Rainbow Roadtrip Notes

A couple thoughts on Rainbow Roadtrip. Nothing majorly spoiler-related, but still, under the cut.

Let's start with some small things.

First, slight thing. Minor nitpick. Title is not entirely accurate. Not simply because they take a balloon and never use a road (as Pinkie points out), but because the trip is not the main focus. It was their time in Hope Hollow and that it had been grey.

It was kind of neat to see the movie style animation again. Also kind of strange. Nothing wrong with it, but seeing it on tv after seeing it in a theatrical movie and being used to the series's style just makes it a little off-putting.

The pegasi twins -- who it turns out are named Barley Barrel (girl) and Pickle Barrel (boy) -- were cute. Little disappointed we won't be seeing them again. On a side: it could be fun to write a little story where they meet and get into a rivalry with Scootaloo.

I'm kind of curious about Kerfuffle. Specifically, the backstory behind her prosthetic leg. I know it's not a big deal, but how did she lose her leg like that?

Tying to that, Twilight's rainbow wing covers. So many, myself included, thought that Twilight was going to get some sort of new power to grant her rainbow colored wings. Turns out that's not the case.

Now for the big thing, and the one that is a massive spoiler.

The Hopeless Magic.

According to the end of the special, when a pony loses hope, they lose their color. We have seen something like this happen with Pinkie on two different occasions: back in Season One with "Party of One," and in Season Eight with "Yakity-Sax" when she gives of the yovidaphone.

More importantly however, we also see something similar in the Season Two premiere, "The Return of Harmony." When Discord uses his powers on The Mane Six, and causes them to flip their personality in regard to their Element, they take on a gray tone themselves. While this was likely simply meant as a visual representation of what was going on, so the audience could easily see they were in that condition and separate the from their normal personalities, Rainbow Roadtrip adds a new layer to it. It means that when Discord did that, he caused the ponies to lose hope. This especially fits with Twilight, who saw herself fail and abandoned by those she thought of as friends. She had lost her friends, failed to defeat Discord, and so she lost faith in herself, and hope.

Comments

[Anon E Moose]

As an addendum to the hopeless magic draining color, remember what the crystal ponies looked like when they first reappeared.

I, too, wish to know more about Kerfuffle's tragic backstory.

I'm also wondering where in Equestria Fargo Hope Hollow is.