S08:E18 - Yakity-Sax

[Ganondox 899]

Or at least is there a way to rewind any of the streams?

[TransitPony 219]

I watched it while I was at the end of summer school. I didn't expect Maud to show up, she was a surprise. Never have I seen Pinkie so depressed though, I know the feels of being told you can't do what you love. Clearly the writers wanted to explore more of Pinkie's bad side and the countless efforts being done to cheer her up. Other than that, the episode was pretty good overall. 

[Thrond 3,257]

4 hours ago, Ganondox said:

So now that the stream is over is there any uploads of it? 

Yeah, I found one in the Equestria Daily comments section. 

[Dynamo Pad 10,777]

I just finished watching the episode and it was pretty good. I like how Angel took a part of his tail and used it as ear plugs, yet it looks like his tail didn't change at all. Either Angel has magic powers, or he's learned a lot from Pinkie. It's cool how we get a little bit of knowledge of the yavidaphone. The moments that Pinkie shared with the other instruments while with Twilight and the others was pretty funny. I didn't expect the yavidaphone to make the apples become apple sauce. The apple fun that Rarity made was out of nowhere, but still pretty funny, in my opinion.  It was a surprise to see how the mane 6 told Pinkie that she wasn't good at the instrument at the end of the first act. I would have expected that to happen at the end of the second act, but it was an interesting change of pace. I also liked the continuity the mane 6 brought up from the episode, "Horse Play." It was sad to see Pinkie in a depressed state, but it was a surprise to see her side of Pinkamena again. It's been such a long time since we've seen Pinkie act like that. It was nice to see the group try and cheer Pinkie up, even if their plans didn't work as intended. It was nice to see Maud again, as well as how she told the group that Pinkie moved to Yakyakistan. It was cool seeing Yakyakistan again, as well as how the yaks explained the meaning of the yavidophone. It was great to see Pinkie cheering up and continuing to play the instrument. The moral was pretty good and the comedic moments were pretty funny. I also like how this episode played on my birthday, even though this episode isn't supposed to officially air for about a month. All in all, I really liked this episode and I hope we get to see Pinkie play the yavisophone later on in the series.  

[Ganondox 899]

1 minute ago, AlexanderThrond said:

Yeah, I found one in the Equestria Daily comments section. 

I found one on 4chan. 

[Thrond 3,257]

I admire a lot of what this episode is aiming for, but the execution is inelegant, and the downbeat tone doesn't really allow this to win me over through sheer charm like "School Daze" was able to. That episode was incredibly rough as well, and both give the same impression of an underdeveloped concept being imposed over top of the show, but this one didn't stick the landing as well, which makes it a lot less appealing in my eyes. But explaining what I like and dislike here is kinda hard to fit into one paragraph, so point-by-point:

• I think this becomes a lot more enjoyable once Pinkie gives up the thingamajig ("yovidaphone"?), if only because the first ten minutes or so get really repetitive with the single gag of Pinkie being really bad at the instrument and annoying everyone around her. Aside from that, most of the gags are fairly clever; I didn't laugh consistently, but the only ones which I thought were noticably flat were those around Maud, which were a massive step back for the character and not all that funny in general. 
• There's sort of a weird tension between the style of humour and the generally downbeat tone of the episode; once Pinkie gets sad, a lot of scenes have faintly melancholic music placed over them, and the episode consistently takes her feelings seriously. In that sense it's kinda like "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" for me: most scenes here just make me kinda sad, though at least here that's more clearly the point. It's effective in conveying that melancholy while still being pretty funny from time to time, and that's no mean feat. 
• My problem is mostly with characterization. Everyone acts more or less right, but I have a really difficult time getting behind the core premise, and the basic assumptions about human behaviour seem off here. We never really see the mane six just ask Pinkie what's bothering her, and I just have a hard time believing these ponies wouldn't put any thought into what she actually wants. It's not incorrect that their first instinct has usually been to take action rather than to just ask what's wrong, but this episode really wants to present that as a sort of benign selfishness, and I just don't think that's the correct direction for this moral, or really the way these characters would approach this problem. 
• This clearly wants to be about the disappointment of thinking something you love isn't something you can actually do, and the worthlessness that comes with that. That's a really nuanced idea, but I don't really like that they have to get there by implying the mane six aren't thinking about her own interests. I feel that muddies the water by suggesting bad things about their friendship. And it's because of this that I'm not very fond of the whole "thinking of others' interests" part of the story, which isn't nearly as interesting, not in the least because it's not extended to Pinkie Pie. Is she gonna get a tutor for the thingamajig? Is she gonna find somewhere where she can play it without bothering anyone? The episode lets her off the hook despite spending way too much time on her being annoying, and it comes off as unbalanced as a result. 
• Conversely, though, Pinkie Pie's reaction is just so extreme and sudden, and I find it really hard to believe. Even with everything else we've seen from her, her life is completely unwound because she can't play this one instrument we've never seen before? It's way too unfamiliar, and it feels deeply inorganic. There's just not enough buildup, and with all the other things we know Pinkie cares about, having this one thing set her off so severely just doesn't make enough sense. It's an unwelcome reminder that the new writers don't really have an affinity for these characters, and instead see them as a conduit for the stories they want to tell. 
• And because 1. this show is hardly subtle and 2. this is a somewhat calmer, more emotion-driven episode, those things pretty severely impeded my enjoyment. The jokes are mostly alright, but aren't among the show's best; the emotional core is ambitious but sloppy; the characterization is correct but only within the constraints of the iffy premise. This new batch of writers could do great things with this show, but before that's possible, they need to understand what made it work in the first place. 

