EP 14: Fame And Misfortune
Rating: 5 4 5
We start with Twilight taking collateral damage from a filly at war with another filly. She ends up convincing them war and bloodshed isn't the answer and look at Toola Roola, the pink one with different mane and tail colors. She looks like one of the animators put their daughter's OC in as this character.
Twilight then remembers the friendship journal from season 4 which by now is a battered mess. She then has everyone come to the castle so Starlight can duplicate the journal and give a copy to everyone. Applejack also states "A perfect copy!" so I doubt the hoofwriting has been changed since they mention they all have different styles.
Starlight explains she learned the duplication spell years ago when she had to make copies of her manifesto. This part was fucking hilarious. You know, I kinda consider these my manifesto. If I ever light myself on fire in front of a courthouse or something, I'll be sure to keep a link to these on me.
Twilight then gets the idea to publish the journal for others to learn from it. While handing out copies to the schoolponies, Twilight sees the two fillies from earlier broke their ceasefire and gives them a copy to stop them from causing further casualties. Apple Bloom then tells Twilight how the journal is making the CMCs popular and how they were thinking of starting a summer camp which foreshadows a future episode this season. This concerns Twilight as she doesn't want the journal to be used as a means of marketing. This reminds me: Assuming I don't remain hyper-obscure forever, I can't wait for some corpotuber to find these and make some video titled some shit like "DERANGED Brony Writes LONGEST My Little Pony Reviews Ever" and the thumbnail is my pony OC with their eyes censored with the text "DERANGED" written on the censor bar. In fact, I'll make their job easier. Here, just add this to the thumbnail:
So then a bunch of losers come up to Twilight asking for her signature but they haven't read the journal, only caring about its collector's value. Twilight and Starlight then come across two ponies talking about the journal being illuminating but one of them wishes the journal left Rarity out. Sounds like someone I know. Rarity overhears this and starts crying like the thin-skinned priss she is. We also see the journal's been rated 1.5 stars.
Twilight goes off to console Rarity while Starlight with a stern look says she's gonna have chat with the two ponies who upset Rarity. So are we just not supposed to be honest with our opinions towards people since it can hurt their feelings? Apparently so, considering Honest Apple's message.
Twilight comes across Pinkie who's been having a positive experience with ponies until they start laughing at every single thing she says and it starts freaking her out. She then comes across Rainbow Dash who's talking to some fillies who are ripping out all of Twilight's entries to get to Rainbow Dash's faster. They could just use a bookmark but everyone has their own ways I guess. We then also find out Rainbow Dash's stories with Daring Do are still in the published journal so her cover's now blown.
Twilight afterwards comes across Fluttershy who's being cornered and hounded by a bunch of ponies. Reminds me of my childhood. One of hounders states how Flutters keeps learning the same lesson over and over again about being assertive and then another one states how he's learned more than her before asking "Why can't I be in the book?" which is really funny. I've seen a lot of people hate Fluttershy stating how she's a boring and forgettable character. I don't think this is the case and in fact, of the Mane 6, she may be the one with the most internal character development. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and technically even Twilight only really develop in terms of career and life progress but don't really develop as characters themselves that much throughout the show. Take them in season 1 and compare them to a later season, disregarding their career and life advancements, they aren't that different. Applejack and Pinkie don't really develop inwardly or in terms of career or life progress. And most of the time when those five do seem to develop their characters, it's just for an episode's moral and what they learned is often never brought up again which is why I don't give DV for the Mane 6's character development for the most part. But you know who has actually developed as a character throughout the show and is noticeably different from season 1 compared to a later season? Fluttershy. She's slowly become more confident as the show progresses and even advances her life goals this season in Fluttershy Leans In. Sorry, Fluttershy haters but Flutters has had the most internal development of the Mane 6.
Rarity's having a fit, creating a bunch of dresses in her stressed stupor and states a bunch of ponies canceled their orders. We then see an anti-Rarity protest has started outside of Carousel Boutique. Frosty would be proud.
