On Babs Seed and "Manehattan" · 3:36am Nov 25th, 2012

So, "One Bad Apple." I loved it, actually! The animation was amazing, and the song is already becoming one of my favorite in the entire series. And it didn't hurt that the CMC are my favorite characters.

Now, if you've read my bio (and I don't blame you if you haven't), you know that I'm from Manhattan. I'm New York born and raised, baby! That's why when I heard that Babs was from Manehattan, I was pleasantly surprised. That's not to mention: Continuity? In My Little Pony? It's more likely than you think.

Now, I have to say, I was the least bit disappointed. Babs' accent is just weird. I can't tell whether it's Queens, or New Jersey, or stereotypical Italian guy from the 50's. Someone tried to say it was Bronx, and that can't be farther from the truth. It's not Brooklyn or Manhattan. But it's the thought that counts.

What really would have been awesome is if they had given Babs some actual New York slang to use. Hearing Babs say "You tight!" when she pushed the CMC would have just made the entire season for me. A good theory I've heard is that the entire episode was meant to be based on 80's culture; this is why we get Babs' voice, the A-Team instrumental, Babs being "bad"...

As a final note on her voice: Maybe it's just because Christmas is approaching, and I have the greatest Christmas special of alltime on the forefront of my mind, but did anyone else think that Babs sounded like a character from Charlie Brown?

Now, onto Manehattan as a whole. So far, we've seen two views of Manehattan. The first was in Cutie Mark Chronicles, where we saw it as an upper-class society for fancy-schmancy ponies, such as the Oranges. The second is this episode; while not explicitly stated, it can be implied by Babs' voice, looks, and attitude (even if it was faking) that she comes from somewhere rough.

Now, let's pretend to be the writers for a second. This can mean a lot of things. Perhaps they're taking all the different neighborhoods of Manhattan into account? Thus, the Oranges would live on, say, Park Avenue on the Upper East Side? And Babs might live in Harlem? Or, perhaps it's something else entirely, something that is a bit more likely. Instead of Manehattan = Manhattan, Manehattan = New York City. They're taking all the boroughs into account. In this case, the Oranges would just be Manhattanites, while Babs is from some other borough. Disregarding her voice, perhaps the Bronx?

...But if Babs is Bloom's cousin, wouldn't that mean that she is an Orange? Or, actually, doesn't that mean she's the daughter of one of Applejack's siblings? Does she have another sister? Did Big Mac move to Manehattan, get a sex change, and adopt a 10-year-old when we weren't looking? Come to think about it, s/he wasn't in this episode...

Also, Manehattan confirmed for being to the east of Ponyville. See "One Bad Apple," 07:42. Perhaps it's on the east coast?

Anyway, this has been Manehattan from a Manhattanite. As one final note—

You cannot tell me that's not the most adorable thing you've ever seen. I mean, look at Sweetie's mouth!