My Little Pony's Justice 2 - Official MLP Thread v2

[Nix]

In short, Fluttershy stole Sweetie Belle's episode... which makes me a tad bitter since Sweetie Belle is my favorite CMC.

 

It still worked for the most part I think.  I was genuinely worried at the beginning since it seemed like Rarity was going to goad Fluttershy into singing without taking Fluttershy's feelings into consideration, and I actually breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't come to that (I swear it got dangerously close though).

 

I do have a soft spot for A cappella sort of stuff though, so that was cool.

[Applejack1973]

Another great S4 episode with the return of Cheerilee and so on.

[Dr. Mechano]

"Filli Vanilli" was really enjoyable. But before I gush over it, I have a minor complaint to make:

 

For all this episode tries to maintain continuity by having a flashback to "Bridle Gossip," it still utterly falters when it comes to remembering Fluttershy's previous public performances. Fluttershy has sung in front of others multiple times, including on stage in front of a crowd of strangers in "Hearth's Warming Eve." For her to suddenly be so timid that even singing in front of her closest friends freaks her out strikes me as a major incongruity, especially in an episode that tries so hard to use previously-established episodes as a backdrop. It's a minor complaint overall, but it was pretty distracting for me personally.

 

Also, I normally don't agree with the complaints that Pinkie has been out of character this season, but I will concede to them for this episode. Pinkie is generally way more empathetic than this; Remember "Griffon the Brush-off," where Pinkie doesn't even want to play a small prank on Fluttershy due to how sensitive she is. Pinkie should, and usually does, understand when she upsets someone, and it feels really jarring to see her so clueless here. 

 

With that out of the way, man, this episode did a lot of things right. This is some of the best Rarity/Fluttershy interaction since "Green Isn't Your Color," and it's nice to see that Rarity did learn from that episode; She's really considerate toward Fluttershy here, and gives her multiple opportunities to back out of performing rather than pressuring her or insisting "she must." It's nice to see natural progression like this, and is one of the reasons I like this episode so much. While she wasn't the main character, Rarity definitely was in top form here.

 

Fluttershy herself really was interesting this time around. Ignoring my complaints about selective continuity, her disparity between a love of singing and a fear of attention really did feel natural, and her dilemma is easy to sympathize with. Her progression throughout the episode, as she goes from reluctant to enthusiastic about her role, was great to see too. I also like how the ending handled her development, going with "baby steps" toward larger performances, which honestly is a more realistic take on overcoming stage fright (whether it contradicts earlier episodes or not).

 

And of course, I was thrilled to see Big Mac finally sing. A man of few words, when he does say something (other than yeps and nopes, anyway), it's always memorable. I like the callback to "Hearts and Hooves Day" too. I guess Cheerilee really might have some feelings for the big guy after all.

 

All in all, this one gets a solid "pretty good" from me. It wasn't without its problems, but the stuff it did right, it really did right.

[Emperor Robrainiac]

The creators of "The LEGO Movie" could do a better and more proper FiM movie. 

 

I seriously want Hasbro to watch that movie and consider them take a few changes that no longer sees Bay-formers and Equestria Girls as credible theatre material. Period!

 

Oh man, I would pay millions to have Phil Lord and Chris Miller make a FiM movie. Granted, it may not be their kind of thing, but with how they wrote Uni-Kitty's character in the Lego Movie, I could see them pulling it off pretty well. I don't have strong feelings towards Equestria Girls, but I do want to see a movie with the ponies themselves, rather than the human clones of them.

 

Anyways, I haven't watched the episode yet. I'll probably do so later today.

[Kevin]

I have to say this was an adorable episode and one I wasn't expecting. The plot was a little cliche, but I thought it was handled well.

 

First off, I find it odd that everyone suddenly discovers Fluttershy's singing, because we've heard her sing many times before.

 

Big Mac singing was one of the most unexpected and funniest things I've ever seen! Boy can he really sing too! I also liked the subtle nod to the Hearts and Hooves day episode as well.

 

We got some of the best use of continuity yet in this episode right down to showing flashbacks from Birdie Gossip. Flutterguy was something I was not expecting to make a return.

 

I really liked the character development in Fluttershy here. We've known that she has stage fright ever since Hurricane Fluttershy, and this episode clearly explored that fear more specifically and shows how Fluttershy feels about how her singing affects others.

 

One last note, what the hell Pinkie? We know she can be crazy and all but she sure went over the top this time!

 

All in all, this episode had some nice surprise and some great continually. For a moment I thought Fluttershy was going to earn her key in this episode, but seeing how that's not case, now I have a feeling which episode it's going to appear in. 

[AdventChild]

I thought the episode was alright and okay for the most part, but *sigh Pinkie…

 

Stuff I like was definitely more Big Mac (and he sings!) and Zecora and the return of Flutterguy and the Ponytones song though wished they had more songs than just one stuck on repeat and it worn out its welcome.