Applejack runs in explaining she's popular now and at the farm, a bunch of ponies have infested the place due to their newfound obsession with her. I've actually started liking Applejack more myself since watching the show again.
At Twilight's castle, the fanatics are all causing a scene outside while the other five are hiding inside. Tired of the bullshit, Twilight and the others sing a song to get the raging fanatics to better understand them. The song is really fucking good.
Oh my fucking god is this adorable!
Also during the song, there's a visual of Pinkie talking to a therapist Pinkie which reminds me of a time I was involuntarily forced to attend the scam known as therapy and the therapist told me about how one of his clients had been sent to prison for possessing child porn. I was 12 by the way so I don't know why he told me this.
After the song and a heartfelt speech by Twilight, the fanatics learn nothing and start fighting again.
I want to mention my theory on the Mane 6's popularity in the show. I believe the reason why the Mane 6 haven't been constantly swarmed prior to this episode is because the means to spread information isn't advanced enough to warrant a celebrity culture akin to what we see in our world. There is very little recorded media in Equestria and no live communication system outside of magical means so the rest of Equestria can only really hear of the Mane 6's exploits through newspapers and word of mouth and such. Photography is also limited so a lot if not most ponies in Equestria may not even know what the Mane 6 look like other than maybe Twilight which explains why they can go places without being hounded by strangers.
What a great episode. 5 EV. 4 VB for the message of not letting others' opinions affect you. This episode also feels like the opposite of Slice Of Life with it giving me the feeling it's making fun of bronies. M.A. Larson wrote both of these episodes so this interpretation is definitely possible. 5 DV for the return of the friendship journal and its publishing.
EP 15: Triple Threat
Rating: 4 5 4
Spike's organizing a diplomatic event for Ember who's coming to Ponyville. Then Thorax appears out of fucking nowhere and he thinks the event's for him. Spike panics at this, thinking Thorax and Ember will hate each other since they're so different. Thorax also has indigestion which is why he wanted to talk to Spike.
Ember arrives and Spike and Twilight conduct an op to keep her and Thorax separated. Ember also is about to merc a fool when a band's arrival music annoys her.
Spike distracts her from viciously murdering the pony and after they greet, she accidentally burns down the welcome banner which scares away all the ponies nearby. Reminds me of my childhood. She then mistakes Starlight for Twilight and states she's gonna have to get used to pony names since they have "...lots of lights and shiny things." when her own name is something that produces light.
Ember wants to meet Twilight but she's off distracting Thorax. To keep Ember distracted, Starlight and Spike treat her to a banquet to which she just starts eating the castle itself which is pretty funny. Meanwhile, Thorax is getting creeped out by Twilight's obsession with chairs. Spike tries to get Twilight to help him only for him to be summoned by the castle map to solve a friendship problem in Ponyville.
Spike goes searching for the friendship problem and after sending a pony to their grave, comes across Lyra and Bon Bon having a lesbian quarrel over cupcake flavors. Twilight with Ember and Glimmy with Thorax fuck off into the town and Thorax sees Spike and makes him talk to him. During the conversation, Thorax mentions the changelings feeding off love for hundreds of years which may be how old their race is.
Meanwhile with Twilight, Ember scares the ponies away again and then steals a muffin from Derpy before smearing it on a wall, trying to befriend her.
After Ember commits a microaggression, we see Thorax is a complete yapper and Spike is getting tired of his shit. He does foreshadow a later episode though. So then since Spike keeps fucking off away from them, they get pissed and they both end up attacking each other after Ember yells at Spike. They both state they're trying to protect Spike which confuses both of them and Spike has to explain he was afraid they would fight because he accidentally invited them both to Ponyville on the same day to which they both call him a fucking idiot for thinking this would be a problem.
