his bucking apple cart all the way there.  Second, Sweetie Belle distinctly mentions later in the episode that it was a long ride, so once again, I find it difficult to believe that even Big Mac could get to a location that is most likely hundreds of miles away five times in a single week just by dragging his heavy apple cart around.  He may be strong but even he can appreciate and take advantage of the convenience of a train when the situation warrants it!  But anyways, it clearly doesn't seem like that's why he's going, something which the girls quickly notice.  Do they notice because they reason amongst themselves that it's downright odd that Big Mac would be making so many trips?  Well, kind of, but not really.  Really the big factor that leads any of them to conclude that Mac is up to something is Scootaloo saying she noticed him blushing, which just seems... dumber.  I mean, who really ever notices anyone blushing unless they're right in their face?  It's not like the blush alone was the only give away that something weird was going on, the CMC could've easily concluded that just by reasoning alone, but no, instead they figured it out because of something really stupid and cliche like noticing Big Mac blushing from a distance.  Then they make some really stupid bucking guesses about why he's making so many trips and decide to tag along to spy on him.  Not only is this decision made in a span of 10 seconds, but the CMC also decide that the best way to go about this is to lug along their "costumes" as "disguises" so that they'll "for realsies be spies guys, like, totally, they're totes legit now!"  So now they're not pretending to be spies, they actually think they are being spies by dressing up in a clown wig, a pirate hat, and mustache gag-glasses... I would say this feels like something that S1/S2 CMC would do, but that feels like it would be insulting to S1/S2 CMC.  In fact, I'm sure it would be insulting to them.

Alright, so they get to Starlight's old village and what do they find?  Well, it appears that Big Mac has a crush on Sugar Belle, that cute unicorn from the S5 premiere who used to bake nothing but muffins during Starlight's old reign but is now the resident baker and is having the time of her life baking all kinds of yummy treats, many of which "conveniently" require apples to bake, and since they don't exactly have many apple trees in the area, she has to evidently order quite a few from the Apples (though admittedly it even appears that she has more than she needs, BUT she keeps ordering them on a regular basis and, during this segment, is clearly giving Big Mac some verbal and physical cues, and more than a few suggestive looks).  I'll be honest, this introduction to these two works for me.  Sugar Belle is as adorable as ever, the two seem to be going through the flirty, bubbly, butterflies-in-your stomach phase of a relationship RIGHT when it's on the edge of blossoming into a full blown one, and their chemistry is pretty infectious in this initial scene.  This beg's the question however, WHAT'S THE BUCKING PROBLEM!!! 

No, really, what is the problem?  Even the CMC notice that Sugar Belle is as into Big Mac as he is into her, and really their initial encouragement that he just go and talk to her wasn't bad advice.  Heck, they even point out that he didn't have a real first crush with Cheerilee considering it was a love potion, which, if you think about it, is kind of the pony-equivalent of a magical roofie.   That's more than a little uncomfortable to think about and probably a big reason the writers decided to never go forward with making CheeriMac into a canon pairing; there would always have been questions, very uncomfortable ones, about whether or not their initial relationship was set off by first getting together when they were magically roofied, and frankly those are questions that shouldn't be asked in this show.  So why I always did think that CheeriMac was a cute ship and am sad myself to see it die officially, I can understand why they would kill it and don't mind that, of all the ponies to pair him with, they chose Sugar Belle.  That's actually a creative choice, really!  She's not a local in Big Mac's hometown, and she's not a member of the Mane 6 or even a major character; she's just a random supporting character in a town very far away from Ponyville, which adds an interesting, long-distance relationship dynamic to her and Big Mac's pairing.  Really, when we look at this episode from the outside, this is not just a good set-up, but an incredibly promising set-up for a really, really cool status-quo changer in this show that could have been so, so good.  So what went wrong?

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I'll tell ya what went wrong.  We've had shades of what's going to be so, so wrong up to this point, from some of the poor logic exercised by the CMC (namely those bucking stupid "costumes" they keep insisting are disguises, I swear I cringe every time Scootaloo puts that giant clown wig on and insists she's being a spy) but the moment Big Mac tries to express his feelings for Sugar Belle for the first time, this is where the s*** really hits the fan for the first time.

You see, when Big Mac tries to do something that should have just been a routine stage in starting a relationship which, by all accounts, was on the brink of starting anyway... this guy shows up...

