• Member Since 17th Nov, 2012
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MariusIoannesP


Lifelong Nerd. Lifelong practical Catholic and firm believer that an egg is an egg. Amateur fanfiction auteur elsewhere and maker of YouTube videos.

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  • 275 weeks
    Guess who's back...

    Guess who's back, back again
    Marius’ back, tell a friend
    Guess who's back, guess who's back?
    Guess who's back, guess who's back?
    Guess who's back, guess who's back?
    Guess who's back?

    Now this looks like the time for me
    So everybody just follow me
    'Cause we need My Little Pony fics I see
    'Cause it feels so empty without me

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    4 comments · 769 views
  • 349 weeks
    Special Announcement/Rant Concerning MariusIoannesp Reviews

    Greetings my Brony Brethren!

    I’m sure you’re all waiting with baited breath for my reviews of the Equestria Girls specials Dance Magic, Movie Magic, and Mirror Magic...

    Oh, who am I kidding?! None of you are waiting for my reviews of anything! Well, maybe one of you, but whatever.

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  • 352 weeks
    Mariusioannesp Reviews: "Not Asking for Trouble"


     
    WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for MLP’s mid-season finale “Not Asking for Trouble”.

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    0 comments · 931 views
  • 353 weeks
    Mariusioannesp Reviews: "A Royal Problem"


     
    WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for the latest MLP episode “A Royal Problem”.

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    0 comments · 1,683 views
  • 354 weeks
    Mariusioannesp Reviews: "Honest Apple"


     
    WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for the latest MLP episode “Honest Apple”.

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    0 comments · 1,165 views
May
18th
2016

SPOILERS? Mariusioannesp Reviews: "A Hearth's Warming Tail" · 5:46am May 18th, 2016

WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for the latest MLP episode “A Hearth ‘s Warming Tail”.

Now, without further a-Christmas-y-episode-in-motherfrackin’-May-do, here is my review of “A Hearth’s Warming Tail”.

It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve!... Even though it’s May. Everypony is getting into the Hearth’s Warming spirit! That is except for Starlight Glimmer. She thinks it’s all rather silly. (I think it’s silly this episode is airing in May, but what do I know?!) Princess Twilight Sparkle thinks the best way to get Starlight in the Hearth’s Warming spirit is by reading her Twilight’s favorite Hearth's Warming story “A Hearth’s Warming Tale”. Will Starlight Glimmer learn the true meaning of Hearth’s Warming?

So, what’s the verdict?

What do you get when you take A Christmas Carol, a dash of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, and a heaping helping of everything that makes MLP great?

Well, you get this episode. And it was a delightful concoction.

So yeah, I liked it. I really liked it.

Even though it’s a Christmas-y episode airing in May.

So let us begin as always at the beginning. And this episode begins with a song! Eyup, this is the season’s musical episode! We are introduced with a delightful little ditty called “Hearth’s Warming Eve Is Here Once Again” that does a good job getting you into the episode’s holiday spirit. You know, even though it’s May. Anywho, all the Mane 6 and a good number of the townsponies all participate in the opening musical number. Also, this happens.

It’s Derpy! And of course she has to break the ornament.

But look how much fun she’s having as the star on top that completes all the scenery.

This Hearth’s Warming feels like the very first Hearth’s Warming to me!

Moving right along, Twilight spots Starlight standing alone on the balcony as everypony helps get the Castle of Friendship ready for Hearth’s Warming. Twilight asks her if she’s ready to celebrate her first Hearth’s Warming in Ponyville. Starlight shocks Twilight and Spike by admitting she was going to skip Hearth’s Warming! See, Starlight finds Hearth’s Warming kind of silly as she sees it as a day dedicated to presents and candy. Spike can’t understand why anyone would deny themselves presents and candy.

Twilight tries to explain that Spike means that there’s more to Hearth’s Warming than just presents and candy; it commemorates an important day in Equestria’s history. Despite that though, Starlight feels most ponies use Hearth’s Warming as an excuse for silly songs and fun instead of recalling the story of this hallowed day. It’s kind of like how I feel Christmas has become an excuse for materialistic pursuits rather than meditating upon its deep spiritual meaning. Starlight feels the same way. Twilight suggests Starlight hasn’t heard the right holiday story, not the familiar one about how Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies got together and sang songs around a hearth to keep the Windigos at bay. This story is a holiday favorite of Twilight’s, and it’s called “A Hearth’s Warming Tale”. So, Twilight, Spike, and Starlight take a seat in the parlor, and Twilight reads her the story of “A Hearth’s Warming Tale”.

