Power Ponies Review · 7:45pm Dec 21st, 2013
I definitely didn't know what to expect with this episode, only that it was a bit of a tribute to the Powerpuff Girls and superhero comic books. But what we got was just such a fun ride! I'm not a comic book nerd, so forgive me if I do get a few references wrong, especially since I don't know a lot of them.
The story is pretty simple, Spike is reading his favourite superhero comic book, which apparently has strange magical powers. The only way to end the story is to actually, literally, go into the comic and stop the Mane-iac, the comic's supervillain. Still a pretty creative way to do things, especially since it didn't go the cheap cop-out and make it all a dream. They actually played it straight! You just gotta love the little things the show can do, where they take expectations of certain tropes and twist them around a bit.
All the while, Spike feels... kind of useless, like his friends don't need him. In a way, it's like the writers are kind of addressing the way Spike is oftentimes treated. A useless sidekick only there for comic relief. Now I love Spike, but I see where they're coming from in portraying this attitude.
So now Spike and the Main Six end up in Maretropolis, the city within the comic and a reference to Metropolis from the Superman comics. They're up against the comic's supervillain, the Mane-iac, who seems to be a cross between the Joker and Two-Face from the Batman universe, with a dash of Lex Luthor. The Main Six, on the other hand, are all the Power Ponies.
Pinkie is Fili-Second, her superpower is incredible super speed. That and her costume make her a reference to the Flash.
Twilight is the Masked Matter-Horn, her super power is shooting energy beams from her horn. It's a bit of a nod to Cyclops.
Rainbow Dash is Zapp, her super power is controlling the forces of nature. She's something of a combination of Storm and Thor.
Fluttershy is Saddle Rager, her super power is becoming a hulking monster when enraged. Quite obviously a reference to the Incredible Hulk.
Rarity is Radiance, her super power is being able to create objects with her bracelets. Looks to be a reference to the Green Lantern, especially with the construct of her bracelets.
Applejack is Mistress Mare-velous, with her super powers being to control her lasso. Right from the get-go, I already could tell she was based on Wonder Woman.
And Spike is Humdrum, meant to be comic-relief, useless sidekick without super powers. He could possibly be a reference to Robin.
This entire episode is a big love letter to Superhero comics, which is really fun and cool. Even if you're like me and know next to nothing about the majority of Superhero comics and their worlds, you can still enjoy the absolute campy fun this episode has. The concept of superheroes is easy to follow, same for the supervillain and everything that comes around. Even the Power Ponies seem to be a mesh of a lot of Superhero teams! The X-Men, Justice League, the Avengers, Teen Titans, and so forth. Comic book fans can spot the references and have fun with that, but newcomers can still have fun and follow along, and even be persuaded to check out super hero comics.
Everything came together so well, with the Main Six being confused and not knowing how to use their powers, Spike being the expert and having to explain things, and of course... the Mane-iac. I swear, they were having a ball with this character. She's a complete trope of a typical comic supervillain! Hammy, over the top, evil, having a blast, trying to take over the world (in some sense), monologuing, backstory involving going crazy... it's just marvelous! A perfect supervillain! X3
The best part, for me, was Fluttershy transforming into the Incredible Hulk her Saddle Rager form! I was just laughing, clapping my hands with delight and cheering her on! I especially loved how her voice was steadily growing deeper, that was just so hilariously awesome! And it just kind of made me think, oh yeah, I would do that. A friend of mine once said if I were any of the Avengers, I'd be the Incredible Hulk. And for good reason! Fluttershy was just a perfect character to make out of the Incredible Hulk. :D I loved that bit!
They all came through in being able to harness their powers, Spike helped stop Mane-iac and her henchponies, and it all ended much like a triumphant superhero comic would! The heroes arise, the villain is defeated, they saved the day! Woohoo!
I really enjoyed this episode. It was a lot of fun, a great Spike episode, a nice love letter to Marvel and DC comics and the cultural impact they've had for decades, a nice nodding tribute to the Powerpuff Girls, and just an overall fun time. Yet, this still kept the heart of the matter. That just because you're not always needed doesn't mean you're useless. And Spike proved that very well, and you can tell how much the ponies appreciate him being there.
Overall, I loved it and really enjoyed it! 8/10!
An epic episode, if I do say so myself, buddy!
And yes,
Especially with what had her REALLY lose her temper! 
Couldn't have been more perfect! 
FlutterHulkSaddle Rager!Fluttershy had me giggling up a storm, too!Now let's see what crazy ideasies we can concoct for our stories, shall we?
Actually Mane-iac was a combination of Poison Ivy from Batman and
Dr. OctagonapusDoc Ock from Spiderman.1634047 Okay, so the Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and Doctor Octopus. XD I made the Poison Ivy connection, I just had forgotten to mention it.
I'm stunned you didn't mention the RD saving Shy interaction at all! XD
I really like the scene where Rainbow Dash saved Fluttershy because of two scenes one was funny and one was sort of Flutterdash
1: The henchpony who got shocked shouted "My hair!" and runs away. XD It's one of the things about MLP that I love so much. It tends to make subtle jokes about male characters acting more girly than the female characters.
2. Rainbow Dash had to save Fluttershy again, but didn't get mad at her like in Dragonshy. She was only confused and only slightly annoyed that Fluttershy didn't use her powers. Rainbow getting angry was far from my mind, but it was still good to see that their relationship is still strong. Even when shown in subtle scenes :3
1635392 I can't believe I forgot to mention it! XP Lovely, of all things to forget!
1635902 Indeed, that was pretty silly. XD Men can be girly too, and that's perfectly fine!
I shall address that here. I did like that, where Rainbow saved her life with no hesitation, and then just asked her why she wasn't mad. Yeah, you could see the annoyance in her tone, but she wasn't belittling her or getting angry, not at all. She just wanted Fluttershy to pull her weight and try to help, because she doesn't want anything to happen to her. And we could understand why Fluttershy had trouble during all this.
Their relationship definitely is still strong, it shows!