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My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic


storytime7

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Season 7 officially ended today, so in lieu of tradition, my thoughts on every episode...

Celestial Advice: Though it still feels odd to start a new season without a special episode for the first time, I did enjoy this premiere. Nothing about it broke ground, but Princess Celestia finally getting much-needed and long overdue character development was enough to make the experience worthwhile. Not only does it turn out that she has character flaws, it also turns out that she believes it’s appropriate for her to be put on God’s level and that Twilight’s mental torment is hilarious. Easily the highlight. 8/10

 

All Bottled Up: An even better episode, I was thoroughly entertained by the plot with Starlight Glimmer and Trixie. The plot with Twilight and her friends was okay, but the only things I particularly liked about it were the song and the joke they made about the song. The Starlight and Trixie story, by contrast, had me chuckling the entire time. I love how Starlight was literally putting her anger in a bottle to put up with Trixie being an oblivious idiot, and how even though they didn’t take the predictable route of having her finally blow up at her, they still had Starlight at least call Trixie out on what she was doing by the end. 8.7/10

 

A Flurry of Emotions: Not for those who aren’t into babysitter episodes, but certainly not bad. The “BEST AUNT EVER” thing started to get on my nerves after a while, but I did laugh at the first museum scene with the trash can joke and the painting that was literally just black, as well as the cake pickup scene where Pinkie put the sorry face stamp on Twilight’s forehead. “Who says “Brb” in real life?”. Fictional cartoon characters, that’s who. 7.7/10

 

Rock Solid Friendship: Any episode with Maud Pie in it is almost certain to be great, as her character alone is enough of a gem. But even though Maud is excellent in this episode, she’s not the main reason I really like it. The main reason I really like it is because we get to see Maud build a bond with someone who’s nothing like her besides Pinkie. Who knew that Maud would be willing to invest herself in another pony’s interest? And that it would be her way and not Pinkie’s that was the right way to connect with Starlight? And that it’s possible that Maud might be evil? She was unnervingly (and hilariously) remorseless over abetting a villain… 8.9/10

 

Fluttershy Leans In: What a letdown, easily the worst Fluttershy episode for me. This episode was far from unsalvageable, but the lack of any character conflict just completely throws me out of the experience. Why would they want us to be completely on Fluttershy’s side the entire time? Her intentions were noble, but the actions of the workers she hired were understandable to some extent. They’re jerks, but jerks with a reason to believe they’re in the right...and then they just leave the plot to be resolved with the easiest solution imaginable. The story conflict is just a watered down rehash of the story conflict from Canterlot Boutique, and Flutter Brutter had much better moments of Fluttershy being assertive. Very disappointed with this episode. 5.8/10

 

Filly Forever: An alright turnaround after the previous episode. Not a huge improvement, but it isn’t surprising when you consider that a mediocre or lackluster episode of the show tends to be followed by one that’s just okay or only slightly better before we get a gem. Still, this episode, despite being mostly entertaining, doesn’t offer much memorable and doesn’t hold a candle to Sisterhooves Social in terms of conflict believability or humor. Rarity’s ignorance itself wasn’t my pet peeve with it, it was the execution and how it was pretty much made the joke to hold the entire episode. I did enjoy the ending a lot though. 7.3/10

 

Parental Glideance: The moral of the story is that fanboys and fangirls are annoying, even if they happen to be your family. Being serious, this was a good episode that gave us some interesting background on Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. Rainbow’s parents obsessing over her was mostly amusing, and I got a laugh out of the sound effects door and when they were breaking out fireworks at the practice session. Dash finally blowing up at them only to get scolded for it and made remorseful for it, I saw coming from a mile away, but at least they showed us what built her up to becoming so embarrassed of what her parents would do. 8.4/10

 

Hard to Say Anything: The title taunts me, it’s hard to say anything about this episode. It’s...decent, and episodes that are just...decent are always the most difficult for me to voice my thoughts on. I liked the continuity nod to Hearts and Hooves Day, how they didn’t have Sugar Belle fall for a third suitor, a tired old cliche in love competition stories, and how Feather Bangs wasn’t a complete ass, as they showed by the end. It’s not at all bad, romance competition stories just aren’t my thing, really. 7.8/10

