REVIEW: Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Forgotten Books of Autumn · 7:59am Dec 15th, 2016
Larson: We're supposed to read everything. Every show I've worked on, I made a conscious effort to read as much as I can, because it makes the process so much easier, and to avoid the aforementioned situations. Then you also have people like Gillian [G.M. Berrow] who knows everything. I've been in story meetings with her, where someone will propose an idea, and she will interrupt them, saying that that idea has been covered already. Despite the fact that she's only written one episode in the show (so far...) she has really proven she knows her stuff.
Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Forgotten Books of Autumn
by G. M. Berrow
Hardcover with reflective foil! The top benefit for being a princess. 
Summary: In this little horse book, book-horse (Twilight) has a magical problem with her books, so she goes to the book-house (library) to talk with palette-swapped book-horse (Moondancer) and learns about a book-town. It's literally made out of books!
Fans like to point out that Twilight hasn't done much since becoming a princess. It seems like she's just too powerful on her own or something. Or, if she has a problem, she'll bring along all her friends, and the episode time will be split between the 6 of them. Maybe the writers just ran out of ideas for focusing on Twilight?
Well, Berrow still seems to have some good ideas. Twilight Sparkle's second book in this series is much better than the first in every way. It's a fun adventure that focuses on Twilight's strengths as a character. It features some cute, whimsical worldbuilding. The magical spells and the stakes involved make a lot more sense than in that other book, too. As an extra bonus, Spike gets to tag along! 
I'd wager that if you're a Twilight fan, this book has every ingredient you seek. This is the character at her core, without having to make a conflict about power levels or princess-status. It could just as easily be about the season 1 Twilight Sparkle as it is about the season 6 version. And of course, lots of nerding out over books and the importance of knowledge. 
Twilight's the one who initiates this quest, and she keeps driving the story forward from one clue to the next. I liked how the magical problem also turned out to be involved with a friendship problem. I guess it could've been developed a little more toward the end, maybe given a more dramatic climax, so it's not quite a perfect story. But I really enjoyed this, and don't want to spoil too much of it for anyone who'd want to read it. This is one of the better G.M. Berrow books, the kind that make me ask, "why isn't this an episode?"
I mentioned worldbuilding earlier, didn't I? I suppose it's the weird kind of worldbuilding that doesn't necessarily contradict anything, nor is necessary knowledge (for keeping your fanfic aligned with "canon", whatever that means). I just thought it rather unique how Berrow decided her story should include a spell that nopony knows about, hidden away in a village that nopony in Equestria has ever seen. The explanation within the story does make sense when you get to it, but even using this kind of idea feels rare these days, when we readily assume the ponies already know everything and everyplace within the borders of Equestria! It reminds me of season 1 worldbuilding....
I see the same nostalgic complaint over and over. The show used to be about small ponies in a large world. It was so charming and lighthearted back then. I'm not disputing that opinion, but I do get frustrated at how vague it is. 
How can one recreate that? How does a writer establish that atmosphere, and how specifically did the show ruin it? Nobody seems to provide useful answers for how Faust's seasons accomplished what they're so nostalgic about.
Except for this here anonymous post I found on 4chan's /mlp/ a few weeks ago. It was buried within dozens of the above complaint, and nobody replied to it so I'm not sure if anyone noticed. I had to save the post because it was such a gem:
Early MLP threw a bunch of random, crazy stuff at the wall without thinking about whether it made any sense or not individually or as part of a whole. (Running of the Leaves? A single dragon having the capacity to blot out the skies of all of Equestria?) The fans just ran with it and tried to invent reasons why it all made sense.
As the seasons progressed, they realized that they couldn't keep throwing random, large-scale crazy worldbuilding out there without creating a mess, so they toned it down and made safer changes/additions to canon. Like how alicorns keep getting less and less special. If they had kept alicorns as these godlike entities they were portrayed as in the first season, we'd be constantly asking why they didn't effortlessly defeat X villain. We still argue about that today, but most people seem to just accept that alicorns aren't all that powerful. It's a safe option that makes the world easier to digest, but also boring.
In short, Season 1's worldbuilding was haphazard and unsustainable, and they had a choice between making it boring or having it become a complete mess where the very nature of reality fundamentally changed every few episodes.
To put it another way: early MLP was mythic fantasy - impressive, grand, and makes very little sense when you think about it and try to apply logic. Later MLP is modern high fantasy, where they try to make all the parts work together as a whole, which generally means making it like Earth, since that's the only stable system we know of.
Now that's a useful explanation. One that seems much more likely than blindly placing blame on EVIL HASBRO or Season Editor X. Some changes in the show over time could've been avoided, but perhaps some were inevitable?
It does seem to match up with some of the criticisms I see about how Faust can put together a brilliant show bible, but not really develop it in the long term. Perhaps not necessarily a creative flaw, but just that she's a natural at creating mythic fantasy?
