Season One Overview (Part One) · 12:10am Jan 20th, 2016
After reading my thoughts on season five, a friend of mine on Skype said that he was eager to hear what I had to say regarding the other four seasons. I figured, “Why not?” I’m sure what little people follow me on this site would be interested in hearing what I think of the first four seasons. So, without further ado, let’s get started with season one.
Episodes 1 & 2: Friendship is Magic, Parts 1 & 2
Like a lot of pilots for TV shows, this pilot was written by Lauren Faust and aside from being a co-writer on “The Ticket Master,” she hasn’t proceeded to write any further episodes since, also like very many creators of TV shows. Given how bad the Powerpuff Girls episode “Equal Fights” was received from feminists, I was skeptical when approaching this episode. Did this episode succeed in drawing people in? I’m pretty sure the bronies would tell you so, but for me, this pilot episode has several problems.
First and foremost, the episode starts off with this exposition dump about how Princess Luna became jealous of Princess Celestia, and her jealousy consumed her, turning her into Nightmare Moon. Because of this, Celestia had no other choice but to banish her sister to the moon for a thousand years. Unfortunately, the exposition doesn’t stop there. Whatever story the writer seemed to be trying to tell here just seemed to put on hold so that the characters could spout more exposition. Here’s the problem with that: prelude and exposition are not story.
While it may seem as if I’ve been nitpicking so far, I really can’t do anything else. The story elements of this pilot are so insignificant and so disjointed that any comment you make about them is going to seem like nitpicking. I say this because there’s no story here; it’s just exposition. In fact, if you think about it, this whole pilot was entirely exposition. It’s like:
"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon."
"There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters."
"The book said: when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed."
I mean, it just goes on and on like this right to the end. I don’t understand why they decided to cram all of this exposition into two episodes. This would have been a lot better had the writer made this a season-long story arc. Each character could have their own episode, discovering the Element of Harmony that they represent along the way, and then for the finale, they could all come together to take down Nightmare Moon. Hmm, come to think of it, that would probably make for a good fanfic.
Another problem with the pilot is that a lot of things just felt contrived, from the Summer Sun Celebration being held in Ponyville to all of the future bearers of the Elements of Harmony being in Ponyville and Twilight meeting all of them within one day. I can buy all of them knowing each other seeing as how they all live in Ponyville, but what are the chances that they would all become best friends and learn that they all represent an Element of Harmony? That’s a lot to buy, especially for a pilot.
Episode 3: The Ticket Master
The pilot showed the Mane Six forming what amounts to a sisterly bond over the course of one evening. That certainly was not reflected in this episode. In this episode’s defense, this plot isn’t exactly new. A lot of cartoons have used this plot, even an episode from one of the previous My Little Pony generations. That still doesn’t make this episode any good.
What makes this episode particularly annoying is how selfish the Mane Six come off as. Instead of giving Twilight some peace and quiet to think about her decision, they decide to constantly bother her, never giving her a moment’s peace. She can’t even eat lunch without them bothering her about the stupid ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala. What makes this worse is the fact that they’re trying to one-up each other at every turn. Applejack uses food to bribe Twilight into giving her the ticket. Fluttershy cleans Twilight’s house from top to bottom. Rarity makes her a dress for the Gala. And Pinkie Pie outright demands that Twilight give her the extra ticket.
In the end, though, the Mane Six end up apologizing. If this wasn’t a family-oriented show, I’m guessing Rainbow Dash would have said something along the lines of, “I got the ticket. I got the ticket, and you all can suck it. You all can suck it.” Twilight decides to not even bother going to the Gala, sending her two tickets back. Celestia sends her six tickets so that she and all of her friends can go. I think this is the episode where Celestia got her nickname: “Trollestia.” She should have known that sending two tickets would have resulted in the Mane Six attempting to kill each other over the other ticket, so why didn’t she bother to send Twilight six tickets to begin with? Furthermore, how does Celestia have a nephew? Does she have a brother that we don’t know about? Plot holes like this really annoy the crap out of me.
Like the pilot, this episode had a severe problem with its story, but, aside from that, this episode was okay.