 

Honest Apple: Oh, so it’s okay for Fluttershy to be disrespectful in voicing her honest thoughts, but not Applejack. I see how it is. While I’m kidding, I am surprised that the main problem I had with Fluttershy Leans In was fixed here...only four episodes later, damn. That debate Applejack has with Strawberry Sunshine that opens up her eyes is probably my favorite part of the episode, along with Rarity rocking out on the guitar. It’s pretty good overall, though I can see why some find the parts with Applejack taking things too far to be unpleasant, even if the episode wouldn’t work without them. I was also surprised to find myself liking all three of the dress designers, not just one of them. Inky Rose is still my obvious favorite because I just...really like goth ponies… 8.6/10

 

A Royal Problem: Oh my God, this episode...forget what I said about Celestial Advice, that was just a warmup for this shit. This was character development for Celestia...and Luna too. This entire episode is just one big show of them acting like unbelievable, hilarious assholes. Better yet, it’s one big show of them acting like...characters. I went in most excited for Daybreaker, but I was more captivated by the conflict of the episode. It even had some great jokes, like how Luna ate the peel but threw away the banana when she was tired and how Twilight was trying to spy on everything through the ballerina toy before Starlight finally put her away. My favorite episode from the first half of this season, only contested by Discordant Harmony and The Perfect Pear. 9.5/10

 

Not Asking for Trouble: It’s not asking for trouble to say this episode is just okay! It’s like they’re doing this deliberately now… I honestly do want to get into episodes like this, that give us more background on another Equestrian species or another part of the world, but exposition patched together with a conflict that has an easy solution from the start just doesn’t grab me. I did like the return of those crude drawings from Maud Pie though. And the ponies doing covert operations. And Gummy. But yeah, nostalgia callbacks do not make this a better first episode to show a friend, obviously. 7.5/10

 

Discordant Harmony: A Discord episode...where the conflict is not caused by his arrogance? He had purely good intentions in doing something for someone else for a change? Now that’s chaotic. I’m honestly stunned to see after all this time, Discord finally making a personal sacrifice for someone to try and change himself. I loved Fluttershy at the last act too, when she was “creating chaos” to get Discord to embrace who he was again. Proof that Fluttershy is not boring! Only minus was Pinkie Pie conveniently making a short appearance to play a minor role in the plot only to never be seen again. I did laugh at her asking for the “glowing, flying napkins” though. 9.3/10

 

The Perfect Pear: It’s like Amending Fences for Applejack. What a touching episode. Not only do we finally get an explanation on how Applejack’s parents met, we also finally get an explanation on why not even the Apples ever really talked about them. I absolutely loved how smooth the pacing and storytelling was and how they didn’t sugarcoat Applejack’s parents’ frequently implied deaths. Obviously not perfect, but realistically, taking into account required editing and time constraints, I really don’t think this episode could’ve been done much better. 9.3/10

 

Fame and Misfortune: So Season 7 returns with M.A. Larson’s revenge on all the self-entitled bronies for all the backhanded praise they’ve heaped on him over the years. This episode was the perfect parody of the part of the brony fandom that’s still stuck in 2012 and has gotten so caught up in their version of the show, they’ve forgotten the entire purpose of the show to begin with. They hit every go-to criticism stuck-up veterans like to throw at the show, from “PINKIE PIE IS JUST COMIC RELIEF NOW AND NOTHING ELSE” to “FLUTTERSHY JUST KEEPS RE-LEARNING THE SAME LESSON”. They even acknowledge the sudden rush of hate towards Rarity and the sudden rush of love towards Applejack. The entire thing even kicks off with a mockery of Season 2 and what an overglorified relic it’s become. Now that’s a sick burn. 9/10

 

Triple Threat: And of course, things continue with more parody. Ember has to be right about Twilight and Starlight being the same character. I dare you to tell me that’s just a coincidence. I’m not complaining though, I loved the humor in this episode and I lost it when Spike asked the apparently gay couple if they had a friendship problem. Body pillow joke, you now have some competition. I also loved seeing Ember and Thorax in the same episode, and how they were able to connect with each other in the end despite their conflicting views. Spike’s first friendship problem being one “he created only to fix” was the only thing I didn’t like. Come on Twilight, you were just as guilty for encouraging him to keep them separate. Own up. DX 8.7/10

