S05:E12 - Amending Fences

[Sh Pie 65]

This was a good episode about Twilight trying to be a better friend to her old friends and it featured a nostalgic location and flashback from episode 1. Starlight is watching Twilight, probably thinking how to beat her and the magic of friendship.

[Shawn Parks 1,798]

Sure. What I mean is that in the pilot, the only reason the ponies were there was to say the line in order to establish Twi's not-friendliness. I'm glad that now thanks to this episode it's something more

 

 

Yeah.  I especially liked how they turned the seemingly inconsequential line about Moondancer throwing a party into a major turning point in that character's life.

[Trixio 443]

Twilight old friends are really nice

[Time Shield 402]

I'd like to point out a few things for people who were complaining about Moondancer being a "recolor" of Twilight.  I have a better explanation that also serves to make the conflict more believable as well.

 

Moondancer was clearly an introvert like Twilight, as shown in the flashback when they were younger.  This means that while the others were her friends too, she probably felt closer to Twilight than anyone else.  But it goes a little further than that; I think Moondancer actually looked up to Twilight.  This is also supported by the book she gave her, thanking her for "introducing [her] to the classics", which implies that Twilight was helping with Moondancer's own studies.  So with this in mind, whenever you look up to someone, there's a tendency to emulate them in some way, so it's not a stretch to believe that she began wearing her hair like Twilight as a sign of admiration and respect.  She wore her hair this way at least up until the party she threw, per Twilight imagining what happened at her party (she wouldn't imagine Moondancer's hair like that if she wasn't wearing it like that at the time).

 

Now, consider that when we saw her in the present, she wore her hair differently.  This is no minor change; this is meant to show us the fact that she no longer looked up to Twilight.  After the pony she looked up to most didn't show up for what was the friendliest thing she tried to do, it crushed her, and she didn't want to emulate Twilight anymore.  (At least not in appearance; returning to her introverted self was similar to how Twilight used to act, but not directly meant as emulation.)  This also explains how come her other friends showing up to her party didn't prevent this change; she was most hopeful for Twilight to show, being the one she identified with the most.

 

Finally, in the very brief scene we see at the end, her hair is back to looking like Twilight's.  This, along with everything else I listed above, pretty much cinches it as a symbol of her respect, and a sign that their friendship had indeed returned.

 

tl;dr:  Moondancer is not a recolor; she was just trying to emulate the pony she most respected.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Time Shield

[Ragland Tiger 3,392]

Finally, the kind of intimate episode that got me into MLP  to begin with.  It's been a long time.  Just for silly fun, here's an appropriate song:

 

[Time Shield 402]

Oh, one other question I had:  How many people, after watching this episode, felt a sudden desire to get in contact with old friends?

[Persona22 205]

I noticed that a lot of people are freaking out at Moon Dancer being a palette swap with Twilight Sparkle.

Not only I don't mind it, but I find it kind of clever.

Just think about it. The mane 6 are two unicorns, two pegasi and two Earth ponies. (Well, Twilight is an Alicorn now, but you get what I mean)

The, let's call them, Canterlot 6 are all unicorns.
So we have pairs of twos as well.

Lemon Hearts and Twinkle Shine are palette swaps of each other.
Minuette and Lyra Heartstrings are palette swaps of each other.
And Twilight Sparkle and Moon Dancer are palette swaps of each other.

[Time Shield 402]

I noticed that a lot of people are freaking out at Moon Dancer being a palette swap with Twilight Sparkle.

 

Not only I don't mind it, but I find it kind of clever.

 

Just think about it. The mane 6 are two unicorns, two pegasi and two Earth ponies. (Well, Twilight is an Alicorn now, but you get what I mean)

 

The, let's call them, Canterlot 6 are all unicorns.

So we have pairs of twos as well.

 

Lemon Hearts and Twinkle Shine are palette swaps of each other.

Minuette and Lyra Heartstrings are palette swaps of each other.

And Twilight Sparkle and Moon Dancer are palette swaps of each other.

 

Read up about 3 posts above yours for my explanation of Moondancer's hair.

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

 

I'd like to point out a few things for people who were complaining about Moondancer being a "recolor" of Twilight.  I have a better explanation that also serves to make the conflict more believable as well.

