Confession (Season 4)
Renewal. Accidents. Guilt. Betrayal.
Behind the Laughter
The original staff came back for one more round, however the future was uncertain for them. Most of the members were uninspired and had to reprise roles they left months ago, which raised suspicions about the company’s intentions. 2014 was an important year indeed.
With only a few months to record and edit, the pressure was at the top for most of us. We had no choice but to look back and update some of our old stories and handle Princess Twilight the best we could.
The good news is that the studio gave us more budget, so we invested more in effects and we could hire more interns and technicians. I can say it was the best looking season of all.
I didn’t really mind walking around the set with prop wings glued to my back in recent episodes, but hanging from those wires when we shot flying scenes could be dangerous.
Many new elements were introduced in this season and used later in future entries, such as a story arc involving keys for a special chest and more presence for the background cast.
I was the first one of us who had more dialogue than just one catchphrase. And from that moment, the rest of us were given more screen time.
It was only the first step into our plan, they gave in to our demands and a new strike was being prepared.
Those executives will regret for trying to fade me and then we’d take all over the world!
Some of the producers and executives came into the studio and forced us to use ideas that were popular at the moment, such as superheroes, vampires, fairies called breezies and so on. It was too much insistence in themes and ideas we’re probably not going to use again.
Some of those ideas were good though, like pairin’ the characters in groups to see a more natural interaction between them and invitin’ guest stars accordin’ to our likes and the episodes we were recordin’.
I took advantage of the situation and invited my friend Gabrielle Chand de Lier, a famous designer.
However, nobody expected the troubles she bring to the table.
She brought her... ‘assistant’, Shauna Tubleu alongside her. She was mean and rude to most of the team, so we decided to do the most appropriate thing possible... portrayed her as the biggest bitch in the whole wide world in her own episode.
It was a funny experience, they captured the fashion world more realistically than I thought and how you have to achieve your own goals by doing the hard way. Although putting an actress to reprise me was ridiculous and portrayed me as the villain while the puppet was the innocent, cute little girl was the last straw. Don’t you think that too?
Yes.
I can’t hear you, puppet!
Yes, milady.
She clearly had dissociative identity disorder, not the safest thing in the world for the rest of us. Sometimes it gave me the creeps, to the point of me drawing an interpretation of her state. At first it was for fun, but now I feel sorry for her.
You and your husband do know you scare some of the cast, correct?
Yes, but we don’t talk with an inanimate object. Besides, we have a daughter now and that means having to control ourselves, even to the point of ignoring the rest of our friends.
Ignoring the friends, however, was not as bad as the expenses the team used. As time went by, most of the members were investing and spending their money on personal preferences.
I took some of my sister’s credit cards for skydiving, astonishing parties and expensive designer clothes. Not that it was necessary for my role or anything, I just wanted to have some action.
We promised not to speak ‘bout that again.
But look on the bright side. We’re young after all, we need our free time and it’s good for us to try new experiences.
I bought the first edition of the ‘Power Ponies’ comic book. My check bounced higher than a trampoline.
We got married in private and we needed more of the investments of the show to pay up for the ceremony.
Not only that, we had to call as much press conferences as we could to make sure we were still relevant.
Even Stardust Nova was throwing everything out the window.
She paid me and Bon Bon a thousand bits to kiss each other.
Hey, did we ever get that money?
Eh…
But reckless spending and lesbian eroticism was just the beginning of destruction.
The fourth season became too much focused on Twilight. I know Stardust Nova is extremely happy, but that was degrading the rest of us to supporting cast.
But even more harrowing, were the events of one February afternoon.
Everything began when we were writing an episode called “Pinkie Pride”. It was going to be musical, like “Magical Mystery Cure”, but more focused on the comedy, so we hired the famous comedian UHF to perform with Ink Blot in scene.
At first, she was doubtful about this new companion, but then they began to... become a little closer.
I was excited to be in the show. And yet, I wasn’t expecting to meet someone kind and pretty like her. It was notorious that she wasn’t used to be in company of strangers like me, so we started to meet each other slowly. However, none of us were expecting what happened that afternoon.
The script originally said it was Twilight’s birthday. But Stardust Nova was so busy paying the rest of the staff to kiss, so we changed to Rainbow Dash’s and Prism Wing accepted.
Everything was going great at first. We were enjoying the stunts and we were having fun. Even Ink Blot improvised and started to sing ‘Dale, dale, dale!’
But just right about there I realized something’s wrong.
The sequence became an instant comedy classic, the episode was praised by critics and fans alike and even some of them declared it as the best episode of the season. But what the audience didn’t see was the unfunny aftermath.
From that moment onwards, Ink Blot would never be the same.
She ended so traumatized that she declared guilty herself for the accident with the piñata. Sometimes, she was never seen in the set ‘cause she locked herself in her private room... in a fetal position.
That was not supposed to happen. I got worried about her sanity, from time to time I thought I was responsible for her actual state, so I decided to stay and keep her company. So I went from a guest star to a permanent member of the staff indirectly.