Episode 4: Applebuck Season
This is the episode where Applejack’s character arc was established and resolved within twenty-two minutes. The problem with this episode is the fact that Applejack stubbornly refuses to receive any help from her friends. She almost kills herself from exhaustion, all because she’s too prideful to ask for help when she needs it. The other problem with this episode is the character who’s learning the moral. (This will be a common occurrence throughout this series.) Applejack is the one who learns that it’s perfectly okay to ask for help when you need it. This sounds more like a moral for a child like Apple Bloom than an adult, or a character like Rainbow Dash. I mean, if she’s just now learning this lesson, then what did she do while she was in school? The opener makes it clear that she’s not very good at mathematics. So, what, did she never bother to ask anybody for help with her math homework? No wonder she was the last one in her class to get a cutie mark.
Aside from the story and moral, this episode was kind of funny. Sleep-deprived Applejack gets a chuckle out of me every now and again, even if she’s on the brink of literally dying from exhaustion. Of course Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but join her in going, “Whoo, whoo, whoo.”
Speaking of Pinkie Pie, she’s rather stupid in this episode. (No surprise there.) You would think that she would be making sure that Applejack is putting in the right ingredients while they were making muffins, but she doesn’t. Did she not notice anything odd when she was mixing them together, like why there would be potato chips in the mixing bowl? She’s just lucky that this experience didn’t do any damage to the reputation of her family’s bakery. I’m sure everypony affected by the “baked bads” got a refund.
The only bit of the episode that I didn’t find enjoyable was Applejack helping Rainbow Dash with her trick. While most people are laughing at this, I’m cringing. Applejack falls about a dozen times, including literally falling on her ass, before she finally gets it right. What makes this worse is that she’s so deprived of sleep that apparently she doesn’t feel any pain whatsoever. Who knew that sleep deprivation could make you impervious to pain?
The character that really shines in this episode is Twilight, who refuses to give up on Applejack. She’s constantly encouraging her to get some help with the apple harvesting despite Applejack’s protests. I think my favorite line of hers in this episode is, “. . . and terrified bushels of brand new bouncing baby bunnies.” I love alliterative phrases like that. This line is a bit of a tongue twister, so I’m sure Tara Strong both had fun and a bit of trouble recording it.
Minor hiccups in the story and the moral aside, I thought this episode was good.
Episode 5: Griffon the Brush-Off
I have nothing nice to say regarding this episode. If you ask me, this episode was one of those episodes where a lot of potential was completely wasted. Here we have an example of a good character being introduced and the writers doing nothing with her but making her a one-note bully character. I can’t stand it when writers do that.
We’re introduced to Gilda, a griffon, a character who could have been a great way of establishing Rainbow Dash’s backstory. Furthermore, this is a character that we’ve never seen before, so this could have been a great opportunity to expand the universe and give us a chance to explore the Griffon Kingdom. We don’t get any of that in this episode. What we get is an episode of Pinkie Pie being jealous, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of all the problems that this episode has.
For one thing, Gilda seems to be a pretty likable character when we first meet her. Then, for no reason, and with no transition at all, Gilda suddenly starts being cruel to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. With Pinkie Pie, I can understand because she was being annoying by way of constantly bothering Gilda and Rainbow Dash. The latter is perplexing, however. Fluttershy is leading a group of ducks down the street. Instead of getting out of their way, Gilda deliberately bumps into Fluttershy, all so she can call Fluttershy a doofus and tell her to watch where she’s going. It didn’t help that she screamed in Fluttershy’s face, bringing the poor thing to tears. It’s no wonder Pinkie Pie got so pissed off. Gilda being cruel to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie for little to no reason at all quickly got on my nerves. What makes this even more annoying is that the only reason the writers did this was for no other reason other than to show us that Gilda is a bitch. Like I said, “The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone” really helps this episode be more tolerable, but that doesn’t necessarily make it any better.
Now we get to the climax of the episode, that being the party that Pinkie threw for Gilda in hopes of improving her attitude. Did Gilda overreact? Yes, but you can’t tell me that if you were assaulted by prank after prank for a good five minutes, you wouldn’t be pissed off too. I know for sure that I would be. This scene isn’t helped by the fact that Rainbow Dash pretty much tells Gilda, “Screw you! Get out of my life!” This seems to really contradict the moral of “The Return of Harmony.” The moral there was that friendship was worth fighting for. According to this episode, friendship is worth fighting for, unless your friend is an inconsiderate bitch.
