IDW Main Series #40 Review · 4:25am Aug 26th, 2016
If there was ever a comic that the fandom was both anticipating and dreading at the same time, this would have to be it. It seemed like the stars might again align and bring the main series back up to the levels it had been at during its glory years of 2012-2014. Friends Forever was still bobbing up and down in quality, sometimes hitting it right out of the park and sometimes really dropping the ball. So, with such high stakes, was this comic able to deliver as it promised, or did it screw up and forever taint the interactions between Twilight and Spike? Well, let's find out.
We begin with Rainbow Dash searching for Twilight, and finds her looking through an old scrap book she got from her parents. There's some cute little pictures of Twilight as a foal and a filly, and then we get a flashback that sets up the main story of this issue. On her first day of school at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight was accompanied by her whole family, and she though she was ready for anything (if only all students were as optimistic about their first day, more often than not even the best of students get first day jitters. I should also mention we get a cameo from filly Trixie alongside what is likely either her mother or her big sister, or possibly her aunt. As for why she and Twilight aren't aware they attended the same school as fillies? Well, Trixie never brings this fact up, and I think she may have dropped out).
As it turns out, Princess Celestia had a very important assignment for her, taking care of the baby dragon she'd hatched during her entrance exam. The story says that Twilight will only be doing it when Celestia is too busy, but for the rest of the story we only baby Spike in Twilight's care. Many people complain that this ruins the story, since it makes it seem like Celestia is intentionally allowing for the situation to spiral out of control and set her student up for failure. But I have a theory that, if you accept it, makes the story more believable. It's already been established that, even as an alicorn princess, Twilight looks up to Celestia and is always eager to please her no matter what. I could very well see her taking over the responsibility of raising Spike on her own all the time to prove to Celestia that she is a good student, and would be too proud and too afraid of admitting she can't do it to admit she needs help. Since Twilight doesn't communicate with Celestia about this, Celestia has no idea that Twilight is in trouble, and Twilight refuses to open up about why she's struggling, thus sinking herself into a never ending cycle.
Theory aside, Twilight ends up tardy to her first class because she's tending to Spike, and Professor Inkwell from the Princess Celestia micro shows up as the teacher. However, even more so than in the Celestia micro, it seems in her old age she is unfit to teach. She refuses to cut Twilight slack for being tardy on the first day, especially when she's carrying a baby with her, and she seems completely unaware of the problem Twilight is having. It's not that she doesn't have friends, it's that she's in over her head with homework and taking care of Spike, so she has no time to socialize. Meanwhile, in real life, Rarity has joined in on listening to the flashback.
Weeks after confiding in Smarty Pants about the trouble she's in, Twilight's troubles come to a boil. For a special tea with Princess Celestia, involving all of the parents of the students meeting with the teachers (probably the school's version of parent/teacher conferences) is held, and Twilight's parents show up to meet with Princess Celestia. Since Twilight has no friends and is too busy taking care of Spike to make any, Celestia invites her to join the parents tea instead of the students tea. At this point, Twilight lets slip how much she's struggling, while Spike slips away and gets into trouble. Twilight snaps, lashing out at Spike for not being like Smarty Pants and making her look bad, and I would have to say this is probably the most painful part to watch. It's wrong to blame a baby for things they have no control over, and expecting them to be like a stuffed animal. It's important to take responsibility in looking after a baby, and making sure they are well taken care of, because it's up to you to teach them right from wrong.
Fortunately, Twilight realizes her mistake as she cleans Spike up, and officially gives him his name as she realizes that Princess Celestia was giving her a friend. I would complain about no one giving Spike a name, despite weeks going by since his hatching, but then again in "The Crystalling" Shining Armor and Cadence didn't name their daughter Flurry Heart until the first meeting with the grandparents, so I'm guessing it's at least a norm in the Sparkle family to not name babies for a while after their birth (usually, parents at least come up with possible names for a child before it is born, but I don't know if all parents to be do so). Back in the present, all of the mane six have conviently joined in on listening to the story, as Twilight ends the flashback with her introducing Spike to her parents. All the commotion has woken Spike from his nap in the present, so Twilight offers to fix him coco the way he likes it to help him go back to sleep, and we see the photo taken that lists Spike as "Twilight's First Friend".
And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Well, it did manage to deliver on the expectations of Twilight acting like a mother for Spike, and I think if you apply my theory the story is sound. But I'm not sure if there was really a need to throw all of the mane six into the end, just have Rainbow Dash or Rarity come over and catch Twilight looking through the scrap book. Sometimes, less is more. It's the inclusion of Professor Inkwell that I really think is the major flaw with this story, because she just further demonstrates that she should not be teaching at her old age. She is an a-hole plain and simple, and unlike Professor Snape from Harry Potter, who we can at least assume may be liked by some people and does seem to know how to teach effectively (he just goes overboard on the "No nonsense" attitude, and never lets up on how much he has it out for Harry), there doesn't seem to be anything that justifies her still being around. It doesn't matter if she saved Equestria in her youth and USED to be a good teacher then, if she isn't able to teach effectively or properly at her old age, she should retire and pass the torch to a worthy successor. If Inkwell were removed, and replaced with a more sympathetic teacher, or heck even replaced with Princess Celestia herself, the story would flow much better. As it stands, I'd still recommend picking this up, especially if you like seeing Twilight as Spike's mother. It's not quite as good as it could've been (this could've been THE comic to redeem IDW after the disasters of 2015), but it's still a worthwhile read and I really, really, REALLY think it should've gotten a second part (maybe if Main Series #38 and #39 were condensed into one issue and given a different ending, that would've been possible, or heck scrap the immediate successor which attempted to use a barebones story as a crutch to use as many different art styles as possible. Quantity does not always mean quality). As it stands, it's still good, at least for me. But I'll understand if you decide to pass on this one.
Sadly, I don't have anymore comics to review at the moment, but you can be sure I'll post more if I can get my hands on anymore comics. In the meantime, stick around for my fanfics, and my review of "Dungeons and Discord", which airs Saturday (and unlike last Saturday, I've got nowhere I need to be so I can review the episode right when it comes out).
Yeah, I agree
Yeah, I like your headcanon concerning Twiley, Celestia and Spike. And I also agree with your review. And the stuff you mentioned could be great rewrite ideas if you include this in your "Comics Edition" list of "What If?" stories.