More reviews!

Let's catch up some more and dive right in! Finally.

Yakity Sax. Okay...what the hell? Pinkie gets herself a set of Yak bagpipes (that's what I'm calling them, sorry not sorry) and proceeds to butcher everyone's ears with them until they tell her to stop, which causes her to become depressed and move away because she's melodramatic. First, why in the world was she giving bedroom eyes to an instrument? That's just bizarre, even for her. But, the primary thing is that no one seems to be able to write her consistently. We know she's very social and knows (presumably) how to read social cues. You simply can't tell me that she wasn't aware that she was annoying the holy hell out of everyone around her. She's not stupid! We know this! So, like I said, she turns her sad grey and moves to Yakyakistan after she's told to stop playing the bagpipes because she's horrible at them. But in Yak town, everything everyone plays is considered wonderful, even though the first guy we see playing them when they arrive at that bar or whatever it was was actually playing really well. It was pleasant to listen to. After a couple amusing jokes (the only ones in the episode), Twilight tells her to continue playing anyway because she enjoys it.

I'm sorry...no. Just...NO. If someone's BAD at something, and show NO signs of progress after a reasonable amount of time, it's STUPID to continue trying. Sometimes you're just not good at something. I don't expect to be good at, say, being a fucking lawyer because there are a thousand and one laws you have to learn and I don't have the patience or capacity or, frankly, temperament for it. Once I've figured that out, I'm not continue pursuing it! That's just a monumental waste of time, and in this case, a huge annoyance to everyone around her! WHY would you give her the okay to continue making you want to kill yourself every day?

Overall, a pretty damn boring episode with a TERRIBLE message. 2/10. Pretty universally hated episode as far as I understand.

Road to Friendship. So, Trixie and Starlight head to Saddle Arabia to take an act on the road. Cool! These two are always fun to watch, and we're gonna see another foreign land. Could be interesting.

One quick complaint. As far as Saddle Arabia goes...we saw a street corner. Yay? Shouldn't we have seen a palace or a big touristy area? That'd be like flying to Vegas and then hanging out at the airport to play a few slots and then leaving that night. Should have treated it more like when RD went to Las Pegasus. We got a bit of a tour, at least in the hotel they were at, so it was fun that way. Here? Was a bit of a disappointment. Was also a little puzzled how one snack could bankrupt the trip. Like...how much was Trixie charging for her show in Ponyville? Should have probably asked for more because dayum.

Not sure how MLP pulled it off, but Trixie and Starlight have some hilarious chemistry. You'd think an egomaniac like Trixie wouldn't be able to bounce off anyone, but she does well with Starlight. Who knew? I really hope that Trixie eventually makes fun of Twilight for her little dance with Cadance. I mean, shit, if I was kind of friendly with someone who I once considered a rival and saw them doing that, they'd never hear the end of it.
The comedy in this episode was pretty solid overall. Not sure what all Starlight assumed would be going on when they were trying to sleep in the wagon, what with all the magic props. Does raise the question how Trixie herself lived in that thing alone all that time. It barely had room for her by herself! I guess if she knew how to put things in that pocket dimension that Twilight seems to keep everything in, maybe things would have been easier, but eh. The Arabian (I forget his name) was amusing when he showed up too, so props to him. Kind of disappointed he didn't have a more unique design. I remember that the Saddle Arabian ambassadors in Season 3 were just regular horses with a distinct shape. Kind of surprised he didn't resemble them a little more.

The song was pretty great, I'll admit. It reminded me a lot of when Stewie and Brian from Family Guy did those couple of trip episodes. Think that 'Rhode Island Bound' song, for instance. First thing that came to mind, and that was back when Family Guy was far more tolerable, and that's always a good thing.

However, at the two-thirds mark...yeah, I was ready to slap Starlight again. I know she's still not REALLY the most socially aware, but.......come on, Starlight, that wagon wasn't yours! The fuck?! You don't have to be a social butterfly to know you don't sell shit that isn't YOURS. Frankly, after Trixie demanded her wagon back from Mr. Arabia and he said no, I'd have knocked his head off. If someone gave away MY stuff without MY permission and then the buyer wouldn't give it back, they'd both wake up in a hospital. At the same time, while I understand why Trixie's wagon was important to her....girl, the new one you got for free and is about 50% bigger and a lot nicer, what's wrong with you?

I dunno, one could argue Starlight is still learning, but like I said, I'd think that would be something you shouldn't NEED to learn. Other than the lack of Saddle Arabia and Starlight's wildly selfish trade, it was a pretty amusing episode. The comedy was strong, the song was good, and seeing these two protags running around seems to work well. Decent 8/10.

