My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic FINAL SEASON |OT| I used to wonder what friendship could be...

Strider_Blaze · May 24, 2019

Yeah I thought it wouldn't make sense to continue EQG even after FiM ended. Like I just hope Sunset gets a proper closure.

And I pour one out for the Dazzlings never making a proper appearance outside their one cameo in FiM. It's kind of unusual none of EQG's antagonists have never made any reappearances while the ones featured prominently in FiM did.

Speaking of which, need to continue the latest special. Only went up to the part when Sunset and friends ended up transporting to Equestria.

SigmasonicX · May 24, 2019

Strider_Blaze said:
And I pour one out for the Dazzlings never making a proper appearance outside their one cameo in FiM. It's kind of unusual none of EQG's antagonists have never made any reappearances while the ones featured prominently in FiM did.

Yeah, the Dazzlings never appearing again is still super weird to me. They're still getting tons and tons of fan art. And excuse me, we did in fact have one recurring villain.

>_>

The lack of recurring villains makes sense when you think about how EQG is made. Shorts are too, well, short to use any of the existing villains. The movies and specials are all to advertise particular playsets, which may not be suitable for a previous villain to appear. That's why they just reform everyone after Rainbow Rocks; they're probably kicking themselves for not reforming the Dazzlings and thus being able to have them show up randomly.

Strider_Blaze said:
Speaking of which, need to continue the latest special. Only went up to the part when Sunset and friends ended up transporting to Equestria.

You're getting to the good part! Hmm, come to think of it, that's where I stopped posting the videos in this thread. Sorry if that made you lose track.

As it turns out, they did upload an EQG short today, just a few hours later.

As obnoxious as I remember, besides the pretty good chorus. Especially the airhorns.

From Discord

Sylvee · May 24, 2019

SigmasonicX said:

I didn't say WHEN I would post it

Aside from a pretty cool season opener, the final season of MLP has been fairly middling and unremarkable for me. Twilight's Seven was fun but I felt didn't quite live up to the reputation of being the 200th episode, Point of No Return was alright but not stellar, and everything else has been average to mediocre. I was starting to get worried that the final season wouldn't be the show going out with a bang but rather a whimper. Fortunately Frenemies I feel is the first truly excellent episode outside of the opener, and it was an especially important episode for the season given it's ramifications for the finale so it's very good that it stuck the landing. Michael Vogel has been one of my favorite writers ever since he made his first episode back in Season 6, when I first heard that he was writing the episode it gave me a lot of confidence as I feel like he's very strong at character interactions and making silly but still grounded episodes. And this episode I feel really showcases that as it's a very humorous episode that gives a lot of much-needed depth to the cast of villains.

A lot of my love of the opener is tied into the new team of villains, who were pretty fun in that episode and are even better here. I've said before that in season 8 I was really not a big fan of Cozy Glow (I think in that season she was easily one of the weakest villains the main show has ever had) and on top of that I didn't care too much for Tirek back in Season 4 either. However, season 9 has done a lot to improve them to me and at this point I'm fully on board with them and am excited to see more from them. For Cozy Glow, perhaps the biggest reason why I didn't like her was because the show wanted to make sure that the viewers knew that she was bad news so she was constantly doing very questionable things but none of the characters really reacted to it and so the only way they could foreshadow her becoming the big villain they had to make all the main characters oblivious and incompetent. However, now that the cat's out of the bag and everyone knows she's a monster it's fun seeing people call her out on her fake sincerity. She works better when she's being played as a joke rather then being taken seriously. She actually feels like she was designed to be part of this villain team first and as the primary antagonist of Season 8 second.