 

One of the issues I have with the episode was the whole stage fright thing since she was comfortable with performing at the wedding even if she was just conducting and she managed to do fine during the Hearth’s Warming Eves pageant even though she needed a push from RD. Of course, I understand it’s the singing part, but she did sing during those musical numbers and even singing with RD during Find a Pet unless those don’t count. It did felt it wasted a good opportunity of an awareness joke like RD’s comment on musicals in Rarity in Manehattan.

 

Also, another issue is Pinkie Pie. *Sigh. My word. After some well written episodes with Pinkie Pride and Pinkie Apple with good character development, this felt like a huge steps back for her and was written this way just for plot/conflict contrivance (b/c writers says so) by making Fluttershy uneasy and uncomfortable which felt unnecessary and more like padding/filler. Not to mention she and her role didn’t felt that funny at all and definitely didn’t get much of a chuckle out of me, well, maybe for the whole turkey gobbling contest, but that’s it! It didn’t make matters better when her friends were calling her out on her insensitive behavior. Her role was similar to that of Luna Eclipse and felt just as bad or even worse here because at least in that episode she was fully aware of what she was doing, but here it felt like she was handed the Idiot Ball almost the entire time. It aggravates me as Pinkie is one of my favorite Manes and I was really annoyed by her actions since it was constant throughout. Pinkie is suppose to make ponies smile, not cry, dang it!  It really hampers my liking to this episode a lot. 

 

 Plot did felt rather predictable as well. Also, it felt like a key episode, but alas no key. But I guess this means the Breezy episode will most likely to have her key revealed.

   

Still wished the Ponytones had more songs to sing than just that one song as catchy as it is. Heck, I’d like to hear them sing Rockapella’s Carmen San Diego:

.

[Legendary Emerald]

Okay, this is probably one of the best episodes of the entire show. Like, hands down, the best Fluttershy episode. And even though I've said this for at least three other episodes, it's gotta be the best of this season. This episode was just damn near about perfect, besides the continuity issue that Dr. Mechano brought up!

 

We have our first truly great songs of the season (I take back what I said about Mr. Ingram slipping), Pinkie Pie being diabolically unaware (it's not out of character when she doesn't realize what she's doing is wrong), Flutterguy bringin' dem deep bass tones, perfect pacing, great characterization for all involved (especially Rarity), Big Mac getting to play a big role, ADORABLE SPANISH PONIES, a Zecora appearance, and some of the greatest faces and physical humor the show has ever seen!

 

Season 4 is becoming my favorite season of the show. I still don’t think Season 3 was a bad season, but compared to 4, it’s been completely blown out of the water. Even seasons 1 and 2 didn’t have me laughing this hard.

[Strong Bad]

That episode was super cute and fun and I loved it. Hope we see the ponytones sing more songs, they're great. I know what's going on my phone's music app next

[NGw00d]

Continuity issues and some out of character moments aside, I enjoyed today's episode. I guess it's safe to say that only a select few songs exist in universe considering the other ponies would've had to notice Fluttershy's singing by now, especially Dash seeing as she sang a duet with her. Going back to Rarity Takes Manehatten where Dash makes the musical joke and then Rarity bursts into song, that has to exist in universe since both Dash and AJ acknowledge Rarity singing, right? That'd make sense, but then Fluttershy sings, albeit a very small part, in the song in the middle of a bustling city. Then there's the issue with her singing just fine at the end of the Hearth's Warming Eve play, but I won't go into that since it's been mentioned already. I'm probably looking into this too much haha.

 

The first time Pinkie did her whole spiel about Fluttershy's nightmare and stuff, I let it slide. Yeah, it was a little bit out of character for her, but I figured after the rest of the mane 6 told her to knock it off, it wouldn't come up again. The fact that it did come up again is where it started to bother me. Pinkie's usually pretty conscious about her friends' feelings and when she goes out of her way to stomp all over them after being corrected before, it just seems wrong and not like Pinkie at all. I think the fact that Pinkie has been portrayed so well in the last few episodes it makes this incident a lot worse.

 

But yeah, other than those two problems, the episode was a lot of fun. It was nice to hear Big Mac singing, and in an acapella group no less. The stage fright moral worked well, and I liked how they had Fluttershy take baby steps and not rush into a big performance after the small one for her friends and the animals. Another solid episode for season 4.

[Celestia]

Fun episode. I really like how they're handling Fluttershy this season. It easily could have been a repeat of previous Fluttershy episodes, but fortunately like Rainbow Falls she actually leaped right into trying to help--though this time her shyness was a factor. I liked that the problem wasn't "oh Fluttershy's too scared to help oh wait nope she changed her mind at the end of the episode" but rather the conflict was that her method for avoiding her fear was...less than ideal.

 

And I'm glad that her friends grew to understand, even if it took 'till the very end, that issue like Fluttershy's take baby steps and can't just be forced away. I think that's a pretty cool lesson to teach people who have friends that want to overcome their shyness.