Score:
Entertainment: 7/10
Characters: 4/10
Themes: 7/10
Story: 3/10
Overall: 53/100

Edited July 20, 2018 by AlexanderThrond

[Tacodidra 59,794]

MLP is back! It felt so nice to watch a new episode for the first time in weeks. The episode itself wasn't one of the strongest ones, but I still enjoyed it.

The story wasn't exactly a new one, but it was done well, even if it was slightly predictable at times. Pinkie has previously been portrayed as quite a musically talented pony, but I guess even she can't play them all! Having the characters visit Yakyakistan again was nice, as I've always liked the yaks. Seeing Pinkie so sad for the first time in ages was a bit surprising – she actually appeared to take it worse than the events of "Party of One"! I liked the reference to "Horse Play" – they've often referenced the earlier episodes recently, but usually not an episode from the same season. And as brief as her appearance was, I was glad to see Octavia again.

I loved the moral of the episode. It's too easy to give up on activities you're not good at, regardless of how enjoyable they are. That Pinkie actually found appreciation for her playing was especially great! As for negatives, I'd say the fairly predictable beginning of the episode (the scenes taking place in Ponyville) could have been shorter – we didn't need to hear that much of Pinkie's playing. Apart from some highlights in that part (such as Maud's appearance), I found the Yakyakistan scenes much more interesting and important for the plot.

All in all, I'd say it was a good episode, though I found it one of the weaker entries in season 8. I give it a rating of 8/10.

[Ganondox 899]

I don't think Pinkie Pie is actually bad at playing the yovidaphone, she just has questionable tastes. First, the instrument itself is odd. It's clearly some supposed to be modeled off a bagpipe, but it lacks a chanter, the most important part of the pipe as it allows the playing of melodies, and instead it has four drones instead of the unusual two. I credit to just being the animator not understanding how bagpipes works as the master's playing does have a simple melody and Twilight describing it as a melodious instrument, but understanding how pipes work has some important implications on pinkie's playing. The most notable feature of the bagpipe is the drones, which automatically create lush harmonies as long as they are in tune. The fact Pinkie Pie can get such a range of harmonies out of the instrument shows that she's able to push the instrument to it's limits, she's able to do more with it than someone playing it correctly would be able to do. Then if you look at what Pinkie Pie's actually playing, it is not easy stuff, regardless of instrument. It's vaguely reminiscent of serialism, which despite being atonal has very clear patterns that can be fiendishly hard to master. Another interesting bit is that getting objects to explode requires very precise pitch, it's about hitting their resonating frequency. Regardless of what exactly Pinkie Pie is going for, it's clear she's not just hitting random notes, and the composers of the episode surely would have known this. Despite her claims to the contrary, Pinkie Pie is consistently hitting the notes she intends to and that shows she actually does have significant technical ability even if she hasn't figured out how to do the harmonies right (which would normally be the easiest part if you're playing it correctly).

