Night Sky

I thought Iron Will was a funny character. It's always nice to see Fluttershy let loose. On those rare occasions when she does, watch out. Self help scammers are a real issue, it's probably for the best to plant seeds of skepticism about them in young minds.

Pinkie Pie in Peak form. The scene where her eyeballs start coming through the fireplace was downright scary. I am sorry it was. Pinkie spooks me sometimes. Otherwise a touching story about loss and aging. Not exactly an expected subject matter for MLP but I appreciate that they took on a very middle-aged dilemma. It's nice that Pinkie wanted to help, even if she was completely oblivious as to how her efforts were being perceived. Cranky and Matilda, if you aren't like them already and you're reading this, blink and you will be like them. So, again, it's touching and a nice thought to have them living together in Ponyville.

Eh, proceed Fillies...consider yourselves remonstrated. This episode was okay, a salutary reminder that manipulating others with magic never REALLY works. We've been learning this since The Sorcerer's Apprentice, but I guess every generation needs to relearn it anew.

An important episode for RD. It's good for anyone to realize that READING A BOOK is not always square. Anything that gets you thinking visually and gives you a character to look up to is bound to broaden your horizons. It was nice to see RD get so into a book that she burglarized a hospital.

Flim and Flam and their contraption remind me of a certain genre of adventure comedies form the 1950s and 1960s where were still being shown in the 1990s on VHS. I am referring to films such at Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Great Race or Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines. These were adventure films with a lot of screw-ball and slapsticks comedy that featured fantastical machines, some created by warm hearted inventors and others created by mustached villains, and pitted against each other in some kind of contest. This episode somehow distills the essence of that style of entertainment. The point is, hard work, loyalty and doing right by your customers will trump cutting corners and maximizing output every single time. At least where quality is concerned. Most of the corporations who make most of our food should be forced to start every day by watching this episode.

I don't know that AJ would just run off like that? Or that Rainbow Dash would really just ditch Rarity and Pinkie Pie in the middle of the desert like that, they knew the risks? Again, this is one of those episodes where the Mane 6 are somehow not themselves. Not everything the writers made them do was entirely in keeping with their character all the time and these instances are kind of jarring.

I remember grandparents day at pre-school and grade school. If anything that was a general ceasefire and truce day. Even kids who were rotten to me regularly didn't disrespect my grandparents. Honestly, I don't remember a single occasion where everyone wasn't on their best behavior. I wonder if these type of days are still a thing post covid and if kids these days still respect their elders.

I hadn't but I've read it. Yeah, this is one of those episodes that if you don't like it, you'll really not like it. It's one of those that really has that effect. I, of course, was bullied mercilessly at one point in school, so of course I'm not going to be comfortable sitting through an episode like this. I am sorry it has also been triggering for you. This gets complicated. Bullying is a very real, mishandled problem, and it is a reality that any socially conscious kids show is going to have to confront, and perhaps confront head on, and that may be uncomfortable, and may be necessary and the best thing. I know there's stuff I need to forgive and let go of. On the other hand, I would like to get to see any redeeming qualities in DT and SS...at this point in the series there are seemingly none. FIM is a good enough show that even the background ponies are not so one dimensional. The show also doesn't treat the characters as mere plot devices, usually. It would be easier if there were anything in DT and SS to connect with. At this point in the series, there's just nothing to look at and say, okay that's a good quality, or going through that would mess anyone up. Some bullies are born, most of them are made. So maybe DT and SS - their situations, the show could use that to illustrate some more salutary lessons. But we know basically nothing about DT and SS at this point besides the fact that they are rotten to a lot of Ponies almost all the time. The adult ponies seem to be oddly absent and tone deaf about her behavior as well. Then again, at this point in the series, we don't know hardly anything about Scootaloo's situation either. It's just kind of handled in an odd way. The Cutie Mark Crusaders thing I get. That's just adolescence starting a bit later for some kids. That makes sense, but how the show handles the issue of bullying, there's just something off about it, I can't really hit the hammer on the nail.

The musical number at the end of this episode was rousing and epic. The play was very interesting. Even though divided by tribal boundaries, there was still what amounts to trade among the three pony species. This persisted due to shortsighted leaders. Only by working together were they able to reach and avail themselves of Equestria. My interest in Gen 5 makes this episode which deals with Equestria's pre history even more interesting. Obviously, Gen 5 begins with the Ponies in an arrangement which was even more standoffish than that described by the play. But the play gives insight into the how and why of it. Whereas when Gen 5 begins, it was more of a cold war isolationist thing. Interesting contrast.