 

Pinkie was pretty badly written in this episode tho'. Like NG, I shrugged it off the first time, heck it was almost funny how Fluttershy was so horrified by being praised, but after that, ehh. And the "you sound like a guy" line made me cringe really hard. Ugh. Still, the others were all in top form. It's just weird 'cause Rogers wrote a great Pinkie literally two episodes ago. @_@

[Your Vest Friend]

Lots of images from the toyfair. Most of it is either EQG or playsets but there's also blindbag figures (image in spoiler). And guess what, we get to learn Snips and Snails' full names!

Also Gilda is getting a blindbag figure but who cares.

[Strickerx5]

Phenomenal episode.

 

... I really could just leave it there. This episode really surprised and impressed me on a lot of fronts... wait *checks self mentally* yep, this definitely isn't my Fluttershy bias talking. This episode was great!

 

Pros:

- I love how Futtershy was able to say no this time around and not be forced into doing something against her will.

- Oh, this music! Definitely one (it is one song right?) of the bet tracks in the season... or maybe even the show.

- I've been pretty on in off with Pinkie's humor this season but I thought she was, overall, pretty funny this time around.

- Big Mac... you are just full of surprises this season aren't you?

- A turkey call contest with Big Mac being the defending champion... uh, yes! Shame they cut him off before we saw it.

- Nice to see Zecora again. Also, that laugh. XD

- That sight gag with Gummy trying to eat that turkey really caught me off guard!

- Big Mac's explanation to AJ is just... fucking gold.

- How was Pinkie climbing that... oh never mind.

- I don't know why, but I really liked Rarity line here: " When that curtain fell and everypony saw you singing, you lived your worst nightmare! Was it really that bad?"

- Everyone was so understanding in this! Why isn't every episode like this?

- Again, another great episode in terms of animation.

- Flutterguy returns!!!! Literally my favorite joke of season one!

 

Cons:

- Though I loved Pinkie's humor throughout the episode, some lines did fall flat.

- There were a couple of points in this episode where I actually thought to myself "Really?...". I mean some of the character's reactions to events were just kind of off putting to me. I mean, did the other mains really not know that Fluttershy had stage fright and a killer voice at this point?

- Wait... didn't Fluttershy perform in front of A LOT of ponies during Hearts Warming Eve?

 

Overall, this is another high point for the season and, really, the show in general. I actually had a smile on my face while just watching it. Definitely one of the (if not the) best Fluttershy episodes in the series. I see some definite re-watches in the near future.

[Nix]

Continuity issues and some out of character moments aside, I enjoyed today's episode. I guess it's safe to say that only a select few songs exist in universe considering the other ponies would've had to notice Fluttershy's singing by now, especially Dash seeing as she sang a duet with her. Going back to Rarity Takes Manehatten where Dash makes the musical joke and then Rarity bursts into song, that has to exist in universe since both Dash and AJ acknowledge Rarity singing, right? That'd make sense, but then Fluttershy sings, albeit a very small part, in the song in the middle of a bustling city. Then there's the issue with her singing just fine at the end of the Hearth's Warming Eve play, but I won't go into that since it's been mentioned already. I'm probably looking into this too much haha.

 

Fluttershy does acknowledge the duet she sang with Dash in May the Best Pet Win! actually.  She asks Dash if she wants to sing about it again near the end of the episode.

 

It is a really strange continuity error; it's almost like this episode should've been made for somepony else...

 

...like Sweetie Belle, the pony whose talent we know involves singing and music.

 

Still bitter.

[Legendary Emerald]

DESTINY IS OUT! And you can hear my small voice acting role on track 4, complaining about Twilight and citrus.

 

DESTINY: A TALE OF UNICORN WINGS by HeyLasFas!
Running time: 1:50:47
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There once was a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. 

She was very smart, studious and always worked hard to make her friends happy. One day, Twilight worked very hard helping her friends and was given the title of Princess, a palace in Canterlot and even an illustrious pair of wings! 

Twilight must handle the new responsibilities of royalty while maintaining the balance between work and her friends. The fate of Equestria hangs in the balance when a new dark threat arises and challenges the harmony between Twilight and her friends. 

Everything is going to be fine. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This album has been in production since July of 2012 and has easily been my longest running project, clocking in at over 1100 project hours. When I wasn’t sleeping, I was working this album. There’s so many little details that I can’t wait to share with all of you. 

If you absolutely cannot afford this album and still want to have a copy, PLEASE do not hesitate to write me and I will make sure that you get a copy. Otherwise, if you could spare the money it would help a great amount to keep my work alive. 

Thank you very much for all the fun times so far, and all the times yet to be had. 

I can’t tell you how much it meant to me. 

~HeyLasFas!

