Friendship is Card Games: Bridlewoodstock · 11:18am Jun 11th, 2023
So. When I put this on the schedule, I thought it would just be a single special, like Winter Wishday. I wasn’t expecting Make Your Mark Season 2 to come with it. As such, it’s looking like a G5 summer. Let’s get this party started.
I appreciate the unnecessary menace of the bunnicorn’s glowing eyes.
The Bridlewood is most likely a part the Everfree Forest. “Spooky” is the bare minimum.
It’s a good thing this isn’t early in the group’s relationship. Hitch would probably suspect a unicorn leading other ponies into the woods at night for “a surprise” of all kinds of things. Even now, he’s understandably hesitant.
Okay, it may not make sense given the wide path, but I am a sucker for the “character suddenly stopping leads to a five-person pileup” gag.
Sparky hasn’t done anything (yet) but I can’t help but feel that Hitch should’ve found a dragonsitter. Maybe Izzy insisted that they bring him along.
Ah, a hidden sanctum of natural splendor. And knowing what I do about the episode—thanks, Netflix episode description—Pipp has plans to ruin it. Naturally.
“Every moon season.” They just keep finding new ways to frustrate any attempt to make a sane chronology out of this franchise, don’t they?
I do appreciate Zipp continuing to investigate the nature of magic. I just wish they let Sunny provide more backup on the social sciences.
“We can share this beautiful sight with everypony if we bring them all here” says Pipp, as she captures this beautiful sight on video which she can share with the world.
I’m just saying, for five ponies, this is a wonder. For a thousand, it’s a lot of stuff that will end up trampled underhoof.
Yeah, just throw together a music festival as quickly as possible without consulting anyone who lives near the venue to see how they feel about it. What could possibly go wrong?
The ominous whisper transitioning to the upbeat opening theme is honestly kind of hilarious.
… Huh. The beam of magic rising up from the Brighthouse has a really weird bit of perspective screwiness as it either passes in front of the presumably opaque center part of the tower, or just clips through it. Didn’t really think that design through, guys.
I see Pipp inherited Rarity’s red designer glasses. (Which is to say the glasses she wears when designing.)
“Everypony has to see the Lumibloom before it’s over!”
Post it. To Ponygram. It’s both a way to build hype for the festival and a viable fallback option if you can’t make it happen. (We’re less than four minutes in and the character motivation feels as artificial as styrofoam. Oh boy…)
And here’s the part where Pipp ignores the voice of reason and restraint in her enthusiasm. Again, inherited from Rarity. (And it’s not like she’s used to hearing that voice from Izzy.)
Ah. The problem with dismissing a very superstitious culture is that those superstitions did come about for a reason.
Also, the Troggles harken back to G1, being Grogar’s bestial henchmen. (Henchcreatures?) We know the goat himself was a thing in this timeline; it’s interesting to contemplate how his servants might fit in.
Feel free to give a concrete time for that emergency meeting, Pipp.
I do love how Sunny’s love language is providing for her friends. “Food is love” is a deeply held earth pony belief.
I’m not surprised that pegasi have a thing for music festivals. One look at how the royal family maintained power tells you how much they love their pop idols. What does surprise me is that Pipp’s never planned one herself… though the limiting factor may have been time. Between maintaining the royal image (especially when Zipp refused to) and her own youth, Pipp may have never had the opportunity to organize something on this scale before.
Okay, at least we have believable justification for her obsession here. Characters making stupid decisions for the sake of the planet is a bit better when they feel they have a good reason. This also justifies Izzy not sharing her concerns with the others; she doesn’t want to rain on a parade Pipp’s been waiting her whole life to plan.
Nice use of Mane Melody’s AR mirrors for the proposed flower crown.
“Snack tents featuring edible flowers!”
And so we come full circle to Twilight’s daffodil and daisy sandwich.
There’s something strangely adorable about Pipp’s art skills. She sings for a reason.
“We’re not a band.”
“Yet.”
Wrong spinoff, Izzy. At least until your human analogues have to fight off the Dazzlings during their big reunion/comeback tour.
On the one hand, it’s good to see Hitch enjoy the cultures of the other tribes. On the other, I have to wonder what prompted him to do so. Maybe Zipp introduced him to Electric Blue.
Yes, they need one (1) earth pony or unicorn band “to round out the lineup.” Because if it’s only pegasus performers, then Zephyr Heights’s growing cultural hegemony will be too obvious to Pipp’s wingless future subjects.