Had the writers gone into how and why Gilda was a bitch and given her some character development, this could have been a great episode. As it stands, though, this is one of my least favorite episodes of this season. Not helping matters is the fact that Twilight learned the lesson and not Pinkie Pie. Granted, this was back in season one, back before the rest of the cast started to learn friendship lessons, but given that Rarity learned a lesson in “Sonic Rainboom”, there is no reason why the lesson couldn’t have been shifted to Pinkie here. Instead of the moral being that you can’t control your friends’ behavior and that there is plenty of room for old and new friends, how about the moral be that you shouldn’t butt into peoples’ lives and learn to leave people alone when they ask you to? That moral would have fit this episode perfectly.
Episode 6: Boast Busters
This episode was very infamous for its major suckitude when I first sat down to watch it. I’d heard that it was bad, but from what I hear most people hate this episode because of Trixie, which I honestly don’t get. If there were any bad characters in this episode, they were definitely Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
Our problems first start off at the very beginning of the episode. Twilight and Spike run into Snips and Snails, who tell them about Trixie’s magic show. Despite not having seen even a second of Trixie’s show, Spike automatically responds to this by saying that Twilight is the best unicorn in Ponyville. Doesn’t that seem to contradict this episode’s moral about boasting?
Like I said, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash really pissed me off in this episode. I would expect Rarity and Rainbow Dash to heckle Trixie while she’s trying to perform, but Applejack? Really? She hardly seems like the character to be a hypocritical bitch. Her showing Trixie up onstage in the middle of her show wasn’t even teaching her a lesson; it was just plan rude. Rainbow Dash and Rarity aren’t any better. In my opinion, the three of them got what they deserved. What makes their heckling all the worse is that they only watch her show for a minute or two before coming to the conclusion that Trixie’s a bitch, never once considering the fact that her boasting could all be part of the show and that she may be a very nice pony when not performing. She’s a performer. Of course she’s going to boast. That’s how you attract people to watch your show. Yes, she may exaggerate her abilities, but if she didn’t boast, then nopony would watch her show. It’s kind of her job to brag about her abilities. She’s trying to earn a living, after all. At the very least, Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy had the decency to keep their mouths shut during her show. The Mane Six just utterly disgusted me in this episode. Given how much bragging they do on a daily basis, especially Rainbow Dash, they have absolutely no right to heckle Trixie while she’s trying to perform and earn a living.
For the climax, Spike gives Snips and Snails the brilliant idea of bringing an Ursa Major into town. They succeed in getting an Ursa Minor, which results in Ponyville being nearly destroyed. Trixie is the only pony in town who actually tries to stop the rampaging beast and her reward for it is to get trash talked by the Mane Six while she’s standing right there! I really can’t stand people who badmouth others behind their backs. It really annoys the piss out of me, and it especially annoyed me here because the Mane Six aren’t mincing any words about how they feel about Trixie while she’s standing in front of them. If you’re going to talk smack about somebody, at least have the courtesy of waiting until they’re gone before you do it.
Trixie could have done nothing at all. After all, she holds no ties to Ponyville. She’s just there on a visit to drum up business for her show. She could have easily escaped and left the problem to Ponyville. But at least she tried to fight against the Ursa Minor. Yes, her attempts were futile, but at least she put forth some effort to stop it. And what do the Mane Six do? You know, the ones who have friends in Ponyville and who actually live there? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Again, after the Ursa Minor is vanquished, by none other than Twilight Sparkle, no less, the Mane Six show their gratitude towards Trixie by belittling her. It’s episodes like this that have me hoping that the Mane Six would all keel over and die.
Episode 7: Dragonshy
This episode felt like it could have easily been an episode from Generation 1. Unlike the last episode, all of the Mane Six shine in this episode. The only characters I had a problem with were Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was a problem because she was completely unsympathetic towards Fluttershy throughout the whole episode. Rainbow Dash might not be scared of heights, but that doesn’t mean she has to be a bitch to Fluttershy, especially when she accidentally slipped and caused Rarity and the others to fall.
The problem with Fluttershy is that she’s a pansy. She makes Chuckie Finster look like a knight in shining armor by comparison. Given her isolated lifestyle, I can see why she’s scared of a lot of things, but her own shadow? Laughter aside, that’s pathetic.
