SPOILERS? Mariusioannesp Reviews: "No Second Prances" · 6:20am May 7th, 2016

WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for the latest MLP episode “No Second Prances”. Probably doesn’t matter since it’s a few days late though. If you’re interested, it’s late because I was away this weekend in Boston celebrating my cartoon-hating sister’s birthday. Ah yes, Boston. Where the motto should be “Welcome to Boston. Parking’s a B*tch.”

Now, without further a-Trixie’s-back-do, here is my review of “No Second Prances”

Princess Twilight Sparkle and her pupil Starlight Glimmer are setting up a dinner with Princess Celestia so she can see the progress Twilight has made with Starlight. Twilight gives Starlight the added task of making a new friend to bring with her to dinner. However, when the friend Starlight makes is an old enemy of Twilight’s who may be up to some new… tricks, Twilight isn’t sure if Starlight has made the right judgement when it comes to this new friend. Will Twilight learn to truly trust Starlight when it comes to making her own friends?

So, what’s the verdict?

Guess who's back?
Back again
Trixie's back!
Tell a friend

Yes, the fandom’s favorite Great and Powerful pony is finally back for round three! Just as I predicted. Muahaha! But this isn’t just another return appearance for Trixie. This is properly the first Starlight-centric episode of MLP.

This episode had some awkward-seeming moments, but overall it was pretty good.

So yeah, I liked it!

We begin this time around with Twilight and Starlight setting the dinner table for Princess Celestia will be coming to dinner to see on the progress Twilight has made teaching Starlight the ways of friendship. Starlight was supposed to set the table without magic but went ahead and did that way before she heard Twilight finish speaking.

Apparently, there was supposed to be some kind of friendship lesson involved.

Anywho, a fourth place at the table has been set because Twilight intends to have Starlight make a brand new friend to bring to the dinner with her. So, Starlight goes off into Ponyville to try to make a new friend. She runs into Pinkie Pie, who suggests that she makes friends with Mrs. Cake for some reason.

In an attempt to be friendly and helpful, Starlight uses her considerable magic skills to magically bake a cake.

Mrs. Cake doesn’t take to this as such use of magical cake baking could possibly put her out of business

But then Starlight accidentally drops it on her head. According to Pinkie though, at least Starlight’s cake was delicious.

Uh… yeah, Pinkie. Go ahead and lick your employer. That’s totally normal.

Next, Starlight hits up Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres where she introduces Starlight to Big McIntosh.

Applejack notes that Big Mac is not much of a talker. Starlight decides to rectify this by putting some juju on Big Mac that causes him to begin speaking uncontrollably with uncharacteristic articulation and precision. Starlight can’t be friends with a pony who doesn’t talk, right.

Applejack is not amused.

Don’t worry, Starlight changed him back… I think.

Next, Starlight hits up Rarity, who suggests that perhaps a new outfit would help her meet a new friend.

A new dress though would take three weeks, and Starlight only has until tomorrow. Rarity suggests something from her clearance bin, but it doesn’t seem to have a hat that accommodates a unicorn’s horn for some reason.

Next, Starlight hits up Rainbow Dash. She suggests Starlight needs a friend who’s draped in coolness and suggests Spitfire of the Wonderbolts. However, Starlight has no idea Spitfire or the Wonderbolts are.

Rainbow reacts just like you’d expect.

Finally, Starlight hits up Fluttershy and her animal friends where she makes friends with Angel Bunny.

She seems to have left quite the impression on him.

Since this is not what Twilight had in mind, Starlight saunters off.

Starlight starts to worry about her inability to make friends on her own, while looking out at all the ponies gamboling with with their friends.

Obligatory LyraBon moment.

Starlight starts to wonder whether or not this means there’s something wrong with her and starts freaking out. She sees the spa and decides that perhaps she needs to unwind a bit.

It’s at the spa that Starlight meets a rather familiar sounding pony.

Like Starlight, she’s also not originally from Ponyville. In fact, she’s also judged for the evil she’s done in her past. Starlight’s happy she’s finally found a pony she can relate to.

Starlight rushes back to Twilight. She’s ecstatic that she’s made a new friend, who is so great and powerful!

That’s right my friends.

IT’S TRIXIE!

Guess who’s back. Guess who’s back. Guess who’s back. Yada yada yada…

It is at this moment that Starlight realizes that Twilight and Trixie have a history. Trixie merely says that all that matters is that Twilight gave her a second chance, and Trixie very much appreciates that. Once prompted by Twilight, Trixie explains that she’s once more in Ponyville to perform a new feats of illusion as part of the Humble and Penitent Trixie’s Great Equestrian Apology Tour! It’s a working title. Twilight then takes Starlight aside and shares her misgivings over Trixie being Starlight’s first new friend given the sordid pasts they both have.

