Aug
6th
2016
Points of Canon: S6x14 - The Cart Before The Ponies · 7:52pm Aug 6th, 2016
This one had me worried, because I thought that ponies have mysteriously acquired an internal combustion engine and nobody told me.
- Cherilee’s blackboard is mostly written in a completely alien syntax, none of which I recognize. But I’m pretty sure the phrase “using mechanical work to convert potential energy into kinetic energy” is backwards. Shouldn’t it be “convert potential energy into kinetic energy to produce work” instead?
- There is no mention, neither textual nor visual, of what makes the carts go. The only tools and materials depicted are woodworking tools and wood, which kind of implies they are not self-propelled. The following episode still leaves it a bit ambiguous, even though the carts mostly behave like they rely on gravity. I don’t see anyone or anything pushing them off the starting line, for example, and no visible incline on the starting line itself.
- One of the prizes is for the best replica of an “original Applewood cart.” Which makes me wonder what exactly counts as original anyway. Did they have a large enough variety on the first derby?
- Chipping a cart out of a whole wood block within a single day implies certain minimal speed of woodworking which I think is impossible without power tools or earth pony / unicorn magic. We don’t see any power tools. Notably, the second version of Apple Bloom’s cart is derived from a barrel, which makes me wonder what the wood block is even for.
- The Derby is a yearly event we have never observed before. (It’s yearly because Cherilee says “it isn’t every year I get to say this twice”) Events of the episode center about how it’s an activity for children, but photos of old carts show mature ponies, and while the Cloudsdale derby features Rainbow racing solo, Ponyville derby requires adults to attend. Hmm.
- Scootaloo visits Rainbow Dash in her cloud mansion, and the balloon is parked outside. Who owns the thing anyway? Seriously.
- Rainbow says “Practically every town in Equestria has one.” but the flashback of the Cloudsdale derby that follows has her racing what’s much more like a bobsleigh.
- One of the objects Rainbow tosses out while looking for her blueprint is a very characteristic soccer ball, which is the sort of thing I don’t think we have observed on screen before, and the other is a banner from her birthiversary in Pinkie Pride
- Rarity has three ponies in her boutique which were previously established as Canterlot residents.
- Derpy winning a prize for most creative cart in the past isn’t just funny, but also establishes her as a Ponyville native.
- The layout of the derby track across Ponyville prevents the streets from being used for pretty much anything else while the race is going on and for a good while before and after that, due to the protective hay bales on the sides.
- Diamond Tiara races with her butler. Which is why Derpy racing with that pegasus boy is not hard evidence of familial relation, but apparently Derpy and Dinky’s family situation is getting progressively more complicated with each episode.
Notably missing markers are the Friendship Castle, neither Twilight not Spike nor Starlight are in attendance, school is in session, the CMC have their marks, the fountain has water in it. The timeline placement of this episode is quite vague.
P.S. Scootaloo treats being a chicken seriously now, poor kid.
One especially odd note is that during Rarity's flahsback, both carts seemed to be one-pony models, implying that the adult assistance/passenger stipulation is rather recent.
As for the timeline, we can conclusively say that the Friendship Castle showed up before the Crusaders got their marks thanks to "Make New Friends but Keep Discord," where blank flanks and Spike's bedroom coincide. Of course, this episode could still take place before Starlight's jaunt about time.
Obviously having made the trip from Canterlot specifically to buy garments directly from the source. No wonder they were upset when Rarity kicked them out of the shop!
I'm calling it now: the foal with Derpy was her nephew.
Also, the pony version of the wave (all of them bucking in sequence) was pretty fun!
These kind of in-Ponyville slice of life heavy episodes usually have the most canon to draw from.
Interesting point about blackboards here. The show starts at the beginning of the school day, kids shout hi to Cheerilee as she walks in with a rolling blackboard. On the other blackboard is the old physics equation showing how planetary rotation works. It's been seen on previous episodes. Some people say it shows elementary school kids are learning physics, others that as the only schoolhouse in Ponyville, either Cheerilee or someone else is teaching high school to older kids in the afternoons. The fact that the equation was left there, and especially that the kids have no clue what physics is, is a strong indicator that the latter theory is correct, since if Cheerilee had taught them the equation on the board they would already know some physics.
I think the animators are lazy, and counted on an audience recognizing how incredibly similar this is to the real life Soap Box Derby in almost every detail. I can't imagine a single type of magical or non-magical propulsion that could be created from a block of wood in a single day that ponies of all tribes could use, even foals.
Pretty sure this prize was invented on the spot so the Apples would always win something, because they donate the wood and the race originally takes place mainly on their land. Similar to how the Dutchess in Downton Abbey always wins the Gardening Contest.
I got nothing, this seems like an unforced error on the animators parts. I can't imagine how all three tribes could carve these things in a few hours, I am forced to think of it as cartoon logic, and I don't like that at all.
Spike rents it from Cherry Berry that one time, I think it's hers, but anyone can rent it for a few bits.
Rarity is one of the anchor shops bringing Canterlot tourists out to the countryside for an afternoon, along with the fancy cafes. I deeply regret not seeing more of the Rarity/Derpy feud. On the other hand, maybe that's why everyone in town has real Nightmare Night costumes or Daring Do cosplays, they buy them from Rarity. Except Derpy, who Rarity won't sell to, so she has to make her stuff out of cardboard/paper bags.