Stop flipping your hair you obnoxious son of a turd's excrement 

This... is Feather Bangs, or as I like to call him, "Piece of Lazy S*** Excuse for Giving This Plot a Contrived as Buck Conflict."  Just... just look at him.  Breathe it in, folks, breathe the stench of fail that is this character in.  Where do I even start?  How about his introduction, or rather lack of one!  Yeah, this guy has no build up whatsoever!  We aren't told who he is, what he does, why the buck he has a crush on Sugar Belle (seriously, not once, he just seems to want to get with someone for the sake of getting with someone), or where the buck he even came from!  I ended this episode still not knowing whether or not he always lived in Starlight's old village, moved there only recently, or if he even lives there at all!  So yeah, HE HAS NO INTRODUCTION!!!  He just shows up and starts flirting shamelessly with Sugar Belle.  And you want to know what the really bucked up thing is?  SHE SEEMS INTO IT!!  WHY???  Two seconds ago she was eyeing Big Mac up and down and "accidentally" bumping her snout into his!  NOW she's into this tool???  Why is this so?  Why, why, why, why, why????????

I'll tell you why!  LAZINESS!!! GRADE A LAZINESS!!!!  Let's take a look at the "special" writer of this episode, shall we?  The writer of this episode is a first time MLP-writer by the name of Becky Wangberg.  Ya wanna know what else she's worked on?  The Fairly OddParents and a bunch of other no-name shows, most of which seem to be on Nickelodeon.  Now let me say this; Fairly OddParents at one point was a good show, much like SpongeBob Squarepants was.  But also just like SpongeBob, Fairly OddParents lasted too long and got driven into the ground by Nickelodeon's insistence that they keep churning it out, and eventually became a shallow excuse of a kids show.  More importantly for the purposes of our beloved MLP, I would never want ANY writer for Fairly OddParents touching MLP with a 10-foot pole because the shows are completely different from each other!  Fairly OddParents was almost always a comedy-show first and foremost, actual lessons were largely an afterthought.  And when it was good at that, it was just fine!  When it was bad at it, it was badddddddd.  But MLP has never, ever, EVER been a comedy-show alone; it has had episodes that place more emphasis on the comedy than anything else, but for the most part it usually tries to teach kids and adults alike smart but also accessible lessons.  They may sometimes be simple, but the execution is usually so good that one can't help but appreciate the efforts that went into teaching these lessons, and many times the lessons are very complex.  This episode was not just an opportunity to teach a good lesson about starting a romantic relationship, but was also a status quo changer for a major supporting character on the show.  So who do they give it to?  A veteran MLP writer?  OF COURSE NOT, THEY GAVE IT TO A FIRST TIME SHOW WRITER WHO HAS NOTHING ON HER RESUME THAT WOULD SUGGEST IN THE SLIGHTEST THAT SHE WAS QUALIFIED TO HANDLE THIS EPISODE!!!   If there is one thing that defines this episode more than anything else, it is how much the laziness put into the writing defines it.  It is a laziness we are unaccustomed to seeing in this show, and it is quite remarkable how much said laziness, something you might more typically see in a show like Fairly OddParents today, brings down a treasure of a show like MLP so, so much.  I will discuss this laziness later, but suffice to say that it is present, it is at the core of what's wrong with this episode, and it brings it down so, so, SO low!

Alright, so... picking up where I left off, Justin Bieber as a pony shows up (man, I really wish I never had to say that), acts like a dumbass, and for some reason Sugar Belle now likes this.  So Big Mac panics, because... Feather Bangs can juggle???

Anyways, he panics and the CMC decide to help.  Heck, they even make a point of assuring him that they are MUCH more mature than they were the last time they tried to help him with his love life and would NEVER think of magically roofieing him or Sugar Belle!  Well that's good, so do they suggest he do anything competent?  HA HA HA, you poor bastards give this episode too much credit if you think they do!  No, the characters who are probably late tweens or early teenagers by now (seriously, two weeks ago we had Sweetie Belle telling us she was into experimental theater right now, make up your mind show!) suggest that he do things as one would... in a fairy tale.