 

Moondancer was clearly an introvert like Twilight, as shown in the flashback when they were younger.  This means that while the others were her friends too, she probably felt closer to Twilight than anyone else.  But it goes a little further than that; I think Moondancer actually looked up to Twilight.  This is also supported by the book she gave her, thanking her for "introducing [her] to the classics", which implies that Twilight was helping with Moondancer's own studies.  So with this in mind, whenever you look up to someone, there's a tendency to emulate them in some way, so it's not a stretch to believe that she began wearing her hair like Twilight as a sign of admiration and respect.  She wore her hair this way at least up until the party she threw, per Twilight imagining what happened at her party (she wouldn't imagine Moondancer's hair like that if she wasn't wearing it like that at the time).

 

Now, consider that when we saw her in the present, she wore her hair differently.  This is no minor change; this is meant to show us the fact that she no longer looked up to Twilight.  After the pony she looked up to most didn't show up for what was the friendliest thing she tried to do, it crushed her, and she didn't want to emulate Twilight anymore.  (At least not in appearance; returning to her introverted self was similar to how Twilight used to act, but not directly meant as emulation.)  This also explains how come her other friends showing up to her party didn't prevent this change; she was most hopeful for Twilight to show, being the one she identified with the most.

 

Finally, in the very brief scene we see at the end, her hair is back to looking like Twilight's.  This, along with everything else I listed above, pretty much cinches it as a symbol of her respect, and a sign that their friendship had indeed returned.

 

tl;dr:  Moondancer is not a recolor; she was just trying to emulate the pony she most respected.

 

A very well thought out and plausible head canon, this. Pity they didn't think to have Moon Dancer mention in it in her tirade.

[Perfect Stanza 73]

I've never related more to anypony in this show than I did to Moon Dancer. A very touching ending. I'm pleased with this episode overall.

Edited July 9, 2015 by Perfect Stanza

[Guest]

This episode has instantly become one of my favourites of all time. I really like this season's explorations on repairing old friendships (before today, 'The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone' was my S5 favourite). I hope to see a few more like this.

 

On a side note, Minuette was adorable!

 

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

Here's a great review of the episode http://chris-dilke.deviantart.com/art/My-Little-Pony-SEASON-5-EPISODE-12-Review-545312800

by ChrisDilke. 

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

Here's a great review of the episode http://chris-dilke.deviantart.com/art/My-Little-Pony-SEASON-5-EPISODE-12-Review-545312800

by ChrisDilke.

 

After reading his cheerful review, I want to rate 11, 5/10... cuz Pinkie Pride still my best of whole show, I dont want anything touch its throne, sr Amending Fences lol.

[Grtxkkyz 388]

Oh man, that's got to be one of the cutests and bestest episodes in the season. Shows how much Twilight has changed as a character, and gives some more deep to the Canterlot unicorns she avoided in the first episode. Three more beloved background ponies now become perhaps part of the supporting cast and they were very adorable in the episode. What I specially liked the most were all those nods and references to the first episode, after all, FIM is know for its strong continuity and this does not disappoint, specially since it ties loose ends connected to Twi's past.

 

The character of Moondancer is rather interesting too. I know many criticize her design for being mostly a palette swap of unicorn Twilight wearing a messy sweater and glasses, but that further drives the point of what Twilight might have become had she never encountered the other Mane five. Plus, she's kinda cute too. Her breakdown at the climatic party was very emotional, and showcases how truly good is Larson at writing this kind of scenes.There are other equally tear jerking moments too. The flashback to Moondancer's party, seeing how much has Twilight and Spike's original home fallen into disrepair after they left for Ponyville is very depressing too, and even Spike's gift to Moondancer, while cute in itself, also serves as a reminder how antisocial Twilight used to be.

Good to see our princess successfully making amends. Too bad Lyra never showed up, but I'm sure she was at Ponyville at the moment and already forgave Twilight as easily as Minuette, Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine. And Twilight's spell that allows her to enter books is gonna be lots of Fanfic fuel for the herd.

Yup, totally enjoyed this chapter. Oh, and we got a ponified Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6. And a Starlight Glimmer cameo! Villains need to have lunch too.

Anyway, have some insanely cute Minuette a.k.a Colgate

[Denim&Venöm 18,989]

Okay, finally got around to this. Not gonna repeat what's been said so I'll just deliver my take:

 

I love Colgate's voice and her personality. She actually seems to stick pretty close to what fannon we've developed for her (Brushie Brushie!)

 

Why no Lyra Heartstrings? WTF? That's' something that kinda bugged me at the end.

