The Show I Love! · 6:13pm Aug 29th, 2020
Gosh. I loved this show. I still love this show. That hasn’t changed at all. I could re-watch every episode forever, I think. Still, I’d like to spend at least some time talking about it too. It’s nice to share, and I don’t do it often enough.
So, I’ll start with “The Last Problem”. It’s the final episode of the series, where the book that opened on the first episode actually closes at the end of this one. It transports us to the future of Equestria, where Twilight has grown into her alicorn body and her friends have aged, and lived full lives. It appears that Rainbow Dash and Applejack connected more deeply than simple friendship, and Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich did the same thing! They even have a daughter. Rarity is clearly a booming success in the fashion industry, she carries herself just as such. I question that she’s wearing animal fur around Fluttershy, but whatever! I couldn’t help noticing how Applejack was wearing Granny Smith’s shawl, and later on , Apple Bloom was wearing Goldie Delicious’s shawl. I figure that means we have a few ponies who passed away in the fair amount of time that passed before we were introduced to Luster Dawn.
Based on Pound and Pumpkin Pie’s growth, it looks to be at least 17 years later. Maybe longer, maybe not as long.
Right? They’re quite a bit older than they used to be… I also base this calculation on “The Perfect Pear” when Bright Mac states this:
Bright Mac: Happy one hundred and thirty-one thousand, four hundred and fifty-six hour anniversary, darlin'.
The math there works out to about 15 years. 15 years from the day he first called her “Buttercup”. Well, it’s… The math I did worked out to 14 years, 11 months, 29 days. They were at least talking upon first meeting, though they were rather articulate for their age… Still, I’d peg them for about 2-3 years of age in that first scene. So… They’d be roughly 17-18 years old when he celebrates that anniversary. That’s my estimate, at least.
But that would seem to make Pound and Pumpkin Cake somewhere in their late teens at least. They weren’t talking, so younger than Bright Mac & Pear Butter were… I’d say about 17 years is a good number here.
But, I noticed that none of these characters were accounted for during the trip through Ponyville:
· Granny Smith
· Mr. & Mrs. Cake
· Goldie Delicious
· Shining Armor
· Cadance
· Flurry Heart
· Celestia
· Luna
· Grand Pear
· Cranky Doodle
· Matilda
Now, I’m only suggesting that Cranky & Matilda, Mr. & Mrs. Cake, Granny Smith, Goldie Delicious, and Grand Pear have passed on. Celestia and Luna are likely enjoying their retirement, and I would suppose that parting with the alicorn magic might make them mortal, so perhaps they’re older in appearance now too? Anybody’s guess, really.
Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry Heart are not residents of Ponyville. It is reasonable to assume that they simply weren’t included because of this.
But I do wonder, what memorial is there for Granny? Grand Pear? Those Apples had two grandparents before the show’s finale. Relationships which weren’t explored enough, I think.
Would Pinkie have done something to remember Cranky Doodle & Matilda? I mean besides a party…
Observations & Questions
· Just how long was “Our Town” established before the Mane 6 encountered it via the Cutie Map?
I’m serious. Just how long was “Our Town” running before the Cutie Map came around and pointed them to it? It didn’t waste time selecting the problem or directing them all to go. There was, to me, a sense of urgency then. So how long had Starlight been holding this town under her hoof before Twilight and the gang stopped in and foiled it? Just how long has Sugar Belle been suffering without her cutie mark? How long had Double Diamond been drinking the kool-aid?
· In “The Cutie Re-Mark” why did so many alternate realities not feature Nightmare Moon? A similar number didn’t seem to feature Celestia (except Sombra’s war-torn Equestria)
It’s a weird one. I figure, for any timeline, the first obstacle to overcome is the alicorn going through a psychotic break. That means Celestia ends up trapped, sealed away in the moon (apparently) before some other villain rises up to attack. Yet, Celestia was alone facing Sombra (I mean in terms of Alicorn numbers) in that dark reality. No Luna, No Nightmare Moon. Does this mean Celestia somehow sealed Luna back in the moon? Seemed that she wasn’t properly connected with the Elements… Did she find different bearers that weren’t fully compatible, so their effect was wrong? It’s interesting, all the questions raised.
Actually, talking of the Alternate Timelines…
The first one featured is Sombra’s War-torn Equestria. It resulted from Filly Dash being forcibly frozen in Starlight’s magic, preventing the Sonic Rainboom. Fluttershy still fell to her fate. Applejack never got the message to return home (So why did she?), and so on and so on.
