Friends Forever #5 · 7:31pm Jun 10th, 2014
We open to Fluttershy cleaning her cottage when she makes a discovery: a squirrel outside her window can talk. Um... wow. It kind of jumped into the action quick this month, didn't it? Anyway, s/he says that s/he's always been able to talk, but Fluttershy's finally listening. Then s/he runs off, mentioning being late for something. Fluttershy gives chase, but the squirrel only says that she'll see him/her later.
Rarity sees Fluttershy trying to talk to squirrels and tells her to get some rest, because after seeing shapeshifters, cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk, and magical butterfly ponies, talking animals is just too out there.
After Rarity leaves, a red robin tolks to Fluttershy, causing her to go running back to her cottage. She tries to take a nap, but when she sees more birds talking outside her window, she decides she needs to go see a doctor. Of course, she goes to Zecora, because she's apparently the only compatent doctor in town. Seriously, I think the town doctors only really worked when they repaired Rainbow Dash's wing. Geez, how'd Ponyville survive long enough for her to get there?
Fluttershy arrives at Zecora's hut in time to hear an explosion go off that amounts to nothing but a joke. Though, it is nice to see Zecora slip up a bit, since she's yet to do so in the show. Fluttershy explains she hears animals talking, so Zecora starts running tests on her. It's really just two pages of quick gags here, with a bit of a hiccup with Zecora's rhyming scheme in the word association test, but I'll let it slide.
Finally, Zecora bring a raccoon in to talk to her. Why this wasn't the first test, I don't know, but it was good of the writers to use a racoon, because the ones at my house just do not care. I caught one eating my cat's food, and when I tried to shoo it it just looked at me then went right back to eating.
Anyway, the racoon doesn't speak, so Zecora leaves to get her jaffa stick, which I wondered if it was an actual African something or other, but putting it in a search engine only brought up Stargate links. Naturally, as soon as she leaves the racoon talks, then runs out. Fluttershy gives chase, and Zecora returns to find them gone.
Undaunted, Zecora finds two cats outside her hut and decides to interrogate them. It's another two pages of gags before the cats finally slip. Then, for the second time in this issue, Zecora goes for the solution she should have tried first: drugs catnip!
We cut back to Fluttershy, who chases the racoon into a clearing where several other animals are already waiting. Angel's there, apparently leading the gang.
Zecora finds Fluttershy, who's getting a party thrown in her honor. Zecora reveals it was Discord who granted the animal speech, and the Chaos god turns up to confirm it, admitting he just wanted to do something nice for Fluttershy.
In the final two pages, Zecora tells Discord he'll have to change everything back eventually, and he concurs with a backhanded insult.
An okay issue, but... doesn't the fact that all these animals have full sentience kind of make the concept of pets a bit creepy? Apparently not being able to talk means enslavement...
I already have the review for My Little Pony #19 written, and it'll be up tomorrow!
A raccoon stole a bag of Oreos literally two feet away from me and my family while we were sitting around a campfire in the Everglades. Those varmints are spoiled by humans, I swear.
I have a minor point of confusion.
Isn't Fluttershy's special talent being able to communicate with animals? As in, talk to them and understand what they say in return? She can 'speak all kinds of animal language', as said in "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies". So...what exactly is the big deal of animals speaking Equish? And would she even notice the difference normally?
I mainly like this one for the Q and Guinan dynamic between Discord and Zecora (that I may have been imagining).
2196132 I see this confusion a lot in regards to this issue, and I don't understand it in the slightest. Fluttershy being able to speak to animals in their native languages is very different from the animals being able to speak to her in hers.
2196125 Wow, no wonder there's a video game series devoted to a family of thieves, where the main characters is a racoon. They really DO like stealing. Guess it's a good thing I don't have any problems with them.
I suspect a Stargate reference is exactly what it is. The artists and writers on the comics are fond of slipping in little in-jokes and visual gags that only older readers would get; a lot like the animators for Animaniacs and Pinky & The Brain used to do.
I haven't read this one myself, so is it possible that Discord boosted the animals' intelligence too? Though even without Discord doing anything, the animals in Equestria seem to tend to be fairly intelligent. And yes, it is a bit creepy, but before we worry about how ponies are treating their pets, maybe we should worry about how the cows are being treated.