Character issues aside, this episode gave us a great sense of adventure, very much like the pilot did. There’s constantly an obstacle that the Mane Six are having to overcome. Granted, most of those obstacles are the result of Fluttershy being a pansy, but they are obstacles nonetheless.
What also makes this episode great is the way in which all of the Mane Six approach the situation. None of them approach it the same way. Rarity uses her charm to talk the dragon into leaving. Twilight tries persuading him into leaving by talking to him as an individual. And Rainbow Dash uses brute force to get him to leave. Not the smartest of moves on Rainbow Dash’s part, but, being an athlete, Rainbow Dash really isn’t that bright. She acts first and thinks second.
The only problem that I have with this episode is that it suffers from a symptom that a lot of these adventure stories have, that being that the conflict could’ve easily been solved had Spike been used. Spike is a dragon. Therefore, wouldn’t it make sense for the Mane Six to take him with them when they go to confront a dragon who needs to leave his cave because he’s covering Ponyville in smoke? Then again, given how fully grown dragons are portrayed in this show, that might not have worked.
There is one minor other problem that I have with this episode. The only thing to convince Fluttershy to stand up to the dragon is when he injures her friends. You would think that standing up to him would provide her with some character development, but it doesn’t. Pretty much every Fluttershy episode has her struggling to overcome some silly fear she has, and usually these fears are contrived just for the sake of the plot. I just wish that character growth would be more consistent with this series.
Episode 8: Look Before You Sleep
Here we have yet another episode where the moral is being taught to the wrong characters. It’s no wonder this episode is on so many fans’ “worst of” lists. I can see why.
Like I said, one of the major problems with this episode is the fact that it is Rarity and Applejack who are learning the lesson, that being despite having differences, two people can still become good friends. This lesson sounds like something that would be geared more towards someone like Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Or Apple Bloom and Scootaloo since they seem to be the most diverse in terms of personality. But instead, we’re forced to watch two grown mares acting like a couple of five-year-old children.
Not helping is the fact that Twilight is in this episode as well. Now, I love Twilight. She’s my favorite character. However, she acts so stupid in this episode that it’s hard to see her as being the smartest of the bunch among her friends. For one thing, she wants to throw a slumber party, saying that she’s always wanted one. Why is Twilight throwing a slumber party? Isn’t throwing parties Pinkie Pie’s thing? And again, this setup makes it seem as if it would be more fitting for a Cutie Mark Crusaders episode rather than an episode with the Mane Six. In fact, they had the opportunity to do this in “Scare Master”, but they went with a different idea for that one.
After Applejack and Rarity start fighting over a blanket (no, I’m not kidding), Twilight decides that she’s had enough. Before she can do anything, however, lightning strikes a tree outside. Instead of steering the tree away from the house, Applejack ropes it into the bedroom. Twilight decides to start looking through her book on slumber parties instead of actually doing anything, leaving Rarity and Applejack to handle the situation, all while she looks up anything about having tress in your bedroom at your slumber party. Why that entry would be in a book on slumber parties is beyond me. Once the situation is fixed, Twilight obliviously asks where the figurines came from, stating that they aren’t in the book either.
The story and characters weren’t very good in this episode. Again, the setup and characterization makes this episode seem like it’s better suited for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or maybe Diamond Tiara. Have Diamond Tiara throw a slumber party, inviting the Cutie Mark Crusaders along, only to have the Cutie Mark Crusaders fighting because they do things differently. The writers had the opportunity to do this in “Stare Master.” Why they didn’t, I don’t know.
Episode 9: Bridle Gossip
Once again, I am left thoroughly disgusted at the behavior of the Mane Six. One of the things that makes this group so endearing and lovable is the fact that they’re so diverse, yet get along like family. Given that, you would think that maybe they would be more than willing to show friendship and kindness to a zebra that comes into town, and maybe help her out with her shopping. But do they? No.
The message of racism was subtle in this episode. Adding to the racism message is the fact that Zecora is a zebra, which are native to Africa. Like I said, instead of showing loving-kindness to her, the Mane Six avoid her at all costs. They backbite her, even going as far as outright calling her “evil.” And then when they fall under the effects of the poison joke, their first instinct is to jump to the conclusion that it was Zecora who placed a hex on them. ‘Cause, you know, that’s really logical.