Oh. Wow, speaking of G1 references. That album cover raises the question of whether ponies actually looked like that in the 80s. To say nothing of whether it was some kind of transitory stage between G4 and G5 anatomy, or if equine morphology has a retconjuration aspect. Ponies have always looked this way, but they didn’t always look it last week.
Look, overthinking things is how I have half my fun. 
I appreciate Figgy coming in clutch. I honestly like her better than her grandson.
I honestly do appreciate Zipp’s overcommitment to tactical espionage action. You’re the crown princess, filly. You could theoretically order that group to perform.
“Alright, how hard could this be?”
Aaaand she jinxed it. The lead singer might have recognized her at first otherwise.
Generations come and go, but the pegarazzi are eternal.
I do still love the art deco aesthetics of Zephyr Heights. That fountain is gorgeous.
“You’ll be the headliners!”
And there’s the preliminary conflict. I know this is hitting Zipp right in her emotional weak point—she does love Pipp and will do anything for her—but she’ll need to build up her negotiating chops if she’s ever going to rule the nation. (Granted, that’s a rather nebulous “if.” Pipp does seem better suited for the throne when she can look past her own social media brand.)
Yeah, Izzy and Pipp are the two members of the main cast most horrified by the prospect of creative block… assuming this isn’t an attempt to brush Pipp off, but that feels less than likely.
I have to be amused by the flagrant case of Pipp moving Ruby Jubilee’s letter behind her own body, and thus putting it in an invisible pocket. Ponies: Now with increased inventory space!
… Okay, I’m confused. We cut to what appears to still be the palace, with Pipp and Izzy in front of a vanity, and Ruby comes in. Who went to whom here? Did Pipp send a second royal summons or what?
Yeah, genuine case of pressure to perform. Catching lightning in a bottle’s a big ask. (And I can’t help but think there’s a bit of frustration leaking in from the writers in regards to this generation versus Friendship is Magic. “How do you top a chart-topper” indeed.)
Pipp. You could have at least sent this video to the other recruiting teams.
“Wild rubies are in season in Bridlewood!”
That just raises further questions. I wonder if this can be traced back to Maud’s home in Ponyville.
“You’re so cool, Granny!”
“So are you, Hitchie.”
That’s nice of you to say, Figgy, but we all know he isn’t.
Headband and leg warmers. Minty’s certainly dressing like it’s still the 80s.
“Coincidentally, it’s the anniversary of your very first hit single!”
It is the 40th anniversary of MLP this year. This is a genuinely enjoyable bit of metareference. (And yes, Minty, Snuzzle, and Blue Belle were all G1 ponies.)
Hmm. Is this meant to be Maretime Bay or not? It certainly looks like it, but I wouldn’t think that a resident would need to be introduced to the sheriff, the only known alicorn in existence, or the hot new spa.
“You’re the originals! You’re what started it all!”
Again, loving the metareference.
As expected, a very crowded headline. Let’s see how they make this work.
Good to see the Manestream’s landing platform… though I’m tempted to go back and see if it was there in some earlier establishing shots.
Informing the locals was apparently lower on the priority list than getting the performers on board. They may not mean it (“they” being both the pegasi and the writers) but there’s a very… colonial attitude from Zephyr Heights regarding the other tribes.
“Isn’t it the most beautiful thing you’ve ever witnessed? Now it will have a soundtrack!”
These two sentences perfectly summarize the best and worst of Pipp.
Onyx may be one of the best things to come out of G5.
“No cure to be found/Past the red ruby.”
Well, that’s convenient. After all, rubies are in season, whatever that means.
The “bing bong” here felt unnecessary.
There are those Wonderbolt posters in Zephyr Heights again. Good to see some cultural continuity, even if does raise some questions.
Definitely could have made the shot of Alphabittle’s show some more concern, resentment, fear… You know, anything other than mild interest.
I like the idea that the Marestream still has some degree of morphic instability. It doesn’t always have those camping options available, just when it’s dramatically convenient.
“What do you have to worry about?” asks the mare who has been told to her face that she’s going to summon angry spirits.
I know it’s necessary for the impending crisis, but at this point, I’m impressed that nopony’s stumbled across the triple booking for headliner yet. You’d think it would have come up in incidental conversation, or making promotional materials, or Pipp outright saying that Ruby’s the headliner while on that morning talk show. There’s contrivance, and there’s outright conspiracy on the part of the writers to keep the conflict from firing off too early.
It’s a bit late to propose moving the festival when construction’s already underway, Zipp. Though I appreciate her at least discussing the possibility of preventing the inevitable disaster ahead of time.