——————————————

[[bandcamp]]
[]
[[Twitter]]

[DGam'r]

Wow, yesterdays episode was amazingly funny. I think I love FlutterGuy a whole lot more now. Plus, I do feel like Pinkie went a little overboard with "speaking her mind", but we all have those types of friends that do that. Plus it seemed like this episode had TONS of fanservice

Also, hoshit how come I didn't see this?!

 

[Your Vest Friend]

Meanwhile, the toy fair basically leaked the result of the box opening. Yaaaay.

[Applejack1973]

Here are some Season 4 Finale spoilers ahead.

 

The next 2 photos are pretty big. These new sets include Princess Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy with the new Breezies characters which debut on the show on March 1st, 2014. This is the first time we see the actual characters which look to be small “fairy-type” magical ponies which mysterious powers.

Additionally, included in the set for each pony is a mysterious key. While they only had 2 characters on display at the Toy Fair, these sets will be made for the Mane 6 and each will feature a specific Breezie to go along with them plus a key.

Spoilers:

The items we’ve seen throughout Season 4: Pinkie’s Rubber Chicken, Rainbow’s Wonderbolt Pin, and Rarity’s Yarn; will transform when the Breezies use their mysterious magical powers. This will then unlock the mysterious box from the premiere episode of Season 4 and reveal…. the Rainbow Kingdom along with Rainbow Power.

[gato]

Best thing I've seen this month...

Best Pokemon.

Now onto the episode! :V


 

Overanalyzing is expressing your voice.



Episode 79: Filli Vanilli

The episode starts and we get a musical treat right away! And I must point that I had a very similar reaction to the mane ponies here, even out of universe and with all the awareness of past events, continuity had very little impact here because Andrea genuinely surprised me with her voice here! The little score she pulled

(except maybe the last notes that were tweaked a bit), and the animation and background went really well with it (the bear growling didn't detract of the melody somehow) including all the acrobatics and little air dances she did. All in all my reaction was pretty similar to the rest of the cast (except the flying hat) so I can somehow see where are they coming from this. I might not be objective but that's how I felt.

Anyway, Flutters ends her piece and then she realizes not only her animal friends, but her pony frieds also saw this little side of her, making enter into one of her "episodes" (hahaaa! :V)...
 
 

Here you can tell the exact frame when Pinkie's brain broke.

 
 
The proper episode starts when the ponies compliment Fluttershy's voice but she's oh so devastated at the fact ponies actually seen this side of hers, Rarity comments on how much of an awesome addition she'd be to the Ponytones (a little quartet some ponies on this town started at some point), she even points on how appropriate it'd be for her to be there because their incoming performance is for a charity event for Flutter's very own pet center (which, makes me wonder if she gets her funds like this or she also receives some government support and she just wants to get some improvements done... For Breezies?). But alas, Flutters once more points that she doesn't like being the center of attention, then Pinkie proceeds to tell her in full details the consequences of being on the spotlight which, admittedly, I found hilarious (the expressions really helped).
 
Rarara decides it's time to smack a filly and then proceeds to try to calm Fluttershy down... Then tries to goad her a little into performing but it's clear the shy Pegasus doesn't want to have anything to do with this.
 
Back in town it seems like the charity festival's preparations are going smoothly (as a side note, it's nice to see how the community jumps to help with this sort of stuff everytime, maybe the founder's work ethic rubs into the town), and we get our introduction to the Ponytones! Rarity, Big Mac, and those 2 ponies who won't be relevant! And they do a little A Capella rehearsal of their main song...
 
And it's awesome and made of earworms! I especially like this version because it lacks the extra additions the next ones have, making it feel like a true Quartet performance (not to say the others weren't awesome, but this one feels true to the musical genre it's supposed to be representing), we not only get to hear Peter New's singing in a central role but Kazumi's performance in the background was amazing, and if I must confess most of my experiences with quartets involved male only groups so it was quite interesting for me to see what female voices could add to this songs.
 
Also, I really like how the song lyrics can relate to both Shy and (most likely) Mac, about how they can't express themselves with words usually but they found in music a way to do so.
 
 
The performance ends and it seems like everything is going to be just fine... Which obviously dictates this is the point on the episode where things start going to Tartarus. The day of the event the Ponytones reunite for another rehearsal but it turns out they are short of a member, a little later than usual Big Mac arrives at the scene (while being scolded by Rarara, which I find to be a bit of a callback to the Manehatten episode that showed us how seriously fashion ponies takes punctuality)! But he seems to be a bit... quiet (hahaaa! :V)... When Rarity inquires about what's going on we get the terrible reveal that Big Mac lost his voice.



Rarity keeps questioning how this happened, and as it turns out it was... Something...

At some point after the rehearsal Applejack was hosting a little event of her own, the twelfth annual Ponyville Turkey Call! (why would they do turkey calls? For the lols I guess) And Big Mac was not only taking part of this event, but he was also the current champion (defending the title for 5 years in a row!)! Sadly for him, everything changed when the Pink Pony attacked.
 