I'm not sure of the answers, but I thought I'd share that interesting theory. Got me to think. THANKS, ANONYMOUS.
BONUS:
If you're a Twilight Sparkle fan, you might also be the type to appreciate dorky puns. I suppose the whole show is founded on horse puns like Canterlot and Cloudsdale, but it always treated them seriously within its world. Well this story goes overboard on both horse puns and book puns, also treating them completely serious because they're important to the story! (and not random pop culture references to some musician with an altered name, you know the kind I mean)
I winced at so many of them. In a good way, I mean. Here's a few good ones.
the curse of Inknorance
Autumnal Equine-nox
a pony named Paperbuck
a store called Horsey Books (o m g 
)
They're so awful, I wish I'd thought of them first. 
PREVIOUS ENTRIES:
Book 1 / Twilight Sparkle and The Crystal Heart Spell
Book 2 / Pinkie Pie and the Rockin' Ponypalooza Party!
Book 3 / Rainbow Dash and The Daring Do Double Dare
Book 4 / Rarity and The Curious Case of Charity
Book 5 / Applejack and The Honest-to-goodness Switcheroo
Book 6 / Fluttershy and The Fine Furry Friends Fair
Book 7 / Princess Celestia and The Summer of Royal Waves
Book 8 / Discord and The Ponyville Players Dramarama
Book 9 / Princess Luna and The Festival of the Winter Moon
Book 10 / Lyra and Bon Bon and The Mares from S.M.I.L.E.
Book 11 / Princess Cadance and The Spring Hearts Garden
Book 12 / Starlight Glimmer and The Secret Suite
That quote from Larson is encouraging.
Or discouraging, since you would think it’s common sense and all writers would do it.
…
*sob*
Did you know that Twilight hasn’t done much since becoming a princess? ^.^
The real problem(s), in my righteous opinion, is that they keep failing to give her a personal struggle, and she rarely, if ever, needs her friends emotionally and mentally. You no longer get the sense Twilight would be a loser or doomed to some sad fate without them.
:DD You came to the right guy!
--I'd argue there was more exploration in season one than almost any other. No, they didn't travel to many different locals or learn lots of Wonderbolts history, but new facets of the culture were always being introduced: holidays, festivals or parties, celebrities, creatures, etc, and they were exhibited in a personal way (largely through wide-eyed Twilight Sparkle, who doesn't often feel very wide-eyed anymore). Not to mention facets of the mane six's lives. I feel like things have grown largely static with them. Sure, Rarity opens new shops and Dash is part of the bolts now, but I don't really know much more about them personally than I did three seasons ago.
--The reason things were more charming in season one is because so many elements were distinct/imaginative, and different from our human world. More and more similarities, not differences, have been introduced into Equestria. Rarity wearing an umbrella on her back is charming; a movie projector is not. Twilight eating a daffodil and daisy sandwich is charming; having a something-or-other burger and hay fries is not.
--Twilight's friends felt more integral to her and one another.
--There was a greater and more constant focus on the relationship of the mane six. This is probably due to the fact every episode needed a "friendship lesson", forcing things to be about relationships first. Now the mane six mostly help others with their relationships, and that's pretty boring.
--Because of the Elements of Harmony, there was a strong sense the friendship of the mane six was special and unique in Equestria, somehow. That never really came to be, and no longer feels that way.
--Adding onto that, the mane six felt special, and yet came from humble positions and were completely normal ponies. Thus, their "specialness" felt derived in part from this humility, which is more relatable. You felt like you could be one of the mane six.
--What qualified them was also their virtues, which feels more attainable than a character who is born with special powers or into a unique position they did nothing to earn.
--little to none of this is focused on in later seasons
I agree with this too.
4347677
well, I get that they're all freelancers, and don't necessarily have to go the extra mile like Larson or Berrow. I blame the system for rotating them out so much. The show itself is rarely sure if there's gonna be a next season, so they can't reliably keep all the writers on hand.
I don't judge the show writers themselves. I think that's too easy a scapegoat, and missing out on the real problems...
I think I disagree on this one bullet point. They've kept trying it, but we as fans have gotten too used to it to get excited. We take it for granted instead. As for the characters, I think it's true that we don't learn much new about them, but I suppose their wells have run dry. It might've been inevitable, even if Lauren Faust were still running the show.
a lot of the other details you list I do agree with, but I think they're more focused on the theme, rather than the worldbuilding. Season 1 did build towards a strong unifying theme, while none of the others even attempted (except Season 5!!)
the exotic feeling of the show can be relative depending on the viewer's culture, and the horse-iness might just be a cute quirk (though I do love both), but I'm not entirely convinced they were the root of it all. maybe just the surface decorations that stand out the most. that's why I think the "mythic vs high fantasy" theory works so well. even with less human-like behavior, and continued focus on Twilight and her relationships, the later seasons might still have drifted towards the high fantasy end of the scale.
but anyway, I think what's really lost here is that type of fan interaction. fans explore and fill in the gaps within a mythic fantasy! with high fantasy, they tend to just.... categorize and classify it all. like it's a D&D guidebook.