Even though Twilight says she’s forgiven Trixie, she’s concerned because she wasn’t a very nice pony. Neither was Starlight, Twilight, and she’s your pupil now. How is it any different when it comes to Trixie? Starlight though naturally assumed that Twilight would trust her to make her own friends the same way Celestia trusted her. Twilight agrees though reluctantly. Trixie and Starlight run off to do friend stuff, while Twilight is left to undo the Mini-Trixie that Trixie made with the cutlery.

Trixie and Starlight are setting up the stage for Trixie’s magic show when Trixie notices some of the background ponies muttering things under their breath, presumably about her. Trixie laments how everyone says they’re willing to give someone a second chance, but deep inside, they never really forgive their past misdeeds. Starlight admits she worries about that too. Trixie also admits that she heard what Twilight said about her being not a nice pony in the past. Trixie accepts that it was true, and she acknowledges that if Starlight didn’t want to be friends because of that, she’d understand. Starlight though has no problem with this since Trixie is the first pony she’s known who understands how she feels. Trixie wishes to share a secret with Starlight, which she agrees as friends are want to do. Trixie confesses that she did the things she did because she was jealous of Twilight and how good she is at everything.

With that, Starlight accompanies Trixie to help her unpack her wagon. While they’re walking along and making a joke of Starlight’s dark past, Twilight checks in on Starlight in a completely not creepy way by hiding in a bush.

Eyup. Completely not creepy.

Twilight suggests that if things aren’t going well, she’s found Starlight a suitable friend who has accompanied her in an adjoining bush.

Eyup. It’s Vinyl Scratch! Twilight figures since Starlight likes music, she’ll get along with DJ Pon-3. I think it’s the first time she’s ever been called “DJ Pon-3” on the show itself. Anyway, Starlight doesn’t approve this idea, seeing this as Twilight not trusting her even though she said she would. Twilight insists she’s just trying to look out for Starlight. Starlight insists she and Trixie have a connection, which is exactly what concerns Twilight. She then suggests another pony who happens to fly by.

It’s Derpy! I haven’t mentioned it before, but we haven’t seen Derpy all this season until now. Clearly, they’re now reserving her for appearances with more weight than just standing in the background. It’s kind of funny that Twilight’s two alternative suggestions for Starlight’s new friend are two of the most popular background ponies in the fandom. Anywho, Starlight insists to Twilight that she has to make friends on her own if she’s going to be a better pony, but Twilight doubts Trixie is the one help her do that. Starlight declares that Trixie is right about Twilight being unwilling to to give Trixie a second chance and stomps off.

Oh look, Cranky Doodle Donkey. He still has Steven Magnet's moustache as his toupee. Twilight even thinks he would be a better choice as a friend than Trixie.

So, Starlight and Trixie are hanging out at her wagon when Starlight points out that Trixie is actually better at magic than Twilight. Though Trixie points out that’s only when she has the evil, soul-sucking Alicorn Amulet. Continuity! Starlight clarifies that she meant stage magic. It’s interesting that Starlight makes a distinction between stage magic and magic in general. I once considered writing a blog where such a distinction is the means of taking apart some of the criticisms of “Boast Busters”. Anywho, even when it comes to stage magic, Trixie insists she still isn’t the best. Trixie has never been able to do a magic trick called the Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive. Only one magician has ever been able to do it, Trixie’s idol Hoofdini!

Tee hee. Hoofdini!

So, this Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive involves the magician shooting themselves out of a cannon into the mouth of a hungry manticore, and then they magically step out of a box on the opposite side of the stage. No one’s been able to figure out how Hoofdini did it. Trixie is sure if she tried, she’d probably get eaten. Starlight suggests that she could help her and use her considerable magical talent to teleport Trixie at the last second from the manticore’s mouth to the box. Starlight would act as Trixie’s assistant.

Why does that look kind of familiar?

I guess that’s why.

The only problem is that Trixie’s magic show is tonight, at the same time as Twilight’s all important dinner with Princess Celestia. After letting Starlight vent her frustrations with the situation with Twilight, Trixie pretty much guilts Starlight into skipping the dinner to help her out.

That head bob is so ghetto. And it’s adorable!

Later on, Twilight is at the dinner table with a rather disinterested-looking Celestia waiting for Starlight to arrive.

She also invited all the new “friends” Starlight has made.

Oh look. There’s Derpy again, and she looks so happy to be there.

Twilight goes off to find Starlight not surprisingly finally finding her at the Humble and Penitent Trixie’s Equestrian Apology Tour.

Of course.

Oh, ho-ho, so this is what I find, huh?

My pupil and my ex-rival and… Magical implements!

Okay, so that didn’t happen, but Twilight is angry that Starlight blew off their dinner with Princess Celestia without telling her. This is exactly why Twilight didn’t want Starlight hanging out with Trixie. Trixie’s obviously a bad influence on her. But Trixie doesn’t care if Twilight was ever really willing to give her a second chance or not. All that matters is that when presented with the choice, Starlight, Twilight’s own pupil, chose Trixie over Twilight. Trixie wins! This sounds an awful lot like Trixie was only friends with Starlight just so Trixie could one up Twilight, and Starlight realizes this. Trixie tries to explain herself, assuring Starlight that she does like her. One-uping Twilight was just an added benefit. That doesn’t help either, and Trixie realizes it. Starlight becomes distraught because she knew all along no one would ever really want to be her friend, and she runs off before Trixie has a chance to truly explain herself.

