Mariusioannesp Reviews: "Rock Solid Friendship"

WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for the latest MLP episode “Rock Solid Friendship.”

Now, without further a-Maud-Pie-is-back-again-do, here is my review of “Rock Solid Friendship”.

Pinkie Pie’s sister Maud Pie has just completed her rocktorate in rock studies. She’s considering moving to Ponyville, which is quite an exciting prospect for Pinkie. However, rocks aren’t the only factor in Maud’s decision to move to Ponyville. Maud also wants to find a friend. When Maud happens to hit it off with Starlight Glimmer, Pinkie sees the perfect opportunity for Maud to find a friend so she’ll stay in Ponyville. However, Pinkie’s efforts to ensure Maud and Starlight’s friendship end up being a tad overbearing. Will Pinkie realize how overbearing she’s being before she ends up driving Maud away?

So what’s the verdict?

I loved this episode! It was just so much fun from start to finish.

So yeah, I liked it! I liked it a lot.

We begin with the entire Pie clan attending Maud Pie’s graduation from the Equestrian Institute of Rockology with her rockorate in rock studies.

They are the only ones there. Rock studies must be a very specialized field. I shudder to think what the job market must be like.

Unsurprisingly, Pinkie Pie is the most excited to be there to celebrate Maud’s educational accomplishment.


Maud as the vale-rock-torian, by virtue of being the only member of her class, gives a very barebones speech consisting pretty much of her name and thank you in her typical aloof manner.

On the train ride back to Ponyville, Pinkie is also quite excited about the prospect of Maud moving to Ponyville. They’ll be able to spend all their time together, get bunk beds, and be Best Sister Friends Forever or BSFF for short! (There goes Pinkie and her acronyms again.) And they can wear slippers with that emblazoned on it! Maud reminds her though it’s not a definite that she’ll be moving to Ponyville. Pinkie though retorts with Maud’s exact words.

There goes a pony doing an imitation of another pony again. Although, it is common for siblings to be able to do impersonations of each other.

Anywho, Maud is also considering going to the Ghastly Gorge. Pinkie thinks that’s so funny, Maud should try stand-up. Well, Maud already does stand-up, but that wasn’t a joke. Wait, Maud does stand-up. I’d really like to see that. Remember that sick burn she gave Discord in “Make New Friends But Keep Discord” in Season 5. Maud explains that whether she moves to Ponyville or the Ghastly Gorge is a rock-based decision. So all Pinkie has to do is prove to Maud that Ponyville has better rocks. Pinkie assures Maud that her world is about to get rocked.

Pinkie then takes Maud to Ponyville’s cave full of gemstones.


Another reminder that sometimes the music on MLP is diegetic--the word “diegetic” means “that when there’s a musical sting it’s actually being played by someone around them and no one finds this the least bit odd.”

Anyway, Pinkie and Maud happen to run into Spike and Rarity in the cave.

I think they’re here because this is the same cave they were looking for gemstones from “Gauntlet of Fire” last season. Rarity makes some idle chit-chat with Maud, inquiring as to what she’s doing now that she’s finished her rocktorate. Maud replies that she’s talking to Rarity. Of course, Maud is going to say that. So, Rarity is desperately looking for a chartreuse gem. She wants such a rare gem to make her gown pop at Countess Coloratura’s album release party. Hold on. I thought Countess Coloratura wasn’t Countess Coloratura anymore. Isn’t she just Rara now? Rarity could still call her that because that’s what she’s mostly known as. And she’s still releasing albums. Good for her. Probably giving Songbird Serenade a run for her money. But enough of that. Maud locates a chartreuse gem, and then points out that it’s actually quite a common gem. In fact, all the gems in the cave are fairly common. Pinkie tries to salvage the situation by claiming she didn’t bring Maud to the cave to impress her, but to say hello to her old friend Spike. I’m not sure Maud and Spike have ever really met before. Instead, she should have said she brought Maud there to say hi to Rarity as they have met before a number of times.

Movin’ right along. Pinkie tries to impress Maud by showing her the Castle of Friendship.

You know, that wasn’t there the last time Maud was in Ponyville. Maud is unimpressed as many buildings are made of rocks. Then, Pinkie starts getting desperate. She points out some more rocks that turn out to be sting-bush seed pods.