The second one featured is Chrysalis’ Equestria. Zecora appears as a chieftain among hidden ponies, who live in paranoia about changelings infiltrating their camps. Zecora has prepared some manner of ointment, the application of which reveals hidden properties of the individual coated with it. Twilight and Spike trigger an unusual reaction, and Zecora acknowledges that, in fact, Twilight and Spike are what should really be. Now, this timeline resulted form Starlight’s mentoring Hoops, Dumb-bell, and Score to not pick on Fluttershy or feel themselves superior for any reason. Because all ponies should be equal. In this, Fluttershy does not fall to her fate, but rather is befriended by Hoops. Then Twilight creeps Filly Dash out and the Sonic Rainboom doesn’t happen. Again. I should note the drastic difference in Fluttershy’s confidence by the end of this episode: Hoops’ friendship must have started some growth in her much earlier. My theory anyway.
Next, Twilight returns from Chrysalis’ Equestria… And jumps into a fight with Starlight, and she’s not doing too great. Makes sense, she’s not really a fighter, never had reason to train for it. The one time before this that she fought she happened also to be overpowered by the Alicorn Fusion. DBZ anyone? So, she’s trying to stop Starlight with force… This distracts Filly Dash, who is excited about this action-packed aerial display! She’s eating popcorn, rooting for her side (Who was she rooting for, I wonder?) and then it ends and she doesn’t have the motivation to Sonic Rainboom. Twilight is now sucked into… Nightmare Moon’s Permanent Night Party… The first reality with a standing Nightmare Moon. It’s the most sensible to me, since every other villain would need to compete with her for their turn at running the show. Yet she’s nowhere in the others, there’s not even a proper hint that I could see. The battle with Starlight drained her, so she was in no shape to fight Timber Wolves. She finds her way to “The Castle of the Two Sisters”, finds Rarity (Curator for the Nightmare Castle?) and Rainbow Dash (Hold on, I need to take off this helmet to properly finish shouting orders at you) (She’s not a Shadowbolt?). Nightmare Moon is cruel, using Spike as leverage over Twilight. But, Twilight is clever, recharges with the time it takes to return to the Cutie Map table, and quickly executes her escape plan and brings Spike along with her. I think this timeline might feature the best introductory shot of a villain in the series. My opinion, that’s all. Feel free to share yours!
Next up… Starlight trips Rainbow Dash in mid-air (Physics, take a hike!) and Twilight ends up in Tirek’s Apocalyptic version of Equestria (Just what was his goal? Annihilate the livable environment and rule over nothing?) and she exits in a hurry!
So then Twilight returns and fires off Starlight’s Crystal Prison spell, but she misses Starlight and hits Filly Dash. Twilight ends up in Discord’s Chaosquestria! And here’s where we find Princesses Luna and Celestia wearing afros and clown outfits, chasing Discord around futilely. It makes me wonder… This would seem to require a much earlier deviation in the timeline. Or, how did Luna find herself restored from Nightmare Moon? In any case, if there were different Element Bearers in this reality, then the Discordification was completely effective.
Next up, Starlight gently guides Fluttershy through the cloud ring course using telekinesis… And for some reason this results in Flim & Flam’s Heavily Industrialized Equestria. Flim & Flam are Industry! Doesn’t look too great for Equestria.
Finally, Twilight uses her most effective method: Talking it out! She has to defend herself briefly, but she gets a good idea and uses it. She uses a visual aid! That is SO Twilight! Cue a brief shouting match, Starlight firing off a blast that causes Rainbow to ricocheting off-screen. Twilight tackle hugs Starlight, and they’re both sucked into the next Time Hole.
And it is bleak.
Looking at the Cutie Map, it’s bleak. There isn’t much civilization left. Just a little pocket there at the edge, looks like mostly wasteland otherwise. What the hell happened to Equestria? Perhaps Fallout: Equestria explains this? I’m not sure, but this is… there’s nothing really left.
So, with all that. I have another question. Where is Twilight? I mean, We see her Filly self at the beginning of this grand plan of Starlight’s. She doesn’t hatch Spike, gets depressed… then what? We never see any alternate versions of her.
· Why couldn’t the Mane 6 tell the differences between themselves and the Mean 6?
Rarity, whose eye for detail and deductive reasoning helped saved Rainbow Dash’s career, can’t see that Applejack’s cutie mark and attitude are way off?
