S09:E04 - Sparkle's Seven

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

9 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

You mean the school that apparently the teachers also left for the day? If there’s no teachers to run the classes, why does Starlight need to be left out as well? This is the second time now this season the school has been used as a way to get rid of her, and both times they haven’t made any sense.

At least she was actually in the episode.

 

2 minutes ago, Mane 6 said:

Well at least we can be thankful that Starlight was even in the episode. Unlike Sweetie belle, scootaloo, and the young 6 

The only thing I would of liked thou Is to see Starlights reaction to Spike winning the crown.

What about Cadance and Flurry? Shining's wife and daughter, they're Twilight's family too, why weren't they in this episode? What about Discord, he could have shown up and sown some chaos. Starlight appeared, so why didn't Trixie?

 You can't fit every character into every episode, sometimes it's best to only put them in for a little bit or just leave them out entirely. Starlight was there for the beginning, they could have included her in on the plan maybe but then they need to find a way for her to help and be part of the plan, write scenes to include bits of dialogue for her, possibly cut something out to fit her in, etc. They've only got 22 minutes here, even a brief 5-10 second scene is taking precious time. I guess they could just shove in most of the characters as non-speaking cameos, which would be fine, but do we really need to do that, just to say they were here?

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Watching it a second time. The whole episode is hilarious, but the sequence with Dash and Rarity spying on Zeph, notably this…

and this…AND THIS…

made me cry from laughing so hard. XD

[ShootingStar159 2,155]

1 minute ago, BastementSparkle said:

 

What about Cadance and Flurry? Shining's wife and daughter, they're Twilight's family too, why weren't they in this episode? What about Discord, he could have shown up and sown some chaos. Starlight appeared, so why didn't Trixie?

 You can't fit every character into every episode, sometimes it's best to only put them in for a little bit or just leave them out entirely. Starlight was there for the beginning, they could have included her in on the plan maybe but then they need to find a way for her to help and be part of the plan, write scenes to include bits of dialogue for her, possibly cut something out to fit her in, etc. They've only got 22 minutes here, even a brief 5-10 second scene is taking precious time. I guess they could just shove in most of the characters as non-speaking cameos, which would be fine, but do we really need to do that, just to say they were here?

There’s a couple problems with your argument, the first is comparing Starlight, a character who has received constant, direct focus multiple times each season for the last three years (which creates a very good argument for her main character status) to characters that have only ever been used in a supporting role, and scarcely at that. Your argument would have made more sense with the CMC’s being absent and... yeah, they should have had an appearance her as well.

The second problem is that I’m not saying Starlight should have had a major role, I’m saying the reason they gave for her not having a role is dumb. Starlight not being able to help because she needs to watch over an empty school is dumb.

 

Even so, I do feel I should point out that they managed to add Starlight in both Horse Play and The Mean Six in a way that added her to the group without detracting from the episodes time or flow. I refuse to just accept they couldn’t have done the same here just because it would have been more work. They chose not to, and it’s totally their right to do so.

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

4 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

There’s a couple problems with your argument, the first is comparing Starlight, a character who has received constant, direct focus multiple times each season for the last three years (which creates a very good argument for her main character status) to characters that have only ever been used in a supporting role, and scarcely at that. Your argument would have made more sense with the CMC’s being absent and... yeah, they should have had an appearance her as well.

The second problem is that I’m not saying Starlight should have had a major role, I’m saying the reason they gave for her not having a role is dumb. Starlight not being able to help because she needs to watch over an empty school is dumb.

 

Even so, I do feel I should point out that they managed to add Starlight in both Horse Play and The Mean Six in a way that added her to the group without detracting from the episodes time or flow. I refuse to just accept they couldn’t have done the same here just because it would have been more work. They chose not to, and it’s totally their right to do so.

I wasn't saying Starlight is on the same level as them, just pointing out that in general, all of those characters could have had a reason to appear and yet didn't, because not every character needs to appear in every episode, not even when there could be a good reason for them to if the writer's don't want to. I didn't mention the CMC in my post because the other person I quoted had already pointed them out. I'll even agree with you that her reason for not playing more of a role was a little silly.

