• Member Since 11th May, 2013
  • offline last seen Jun 9th, 2023

Harmony Charmer


♪ Kingdom of ships around me and it looks like I'm the queen ♫

More Blog Posts609

  • 259 weeks
    So I'm watching the premiere

    No, I haven't watched season 8. Yes, I am watching because Chrysalis, Tirek, and Sombra are back. Also, why was an eight year old in Tartarus, who made that decision?

    13 comments · 716 views
  • 306 weeks
    Making It Official

    I haven't been active on the site for over a year. I have occasionally checked in to see how everyone was doing, but I've barely gotten any writing done here. I know I left on a hiatus last year and said I might come back to the site one day, but that's looking less likely with every passing day.

    So, I'm making it official; I'm leaving.

    Read More

    24 comments · 1,275 views
  • 354 weeks
    Day Of Remembrance


    A candle lit in remembrance of those who lost their lives to the Pulse shooting in Orlando.

    Read More

    4 comments · 868 views
  • 358 weeks
    I cannot...


    I really didn't want to make this post...

    Read More

    22 comments · 1,481 views
  • 362 weeks
    Watched the premiere today!

    Read More

    4 comments · 732 views
Jun
12th
2016

Season 6, Episode 12 Thoughts and Review · 10:30pm Jun 12th, 2016

Ah, a Pinkie and Rarity episode. I love seeing these two interact with each other and I just adore their creative dynamic. Also, I LOVE THE NEW CHARACTERS AND THE DESIGNS, AAAAAAAH. Well, onto the episode!

The episode begins with the Mane Six, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike in the Castle of Friendship throne room. Twilight Sparkle notes that the Cutie Map has not sent her or her friends on any friendship missions since Starlight used it to travel back in time. Luckily, through Twilight and Starlight's collaborative research, they have found a spell to get it working again.

...I honestly don't know why they felt the need to do this. Like, why bother having the map broken if it's just gonna get fixed five seconds later? The opening sequence could have just been Pinkie and Rarity getting called up to the map and the rest of the group expressing surprise about the map starting to work after all this time. We could have even had a moment where Starlight is surprised by the map's TRUE function, considering she only used it for a time travel spell.

Ahem... Anyway, using their magic, Twilight and Starlight reactivate the map. Almost immediately, it summons Pinkie Pie and Rarity to Canterlot, causing Rarity to get overexcited.

Upon arriving in Canterlot, Rarity recommends starting their search for a friendship problem at the castle, but Pinkie proposes that they simply "go with the flow" and let a friendship problem find them. When Pinkie's stomach growls, Rarity suggests they begin with lunch, and she takes Pinkie to Canterlot's "Restaurant Row", home to some of Equestria's most renowned establishments of fine dining.

As Rarity points out, most of the restaurants in the area have a "three-hoof rating" given by famous food critic Zesty Gourmand, whose opinion can make or break a restaurant's success. However, several of Rarity's restaurant choices offer poor-tasting food and nearly identical atmospheres.


Same, Pinkie, same.

Pinkie decides to choose the next restaurant, and she follows a delicious aroma to a small yet non-rated restaurant called The Tasty Treat. Inside, they meet chef Saffron Masala, who offers them some very tasty dishes. Saffron's father Coriander Cumin, however, is ill-tempered due to the restaurant's lack of business. As a result, he and his daughter have a strained relationship, and they frequently argue.


Saffron is very pretty! And I love all the cultural touches!

Pinkie Pie and Rarity believe this is the friendship problem they have been summoned for: to save Saffron and Coriander's restaurant and tense relationship. Rarity offers to use her connections in Canterlot to bring Zesty Gourmand, and Pinkie offers to help advertise.

A short while later, Rarity informs Saffron and Coriander that she successfully convinced Zesty Gourmand to visit The Tasty Treat. Unfortunately, Zesty is only available that very evening, giving Pinkie and Rarity only a few hours to get the restaurant ready.