She points out another rock that turns out to be a tortoise, specifically Tank.

Hey it’s Tank! Haven’t seen him since he went and hibernated two seasons ago.

Then Pinkie points out a rock that’s shaped like Lyra Heartstrings that turns out to actually be Lyra Heartstrings.

Obligatory LyraBon moment.



”Nopony takes my Lyra away!”

Pinkie deflates at her failure to prove the betterness of Ponyville’s rocks. Literally.

Maud however then admits that rocks aren’t the only reason she’s considering Ponyville. Despite her passion for exotic rocks, Maud would accept more mundane rocks if she could find somepony to talk to other than her pet rock Boulder. That’s right. Maud wants a friend. Well, she can’t pick a better place for that than Ponyville. It’s like the friendship capital of Equestria. She wants to make friends with someone who gets her. Pinkie gets her, but she’s Maud’s sister so that’s different. As someone with a sister I can attest to that. It is different. Then again though, my sister doesn’t actually get me. I wish she did though.

Movin’ right along. Pinkie tells Maud that you’re never sure when the lightning of friendship will strike. In fact, somepony could come barrelling through the front door of the Castle of Friendship and become your friend. Then, all of a sudden… Nothing happens. Pinkie was sure somepony would come barrelling out of the Castle of Friendship, and that’s when Starlight Glimmer comes barrelling out of the Castle of Friendship and right into Maud. Then it turns out that Starlight has met Maud before.

See, Maud traveled all over Equestria for her rocktorate dissertation. At one point, she ran into OG Starlight Glimmer, complete with equal sign cutie mark and her original mane-style.

Back then, Starlight inquired with Maud given her expertise on rocks if there was a stone that could hold the cutie mark magic of an entire town of ponies. Maud then points her to a nearby cave.

That’s right folks. Maud Pie played a role in Starlight Glimmer’s enslaving Our Town.

Pinkie suggests rather seriously that perhaps they should never tell anypony about Maud’s role in helping Starlight enslave Our Town. The gravity of the issue doesn’t appear to dawn on Maud as Starlight hasn’t enslaved anypony recently.

So Starlight is about to go on her merry way to run some errands when Pinkie indicates to Maud that she should offer to help her out. Instead, Starlight asks Maud if she wants to. Pinkie insists that she does and sends them off.

Pinkie is sure that soon they’ll be best friends, Maud will choose Ponyville, and she and Maud will be wearing BSFF slippers in no time. Again, with those slippers.

Later, Starlight and Maud are walking about the Ponyville market talking about the magical properties of rocks.

According to Maud, with the right stone, you could rule all of Equestria if you wanted to. I wonder if that’ll be important later in the season. Starlight thinks Maud is messing with her, but she doesn’t give any indication whether she is or not.

Starlight takes this in stride though and asks Maud what else she’s into besides rocks. Maud is also into minerals, plate tectonics, and of course, stand-up comedy. Seriously, I want to see Maud do stand-up. I can’t be the only one right. Starlight admits that she’s into kites. Well, this the first time hearing about that.

Actually, it isn’t.

Indeed. Like Dirk Gently, everything is connected.

Maud agrees that kites are cool. So then, Maud is watching Starlight fly a kite, and Starlight explains a whole bunch of stuff about this kite in comparison with some other kind of kite. Yeah, Starlight is really into kites. Maud admits that kites are beginning to grow on her. I wonder why that is.

Then all of a sudden, Pinkie shows up dressed like a pizza to deliver a pizza to none other than Derpy Hooves. I think this is the first time we’ve seen her this season.

Oh my gosh! Pinkie hit Derpy with a pizza!

Of course, this pizza delivery feint is just an excuse for Pinkie to check up on Maud and Starlight’s friendship progress. She wants them to bond and talk about their feelings, but Starlight doesn’t want to talk about feelings. So, Pinkie talks about her feelings concerning Starlight and Maud becoming best friends and Maud moving to Ponyville because of that.