So here is my explanation for Pinkie's playing: her yovidaphone was just out of tune and she never figured out how to tune it (for the record, in a bagpipe you do it by twisting the pipes, IIRC tuning is essential because air quality impacts pitch). She did figure out how to get a range of sounds out of the drones somehow because that's what Pinkie Pie does, but never get them into any real key. The melodies she plays just reflects the fact the harmonies are off, she's just improvising to make it sound interesting despite being atonal. Pinkie found nothing wrong with it because she's doesn't mind dissonance, we saw that in Honest Apple with her guitar playing. Now, that doesn't mean she doesn't prefer more conventional sounds or is incapable of composing tonal music, her singing shows that's not the case, but with it's natural harmonies that yovidaphone is a different beast and thus motivated her to play different stuff. She then could of played something normal when she got the in-tune yovidaphone in Yakyakistan, but she was used to playing one that was out of tune so she still didn't play the harmonies correctly. Most the problems she was causing had nothing to do with technical ability anyway, she was just being obnoxious, like playing outside at night. 

[Thrond 3,257]

Wait, episode 18? They aired this out of order? Weird. 

[YoshiAngemon 223]

At least it's not so bad. I just wish that Pinkie's Parents could've seen how gray she became, and how proud of it they would've been.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

This is one of those episodes I need to watch again in order to understand what it wanted to convey. In fact, I might just post my thoughts on it when the episode airs again in about a month as it was intended before it got released early.

[DonMaguz 1,023]

Hello everyone.

This was one weird episode, I found it really entertaining with some good jokes some bad ones, but I didn't like some of the characters' actions.

The first part with Pinkie Pie playing all over town was kind of painful, this is the pony whose purpose in life is making everypony around her happy and is shown to be completely unaware of how miserable she's making everyone in the town. What she did to Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack were particularly awful actions.

The second part of the episode with Pinkie Pie feeling so down was heartbreaking and yet, it's once again Pinkie's fault to not raise her voice and tell her best friends how she feels and what she needs. As the amazing group of friends they are, I'm sure they could have found a solution in which Pinkie could keep playing without annoying everyone else and the rest of the remane 5 could join her rehearsals once in a while. Then again, I guess opening up to her friends would have maybe been out of character for Pinkie having so many experiences when she assumed the outcome and acted accordingly without saying a word.

The last part was predictable and cute, I love how much the remane 5 love Pinkie Pie and I'm also glad about the Yaks' appreciation of Pinkie's music.

I liked how the episode felt so melancholic despite having so much in common with other Pinkie Pie's episodes such as Swarm of the Century, Pinkie Pride or Too Many Pinkie Pies, which had a much joyful humor.

Overall I liked the episode and will definitely check it again, but it doesn't have anything outstanding for me to love it.

Cheers!

Edited July 21, 2018 by DonMaguz
Grammar and puctuation.

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Just now, AlexanderThrond said:

Wait, episode 18? They aired this out of order? Weird. 

Yep. They aired it as part of Discovery Family's weekly "Summer Surprise" event.

[Thrond 3,257]

2 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Yep. They aired it as part of Discovery Family's weekly "Summer Surprise" event.

Very strange. 

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

I really liked how this episode showed what the Mane 5 have learned from previous episodes. They don't lie or let Pinkie delude herself. I think the message of the episode was to tell people you are friends with to stop doing something at inappropriate times that annoys you, rather than tying whether or not the activity they should do or shouldn't do with how good the person is at the activity. Pinkie Pie can play her new instrument with the Yaks where its appropriate rather than when her friends are working. That's what I took from it anyway. 

 

Since this aired out of order I wonder how that will effect other episodes airing??? Is this a bonus episode now? Or 1 of the original 26 episodes of season 8? 

Edited July 21, 2018 by StitchandMLPlover

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

*Watching Yakity Sax...*

This ep just make me chuckle for 6 minutes, just keeping doing that I don't care if the story suck or anything, hahaha (no plz don't take this comment seriously, of course the story matters)

- Angel's torture porn is amusing

- Dash outright begging Pinkie to stop is fucking hilarious.

- "Apple-solutely"!??? Excuse me? Rarity did this terrible apple pun!? After the lastest EQG special!? OMG!

- Fluttershy's repeating animation (to quietly tell Pinkie go away) will be the new GIF.

- The trophy look like Scootaloo, they really love make fun of Scootaloo's inability to fly, what a jerk. Even it's a 2nd, RD is not even happy about it and throw it away...…. 

