Okay, so tomorrow we have the first two episodes of the season, "Celestial Advice" and "All Bottled Up". Oddly, I don't think this is a two parter this time. One or both might be by Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco, who've already done some good episodes, but "Maaaaybeee...;)" isn't exactly confirmation.

Since they are airing the same day, I'm treating it the same as a two parter, though. As is kinda traditional, I'll try and describe the episodes here without actually looking much at spoilers, and just pretty much making everything up. I didn't actually pay much attention to the trailers, other than the "Fresh Princess of Friendship" one.

"Celestial Advice" sounds like it'd involve advice from Princess Celestia. Maybe Sunset Shimmer needs advice from Celestia, having just turned into an alicorn, which is a little awkward, her still being in the EqG universe. Maybe Twiight is going to practice raising and lowering the sun and the moon in case she ever has to do it again, and needs some advice on that. I'm tending to think it'll involve Celestia, anyways.

"All Bottled Up" sounds like, well, it sounds like it'd be about somepony trying to keep a secret all episode, kinda like already happened in "Green Isn't Your Color" and "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows". Since that already happened, though, maybe it's something else. Maybe its about genies. Or maybe it's about Flurry Heart's magic being suppressed to avoid all the stuff that happened the first time we saw her. Could be both. Flurry Heart as a genie in a bottle'd be kinda interesting.

Anyways, this is the official thread for both episodes, so discussion of them and spoilers for them for the next week should happen in this thread, and others will be locked or deleted.

Also, you can discuss the two episodes in the episode discussion channel of the TWG Discord server if you want, too!

--Sweetie Belle

I'm excited we might get a Celestia episode! I swear, the old girl deserves one!

5906367 Thanks for the post, SweetAl Bellevue. It's so good to be back! But you weren't even close with your prediction of the first episode XD

I have to say these two episodes were much better than the season six premiere.

5906513
If I know something about an episode, I tend to steer away from it a little in my predictions...

5906750
Well, not only Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco as episode writers for both, but also as story editors was very good to see!

--Sweetie Belle

The writers for these two episodes, Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco, are turning out to be two of the best for the series (they wrote these two episodes, Castle Sweet Castle, Top Bolt, and Gauntlet of fire).

5906760
Don't forget that they were in the mix for Rarity Investigates! too.

--Sweetie Belle

Well, it's confirmed. Unicorns don't need the earth ponies to grow plants. They just need sun, lollipops and rainbows, which somehow equals 2.

Also, as someone who's been on trains that have manual doors, that is not a proper manual door to have on a train carriage.

5906367

"All Bottled Up"

Applejack invents a new kind of cider that is totally delicious yet super-addicting, and quickly becomes a raging alcoholic. The others stage an intervention, proving that the Power of Friendship is stronger than alcohol.

*bets against own prediction, hoping to make a profit*

5906759 Let me tell you, if the rest of the season is as good as these two episodes, we're looking at not only a major improvement over season six, but one of the best seasons of the show since season five!

5906760 Amen to that!

5906770 I would love to see that! But it's probably not going to happen. It would make a great story, though.

5906367 Okay, so far so good, but "Celestial Advice" feels like it should've been expanded. "All Bottled Up" feels like it was an afterthought and a hastily made first draft. "Celestial Advice" was good, but "All Bottled Up" was dragged down by Trixie's intolerable behavior.

5906367 First of all, talking changelings are adorable.

Also, Part 2 has already been taken down, so I have no idea how this story ends.

5906833
Well, you could do a search of Dailymotion for it...

It's not actually part 2, though, just a separate episode. Thirty minutes of Trixie trolling Starlight, essentially.

--Sweetie Belle

5906860 I found it.

It just seems like a whole lot of things not happening. There's no hint of where this season will go. Celestial Advice laid out all the possibilities, and we'll probably see all those places in time, but I feel like there'll be less of an overarching story for this season.