Credit where it’s due, this is an organic way to divide the main cast such that Zipp and Hitch can investigate.
Ah, a friendship problem. We don’t quite have the right alicorn for that, but this one should work in a pinch.
Sunny Starscout saying that classic ponies don’t need to update themselves to appeal to a younger audience… That does work coming from historian’s daughter who fought to revive the glories of the Twilit Age. On a metanarrative level, it’s downright surreal.
Cutie marks glowing in affirmation of the pony’s purpose. Always good to see, though I hope we dig deeper into the cause at some point.
Let me check… Yes, Hasbro does produce Life (the board game.) And Monopoly, where these foals got some of the game pieces.
Wow, it’s like unicorns are highly superstitious, which is clearly something these two would have no way of knowing. :applejackbemused:
Ooh, those stained glass butterfly displays are gorgeous.
Dang. Pipp’s already gone all out on the makeup, including feather dye.
“I had [the rubies] locally harvested from Bridlewood in honor of Ruby Jubilee’s big performance!”
There it is. Now the question is whether Zipp or Hitch notice amid their concern over Troggles.
… Nope. It’s the main stage, guys. You’re supposed to be the smart ones. Please put two and two together.
“I’m just thrilled at how everything is coming together with no snags at all!”
She might as well just fly up and shout “Nothing can stop me now! I am invincible!”
And as Zipp relaxes, we guarantee there will be Troggle trouble come tomorrow.
Darn it, the question of whether dragons still eat gems remains unsettled.
The glowstick unicorn headbands are a subtle nod to how far G5 ponies have come since the days of tribal isolation. Yes, coming to Bridlewood in general says as much, but still.
Okay, now we’ve got the scheduling collision established. With appropriately little time to do something about it.
… Oh my God, say something about that.
Oh yeah, in their investigation of what Bridlewood residents might know about Troggles, these two geniuses never asked their close unicorn friend. Also, seriously, someone actually pursue a line of inquiry.
“How did you just—?”
Not about the flower crowns.
I wasn’t expecting the clip-on earring.
You know, there’s stumbling into disaster, and then there’s ignoring literally every warning sign that got placed along the path.
Well, the food lines feel accurate.
Good to see some hint of mature, responsible, non-braindead Hitch still being a thing.
“I have no idea what you two are talking about.”
Ye gods, anything that runs counter to what Pipp wants just goes through one ear and out the other.
Okay, finally. This is why it’s important to compare notes early and often. (I do appreciate Pipp breaking out the full name when especially upset with Zipp.) I do think that going for “We threw all of this together in less than a week” could work as a way to excuse the mixup, but I do trust Pipp to know the mind of a performer better than I do.
Hitch, feel free to mention the third headliner at any time.
Or Sunny could do it, that works too.
“The friendship fellowship of the Unity Crystals.”
It’s a working title. I do love the “at this celebration of the music” at the end. Perfect awkward closure to a sentence that didn’t know where it was going.
And, once again, failure to coordinate. Because learning from your mistakes is reserved for the last five minutes of the episode.
Pfft. Okay, I didn’t expect Ruby to volunteer to go on first. That’s a delightful twist.
You know, I thought Pipp had deliberately chosen not to take part in her own festival, but I can buy her being so busy in setting up everything that the possibility of joining in simply never occurred to her.
Ah, first sighting of the Troggles. I see they kept the horned helmets.
… Darn it, I can’t place the classical piece that this background track is riffing off of. I want to say the Moonlight Sonata, but the key is off.
Ruby invites ponies to sing along… to a song that she is presumably performing for the first time, given that Izzy and Pipp inspired it less than a week ago.
There is something deeply funny about a pony headbanging to a pop track.
Trying to stream a concert live is rude, but the phones should be able to record while saving to local storage. That said, I’d expect these ponies to notice they were out of their service area before now. Also, I’m sure Z-Mobile has plans to expand its coverage area… and there’s some potential drama in what they may need to do to do so.
“Be in the now, ponies!” says the mare most likely to need her phone surgically removed from her hoof.
The animation on Make Your Mark is always kind of stiff, but I do like how much wing movement they put into Ruby’s performance. And this is one of the better songs in G5 thus far.
Oh. That’s what Troggles steal.
Okay, I was all set to ream Zipp, but credit to her for realizing just what she was interrupting.
