Episode 3-10 Review: Age of Character Expansion

What's up everyone, its Kablam once again with another slew of episode reviews! I’ve been meaning to get this out sooner, but I’ve been distracted with other things including writing. However, while I was looking around the MLP wiki page for some ideas, I noticed the announcement for episode 11 and read the single sentence summary of the upcoming episode. Hoh boy, that is going to be a hot topic for me to watch! That issue hits close to home and I have a, strong, opinion about that issue and I do not want to have to do a review about it until after I get all the other episodes taken care of. Hence, why I am doing it now so I can start off fresh with that episode; also, I don't get to view the episodes until beginning of the following week which is another reason this is coming out now instead of the weekend. So let’s get into this right now and pick up where we left off with the last review!

Episode 3: The Gift of Maud Pie

So, with this episode it’s going to be the pairing of Pinkie Pie with Rarity; now that's going to be an interesting thing! So today is the day where Pinkie and Maud will be meeting up in Manehattan for their personal annual sister day to hang out and swap presents. In the middle of that, Rarity is looking at opening another shop in the bustling city; cool, she's still looking at expanding her business from Ponyville and Canterlot!

But Pinkie doesn’t have any presents picked out for her sister and she is really wanting to outdo herself this year with finding the perfect gift. Well, seeing how Maud doesn’t really react much or give that many hints on what she would need or want, that's a tall order. But we'll be damned if that stops them from trying. Pinkie is positive that a rock pouch would be the most perfect thing out there for her sister so off we begin our quest to get ourselves a pouch, tour the city, scout new store locations, and make the whole thing a secret to Maud to make it the best surprise ever! Wait, Pinkie, what are you doing here? No, don't fire that in here!!!

Kaboom!! Damnit, Pinkie!!

So after a good half day of exploring, we take a lunch break while Pinkie Pie runs off to the store to buy the pouch. Umm, quick nit-pick here, but that map and Pinkie's statement about the store only being a block away don't match up. That store looks more like 2, 3, or more blocks away from the restaurant and her path to the shop was waaaay to out of the way; it looked like a straight shot there from the restaurant! Plus, the beginning of Maud's story sounded like the beginning of a bad cliché; ‘a dark and stormy night’? ‘Little did I know my life was about to change forever’? Ugh, it makes me want to dry heave.

But the shop's closed and Pinkie is kind of shit out of luck here. I did find it hilarious that a cop came up to Pinkie and didn’t even bat an eye at her sugar-crack induced antics. So Rarity steps in to help find a new gift. At the part where Rarity starts staring her down the side street and starts throwing random items around for possible gifts, I think we all saw the twilicane and the flying shark; they love to throw sharks around like a tornado or something, I guess…

But we are dead set on this pouch and we just happen to see one pony walking by with this pouch we all just love; unfortunately, this pony just so happens to be a loan shark and a shyster and charges the price of a party cannon for the pouch.

Now here's the thing, this is an excellent example of people sacrificing the things they love for others. Pinkie loved her sister so much she was willing to give up her party cannon for her, and this is something I could see happening in the real world. It’s very touching and Rarity was rightfully surprised and shocked to hear her give it up for Maud. But, to show her love for her sister Pinkie Pie thinks it’s necessary to give it up.

However, being the gossip girl that Rarity is, she just had to spill the story behind her gift; and this is the most emotion we've seen out of Maud! I think this is fantastic to get some new characterization from Maud and that she is more than just an apathetic pony who is Pinkie's sister. She storms off (in her own mellow way) to chase down the shark and get her cannon back. She even smiled when she finally did and returned it back to Pinkie! She smiled, guys!! And even gave a wink!!

I will have to say, that loan shark has got to be the easiest shark to go back on a deal with if he will crack under an emotionless stare and a dramatic wingman (or mare) trying to hype up the situation.

All in all, this was a nice episode. I enjoyed Rarity and Pinkie Pie spending time together and it nice seeing them show some sacrifice for others.

Episode 4: On Your Marks

Hmm, another Cutie Mark Crusader episode, huh? This should be interesting. So we start off with the first post cutie mark receiving crusader meeting and, everyone is staring at their own asses over their new cutie marks… great start to a meeting! Love it! We're going to get through a lot of things that way!!