The tale begins many moons ago in a clearly Victorian-inspired Canterlot where there lived a very powerful Unicorn named Snowfall Frost. She was almost as powerful as Star Swirl the Bearded. Huh. Star Swirl the Bearded got name-dropped in the very first Hearth’s Warming episode “Hearth’s Warming Eve” in Season 2. Continuity! Twilight also mentions that Star Swirl was an expert in “dimensional calibration”. Is that like dimensional calibration of interdimensional mirrors? Is that an Equestria Girls reference?

Here is Snowfall Frost fulfilling ye olde alchemists' dream of transmuting lead into gold.

As you can also see, the role of Snowfall Frost in this imaginative contemplation of “A Hearth’s Warming Tale” is filled by Starlight Glimmer. So, Snowfall Frost hates Hearth’s Warming because she wants to be perfect when it comes to magic and doesn't want anything to get in her way of doing that.

That’s the one thing she hated! THE NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!

You’re a mean one Snowfall Frost!
You really are a heel.
You're as cuddly as a cactus,
And as charming as an eel,
Snowfall Frost
You're a bad banana,
With a greasy black peel!

I will bet you anything ILoveKimPossibleAlot is going to make that joke! You saw it here first folks!

Anywho, Snowfall Frost is assisted by her loyal assistant Snowdash.

She is of course portrayed by Rainbow Dash. She is clearly the Bob Cratchit of this story because she loves Hearth’s Warming. Snowfall disagrees, believing firmly that Hearth’s Warming is a dangerous day for Equestria. The whole story about ponies solving their problems by being nice and singing songs is the problem. (Is Snowfall criticizing the whole premise of MLP?) Snowfall has studied magic for years, and she knows that’s not now it works. She thinks it’s a worthier goal to work hard, learn, and use one’s skills to make Equestria a better place. Snowfall sarcastically gives Snowdash the night off for Hearth’s Warming, and she rushes right out.

This just makes Snowfall hate Hearth’s Warming even more, wishing that they could just skip the day altogether. This gives Snowfall a rather sinister idea, an idea she lays out in song. This episode’s next song is entitled “Say Goodbye to the Holiday”, and it lays out Snowfall’s plan to use her magic to eliminate Hearth’s Warming altogether. She expects that without the distraction, Equestria will become a better place, and she will be praised for it. As for the song itself, I thought it was quite excellent. We haven’t had a villain song that good since the “This Day Aria” from “A Canterlot Wedding” in Season 2. (I mean “Our Town” from “The Cutie Map” was great, but in a different way.)

Back in the parlor, Starlight questions Snowfall’s plan, thinking it a bit too extreme. So says the pony who wanted to make everypony equal by using her magic to replace their cutie marks with equal signs as Spike puts it. Twilight assures them that everypony has their motivations, and Snowfall’s will soon become apparent. Back to the story, Snowfall is about to cast her spell when she hears something coming from her hearth.

That’s Applejack in the role of the Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Past. Unlike your typical A Christmas Carol adaptation, Snowfall is unfazed by all this.


She’s only suspicious of the spirit’s presence because she didn’t cast a spirit-summoning spell. They got spirit-summoning spells in Equestria. That’s interesting. Anywho, the Applejack Spirit is here because Snowfall’s magic has attracted the notice of some very powerful forces. The Applejack Spirit is here to show Snowfall a lesson based on her past so she lassos her up and flies out the window.

Here we get the next song of the episode, “The Seeds of the Past”. It does a great job of establishing the point that Snowfall’s current disdain for Hearth’s Warming is rooted in her past. In the past, it is observed that as a filly, Snowfall had no problem with Hearth’s Warming and enjoyed the holiday as much as any other filly.

But then why is Snowfall dead set against Hearth’s Warming now? Well, that becomes clear when we meet Snowfall’s magic teacher, Professor Flintheart.

Wait a minute! Professor Snape, is that you? Why are you a pony?


Snape or not, he is not amused.

I’d like to take a moment to say that this Professor Flintheart has one of the best designs I’ve seen on this show. The fact that he looks like a pony version of Professor Snape from Harry Potter doesn’t hurt either, me being a long-time Harry Potter fan and all. I really hope we see this guy again somehow.

I certainly hope that’s the case. That way we might see him again.