- Pinkie can explode apple with her music, she should join NOISE MARINE. (I am talking about Warhammer 40K)

- Reading in the library is boring, Twilight solution is bring all the books and read them outside.

Let see what happen next...

 

*Finished Watching Yakity Sax...*

- Pinkie really takes the Yaks culture seriously that she want to move out Ponyvillage just because her friends tell her she is not good at bagpipes. The solution is just let Pinkie keep doing what she loved and turn out the Yaks enjoy it. A very simple children cartoon show ending, isn't it?

- The first 10 minutes of the episode entertained me so much but after Pinkie gets sad, things get a bit boring. Pinkie is not usually sad but when she does, we should pay attention to what happen to her, what she is thinking, whether she become insane or depressing, but in this ep, we didn't see what Pinkie think until the end of the episode, just some montage to tell us that she is depressing. The solution is too rush and too simple, this ep is just running out of steam so fast after act 2. They don't build up enough to make me take Pinkie love for yovidaphone seriously as it's intended to be.

- I like how they take the lesson from Horse Play to apply in this situation... in the wrong way...

I give this ep a 6/10 (mostly because of how entertaining the act 1 was).

Not a very good episode welcome me back to ponies, especially its PINKIE EPISODE, PINKIE EPISODES SHOULD NOT BE BORING!!!! 

[Patty Thundersnow 4,129]

It was an okay episode. The first act was very giggle enducing with pinkie being typical pinkie. But the final two just seemed like she was totally out of character, even for Pinkamena. I gave the episode a B when reviewing it, but I might readjust it.

[Will Guide 21,325]

For watching this episode late at night when I should be asleep....I hope I can get all my thoughts out. First of all, the Elephant in the Room and it's the only real complaint I have... Gray Depressed Pinkie.

Now there's nothing wrong with her depressed state in the episode itself, but that scene where Rainbow tries to cheer Pinkie up with baking cupcakes is likely going to lead to some Looney Fans use this out of context to make Grimdark Pinkie from the infamous Cupcakes fanfic look more canon. The scene in the episode itself is fine, but I'm going to trend cautiously through fan works. All the scenes with Depressed Pinkie are fine, but I shudder to see more of that infamous interpretation of Pinkie that exists only in fan works and is NOT at all canon. Okay, my one main complaint is out of the way.

Let's talk about the fun and memorable stuff I've seen. First I would like to point out that Maud's scene is a fine example of the trope, Mathematician's Answer. It's when someone asks a question. But the answerer gives a answer that is technically correct but tells the asker absolutely nothing about what they were asking. Also, seeing how Muad was "technically" answering the questions but was getting the girls nowhere, I can once again see why she and her boyfriend Mud "Technically" Briar are compatible! That's fine in my book.

Spike and Fluttershy trying to understand Gummy and failing

Pinkie's initial playing was so bad that, Angel plugged his ears with his own cottontail, a bird is left naked from its feathers bursting off at the sound, and all the apples burst into applesauce.

Rarity and A.J. saying "Apple"lutly  (absolutely)

Twilight taking so many of her books to read outside reminds of my own teen years where I too used to read a lot of books outdoors instead of just enjoying the fresh air. And it reminds me of a 2004 gag where some gamers agreed to go outside after playing a lot of Super Smash Bros. Melee only to reveal they took the TV and gaming system outside with them to keep playing. 

Also, it was nice to see more of the yaks and downplay the perfectionist side of them to share some advice.

Edited July 21, 2018 by Wholly Windcharger

[Jeric 46,835]

As someone who has had to destroy dreams and potential careers by telling people that they just aren't good at something .... this episode is freaking brilliant. 

 

And for those that have heard my singing on here, the lesson fits with my own view of things. I can kill flying birds with my voice, and I don't care. I sing badly and with a smile on my face.

 

[Senko 459]

17 hours ago, cmarston1 said:

I thought that this episode was a fairly cute and harmless one.  Not one of my favorites, but entertaining enough.

Some of my favorite moments were the mane 6 trying to get each other to tell Pinkie she sucks at the instrument, Rarity saying applelutely (which I wonder if that was a slip up that the crew decided to keep in), not even Fluttershy can understand Gummy, the references to Horse Play, alcoholic Pinkie, and Pinkie mentioning that yaks are perfectionists.