That aside, turns out we no longer need to do everything together in our never-ending quest to get a cutie mark; so where does that leave our beloved crusaders now? Well, we all split off to discover our own interests leaving Apple Bloom alone to ask what will she do now.

Now, this is a big life lesson throughout the episode; once you discover what you love to do, where and what do you do now to occupy that time where you aren’t doing what you love doing? It’s a serious question that plagues many people even into their late years, including me sometimes. I know what I want to do for a living and want to follow that dream with a passion, but it’s the time in between that, work, and sleeping that sometimes I don't know what to fill with. I’ve already got a lot of different dreams and hobbies that I want to pursue and work towards, but sometimes I don't have the resources to do that so I have to find other things to do; and it’s kind of similar to what Apple Bloom is struggling with here. She's trying to find her own little niche to occupy herself with while she waits to help others with cutie mark problems.

But I have another connection with Apple Bloom in this problem, in that she wants to do things with others, and it really shows during the song she sings. A lot of my time has been spent alone in front of a screen or barely with other people to talk to because I’m too nervous to step out and really start socializing. Which is why I am looking at trying to share my hobbies and interests with others to meet some new people and friends.

Back to Apple Bloom, she's spent a good portion of the episode trying what looks like dozens on dozens of different things trying to find something that she really likes and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are surprised to find so many attempts. Apple Bloom does say that she enjoyed dancing which is kind of an eyebrow raiser. I guess it’s because we all pegged Scootaloo as being the dancer instead as evident by the stories made about her and her secret passion to dance.

But Apple Bloom did notice that one of the dancing ponies didn’t have a cutie mark and we are back on the case of solving cutie mark problems! So we make a quick double back to the dance performance and the three use their newfound hobbies to help; sweetie belle whips up some quick costumes with her new crocheting hobby and Scootaloo makes a quick backdrop change with the use of her bungie jumping. A tap dance later, the nervous kid has his cutie mark and the crusaders have a new life lesson learned.

A pretty good episode that explained some really philosophical questions in a neat way.

Episode 5: Gauntlet of Fire

Oh-ho-HO-ho! A Spike episode! This should be interesting! And it’s about dragon culture? Even better!

So we start with Spike and Rarity hanging out (typical…) when suddenly Spike starts glowing. Not knowing what it is, we run over to Twilight who is having a nice tea party with the other princesses for help. The glowing seems to be about a calling of the dragon lord, which means we have to travel to dragon country to figure out what the hell is going on; awesome! Let’s go!

Jump to dragon country, we find that it’s time for a change of leadership and the current dragon lord is declaring a gauntlet of fire to determine the new lord. Spike is first against it and wants to leave, but after hearing the plans of the other dragons he decides that the only way to protect his friends is to become the new dragon lord.

But we have a new character stepping into the fray alongside some old ones. Gargle is back and would love to get some revenge on the ponies, but the interesting one is the current dragon lord’s daughter, Ember. When I first saw her, she peaked my interest with her personality of the 'Tough girl wanting to prove her dad wrong' thing. Makes me more inclined to trust her since she likes to walk her own path rather than roll over and follow someone else's choices.

But since Ember is a lot smaller than the rest, dad says she can't compete because she is not big and strong. And here is where I hate this mentality; it seems like most of America is bent on this notion of wanting to be the biggest, scariest, toughest guy out there like one of those football linebackers or a giant body builder. No one really seems to want to be the smart one who looks for opportunities to capitalize on or find smart ways around fixing problems or overcoming obstacles.

Anyways, my bitching aside, Spike competes in this competition. Shortly after this start, we end up helping a random dragon from drowning and it turns out to be Ember! So, now we have a dragon lord's daughter competing and she discovers Spike's friends hiding in some seaweed behind him; nice going Rarity, I’m blaming that one on you. Thankfully, Ember is nice enough to cover for them as gargle is getting suspicious of smelling ponies around. Once gone, Spike convinces Ember to team up with him to make it easier through the next challenge.

Now, I am loving this team up together. I love to see a team come together, figure out each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and work a way to overcome them. Spike can't fly, but he can be a second eye to watch; Ember can fly, but she can't spot everything. Great example of teamwork.