Not sure why Sunny was struggling to get the wings and horn going. Also not sure why deploying them erased her festival gear from existence (beyond the animators not wanting to get the two sets of accessories to cooperate.) Maybe it’s like a magical girl transformation.
It’s a good thing no Troggles swooped in to silence a main character in the middle of their planning.
Interesting to note that the rubies are consumed in the process of banishing a Troggle… and that the Troggles seem to enjoy the process. This raises a number of questions, especially about what led to these restless spirits in the first place.
Nope. Sunny disintegrated all her accessories.
An apology isn’t as good as actually listening, but I’ll take it.
Oh, wait, there’s Sunny’s festival gear. Just had to wait for her cosmetics to load.
Heh. And on that day, the unicorns learned a valuable lesson: It is better to destroy your enemies than to live in fear of them. All part of the G1 tribute, folks. 
>introduces rock band
>synth music starts playing
Sure, let’s go with that.
I do appreciate the melodic influences from the original MLP theme song in that last number.
In all, the plot was frustrating in its obvious direction and unbalanced dramatic pacing, but the setting continues to offer a variety of potential storytelling tools. Still, it would’ve been nice to see the three acts actually interact with one another off-stage. In any case, let’s see what I can play given this inspiration:
“Iconic” 1W
Enchantment — Song
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a verse counter on “Iconic”.
1W, Sacrifice “Iconic”: Any number of target creatures you control become legendary until end of turn. Then historic creatures you control get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of verse counters on “Iconic”. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.)
Covetous Troggle 2W
Creature — Spirit
Flying
1, Sacrifice Covetous Troggle: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
At the core of every troggle is an unsated hunger. If it ever finds a treasure that truly satisfies that need, both vanish forever.
2/2
Mandatory Celebration 2W
Sorcery
Choose one or more —
• Each player gains 4 life.
• Each player draws a card.
• Each player creates two 1/1 white Pony creature tokens.
Pipp left ponies no choice but to enjoy themselves.
Troggle Voicethief 2W
Creature — Spirit
Flash
Flying
When Troggle Voicethief enters the battlefield, your opponents can’t cast noncreature spells this turn.
The panic soothes a troggle’s empty soul, but does not fulfill it.
2/1
Exquisite Refurbishing 5WW
Sorcery
Return all artifact cards from your graveyard, scrapyard, and junkyard to the battlefield. (Each Contraption enters the battlefield on the sprocket of your choice.)
Repairs happened so quickly, the next act still went on stage on time.
Blunt Refusal UUU
Instant
Split second (As long as this spell is on the stack, players can’t cast spells or activate abilities that aren’t mana abilities.)
Counter target spell.
Few ponies can say no to Pipp’s face. Most of them live in Bridlewood.
Coerced Collaboration 2U
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller has you draw three cards.
Beneath Pipp’s fluffy wings and wide eyes lies the unyielding will of a tyrant.
Timeless Performers 3U
Creature — Pony Bard
Finale — Whenever you sacrifice a Song, you may exile a nonland card from your hand with two time counters on it. If it doesn’t have suspend, it gains suspend. (At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from that card. When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost. If it’s a creature, it has haste.)
2/5
Missed Lead 4U
Instant
Affinity for Clues (This spell costs 1 less to cast for each Clue you control.)
The owner of target spell or nonland permanent puts it into their library second from the top or on the bottom.
The solution lay in pure sight, obscured only by superstition and arrogance.
Encore! Encore! B
Instant
Until end of turn, target creature or enchantment gains “When this permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, return it to the battlefield tapped under its owner’s control.”
Always leave them wanting more. Then give it to them.
Bejeweled Balladier 2B
Creature — Pegasus Bard
Flying
Finale — Whenever you sacrifice a Song, create a Treasure token. (It’s an artifact with “T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.”)
In all of Equestria’s history, no skilled vocalist has gone hungry.
2/1
Reunion Tour 3B
Sorcery
Choose up to two target creature cards in your graveyard. You may return a Bard or Performer card from among them to the battlefield. Return the rest to your hand.
“We’re getting the band back together.”
—Minty, timeless performer
Persistent Pegarazzi 4B
Creature — Pegasus Scout
Flying
When Persistent Pegarazzi enters the battlefield, you become the monarch.
Whenever another player becomes the monarch, return Persistent Pegarazzi from your graveyard to your hand.
“Any comment on the recent coup?”
3/3
Grogar’s Despoilers 5B
Creature — Orc Soldier
Menace, lifelink
Tribute 3 (As this creature enters the battlefield, an opponent of your choice may put three +1/+1 counters on it.)