4347720
Boooooo no excuses!
It's certainly not very useful. When I hear of angry fans tweeting writers their complaints I just shake my head. You're hurting your own cause when you do that. But writers do bear some responsibility in my opinion. Yes, there are obstacles, but hard work and creativity can get around many of them. There is a system, but I don't think that automatically justifies conformity to it and the results thereof. But, you know, it's complicated :P
Hm, it's very possible. You might be right. Worldbuilding has never been a large focus for me in my thoughts on the show, though it plays its part.
Why do you feel their wells have run dry?
Yes that's right, I was trying to cover everything I feel later seasons have lacked from the first. I guess you were only talking about the worldbuilding side of things? I agree, fixing the other issues wouldn't have prevented the slide into high fantasy, because they're mostly separate elements (still fundamentally connected). Likewise, maintaining the mythic fantasy aspect would not have prevented the themes going awry and, in my opinion, the show hollowing itself out.
4350582
From some of the things Larson says in interviews, about how writing for later seasons was different from the early seasons, I'm getting a hunch as to what's happening. It's not about Writers X, Y , Z sucking, or HASBRO-9000 giving toy-related commandments from above. He describes it as "way too many cooks in the kitchen", like the show's become a victim of its own success, too many well-meaning people trying to attach themselves to the creative process now that they KNOW it's a success (kind of a Muad'Dib situation). Faust pushed the writers and animators to be more daring and bold early on, but was able to keep everything together with a unified vision. Larson says there was none of that unity when he returned, every writer doing whatever they want, and he had to work extra hard while he was there to make Season 5 cohesive again.
So that's why I don't blame individual writers, no matter how bad they seem (I actually think Season 5 had weaker episodes than average, BUT the season as a whole was quite strong). The real illness is the decaying leadership. The symptom is that the show's not BAD yet, but noticably sloppy.
Season 1 did such a great job introducing the characters to each other, that already in Season 2 Lauren Faust planned for much less of that and the episodes steered toward challenging characters individually.
So I mean it in a positive way, as a compliment to the show. It's something they couldn't keep up forever.
4350643
You're right, I absolutely agree. The leadership holds the most responsibility, and when they don't do their job right everything suffers. Lack of good guidance and vision can be the difference between the Marvel and DC cinematic universes.
So overall I blame writers for not doing their research and whatever else is in their power to do but they don't, but mostly I blame the people in charge of them (like Megan McCarthy) for not making them, among other failures.
What you say about Larson's experiences does not fill me with hope. :(
I disagree, actually. The simple fact I can think of loads more to do and explore with these characters is enough to tell me that, well, there's loads more to do and explore. I accept no excuse from the writing team for not doing this.
4351965
I was more speaking to this line, maybe I interpreted it wrongly:
there's always new things to do and explore, but I see that as different from learning about them. I believe we know just about everything about the Mane 6. maybe some missing details like backstory and family members (we got Fluttershy's family, at least), but those are just details. Personality-wise, I don't think anything's missing (except romance, but we know the show won't do that), and that's why it's so easy for this fandom to write fanfiction about them.
Maybe that's why fans feel jaded, because "do and explore" at this point means throwing them into new situations, but we can already predict what they'll do in any situation. We can't go back to that thrill of meeting them for the first time. I can only hope that the show-runner will allow for more drastic changes to shake things up. or we can learn about neglected side characters, cough cough.
Anyway, you should write some of your ideas as fanfics
4352074
Ooohhhh I see now. No you didn't misinterpret me, I'm just not being clear enough.
I argue that there is still much to do with, explore, and learn about concerning the mane six. However, the writers have tapped very little of it the last few seasons, so we haven't learned or explored much of anything new, even though the potential is vast. The mane six have grown somewhat stale, and this irritates me so much precisely because I know it doesn't have to be this way.
I completely understand how you could feel there isn't really anything new to learn. Here I simply say: have you ever met another person whom you came to know everything about in only a few years? No, right? I mean, even my parents continue to surprise me, continue to change (and yet remain the same too), and I've known them my entire life. The more you learn about people, the less boring and more interesting they become. Why should it work backwards then for pony? It doesn't make sense to me that my brother of 23 years can have unplumbed depths that Rarity doesn't have after six.
These characters can absolutely remain interesting and grow and continue to unfold in surprising, delightful ways. You just have to look at the people around you to see how. :)
Always the plan, never the reality :(