A few trials later, they're far enough that Ember decides to break their truce and go it alone from now on. It’s a little sad seeing this as they were making a great team, but I guess it couldn’t last. One thing that was giving me questions was how Twilight and Rarity were able to stick it out and follow the pair the entire time all while being hidden? They just popped in and out of places and sometimes they were even ahead of Spike and Ember somehow! What in the fuck???

So now we find the dragon scepter laying on a pile of rocks and we are moments away from getting it until Gargle steps in. but in the nick of time, Ember decides to come back and save Spike! And this is where things get really sweet; Ember admits that she liked being friends with Spike but she is too embarrassed to go into depth with it as she says, 'Please don't make me talk about my feelings'! It was sweet seeing the tough girl realize that she liked Spike and still wanted to be friends; it just makes you want to go 'Awwwww'!

A quick fight with Gargle later and the dragon scepter is claimed by Spike! Who, promptly hands it over to Ember after ordering gargle to go give everyone a hug on the way out. But, his reasoning of him needing to stay in Equestria and her needing to stay in dragon country makes sense to me; both have their responsibilities that must be taken care of in their respective lands.

This was a great episode and it finally put Spike in a good light compared to some other Spike episodes that didn’t do so well (princess Spike being one of them). So let’s see what the next episode is about!

Episode 6: no second prances

So we start off with Twilight setting the table with… Starlight Glimmer… oh, we're seeing her this time; okay…

Alright, well, we're having a friendship dinner with Celestia to show how far she has come, both teacher and student, and to show some new friends that we have made. Although, Starlight has yet to make any new friends outside of Twilight's friends. But Twilight is insisting that she make some friends. Starlight isn’t really confident about it, but gives it a shot.

Well, now we have Starlight going around to each of Twilight's friends trying to make some new friends with them and I will admit it was quite amusing seeing her attempting to make new friends. Pinkie's attempt with Mrs. Cake was kind of 'Eh' to me and Applejack's attempt with Big Mac was kind of funny; though Starlight's tendency to jump to magic and mind control to force friendships is rather unsettling to me. I still have reserved feeling about Starlight and her magic is not helping her case.

I think the funniest one to me was with Rainbow Dash wanting to introduce Spitfire; oh, don't forget to spit when you say the name, that's an important part when saying Sspppitfirre! But I can relate with Starlight not knowing who she is as I am always out of touch with today's celebrities and names. I do think that it was cool that Rainbow could break the sound barrier and make a sonic boom without making a rainboom. Just a little teaser to what might be coming in the future chapters of my story, this will play a part in developing a signature move of Rainbow Dash.

But back to the episode, Starlight Glimmer is starting to panic about not finding a friend in time for the dinner and heads to the spa for some relaxation. In the middle of that she starts conversing with another pony there. Now, I was suspicious about the voice I heard while they were talking, but I was surprised to find that Starlight would be befriending Trixie of all ponies!

Of course, Twilight is completely against Starlight making friends with Trixie and tries to warn her about Trixie. But Starlight reminds her that she did say anyone could be her friend. Reluctantly, Twilight agrees and lets them go. All the while Trixie is prancing around like a giddy school girl getting away with something. Aah, Trixie, you are just one of those people that I just love to hate! It’s so much fun to hate on Trixie!

I am noticing that when they do an episode with Starlight Glimmer, the creators like to try out a lot of different facial expressions with all the characters, and a lot of them are really good! I’m enjoying the new faces.

Anyways, Starlight starts hanging out with Trixie and setting up a magic show that Trixie is putting on in town. Of course, Twilight is overprotective and tries to hook up Starlight with other ponies that she deems 'Good'. Although, I did flip my shit a bit when Twilight mentioned DJ PON3 by NAME; as if the creators are not making some nods to us in the fandom… Ha!

Though, it is kind of nice seeing Trixie and Starlight getting to know each other on a deeper level. A little bit later, Trixie reveals the big trick she wants to perform that her hero once did; Hoof-dini. Oh my god, I face palmed so hard on this; this is almost as bad as Hooh-dini like an owl. Then again, I should have seen this coming; Houdini is a pretty easy name to ponify if you think about it.

However, while Starlight is getting ready for the show, the dinner is going on. And of course, Twilight panics and tries to cover for her with bringing in the friends that she recommended to show Celestia that everything is going well. But this is some great comedy with Celestia being bored about everything and I love the faces she makes as Twilight clearly tries to lie her way through the dinner. Oh, and don't forget to throw in bonus points for including our lovable klutz, Derpy; can't forget that.