Like “Look Before You Sleep,” the setup here sounds like it would be geared more towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They could know about Zecora from school, but avoid her because there have been rumors flying around at school that she’s evil and will “gobble you up in a big tasty stew.” The Mane Six, fed up with the way they’re behaving, then decide to take them to meet Zecora. They then learn that they shouldn’t be judging somepony before they get to know them. It doesn’t even have to be Zecora who’s the victim of racism; it could be a skunk or a raccoon or any other species of animal that the CMC aren’t familiar with.
Needless to say, Zecora gets rightfully pissed off when the group demands that she change them back, and their case isn’t helped when they accuse her of kidnapping Apple Bloom and doing something with her. However, it turns out that Apple Bloom is just fine and was merely gathering ingredients for Zecora so that she could make the remedy for the poison joke.
While the Mane Six were all equally terrible in this episode, I had a very big problem with Applejack. She came off as being extremely overprotective. Unfortunately, as “Somepony to Watch Over Me” showed us, this character trait is one of those that wasn’t forgotten about. To be fair, Apple Bloom wasn’t much better. She decides to leave Applejack hanging on a branch without a second thought, smugly telling Applejack that she’s the big sister now. Did Apple Bloom suddenly forget that they’re in the middle of the Everfree Forest, where all manner of terrifying monsters and creatures could potentially kill Applejack, or eat her? Does Apple Bloom even care? It’s just a good thing that Rainbow Dash ran into her, quite literally, when she did. No doubt Applejack riding on top of her gave the AppDash shippers some fuel for their fanfics.
The best character this episode, in my opinion, was Zecora, who unfortunately has been reduced to a few appearances throughout the seasons, which is really a bummer because I find this character really fascinating. Like Gilda, this character could have been used to expand the universe of Equestria and give us a chance to learn more about a new character. Just another character they went and wasted.
Episode 10: Swarm of the Century
The idea behind this episode was interesting: a new creature from the Everfree Forest that reproduces by way of retching that wreaks havoc on Ponyville by way of eating all things edible in its path. They only become a nuisance when they start destroying Ponyville.
Out of all the characters, I’m surprised Rainbow Dash would want one, but I’m not surprised that she finds dressing up boring. She seems to be the type of character who can’t stand being still for very long unless she’s napping. Twilight’s reaction to the Parasprites was interesting, as it’s the last reaction I would expect from a character like her. She blushes upon saying that the Parasprite that Fluttershy shows her is adorable.
Once again, Pinkie Pie is portrayed as being an idiot. Instead of telling her friends that she knows how to stop the Parasprites, she decides to be extremely vague. Why didn’t she just tell her friends that she needed the instruments as part of her plan to get rid of the Parasprites? That would have solved the communication problem. Then again, if the writers had that happen, then we probably wouldn’t have a moral for the episode.
The Mane Six do come up with some good ideas to get rid of the Parasprites. They actually succeeded in getting rid of them the first time around, but thanks to Fluttershy, who stupidly decided to keep one, they have another horde of Parasprites to deal with. Their second attempt would have worked also had it not been for Pinkie Pie, whose stupidity caused the tornado that Rainbow Dash was controlling to spin out of control, resulting in the bothersome little creatures being sailed to Ponyville.
I did like Twilight in this episode, though. It turns out her leadership skills existed as far back as season one, as she’s the one who’s making sure everything goes according to plan for Princess Celestia’s visit. But thankfully, the episode doesn’t center on her. Applejack is given a chance to shine as well, as she instructs the others on what to do during their first attempt at getting rid of the Parasprites. Twilight only messed up when she cast the spell to make the Parasprites to stop eating the food. Didn’t she read about what would happen if she cast it? What makes this worse is that she used this same spell again in “Bats.” If the spell didn’t work here, what made Twilight think that it would work there?
What makes this episode a chore to get through is the fact that the problem is so easy to solve, but for the sake of a plot, we have to watch the Mane Six act like morons until the end. Fluttershy shouldn’t have taken the Parasprite to begin with, nor should have Twilight taken one without doing some research on it. What were they thinking?
The thing that I don’t buy is the fact that Princess Celestia has no clue what these things are. Hasn’t she been around for over a thousand years, and wasn’t she the one who cautioned the ponies who founded Ponyville about the dangers of the Everfree Forest? Surely she would have known about these things and how bothersome they can be.