When Grogar’s Despoilers enters the battlefield, if tribute wasn’t paid, amass Orcs 3. (Put three +1/+1 counters on an Army you control. It’s also an Orc. If you don’t control an Army, create a 0/0 black Orc Army creature token first.)
3/3
Live in the Moment 1R
Instant
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice an artifact.
Draw two cards.
The Bridlewood’s near-total lack of cell phone reception got ponies to engage with the festival directly… and encouraged sales of singles through official channels.
Opening Act 1R
Instant
Gain control of target creature spell. It gains “At the beginning of your end step, this creature’s owner gains control of it and it loses this ability.”
“Relax,” Pipp assured Ruby Jubilee’s manager. “Just think of the exposure.”
Desperate Negotiator 2R
Creature — Pegasus Advisor
Flying, haste
Whenever a player starts a vote, that player untaps and gains control of Desperate Negotiator.
Never let them see you molt.
2/2
Adorned Headbanger 3R
Creature — Pony Guest
When Adorned Headbanger enters the battlefield, you get TK (a ticket counter), then you may put a sticker on a nonland permanent you own.
Stickered creatures you control have trample.
A dancing earth pony is almost as dangerous as an angry one.
4/2
Amped Trio 5R
Creature — Pegasus Bard
Flying
Finale — Whenever you sacrifice a Song, Amped Trio deals 3 damage to any target.
Their first album captured lightning in a bottle. For the second, they went with more conventional percussion.
4/4
Face Painter 2G
Creature — Pony Employee
When Face Painter enters the battlefield, open an Attraction. (Put the top card of your Attraction deck onto the battlefield.)
Whenever you visit one or more Attractions, support X, where X is the number of Attractions you visited. (To support X, put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to X other target creatures.)
2/2
Bridlewood Jinxslayer 2GG
Creature — Unicorn Ranger
Kicker W and/or B (You may pay an additional W and/or B as you cast this spell.)
When Bridlewood Jinxslayer enters the battlefield, you may have it fight target creature you don’t control.
As long as Bridlewood Jinxslayer entered the battlefield this turn, it has indestructible if it was kicked with its W kicker and has deathtouch if it was kicked with its B kicker.
3/3
Lumibloom Season 2GG
Enchantment
Vanishing 2 (This enchantment enters the battlefield with two time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from it. When the last is removed, sacrifice it.)
Whenever you tap a permanent for mana, add an additional G.
Carousel Thallid 4G
Creature — Fungus Employee
Reach
Whenever you roll to visit your Attractions, put a number of spore counters on Carousel Thallid equal to the result.
Remove three spore counters from Carousel Thallid: Create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token.
4/4
Plutocrat’s Top Hat 2
Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
Whenever Plutocrat’s Top Hat or equipped creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, create a Treasure token.
Equip 2
Salsa Sea Schooner 3
Artifact — Food Vehicle
Whenever Salsa Sea Schooner deals combat damage to a player, populate. The token created this way is a Food artifact in addition to its other types and has “2, T, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life.” (To populate, create a token that’s a copy of a creature token you control.)
2, T, Sacrifice Salsa Sea Schooner: You gain 3 life.
Crew 2
4/4
Festival Booths 4
Artifact
When Festival Booths enters the battlefield, open an Attraction.
Tap two untapped artifacts you control: Add one mana of any color.
Everything you could want, for everything you have.
Flowerification Station
Artifact — Attraction
Visit — Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a land card. Put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Flower power never goes out of style.
(2 lights)
Gem-Studded Stage
Artifact — Attraction
Visit — Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
“‘Budget’? What are we pushing?”
—Princess Pipp Petals
(2 lights)
Concussive Pulse BR
Instant
Concussive Pulse deals 1 damage to each creature your opponents control. Remove up to one counter from each of those creatures.
“Stand back. I’m still working on my aim.”
—Sunny Starscout
Font of Aspirations 1WU
Artifact
When Font of Aspirations enters the battlefield, put a shield counter on target creature you control. (If it would be dealt damage or destroyed, remove a shield counter from it instead.)
1, Remove a counter from a permanent you control: Font of Aspirations becomes a 4/4 Pegasus Angel artifact creature with flying until end of turn.
Triple Finish 3GUR
Instant
Counter all other spells and abilities. Destroy all artifacts and enchantments. Triple Finish deals 6 damage to each creature, planeswalker, and battle.
“Who let the monster tamer on stage!?”