Tirek I also find more interesting as well, although I don't think he was quite as much of an improvement as Cozy Glow was. Him being obsessed with getting buff is a fairly small characterization but at least for me I feel like it actually goes a pretty long way in making him feel like an actual character and not just some big bad that the good guys have to beat. And Chrysalis was already my favorite villain in the show and I feel like she's still great here. One of my favorite parts of the episode is that Chrysalis actually transforms into stuff. It's always bothered me that despite changelings playing a larger role then ever in the show we very rarely actually see them transform into other creatures to do stuff. Usually they only do it once or twice an episode to do a single task when I feel like it would make more sense for them to be doing it constantly to take whatever form would best suit them for what they're doing. The sequence where Chrysalis was trying to get up the mountain by herself showed this off well.

Going off of that, this episode reminds me a lot of To Where and Back Again now that I'm thinking more about it, and I mean that in the best possible way. A lot of the strengths that episode had I think are shared here, such as the main focus of the episode being seeing a small group of characters interact and bounce off each-other while using their own unique strengths to work together and overcome obstacles. The villains all play well with each other and it's just really fun watching them complain about one another. And although I know a lot of people might not like the idea of 3 remaining recurring villains being reformed, I've always been a sucker for that kind of thing and I think they're setting it up well so far. Besides, with any luck Queen Chrysalis will return in G5 so she'll go back to being evil there.

The last thing I want to talk about are the production and the song. The song was alright, not by favorite but it had some fun bits. The only real glaring problem I had was that a lot of the lyrics felt lacking, especially when you compare them to all the songs from Hearth's Warming Tail which Vogel also did. In terms of everything else, I miss the voice filter that Chrysalis used to have back in Season 2 but she still sounds on-point here. The other characters also sound great too. And for visuals one thing I didn't notice until looking again is that after Cozy Glow got buried in snow she had a bunch of icicles coming off her clothing and tail until she warmed up by the fire. That's a small detail that I imagine a lot of people missed that they went through the effort to show. One comparison that I saw online was between Mount Everhoof versus the mountain from Dragonshy in season 1. The difference between the two is pretty crazy:

All in all, I loved the episode and I felt like it was easily the strongest of the season. Hopefully the rest of the season can follow suit.

Strider_Blaze · May 24, 2019

SigmasonicX I mean to be fair those 30-minute specials did release close to one another, but that counts I suppose. There were also the 5 major Shadowbolt students, but I do consider Abacus Cinch to be the true antagonist among them.

I mean you make a good point on the general format Hasbro went with for EQG. It is what it is.

And no worries if you delayed on linking the vids! I get them in my feed as well. Just me being lazy doing other things lol.

And I guess another reason why it makes sense to also end EQG with FiM, is considering EQG is technically a part of gen 4 and Hasbro is to move on to gen 5 next year.

SigmasonicX · May 24, 2019

Sylvee said:
A lot of my love of the opener is tied into the new team of villains, who were pretty fun in that episode and are even better here. I've said before that in season 8 I was really not a big fan of Cozy Glow (I think in that season she was easily one of the weakest villains the main show has ever had) and on top of that I didn't care too much for Tirek back in Season 4 either. However, season 9 has done a lot to improve them to me and at this point I'm fully on board with them and am excited to see more from them.

I agree with this a lot. Cozy was alright in season 8, I felt, but more for how funny her concept was than anything she really did. Now that they're actually using her for humor, it's great. Tirek's pretty fun too.

Sylvee said:
She actually feels like she was designed to be part of this villain team first and as the primary antagonist of Season 8 second.

I got that impression too.

Sylvee said:
Tirek I also find more interesting as well, although I don't think he was quite as much of an improvement as Cozy Glow was. Him being obsessed with getting buff is a fairly small characterization but at least for me I feel like it actually goes a pretty long way in making him feel like an actual character and not just some big bad that the good guys have to beat.

I agree, it's small but it adds a lot.

Sylvee said:
One of my favorite parts of the episode is that Chrysalis actually transforms into stuff. It's always bothered me that despite changelings playing a larger role then ever in the show we very rarely actually see them transform into other creatures to do stuff. Usually they only do it once or twice an episode to do a single task when I feel like it would make more sense for them to be doing it constantly to take whatever form would best suit them for what they're doing. The sequence where Chrysalis was trying to get up the mountain by herself showed this off well.

