Thoughts on S6 E8 · 5:14pm May 15th, 2016

It's Pony Christmas Carol. I mean, what more is there to say?

As it turns out, there's always something. Spoilers follow below the break.

Actually, the only thing I want to talk about is the music. For the first time in six seasons I've enjoyed the music 100%. Does that mean I wasn't happy with any of the songs before this? I feel like I would have liked Filli Vanilli but I haven't watched it yet. Rainbow's Best Pet song was pretty good, but it wasn't 100%. Eeh... I'm not going to do an audit of the full collection, but I'll list out what made this episode's songs stand out.

1) Heightened vocals: A lotta nice high notes in this one. Applejack's song, Pinkie's song were the standouts of having this. I mean, yeah, it's cheap and easy to do, just get them to sing high, but it works. It doesn't sound like the CMC songs (which have been the worst offenders of this) where they come across as "yeah sure" in tone, regardless of what the lyrics are making them out to say. The more challenging melodies are more fun to listen to, and it goes a long way in making the songs the great pieces they are.

2) Style: It's like this steampunk-y 50's(?) you know what I mean thing. Behold, the power of the French horn in solidly working parallel with the setting to generate immersion! But more than that, it's the fills which cover up the empty spots. Take AJ's song. As she pulls the high note at the end of the chorus, there's this band playing a riff to fill up the space left behind. It keeps the flow of the song dynamic and full and punchy, and it sustains the feeling and energy - be it cheerful or reflective or grim. Again, take the CMC songs, which have bread pudding guitar strumming or whatever it was. I cannot remember for sure, but I know that these fills stood out to me much more than they did in any other song.

3) Stuff: The songs had them doing stuff in quick succession. The lyrics reflected an expansion of the ideas being presented, instead of repeating themselves... again cue CMC comparison where they just spend 3 minutes doing the same thing and wondering the same thing with what feels like little development. These songs didn't feel like a drag, they felt like an alternative storytelling medium with a pacing that befitted its purpose and I loved that it finally happened: these were songs that moved the plot along by being plot, just like a musical like Les Mis should be.

4) ~~Steampunk~~ Victorian Starlight Glimmer: Every song had Starlight Glimmer in the sharpest cosplay imaginable. The pince-nez, the freaking top hat and frilly coat. 10/10. One of the best costumes so far to put on a pony alongside war jumper Rarity. So gorgeous. Mmf.

I mean... man, they need to give Flutters and Twi some love, or else there will be no other camp but Starlight's.

Since I won't have a fic to give you - there's nothing more than needs to be done - here's a little idea I had when I saw the scene.