But none of the supports she had over the months really helped Ink Blot, her escapes became more frequent and the staff had more difficulty trying to handle her.
I remember one time when she replaced one of our choreographers to get out of the studio. Fortunately, she’s not very clever when it comes to having a plan. Everything she does is improvised.
Durin’ the production, she mentioned to have sisters, like her character. UHF was lucky enough to get their numbers and we contacted them. They were Izzy Rock, Decibelle and Cashmere.
We told them about what happened and in just one day they were in the doors of our studio. They told us they would stay with her... with just one condition.
We wanted to be on the show. Each of us had their own rock band and there’s no better way to promote ourselves than on a TV-show.
Besides, the times were hard for us during that period. We need a complementary sustention to survive.
However, we never lost our intention of helping our sister. Ink Blot knew, deeply inside her, that we were the only ones capable of assist her.
How exactly? The crew did everything to calm her down.
Not really. We checked the medical records and the results shocked us in the wrong way.
None of the main cast had the appropriate medical assistance and our sister was the biggest proof since nobody knew about her condition. If they did, she would never be in this show in the first place.
What condition? I don’t know either.
Well, the thing is... Ink Blot... suffers from depression and bipolar disorder.
Recreation
The studio. Ink Blot is surrounded by her sisters in a corner, she tries to get away.
Please, leave me alone!
Ink Blot please, let us help you!
No!
Ink Blot is able to sneak out of her sisters and she’s about to escape.
Now!
From nowhere Lyra, Bon Bon, Ivory, Sparkling Cider, UHF, Bulk Biceps, Cottontail and Q slam over Ink Blot, immobilizing her. She struggles, but it’s useless. Izzy Rock, Cashmere and Decibelle approach her with a jar on hooves. Izzy Rock and Cashmere open her mouth while Decibelle opens the jar and puts the content in her mouth.
This is for your own good.
No! No! Not the pills! Not the pills!
After a short moment of screaming and sputtering, she gives up and gulps.
Mmm.
She had to go through the same process every morning and every night every day since then.
Somehow, Ink Blot became addicted to anti-depressives. It was the only way she could perform the bone-cracking physical comedy scenes that made her a star.
I never wanted to take such punishment. Madness was like a drug, guilt was like a drug. And what was even more like a drug WERE the drugs.
But, if things for Ink Blot were bad, for Prism Wing... things were even worse.
Recreation
A hospital. Prism Wing, with the assistance of Nurse Redheart, tries her best to keep herself on hooves on a conveyor belt. The bones from her hind legs crack and she falls to the floor painfully. Nurse Redheart pulls out a jar with pills, similar to the ones Ink Blot consumes. She opens Prism Wing’s mouth and puts the content in it. After a short moment of screaming and sputtering, she gulps.
Mmm.
Due to the weight of the piñata and the height it was released, half of the spine, her hips, both wings and her hind legs were injured. Not only her physical health was damaged, her mind was altered for the accident, causing a loss of confidence with herself and the others. So I needed painkillers and anti-depressives to keep her active. Whether she liked it or not, she had to learn how to walk and fly again. It took her a long time before she was able to maintain herself again.
How long?
...Around six months of therapy. She practically missed the rest of the season.
Although the company payed all the medical expenses, the accident was kept in secret. Prism Wing couldn’t receive any visits and nobody could talk about what happened in public at the time. While she was in rehab, Rainbow Dash was played by her good friend Indigo Zap.
It was amazing how quickly I was called back. I thought it was supposed to be a unique experience, but I ended up being a member of what they called family. Not only that, I was planning to stay in the show for good, no matter what I had to do.
Although the problems inside the crew were noticeable and the controversy around them was unavoidable, the team had one more work to do and that was the season finale.
It was a simple idea, perhaps the most simple of all time. An idea I was sure everybody would like. Let me clear my throat a moment... “Dragon Ball Z” and “My Little Pony” combined. Try to imagine with me.
And?
That’s it!
That’s it?!
You need more?! What do you expect me to say? If you can’t enjoy the simplicity of that idea, your inner child has died completely, especially if you’re male, who have historically preferred violence.
I have no idea how this episode was designed.
I imagine it was something like this.
Recreation
Hasbro’s Board of Directors. Many executives form a semicircle around Stardust Nova, who’s sit in the middle. The room is dark and a solitary light above the pony illuminates her. She’s half nervous, half trusted. The executives wait for her to speak. She proceeds.
Enough tawdriness! You know what this series needs? Dragon Ball-like battles!
Stardust Nova, you’re insane! That doesn’t make sense in “My Little Pony”!
Since when do you care what makes sense in this show? We were forced to come back and since then the original vision of this series has long gone.
You won this time, girl. You won this time. Do whatever you want.
Fuck yeah!
It had its details like the Friendship Castle design... it needed more of my full self.
An obnoxious first song.
Very obvious and inevitable doll advertising.