Trixie tries to play off how distraught she is over all this, but Twilight sees through it to the true depth of Trixie’s feelings for Starlight.

My gosh!

I know, Sunburst. It’s really hard not to see all of this through shipping goggles.

As they say, the show must go. So, Trixie goes forward with a much more different magic show than she had originally intended.

Starlight is moping on a nearby hill in the distance where Twilight finds her. Twilight apologizes to Starlight and acknowledges that she should have given Starlight freedom to choose her own friends instead of trying to choose them herself. That’s a lesson I can stand behind. Starlight is still worried that Trixie is just using her, but Twilight assures her that from what she’s just seen, Trixie’s feelings for her are genuine. Trixie goes forward with the trick. Just before she shoots herself from the cannon into the mouth of the manticore to her possibly certain doom, Trixie pleads to the heavens to Starlight that if she wants, they can still be friends. So, Trixie shoots herself from the cannon into the manticore, but miraculously, she pops right out the box across the stage moments later.

Trixie comes out of the box a tad disheveled.

Spoonerific!

Starlight goes to Trixie, and they reconcile. Afterwards, Twilight goes to Trixie and apologizes to her as well for not accepting that Trixie has changed for the better. Twilight even admits that she could never pull of that magic trick like Trixie and Starlight did. Trixie then sets off some fireworks to close her show.

But before this episode truly comes to a close, we get a pre-credit scene like the one at the end of “The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone” last season. Back at the dinner in the Castle of Friendship, Cranky Doodle Donkey asks Celestia how she gets her hair that way all the time.

This episode was written by Nick Confalone, who wrote “Party Pooped” and “Hearthbreakers” last season. One thing those two previous episodes share is that they’re Pinkie Pie episodes. This one isn’t, but it does share something rather interesting with those two previous episodes. From what I can tell, Mr. Confalone’s specialty is writing these weird, but funny jokes that often pepper his episodes so far. That's why he's previously written Pinkie Pie episodes. Those should be funny. In fact, you can also see it on the recent Littlest Pet Shop episode “Steamed”, which Confalone also wrote.

One good thing about this episode is that all Mane 6 make an appearance without their presence being forced. I admit, MLP has gotten a lot better at that over the years.

One of the themes of this episode is questioning the sincerity of forgiveness. Trixie and Starlight both bring up the idea that even though people say they forgive you, they never truly forget your sins. This is a very important topic if you’re a Christian like me. I’ve always felt MLP has almost a radically Christian idea of forgiveness. What one has done in the past is forgiven completely if you repent, no matter how wrong it was. This is in stark contrast to the world, which demands a pound of flesh from those who have done wrong. But forgiving like this is incredibly difficult to do. Twilight seems to illustrate how difficult it is as well as the insidiousness of this difficulty as she doesn’t seem to realize that Trixie and Starlight are really no different.

Admittedly, it seems odd for Twilight to distrust Trixie after the end of “Magic Duel” but not if you take the chapter book Twilight Sparkle and The Crystal Heart Spell into account. In the chapter book, Trixie serves as a minor antagonist alongside Gilda, who seems to have influenced her into returning to some of her old tricks. That was probably just a momentary backslide and understandable. Either way, the Trixie we see in this episode has undergone a bit of development. She barely refers to herself in third person as she did in her first appearance, indicating that she's making an effort to be less self-centered than she was in the past. She also seems to have matured a bit. Throughout the episode, Trixie refers to Twilight’s title of princess with a hostile and sarcastic tone. At the end when Twilight apologizes to her, Trixie refers to her title sincerely and even removes her hat with a slight curtsy. That shows remarkable maturity on Trixie’s part.

As for what I didn’t like, this episode had a tendency to be kind of awkward. It never really appears that Trixie has sinister motivations, yet Starlight just jumps to the conclusion that she befriended her to spite Twilight. Starlight also jumps to using magic for some reason in her initial attempts to make a new friend. I guess that’s because magic was the means by which she forged the pseudo-friendships she had in Our Town. It’s what she resorts to out of habit. Although it does feel appropriate that her magic skills end up playing a role in her friendship with Trixie. However, it doesn’t make much sense at this point because we already saw her rekindle a friendship with Sunburst without thinking of resorting to magic. (Though there was one moment when Starlight wished there was a spell that could help her and Sunburst be friends again, and Sunburst actually found a couple.) Could it be because Sunburst wasn’t a new friend? He was already somepony Starlight knew. I don’t know what difference that would make. They’d been apart so long Sunburst was practically someone new to her now.

Overall, “No Second Prances” was kind of awkward, but was still pretty good due to its weird, but funny moments. I could think of no better way to finally see Trixie again.

What did y’all think of “No Second Prances”?

God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.

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