I didn't argue they "Couldn't" include her, I wouldn't even argue that because if they felt like it they absolutely could and they could have done a good job with it, I wouldn't complain if they did because she's one of my favorites anyway. I'm just pointing out that, yeah, including Starlight would change the episode to an extent, when you've only got 22 minutes it's not a ton of time to work with, time spent focusing on Starlight means less time to spend on other things, time spent including any other character would mean that, unless they're just a background cameo. I can't say for certain whether that'd make the episode better or worse in the end because the only version of the episode we have is this one, but still.

 Anyway, I guess I misunderstood your point, over the last two seasons I've seen a lot more complaints about characters not being in episodes and I thought you were doing the same. Those kind of complaints make sense sometimes, but I've seen a few too many comments from people who seem like they'd only be happy if certain characters were basically shoved into every single episode, without realizing that not every character always has a reason to be there, or that the writer's can't always focus on like a million different characters at once, or that the character might just not have fit into what they wanted, etc.

[simba86 1,541]

I loved this episode! all the new expressions, luna , just all around a great episode!

 

[YoshiAngemon 223]

27 minutes ago, BastementSparkle said:

I wasn't saying Starlight is on the same level as them, just pointing out that in general, all of those characters could have had a reason to appear and yet didn't, because not every character needs to appear in every episode, not even when there could be a good reason for them to if the writer's don't want to. I didn't mention the CMC in my post because the other person I quoted had already pointed them out. I'll even agree with you that her reason for not playing more of a role was a little silly.

I didn't argue they "Couldn't" include her, I wouldn't even argue that because if they felt like it they absolutely could and they could have done a good job with it, I wouldn't complain if they did because she's one of my favorites anyway. I'm just pointing out that, yeah, including Starlight would change the episode to an extent, when you've only got 22 minutes it's not a ton of time to work with, time spent focusing on Starlight means less time to spend on other things, time spent including any other character would mean that, unless they're just a background cameo. I can't say for certain whether that'd make the episode better or worse in the end because the only version of the episode we have is this one, but still.

 Anyway, I guess I misunderstood your point, over the last two seasons I've seen a lot more complaints about characters not being in episodes and I thought you were doing the same. Those kind of complaints make sense sometimes, but I've seen a few too many comments from people who seem like they'd only be happy if certain characters were basically shoved into every single episode, without realizing that not every character always has a reason to be there, or that the writer's can't always focus on like a million different characters at once, or that the character might just not have fit into what they wanted, etc.

But who would run the school in her absence, had she been included? Chancellor Neighsay?

[RDDash 18,864]

 

She definitely is.

But mostly I thought Rainbow wore a Noir style dress.

Edited April 20, 2019 by R.D.Dash
Extra thought

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

3 minutes ago, YoshiAngemon said:

But who would run the school in her absence, had she been included? Chancellor Neighsay?

I was agreeing with them that it's dumb, because why run a school when the teachers are gone? But you just made me realize...she can just hire substitutes exactly like she did in "Matter of Principals". Kind of obvious, isn't it?

 So, I don't think her running the school is actually that dumb. Kind of last minute to get substitutes, but it's a cartoon and most of the episode was pretty silly, so I don't think it's too out of the realm of possibility.

[Sparklefan1234 161,853]

5 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Quote

Rarity: "Twilight cannot mastermind her plan… *turns to her w/ evil eyes*

  Reveal hidden contents

BUT I CAN!!!"

AJ: "That's…definitely unexpected."

Indeed.

 

Future Alicorn confirmed by Dubuc & Haber! //

[Steel Accord 6,658]

Quick thing. Why did Shining Armor tell Twilight every security measure he had?

[FlareGun45 2,221]

1 hour ago, BastementSparkle said:

I was agreeing with them that it's dumb, because why run a school when the teachers are gone? But you just made me realize...she can just hire substitutes exactly like she did in "Matter of Principals". Kind of obvious, isn't it?

 So, I don't think her running the school is actually that dumb. Kind of last minute to get substitutes, but it's a cartoon and most of the episode was pretty silly, so I don't think it's too out of the realm of possibility.