 

Here you can see the exact frame when Big Mac begins to question AJ's decision to let Pinkie join the family.

 
 
And that's how Equestria was made!... One day I might tell you how Bic Mac lost his voice but right now we're going to get back to the episode, now the Ponytones are pretty much unable to perform (because reworking the entire routine for 3 ponies would require more time than what they have) it seems like the entire event is going down the drain, but then Fluttershy remembers about someone who could help them in this situation!
 
And so we go to the Everfree to visit our good old friend Plot Convenience the Magical Zebra Zecora. Apparently, the zebra who can create wish fulfilling and time traveling potions has problems beating up a case of laryngitis so while she'll can cure Big Mac the red stallion won't be able to sing for tonight which leaves Fluttershy in a pinch again, but then Zecora starts laughing, and it's not the trollish "I laugh at your misery" laughter, it's a pure, genuine "I've come up with the craziest plan" laughter! She just remembered that when Flutters stomped into Poison Joke 3 seasons ago she had a very peculiar change, and since she has a bit of the plant in her reserves she could bring that back! If the ponies  can bring back Flutterguy's voice that means the Ponytones would have a deep enough sound to replace Big Mac!
 
Of course, this would work perfectly if Fluttershy actually wanted to perform in front of others. Rarity suggests to do a bit of lip sync but Shy still doesn't feel to sure if she can, which makes Rarara use her ultimate weapon... Guilt trip with animals!
 
 

You can tell from a mile that the devil spawn is acting, and that's why I love him. :V

 
 
The night has come and the festival is in full swing, ponies from all over the place are coming and looking at the pets, some laugh at the seal's antics, some are spending time with somepony special, some are just looking at arts and souvenirs, some are looking for that present that will make your little piece of joy even more joyful! 

And then there is Goldie Delicious... (seriously, I must have laughed at this scene for almost a whole minute, Apple Bloom's face does it for me, and then we see Gummy incurring on his animal instincts a few seconds later)
 
But really, we get a little introduction ad we get to see a new performance by The Ponytones! I mentioned this before but I really loved the first rendition a little more, having said that the additions on this part of the song aren't bad at all and makes the song feel like a remix of what we've heard a few minutes ago, it's also worth noting that Fluterguy's voice isn't performed by Blu Mankuna this time around but I'll give credit to Marcus Mosley, because he managed to perform with a voice that sounded pretty similar to Mac's (at the beginning, then Fluttershy happens XD) which make the lip sync more believable (I guess a desired effect in universe because this time the poison joke was administrated in a controlled doze).
 
But yeah, the performance was all around amazing, Flutters looks like she got a bit of an adrenaline overdose (relatively speaking) and the audience went completely bonkers! (to the point they pretty much Zerg Rushed the corral were the pets were) Once the show is over a very weird looking pegasus shows up and asks if the Ponytones could perform on his daughter's cuteceañera tomorrow, at first Rarity denies this because Big Mac's voice wouldn't be ready by then but then Fluttershy decides to cheer up the little filly and perform one more time in the backstage for her.
 
And the next day comes by and The Ponytones makes another cool performance! This time the mayor spots them (because they were doing the party in the town hall, I guess that stallion had some... connections >_>) and asks them to perform at a ribbon cutting ceremony tomorrow, Big Mac's voice is still not ready for that but then Flutterbatshy shows up and nods Rarity so they go because they wouldn't want to disappoint the mayor, Rarara makes a "oooohhh I see what's going on here" face and then she accepts the request.
 
And so we get treated by a mini tour from the Ponytones going from ceremony to the spa to a school performance and we also get to see how Fluttershy starts getting more and more into the role as she goes, starting to improv, dancing and all in all loosing herself a little but much as I find this a little adorable and encouraging it's also noticeable that the fact Flutters is slowly turning into a deep voiced Pinkie Pie is making Mac's front performance really difficult...
 
And so, a night at Sugarcube Corner the Ponytones are getting ready for another performance.when Rarity and Mac comes with the good news, our lovable big guy recovered his voice! This means everything can go back to normal and we can end the episode 6 minutes earlier than usual! Hooray! o/ ... But Fluttershy doesn't seems to be so thrilled about the early ending, she's actually pretty sad that her career as a lip syncher (if that word even exists) was over so suddenly, after seeing this Rarity asks Mac if he's willing to fake it one last time and since Big Mac is such a bro he accepts while giving a very goofy face. 
 
And so we get to see Flutter's going all out for her last performance! And I really mean it! She starts chewing the scenery like a mad mare and is making Big Mac's work almost impossible! In fact, no content with chewing the scenery she also starts breaking it with her silly Pegasus dance which ends up blowing her cover in front of everypony....
 