Then, when Twilight goes out to search for Starlight Glimmer, she inadvertently creates a rift between Trixie and Starlight with Trixie admitting that she did kind of only become friends with Starlight as a way to get back at her, only partially though; she did still want to become friends. So Starlight runs off and Trixie screams at Twilight for ruining her one and only friend that she has only ever had. And to be honest, Trixie is kind of right. Twilight couldn’t let go of her past experiences with Trixie (which I can completely understand as I still have some bitter feelings against a few others) so it did disrupt their friendship.

Now Trixie is back to a one pony show and begins her show with blatant self-pity over her screw up. But Starlight Glimmer and Twilight stuck around long enough to at least watch the show. While they watch Twilight admits to faulting their new friendship for her own past feelings and pushes Starlight to go back and make up with Trixie. And just in time too as Trixie launches herself out of a cannon and into a manticore’s mouth. But Starlight comes through and saves Trixie to finish the show and the two new friends make up.

This was a really good episode and I enjoyed seeing a new friendship blossom up between two ponies. While I am still on edge and on the fence with Starlight Glimmer and still love to hate Trixie, I think that this might be an alright friendship.

Episode 7: newbie dash

Aaaaaawwww sshhiieeeet! We got Dash up on front stage again! And the Wonderbolts are here to spool things up!

So the start of the episode begins with Spitfire swinging by to tell Rainbow Dash that she needs her to be on the Wonderbolts team for a show in Ponyville; and not just as a reserve, as a permanent member on the team! Oh my god! Finally, after five seasons of dreaming, wishing and teasing, Rainbow Dash finally gets her permanent spot as an official member of the Wonderbolt team! Damn...

After a quick goodbye to all her friends, we meet back up at the Wonderbolts academy where Spitfire is giving the tour around the Wonderbolts' side of the academy. And apparently there is an unspoken rule of having to look both ways before crossing the runway. Eh, what's life without a little bit of near-death experiences.

So after Rainbow Dash changes into uniform, she has to make an impression on the team. And the best way to do that is to throw yourself into the trash can after almost dying on the runway; love it! Great start! And the rest of the team seems to love the entrance as they give her the name 'Rainbow crash'.

Now, I'm going to pause it here for a minute because I know exactly how this feels, on multiple occasions. I've been a part of multiple groups, whether it be a competitive martial arts team or a family of students toughing it through automotive classes together, I've had multiple times where I earned a nickname for something or another nuance or habit or mistake I made. For my martial arts team, I once had the nickname 'Boots' because I always wore hiking boots everywhere I went. For my auto family, Crankshaft was one of my first nicknames since during my first term in class I dropped a crankshaft during an engine rebuild and dinged it up pretty badly.

I also know the frustration of earning a nickname that you don't like because it feels like a constant reminder of a past mistake that you just wish you could forget. And I will admit that after a while I kind of blew up on everyone because I just got tired of hearing it over and over for three to five weeks in a row. I'm not perfect and I'm sure other people have done the same when they got frustrated over a nickname; but, I've kind of gotten over it and have accepted it as one of my new nicknames and actually kind of enjoy it. Though, Crankshaft is just one of my recent nicknames like Pony Boy, Splits, Sugar Tits, and my latest one: Sugar Shaft. But everyone around me has their own nickname in one form or another. We've got Woody, Pistachio, Broken Bolt, Darkness, Aaron, Irish, Wiener, Asshole...

I hang out with a very colorful group of people...

Anyways, the biggest cringe worthy part of the episode is with Rainbow Dash trying to put on the personas of all of her friends to try and make a new impression on the team. The entire time I just wanted to tell Rainbow Dash to just stop. But of course, Rainbow has to come up with something or it could mean the end of her awesome name on the team.

A few shenanigans later, Rainbow nearly bombs the entire show because of her get-famous-quick plan and is dutifully shunned for it as well as proving why she earned the name Crankshaf- I mean, Rainbow crash.

In closing, a pretty good episode and did a pretty good job and describing the struggles and wonderful times of being a part of a team. My only question now is, how are they going to proceed with Rainbow Dash now? I mean, her story arch and dream are pretty much complete; what's there afterwards for her now? Only time will tell; I just hope it will be good ending and not a bitter sweet one with her figuring out that she doesn't really want to be on the team after all.