I got the feeling the Student 6 MIGHT become the Teacher 6 later on - so that means they might take over the Mane 6's teaching jobs! But until then - yeah, substitute teachers are in order. What made the writers think the Mane 6 could be teachers when they're always out saving Equestria or doing their own jobs? This school story was flawed from the start!

[Victoria Sponge 1,014]

Interesting, it’s a great episode and I like the huge involvement of the cast, I didn’t realise that’s what they’d done until after watching it and it makes it fun to think back on. 

 

Not quite as big as episode 100 but still a great episode! 

[Sparklefan1234 161,853]

6 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

>Rarity instructs Dash to distract the most annoying pony in Equestria w/ her charm

Quote

Dash: Oh, no. Oh, no, no way! Uh-uh!

>is dressed is style

 

The meme has come full circle... 

[FlareGun45 2,221]

So someone gave this idea: Star Swirl used Chrysalis' old throne to protect the castle, right? And the throne disables all magic except changeling magic, right? Soooo.... there's Chrysalis' part of Grogar's plan!

[RDDash 18,864]

2 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

The meme has come full circle...

Quote

And the throne disables all magic except changeling magic, right? Sooo.... there's Chrysalis' part of Grogar's plan!

I am pretty sure Shining Armor made an oopsy 

Edited April 21, 2019 by R.D.Dash
It really hard to edit a misquotation

[ImpctR 155]

I find it funny that when there's some interesting episode (2 parter or other) it usually does not get high voting because 'rushed, not explained well enough, dragged, etc etc' then we get something like this - highly up-voted. So what I expected from the episode and what it came to be, things I liked and what I did not care about (pretty much everything else).

 

This is episode 200, Season 5 felt only few seasons ago for some reason, yet Slice of Life ep 100 was so long ago, and feels more recent. So, I expected episode 200 to be something like that, now I generally I do not care about SoL episodes lately, maybe enough has been watched about them to care, maybe they have never been my type but I still expected something like Slice of Life. SoL had really nice references and funny ones, and many, here I cannot find some. This is my blind reaction, as I sometimes read comments for things I do not notice (mostly because I do not care about to notice, as I dont like to nitpick).

 

If anything comes out of this episode it is to make sure there will be no easy takeover by a villain, little do they know there is a whole league of villains!

 

So things I liked, there was reference to that episode with Rarity as an inspector, the MMMystery on friendship express or Rarity investigates relation?

 

Apparently the episode is Spike appreciation episode (I was trying to find if it is another fan appreciation one and I still would have not cared much, as I prefer the actual story). And good, but for me Spike has been important character but not enough except episodes that made it more interesting with him.

 

I saw reference to A Royal Problem from Season 7, and particularly liked Luna's reaction, It gives more dynamic and spices up their character when Luna and Celestia have disagreements and are not seen as 1-dimensional who only do the same things on daily basis. I do not know what the secret plan was Luna to separate from her sister's ideas but I liked it as I said, I myself prefer doing things in my own way or by being listened to more.

 

I liked Flutterspy, references from not sure where (other than some generic spy shows)

 

Spoiler

 

Power Ponies reference? 

Oh Fluttershy has similar fear to Gallus

Zephyr Breeze turned out to be dumber.

 

cant find anything more I like about this episode 3/5

[Princess_Bellalatanya 1,052]

This episode reminded me of a mission impossible film in 22 minutes. I am so happy to see my favorite stallion shiny for more screentime. From having shining know exactly twilight's move,to reverse engineering a plan,all while it is easy to miss Luna and spikes deal. I loved in the beginning how shining resembled Fred from Scooby Doo. I give this episode 200 a 12/10

[Jeric 46,834]

4 hours ago, ShootingStar159 said:

You mean the school that apparently the teachers also left for the day? If there’s no teachers to run the classes, why does Starlight need to be left out as well? This is the second time now this season the school has been used as a way to get rid of her, and both times they haven’t made any sense.

At least she was actually in the episode.

As someone who peddles in the black arts of pedagogy, the best time to learn the ins and outs of administrative responsibilities isn’t while you are in session. 