This is dumb.  OK.  It's dumb.  I don't want anyone telling me that the characters who tried to figure out if a griffon could somehow have a cutie mark, have time and time again tackled their own insecurities and feelings of failure and inadequacy, and are now helping other ponies do the same on a regular basis, would suggest that someone should try to get into a relationship by doing things as a Prince Charming would in a fairy tale in SEASON 7 OF THIS SHOW!!!  Heck, I don't think they would in Season 1 or Season 2 either, but Season 7??? REALLY???  Guys, if you wanted to do the "Character A needs help expressing his feelings to and starting a relationship with Character B with the help of Character C" trope, why did you pick the CMC in the first place?  The only circumstance in which they should have been the ones helping Big Mac out with his love life is if he and Cheerilee were for real getting together; that would have been an interesting opportunity for the CMC to make up for their past mistake when they tried to force them together.  But why are they here???  They don't know this town, they don't know Sugar Belle, and none of them have ever been in any relationship, SO WHY ARE THEY THE ONES HELPING HIM???  A friend and I agreed after this episode that it would have made far more sense if either (1) Starlight Glimmer, or (2) Applejack were helping Big Mac in this situation than the CMC.  First, they're both older so presumably at least know a little more about relationships by virtue of age alone.  Second, they both know the town and Sugar Belle, as well as Big Mac; Starlight Glimmer is at least sort of friends with him, and Applejack is his middle sister who can easily take charge of a situation at a moment's notice.  Either of these two would have easily been able to contribute more here than the CMC could, especially the CMC as they're being written HERE!

OK, so first up, they try to concoct a false peril for Sugar Belle by having Scootaloo feign stealing her saddlebag.  Can I just say I've never liked this trope?  Anyone willing to create a false, EMERGENCY situation to attract a girl's attention, well... that comes off as douchey... at best.  At worst, it comes off as a little creepy even.  Maybe even cowardly.  Point is, how much do you really care about someone if your icebreaker is MANIPULATING them?!  Anyways, it doesn't work, because once again Feather Bangs pops out of nowhere and intercepts (literally) Big Mac's save.  How he does this, I don't know.  Once again, there is no explanation for his seemingly just knowing when Big Mac is about to try to make a move, or why he gives a buck!  He's just there, and the thing that makes Sugar Belle falling for this even dumber is that she could see plain as day that Big Mac was about to catch her saddlebag before he even did!  SHE KNOWS HE INTERCEPTED BIG MAC'S SAVE AND STILL SEEMS INTO IT!!!  WHY?!?!?!?!  His douche baggery was just on full display for all to see!!!  Oh wait, I know, sing it with me kids, LAZY WRITING!!!

So next, the CMC, HOLY CRAP---- 

D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwww, you're so cute!!!  Who's a cute sweepy pony, WHO'S A CUTE SWEEPY PONY?  YOU ARE!  YES, YOU ARE!!! 

Ahem, anyways, the CMC decide that the best thing for Big Mac to do is... kiss Sugar Belle awake because that's what fairy tale princes do??? 

...

...

...

Uh oh...

So like a smart person, Big Mac says that that's creepy and nowhere near reflecting where they're at in their relationship- oh no, he goes along with it.  Wait, what?

Uh, Big Mac...

Dude, seriously, stop!

Well, what did ya think was gonna happen you creepy dumbass!!!

OK, people, in a different show the sequence of screen shots I just showed you could EASILY be the start of a VERY different sequence of events in, say, a show like Law and Order: SVU!  Let's put this in perspective.  Kissing someone awake is... not exactly something that many people except for the closest of couples do, like, couples living together, and even then it's not something they do on a regular basis.  But are Big Mac and Sugar Belle a couple at this point?  NOPE!!  They are (although having flirted quite heavily already) technically just business acquaintances and nothing more at this point in the show.  So what he just tried to do?  Yeah, I'm calling it, that's attempted sexual assault in a public space and this episode is too stupid to even realize it!  I don't care that it doesn't work, the show does not understand HOW bad what he just tried to do is.  Throughout the episode they keep mentioning that the love potion was a REALLY bad thing, but this?  This is played for laughs, and frankly, this is a million times worse than the love potion was even if one considers it a magical roofie.  The love potion was a bad idea from kids who don't understand what makes for a healthy relationship, but this is a grown ass adult who has actual romantic intentions for a pony who, at this point, does not return said intentions.  He is attempting to kiss her without her prior knowledge in a public space without her consent.  THAT. IS. ASSAULT!!!  YOU DUMBASS WRITER!!!!!