Ember then gets pissed at Spike's microaggression and Thorax throws a fit. After this, Ember and Thorax meet and create a synthesis of each other's leadership methods which was what they were going to Spike for. They then go to tell Spike he's a fucking incompetent moron and start questioning why a child is an ambassador to other nations.
4 EV because there's a few funny moments. 5 VB for the message that people aren't gonna hate each other for being different and furthering this message with these differences resulting in Ember and Thorax bettering each other. 4 DV for Thorax and Ember's development as leaders.
EP 16: Campfire Tales
Rating: 3 3 4
The CMC and their sisters/sister figure are doing another camping trip which they state is annual. However the last time they did the camping trip was back in Sleepless In Ponyville which according to my timeframe theory was five years ago. Although it's likely they've done this camping trip those years since then. Apple Bloom also references that episode as "...the first time we came here..." as opposed to saying "last time". She also says "The more we do it, the better we get at camping." further suggesting they've gone on this trip without us seeing.
Scootaloo then has to prevent Rainbow Dash from accidentally killing herself. After this, she begins freaking the fuck out like in Sleepless In Ponyville. It's been five years, get over it. How has she not outgrown her fears yet? I love Scoots but this is just absurd. Scootaloo then says "I guess I still get a little bit scared out here even after the last camping trip." which contradicts Apple Bloom's dialogue. This is best explained away as being a writing error and we should just pretend Scoots said "first" instead of "last" since the off-screen camping trip theory makes more sense.
They then get attacked by a bunch of bugs and have to escape into a cave. We also see Sweetie casting a shielding spell so her magic has gotten even stronger. Scootaloo refers to Sleepless In Ponyville as the "last camping trip" again. Thank you writers, very cool!
They decide to tell stories, starting with Applejack telling the story of Rockhoof. Story's about some loser runt magically becoming a Chad to save his village from a volcano eruption. You know what, I'm actually gonna interpret it that Rockhoof didn't magically become big and strong but that it's a metaphor for becoming a man, or stallion in this case by being brave and saving the village instead of fleeing like the others.
Next is Rarity's story about some unicorn name Mist Mane. In the story we see all the ponies have curved horns, suggesting there are different pony ethnicities with visual differences. Mist Mane has to go meet her friend in some dilapidated village where she has to fight her to restore beauty or something and sacrifices her own beauty to do so.
Rainbow Dash's is about a dude name Flash Magnus whose squad gets fucked up by some dragons. Flash Magnus then has to conduct a rescue op with some fireproof shield and saves them. The shield is called Netitus which is just a made-up Latin word that doesn't mean anything. Also Scootaloo animation error:
Then they go deeper into the cave to find an exit since they caved in the entrance and find the rainbow place they were journeying to in the first place. The end.
I don't find the stories that interesting so this episode only gets 3 EV. No vibe so 3 VB. 4 DV for starting the Pillars arc. Don't know why they waited until the final third of the season to start it though.
EP 17: To Change A Changeling
Rating: 4 4 4
Trixie and Glimmy are going to the Changeling hive to help Thorax with his dictator skills. We also learn there's a ManBearPig-like creature nearby that keeps eating the plants. A changeling then captures them and brings them to the hive where Thorax has to tell the changeling he's being an idiot. We get a callback to Triple Threat when they mention Thorax learning to be more assertive from Ember. He states how he convinced all of the rogue changelings but one to fully convert to peace, the one yet to be convinced being his brother Pharynx who's the one who captured them. Pharynx is a complete chud though and wishes for the changelings to stop being a bunch of complete pussy-ass liberals and return to their former glory.
Thorax shows Trixie and Glimmy around and I do have to say, the changelings are really just a bunch of passive libtards now. All the activities they do is some shit you'll only ever see middle class white people that have never had a physical altercation in their life do. I gotta admit, the chud bronies do have a bit of a point when it comes to the changelings' reformation.