Episode 8: A Hearths Warming tail

Oh boy, another Christmas special and it's in full swing. These ponies always seem far too happy and cheery about Christmas but, eh, that's just me; I've kind of gotten away from getting super excited about the holidays unless something really special is going to happen. It’s just a part of growing up. But, for now, I’ll put on a bigger smile than usual to keep the spirits up.

I will have to say, though, Derpy plopping herself on top of the tree to be the star was absolutely adorable! Oh my god, I just want to give that klutz a hug!!

Breathe! Breathe. Calm down, enough feels and focus on the review. Hoooh, okay, let’s get back to it. Starlight Glimmer is looking at skipping hearths warming.

Ah, I see how this is going to be.

Obviously, Spike and Twilight are surprised by it and so we are going to take this episode to tell a story and metaphorically explain a lesson about hearths warming eve importance. And we're going to do it with a ponified version of that one famous Christmas story, huh? Alright! I like it! Let’s see where this goes.

So Starlight is going to play the grumpy old man- er, grumpy mare, in this case. We've all heard this story before at one time or another so I won’t focus too much on it. Spike's side comment on Twilight's kissing Starswirl's hooves part way into the story was pretty comical; a little bit of meta humor there for us. I approve.

And now we begin the musical part of our broadcast. Maybe it’s just because of her past, but Starlight Glimmer looks pretty comfortable playing the evil pony trying to take away the holidays with her taking what she pleases to enact her spell. Also, her final evil smile hits the head on the nail really well... yeah, she's definitely still a villain; get rid of her!

Come on guys, she's been a villain for way too long that she even has perfected the evil sneer/smile of a bad guy!

Fine, I see that I may be one of the few still sour over Starlight. Then I'll just have to take care of this myself. Oh wait a minute, this is just a story; Starlight actually agrees that this is extreme.

Nevermind, stand down.

Back to the story, the spirit of hearths warming past comes to visit Ms. Grumpypants-something-or-another (I really don't remember her name), and we start are next musical. I may be biased, but I do like this one better than the others; that country twang doe...

And we learn that in Starlight's 'Past', she really did love Christmas. But I have to take a minute right here and call out the OBVIOUS shout out to Harry Potter's Snape pony. COME ON!! What other character have streaked black hair in wet strands wearing all black clothing looks like that pony! His obsession with growing one's power and learning and harsh attitude clearly says Snape!

Listening to Applejack's song does bring up some harsh self-contemplation, though. If I really go back in my history and look at what I've been through, I really have set up my own walls on some things to protect myself. That helpless feeling when I was young and didn’t know how to handle things, I really did change my point of view, or thought I didn’t need them at all in the first place. I thought I could live without them and be better off without it.

Though it has made me stronger in some cases, it’s probably hampered me as well. The opportunities I could have had, the people, friends, and girlfriends I could have made, it all could have enriched my life a lot. But I guess that's why I'm kind of trying to make up for today and trying to force myself to go out and try new things, meet new people, talk to girls more often (possibly get a girlfriend; you may laugh and think everyone has done it already, but I'm not that smooth especially when it comes to girls that I like. But I'm trying). Anyways, enough self-pity and doubt; let’s look forward with new goals and finish this episode.

Now that the past is over, we get back to the present and the spirit that goes with it; or as the spirit would call herself, the spirit of presents. And we have a, piss poor excuse to bring back Pinkie sense. Sorry, that was pretty lame and half-assed in my opinion. So, Pinkie sings another song about the meaning of presents.

Okay, I'll admit, it was a pretty catchy tune with the jazzy band going on. But I won’t let those obvious inserts in the background side by! Doctor hooves, vinyl, and Octavia! Don't think you went unnoticed! Oh, and Rarity's outfit looked rather good too. Yeah, I said it; I guy can like fashion too!

Oh wait a minute! Twilight was the one singing this entire time?! And in her Pinkie Pie voice?! Hahaha!! Hang on a second! We have to take a quick break to refill drinks and snacks! One sec!

…..

Insert perfectly timed place for commercials... (Yeah, that was pretty devious of you, creators. Well played, I give a golf clap to you.)

…..

And we're back! Back with mountain dew, Pepsi, root beer, hot chocolate, beer, whiskey, roman coke, bread, etc. etc. now, where did we leave off with the story?