—Princess Pipp Petals
Bridlewood Venue
Land
When Bridlewood Venue enters the battlefield, sacrifice it. When you do, search your library for a basic Plains, Swamp, or Forest card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle and you gain 1 life.
All the splendor and mess of nature in one place.
Beneath Pipp’s fluffy wings and wide eyes lies the unyielding will of a tyrant.
Seems on point, nobody give her a horn or they'll be doomed.
"Let's just do it and be legends, pony."
-Princess Pipp Petals, probably.
I didn't realize the Troggles were also part of the g1 reference, that's neat. But I am fascinated by the thought of what might have caused them to haunt this forest since Grogar's time.
Hey look, we've got a bumper-crop of memberberries. Maybe next we'll get the flowies and crabnasties (if they actually did that and didn't get Peter Cullen to voice their leader it would be a fail). Though, if they followed the plot of the original flowies/crabnasties story, it'd fit in pretty good with G5's message of not judging others by external, immutable features.
Sometimes I get the sense that the curent batch of writers on this show don't really know how to plot out a story, so they depend a lot on contrived coincidence and ponies holding the "idiot ball."
Inside Baseball Alert: Triple Finish is Pokémon Trainer's Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. The art for the card should probably render the reference nonsensical, but FoME doesn't have to care.
5732822
Going by what I've seen and heard about the rest of this season, there's a question of how much worse she could be than the other options.
5732824
Thank you! Nasty case of knowing the song but not its name.
And yes, unquiet spirits lingering here since the days of Dream Valley raise some disquieting questions. Also a great way to make the Everfree even more unsettling in G4 stories. Imagine if Pinkie had gone mute halfway through her song while dispelling Nightmare Moon's illusions...
5732826
Very much reminded of Ryan George's Pitch Meetings.
"Why didn't the ponies ever talk about this before now?"
"So the story can happen."
"Right."
And I'm all for more callbacks if it means things actually happen in this generation.
5732828
Three headliners -> Three simultaneous finishers -> Pokémon Trainer's Final Smash.
There's always some line of logic from source to output. Some of them are just more contrived than others.
At the time of writing, I have two episodes left of Chapter 4 to watch. But as this is an isolated special with no contribution to the overall arc, I can reflect on it now.
I just really don't know, man. It was already crystal clear from the two prior 44-minute specials that Gillian Berrow and the other writers (this special written by Tony Fleecs from the comics, proof that G5's production process can stifle folks who we have seen produce actually good stuff for MLP; though he only wrote one issue there, and primarily drew, so can't be certain there) just don't know how to write a double-length episode without an absurd amount of Idiot Ball cloning among the whole cast to prolong a conflict that would be resolved in a few minutes otherwise, but even there, the failure to actually show the fallout after spending so much time is astounding. They reverse the headlines to them all being first and… then we never see what the other two make of Ruby Jubilee going first. Roll credits. Even the usual processed apology and acknowledgment, by the Mane 5 to the bands, of getting so caught up they didn't coordinate, would be something.
In it's own plasticky TV CG animation way, I kinda liked the way the Troggles were rendered, but Jesus, there is just nothing else to say about this special. We're firmly at the point in the generation where everyone knows it's wrapping up and they're doing the stunt casting to try and revive it a little. It reminds me of nothing so much as the Powerpuff Girls's reboot guest star episode of Bliss, the bad OC fourth sister. And that couldn't even get ratings back to 1 million in 2017, so you know it failed on that front.
Sparky is at least in his "proper that gets 3 gags" phase from "Winter Wishday", even if the plot requires Pipp to be back at some of her worst. A better showing for Izzy than usual, though the voice delivery and mangled character animation flow really rob her as much as any pony has been in this series.
Yeah. I dunno. I watched this one four-and-a-half days ago, and for better or worse, it's fading fast, beyond the audacity of the Idiot Plot, and how much of a slog it is. These writers simple cannot write dialogue that doesn't go in circles and tie itself in ribbons, each and every scene, time and time again. It was such a relief to go back to 22-minute ones after this. The writing remains terrible, but at least they're dense enough (hollow density, granted) that I don't fall asleep.
"You'll be the headliner."
And the epic crash begins.
👻👻👻AT LAST, THE SWEET RELEASE OF DEATH, DENIED TO US SINCE G1 UNTOLD AGES AGO. WE WERE JUST TRYING TO BORROW SOMEONE'S VOICE TO TELL YOU THAT'S ALL WE WANTED.👻👻👻
The only way moons can make sense is if they're a figure of speech, as in "ages ago".