Back to the case at hand, it is Professor Flintheart who poo-poos young Snowfall’s initial love of Hearth’s Warming and inculcates in her the idea of becoming a powerful Unicorn by working hard, learning, and using those skills to better Equestria. She makes her choice and decides to no longer waste her time on something seemingly as frivolous as Hearth’s Warming.

After a reprise of “The Seeds of the Past”, Snowfall finds herself back at home. That’s when she’s visited by yet another spirit.

That’s Pinkie Pie in the role of the Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Presents. No, not “Present” like the time. “Presents”, as in gifts. Snowfall of course believes presents are pointless, but the Pinkie Spirit tries to explain the deep meaning that often accompanies gift-giving. Snowfall doesn’t get it.

That’s her Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Presents sense tingling. That means there’s going to be a song. That song is called “Pinkie’s Present”, and it’s the best song of this episode. There are also a number of amusing vignettes during this song sequence.

There’s the Doctor with the Fourth Doctor’s scarf.

There’s Featherweight as this story’s Tiny Tim.

And now he’s tap dancing with Pinkie Pie.

It’s Octavia and Vinyl together again! And Vinyl’s got a phonograph!

The song ends with Twilight back in her parlor repeating the last line in what Starlight points out is Twilight’s Pinkie Pie voice. So, Twilight has a Pinkie Pie voice. Is this the season where the Mane 6ers do impressions of each other? We haven’t seen Twilight do her Pinkie Pie voice before though. Perhaps it shows up in a later episode because they were written out of order. Anywho, Twilight’s about to continue the story when Spike asks if they could take a break so he could refill his cocoa. And then there’s a commercial break. That was so meta! It would be super meta if people actually got up to refill their cocoa during that commercial break. You know, if it wasn’t May when no one drinks cocoa. That would be weird. So, with both Spike and the show itself back, Twilight continues the story at the party Snowdash is attending with her friends Merry and Flutterholly, portrayed by Rarity and Fluttershy respectively.

Is there a reason many of the characters of this story have names that are surprisingly similar to the names of Twilight’s friends?

Nonetheless, at the party, Snowdash kvetches a bit about how Snowfall Frost thinks Hearth’s Warming is a waste of time and that ponies should spend their time working hard, learning, and using their skills to make Equestria a better place. Snowdash’s friends agree that all those things are present at their Hearth’s Warming party and that a perfect Equestria looks like a Hearth’s Warming party. The Pinkie Spirit agrees with that assessment and adds that it’s sad this is the last Hearth’s Warming. The Pinkie Spirit shuffles away and immediately enough Snowfall is visited by a final spirit.

Yes! That is Princess Luna as the Spirit of Hearth’s Warmings Yet to Come. Is it me, or have we been seeing Princess Luna and Princess Celestia a lot more this season than in previous seasons? Could be a sign of things yet to come. In any case, the Luna Spirit reveals that Snowfall will succeed in her plan and the devastating consequences of it. This is in the form of the song “Luna’s Future”. This is a really great song. It’s so dark and brooding. It might be the season’s best song so far in my opinion. The future will be a frozen wasteland due to Snowfall’s spell because without Hearth’s Warming, the Windigos come back! Snowfall never realized how important Hearth’s Warming was to the fate of Equestria. Suddenly, she’s back in her house and nothing has happened yet. It’s not too late; Snowfall can still fix everything. Snowfall arrives at the party Snowdash and her friends are at. She apologizes and admits she was wrong about Hearth’s Warming. It’s about more than just songs and presents; it’s about appreciating the ponies in your life. That’s a lesson I could stand behind as it also applies to Christmas. You know, if it wasn’t May.

With that, Twilight’s tale comes to a close, and she invites Starlight to join them downstairs at the party if she decides she wants to. Predictably enough, Starlight does join them for the Hearth’s Warming party and joins in with a reprise of “Hearth’s Warming Eve Is Here Once Again”.

Before we move on to my final thoughts, it’s time again for the latest installment of amusing background pony moments!

There on the left, you can see the Doctor dressed suspiciously similar to the 11th Doctor in his final Christmas special “The Time of the Doctor”.

And here are once again are the pony versions of John and Sherlock along with Moriarty as well from Sherlock. Earlier this year interestingly enough, Sherlock had sort of a Christmas special (it aired a tad late on January 1st), “The Abominable Bride”, that reimagined its characters in the Victorian era setting of Conan Doyle’s original novels and short stories. They looked an awful lot like this in that special too. That can’t be a coincidence.


Is that a pony Jesus? All my invocations at the end of these blogs for God to bless Equestria have finally been fulfilled! Jesus is here to save Equestria!