 
 
The last act begins at the peak of tension as far as Shy is concerned, she's in the spotlight everyone is looking at her and she probably embarrassed herself in front of tens of ponies... Who then proceed to cheer for her! But this seems to have a very adverse effect on the Pegasus as we can see after we take another little trip into that Grimdark fic waiting to happen that is Fluttershy's mind, she breaks down in tears (but with flutterguy's voice, which really trashes all the atmosphere they were trying to built here) and flees, abd then we get a little exchange between AJ and Mac which I didn't find to be as amusing as most people seem to point it (probably the quick pace they went all over the list and how little reactions we got from the 2 ponies involved in the exposition) and once this is over and done with they run to help her distressed friend.
 
The scene switches to the cottage when the rest of the mane 6 find an... Actually pretty calm Fluttershy, but that soon ends because Pinkie decided to be a creepy, screeching spider and give some "Fluttershy brand" encouragement (I'll get tot his later), Shy doesn't take it so well and flies away crying and so a little chase begins, Dash, AJ and Pinkie try to praise Flutters some more but she doesn't want any of it, then she suddenly stops and somberly claims she won't ever sing again. She keeps running and ends up getting cornered against a stage where the rest of the cast corral her, and Rarity finally confronts her and asks the shy Pegasus why is she feeling like this when in reallity, she loves performing so much that she was the one kept suggesting The Ponytones to sing for every silly little reason... Shy is surprised that her other cover got blown up so easily and Rarity keeps going by somewhat explaining what Pinkie meant with all her blabbering and that's the Yellowquiet lived her worst nightmare... And nothing happened at all, as a matter of fact, things turned out quite good but Shy was too blinded in her fears to see it.
 
The next scene we get a smash up (sort of) of the 2 songs this episode gave us and it was quite awesome, especially with Fluttershy taking lead role. The performance ends and all of the mane 6 are cheering and so are the rest of the audience... A bunch of animals... But all in all it seems like things turned out A-okay! And it's a good thing because the Ponytones just got signed up to perform in the Zap Apple Jam Extraordinaire!... Which makes Fluttershy go back to hide and tremble... Huh?... The rest of the cast are as dumbfounded by this regression but Fluttershy clears things up, saying that while she might be getting her mojo, she isn't all quite there yet. One step of a time and maybe, someday, she'll be the kind of pony she wants to be.
 

 

Twilight did... Nothing... I'm starting to feel like she needs some episodes for herself since it seems like the focus on her has been shifted to the rest of the cast. I don't think her new role is limiting her as some people have said (actually, quite the opposite, it opens a lot of new venues) but the show isn't exploring them. I hope we get to see more episodes with her besides the season openers and enders (and the Discord episode, which I felt it actually did more for Cadence than her and that's saying something).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rainbow Dash also did nothing today, it's a bit of a shame because her past relationship with shy could have been used a little here as well as her blunt personality and lack of patience...

 

 

 

 

 

Pinkie Pie... Pinkie was the negative focus of this episode for most fans and left a lot to talk about! So lets get right into it!

 

For starters lets get this out of the way, she wasn't OOC, she's been known to be oblivious and get in the way of the cast before many many times... Like treating Twi like a silly pony for not understanding that Pinkie Sense just works! Like making the rest of the mane cast life's harder during the Parasprite incident because she thought the fact those guys were troublesome was so obvious she didn't need to explain it. Like accidentally starting a war between Applaloosa and the Buffalo. Like making everyone scared of Luna without thinking the blue-ish princess wasn't into the Nightmare Moon roleplay. Like making a Donkey's life miserable and ruining the last memories of his lost love. Or scaring the living *yay* out of everypony because she thought they were having a spooky castle party. So no, if you look at it like this what we saw today isn't outside of the Pink one's domain.

 

"But wait! Pinkie specifically told Dash pranking Fluttershy was forbidden because of how sensitive she is!" Well, Pinkie wasn't being mean spirited, she was encouraging Shy because of how brave she could be/was at facing her worst nightmare. Fluttershy sees performing in front of an audience as an awful thing to do and she painted the very same scenario to Dash back in Sonic Rainboom, commending on Dash for being such a brave pony for doing this (unintentionally breaking her down, mind you), here Pinkie was just delivering the same encouraging speech but she let herself go a little and, like in the Applaloosa episode, the right message delivered the wrong way caused the conflict.

 

"Okay, okay, but in the Cranky episode she also learned the importance of self-restrain!" And this is the point I'll partly concede, it seems like (just like Shy's issues, Dash's attitude and Spike's fear of being left alone) Pinkie's obliviousness is one of those flaws that will just stick forever to a character no matter how many episodes hammer the issue down, having said that, what she learned in A Friend In Deed was more along the lines of respecting that every pony is different and to take in consideration the pony in question before acting, maybe she simply thinks Shy grew a bit of a backbone after a few seasons....

 

So no, I don't think she was OOC or mean, what I think is that she was... Dumb... And that's what hurts her in this episode, the first time she does this to Fluttershy I was laughing my ass off but you have to be a very special brand of thick to see your friend running away, crying 3 times during the episode and still thinking you are helping (though she was trying to correct herself by the end).