 

People are talking about Moondancer being a Twi color. The fact that they went for that style kinda put me off a little. I mean she already had a design all set up for her in the comics:

 

 

I mean, Trixie & Sunset are kind of parallels to Twi, and they don't look like her. I mean it's nice to see a callback to a G1 character, but I feel like this is a bit of a cop out. 

 

As far as relating to the moral, everyone seems to have a personal story about it. Except me. I'm not the most social guy. From middle school on, I didn't have have the patience to deal with friends. I was miserable in school. I just wanted to get through my day with as little interaction as possible. I was not a happy kid and I didn't want to deal with with my fellow students. I wanted to be left alone. 

 

Looking back, I had some really nice kids in my class and even the class ahead of us. I easily could've been friends with them and they probably thought of me as their friends. But that wasn't the person I was back then. When I'm placed into a situation I'm not happy with, I shut myself down and operate on a baseline emotional level. Do the minimum needed for social interaction. Otherwise, I'll just start going off on people. That was school for me, and that's how I function at work as well. 

 

I'm asocial. I'm okay with being in groups of people, but I'm just as fine being alone, if not more so. Stick me around a bunch of people, a bunch of strangers, especially ones whom I can't relate too, and I won't be a happy camper.  

 

That and I'm no good at being social either. I've got asperger's. I can't read body language or nonverbal cues. I'm in my own little world when walking about. I get caught off guard when anyone talks to me. And I'm not very good at coming up with an articulated response to keep a conversation going. If I think of something nice to say to someone, it'll be 15 minutes after they've left. So I avoid social situations to stop myself from getting embarrassed or saying something insensitive. 

 

So this moral, while heartfelt, understandable and important, is one that doesn't effect me much. Because of the way I am, I'm not very good at making friends. Combine that with how I was as a kid and the situations I had to deal with on a daily basis, and I can't really blame myself. That's who I was back then. I cannot change that. I've accepted and moved on. Am I a better person now> I hope so. I'd like to think so. Life got better for me when I graduated. I became more optimistic and realized that there was more to life than what grades had to offer.

 

Catch me on my day off, after I've got a long nights (or afternoons) sleep, and I'll be open to the chance at being your friend.  

 

Yeah, I'd say this was a good episode. 

[Luffyiscool 397]

I've got asperger's. I can't read body language or nonverbal cues. I'm in my own little world when walking about. I get caught off guard when anyone talks to me. And I'm not very good at coming up with an articulated response to keep a conversation going. If I think of something nice to say to someone, it'll be 15 minutes after they've left. So I avoid social situations to stop myself from getting embarrassed or saying something insensitive. 

 

So this moral, while heartfelt, understandable and important, is one that doesn't effect me much.

I have the same asperger's problems, and yeah I would never have Twilight's problem either (since whenever I've made a friend, I've clung onto them for dear life).

 

As a result, I really connected with Moon Dancer throughout the episode and especially when she broke down.

I got teary eyed remembering my own times of feeling hurt. 

[SolyWack 482]

My favorite part was definately when Twilight went back into her old castle/library. She remembered all that stuff from the first MINUTES of the series, right along with us. The book still being opened to the elements of harmony, dust on all the stuff that they dropped before leaving.

 

The nostalgia feels were great in that scene. I just couldnt help but smile and shed some tears of happiness, I mean liquid pride.

[Ruddboy Olaf 10,628]

I give it a 8/10 for being cute and relatable. 

[Notomi 66]

I loved this episode sooooo much!! ;u; I found it very VERY relatable. I was very shy (and still am) and didn't have many friends. But I had a best friend, and one day she ditched me in front of a lot of people, and that really hurt and I basically gave up on friendship after that. I stayed as far away from people as I could because I didn't want to be hurt like that again.

 

Am starting to warm up to people irl, but it's still very hard. And I wouldn't just click like Moon Dancer did, but I loved the episode a lot. >u<

[Superstars111 79]

This episode was adorable! Perhaps some of it's based on what's been going on in my life lately, but I've been getting a bit overwhelmed with the standard cartoon where someone makes a mistake and then has to go fix it. I find myself sitting there wincing as the character makes that fatal blunder, and oftentimes I'll have to pause the episode. I keep sitting there wondering how they could have said/done something so stupid.