Regardless, this was an okay episode.
Episode 11: Winter Wrap-Up
For anyone first getting into the show, I would highly recommend you watch this episode first. I wouldn’t recommend watching the pilot episode because, as I said, it’s pretty much nothing but exposition. This episode showcases the ponies much better, especially Twilight. This episode is a much better introduction into her character, as well as the rest of the Mane Six, who all get to shine in this episode, as they did in “Dragonshy.”
Each of the Mane Six have a certain job that they’re assigned during Winter Wrap-Up. Applejack is in charge of plowing the fields and planting the seeds for the food. Rainbow Dash is in charge of the weather team. Fluttershy is left to take care of the hibernating animals. Rarity is busy making the nests for the southern birds. Finally, Pinkie Pie is left with the task of making sure the icy lakes melt evenly. Meanwhile, Twilight is left with trying to fit in and find out what job she would be good at during Winter Wrap-Up, while Spike is busy lazing about not doing much to help out.
What really makes this episode a good one is the fact that all of the Mane Six get a part and all of them are memorable. Twilight’s attempts at ice skating with Pinkie are reminiscent of the famous ice skating scene between Bambi and Thumper, while her attempts at trying to awaken the woodland critters from hibernation leads to some humorous results.
Like “Friendship is Magic, Part 2” we get a catchy tune in the middle of the episode in which all of the Mane Six get to sing a part. It does a good job of explaining what all of the different groups do. Meanwhile, Twilight struggles to find out where she would fit in.
With a catchy tune, some great character moments, and a relatable conflict, this is one of those episodes that was actually worth watching this season.
Episode 12: Call of the Cutie
Up until this episode, Apple Bloom had been little more than a supporting character. She made a couple of appearances here and there, but the writers never really gave us a chance to get to know her that well. That changed with this episode. This marks the first episode where we really get to understand what kind of character Apple Bloom is: she’s a filly who’s upset about not getting her cutie mark.
For a pony, getting a cutie mark is basically like going through puberty. I find Apple Bloom’s conflict in this episode pretty relatable because I’m sure we’ve all been in a situation like this, especially if you’re a guy, but girls can also relate to the conflict as well. For guys, Apple Bloom’s dilemma is like being made fun of because you’re still a virgin in your early twenties, while all of your guy friends have already lost their virginity. For girls, it can be the same: you haven’t gotten your period yet, while all of your gal pals have.
This episode also introduced us to the characters of Twist, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon. For the record, I never hated the latter two. I know the writers are going out of their way to make us hate these characters, but I just could never bring myself to hate them. They’re children, so it’s not like they know what they’re doing is wrong. The later seasons really make it hard to hate these two, especially with the revelation that one of them is being verbally/emotionally abused at home. If it helps, this was kind of my theory on the character anyway, seeing as how bullies are victims of child abuse nine times out of ten. Plus, I always thought that they were kinda cute. And Twist, I never gave much thought to, probably because she only serves to throw in the “plot twist” of this episode. Really, it isn’t much of a twist if you give it away within the first ten minutes.
This episode also introduced us to the characters of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Why they weren’t in Cheerilee’s class at the beginning is anyone’s guess. They were hiding under the punch table for obvious reasons and only summoned up the courage to stand up to Diamond Tiara when they saw her making fun of an innocent filly in front of a group of ponies.
It’s episodes like this that remind me why I love these little fillies so much.
Episode 13: Fall Weather Friends
Here we have a situation that’s very similar to “Look Before You Sleep”, which is two characters acting like a couple of schoolponies over something stupid. Basically, Rainbow Dash and Applejack get a little too competitive over something that’s not even supposed to be a race, but is supposed to be a nice, relaxing activity, and they end up beating the ever-loving crap out of each other as a result.
What started this whole fiasco was a friendly competition. Despite Applejack telling Rainbow Dash that it’s all in good fun, Rainbow Dash decides that it’s a competition to be won and cheats through most of the challenges using her wings. Common sense should have told her that she wouldn’t be allowed to use her wings in the competition, as this would give her an unfair advantage. But, then again, this is Rainbow Dash we’re talking about, a pony who isn’t very bright. So of course, Applejack has to be the one to tell her this. The two of them agree to have a rematch during the annual Running of the Leaves.