 

 

Another interesting thing in this episode is how the rest of the cast reacted to Pinkie's antics on this episode, most of them behaved like most of the fanbase and heavily disapproved of the Pink one's actions, which strikes me as a little odd considering they didn't seem to mind too much when Fluttershy left them behind on Power Ponies or when Rarity turned them into underfed slaves in RTM... Kinda makes you think Pinkie is receiving the same treatment Dash got back in the middle of S2...

 

...

 

You know what? I'm going to consult an expert about this:

 

 

 

Well fuck...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Applejack was... Great, this is something I've wanted to comment on the previous episode (what's up with the world not wanting me to review Rarity episodes?) but I have this mighty need to call this season Applejack Season, her role as a straight mare has been pulled out quite nicely in this one compared to the rest of the seasons, her no nonsense and serious (compared to the rest of the cast) behaviour often clashes with the rest of the cast and does it hilariously. This episode was no exception, even if I don't feel the joke with Big Mac was the greatest moment of the episode I can tell it resonated positively within the fandom.

 

 

 

 

 

Fluttershy was the other focus of this episode, and while this one feels like yet another one of her episodes it's always worth remembering the baby steps line this episode presented, this is something I always pointed whenever one of this stories showed up, while the outlines are the same (Yellowquiet is afraid, stuff happens, face fears, resolution, repeat ad nauseum) the conflict itself and the details surrounding it are different.

 

Yet this one feels a little jarring because it deals with a topic we thought we didn't need to deal with and we are talking about singing, in a musical world like this one most of the times the characters aren't aware they are singing but there were moments in universe where Shy sung and it didn't have much of a trouble with (Hearts Warming Eve)... Still, there are some little differences, maybe the most important is that at some point on the series (offscreen most likely) Fluttershy realized she liked singing, she loved singing! She let herself loose and showed a side of hers not often seen through the music (which is why I consider this episode to be really cute).

 

I'd like to think this happens at a similar time to when The Ponytones were formed, since this also gave Big Mac a way to express himself. Another nice theory is that some of the mane 6 started to form some invisible links with each other during the cutie mark switch incident, Like Pinkie who was an Apple in MMC and suddenly there is a chance she might be one of them after all, Applejack was Rarity during MMC and in the last episode we've seen her put her Childhood in Manehattan's experiences to good use, and Shy was Pinkie in MMC and in this episode she discovered a love for singing which is one of the things Pinkie always did... But I guess we'll never really know about this for sure...

 

But yeah, suddenly she develops this new version of hers and her fear of being seen like this and being put into the spotlight resurfaces (and why not? after all, the last time there was a New Fluttershy there were some pretty awful consequences). Actually, this fear seems like it came back worst than ever because even when the ponies praised her she felt awful, which is something didn't happen in the most similar episode to this one (Hurricane Fluttershy)... Which felt a little odd for me.

 

But despite that I kinda liked Flutters here, she fell back into one of her old pits and dug deeper than ever but the other fronts of her character remained somewhat consistent, it kinda helps that Andrea Libman did manage to surprise me with her voice despite the fact I should've known about it years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

And lastly we get Rarity which played a very nice role here, both while keeping Pinkie in check and pushing Shy to sing. The latter one is a little bit of chemistry the 2 girly characters share that we've been seeing since season 1 and it's always a joy whenever people bring it back, Rarara (like Dash I believe) thinks very highly of Fluttershy and more often than not she's trying to make the yellow Pegasus' qualities to be shown, she has been pushing for her modeling career (even if she didn't want to), she's been trying to make her more assertive (even if that backfired horribly), today we see her trying to make her sing and show the world how great her voice is.

 

The moment she realizes Shy was beginning to enjoy this she lets her keep the facade that the Pegasus is doing this out of necessity instead of because she actually wants to, and when Mac gets his voice back she arranges a last performance for her. The moment when shy gets surrounded in the stage at the end she even hams it up a little to make emphasis on what Pinkie was trying to say before returning to the more casual dialogue to point how silly everything was.

 

She behaved like a big sister here... 

 

...

 

Actually by saying this I'm realizing what Nix said about how well this episode would have worked for Sweetie Belle. >_>

 

 

 

 

 

Spike got a job as a bouncer... I really can't add anything... That's just funny as it is. XD

 

 

 

 

 

It's actually relevant this time!

 

 

 

 

 

This episode was so freaking cute... *drops*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed writing about and watching this episode but there has some really shaky things that brings it down like Pinkie's dubious actions (Amy actually has an habit of making some characters act a bit mean in her episodes) and the story that feels a little weird being placed after many episodes where Shy showed more confidence (especially Rainbow Falls).

 

It's full of cute and fun moments and the music was great! it's a shame that it feels like it was so oddly placed on the middle of S4, maybe tweak some things and make it a S1/2 episode and no one would have batted an eyelid about it (especially because the Baby Steps phrase that could be used to describe most of Shy's episodes).