I should note, I'm not just talking about MLP here. I'm talking about any cartoon. And I'm not necesarily saying it's bad when cartoons use that method. After, all, nopony's perfect. But for me personally, that style is clashing with my life right now. So this episode, in my opinion, was a nice break from that. It was softer, I guess you could say. No monsters to fight. No Equestria hanging in the balence. No Rarity being overdramatic or Fluttershy being overly scared (as much as I love them both). No fatal mistake that ends in humiliation. But still a plot. There was a mistake. But it was ages ago. We didn't have to suffer through the mistake being made, but we did learn what the mistake meant, which, I think, had the same effect, but in a gentler way. And instead of Twilight trying to covr things up or pretend that nothing ever happened, like would happen in the first halves of so many TV shows, she was open and apologized.

I was a bit worried at first that her old friends were going to end up being the type that only cared about her because she was a princess, but that fear was dispelled quickly, and I adored this episode. They didn't need to remove the plot or the risk in order to give me a nice break from heartbreak.

[Fawkes The Phoenix 737]

What an amazing episode. Now I really want to see Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemon Heart, Moondancer, Twilight and Lyra hanging out together as friends.

[The Nth Doctor 662]

Twilight is an awful Princess of Friendship

 

Can we give that mantle to Pinkie Pie?

 

 

Pinkie actually likes to get out and meet new ponies

She won't forget you

She'll find a way to spend time with you

She'll remember your birthday

 

 

Sorry Twilight, but you can be princess of...Pancakes or books or something that you're actually good at dealing with

[Nightwish 25]

For the Discord episode being my second favorite of the season, this one actually brought me to some nostalgia back to the first episode, and a little contradiction of Twilight's time of having any friends at all. She was a bookworm back in the first episode, and those three ponies invited her to Moon Dancer's party. Declining on them, it didn't seem like she was actually friends with them nor was it ever said in the very beginning until now of this season. Twilight had a big purpose in making friends, but wow. She actually did have friends before meeting her mane 6. Her closest being Moon Dancer, despite a bit of a look alike, I think she's a better character than Tree Hugger ((Highly irrelevant to this, but meh. She was just a bit bland and there to just annoy Discord. If she had to pick a Gala date, I think she would have fit well with Zecora.)). Redeeming and winning back Moon Dancer's friendship was quite eventful for Twilight in this episode. But man, that does seem sad. Leaving a forgotten friend that long... For many seasons! Her old house brought back memories as well as those flashback cutscenes especially the hidden one of poor Moon Dancer's reaction to Twilight not attending her party. I kinda do hope to see Moon Dancer appear in a bit more episodes as well as her and Twilight to bond a little more. I slightly cringed to see Starlight was in the diner, hidden under the menu she was looking upon. She is up to something. What I've heard she's planning to do... ugh!... I hate her, but I tolerate her as a decent villain, that's slightly unique than others and a better one than Sombra ever was. But her intentions are vile and dark. Like holy crap... To me, it will leave a bit of a scar of slight fear to how I feel for the show. I didn't imagine it would lead to a dark part to the story... However I do look forward to see Starlight being defeated. She probably will regret dearly.

 

Nonetheless, this episode is one of my favorites! Moon Dancer is a nice character. I can't wait to see more spectacular episodes. Deserves a full five stars and 10/10 ranking higher than the Princess Spike episode (That wasn't a pleasant episode.. ugh). Moon Dancer should have some love. =3

 

 

 

[Superstars111 79]

Twilight is an awful Princess of Friendship

 

Can we give that mantle to Pinkie Pie?

 

 

Pinkie actually likes to get out and meet new ponies

She won't forget you

She'll find a way to spend time with you

She'll remember your birthday

 

 

Sorry Twilight, but you can be princess of...Pancakes or books or something that you're actually good at dealing with

 

I had similar thoughts while watching the episode, but having given it a little more thought, I think that's part of why Twilight actually works better as the princess of friendship. It's effort for her. Pinkie Pie loves everypony instantly, without a second thought. Which means that she cant understand why anypony wouldn't. Twilight now loves everypony, but she also understands what it's like to not want friends. Pinkie Pie alone couldn't have convinced Moon Dancer. In fact, all she really did here was set up the party. But Twilight knew not only what had happened, but how it had affected her, and what it was like to be her.

Edited July 14, 2015 by Superstars111

[Nature's Spell 526]

What Pinkie represents, laughter, is only one part of friendship and the other mane 5 represent the other parts. Twilight is Princess because she represents all those elements, is a leader, and created new magic. I also agree not being perfect, but striving to do her best makes her a stronger princess. Heck we saw that with Luna in last episode.