So just two episodes after "Bloom and Gloom" potentially opened the door for the next phase of the CMC's development, we now had this episode involving them looking for an outlaw. Dave Polsky was picked to write this episode, coincidentally around the time he was establishing himself on the then new Sonic Boom cartoon. Considering Dave had undergone a writing metamorphosis in Season 4, shedding his usual comedic ways and branching out into new areas, this should've been a good sign

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The show decided to take another crack at the "Very Special Episode" plot after "Flight to the Finish" only kind of vaguely hinted at Scootaloo's disability (potentially) and tiptoed its way around the subject. And just like with "One Bad Apple", the writer was Cindy Morrow and this time the subject was supposedly death. More specifically the death of a pet, a very tricky subject. Cindy Morrow had been absent from Season 4 (alongside M. A. Larson) and her last writing endevor before this had

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With the Cutie Mark Crusaders having started to mature in Season 4 and move away from obsessing over their cutie marks, Season 5 looked as if it were going to revisit that. Josh Haber was picked to write this episode, but his most recent writing endevor at the time had been the utterly bland "Leap of Faith" which had starred Applejack. So, was Haber more comfortable working with Apple Bloom, or did he only end up proving that Apple family characters were not his forte for interesting stories?

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Season 5 unveiled some new writers as well, though nowhere near as many as had been introduced in Season 4. Jonna Lewis and Kristine Songco were introduced, the two having previously worked together on Butch Hartman shows like The Fairly Odd Parents (which Ed Valentine had also written for) and T.U.F.F. Puppy. Meghan McCarthy was also credited as story editor here, which may be either an indicator that this episode was meant to be the Season 5 premiere originally, or how it's been

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An unexpected development occurred after "Rainbow Rocks" came and went in theaters with better fandom reception, but not much else to its name. Hasbro and Discovery Family parted ways over The Hub, owing to the fact that the network had never lived up to the potential either company had wanted even in the era of cord cutting. So Hasbro gave up its stake in the network and control reverted back to Discovery Family, throwing everything into question. Although re-runs still continued on Discovery

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As the hiatus after Season 4 got under way and fans anticipated a swift return in the fall of 2014 (unaware of a development that would bring about the end of an era and the start of another), the only thing to really tide them over now that Hasbro seemed intent on cracking down on any kind of fan projects no matter what was an unwanted sequel to the first Equestria Girls movie. And this one too would be released in theaters in the middle of summer, a busy time at a box office that was already

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If you thought my opinions on "The Return of Harmony" and "Luna Eclipsed" were unpopular, just wait until you see my opinion on this two parter. So many people still hold it in high regard, I daresay there's not a two parter more popular than it or more highly praised than it (the only one that comes close is "Shadow Play"). Happening to coincide with the MLP franchise's 30th anniversary, many still say this is where the show reached it peak and where it should've stopped. And this is despite

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So, for the penultimate episode we got to see the Equestria Games actually play out, perhaps a sign of things to come in the next season for major developments (though I personally wouldn't be surprised if they meant for this to be in Season 3 originally when they working on a full season, and shelved the plans when it was cut to a half season). Ultimately though, it would end up becoming a Spike episode, a sudden and unexpected shift that was given no prior indication (leaks were almost never

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Season 4's second half really needed some good episodes under its belt if it didn't want to drag down the entire season with just two truly impressive episodes. Rarity was the next to get a focus episode in a season where she'd already notched two rather interesting ones, including her long overdue return to the spotlight in "Rarity Takes Manehattan". However, Corey Powell was writing this episode and she had been associated with "Rainbow Falls". Perhaps because of that, Meghan McCarthy was

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So now that the key episodes were all done, what was left for Season 4 before the finale? The short answer, not much. The Equestria Games would ultimately get their own conclusion in the penultimate episode, but this and the next episode would be left to their own devices. We'd already had a supposedly "Very Special Episode" about Scootaloo's potential disability in "Flight to the Finish", but now this one was going to focus on Rainbow Dash and on studying for a test. Amy Keating Rogers was

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