 

Or make it a Sweetie Belle episode! (wouldn't be surprised if this one was reworked somehow, a Rarity episode got turned into an Applejack one in S2 so it's not unprecedented) but I guess if that were the case then the episode would've had a big chance of ending with a Cutie Mark, and we can't have that can we!? D8<

 

*goes to cry in fainting coach*

 

 

 

I'm fine...

 

 

 

pd: Did I mention how much I love Rarity's singing in this song?

[Legendary Emerald]

http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/02/album-compilation-february-17th.html

 

"Destiny: A Tale of Unicorn Wings" headlined the mid-month(?) album compilation post! Yay! Check it out!

 

In other news, I've found that if you listen to music while staring at this gif, you can get quite a few chuckles.

 

 

"The beautiful people, the beautiful people
It's all relative to the size of your steeple
You can't see the forest for the trees
You can't smell your own shit on your knees"

[Fuzon-S]

Happy Valentine's Day, love you guys!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you mean Valentine's already over?! It's what it says on the calen... oh.

[gato]

We have synopsis guys:

 

Episode 20:

 

 

 

 

S04, E20: For Whom the Sweetie Bells Toils

Air Date: March 30, 2014

Description: Sweetie Belle ruins a costume for one of Rarity's clients on purpose; Luna visits her in her dreams.

 

 

I'm going to take a guess and say Luna appears in the latter half of the episode and most of the episode deals with what drove Sweetie to do this.

 

Still pretty hyped for this one.

 

Also, IIRC this is yet another April fools episode title that turned out to be true.

 

 

 

Episode 21:

 

 

 

S04, E21: Leap of Faith

Air Date: March 30th 

Synopsis: Applejack is doubtful of the Flim Flam Brothers' cure-all tonic; Granny Smith tries it and it seems to work.

 

 

I almost squealed out loud when I read Flim and Flam were back <3

 

Also, this one makes me think it has some emphasis on Honesty (selling miraculous tonic and whatnot), so it might be AJ's key episode.

 

inb4religiousdebateaboutthewordfaithbeingused

 

[Celestia]

I think something similar happened once in Season 3 as well, but it's odd to not only get titles for 20 and 21 before knowing 19's, but synopses as well.

 

What is it with Luna visiting the CMC's dreams?! Will Apple Bloom get a Dreamhorse visit in Season 5?? 

So many questions.

 

That AJ episode will almost definitely be the one with the rainbowy stuff. Kinda nice to see all the Apple family love this season. XP Also, I...genuinely wasn't expecting to see Flim and Flam again, but I'm not complaining!

EDIT:

Whoa, I knew the next arc in the comics was going to involve an alternate universe, but this...

 

Issue 19's cover:

Full on Bizarro universe? Evil Princesses? Good Chrysalis _{I wonder if she'll actually be involved with the story}?! Unicorn Twilight _{(which definitely isn't just a mistake because issue 18's cover has normal 'verse Twi with wings)}?!!!

 

Here's both covers side-by-side, btw.

 

...Also Spike is apparently the same in both universes.

 

Also-also that background observer guy  that's shown up from time to time is in the normal universe but not the mirror one.

 

Before I forget, the synopsis that comes with issue #19 is intriguing as well.

 

 

As our favorite ponies traverse a strange new world, the secret history of Celestia comes to life! Will the choices she made years ago come back to haunt her and doom an entire world? And which surprising pony is at the heart of her choice?

I'm trying to come up with a theory for who the "surprising pony" is. At first I thought of Luna, but then I realized that Sombra seems to be heavily involved with his arc, so for now I'm betting on him. Edited February 19, 2014 by ElementofChaos

[Dr. Mechano]

I'm thrilled to see Flim and Flam return. They were two of my favorite villains in the series, and it's great to know we'll be seeing them again!

[gato]

About the comic...

 

Just taking a moment to comment how cool Punk-Cadence looks.

 

 

 

I really need to catch up with the comics, haven't been able to finish the pirate arc yet. :x

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

About episode 21:

 

Meghan's list indicates there is a song on this one...

 

 

[AdventChild]

We have synopsis guys:

 

Episode 20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm going to take a guess and say Luna appears in the latter half of the episode and most of the episode deals with what drove Sweetie to do this.

 

Still pretty hyped for this one.

 

Also, IIRC this is yet another April fools episode title that turned out to be true.

 

Sounds like this season's Sleepless in Ponyville with Luna's involvement. In fact, these episodes tend to explore and develop sisterly bonds as well as dealing with the individual CMC members' (the little sisters) personal problems too and that the little sister ruler is the one who helps them out. Even though it didn't say in the (early) synopsis of Somepony to Watch Over Me, I wouldn't be surprised if dreams and Luna are soon confirmed and involved as well (unless they're making it a seasonal thing and probably save it for the next one).