So obviously Sugar Belle freaks out (because what the buck else would you do if a dude you kinda like but aren't in a relationship with was leering over you as you slept in a public space and about to kiss you without your knowing, I mean, REALLY GUYS!!), but then, who should show up but Douchey McDouchemane, I mean, Feather Bangs (gosh I hate that name... also his name doesn't really make much sense since he's not even a pegasus, what the buck).  He offers her a random carriage ride, and she seems to happily accept; buck me, at this point she's giving him the same kind of eyes she was giving Big Mac earlier in the episode, so she seems to be pretty into him.  I would be madder about her going along with his schtick, but frankly, he was the far less creepy one in this scene, and that's pretty badddddddddddddd.

So finally, the CMC decide that Big Mac should try to win her over with a love song.  Granted, it's cliche but frankly it's a breath of fresh air (at least in theory) after the night terror we were just presented with in Mac's last disastrous attempt.  And honestly the song isn't that bad at first.  It's nothing special, but it's pretty sweet (aside from the whole sneaking into her store thing and closing the door while turning the lights off), and Sugar Belle seems to appreciate it too.  But then Feather Bangs comes back and we get easily the worst scene in the whole episode (and possibly the worst songs we've ever heard in the entire show), because HE brought his own song as well and... well, it's a Bieber song.  I don't know what else to tell you.  It's the MLP version of a Bieber song, and not a good one, with PLENTY of suggestive lyrics and visuals (I don't care if they were played for laughs, it made me more than a bit uncomfortable at points).  Even worse, the whole sequence turns into a pairing of dueling numbers, so basically we keep jumping back and forth from a clumsy, increasingly bad country song to a terrible pop song, and the two genres clash so badly that they just further amplify how bad it all is.  It's like somebody split up a bad bro-country song by completely separating the pop from the country, and it resulted in an equally bad pop song and country song.  Sugar Belle's not into any of it, and is most DEFINITELY not into Feather Bangs... wait, what?  Yeah, this whole song she clearly seems miffed at Feather Bangs when in the very last scene she was eyeing him up and down like a kid with a brand new lollipop and I don't know what the buck is going on now!  Was she ever into him?  Based on her earlier reactions, she had to be!

Oh wait... oh you sons of bitches... LAZY WRITING STRIKES AGAIN!!!   This is possibly the most egregious example of this in the whole episode.  The only reason Feather Bangs is supposed to be here is because we're supposed to believe that he is a viable rival lover to Big Mac, vying for Sugar Belle's affection as much as he is, for most of the episode.  The only way they're able to make us believe he has any chance as a rival is by showing Sugar Belle digging what he's doing, at least initially.  But now that we're supposed to believe that she's really into Big Mac, not Feather Bangs, she is inexplicably showing NONE of the earlier interest she showed for Feather Bangs, even though he's basically doing the same s*** he was doing before, just on a bit of a bigger scale.  Holy buck, that is AMAZING in its laziness!  I mean, really.  I don't even know what to say at this point other than... wow.  Just wow.  Characters flipping their behavior back and forth on a dime as easily as one would flick a light switch on and off.  Buck me, that's lazy.

This whole scene was ear-and-eye cancer... like, all of it, I seriously feel less healthy for having watched it

So what more is there to say?  After the "dueling songs" go disastrously, with Big Mac and Feather Bangs essentially destroying most of Sugar Belle's store, Big Mac and the CMC finally figure out what should have been a far easier lesson to teach, that showing someone you care about them in an especially special way means showing them that you know who they are and what they care about, and that you in turn care about them and what they care about.  WHY WAS THIS SO HARD TO TEACH!!!  So Big Mac makes her a new shelf, she loves it, they get together after some CMC shenanigans (involving, yet again, those bucking stupid NOT COSTUMES, WHY IS THIS A CRUCIAL PLOT DEVICE, IT'S NOT CLEVER?!?!?!), and they look really sweet and cute together. THE. BUCKING. END.

Oh wait, no it's not, because in the last 30 seconds we're supposed to feel sorry for Feather Bangs and hope that the CMC help him figure out how to talk to mares.