Props to her for owning it.
Applejack surprised me for being as insistent on winning her prize as the other two, she's usually the sensible one. On the other hand, when she was younger, I can think of two ponies who helped her win the Most Traditional Award.....
4135558
Not even Equestria is immune to Health & Safety Gone Mad™.
4135846
Less an unforced error, more to make a joke on how pinewood derby cars are made, I think, since those are traditionally carved out of a solid block of wood.
4136335 That's true, they do seem to be combining the Soap Box Derby and the Pinewood Derby here. Good catch!
4135558
Since my chronology toy programmatically handles explicit limits, implicit hard limits like this are redundant. :) I do think this has to have happened before Starlight became a student, though, if only because the gap between The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows and The Crystalling is way too empty otherwise and a lot of episodes work better by moving back into that time period.
Once the season ends, I'll spend some time trying to reshuffle the three latter seasons to make sense...
4135749
Like I mentioned before, the only way I can explain Ponyville economy -- really high density of festivals throughout the year, formal clothing shop in a nudist colony, randomly appearing well-dressed ponies which were established Canterlot residents and members of high society circles, etc -- is by it being a tourist town. Just about every pony not involved in farming is probably involved in one way or another in servicing tourists, and many houses probably belong to richer Canterlot residents who maintain holiday residences of various description. I suspect Filthy Rich is secretly building a statue for Rarity somewhere on his premises, because her marketing efforts for herself drum up business for him. :)
And Derpy's family is getting really convoluted now...
4135846
Speaking of one-room schoolhouses, it's probable we're dealing with a rolling one-room setup: Children are grouped into a class by age, but the grouping encompasses at least a five year span and groups are spaced across the day in time. So the younger class studies in the mornings, and we don't see any teenager ponies in Ponyville because they come to school later in the day, wherein in the mornings they help their families with work.
4136335
Why does that remind me of that scene in Metalocapypse when an OSHA inspector shows up...
4136436
Twilight's absence in this kind of city-wide educational festival seems pretty conspicuous to me. Unless next week Twilight, Starlight, Pinkie and Fluttershy are all hanging out in Manehatten, maybe this came up during the Hooffields and McColts episode.
In the comics he got her business/house declared a historical site, remember.
Yes, I think that describes it perfectly!
Wait, what's the significance of that? Did I miss a major timeline marker?
4136711
Not a major one certainly. I'm not certain they actually do track it, but it seems like they might, so I'm writing it up whenever it shows up in an episode under investigation, now.
There's that pony statue/fountain somewhere near the town hall, which you can observe closely in the scene that starts the treasure hunt in The One That Pinkie Pie Knows. Sometimes there is water in it, at other times there isn't. In cases where it's obvious summer outside, there usually is, and generally, you keep water in fountains only in season.
4136721
Ah, okay. Cool.
4136335 if health and safety was a concern Cheerilee wouldn't have made an intersecting racetrack.
4136920
There might be other motivations to compel adults to participate. Crusaders being in it comes to mind. :)
4136920
Party Pooper (her cutie mark is an unrolled scroll with the words 'To whom it may concern,' legible at the top) hadn't gotten around to specifying how the track should be arranged yet, and Cheerilee is making a passive-aggressive protest with her layout.
Perhaps some tools (saws, etc.) are enchanted? It would help explain how the Apples can do fine woodworking holding tools in their hooves, mouths, and prehensile tails.
4139651
Finesse is mostly a matter of practice and exercise. There are, after all, people without arms who can do calligraphy. The speed of chipping off large pieces of wood, now that can be an issue...
4140103 Well, that's just an extra: I was specifically responding to the issue of cutting up that block of wood. I was watching the episode and my immediate thought was "man, that saw of Dash's must be amazing sharp if she's planning to cut up that giant block of wood [1] anytime soon"
[1] Speaking of which, the Apples must have some enormous apple trees somewhere on their land.
Certainly nobody's picked up the magilocomotor from Flim&Flam.
They don't even appear to allow the Flintstones option.
that really seems like a recipe for "not letting the kids work" built right into the competition. I know when my brother did Pinewood Derby there was waaaaaaaaaaaay more lead time.
4135846
Made worse by the intro having Twi descend on it from Canterlot.
4140196
she makes about 1/8 of a block (about 6"?) of progress in something like ten seconds. Of course, that's the easy bit, from 1/8 to 1/4…then again, she just has to cut off corners, round them, and cut off about half of the bottom to get near to where she wants.
I think "skyluge" sounds cooler. Maybe about 20%.
only one real point I noted down this time; I was feeling too angry at the sisters ("practically")…and it's not really a canon point so much as "hey that sounds famliar"
❧RD's flashback to her derby sounds kinda like a bar from Sonic Advance 2'sSky Canyon Act 2
❧that is some unsportsmarely play from Rarity with those wings. (Which does answer for me why she has three levers and not two.) It is also one that requires a bit of unnecessary skill to deploy, as she has to get it open before they interrupt the opening arc of the wings…