Then Pinkie realizes that Maud and Starlight have wandered off. While they’re wandering off, Maud apologizes to Starlight for Pinkie’s inordinate behavior. Soon afterwards, they’re at the gem cave, and Starlight asks Maud why she loves rocks so much. Maud explains that every rock has a story to tell. For example, a fissure on Boulder tells her he’s two thousand years old. But also, Maud likes rocks because they don’t exclude you because you’re different than others. Wow. Maud just got deep. Starlight also assesses that rocks are beautiful and strong and don’t judge you or make you feel any less in any way. She can certainly relate to that. Starlight is starting to like rocks too. Starlight then finds a hollow chunk of granite, which Maud points out is unusual. After Starlight magics her way through it, she and Maud discover this gemstone-encrusted cavern pool.

Neither of them have seen anything like this, which is unusual for Maud. That’s when Pinkie shows up to commemorate this momentous occasion in Maud and Starlight’s friendship: the first time they discovered an underground cave together. Pinkie fears they’re not really bonding so she then very obviously pretends to trip over a rock and cause a cave-in that seals them all inside the cave.


Very obvious indeed.

Now Starlight and Maud will be forced to bond until they’re rescued. Starlight tries to think of a spell to get them out, but Maud simply throws Boulder at the cave ceiling and opens a hole in it. Turns out, the cave ceiling is made of sandstone. Anyway, Pinkie then invites Starlight and Maud to a friendship brunch the next day where they’ll be having omelette cupcakes. Pinkie’s favorite is jalapeño red velvet. Yeah, Starlight doesn’t think she’ll be able to make it.

Later that night as Pinkie and Maud are getting ready for bed, Pinkie excitedly discusses brunch the next day as well as Maud’s progress befriending Starlight.


Yes, they sleep in the same bed as many siblings are wont to do. Anyway, Pinkie even has plans made for Maud and Starlight to bond over the next seventeen days. They’ll be best friends in no time! All the while, Maud seems like she wants to tell Pinkie something but can’t seem to bring herself to do so. Then, they go to sleep.

It appears Pinkie has a clapper.

The next morning, Pinkie awakens to see not Maud next to her but a note from Maud. In the note, Maud thanks Pinkie for her efforts, but she’s decided to move to the Ghastly Gorge as she won't have time for friends anyway. Pinkie runs after the train in an effort to stop Maud from leaving, but it’s too late. Pinkie wakes up Starlight and tells her how Maud ran off in the middle of the night.

Pinkie laments Maud and Starlight’s inability to become friends. However, Starlight admits that she likes Maud. She likes her because she’s weird.

Like a sibling do.

What Starlight means is that Maud sees things in a totally different way than anypony she’s ever met and she accepts her for who she is. They actually got each other. They were becoming friends, but Pinkie kept getting in the way. Pinkie runs off to fix the mess she’s made, while Starlight awkwardly adds that they’ve at least learned a friendship lesson.

In the Ghastly Gorge, Maud is verbally sighing and inspecting some rocks when she beset upon by a quarray eel!

Remember those from Season 2’s “May the Best Pet Win”. Long time; no see.

Soon enough, Pinkie arrives at the Ghastly Gorge and tracks down Maud to inside the maw of this quarray eel.

Quickly, Pinkie pulls out a car jack, jacks the eel’s mouth open, and pulls Maud out.

Maud didn’t even notice an eel ate her. Wait a minute. Where would Pinkie even get that car jack? Why would there even be car jack’s in Equestria? They don’t have cars. Or do they?

But nevermind that. Pinkie and Maud are then chased by the quarray eels. They tumble off a cliff and Maud ends up hanging off the side of an outcropping.

Maud insists that Pinkie didn’t have to come. She’s quite happy here on her own. Being in Ponyville only proved she’s better off on her own. Pinkie confesses that it was all her fault because she tried to make Maud make friends her way instead of letting her do it her own way. That’s a lesson I can stand behind. Maud then leads them away because it turns out the outcropping she was hanging from wasn’t that high. Back at Maud’s camp, Pinkie apologizes for underestimating Maud’s ability to make friends. Maud of course forgives her because she’s her Best Sister Friend Forever. She begs Maud to give Ponyville another chance but most of all to give her another chance to leave her alone. Maud considers it and consults with Boulder.

Look at little Boulder with his little hat on.