The Washouts. So, Scoots is hitting puberty and running into that 'you can't tell me what to do, mom' phase. Ho, shit. Not surprised she started getting all wet over a daredevil group that's damn near suicidal. Makes you think Scoots is going to become an adrenaline junkie. Maybe she can talk to Vin Diesel and find herself behind the wheel of a souped up hot rod or something some day.

Was great seeing the return of Lightning Dust, and she was just as much of a cunt as ever. However, it was actually kind of cool seeing her and RD kinda getting along at first. Almost made it look like she understood that she fucked up, but then it starts to dawn on RD and you that she didn't actually care. Almost makes it sound like she's kind of a sociopath, especially after damn near forcing Scoots to go along with the insane rocket trick at the end of the episode.

Rolling Thunder is apparently an Aussie mare. That's...kind of cool actually, I'm not gonna lie. Love the accent, and apparently, she into chicks maybe? She threw a girl a wink, and gave RD one too, and the crowd girl fainted as they tend to do. Short Fuse was a riot though. I can't imagine what got him thrown out of the Wonderbolts! Speaking of the Bolts, I'm surprised I haven't seen any youtube clips of someone editing in Chris Farley's 'living in a van down by the river' rant over Spitfire's dialogue. I know I'm not the only one who thought of that the second she started bellowing on about nonsense.

I do have a question about the rocket though. Well, it's not like it's regular gasoline they use in rockets IRL. Sooooo, where exactly did they get the fuel for this thing? We know Equestria doesn't have cars, so internal combustion engines probably don't exist. I sincerely doubt magic has enough oomph to get that thing going as fast and hard as it did. Someone care to explain please? Thanks! I like consistency in my fantastical shows!

Anyway, overall, this was a solid episode. Saw a return of a great rival with LD, Scoots was great, the other Washouts were fun to watch. Was one of the stronger episodes of the season imo. 9/10.

Last for today, A Rockhoof and a Hard Place. So, Rockhoof is looking for his new purpose in life since it seems the rest of his old gang found something to do after returning from limbo. I have to wonder how Somnambula got into yoga though. Seems like an odd choice since I don't recall if there was anything indicating she might be interested in that sort of thing, but anything that brings her onto the screen is fine. She's........yeah. Pretty understandable that Flash Magnus got a job in the military and Mistmane is back to tending gardens in the Crystal Empire and such. Starswirl would definitely go around Equestria learning more stuff since she was always erect over knowledge, and Mage Meadowbrook heading home and continuing her medicinal stuff makes perfect sense. So yeah, what WOULD Rockhoof do? His village is long gone, so what all does he have? Very Captain America-ish, just with a shovel instead of a shield. I'm still really puzzled as to how his little magical growth spurt happened. We never really get much into the way of Earth pony magic. We know about unicorn and pegasus magic, but Earth? Aside from strength and kinship with the earth itself, there doesn't seem to be much else. Gotta be something else here with him.

Anyway, in my opinion, the best career for him would probably be museum curator. Half the stuff in the place he probably was involved with in some way and he loves telling his stories. The teacher thing, while sort of a good selection, doesn't really fit well since it doesn't feel like he's really teaching history, just personal experiences, and some of them seem a bit outlandish. History is about important recorded events and the like. Now, if it was however long ago it was when the Pillars were around, maybe he could be a teacher, but yeah, not here so much. However, like in the classroom, Rockhoof would have to learn to be a little more careful in that museum if he were to go with that option. The enthusiasm he displays would definitely keep peoples' attention, like young yaks for instance.

Yeah, Yona stood out wonderfully in this episode. She had the best line of the episode when Rockhoof busted through the wall and flung the kids outside because he thought the school was on fire. "Day just got betterrrrr!" Fuckin' lol. She's got the biggest...err...ladyboner? Ponybon....never mind, she wants the D.

Also, episode? I was just kidding when I said Rockhoof is going to say he wanted to die when he couldn't fit in anywhere! Jesus!

Anyway, was a nice episode here too. The comedy was great, especially from Yona, was nice seeing the other Pillars again and catching up with them a bit (hopefully we'll get a little more in the last season, but I dunno, they're pretty secure doing what they're doing), and Rockhoof was a fantastic stand-out. Another solid 8/10.

I know there are three more episodes I need to look over before the finale, which I want to save for its own review. I've seen it in Dutch with subtitles, and I'm curious what the translations are going to be because.......yeah, we're going to need to talk about a few things and I want to see if some of the things I want to talk about will be addressed with the English dialogue. Probably won't change anything, but we'll see. Till next time.