Rarity helps Coriander Cumin make the restaurant worthy of a three-hoof rating, and Pinkie and Saffron Masala drum up business in the streets. Through a Bollywood-style duet, Rarity convinces Coriander to make his restaurant just like the other establishments on Restaurant Row while Pinkie Pie tells Saffron Masala to embrace what makes The Tasty Treat unique and special.


After several hours, Pinkie and Saffron only manage to convince a tourist couple from Whinnyapolis to visit The Tasty Treat. When they return to the restaurant, they discover that Rarity and Coriander have redecorated to make it resemble every other restaurant on the block, even copying their unappetizing menus. As Pinkie and Rarity argue over their conflicting creative directions, Zesty Gourmand arrives.


Dang, she tol.

With Zesty's three-hoof rating looming over them, Coriander and Saffron—and by extension, Rarity and Pinkie—argue over what food to serve. Their escalating disagreements cause a bowl of curry to spill on Zesty. After some harsh words for both Rarity and the restaurant, Zesty angrily takes her leave.

Having failed in their friendship mission, Pinkie and Rarity apologize to Coriander for ruining his restaurant. In an effort to cheer her father up, Saffron serves him a dish he used to make when she was little. The two reminisce on old times, and Saffron expresses that all she has ever wanted to do was serve food to ponies that they used to make together.

As Coriander and Saffron reconcile, Rarity realizes that Zesty Gourmand's opinion doesn't matter. She believes she and Pinkie can fix things by switching their previous roles; Rarity brings in the crowd while Pinkie returns The Tasty Treat to how it was before.

Through Pinkie and Rarity's efforts, The Tasty Treat is reverted to its former, more unique state, and numerous ponies show up for its "grand re-reopening". Saffron and Coriander thank the two for helping to revive not only their business but also their relationship.

When Zesty Gourmand wanders by the restaurant and sees its business is now booming, she enters to voice her displeasure, saying the establishment is below the standards of cuisine she has tried to set. Rarity and Pinkie argue that no one should tell other ponies what to think, not even Zesty. Besides, I think we ALL know whose opinion REALLY matters:


Gordon Ramsay, host of the popular Equestrian TV show "Kitchen Nightmares."

Inspired by Pinkie and Rarity's words, some of the other restaurant owners decide to cook what they want instead of following strict societal trends. As Zesty brushes off their opinions and leaves, Pinkie and Rarity's cutie marks glow to signify a mission success, and the celebration inside The Tasty Treat goes on.


And Saffron and Cumin put their differences aside and run their restaurant happily.

Now, onto what I thought of it: I liked it! Not the best episode of the season, but it was a rather enjoyable one to watch. I loved seeing Pinkie and Rarity as a dynamic duo and I liked that they were the ones to start the map arc back up. But, there are a few things i would like to discuss...

A lot of people are saying that the conflict is kinda weak in this episode, and I can totally see where that's coming from. Some say it's out of character for Rarity to act like she did in this episode, but I can't quite agree with that and here's why: while Rarity has created trends, she is also subject to follow them. Seriously, what can she be caught saying in almost any episode featuring her? "That's so last season!" or, alternatively, "That's what's in this season!"

Meanwhile, Pinkie doesn't really care for trends: she's a trendsetter of her own! She marches to the beat of her own drum (and banjo and maracas and accordion, etc.) and she likes to do what SHE likes to do. Pinkie THRIVES on being who she is and she loves for others to do the same because that's what makes them happy.

So, here we have two very creative but also very different mares that just want to help this restaurant, but their creative differences get in the way of that. Rarity wanted them to follow trends because it's hard to set a trend at the position that Saffron and Cumin were in. Pinkie was upset over this because she saw what the trends were and she didn't like it one bit, whereas the uniqueness that Tasty Treats had was something FANTASTIC. Rarity soon realized this when she finally had some of the food and she saw what a mistake she had made. After that, she decided that instead of following the trends, Tasty Treats should become their own trend.

