IDW Main Series #99 (Season 10, Episode 11) · 1:57am Sep 9th, 2021

And so it is that the reviews of the official comics from IDW come to a close on this account, at least for the time being. If I ever manage to get a copy of the continuiously proving elusive micro series comics I want to review, or King Sombra's Fiendship is Magic issue then the reviews may briefly return. But until then this is it, especially since the comics' main series run is coming to a close just as G5 is on the horizon. By this point, "Season 10" had pretty much been up, down and all around in quality with the stand alone "episodes" tending to attract more attention than any of the big arcs. For the last stand alone issue of the comics run, we had something building on the success of #86 with its focus on Maud Pie and a follow-up to #94 and #95 (Season 10, Episodes 6 and 7 respectively) that was supposed to build towards Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich getting together by the time of "The Last Problem", but ultimately didn't really. Considering all the attention was going towards the big #100 coming out, which was poised to be the grand conclusion for "Season 10" and the comics in general, this issue easily got overshadowed. But on its own merits is it at least decent? Well, let's find out.

We begin with the old western theme nod as Cheese Sandwich comes into town, and Mayor Mare not so subtly comments on if maybe he's looking for Pinkie Pie. He says he is, but it's a matter of business. We then cut to a week earlier when Pinkie Pie was picking up a package at the post office. She got something from Cheese Sandwich (chocolates she'd never tried before), but also got a letter that was actually addressed to Marble Pie. She ran it back to her family's rock farm where it turns out the letter was an acceptance to a very exclusive university. It's a year round program on a remote island only accessible via a ferry in the summer, and students don't tend to leave for the entire duration of their studies. Marble Pie, building on her development from #86, is ecstatic about this and suggests Pinkie Pie throw her a going away party. But Pinkie doesn't want to.

A day or two later, Marble is in Ponyville to get some appropriate attire for her upcoming time away. And through Rarity she learns that Pinkie has barely spoken a word since delivering Marble Pie's letter. She and Applejack then discover that Pinkie isn't at Sugarcube Corner, which Fluttershy also notices since she was stopping by to deliver something for Gummy. Somehow, Applejack is able to find Pinkie Pie alone, skipping a rock down at the pond. And Pinkie says she doesn't want to talk. Applejack deduces that in actuality Pinkie does, she just doesn't want to talk about Marble going away and potentially never coming back. Applejack explains that she knows what it's like to lose someone close to you, but in her case the loss helped her draw closer to Apple Bloom. And while she knows that someday Apple Bloom will grow up and perhaps leave Sweet Apple Acres, it won't change the time she got to share with her sister.

This is enough to cheer Pinkie Pie up and get her to stop moping around (though her mane and tail never deflate or come anywhere close to doing so), though she still doesn't want to throw the party because to her parties are a symbol of joy coming from inside of you. She can't bring herself to throw a party for something that doesn't feel joyful to her, but she does know someone who can help: Cheese Sandwich. And that brings us back to the present as Cheese is more than happy to plan the party, offering to let Pinkie provide feedback for his suggestions. She eventually decides that maybe she should step in when Cheese proposes various cheeses instead of desserts because he thinks desserts are cliche for a party.

We get to see the party in all its rendered glory, though there is an odd animation error where we see a stallion next to Maud Pie who is clearly meant to be Mud Briar but he's colored all wrong. Did the artists not know who Mud Briar was? If so, why didn't they look him up? It's a really weird hiccup that is just hard to ignore. But that aside, the party is a big success. Marble thanks Pinkie, who in turn thanks Cheese and Cheese insists it was Pinkie who did most of the work. It's sad that they're not officially a couple at this point, because a lot of their dialogue here (Pinkie and Cheese) makes them act like it, particularly when Cheese Sandwich's response to Marble asking to borrow Pinkie is "Don't take too long, or you'll lose your security deposit." Anyway, Marble thanks Pinkie for doing a good job and promises to keep in touch as best she can. Pinkie then returns to "rescue" Cheese from some of her cousins (they aren't named in the comic itself, but a follow-up interview with this issue's writer has confirmed their names), and the two walk off into the sunset after compromising on cheese cake for a dessert.

And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Well, it has CheesePie shipfuel galore so that's always a plus for me. But then, so did #94 and #95 and yet I'm not reviewing those two because nothing came of it (making you wonder why they bothered making it a two parter other than so they could end the comics run at an even number of issues?). This issue's story has more to it than just further making me want to ship Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich, it really does show how well they compliment and play off each other. But Marble Pie continues her development from #86 where she is thankfully not stuck in her show role of "the poor man's Fluttershy", she has her own defined personality and goals that make her feel fleshed out. Perhaps the only downside to it is that that means Limestone Pie now has nothing, all her sisters have left the rock farm but she's stuck on it with presumably no one besides her family for company. Applejack is utilized well here, drawing on her sibling bond with Apple Bloom and the fact that we know her parents are dead, yet again demonstrating how great she is as a voice of reason to others. We even get some insights into Pinkie's character and her motivations behind throwing parties which is always nice to see. The only real downside apart from the animation error on Mudbriar is that this has no connection to anything going on in "Season 10", and thus could be mistaken for taking place before any of the events in it. But then again that's probably for the best given what "Season 10" has chosen to focus on. So pick this one up if you can, and like always avoid going outside the five to ten dollar range since it's not that valuable.

And there you have it.

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