This episode went by pretty quickly, and I really liked how the mane 6 were characterized here.

I share your opinion on a lot of those moments, Rarity really had a lot of dryly delivered lines in this episode overall that got a lot of alughs' for me.

Poor sad Pinkie Pie really needed a hug although she sounded a lot like Maud to me at several points. Nice little bit with her sadness being so great it killed flowers and deflated ballons.

I really liked the passing of responsibility from Applejack to Rarity to Rainbow Dash. As well as their attempts to remind her of what she is good at, more evidence Rainbow's a horrible cook wonder if she lives on take out? Rarity's solution is to just paint pinkie's entire coat and give her a makeover to make her look like her old self only to miss the muzzle then it all gets undone when Pinkie sneezes after she fixes that mistake.

I wonder if Pinkie could get some lessons in Yakyakistan since she probably was mostly self taught and given how happy she is playing

they'd be happy to teach her. I have to admit I actually caught my head swaying along with the yaks to the properly played Yovidaphone really nice music there.

Wonder what was going on with the badly steered balloon though.

17 hours ago, A.V. said:

So the moral was "Good music is in the ear of the beholder" (or something)?

I think it's sometimes you have to let a friend do something they're really horrible at and be supportive because it makes them happy?

Edited July 21, 2018 by Senko

[Jeric 46,835]

Also, I am intrigued at the Rarity bit where she using make-up to bring color back into Pinkie. Apparently Pinkie's color loss during depression is actually more than just a visual signal to the audience. I'm wondering if this is just a Pinkie thing, or something that can be a symptom of Pony depression. We saw this with the Discorded characters, and it may be related, but it is hard to say exactly if that was Discord or a symptom of what Discord did. Interesting nonetheless.  

[CypherHoof 26,479]

11 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Yep. They aired it as part of Discovery Family's weekly "Summer Surprise" event.

And to be fair, suddenly airing eps18 WAS pretty surprising

1 hour ago, Senko said:

I think it's sometimes you have to let a friend do something they're really horrible at and be supportive because it makes them happy?

I don't think she is ready for public performances yet though; She needs to find a balance between her desire for an audience and making everypony else run in panic....

[Oleks 1,983]

It was an average episode - I didn't find it bad or particulary good. I only expected a Pinkie Pie episode to be a little bit funnier. And maybe I'm just not a fan of yaks (except for Yona). But it was good to see Pinkamena again. And Maud too.

Spoiler

 

I know that they used to appear together all the time before, but Lyra and Bon-Bon dates (?) seem to the recurring theme of this season. I'm totally fine with it. Also, Moonlight Raven and Octavia in the same frame! 

 

 

[Truffles 2,033]

No big followup review, just some miscellaneous comments for the "official" review of this episode:

There were some nice callbacks to previous episodes beyond "Horse Play." For example, when Fluttershy mentions Cerberus and chimerae. Cerberus was just an overgrown puppy, so I could see how she's be concerned. But the chimera Apple Bloom and AJ encountered seemed like the kind of thing that would scare Flutters, so her concern was surprising. I'm wondering now how she would have dealt with the one AB and AJ encountered?

Heh, that scene of Angel yanking out his own fur to plug his ears. That had to be painful.

I'm trying to figure out what actual instruments were used to produce the yovidaphone sound. There seems to be bagpipes, a tuba, a pipe organ, as well as an accordion in there. Occasionally I heard some orchestra hits as well. Beyond that I'm not sure. I would be interesting to ask the episode music composer what the answer is.

In some of those early scenes I swear Pinkie is thinking about making out with the instrument.

C'mon, you two - get a room! Also I had to laugh over the (perhaps) unintentional context of Rainbow and Fluttershy's disturbed looks while she's fondling the instrument.

Upon rewatching this I have to say Pinkie is pretty inconsiderate as to when and where she decides to make all that noise. Unless her friends told her off-screen she can play anywhere and anytime she likes, she needs to use some common sense that playing at night or when her friends are busy with tasks is a really thoughtless of her. Of course, maybe common sense and Pinkie are mutually exclusive terms?

The Wonderbolts Rainbow is performing with in this episode are Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot and High Winds. The first three often fly together, but High Winds is usually in a different squadron with Blaze, so this was interesting to see.