They’re so quick to accept that their friends are acting like completely jackenapes, it’s odd. Twilight was never that quick to believe Rainbow Dash would abandon them (in fact, she called Applejack a liar when she said it in The Return of Harmony). I just question how strong their friendship really is when they don’t see through these fairly obvious duplicates.
Another wonderful feature of this show is how progressive and forward-thinking it is. Does anyone remember the controversy of Season 2? It got so bad that they actually redubbed an episode to “correct” their mistake. I’m referring to The Last Roundup when Rainbow Dash called Derpy by name! It was a nod to the fans, a wonderful little addition to the canon, and it caused quite an upset! So, now I notice the show features actual lesbian couples. At least 3, because I count AppleDash. But there’s Lyra & Bon Bon, whose friendship/relationship evolves over the course of the show. While they’re spoken roles are strictly about friendship, the remaining appearances in the background are sweeter and more romantic. Including their proposal!
What a sweet moment!
What wonderful growth from the creators! I love how this all just kept growing. How you ended up having to re-watch episodes to pay closer attention to the background for the other stories going on there.
Holiday and Lofty are a happy couple, well adjusted and ready to take on the responsibility of raising Scootaloo because her parents are negligent idiots. Seriously, their priorities are all out of whack. I was… actually disappointed to find that her parents are very much alive. Even if it works out just about the same difference as if they were. But, Scootabuse was prevalent throughout this episode. I ended up glad that her Aunts agreed to care for her, that seems a better fit. I like how this illustrates that life in Equestria is not perfect, that there is pain. But it was dealt with, there was a happy ending.
Hyper Sonic
Now who is this? Hyper Sonic. Interesting design. All filly features, but a colt’s voice. Does that mean we have a tranny here? That’s adorable! And Hyper Sonic has the message to save the day, too! I find this character very motivating. It’s telling, too. The things the show did after Derpy were excellent, brazen, and thought-provoking. The stories they started to tell in the background!
Why, in Parental Glideance, during Rainbow Dash’s flashbacks…
We see Derpy’s eyes when they were normal, and she was even beating Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust in competitions! She was earning GOLD then! And then her eyes started to get out of whack a little bit… Each passing competition showed her placing further down the line, until she wasn’t earning gold, bronze, or even silver. She was still placing, though.
In Where The Apple Lies we see, in the hospital, teenaged Derpy with her eyes covered in bandages, talking to a nurse who looks slightly weirded out. Just the little things snuck into the background of the main stories. There’s so much more to see, really. I’m only talking about the things I got the most from.
So, The Wedding Episode.
Actually, there are 4 of them. The first is obvious: Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.
And they had a baby! D’aww!
And then we have… Cranky Doodle Donkey & Matilda
The 3rd wedding is Bright Mac & Pear Butter
The 4th wedding is Big Macintosh & Sugar Belle
And they had a son! Wonder if they want more?
Four wedding episodes! Amazing! Pony romance is wonderful, Pony kisses are the BEST! I love it, it’s all so mushy and sweet. I melt.
But those aren’t the only marriages!
Remember, We have Lyra & Bon Bon!
And Pinkie Pie & Cheese Sandwich
It looks an awful lot like Aunt Holiday & Auntie Lofty qualify as well.
But it’s so nice to see all those happy transitions. Pinkie Pie is a mommy. We watched Rarity’s rise to greatness in the fashion industry. We saw Rainbow Dash achieve her dream and actually become humble. A little. We saw Fluttershy grow in confidence and finally realize her dream project. We saw Applejack find the truth about her parents, connect with distant family, and even family she didn’t know she had, and overall be a family mare. Maybe even hooked up with Dashie! And Twilight? Wow.
Big Macintosh fell in love, got married, and had a son.
Lyra & Bon Bon got their happily ever after too. They’re growing old together.
Twilight’s the Princess of Equestria proper. I mean, that feels cliché (Discord called it the “obvious choice”). Also the plot went semi-full circle (as Twilight didn’t have an alicorn sister. But there’s this whole huge gap in time that’s a playground for the fans. 17 years of unexplored story, maybe. The outcomes are essentially there, but that can always be changed too.
LISTS!
My Favorite Episodes!
1. The Perfect Pear (S07E13, Episode 156)
2. Slice of Life (S05E09, Episode 100)
3. Parental Glidance (S07E07, Episode 150)
4. Common Ground (S09E06, Episode 202)
5. It Isn’t The Mane Thing About You (S07E19, Episode 162)
6. Sounds of Silence (S08E23, Episode 192)
7. Twilight’s Kingdom Parts 1 & 2(S04E25-26, Episodes 90-91)
8. Sleepless in Ponyville, S03E06, Episode 58)
9. The Washouts (S08E20, Episode 189)
The Things I Didn’t Like
These Episodes left me confused:
Dragon Dropped, S09E19, Episode 215
Rarity wants to spend more time with Spike, has a lot of activities she’s interested in involving him. Activities he probably wouldn’t mind at any other time, or during any other episode. But this time, he’s distracted and unavailable, even flying away before she’s finished talking.