 

Campfire Tales: We get a break from meta humor...with the first episode based off an arc from the IDW comics. Now isn’t that funny? Also, the title is misleading, the three stories they tell aren’t “campfire tales”, all of them are based off of folk legends. Only the wraparound plot is about camp. I really liked all of the stories, my favorite one being the one with Mistmane that paid homage to Asian culture. The wraparound plot, I just find to be weak and unfitting though. They were stuck in a cave because of spiderbugs and had to go down a stream that conveniently led to a waterfall outside to get out? What?! I also like how we have two Flash characters now. Flash Sentry and Flash Magnus. Can’t wait for the pony version of The Flash. 8/10

 

To Change a Changeling: Reminds me of The Times They are a Changeling, only this time it actually is hard to imagine that the Changeling in question can change. I’m kidding, we all went into this episode knowing what was going to happen, but that’s beside the point. Forgetting predictability, this is a funny episode that had me fully amused by Trixie and Starlight’s shenanigans, even if their incompetence was a bit too hard to believe at certain parts. You think Starlight would at least put up some sort of a fight against a monster with the kind of magic she knows, sheesh. <_< I also liked the lack of cheap meta jokes about Pharynx not liking the new Changelings (if the paint joke was one, it was pretty subtle). And welcome to my internet vocabulary, “feelings forum”. XD 8.5/10

 

Daring Done?: So A.K. Yearling/Daring Do is now a social pariah. If that’s a parallel to J.K. Rowling’s declining reputation in real life, then I’ll laud it as a very well-written and subtle parallel. Aside from that, the episode is very standard in structure and obviously hurried towards the end. It’s not as bad as Fluttershy Leans In, Gillian M. Berrow’s other episode this season, in that regard though, definitely not, with a much more engaging and less half-baked plot. That might have something to do with Gillian being in familiar territory, seeing as she writes the real-life Daring Do books, but whatever. Also, the story of Sonambula was pretty cool. 8.1/10

 

It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You: Yay, a full-fledged Rarity episode that also manages to give everyone else in the cast a minor role. Even Zecora appears again to play a part in the plot, though I don’t really care for her. I did laugh at her obliviously trampling Rarity’s hopes, but as always, she offers little to the story, only serving to start the plot. Going back to what I laughed at in this episode, I actually did find most of the “Rarity torture” funny, knowing things were going to turn around in the end and that a good moral would come from it. If they had just used magic to solve the problem and made Rarity happy without learning not to wallow in her self-pity and confront her issue, I would’ve enjoyed the episode much less. Also loved Pinkie wanting to hear a horror story about a pony becoming “one big curl”. Pinkie would love Uzumaki. 8.5/10

 

A Health of Information: Make that a double yay, we got a good Fluttershy episode this season. A much better character conflict for her that actually had me on her side for the first half of the episode. After all, Twilight Sparkle seemed pretty unwilling to help a friend of hers who was terminally ill. :P I was more on Twilight’s side for the latter half though because I totally agree that pushing yourself when you’re sick to help the sick is counterproductive. Simple shit for criticism, Zecora was just a plot device again, predictable conclusion, nothing shocking. Good jokes? I liked how they made Twilight into Chef Ramsey and Fluttershy wanting to dig her way into the house instead of just using the door. Did I mention this episode is better than Fluttershy Leans In? 8.3/10

 

Marks and Recreation: One of those episodes where I actually find the premise more interesting than the episode itself. Not that the episode is bad, I actually find it to be one of the best Cutie Mark Crusader episodes, it just leaves me curious. Rumble may have been a brat, but he was a brat who made a good point. You can be talented at something you don’t like, so if that thing also happens to be your destiny...yikes. Still, I’m glad it’s written to make us not want to side with him, since it’s true that freedom from being trapped in a box being created by just not doing anything isn’t freedom at all. The retconning was also pretty funny, how Rumble called Apple Bloom out on the last time she made a potion with Zecora. Only glaring flaw was that the song could’ve been better, at least vocal-wise. Won’t be too hard on Vincent Tong, I can’t sing too well while pretending to be a kid either. XD 8.8/10