Ah, here we are! Guilt tripping Starlight into tears about hearths warming eve never ever existing again. And thus begins, the spirit of the future!

Woo! Go Luna!

Ahem, sorry about that; had to get that out.

And now we see the future of the world where a Christmas or hearths warming eve doesn't exist anymore. And it is a dark and desolate world, unforgiving and cruel to all of its inhabitants. Windigos rule the lands again and the earth is plunged into an eternal snow storm where death and despair are the ruling tones of the seasons. No joy is to be had on any corner street and- holy shit, we just love throwing Starlight to the dogs and kicking her around! Jesus! Come on, get up you; now you're starting to hit me in the feels.

Come on, bring it in. there, now. See, even I'm starting to feel better now... I'm still holding that 'destroying the time line' incident over you. Okay, I get that it's not helping now. Thanks for the hug.

So, the story ends and Twilight leaves Starlight to have the rest of the night off if she pleases. But Starlight decides that maybe she could stick it out for hearths warming even if it’s only for just one day of the year. Kudos to you for giving it a shot, girl. And damn, do you have a singing voice! I never really paid attention way back when because you were evil, but with you singing in this more happy tone, it really suits you! I like it!

… Okay, so we'll say that we're both a work in progress on accepting things. I'll give you that.

And so, hearths warming eve ends with a blast! The lights turn on, Derpy lights up with the star (all of her; so adorable!), and another episode is done! Well, from here on I'm flying blind since I haven’t seen the next two episodes yet. I wonder what they have in store for me!

Hey wait a minute!! Is that Rainbow Dash's dad in the left corner of the castle?!?!?!!! WHAT THE FUUUUUUUU-!?!!?!!?!!

Episode 9: The Saddle Row Review

Okay, let’s see here. Everyone is rushing to the boutique because they... blabbed about Canterlot Boutique to a reporter and used them to write a review on the store??? …......... oooooohhhhhhh ssshhiiiittt…..

Smiling or not, that is one shit storm I would want to run and hide from. Though, I do think Rarity's aggressive 'NO SPOIIILURZZZ!!!' thing seems pretty reminiscent of most people and their stands on wanting to be kept in the dark. Oh boy, let’s see where this clusterfuck is going to go…

Side note, the reporter seems pretty cool. I’m not sure if he has a bit of the news reporter boss in him from the original Spiderman with the hairdo, mustache, and habitually interrupting people.

So, Rarity brings the gang along to help open up the shop and they have like, what, one day to do it??? Oh for fuck's sake, Rarity!! Come on, I thought you had better planning skills than that! You can make an entire season's worth of clothes for the next three seasons but you can't give a little heads up with starting another shop?

The landlord pony is a bit of an asshole too; I don't like pushy people and this shit bag is the scum of the earth for forcing Rarity to hire her daughter (which I think is illegal) or he will raise rent beyond reason until it puts her out of business. Secondly, I know this girl may be enthusiastic about helping and pitching ideas, however, I recently learned something from a unique video by Mike Rowe on YouTube; your passion and your ability are not one in the same. By that, I mean, 'Just because you are passionate about helping out and making contributions or whatever does not mean you are going to be successful'. It’s lucky when both your passion and your skill are the same, but that rarely happens.

I do like the constant cutbacks to the interview segments; Rarity guffawing at the ridiculous idea of glow-in-the-dark chompers is pretty, sub-par and unoriginal. This is a designer shop honey, not a Halloween gag stop.

Then we find raccoons in the back. And Fluttershy- goddamnit, Fluttershy! Fucking- did we really have to take these guys in and hold on to them for a bit until we finish and they go somewhere else!? No, don't give me that look! I'm not going to fall for that cute act and fine, I’ll take them for a few days… Fucking cute ponies…

What’s that terribly boring beat that I’m hearing right now? Oh wait, it’s the noisy neighbors upstairs. And of course, vinyl has to be there dj'ing the place. I almost half expected her to be living there if it weren't for the fact that we already know that she lives in Ponyville with Octavia. Pinkie loves it and Rarity hates it; and no Rarity, you do not sound like an old mare for saying kids these days listen to their music too loud. I have to put up with it every day listening to boring rap and hip hop on repeat talking about the same thing over and over. I swear, I could make a check list of things that are said in rap lyrics that you could guarantee at least three of them being checked off.