Besides, Sheridan having that much involvement in the episode wouldn’t have made sense based on the framework they were going for. This was about saying thank you to the voice actors who had been there from the beginning. 

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Today's the first time DHX got me to LIKE Zephyr instead of hate. He's annoying, sure, but only to Dash, and his ego's much tamer here (and doesn't involve destroying his parents' valuables).

[Jeric 46,834]

1 hour ago, ImpctR said:

Apparently the episode is Spike appreciation episode (I was trying to find if it is another fan appreciation one and I still would have not cared much, as I prefer the actual story). And good, but for me Spike has been important character but not enough except episodes that made it more interesting with him.

It was an actor appreciation episode. They called in the main voice actors that have been with the show from go and asked them what they always wanted their characters to do. They all gave their ideas and then the writers crafted a story to tie all the ideas together. 100 was for us. 200 was for them. They actually got story writing credit too

 

2 hours ago, Steel Accord said:

Quick thing. Why did Shining Armor tell Twilight every security measure he had?

Two reasons. One was hubris. It was a case of “even you can’t beat this system”. The second is that eventually she needs to know anyway if she is going to be large and in charge.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

Holy shit! Spike pulled a Harry Potter Philosopher's Stone level of being so beneath notice that no one would have suspected him! That was a brilliant way to play his insecurity of being a part of the game whilst not even being considered a player.

[RDDash 18,864]

1 hour ago, ImpctR said:

Power Ponies reference? 

I am pretty sure Fluttershy was doing Mission Impossible.

[Truffles 2,033]

FUN FACT: Spike finally got revenge on the balloon that started all of his problems in "Spike at Your Service."

Take that, you trouble-making, wayward balloon. XD (Cherry Berry will not be pleased.)

 

10 hours ago, Will Guide said:

Don't forget that Luna asked Zephyr to be a guard, which was part of Spike and Luna's plan, whether Zephyr was aware of it or not. I think he'll go back to Mane Therapy.

Good eye. I totally missed that bit of dialogue. But you're right - as head of security, Luna used her influence to get Zephyr a job, presumably on a trial basis. I have to wonder what the other guards were thinking when they noticed she'd hired a hair stylist as a new guard? And presumably she did it in a way that kept Shining in the dark since it was his idea to double the guards in the first place.

 

8 hours ago, AlbaTross said:

the brick walls clearly aren't mortared properly if Rarity of all ponies can take it apart

I have to make an exception in this case for Rarity, because finding and extracting gems encrusted in rocks is her special talent. So it could be that sliding a brick out of its mortar with her horn might be something she's capable of.

Speaking of her special talent, I've really missed seeing her use her gem-finding ability over the past several seasons. It was an important part of her character in season 1, but as she became more involved in fashion and creating works of art in that medium, it has been a forgotten talent of hers. Sometimes it seems like Maud is better at finding gems than she is now.

8 hours ago, AlbaTross said:

if magic is nullified in the castle, how will Celestia and Luna handle the sun/moon cycle?

The changeling throne shards didn't nullify all magic, they only prevented teleportation from outside to inside the castle (and presumably the other way.) Magic still works normally once a unicorn (or Discord?) gets past the magic barrier.

 

8 hours ago, Dynamo Pad said:

My favorite would have to be where Spike and Fluttershy were spies and dodging the laser beams. Being able to take out laser beams and walking away with the crown felt pretty epic, in my opinion.

And now we know laser beams exist in this universe. Though perhaps they work by enchanting an emitter with magic rather than using a semiconductor?

 

7 hours ago, StitchandMLPlover said:

Thank you! Maybe this story is based a little on Ball's own singing career? She has a band still right? I couldn't tell if Applejack was lying or not either. I could picture it as being a big lie as part of a joke or maybe Applejack really did want to try a singing career like Countess Coloratura but exaggerated the exact details for this retelling. I would love to know for sure.

That's brings up an interesting possibility - that she idolizes her friend and imagined herself as having this past with such an alter-ego. After seeing the episode again, it does appear either some or all of her story is a fantasy, based on her expression to Rainbow's questioning it:

It would fit in with her wanting to move to the city as a filly, as chronicled in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles." Perhaps in addition to being more "cosmopolitan," living in the city would have presented more opportunities for her to start a singing career? Since there was no mention of her singing in Manehatten back then, it adds credence to the idea that this alter-ego is all just wishful thinking on her part, even if she probably does have the raw musical talent to pull it off.