Throughout this entire competition, Spike has been serving as the announcer, though he sometimes managed to get himself roped into helping out with the competition. Somehow, this competition attracts the attention of all of Ponyville by the fourth competition. Must have been a day off from work for most ponies or they must have been bored.
Twilight decides to compete as well, leading to ridicule mainly from Rainbow Dash, but Applejack doesn’t make any attempts to hide the fact that she’s laughing at Twilight as well. She at least had the decency to wish Twilight good luck.
During the Running of the Leaves, Pinkie Pie and Spike provide commentary. Pinkie Pie keeps getting sidetracked throughout it, however.
Very much like episodes such as “Look Before You Sleep” and “Bridle Gossip”, I have a problem with who’s learning the moral. Again, this kind of setup sounds like it’d be something more suited for the schoolponies. Let’s say it turns out that Silver Spoon is good at chess. Instead of being a good sport, she goes around tooting her own horn, saying how she’s the best at chess and whatnot. Sweetie Belle challenges her on this, saying that the two should settle on a chess competition to see if Silver Spoon really is as good as she says she is. Silver Spoon ends up losing the competition, allowing her to learn the lesson of being a good sport instead of going around bragging about how good she is. Regardless, this moral taught here is a good one, and it’s what led to one of the most popular Rainbow Dash pairings when it comes to shipping.
Well, Season 1's most glaring issue seemed to be treating the mane six like children, and having it so that only Twilight could deliver the "Friendship Report" in the end. Personally, I can buy some instances of child like morals being learned by adults, such as learning to accept help from others, learning not to judge others based on appearance alone, and learning how to be a good sport even if you lose.
However, I personally don't think Pinkie Pie was an idiot at all in "Swarm of The Century", she knew what a parasprite was right away, yet not even Twilight bothered to ask her what that was or how she knew about it. And Fluttershy knowingly kept a parasprite even after she knew what a danger they were, yet never got called out on it, while Pinkie Pie was bashed simply for sabotaging a control scheme that wasn't going anywhere. And the inclusion of Zecora only makes the first solution even more harmful, since the rest of the mane six esentially decide they'll just let the parasprites be Zecora's problem and they don't even care if she loses her home because of it. They also do exactly what you said they did to Trixie in front of Pinkie Pie. It's bad enough to bad mouth a random stranger you know nothing about, but it's completely unforgiveable to talk bad about a friend who was only trying to help and was never given a chance to explain themselves. You also don't just go around implying they might have brain damage just because their idea doesn't make sense. Friends don't talk about friends like that.
"Look Before You Sleep" should've been saved until after the CMC were introduced, then have Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle replace their older sisters, and replace Twilight with Pinkie Pie or even Scootaloo if they really wanted.
I'm glad the show has improved leaps and bounds since these episodes, most of them are still decent, but they largely set the bar for what was to come later on.
3698982 Completely agree with everything you just said!
3699033 By the way (not trying to rush you), have you had a chance to read part 1 of "The One Where Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo Have A Sleepover"? I'm almost done with part 2, but I want to wait and send it to you once I know you've read part 1.
3699049 I honestly completely forgot about that. I'll read it and let you know what I think as soon as I can.
3699111 I did, though it was in a response to one of your PMs from when I asked you to proofread my previous fanfic. I can send you a seperate PM if you want.
3699123 I checked my PMs and noticed that you'd sent me a link to the story in question. I must have missed that.
3699157 That's okay. From now, I think I'll just send you seperate PMs everytime, so I know you'll get them.
about the pilot:
One thing that was a pretty good idea was to shift all the blame onto Luna. It made people sympathize with her a lot more. Despite all it's other problems that key scene with Luna and Celestia was quite moving. I felt for Luna and also felt intimidated by that image of Celestia walking towards Luna.
about 'the ticket master'
Celestia could also have just forgotten that Twilight had friends. After all Twilight always was a loner and never cared enough to invite friends anywhere.
3705116 But "Amending Fences" showed us that Twilight did in fact have ponies in Canterlot who considered her a friend.
3712079
they weren't really friends. Just study mates and not close enough for her to take to a gala.
3713047 Twilight may not have considered Moon Dancer a friend, but the latter sure thought of Twilight that way, so much so that she styled her mane after Twilight's.