 

Once Upon a Zeppelin: Another decent episode, and I actually have a decent amount of stuff I want to say about it for a change. The reason being that this episode has a surprisingly unique plot, Twilight being on a cruise with her family...run by Iron Will. Not joking, both Twilight’s family and Iron Will return in the same episode. Most of what they do is what you’d expect, though Flurry Heart stacking up those other babies like blocks was unexpectedly funny...and creepy (I KNEW SHE WAS EVIL) and Iron Will jumping off the airship at the end was badass. It’s a very standard episode as far as execution of its plot goes, but the little things about it that are cool stand out. Why do I enjoy Twilight losing her temper so much. >:) 7.9/10

 

Secrets and Pies: A rip-off of Party of One? Nope. The best rip-off of Party of One imaginable if you can even call it a rip-off. Instantly fell in love with this episode as soon as I realized that they weren’t going for the tired “misunderstanding” cliche and had Rainbow Dash actually pulling a long con on Pinkie Pie. Rainbow actually is a compulsive liar and Pinkie has every right to be acting insane in response. That’s what makes the episode so enjoyable for me, Pinkie’s frustration being so realistic and relatable. Her imagining Rainbow as a shitty OC recolor destroying her pies wouldn’t be one of the best scenes in the show without that. And while the joke at the end was gross, it made perfect sense because it represented Rainbow’s dishonest behavior as disgusting. I actually chuckled. My favorite episode of the latter half of this season, discounting the season finale. 9.2/10

 

Uncommon Bond: Damn. They finally brought back Sunburst and gave him an episode about him spending time with not just Starlight, but Trixie and Maud too. It’s a fanfic writer’s treat and a seamlessly written slice-of-life story, but my personal love for it isn’t too strong. I probably don’t relate to it as well as others due to me not meeting many childhood friends in real life, but honestly, I also think that Trixie and Maud have had better moments in the show. I guess that’s because they can only get so much screentime in an episode featuring this many characters in the spotlight. Starlight was amazing here though, I agree. It sucks that that scene where she actually transforms herself and Sunburst into children so that they can play with each other like they used to goes by so quickly, because it’s so disturbingly funny. 8.7/10

 

Shadow Play (both parts): The season finales continue to fail...fail to disappoint, that is. This was easily the most thrilling and thoroughly enjoyable episode of the season. No scene of exposition dragged on for too long, every part had me excited for what was going to happen next, and there were even parts I found...thought-provoking. No, not the scene of Pinkie hugging AJ’s ass and possible implications of Garble being a pedo (HE HAS TO LET ME GIVE IT TO HIM), but the conflict of villain redemption that gets debated. Did Celestia ever really need to banish Luna? The conflict with Stygian and Equestria’s ancient heroes is very reminiscent of the first conflict in the show with Luna and Celestia, and if I had to think of one flaw for this episode, it would be the lack of Nightmare Moon. She really needed to be in this episode, at least as a cameo. After all, the Pony of Shadows folktale mentioned her. Oh well, with the returning villains that have been confirmed to return in Season 8, I think we’ll get more coverage soon enough. >:) 9.7/10

 

So then, time for the episode ranking run-down. Just for future reference on how my listings work, 8.5+ is an episode I love, 7.5-8.5 is an episode I like, and 5.5-7.5 is an episode I don’t mind.

 

Episodes I Loved

All Bottled Up

Rock Solid Friendship

Honest Apple

A Royal Problem

Discordant Harmony

The Perfect Pear

Fame and Misfortune

Triple Threat

To Change a Changeling

Marks and Recreation

Secrets and Pies

Uncommon Bond

Shadow Play (both parts)

 

Episodes I Liked

Celestial Advice

A Flurry of Emotions

Parental Glideance

Hard to Say Anything

Campfire Tales

Daring Done

It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You

A Health of Information

Once Upon a Zeppelin

 

Episodes I Didn’t Mind

Fluttershy Leans In

Filly Forever

Not Asking for Trouble

 