5906367
Just patiently waiting until somebody edits Trixie screeching "RIGHT ABOUT NOW!" into Fatboy Slim's The Rockafeller Skank.

... please.

Another thought just occurred to me. You know that scene that could have come straight out of Fullmetal Alchemist? Does that mean Twilight's a confirmed anime fangirl now?

5906928

Well, we've known Fluttershy is one for a while now.

And the teacup poodle goes to hang out with the orange-frog and the gentlemanly lamppost.

Bits of lore to pay attention to:
1. A Changeling celebration (Gorgfest) and several Dragon holidays (Feast of Fire, Dragon Bowl, Clawchella(?)) were mentioned.
2. Apparently Unicorns can get so angry that it manifests as a miasma around their horn, and said miasma can infect others with not only anger, but the specific gripes that formed it.
3. There's no such thing as a vanishing spell - at least, not to Starlight's (not insubstantial) knowledge.
4. Bulk Biceps works multiple jobs.
5. Ember is confirmed to still be in touch with Twilight.
6. The Changelings are still capable of shapeshifting (that one's a relief!).
7. And a pretty big one to end it: Celestia had her eyes on all of the Mane Six for years, not just Twilight.

5906768
It's my new favorite equation.

Teacup!

5906956

It's kind of interesting to see how people hear that phrase. At first, I thought he said Gorefest, so I had to rewind. Then I heard Gourdfest, which explains why he said, "it's better than it sounds." Because let's face it, a festival about gourds doesn't sound very exciting.

I've even seen a comic where somebody heard Thorax saying "gorbfest".

EDIT: Teacup!

5906974 Halloween not exciting? You take that back!

5906996

Halloween's not solely about the pumpkins, though, is it?

Thoughts/Annoyances
1) Celestia had students before twilight even if we ignore equestria girls, she's had to have gone through this before. Writers have no sense of scale.
2) Wasn't starlight with her old town? Why is there a question how to fob her off.
3) Starlight magic is being used way too much like early twilight as a plot device, it just feels so off when they've been doing so well recently.
4) Trixie and Starlight are still the best friendship in this show confirmed.

5906956

3. There's no such thing as a vanishing spell - at least, not to Starlight's (not insubstantial) knowledge.

Sweet. That actually works with the story I'm putting together. (Where there is a vanishing spell, but it's obscenely advanced and basically unique to a single character.)

5907008 It's not?

Well, this gives me a lot to think about.

5906974

Because let's face it, a festival about gourds doesn't sound very exciting.

We kinda have one of those. It's called Halloween.

Edit: Ponyfeathers, someone already made that joke…

5907083
I would take the opposite position: Starlight and Trixie were the better storyline in the episode, while the Mane Six's segments where generic and uninteresting.

Watched it with a few other bronies in my area, we had a blast. Thoughts thus far on the premire:

-I liked Discord taking up the "trickster mentor" role to Twilight again... somewhat.
-Celestia, Spike, and the viewers getting to see inside of Twilight's hyperactive imagination was pretty amusing.
-I'd like to see more of the changelings interacting with ponies. I wasn't sold on the idea of changelings being a sort of perpetual motion machine that can feed on their own love as was implied in the S6 finale (or so I thought), but I'd definitely like to see them start sustaining themselves on abundant Equestrian love.
-Seeing an "equine" side to Celestia was really nice. There are a couple moments like that, but in general she wears her queenly mask well, even if hints of her inner prankster peek through from time to time.
-Also demonstrates that Celestia was aware of the rest of the Mane Six before sending Twilight to Ponyville, something long speculated by many.
-Speaking of less-than-regal Celestia, funniest line by her ever, spoken while Twilight was worrying about what would happen - "There's no wrong way to fantasize." I and my fellow watchers were torn between "did the writers know how that would be interpreted?" and laughing outrageously.