… Twilight; what the fuck are you doing?...

……. no, oh my fucking god, no. and now everyone is doing it. God-fucking-damnit!!

I love how Rainbow Dash and Applejack were the first two to deny going along with Twilight's improv to the beat. The cool ones would never do something like that!

Sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep, sweep…

Hey! Coco Pommel showed up to help! Oh, nope, she's sick right now; nevermind. Back to having to deal with random bullshit like that fucking horn that is the new door alarm, and the music, and raccoons, and, disorganized clothing deliveries? Relax Rarity, you should have expected hiccups like this when you decided to make last minute miracles happen in a day.

The comment about making clones of one's self was golden! And making a reference to Pinkie Pie's episode of her being forced to watch paint dry was great!

……..Uuuuuuhhhhhhh, Pinkie? What, er, who, is that, behind you….?????? Twilight… TWILIGHT!! GET OVER HERE!!

So Rarity finally gives everyone some room to help out while she focuses on the window display. I think the job assigning was pretty good so far. The only problem I can right now is the hiring with Rainbow Dash. Her hiring pitches are not the greatest with, I'm not even sure what she is aiming at? Is she looking for new Wonderbolts recruits or fashion artists for hire? Pinkie is doing okay with making an attempt at different music; though, I starting to think the pink one on the dance floor is not all she seems to be. Applejack is doing what I would probably do if I had to deal with stupid suggestions where any Joe off the street would say 'That's dumb'. Spoon dresses? Really? And Applejack likes the idea?! Applejack, come on! I don't pay that much attention to fashion, but I have enough sense to at least try to look good when I want to and not pull a Lady Gaga.

But the raccoons are not too pleased with the news Fluttershy has to deliver, the music just got turned into a remix, the daughter just got upgraded to bitch status after running to daddy again(!), Rainbow Dash is lost on hiring, and oh my god, everything is going to shit and it hasn’t even been a few hours yet! Now, Twilight is locking Rarity in the display cabinet as well!! Jesus Christ, we're going to hell in a hand basket and a few demons are coming to join us as we skip down the bloody brick road of death and despair and a side of rape.

Ugh, I am going to need a hard drink after this and a lot of praying that this comes out at least sub-par.

So a few more hours later, Rarity finally gets let out of the window display and we find… good god, did they really do all this in that short amount of time? Wow… it actually looks really good! And we find out that Twilight went ham on organizing, Pinkie made a deal Vinyl to make the shop a bit of a dance club, Fluttershy convinced the raccoons to work in the shop as butlers?!? What??!! Damn, they did pull off a miracle! The spoon fashion is the only thing I would mark down on for points, but I guess they made it work.

In the grand scheme of things, I’m glad they were able to pull the whole thing off. It’s a nice idea to think everyone's thoughts and suggestions can be incorporated into everything seamlessly (like the spoons), but in reality, that won't always work. Deadlines have to be met, certain criteria must be followed to be even given a first glance, and not every single idea is a good one. Sometimes, ideas have to be let go and there are some people out there who just don't get it (like that landlord's daughter; she is going to flop hard soon when she realizes that her spoon fashion just died out within a few days of starting and now she has to try to come up with something else).

Episode 10: Applejack's Day Off

Okay, before I even started this episode, I know it’s about best and favorite pony and that it’s not really going to be Applejack's 'Day off'. But let’s get this started and see what our favorite silly pony is doing!

So Rarity and Applejack are supposed to have one of their spa days again and Applejack is nowhere to be seen. Okay, I get that she can be busy so I know she'll get there sooner or later. A few hours later, Applejack finally shows up and its closing time already at the spa. Uuugghh, oh well, whatever, we can try again another day; except Rarity looks like an old soggy apple skin or a soggy piece of bread, good god! It’s horrid!

And it looks like Rarity has been trying to do this for months now as she explains to Twilight on a walk to pick up more pies with Spike. Applejack has been swamped with work nonstop and I can understand getting so lost in your work that you forget all other plans; that is practically me on so many occasions.

So they cut a deal with Applejack with Twilight looking after one chore to leave Rarity and Applejack some time to go to the spa. The only thing I am concerned about right now is that Spike is going to help with chores. The last few times we had Spike help, they ended in disaster. But Twilight's there so maybe she might be able to keep things in check? Hang on, let me get a look at that list, real quick.