Back in Ponyville, Starlight is flying one of these kites of hers when it is joined by a rock-themed kite. Maud’s back! Maud has decided to come back to Ponyville, but that doesn’t mean she and Starlight have to talk about their feelings. Maud invites Starlight to help her decorate her new place, which isn’t quite in Ponyville but Ponyville-adjacent. Turns out, Maud has moved into the cave she discovered with Starlight before.


Is Maud wearing those slippers Pinkie has been going on and on about? Speaking of Pinkie, she shows up, excited that Maud has moved to Ponyville-adjacent and is wearing the slippers. But true to her word, Pinkie quickly leaves to let them be.

This episode was written by Nick Confalone. Though he’s only been writing for MLP since Season 5, Mr. Confalone has quickly become my favorite of MLP’s writers. Someone has to fill the void left by Dave Polsky. A big part of why I love Confalone’s episodes is his twisted sense of humor, which always manages to shine through in all his episodes. That makes him great when it comes to Pinkie Pie episodes like this one, “Party Pooped”, and “Hearthbreakers”. Yeah, after “Hearthbreakers”, this is his second episode featuring Maud Pie. This is also his second episode featuring Starlight Glimmer after “No Second Prances” last season. By this point, Mr. Confalone has written a whole bunch of episodes with a whole bunch of characters. Mr. Confalone is one of the those writers who seems to have a pretty good grasp of all the characters and is good at coming up with stories that utilize them to their full potential.

We see a new side to Maud Pie in this episode. She wants a friend who gets her given that she is rather hard to get. She’s also almost painfully aware of how different she is from others. We also learn her full name is Maudlina Daisy Pie. I wonder if the rest of Pinkie’s sisters have names like that as well.

Also, it appears Maud is now into stand-up comedy. I still would love to see Maud do stand-up. I imagine it’d be like Steven Wright. There was no mention of Maud’s previous hobby of poetry though. Whatever happened to that? Now that's she's moved to Ponyville-adjacent, I imagine we’ll seeing her more this season. Well, that is something I certainly look forward to.

Starlight Glimmer’s has a more secondary role in this episode. That is actually surprisingly rare. Last season, she had a tendency to monopolize most of the episodes she appeared in. We also learned she has a fondness for kites. Either way, with Maud now in her circle of personal friends like Trixie, Starlight is gathering quite the group of misfits around her.

Does this episode suggest a Maud and Starlight ship, kind of like “No Second Prances” did for Starlight and Trixie? For many, it probably does. That’s how shippers roll. For me though, it didn't really feel like it was with Starlight and Trixie. There’s kind of a sexual tension with Starlight and Trixie. Maud and Starlight just seem like friends to me. So, I don't really see Maud and Trixie eventually fight for Starlight’s affections.

The most surprising thing revealed in this episode was that Maud played a role in Starlight’s enslavement of Our Town. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen such connections made between episodes like this. In last season’s “The Fault In Our Cutie Marks”, we saw how Gabby’s fondness for cutie marks stemmed from the events of “The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone”. And of course, there was how “Twilight’s Kingdom” revealed that Tirek had escaped from Tartarus during the events of “It’s About Time”. I do enjoy when MLP makes these kinds of connections, and I think they’re growing in frequency. With seven seasons of material already under their belt, there’s still a lot to build off of.

As for what I didn’t like, the friendship lesson of this episode might have been a little repetitive. It’s almost as if Pinkie doesn’t quite remember the lesson about not being too overbearing in overtures of friendship from “A Friend In Deed”. But that’s kind of a nitpick. This was a pretty solid episode.

In last week’s review, I indicated that the way the friendship lesson was telegraphed was a flaw in the episode. But telegraphing friendship lessons aren’t really that bad in most cases. In this episode, Pinkie giving the friendship lesson seemed more like a natural conversation. In “A Flurry of Emotions” last week, it seemed very obvious that’s what Twilight’s final talk with Shining and Cadance was meant to be. That’s the crux of it. It has to seem natural.

Overall, “Rock Solid Friendship” was a barrel of laughs. It’s always fun to see more of Maud Pie. Her relationship with Pinkie Pie is always a joy to watch.

What did ya’ll think of “Rock Solid Friendship”?

God bless you. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.