What I want to see now is AJ and Spike doing a duet together with their respective guitars.

 

7 hours ago, Zestanor said:

Is the school back in session? All of the 'professors' aren't there. Maybe they have a library open in the summer.

There did seem to be a number of students in the halls, one of which Twilight and Spike nearly blew down in their haste to get to Canterlot. If school is in session, then the Mane 6 leaving to do this contest is curious. Perhaps the students have an understanding that their professors have to leave sometimes at a moment's notice to do other things and the students are expected to continue their studies on their own? Maybe Starlight would be supervising all the students to make sure they are hard at work?

7 hours ago, Zestanor said:

Hey maybe Celestia wants to quit because she doesn't like working with Luna.

That thought also crossed my mind. The two sisters may have realized they were falling back into their old ways of getting on each others nerves before the season opener. Now knowing the pain and consequences of what happens when they cross a line too far, they've decided it would be best to just retire and spend time together as a family instead of rulers?

 

6 hours ago, TheAnimationFanatic said:

Only 4 episodes in and we have a strong contender for one of the best episodes in the series! 

I hope so many episodes in S9 are so amazing that it becomes easy for me to vote this season the best season. It would be great for the series to go out on its highest note.

 

6 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

What's so clever about this under the surface is Luna's awareness of his vanity, casualness, and how distracting him would help the RM5 invade Canterlot Castle.

It makes me wonder if Luna knows this from entering one of his dreams? That must be a unique experience for her to say the least. XD

Of course, it's also possible Spike told her about Zephyr - the episode doesn't spend any time on the scenes of him and Luna hatching their plan to pull one over on their older siblings. He knows all too well how Zephyr acts when he got tricked into cleaning the map room windows, and may have made a suggestion to make use of this particular pony.

 

3 hours ago, Steel Accord said:

Quick thing. Why did Shining Armor tell Twilight every security measure he had?

That was a bit of a contrivance, wasn't it? But perhaps his thinking was any villain planning to break in might learn some aspects of the security details, so to really test his new measures in case someone figured it out he decided to tell Twilight everything.

He also could simply have gotten too cocky and was so sure nopony could pull off a heist that he felt comfortable monologuing like a typical villain would to the would-be heroes. XD

He apparently didn't count on there being a dragon, which ties into the whole theme of Spike feeling like he's been overlooked. Or it being an inside job for that matter.

 

59 minutes ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Today's the first time DHX got me to LIKE Zephyr instead of hate. He's annoying, sure, but only to Dash, and his ego's much tamer here (and doesn't involve destroying his parents' valuables).

I agree. I was on the fence after the first viewing, mainly due to how he stood over and straddled Rainbow when he caused her to fall to the ground - essentially invading her personal space in a particularly bad way. But after seeing it a few more times that straddling actually only takes place for a few seconds, yet was the one part of that scene that stuck in my head. He's still too narcissistic for my tastes, but his humorous-yet-creepy dialogue works better separated from the rest of the action that took place in "Flutter Brutter".

Edited April 21, 2019 by Truffles

[Will Guide 21,325]

5 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

Watching it a second time. The whole episode is hilarious, but the sequence with Dash and Rarity spying on Zeph, notably this…

and this…AND THIS…

made me cry from laughing so hard. XD

I noticed the connection too but boy will the Zephyr/Dashie shippers go crazy with this scene!

I relate to Zephyr's hidden depths of having a fear of failing and all, but I get that Dash doesn't like it when he flirts with her. She may want him to succeed in getting a job and bettering himself, but the flirting with her? No.

Edited April 21, 2019 by Will Guide

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Quite a clever use of passed time and travel is shown through the Sibling Crown. Back when they were young, it was pristine. Now it's cracked, dented, and busted. Really shows how long he kept it and the toll the travel took on it.

Apparently, he liked it a little too much since he last won it years ago.