I struggle with this episode, just like I struggle with the characterization of the dragons in FIM. I'm never quite sure what they are supposed to be. Are the villains, are they bumbling fools, do they have a better role to play? It seems that we've seen it all. Spike couldn't help it. Though it's his choice to continue living in Ponyville according to Pony ways. But, since I am also a fan of Gen 5, you gotta ask yourself, what does Dragon Lord Spike make of the ponies? Especially after Harmony breaks down and the ponies revert to a cold stand off? I am not quite there yet so I'll have to wait and see. It's relevant here because of Spike's origin among the ponies. He lived a very interesting and perhaps odd life.

I love all of Rarity's jaunts out into the wider world of Equestria, in search of the success she deserves. And Canterlot is always a magical place, even if the citizens are full of themselves. It was really cool that Twi was able to arrange a room in the palace and a meeting with Princess Celestia for Rarity. This episode had a really satisfying ending in that everyone sort of all comes together for a party, and Rarity's designs are at the heart of it all.

The Strategy the rest of the Mane 6 employed here was novel, abd ultimately effective when it was revealed to RD that the Mysterious Mare Do Well was a group effort to check her ego. Certainly, in this episode, it was needed. RD was drunk on her own epic. Admittedly, she'd been very busy solving so real problems. This gets complicated. RD is an exceptional Pony, and often she is the only one who can really save the day, whether that's the citizens of Ponyville or the rest of the main six. The problem is, she knows it. The Mysterious Mare Do Well was an escalation, but it got through to RD with a taste of her own medicine. The principle was sound, the tactic maybe somewhat risky. What if RD had really swung on the Mysterious Mare Do Well, or tackled her? That wouldn't be very MLP most likely, but I can still sorta see RD doing it eventually.

Early RD, she is so backwards about every aspect about what having a pet means and what matters and what doesn't. It takes her being seriously injured, almost killed to see the turtle in the correct light. Later on, RD makes more and more progess and does become more conscientious and sensitive, but this is one of those early episodes where she's kinda clueless and self absorbed it takes a hard knock to get through to her.

Zecora to the rescue, and not a moment too soon. I don't know, I've struggled to discover what it is I truly want to "do" with my life. This was a situation where the CMC's strivings really got Apple Bloom into a bad situation. When you don't really know what you're doing or why, or how you feel about it. That CAN get you into harm's way sometimes, and this episode does drive that point home.

The garden where Discord was kept as a statue was clearly some kind of monumental park dedicated to the history of Equestria. It'd be a lot of fun to take a tour of that park. Even petty squabbles among friends give energy to bad forces.

This is an episode where the characterd just don't seem to be themselves. I don't believe that either Rarity or Sweetie Belle would have allowed it to go as far as it does in this episode. Also, the whole thing about Rarity pretending to be AJ was kind of a mind bender, kind of a deception.

Another favorite episode of mine. This episode really highlights the reasons why I identify with Princess Luna so much. Now that she has her head back on correctly, she desires only good things for all Ponies. But she's a Pony out of time, Nightmare Night is an unusual holiday anyway and there's just an amount of misunderstanding to be overcome. Also, this episode inspired one of the most totally dope Brony tracks Evar, that has several also dope remixes.

It's a Discord episode, so nuff said. No, the musical number is awesome. Discord's illness was a creative premise, it sure created a zany situation. I am reminded of the episode of Star Trek TNG when Q looses his powers. That plus Grand Pear's secret identity... What an amazing thing it would have been if Starfleet had beamed down an away team right into the town square of Ponyville. Why did we get a cross over with Transformers and not Star Trek?

An important episode which shows Rainbow Dash continuing to prioritize loyalty over ambition. Even though she still gets herself into something of a pickle, RD realizes there's a problem with the position the Wonderbolts put her into from the get go. She tries to walk a line, but when push comes to shove she does the right thing and speaks truth to everyone. The Wonderbolts aren't deserving of mindless adoration. As one of them flat out admits in this episode, RD has taught them a lesson, not for the first time. The way they turned on Soar'in was not cool.

This is one of my very favorite episodes. It shows honestly and humorously that the Apple clan are not always perfectly harmonious. The scene when Apple Bloom looses the map and gets berated by AJ through clenched teeth makes me laugh a lot. Also when they go over the waterfall or when AJ pulls the wheel right off the raft. The musical number if a good mlp song. This is a funny episode, but it is also FIM at it's best. AJ and Pinkie Pie are both Earth ponies, so it's interesting that they are somehow related. If MLP ever gets a canon or semi canon expanded universe on the scale of Star Wars, say, it might be interesting to meet the ancestors who are responsible for the link between the Apples and the Pies. I don't yet know if the comics or any fan fics ever explored this.

I agree with what everyone else has said about this being a great Rarity episode. I tend to like episodes which show us the larger world of Equestria. I love Ponyville but it is nice to travel too. But wow, Suri Polomore was a nasty villain.