"All Bottled Up" wasn't quite as novel - I mean, it's a metaphor for keeping your anger inside, told by Starlight literally bottling up her anger, so the moral was easily predictable, but not actually a bad episode. It does have the worst behavior by Trixie since Magic Duel, although since I was never a fan of Trixie I sort of expect that stuff. Most worrying, though, was that when she said she knew Starlight would forgive her, one wonders if that means she doesn't care about acting out, which honestly would fit in with what we've seen of her, not really caring about the consequences to others. Of course, this being Friendship is Magic - and Trixie's reaction to actually losing Starlight, however temporarily, in No Second Prances - would indicate that that's not what Trixie would really want. She's arrogant and a jerk at times, but Starlight does mean a lot to her. By the way, more shipping fuel for those two, complete with Trixie using the word "love" to describe her relationship with Starlight.

Also, it sort of confirmed my headcanon as to how Starlight's power works, that it's not an intellectual matter like Twilight. Granted, I thought of it as more intuitive mixed with unorthodox genius and didn't consider emotions powering it (one wonders how she'd take to dark magic...), but it works.

Oh yeah, and apparently the writer heard about "escape rooms" and liked the concept.

5906956

2. Apparently Unicorns can get so angry that it manifests as a miasma around their horn, and said miasma can infect others with not only anger, but the specific gripes that formed it.

This is probably specific to Starlight since she has enough raw power to cause a manifestation like that, and said in the episode that it her emotions tend to heavily influence her magic.

5907021

1) Celestia had students before twilight even if we ignore equestria girls, she's had to have gone through this before. Writers have no sense of scale.

Yeah, but they likely weren't anti-social prodigies with the potential to save her sister. I can see why Twilight's growth had that kind of impact on Celestia.

Had to Dailymotion both episodes because of a family get-together... can't stand Dailymotion, love the family.

Starlight and Trixie are an awesome best friend duo. Trixie seems to be suffering from a bit of flanderization, but it keeps Starlight from being too Twilight Sparkle 2.0 as far as friendship lessons.

I don't care what anyone says, I squee when Bulk Biceps and Granny Smith have screen time.

Celestia was probably the most significant she's been since Twilight's ascension. Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.

Two straight episodes with adorkable Twilight. "I'm-a gonna send my prized pupil to the Dragon Lands!" and "Let's solve friendship problems with SCIENCE... and a song!"

Spike almost seems on the verge of becoming Starlight's #1 assistant... just sayin'.

Thorax's look is still garish, but it grows on you.

5907524

Thorax's look is still garish, but it grows on you.

Yeah, I'm only halfway there to accepting the new changeling look - in large part because it does not make use of black. But then again, beautiful insects with dark coloration either have rather complex patterns, or are iridescent, the former of which would be a bit hard to do and the latter might actually be impossible with the show's animation style.

One of these days, perhaps the show will try to subvert the black = evil trope, but not today.

Another thing, 'Celestial Advice' confirmed is that Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack and Fluttershy were all good friends before Twilight ever met them. I know I've seen a lot of fics where they went with the idea that they weren't really friends before, that they might have known each other but that it was Twilight who brought them together. Even I implied that in one of my stories.

5907726
That one leads to a bit of a continuity issue, though. Some of the early episodes imply that they weren't all friends to start with; in particular Applejack and Rarity in ‘Look Before You Sleep’, and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie in ‘Griffon the Brush Off’.

So, seven seasons later and I still hate Trixie.

5907789

Well that was a fantasy and celestia herself said there's no wrong way to fantasize.

5907891
I'm pretty sure that one was a flashback.

5907789

I remember Oliver suggesting that this proved Celestia was an unreliable narrator, which probably means the equation she wrote on the board never happened. Either that, or she deliberately wrote nonsense on the blackboard to see if any of her students were paying attention.

5907919

Is not a flashback just fantasizing about the past?

5906367

Alright, saw the episodes. Some observations:

Celestial Advice:

-Friendly or not, Discord is still a huge troll.