I’ve ranted how Twilight being a princess made no sense, and it still doesn’t. However she is willing to take responsibility to do anything whether it’s giving her magic or just smiling, and she tries to figure out her place as a princess. That’s some pretty good character development. I won’t fail to mention that the fight scene is intense! How many of you want to bet someone’s going to make a video game just from that one scene?!
The only thing that can dethrone this episode is ponies riding motorcycles, with machine guns, cigarettes, chainsaws and more explosions! Extreme ponies rule!
Sadly, I got into intensive therapy shortly after finishing the recording. Drugs can make you ignore your surroundings. However, I can consider the last minutes as one of the best moments of the show.
Recreation
A recording studio, both Octavia and Vinyl are using headphones and are sit in front of a mixing board. The Mane 6 are in the recording booth. Vinyl and Octavia set up the correct configurations and give the signs. The Mane 6 start singing.
Octavia and Vinyl give the signs and stop recording. They open the mics.
“Twilight’s Kingdom” was a success, surpassing both “A Canterlot Wedding” and “Magical Mystery Cure”, produced a high amount of money, it was praised by fans and critics and it received the highest score of all the episodes in the entire show.
It was the first time since the beginnin’ that we felt like the most powerful ponies of the world.
We were earning millions and millions of bits per episode. And we even fixed the next entry of “Equestria Girls”, which was totally under our control, so double jackpot!
I managed to create a contract where our earnings were far more superior to our first seasons. With this, I could guarantee that nobody could leave the show and thus, we could have as many seasons as we wanted.
But there was one issue to be solved, an issue nobody noticed until much, much later.
What made you quit at the top of the game?
You think I quit?
That’s what everybody says.
No... they quit on me.
How’s that possible? More than coworkers, they were your friends, your family.
When I fully recovered, I went back expecting a big welcome. You know what they said? ‘You’re history, we don’t need you anymore.’ They move on to the next pony in line. And at first I thought, ‘Well, it’s just the executives. It’s not the first time they do something like that. I’m sure my friends will receive me with open arms.’
And they did?
...They didn’t. Nobody recognized me on the set, not even Cottontail and Ink Blot, my closest friends, or even Plum, my pupil. I was a stranger between ponies. Indigo Zap replaced me so well nobody noticed my absence. She betrayed me, she was a better Rainbow Dash than I was in their eyes. There was a lot left in me that I never got a chance to show. The truth is it’s no one’s business who I was. When you go through something like that, what with the media only caring about your fame not your true talent, that makes a setback. And basically, you’re done. It’s just very sad.
Come on, not everyone acts like that.
When was the last time you cared about something except yourself?! You may not want to tell anyone of your past fate with fame as a star because it creates bad memories of being quit on like I was. They won’t respect you for who you are nor your potential, but respect you for the fact that you’re famous. So I had no other choice but to cancel my contract and choose withdrawal. I let Plum to stay, however. I was free at last, but the executives had no problem in letting me go and nobody had the decency to say goodbye at least... The things that can happen by an accident.
Thanks for sharing this information, considering it should be hard to say and live with it.
No problem, it’s good to be helping.
For Equestria’s favorite ponies, everything was coming up roses. But those roses have thorns ready to puncture. The first sign was Prism Wing’s departure of the show. And like a prophecy, the future the series feared... had begun.
***
When we come back.
I want to set the record straight. I thought the prostitute was a cop.
When Behind the Laughter continues.
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that last part, was that from Cars 1? But that hade a happy ending, it dose not look like it is going to bee one here. also we are on season 7 now, how will you do when you get here in this story? Grate story BTW
There's no alarm for the story, you're all like - Taaadddaaaaaa~
I'm so happy to beh redin anoter chaptur
Aw, come on! Season 5 was my favorite season in the show! Don't be too hard on it!
8146447 The irony is not if it is from Cars (partially), is the fact that I borrowed it. You see, I don't like Cars, it's easily one of the weakest Pixar films, so it is surprising when an author uses a scene from a movie he didn't like (in my case, the best scene from the movie by far). And it was to reflect the situation the best I could. Now, for Season 7 I have to wait until it's over as well as the movie's release, but for now it's too soon to write about it. Let's focus in Seasons 5 and 6 and then we can talk about it.
8147625 I like Season 5 as well (easily one of my favorites and, in my opinion, the best of the show after Season 2), but it had its flaws and, for many, it was the point where the show started to decline. I'm not going to be hard, but there are topics needed to be address. Now, Season 6 on the other hand...
8147704 well you know they have green lite season 8. I hope they stop there, I do not want this to bee the next Simpson, or sens this is a children's show, spongebob.
8147704 Look, I get it. Season 6 gets a bad rap... I liked most of the episodes and I wouldn't call it a terrible season by any stretch but if you have to tear it to shreds then do what you must.
8146316
Actingverse is the verse where MLP is a TV show, run by people who are NOT the characters.
Nice fanfic.
Very nice.
Good job.
I love it.
8147704