Anyways, Pharynx is dumping black paint on changelings in an attempt to get them to return to their racial purity or something. We then learn he used to be head of patrol and is angry he lost his job due to the shifted political climate. Starlight and Trixie try to talk to him while he's in the middle of an autistic chud fit but this fails so Thorax brings Starlight and Trixie to a "feelings forum" where a changeling has a metaphorical gender identity crisis. Christ, the changelings really are just a bunch of fucking pansy-ass leftists now.
The changelings continue to complain about Pharynx making them uncomfortable, wanting him gone even though he's pretty much their only real defense. It's like how libtards are both anti-gun and anti-cop which is a political paradox since you can't have neither. Starlight then mentions how Pharynx might be a lost cause due to his aggression. Reminds me of my childhood. He overhears her so he runs away, tired of the pussy-ass liberals that hate him.
Starlight and Trixie go to Thorax to tell him their opinion and he goes into his and Pharynx's past where we see Pharynx as a baby changeling transform into a monster and scare away other changelings. Since the other changelings didn't just transform into something bigger and scarier, this makes me think changelings have a limit as to how much bigger of a creature than themselves they can transform into and Pharynx is genetically advantaged in this regard.
Starlight pussies out of telling Thorax to kick out Pharynx and gets the idea to have Pharynx stop the ManBearPig thing. She sets up a lure to try to get the creature to come to the hive so Pharynx can fight it only for them to learn Pharynx ran away so now they're fucked. The changelings cheer with glee when they learn Pharynx is gone. Reminds me of my childhood. In fact, after I left school, an associate told me people were scared I was gonna return so I had him spread a rumor I was returning the next school year. No idea if he actually did it but I like to imagine he did and a bunch of kids were thinking of me as a boogeyman.
They go to save Pharynx after Starlight fails a speech check and find him fighting the creature. Eventually the other changelings decide to stop being fucking libtard losers and help fight the thing but they're completely useless and the others are the ones to beat the thing. The changelings finally fucking realize they need way to defend themselves and Pharynx becomes their guardian.
So Thorax is constantly bitching about how hard it is to be the sole leader of the changelings and he's essentially their dictator. Why doesn't he just give some of the responsibilities to some of the other changelings? Surely not all of them are completely incompetent losers.
Has a few funny moments so 4 EV. 4 VB for the changelings realizing they need some form of defense although it would've gotten a higher score if the changelings learned to stop being pansies and fight for themselves. 4 DV for learning more about the changelings since the reformation.
EP 18: Daring Done?
Rating: 3 2 4
A newspaper called The Ponyville Chronicle is announcing A.K. Yearling is retiring so Rainbow Dash freaks the fuck out. She and Pinkie go to Yearling's house which is at the same place as before which seems extremely unsafe considering Caballeron knows where she lives. There, Yearling explains she explained everything to The Ponyville Chronicle so is the newspaper a popular one across all of Equestria because it doesn't make sense why she would go to a small town's newspaper to announce her retirement?
Rainbow Dash tries reasoning with Yearling and mentions how ponies don't know Daring Do's real even though she leaked Daring Do being real back in Fame And Misfortune with the friendship journal's publishing. Turns out some place in southern Equestria has been bitching about Daring Do and ruining her reputation. They go to the town which is in the San Palomino Desert and it's an ancient Egyptian town with stereotypical ancient Egyptian ponies. Is it racist if it's an extinct culture and ethnicity?
In the town, they learn the ponies there do indeed hate Daring Do. The next day, the villagers are bickering in the town about Daring Do and Rainbow Dash tries defending her but fails. We then get the backstory of the town with a tale of a pony named Somnambula. In the story, there's some sphinx being a prick so Somnambula has to deal with it and save some prince. After solving some gay riddle, the sphinx makes Somnambula walk across a bridge blindfolded to save the guy. She uses the guy's voice as a guide to avoid falling but couldn't she just feel her way across which would've been easier and less risky?