Ah, Spike with wings. Got my fix after a month of going cold turkey. I'm noticing in this episode he seems to prefer flying to get anywhere in a hurry now rather than run. I guess that does make sense - though it must require a lot more calories than using his feet. I wonder if he has an even bigger appetite now than he had before?

AJ: "She's been playing for moons now and she's not getting any better!" And so the concept of how long the interval between a "moon" gets muddled up again.

Nice to see them using the Ponyville balloon again. Also it shows the limits of Twilight's teleportation powers - she can teleport herself practically anywhere in Equestria, but teleporting herself and all her friends to Yakyakistan is something even she's not capable of.

The real yovidaphone playing actually does sound really good. You would think Pinkie could at least control her enthusiasm and approach something that resembles actual playing of the instrument.

The episode is a frustrating in how things play out - it seems like there could have been a compromise instead of the black and white of her playing vs. never playing. Like build a special soundproof room for her to enjoy her instrument in, or cast the silence shield around her from "Amending Fences." I don't know how to reconcile the message of how someone's passion being harmful to others squares with how much it means to their own happiness. I feel like I'm seeing the message in "Bats!" hidden here where Pinkie needs this hobby to survive but it's going to cause a lot of anguish for everyone (and every animal and apple) around her unless she can get halfway decent at it. Very strange way to end an episode.

This episode is getting compared to "P.P.O.V." - and it is similar (besides the writers) in one way - that strange ending. I think I'm just going to overlook the ending again like I did for the former and simply enjoy this episode for the gags, Pinkie's inconsiderate behavior notwithstanding.

 

8 hours ago, Wholly Windcharger said:

Spike and Fluttershy trying to understand Gummy and failing

I thought Spike said he'd try because of his talent at charades and figure out what Gummy was trying to say. I guess Spike doesn't speak eyeblink and eyelick, though.

At least we have confirmation that Gummy isn't speaking on some subsonic level - he just doesn't vocalize at all and everything going on is in his own head as we saw in "Slice of Life."

[Senko 459]

5 hours ago, Truffles said:

In some of those early scenes I swear Pinkie is thinking about making out with the instrument.

C'mon, you two - get a room! Also I had to laugh over the (perhaps) unintentional context of Rainbow and Fluttershy's disturbed looks while she's fondling the instrument.

AJ: "She's been playing for moons now and she's not getting any better!" And so the concept of how long the interval between a "moon" gets muddled up again.

Nice to see them using the Ponyville balloon again. Also it shows the limits of Twilight's teleportation powers - she can teleport herself practically anywhere in Equestria, but teleporting herself and all her friends to Yakyakistan is something even she's not capable of.

I thought Spike said he'd try because of his talent at charades and figure out what Gummy was trying to say. I guess Spike doesn't speak eyeblink and eyelick, though.

At least we have confirmation that Gummy isn't speaking on some subsonic level - he just doesn't vocalize at all and everything going on is in his own head as we saw in "Slice of Life."

Ok to respond to each point I'm quoteing above . . .

1) I got those same vibes off her in that scene.

2) I thought Applejack just said moon as in 1 non-month equivilent from when they first heard her playing to when they had their intevention hence there being time for a contest, dress making, apple bucking to take place.

3) Possible but there are other reasons they could have chosen to take a balloon such as hoping to catch Pinkie on the way.

4) If Gummy's words are going on only in his head that could explain only Pinkie being able to communicate with him as she see's his thought bubble's.

8 hours ago, Jeric said:

Also, I am intrigued at the Rarity bit where she using make-up to bring color back into Pinkie. Apparently Pinkie's color loss during depression is actually more than just a visual signal to the audience. I'm wondering if this is just a Pinkie thing, or something that can be a symptom of Pony depression. We saw this with the Discorded characters, and it may be related, but it is hard to say exactly if that was Discord or a symptom of what Discord did. Interesting nonetheless.  

I think it might be a general sign of a depressed pony. Pinkie has always tended to show her emotions more than others both good and bad when she's happy she's really happy and as we see here when she's sad she's really sad. However the affecting the area around her is something we also see Rainbow do in an episode where she curls up miserably on a cloud and causes it to turn into a rain cloud and start pouring. Right now I'm thinking pony depression might go happpy -> neutral -> sad -> affecting their surroudings -> loss of colour. If your friend goes gray you really need to start worry as they are a very, very unhappy pony.

Edited July 21, 2018 by Senko