And you know what that did? It opened the other restaurants up to having their own styles and diversity. Suddenly, following the trends didn't matter, all because ponies realized that Tasty Treats wasn't doing that and they were still great. That can apply just as well to anything else.

While we're on that... No, this episode is not racist. Seriously, it's not, so stop getting upset over it. Many people are thinking that just because the episode featured two characters that derive from Middle/East Asian culture (more specifically Indian) that it automatically becomes racist... Even though the characters were not stereotypical and were actually featured in a way that broadcasts the culture in a good way. AND PINKIE IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, INDIAN CUISINE SMELLS INCREDIBLE AND NOTHING CAN TOP IT.

There's so much more to this episode than it just being about food; it has so many cultural references and the sacrifices that immigrants often make in order to survive in their new surroundings. But, I'm not gonna go into that right now. Instead, I'm just gonna appreciate this episode and pray that I survive this hiatus.


Wait, WHAT?!

Yep, that's right, we're on a summar hiatus right now. I don't know when we're coming back, but while the show is gone, hopefully I'll be getting more writing done. Lovestruck and Serving a Queen have chapters in progress right now, so expect some updates sooner or later.

Now, is there anything you feel like I missed in this review? Or maybe just something you wanna talk about to a further extent? Comment down below and let's talk!

Comments ( 8 )

I consider this to be the best map episode outside of the season 5 premiere and finale.

As for the opening scene, I think it was handled that way in order to explain why it wasn't being used until now. Plus as a way to start FINALLY incorporating Starlight into episodes that don't focus on her.

Though I haven't come across that many people who claimed the episode was racist.

4018236
I guess I spend a little too much time on Tumblr and derpibooru... I saw a lot of discourse there and I wasn't sure if it had spread here to Fimfic, so I just wanted to address the issue.

Agreed, Rarity was in character. She has often put Canterlot and its trends and celebrities on a pedestal, to mixed results. She thankfully recovered quickly from that flaw of hers in this episode.
I think what she was trying to do first was a 'ratings now, uniqueness later'-tactic.

4018236

I consider this to be the best map episode outside of the season 5 premiere and finale.

I concur. It had a great song, wonderful visuals, a bit of worldbuilding by introducing what I guess are supposed to be Marwari horse influenced ponies (the different ear form) and I liked how the message was played.
Sure, Griffonstone was awesome in its worldbuilding, I liked the moral of Made in Manehatten and Hoofield/McColt was quite funny, but summa summarum, this one had the most to offer.

Gah! No ButtonBelle! Not here, not there, not anywhere!
Wow. Such lack of ship, much frustration. Wow.

Was I the only one who, when Zesty first appeared, was like:
bit.ly/LGiKkU

It's weird. Despite these two not being my favorite of the mane six as individuals, I do like their interactions with each other. Be it brief, like their tic-tac-toe game in "Dragonshy" or when they get tied together in "The Return of Harmony", or If they get paired together for something, like helping Fluttershy in "Putting Your Hoof Down" or finding a gift for Maud in "The Gift of the Maud Pie". It's one type of personality clash that I like.

Also, I liked Coriander's indifference after the restaurant's shift to a "high class" restaurant. Mostly because that's how I would be if something I worked hard on was changed just to appease everyone else.

Another also, I felt weird hearing the noises Pinkie made when she was eating the oat cake with her face while Saffron and Coriander argued the first time.

One more also, 4018562 No you're not. Her appearance made me think of these guys from Futurama:
relatably.com/m/img/neutral-memes/e162134d7f668b0b7ed0897c3dac3f7102089382e8a7112f7d801d9656528c6a.jpg
And her cheek bones made my think of this guy from Family Guy (I had the same reaction as Peter):
oocities.org/familyguymoments/210/210_7.jpg

Okay I'm done.

4018562
My reaction was "Good gracious, I thought necromancy was illegal."

I know I'm 7 weeks late, but I did like some parts of the ep. The song was nice, and the rest was fine; it was just Zesty.

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