Uh uh, no way, you bastards don't get to pull that lazy, tired, "ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, he's not a bad guy, he's just misunderstood" trope in only 30 seconds when we have seen nothing redeemable about this twat since he was first introduced (if you want to call it that).  I hate that lazy trope, and it's yet another perfect embodiment of the utter laziness that characterizes this whole bucking episode!!!  Buck Feather Bangs and buck his lady problems, I hope every mare turns him down harder than a jackhammer chews up a sidewalk!  So let me reiterate if it wasn't clear already...

People, this was trash.  Hot, steaming, burning, wretched smelling trash.  This was SO much worse than "MMMMystery on the Friendship Express" in every way possible.  "MMMMystery on the Friendship Express" insults my intelligence, and the intelligence of any brony out there, BUT to its defense (and I never thought I'd be saying this) it is well aware that it is nothing but a throwaway episode.  Nothing important happens in it, it is just an episode for the sake of having another episode, that's it!  THIS was supposed to be a status quo changer, THIS was supposed to be a major development for a major, recurring supporting character!  We have barely seen any of the characters in the show get into relationships or the show itself handle the topic of romantic relationships; I hope it largely stays that way, but I also always hoped that the show would address it to a certain extent, because I always thought that this show, as good as it is, would probably be able to handle romantic relationship subjects better than most kids shows can.  I still believe that, even after this episode.  Sugar Belle and Big Mac are honestly, as I said earlier, a cute couple, and I think they could be a really good couple going forward!  Nothing about the pairing itself is what turned me off in this episode, in fact, that's where the tragedy of it lies.

This episode, for as bad as it is, feels like half of it IS good MLP.  There are signs of the quality from MLP we've come to expect on a regular basis.  The few genuinely funny lines in there (like Apple Bloom's "Quick, act like apples" line or Sugar Belle's "That's the whole town!  It's just the one street" bit) are typical MLP fare, little details like Sugar Belle's reactions throughout the song numbers as well as the fact that Starlight's house has been replaced by a tree, the largely inoffensive beginning and ending, the three mares who keep fawning over Feather Bangs (the fawning itself is disgusting but they have fantastic character designs and are pretty entertaining to watch), these things work!  Sugar Belle herself was honestly perfectly fine aside from when the script forced her to like what Feather Bangs was doing, besides that she was sweet, adorable, and her VA has the cutest voice!  But at the end of the day I found myself and a friend agreeing with one another that the end of CheeriMac is the least of this episode's problems, and that should tell you a lot right there.

The problem is the good was in a jumbled mess with sooooooooooooooo much bad, there was no clear cut divide between the two and on top of that, this was a lot of bad in an episode that should have been incredibly easy to do right.  What we got instead was patronizing to its audience, treating us as though we were too dumb to handle a more complex plot, and even worse it had no right to be patronizing because the episode was so much dumber than it thought it was!  If someone just understood who these characters are, how they behave, this premise, even with the CMC involved in it, could have easily turned into a good to great episode!  And that's why I keep referring to laziness as being at the core of what makes this episode a disaster, because I don't know how else to explain it.  A first time writer for this show bucking up an episode this badly in a critically acclaimed show that is in its seventh season?  Laziness, plain and simple.  There is more than enough material for this writer to have watched to have gotten more than a clear understanding of who these character's are for the purposes of her own episode, and frankly, I just think she didn't bother to do her homework.  The only other alternative is that she's just that bad of a writer, and I really hope that's not the case because if so, I don't know how she's still getting work.  But for the time being, I'm chalking it up to unforgivable laziness, and for such a piss poor effort put into what should have been such an important episode, "Hard to Say Anything" gets an F---------------------- from me.  It is not even in my book an episode of MLP, because it is unrecognizable as MLP.  I would expect this level of quality from other shows that Ms. Wangberg has worked on (on their bad days), but for MLP, this is simply unacceptable.  DHX, please, learn from this and don't ever let this person work on this beloved show ever again, much less on episodes that should be so important.  In fact, don't ever assign first time show writers such important episodes ever again.  Congratulations, "Hard to Say Anything," you are now my least favorite episode of MLP, and I hope it stays that way, because I shudder to think of what an episode would have to do to make me hate it more than I hated this one.

Buck me... that's all I got for ya this week everypony.  Until next time (in a Celestia-willing better episode than this) this is Batbrony signing off.  I'm off... to get a drink... or twenty!!! *cue dramatic exit to the bar*

When an episode drives Batbrony to get drunk dressed as Superman, you know it done bucked up