Points of Canon: My Little Pony #44

Circumstances conspire to make it unusually difficult to acquire moar pony for me today.

Too bad for the circumstances.

We’re continuing the storyline from #43 here, wherein all the Mane 6 mysteriously turned evil by bathing in a hot spring.

• Twilight makes a typo. She says she wants to be the smartest pony ever so as to rule all those “uneducated, uniformed ponies.” I don’t see her issuing them uniforms just yet. She does produce a device to make use of their spare brainpower, though, which means that Equestrian magic permits such a feat at least in theory. The device allows for directly leeching intellect out and transferring it into Twilight, and apparently only requires the victim to wear it, since Twilight herself is not wearing a matching device. I wonder how that works. Notably, Bulk Biceps openly recognizes this act as evil, which is kind of against the grain of ponies being unusually tolerant about mind-affective magic. Also notably, he has no intellect to steal.
• The official ponification of Socrates is now “Sow Crates.”
• Ponyville movie theater is called “Ponyalto,” which has to be a reference to something, but I don’t know what.
• Bon-Bon comments, observing Pinkie’s gift boxes, “Buying and bribing our affections? Politicians are all the same.” I wonder when and how did she get to observe this kind of behavior in the past.
• Rarity is upset at observing shoulder pads being billed as new fashion. Other crimes against style she lists are high waists and bell bottoms. I do wonder where on a pony a waist would be considered “high.”
• Luna says she has been around “for thousands of years.” As I have established before, there’s no room for multiple thousands in Equestrian history, though… It’s also interesting that Evil Rarity can actually be quite problematic for Luna to subdue.
• Evil Pinkie surprises everyone by swapping her party cannon for an identical real cannon, which implies her regular cannon cannot be used in such a capacity and also implies that real cannons exist, not that I doubted that.
• Spike mentions tickets to a “Celestia rap musical.”

• 1. Heck, they say, is a place for people who don’t believe in Gosh.

  When affected by the Evil Hot Spring Water, which Evil Pinkie has mysteriously acquired for use as a weapon, Vinyl Scratch declares her opposition to intellectual property laws on music and uses the word “heck.” I honestly don’t know what to think about this one.¹

• But Vinyl is a minor casualty in this because the primary target is Luna, who immediately transforms into Nightmare Moon again, and that’s where the issue ends.

On one hand, I should have sort of expected it. On another hand, I’m not sure I like where it’s going anymore.

Comments

[Papa Dragon]

I'm so far behind on the comics.
I should just start reading them online instead of in print.
And they are probably referencing the Rialto theater in New York.

[FanOfMostEverything]

I'm afraid I don't recall why isn't there room for multiple millennia in Equestria's history. Could you refresh my memory?

[Oliver]

4135480

Most people who do read my blog and didn't unsubscribe yet seem to have ignored RTAC #8 anyway. :)

[iisaw]

Ponyalto is probably a (poor) play on Rialto, which was a common name for movie theaters last century, derived from the district in Venice, Italy. Oddly enough, Los Angeles has satellite cities named Venice and Rialto.

[howard035]

Notably, Bulk Biceps openly recognizes this act as evil, which is kind of against the grain of ponies being unusually tolerant about mind-affective magic.

Good point. I would say this is less "mind control" than "stealing a piece of someone," which is rather similar to how the changlings do it. Ponies seem to be a lot more freaked out about that.

I wonder when and how did she get to observe this kind of behavior in the past.

As an agent of a shady government organization, I wouldn't be suprised if she personally handed out bribes to some griffons or minotaurs in the past.

It’s also interesting that Evil Rarity can actually be quite problematic for Luna to subdue.

Remember the evil water also enhances a pony's magic. It's basically liquid alicorn amulet.

But Vinyl is a minor casualty in this because the primary target is Luna, who immediately transforms into Nightmare Moon again

This surprised me because I thought one of the big points of differentiation between comics and the show was that in the show, Nightmare Moon is Luna's "evil side"/mental illness, while in the comics it's possession from a mysterious nightmare force on the moon. But Luna getting hit by "evil side" water and immediately turning evil indicates the comics have apparently retconned themselves to fit the show.

[Oliver]

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As an agent of a shady government organization, I wouldn't be suprised if she personally handed out bribes to some griffons or minotaurs in the past.

The way she says it feels more like the congressional politics in Equestria is like the US, though...

This surprised me because I thought one of the big points of differentiation between comics and the show was that in the show, Nightmare Moon is Luna's "evil side"/mental illness, while in the comics it's possession from a mysterious nightmare force on the moon.

Actually, issue #43 starts on the comics side. I.e. the authors feel that there's no difference between the two theories, which is my primary objection about it.

Also, Vinyl being primarily a purchaser of music rather than producer of it, and this whole "home taping is killing music" is a joke entirely uncalled for in Equestria. :)

[Cursed Quill]

I do wonder where on a pony a waist would be considered “high.”

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