-Thorax confirmed to be the new king of the changelings.

-Celestia actually teaches classes at the school for gifted unicorns. This was somewhat implied before, but I don't think it's been confirmed until now.

-Celestia admitting to being worried and holding Twilight back out of personal anxiety was nice. Interesting that she originally planned to send Twilight to Ponyville earlier. That sorta implies she may not have timed it with the return of Nightmare Moon on purpose. Though, perhaps she did know Twilight would need friends by the time that occured, making it more of a deadline.

-Celestia has kind of a creepy laugh. For a moment there I thought she was actually Discord in disguise.

-Twilight still doesn't entirely trust the neo-changelings.

All Bottled Up:

-Friendly or not, Trixie is still hilariously self-centered.

-Trixie is legitimately talented at real magic and more powerful than she seems. Apparently she just haven't been taught the spells correctly until now, and is generally impatient and careless. Points in favor of my theory that she is mostly self-taught.

-Confirmation that there is an emotional component to spellcasting. (Has been somewhat implied previously.) Interesting considering the otherwise heavy emphasis on intelligence and academical studies.

-The table with the Friendship Map is separate from the rest of the castle and can be moved.

5908153
Or it's actually a valid magical equation, because magic.

5908225
Narratively speaking, a flashback is generally considered to be reliable, unless implied otherwise.

Edit:
Would the person who keeps downvoting all of my comments care to show their face?

...Coachella?...

Celestial advice

It seems a filler really. Ok, it's nice and all to se more of Celestia, but litterally "nothing" happens here. It's only a mean to estabilish what will be the main theme of the rest of the season.

All bottled up

And that's the real start of the season, and it starts where the 6th ended, without the mane six as main characters. The focus of the show is definitely switching towards the "secondary" characters it has created through the years.
It's funny to see Starlight dealing with her best friend's "peculiar" personality, and the interaction between Starlight and Trixie is really something different, cause they are flawed characters, at a different level in respect to the harmless obsessions of the mane six. Trixie is self centred and uncaring and, if Starlight's anxieties seems really reminiscent of those of the first season's Twilight (see "Lesson Zero"), in the end she manages to get away with it (there is the possibility that Twilight will find out visiting the SPA, but Starlight had not confessed anything to her mentor).

As for the continuity (ok, we all knows the show doesn't care much about continuity), it's evident the effort to connect the mage of "Boast Busters" with the powerless pony of "No Second Prances", obtaining that Trixie has the powers of a real mage, but doesn't know the spells cause she had never really trained, or cared to learn them (it seems perfect to get on Sunburst's nerves).
The result is that in the episode Trixie is capable of even too much magic. She effortlessly learns the transfiguration spell that was tough for Twilight in "Too many Pinkie Pies", and teleports heavy objects without control.
It remains to be explained why, since stage magic requires a lot of discipline and studying, Trixie had never thought of training her natural magic.

Summary of my thoughts: I was not impressed by the premieres. I found Celestial Advice dull, yet harmless, and All Bottled Up, while having unique ideas, pretty bad. I'm glad others enjoyed them.

I still look forward to what season 7 has to offer.

5906367 So we get no new villain, no grand adventure, and it's not even a two-parter.......Something tells me this will be a very "meh" season.

I liked Celestial Advice. It felt like Best Night Ever, in the fact that it was a premiere or ending of a season that was entirely Slice of Life. No, it wasn't amazing, but we did get a ton of amusing Discord, a good amount of the new changelings being adorable, and obviously, Celestia finally got character development after six seasons. That's been on my bucket list since season one. I mean it's about time, Luna's had like three episodes already - fairs fair.

Unpopular opinion: Didn't really find All Bottled Up very interesting. Cute, somewhat meta Mane Six song + some Trixlight shenanigans. Good episode, but not one of my favorites ones. Honestly I'd have preferred more Celestia development and cute changelings as an actual two-parter, and make All Bottled Up the third episode.