So, Rarity tries to get his attention because talking actually isn’t working. He’s so hung up on hanging with Gabby that he’s making no time for Rarity. Until she comes up with activities that he enjoys, and which she ends up enjoying herself. Tickets to Power Ponypalooza start this off, then a round of O & O, and just generally things that he really likes. She’s finally getting her time in with him. But these leaves Gabby out, and leads to a misunderstanding where Spike looks like a liar. But by the end of this episode, I’m still not convinced that Rarity owes Spike an apology.
I can see why she’d apologize to Gabby, she got hurt and didn’t deserve it. But Rarity was getting hurt by Spike before that occurred, and he even disses her again by flying off while she’s talking. He’s a complete jerk to her until she’s doing what he likes, and then she apologizes and he just… snubs her. Again.
That’s my piece on that.
The Mysterious Mare Do Well, S02E08, Episode 34
Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned how to passive-aggressively handle a problem and cause paranoia in one of my close friends! Is the message she should have sent to Celestia herself after her scheme. On top of that, the various Elements were individually bragging about their turn as The Mysterious Mare Do Well, in their own way. Rainbow didn’t start out boastful, she was genuinely just helping out. The praise absolutely went to her head, she got carried away, starting looking for reasons to get more praise and even went on to manufacture them. But her friends never talked to her directly about anything. They talked amongst themselves, then came up with this plan to humble her.
I know there’s a lot of Take That fiction about this one. I just wanted to say all that.
Big Macintosh as incompetent?
Big Mac was so often portrayed as incompetent. Like, he couldn’t handle the organization of deliveries for the coronation? Perhaps he was shy, this was stated by Apple Bloom. But so grossly incompetent that he couldn’t handle simple Apple Family Farm business on his own? Wouldn’t he have been at it longer than Applejack was? He’d had plenty of experience, and he wouldn’t have been doing it alone either. He had a wife by then. But, no, he screwed it all up. I don’t get that.
Okay, let’s talk about The Cart Before The Horses.
The CMCs spent most of the episode trying to implement their ideas for the individual carts. Trying to speak up about what they wanted, what they were going for, and being shushed and turned away by their sisters. Three adults get so caught up in their own past dreams that they crush their own little sisters. Fantastic. But by the end of this episode, their asking why the CMCs didn’t say something! They did! They tried, and tried, and you kept rejecting and rebuffing everything! You were selfish idiots! You didn’t even let them drive the carts! You were all so grossly irresponsible it was quite disgusting to watch.
Ugh, this episode had me so angry.
Favorite Moments
Scootaloo’s cheering section at the end of Parental Glidance? How sweet. It was so wonderful, she has all this support she wished she had before. How amazing that her relationship with Rainbow Dash has come this far that her disapproval meant that much to Rainbow Dash! But seeing this at the end of the episode! Wow! Bow and Windy got Scootaloo paraphernalia?! I want some of that!
Big Mac and Sugar Belle’s first on-screen kiss. Wow. I’m so happy for Big Mac, and for Sugar Belle.
· Bright Mac comforts Pear Butter after Grand Pear ditches her. That moment. It was his devotion, his love for her, still on display. Really, their whole romance was sweet as anything, but my goodness. This moment? Her father just disowned her, she’s hurting, and he’s right there by her side. Granny has her own second thoughts about the rivalry then, but wow. It was a powerful moment, such a deep hurt for her. She’s not alone though, she’s reminded of this immediately. She has a family, she’s going to be okay.
My Favorite Songs!
1. Out On My Own
2. Make a Wish
3. Flawless
4. Smile Song
5. You’re In My Head Like a Catchy Song
6. Cutie Mark Crusaders Song
7. The Magic Inside
8. A Kirin Tale
9. Celestia’s Ballad
10. Babs Seed
11. Best Friends Until the End of Time
12. Light of Your Cutie Mark
13. Apples to the Core
14. Hearts as Strong as Horses
15. The Seeds of the Past (part 1 & 2)
16. Generosity
17. Art of the Dress
Holy shit, this is long. It could be a story unto itself.