This episode was written by a first time writer for MLP, but not someone completely new to its staff. It was written by Mike Vogel, formerly Hasbro’s VP of development and a long-time friend of the Brony community. That’s probably why this episode was the closest thing to “Slice of Life” we’ve seen so far this season. It’s hard not to think of that with cameos from Derpy, Cranky Doodle Donkey, Vinyl Scratch, and Octavia. Despite being a first time writer, I think Mike Vogel did phenomenally well in his first auteurial outing. I understand he has written other episodes for this season. Well, I very much look forward to them.

One good thing about this episode is that it’s very similar to the very first Hearth’s Warming episode “Hearth’s Warming Eve”. Much like “Hearth’s Warming Eve”, this episode inserts the mane characters into roles of characters in story. In my Flash Review of “Hearth’s Warming Eve”, I mentioned that this mechanic reminded me of an element of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, often referred to as Ignatian contemplation. This is best seen in this case with Starlight Glimmer. Starlight Glimmer has many parallels with the character she portrays in the story, Snowfall Frost. They’re both exceptionally powerful Unicorns who used their magic to try to remove the seemingly mundane thing (cutie marks and Hearth’s Warming) that they feel is actually harmful to Equestria. They then both witness the future wasteland that results from their actions. The end result is that Starlight ends up learning the same lesson Snowfall does over the course of this story. That’s exactly how Ignatian contemplation should work.

I also liked how the storytelling was interrupted and how it would even stop when they did so. It reminded me a bit of The Princess Bride and a little bit of the Avatar: The Legend of Korra episode “Remembrances”. “Remembrances” is actually one of my favorites from Book 4.

To a certain extent, we also got a little bit of world-building concerning Windigos in this episode. Starlight Glimmer, Snowfall Frost, and Professor Flintheart all express doubt that Windigos are real. It makes me wonder if this is a common belief among the ponies of Equestria. Could this have been established for the Windigos to make another return and prove everypony who doubted wrong, much like Snowfall was proven wrong in this episode?

As for what I didn’t like, it’s a Christmas-y episode airing in May! Like any good adaptation of A Christmas Carol, this episode hits you in the right feels to get you ready for the Christmas holiday. The problem is it’s May! It’s not anywhere near Christmas! I’m all ready for Christmas now, and it’s not! We still have seven months to go until Christmas! Now, do I think they should have held on to this episode until December so it could air during the Christmas pre-season? Maybe. Perhaps it would behoove the powers that be behind MLP to adopt the Doctor Who approach to this. Either way, now we have three Hearth’s Warming episodes that they can air back-to-back when Christmas rolls around. That’d be cool. Other than that, this was a pretty solid episode.

Overall, “A Hearth’s Warming Tail” was a great Hearth’s Warming episode and the embodiement of all that makes MLP great. It would be a great way to get into the spirit of the Christmas holiday. You know, if it wasn’t May.

What did y’all think of “A Hearth’s Warming Tail?

God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.

Comments ( 4 )

derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/5/14/1153903__safe_screencap_snails_snips_twist_button+mash_aloe_featherweight_truffle+shuffle_spoiler-colon-s06e08.png

Nah, man. That's The Dude.

img2-2.timeinc.net/people/i/2014/news/140915/jeff-bridges-800.jpg

Admittedly, he is a chill guy who believes in living and letting live. Jesus and The Dude would likely get along like a house on fire.

3953192 Not quite.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/1/14/806113__safe_solo_screencap_background+pony_the+cutie+pox_jeff+letrotski.png
While this possible Jesus pony shares the design of The Dude pony, The Dude's coat and mane color are slightly different. He also dresses significantly different than how this pony is dressed.

Plus saying it's Jesus is the perfect joke given I end all my blogs with an invocation for God to bless Equestria. :pinkiehappy:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/8/22/963169__safe_meme_image+macro_reaction+image_slice+of+life+%28episode%29_jeff+letrotski_the+big+lebowski_colter+sobchak_bowling_donny.jpg

It's nice that we both enjoyed this episode. But it is frustrating to have an episode get you into the Christmas spirit in the middle of May. Funnily enough, a manga I recently began reading called The Ancient Magus' Bride is currently having an arc taking place during Christmas. Why are so many things trying to get us into the Christmas spirit in spring? Doesn't Christmas already consume everything from November 1 through January 31? It doesn't need to take up anymore time!

3964285 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!...

Dang it! No, it's not! :flutterrage:

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