Pretty good season, I think. Only one episode of substandard quality, and it certainly didn’t speak for the entire season. My only concern is where the series will go from here. We’ve had a run for the show longer than most kids cartoons, a spin-off movie series, a movie, a comic series that’s now being tied in with the show, and now talk of the movie being tied in with the show. It’s becoming more clear than ever that MLP:FiM is no longer just a show about the adventures of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. It’s a franchise that’s seeking to grow as much as possible, which begs the question of how everything will come together in the show as its universe continues to expand. However, with the quality of the show continuing to remain high, I don’t feel that there’s a cause for worry, especially if we continue to view the show how it’s meant to be viewed. For what it is. :3

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4 minutes ago, Raven said:

I hate this show. If you ask me, it's inferior to the way superior, Pretty Pretty Pegasus. I looooooooooove Pretty Pretty Pegasus.

You can say that again, MLP is a ripoff of the original! My Little Pony? More like My Little NO-ny. HAHAHHAAHA, IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE I REPLACED A WORD IN THE TITLE WITH NO.

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Well...since Bonnie and Clyde, who were two of the biggest fans of this show, are longer on SBC, I figured that I should bring back some light to this topic. I've finished up Season 7 recently, and all I feel like saying on behalf of the season is that it continues to prove MLP: FiM's consistently good quality, despite having a couple of duds in "Fame and Misfortune" and "Fluttershy Leans In." Sooner than later, I'm going to start watching Season 8, but I'll be honest when I say that I'm not so intrigued by it, so far from what I've known about it. Also, each season, the show's cast of characters feel more and more stacked.

Hopefully, SOF and I aren't the only ones on SBC that still care about this series.

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34 minutes ago, Steel Sponge said:

Well...since Bonnie and Clyde, who were two of the biggest fans of this show, are longer on SBC, I figured that I should bring back some light to this topic. I've finished up Season 7 recently, and all I feel like saying on behalf of the season is that it continues to prove MLP: FiM's consistently good quality, despite having a couple of duds in "Fame and Misfortune" and "Fluttershy Leans In." Sooner than later, I'm going to start watching Season 8, but I'll be honest when I say that I'm not so intrigued by it, so far from what I've known about it. Also, each season, the show's cast of characters feel more and more stacked.

Hopefully, SOF and I aren't the only ones on SBC that still care about this series.

been a fan since the old generations and i'll always try to keep up, although i have to admit season seven was a complete snooze for me the entire way through. i felt like i was watching it out of contractual obligation or something. there were a few good episodes that held my attention ("rock solid friendship," "mane thing about you," "fame and misfortune") but ultimately there was so much dull nothing and pedaling of uninteresting characters like that damn changeling and starlight glimmer that i couldnt even pretend to be invested half the time. it kind of sucks since season 6 was kind of alright in terms of making me care about starlight about season 7 just completely failed in that regard. don't even ask me about season 8 because i've literally seen nothing and can't help but feel that i wouldn't enjoy it. 

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...And it turns out S9 will be MLP:FiM's last season. Thoughts? I was guessing that the series could have a 10 year long run, but I've also had this feeling like S9 could be the very last. Once this series ends, I'm hoping that it ends on a very remarkable note. This series has always never disappointed me, so I bet it will.

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well as of late, s9 of MLP will debut on April 6th at 11:30am ET

the 200th episode will air April 20.

Man, I really need to catch up with MLP tbh It'll be cool if we ever do MLP fad for one last time to celebrate SBC's 10 year anniversary as to celebrate last season of My Little Pony. :)

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Well, I just want to say farewell to ,MLP:FIM  it was was one of mt fave show in 2010s and it was loads of fun despite not catching it up to s9 (which i'll do tomorrow since i'm almost done with s8). I honestly liked a  lot. from 2011 SBC fad to being a brony in 2016 to changing my avatar to one of my favorite character from Mame 6: Rarity <33

Rarity is such one of adorable character and her character made me feel happy whenever she appears would put on a smile on my face :D

I adore this show too much, and i thank the creator for making this show teaching us and continuing being a fan as how friendship is really is.

Farewell MLP

October 10, 2010-October 12, 2019

R0epoyE.gif 

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