Then it turns out the villagers hating Daring Do is a psyop conducted by Caballeron who's a fucking idiot and abducts Rainbow Dash while Yearling is still in town and can hear her scream. Daring Do then saves Rainbow Dash the same way Somnambula did in the story. When Pinkie removes Rainbow Dash's blindfold, you can see her pupils contract from the light exposure which is a nice animation detail. Then they escape and stop Caballeron. Daring Do comes out of retirement I think.
Pretty boring except for the Somnambula part so 3 EV. 2 VB because the message about hope is fucking stupid. Ooh, let's just have hope in things and delude ourselves into thinking hope will save us. 4 DV for seeing a new location and continuing the Pillars arc.
EP 19: It Isn't The Mane Thing About You
Rating: 2 3 3
In the opening shot, we see Apple Bloom talking to her father's old friend and Granny's working with Grandpear in a nice continuity acknowledgement. Rarity has to help a bunch of shops in exchange for their stuff to be used in some photo shoot I think. In one of them, she expresses wanting a chair in a pale yellow because it's across the color wheel from her mane color purple. At first I thought this was a writing error since green is across the color wheel from purple but then I found there's multiple color wheels and yellow is opposite of purple on RYB color wheels which includes paint colors and CMYK colors which are used in printing.
Eventually Pinkie gets a bunch of aerosol string in Rarity's mane and she has to get it out before the photo shoot. Rarity and Pinkie go to Zecora so Rarity can get a special shampoo and Pinkie a remover potion to clean Sugarcube Corner. At Zecora's hut, we get the fucking bloom effect again. Why is bloom used so much this season? Anyways, she gives them the stuff they need. At home, Rarity uses the stuff and it completely ruins her mane.
Later she's whining to Twilight and Starlight because she can't manipulate ponies now that her mane's fucked. Skipping to the only interesting part of this episode, we get punk Rarity. Also notice how her mane has yellow and green, opposite colors to purple on RYB and RGB color wheels.
Then we learn Pinkie had the shampoo and Rarity had the remover potion. The episode then gets an epilogue where Rarity's mane has grown back and Applejack states it's been "months".
Boring episode, 2 EV. No vibe so 3 VB. No development so 3 DV.
EP 20: A Health Of Information
Rating: 3 4 4
Zecora's helping Flutters get some plant but she fucks up and gets sick. After a vore POV, we learn she has some disease that's gonna turn her into a tree. We also learn the tree she's turning into is the same kind that produced the plant that causes the affliction so does that mean the tree that caused this is actually a dead pony?
Zecora tells Flutters the legend of a pony called the Mystical Mask who can cure the disease so Flutters goes to Twilight who is useless in helping her find a cure. Twilight then decides to go to sleep while Flutters is still trying to find a way to cure Zecora.
Flutters is me researching and cross-referencing information for my pony theories.
Later, Fluttershy announces she found the identity of the Mystical Mask by cross-referencing a bunch of shit and translating stuff from Old Ponish. She states the Mystical Mask is some pony named Mage Meadowbrook so they set off to her old home, Hayseed Swamp. There, they trespass into a tree house where they come across a guy who doesn't care two random ponies just broke in. He turns out to be one of Meadowbrook's descendants. When they start reading Meadowbrook's journals, we get her story where she has to find a cure to the same ailment Zecora has. She discovers a type of bee that produces a honey that can cure the disease but it's extremely risky to retrieve it since the bees are very aggressive.
When the story's over, Fluttershy is revealed to also have the disease and she sets off to get some honey from the bees but fucking fails and ends up getting killed but luckily Twilight was available as her second-best buddy and revives her. Then Flutters gets the idea to wear a mask colored like the queen to get the honey which succeeds and she's able to get it and cure herself and Zecora who's started to achieve Fluttershy's dream of becoming a tree.
Not an interesting episode so 3 EV. 4 VB for the message of not overexerting yourself I think. 4 DV for more Pillars arc development.
MLP Commentaries IndexWritten 2025-3-9/10 Published 2025-4-1