Here we go again. Time for another episode. This one is called "Rock Solid Friendship", and is by Nick Confalone (Party Pooped, Hearthbreakers, No Second Prances, The Saddle Row Review, and Dungeons & Discords).

With a name like that, sounds like time for another Maud Pie episode. Only this seasons had a lot of Starlight Glimmer so far, too, so maybe the two could meet? I bet Maud could tell Starlight all about how much she likes rocks, and then Starlight could tell her all about how she created a cult and nearly destroyed Equestria. Maybe they could get together and create a rock cult or something. And Starlight could teach Trixie how to turn things into rocks so she could help with it...

As usual, this is the official thread for the episode, so discussion and spoilers for it for the next week should happen in this thread, and others will be locked or deleted.

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

--Sweetie Belle

5926466 This looks promising!

5926466 Nah doubt Starlight will appear. She uses her invisible spell in any episode that isn't about her. Anyway guess this will be also a fun episode, that writer has a good MLP history so far.

5926466 I cant wait.

Well, that graduation was… something.

Ponyville has a gem cave? It must be relatively new; it certainly wasn't there before the Diamond Dog episode.

Maudlin Daisy Pie. Bearer of the rock-based facts of terror.

Wherein Pinkie is so obnoxious that she drives her own sister out of town.

So Starlight continues to build her empire friendships, and Maud now lives in a massive Underground Cavern of Paradise outside of Ponyville. Not exactly what I expected going into the episode, but it was a fun ride.

5926466
I heard something about bonus new episode Sunday? But that might just be in Canada.

Also Starkite Glimmer. That is all.

5926466 For once your prediction actually came partially true., Congratulations!

5926466 You must be psychic or something, you predicted Starlight's appearance in this episode. I think it's safe to say, none of us saw that coming.

5926617 Yeah, Pinkie's performance here could use a little work. Not her worst potrayal ever, but a major step in the wrong direction.

5926466
5926617
5926738
I thought it was a descent episode. Now that she has moved to Ponyville, I hope she gets more airtime. It would be stupid to move her to town, yet only see her once or twice this season. Besides, it would be interesting to see where the Starlight/Maud friendship goes. I was getting rather annoyed with Trixie, so at least we can Starlight with a pony that isn't as obnoxious. Though, I must admit, I would like to see Starlight trying to bring Maud and Trixie together, much as Pinkie Pie was trying in this episode. Those two would be like oil and water.

In regards to the gem cave, we did see it earlier in Gauntlet of Fire. So it must be somewhere close to Ponyville. Though I'd much rather see the Cave of the Mirror Pool again.

Dreadnought

5926466
A closer look at Maud's personality: check
Maud's full name: check
A rock shaped like Lyra: check
Cute pajamas: check
Derpy gets free pizza: check

I liked this episode. I thought it was hilarious how Starlight and Maud first met. And Starlight likes kites! I hope that's a Chekhov's gun detail come the next big crisis. I can't figure out how that'll work... maybe Flurry Heart gets stuck on a kite? Kites are Chrysalis' kryptonite this whole time? Starlight becomes the Princess of Kites?

5926918
I thought Starlight and Maud's first meeting was a bit contrived, but I would like to see the truth come out. Maud would probably be ostracized, and Starlight would have to come to her aid.

Dreadnought

5926922 I guess the story could have worked out about the same without it, but weirder things have happened in real life. I can totally believe it.

Maud helped with enslaving an entire town. The whole of Equestria is next. Just need to find the right rock for it.

Throwing things at Derpy Hooves.

Hollow Equestria hypothesis confirmed.

Sexy ponies in tight pajamas are sexy.

And I officially eat my words for doubting SweetAI's prophecy.

Also I liked the episode. Pinkie was obnoxious but plot demanded so it was not that bad. Maud was great and I didn't like her that much before this episode. Starlight was...there and that was nice and I liked that flashback very much. Maud has a new lair and....the end. Was fun to watch.

Oh and Lyra shaped Rock was the best thing.

Friendship is Magic first impressions review: Rock Solid Friendship (s07e04)
By Obake

(SPOILERS!)

Coming off of last week's surprisingly good babysitting episode is a surprisingly bad Maud episode. I've always had a soft spot for Maud Pie, Pinkie's less-than-exuberant sister. Even if her schtick of being obsessed with rocks wears thin, episodes usually give her something to work with. Not much here, unfortunately.

I don't remember any episode where Pinkie is this obnoxious. Sure, she's been annoying and oblivious at times. A case like A Friend in Deed, where she pesters the cantankerous Cranky Doodle is just an example. But note that Cranky is indeed cranky, and reacts in kind to her antics. When Pinkie is hyper around Maud, there's nothing to play off of; Maud is too monotone to have any reaction besides 'meh'. Same goes with Starlight Glimmer.