……..

Hmmm, there's a note here at the bottom that says, 'This has been written with the assumption that individual has critical thinking, prior knowledge, and training for described procedure'. Huh, so it’s like service information for a car on how to change fluids with the expectation that the technician already knew how to drain the fluids in the first place. Oh this is going to be funny to watch…!

Back to Rarity and Applejack, we get to the spa and, what the fuck is Rainbow Dash doing there?! Ha-ha! Rainbow dash going in for a spa treatment?! Oh, she is never going to live this down! Instead of 'Rainbow Dash' or 'Rainbow crash', it’s going to be 'Princess Rainbow'.

The spa pony is also getting some much needed characterization which is fantastic! The different greetings between Rarity and Applejack is that special little jewel of character that just makes everything just a little bit more special!

Anyways, there is a GIANT line for the steam room and it seems like the steam is taking forever to build. But applejack is dead set on having a steam first before anything, but she can't let this kind of problem stand and sets out to discover what is causing this. Already, I can go through my mind and analyze everything and tell you why you are having this problem before Applejack even got around to explaining it to everyone else; and I’m not even into plumbing. Besides fixing the leak (which should be a no brainer and the first step to solving the problem), you will either probably need to start upgrading your water boiler system to hold more hot water and heat up water faster, or you may also need to look at possibly getting the steam room set up with its own water system instead of sharing it off of the main one which would be affected by everything else like washing machines, hot water facets, anything in the entire spa that requires hot water, etc. etc.

Applejack gets suited up with her utility belt like a super hero ready to solve everyone's problems. Now, I will say that this makes me proud and happy to be an automotive technician, but I’d rather have a tool box or a tool chest on wheels behind me with every tool I could think of needing behind me rather than a belt; but that's personal preference. And yes, we all know the one and true fixer to solve all problems including this one simple leak is: duct tape.

Back to the spa and finishing fixing that leak, it looks like we are out of time for the steam room for the duo. But Rarity demands that Applejack stays longer and pitches the idea of letting Twilight handle a few more chores while she spends more time at the spa. And we finally get a look at what Twilight has been doing this past hour.

……..

Uhm, Twilight? What, in the fuck, are you doing? Just, toss the food in the trough and call it good. Ugh, these ponies… it’s almost as bad as some people who don't understand how to look at instructions. Just look at the parts in front of you, read the instructions thoroughly, then realize that maybe some of the instructions can be overlooked this one time to fix one problem. Although, I do like the mission impossible reference there; nice!

But now that Applejack is back on the farm, we find out that Twilight may not be the best option to do the work; or is she? After seeing Applejack do her, strange, routine to feed the pigs… Oh my god, girl! You are doing so much work that is unnecessary! 90% of everything you are doing can be cut out and done with just one move! Turning the irrigation system on and off for each small section of the system is ridiculous! I could see doing that maybe once or twice a month to check for leaks, but for every time?!?! I guess on the improvisation scale you are going pretty well, but on the efficiency scale you are failing hard! Efficiency is key in this kind of work and I can vouch for auto shop work as well that efficiency is key for so much. Come on girl, once you fix the problem you can go back to doing it the faster and easier way.

Thankfully, Twilight and Rarity are there to step in and cut out all the bull-crap in Applejack's chores. Now that everything on the farm is finished and we have hours of extra time to ourselves, Applejack has plenty of time to go to the spa and relax. And look who came back for her pampered muzzle treatment! What's up Rainbow! I will absolutely not use this against you some time in the future for black mail or to just squeeze you like in a vice!

But I’m glad Applejack was able to get so much more time after her chores. And the lesson from Twilight is really good. I often like to have outside perspectives to see how I am doing and to evaluate my quality of work and performance; it definitely keeps me in line and tells me where I need to improve.

Alright, that's all the episodes I can review right now before I have to tackle the big one for me at a later time. All the episodes in my opinion were great and I really enjoyed them. That said, we still have yet to see any more episodes revolving around that magical map in the castle, so maybe the creators are wisely saving those ideas for a later time/season? Or did they forget that's there because they don't have any ideas for it? I hope it’s the former and not the latter, but we'll just have to wait and see!

So I will see you all again in the next review!