"A Horse Shoe-In" Review: Starlight Glimmer and the Challenges of Life · 2:42pm Sep 16th, 2019
Things are moving forward. The more time passes, the more Twilight gets tangled up with duties to prepare her coronation to Equestria's sole ruler.
When Twilight first spoke about making Starlight the new headmare of her school, I thought she wouldn't do it in the end. Celestia still has time to take care of her School for Gifted Unicorns even though she rules over Equestria and so, Twilight sure will have time for her own school, too. I was thinking that Twilight only said that because she initially was so nervous about becoming Luna's and Celestia's successor that she figured running her school would be too much on top of everything, but that she would realize she can still do it once her nervousness has settled. But now, she was talking about it again and she officially appointed Starlight to the new headmare of her Friendship School. It surprised me that she actually went for it, but now things are set in stone.
Everything is moving forward. Twilight moves forward as the future ruler of Equestria. Starlight moves forward as the new headmare of the Friendship School. Sunburst moves forward from his Royal Crystaller duties as Starlight's vice principal. And even Trixie moves forward as the new guidance counselor of Twilight's school.
Everything changes and moves forward. "A Horse Shoe-In" marks the first of five last weekends with new episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. And now time seems to accelerate at a high speed as the changes Twilight's new role in Equestria will bring get set into motion more and more. First we witnessed the very last Summer Sun Celebration and the birth of the new Festival of the Two Sisters and now, the administration of Twilight's friendship school has gotten a shake-up. What else will change while the big Coronation Day approaches with faster and faster hoofsteps?
It really can be felt now, how Equestria is entering into a new era. And whether or not you will be able to witness this new era, it is sure that great things are coming for Equestria. What the nature of these great things is, is something that only the future knows.
I am happy and satisfied with this episode. The applicants for the position of vice-headmare/principal were unexpected. I was reckoning with Trixie giving it a shot, but Octavia, Doctor Whooves, Big Mac and..... Spoiled Rich were a huge surprise. An unpleasant one with the last pony in that line-up, but the others were very welcome to see. And Starlight got swiftly rid of the glass of spoiled milk. She knows a villain when she sees one.
Which is a reaction that also puts some things into perspective. Starlight gave Chrysalis a chance. She did not notice any signs about Cozy Glow and did not suspect her. But now she rejected Spoiled Rich almost immediately to prevent her from taking control of Twilight's school. Her previous experiences have shaped Starlight. One can clearly see that in this episode.
And after watching these events, I admire Starlight even more. She had to make a hard decision there. A little while ago, she had to learn to not put her job above her friend. And now, she found herself in a situation where she had to put her job above her friend. Trixie was not fit to be vice-headmare and Starlight had to deny her the position because it was important to give it to somepony who is responsible and will take good care of the school. This was a reversal of the lesson Starlight had just learned, a cruel reversal like only life can bring it. And it was incredibly difficult for Starlight; she let Trixie give it a try because they're friends and she didn't want to hurt her feelings, but at the same time she knew that Trixie wouldn't make it. Starlight even put Trixie's photo on the very side of the chart instead of the middle to the other applicants who made it into the next round, because she knew the entire time that she will have to turn Trixie down in the end.
Life really likes to present Starlight with difficult challenges. Hopefully, it gives her a very long break after all of this.
Another thing this episode has given me is additional appreciation for Trixie. How she was standing up for Gallus to his careless not-grandfather was brilliant. A good teacher will look out for their students and be on alert if there are signs for parental abuse. And it's even more brilliant that Gallus has sympathies for Trixie now and showed his gratitude to her.
I'm wondering what the future will bring for them. Maybe Trixie will adopt Gallus one day? Either way, Trixie will be a great guidance counselor.
It also gave me a jolt of happiness to see Octavia and Doctor Whooves with speaking roles again! My eyes have already brushed over a thumbnail on YouTube showing Doctor Whooves in his laboratory, so I figured there would be another background pony episode coming up. It's this episode I got spoilered for a little and it didn't exactly turn out as what I thought it would be, but I'm still really happy for what we got there. Seeing Doctor Whooves and Octavia in action again was a joy. And Vinyl Scratch, too.
I only wish we would have gotten to see more of Vinyl's and Octavia's concert, it was shown to us only very shortly in the end. But one can't have everything. Maybe I can attend a concert by them in full-length one day. 
I also loved hearing about Flurry Heart's Crystalling. Another Season 6 reference, one of many by now, and I'm glad to have gotten a little reminder to reminisce on it, seeing Flurry Heart for the first time is one of the best memories I have from watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It's only a little sad to hear that Sunburst does not meet Flurry often anymore and that his duties for her have become reduced so greatly. I always thought he would become her personal teacher and teach her about magic and other things.
He will also move to Ponyville now, which means a tiny aspect of my story about Flurry Heart's potential future, "'Princess Flurry Heart, Destroyer of Worlds!'", has been stamped as incorrect now, as I had Sunburst still living in the Crystal Empire in it. That's a real surprise, with how far the story is set in the future, I always thought of that as an unlikely occurrence. I will not rewrite Sunburst's role in the story to adapt it, however. Everything will stay the same.
I'm happy for Starlight, though. Now there is one more friend of hers who lives in Ponyville. Even a permanent one now, unlike Trixie who is busy travelling often. Starlight deserves this.
The only question that remains after this episode is, when will we see Derpy again for one last time in the show? We can already tell that, sadly, she won't get her big spotlight episode anymore, as all the synopses of the remaining episodes don't talk about her. Even the one episode we haven't gotten a synopsis for and for which we don't know what to expect at all, "The Big Mac Question" (Episode 23), will not be about her, as the title already implies.
But I'm confident we are going to see something from Derpy before everything ends. They would not let My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic end without showing us one more grand moment with Best Background Pony, Best Mailmare, Best Clumsy Pony and mom of the one and only Dinky Hooves (aka, Best Mom), that is something that can be said for sure. I can hardly wait for seeing her.
Stay easy as a filly!
~ Fluttercheer
I agree!