The premise is that Maud is moving, and is deciding between Ponyville and Ghastly Gorge. Pinkie desperately wants Maud to choose the former, which is understandable. Pinkie has always had a distant family (both geographically and metaphorically.) She takes it upon herself to prove to Maud that Ponyville is the right place. They tour a local gem cave and visit the Crystal Castle (anything to do with rocks), but Maud is still indecisive.

Outside the castle is where they meet Starlight, and the episode makes a bizarre twist, in flashback. It turns out, at the time the town Starlight would enslave was being built, Maud was out studying rocks. Starlight approached her and asked if she knew where to find, and I quote, a “super powerful stone that can store the cutie mark magic of, I don't know, an entire village?” To which Maud points out a particular cave. So Maud helped start Starlight's regime…I understand this is supposed to be a joke, but it's more perplexing than funny, and creepy when you consider how many ponies suffered because of it. Not to mention it begs the question of how Maud would know what the magic stone could do (to be fair, she does have a sixth sense with rocks), or why or how Starlight knew such a thing existed, etc. The episode treats it as a joke, but Maud and Starlight's reactions are too blasé to make much out of it.

The episode continues on, with Maud and Starlight getting to know each other, and Pinkie intruding. Maud and Starlight's bonding are the episode's high points. They are both quiet, introspective characters with habits that unintentionally push others away. Starlight even shares her love of kite flying with Maud, which is a nice callback to Starlight's childhood with Sunburst. Unfortunately, most of these scenes are cut short by Pinkie, who does everything in her grasp to “make” Maud and Starlight friends, even trapping them in a cave just to give them more time to bond. I understand the moral of the episode is that one does not always understood their own family as well as they believe, but Pinkie is bombastic at every moment. Toning her down now and then would have provided a needed break.

Ignoring Maud and Starlight's time together, the episode does not have much going for it. It is rather dry, in my opinion, kind of like Magnesium rich Basalt. Only louder.

5926918
5927244

I forgot to mention that, when Maud said she didn't want to be alone, Pinkie was going to play matchmaker and try to set up her sister with a stallion. But a new friend would also work. Unless...

StarMaud?

Or MaudGlimmer? Whatever you want to call it.

Dreadnought

5927736
Also, we have an interesting situation. Pinkie Pie now has a sister in Ponyville. Rarity has a sister in Ponyville. And Applejack has a sister and a brother in Ponyville. Will we be seeing Zephyr Breeze join his sister? Or maybe a member of Rainbow Dash's mysterious family?

Dreadnought

5926738
I didn't actually see it coming so much as I thought it might be funny, and throwing two characters that the shows showing more and more of seemed like a good idea, anyways. It could be the writers were thinking the same way.

5926964
Well, my summary's aren't really supposed to come true, or I'd put them in spoiler text. I try not to know too much or at least block out what I do know about them past the name when writing them, because it's more fun that way.

OTOH, I had a chapter or two of an unfinished, canceled, never published story written about the cmc that started out by Miss Harshwhinny giving a presentation in school well before Flight to the Finish. Has 13 upvotes, too, because it was from before the rules about not sharing around unpublished stories that much. I mainly don't publish it because publishing something that already has a canceled tag on it doesn't seem a good idea.

--Sweetie Belle

5927790
Though it was interesting in putting the two of them together, I'm worried we are giving SG a bit too much exposure. A primary character in three of four episodes, I don't remember that happening since Canterlot Boutique, Rarity Investigates!, and Made in Manehattan, which, if memory serves, were back-to-back-to-back. That was a little too much Rarity in one dose for me.

Dreadnought

5927826
Once I thought about it, I was rather surprised Trixie didn't show up in this one. She's been spending a lot of time with Starlight Glimmer, and she also worked on the rock farm briefly.

I don't really want to see Starlight Glimmer in everything, so I'd be happy for the focus to switch away from her for a while. OTOH, I'd prefer her not to have Spike syndrome (though Spike's been treated really well so far this season), where she ends up not showing up times where she ought to be there, too. I think one of the issues we are going to be dealing with for a bit is having too many main characters, and the focus getting rather scattered, where no one gets enough screentime. It was difficult enough with the mane 6, the cmc, and Spike...

--Sweetie Belle

5927830
Well, that's my concern with Maud. I don't want the writers to move her to Ponyville and then ignore her. I can't see them writing her into everything, but I feel that Pinkie Pie would invite Maud to everything - every meal with the Mane 6, every outing, every adventure, friendship missions, etc. So, what I'm trying to say is, since she's there, she needs to be there, even if she's just a background pony.

Dreadnought

5927854 Maybe just for the fun of it, Maud could be called on a friendship mission?

Maud also says does stand-up comedy. I'd like them to show some of that.

Dreadnought