I'm more or less alright with how say Ocellus's transformations are handled, and I think it makes sense for the changelings to just be changelings in normal situations, but it did always feel weird that Chrysalis in particular rarely transformed. She didn't at all in "To Where and Back Again", to my recollection.

Sylvee said:
One comparison that I saw online was between Mount Everhoof versus the mountain from Dragonshy in season 1. The difference between the two is pretty crazy:

It's always neat seeing ways the art improved.

Katrina Hadley has been posting a ton on Twitter about EQG ending.

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
2h2 hours ago

Course I effed up and cut off the last sentence: SO! "If this was rambling that's because it's simply impossible to sum up something that was a massive piece of my life for the last 6 years. Thank you everyone. Katrina- MLP Equestria Girls Director"

And some "official fan art" from her

Other stuff, but there's an embed limit.

On SciTwi pony being a unicorn (part 2)

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @Cenafan456

There were no discussions with the writers or exec staff. But Ishi and I always felt since the humans are kind of only "borrowing" the pony magic she wouldn't be an alicorn since she didn't earn it herself. 1/2
2:11 PM - 24 May 2019

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @isitlunchyet_t @Cenafan456

But it wasn't much of a 'discussion' "We're making her just the regular unicorn build right? But with glasses." "Yeah, sounds good."
2:12 PM - 24 May 2019

Interesting that this wasn't specified in the script or anything, so they just went with what felt right.

On the cut duet from Friendship Games
(If you didn't read the full letter above, she makes a joke about how she was more upset about this getting cut than her divorce)

Calvin
‏ @NormandyJayden
1h1 hour ago

Man, reading about that you were angry at the cut duet and alt ending with the fans makes me so happy. That duet song is one of my favorite EqG songs ever. Rebecca's voice, the visuals, the parallels and how it fits into the story is just... mindblowing.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @NormandyJayden

I'm glad you guys go to see that version at all
2:51 PM - 24 May 2019

Confirmed that Ragamuffin from Spring Breakdown was specifically designed as Male AJ (part 2)

Kora Kosicka
‏ @kkosicka
1h1 hour ago

Man, I really enjoyed having you both as directors; it felt great to lay our work at your feet and have nothing but positive reactions come back at us. I'm also grateful for some of our dumb ideas/inside jokes making it into the show. Male AJ still makes me laugh.
2 replies 0 retweets 7 likes

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @kkosicka

Design review was our favorite time, we couldn't wait to see the cute and or weird stuff you guys had done. Male AJ is my fave. And that other upcoming one. You know the one, m'lady.
2:55 PM - 24 May 2019

CouchCrusader
‏ @CouchCrusader_
1h1 hour ago

Male WHAT

(inb4 this was already confirmed before but lol nonetheless)
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @CouchCrusader_ @kkosicka

Have you not seen Spring Breakdown?
3:10 PM - 24 May 2019

They've been asked to bring back the Dazzlings a lot by fans

Peyton [Toon Loon]
‏ @ASliceofComics
1h1 hour ago

Ah I see. Well thanks for the reply anyway.

Second quick question. If you had to quesstimate. How many times have fans asked you & ishi to bring back The Dazzlings!?🤣
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @ASliceofComics

100 000
3:10 PM - 24 May 2019

And another bit of art that Hadley drew for a fan as an apology for accidentally showing his address in a picture.

Scope
‏ @scopeguardpony

And now I can finally share THIS.

MWA HA HA HAAAAA https://twitter.com/isitlunchyet_t/status/1132028074244026368 …
3:02 PM - 24 May 2019 from Manassas Park, VA

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
1h1 hour ago

Replying to @scopeguardpony

LOL How OLD is that now?
1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
Scope
‏ @scopeguardpony
1h1 hour ago

Scope Retweeted K.Hadley

Early 2016.

Ya streamed it a little after https://twitter.com/isitlunchyet_t/status/679776395849936896 … as an 'oopsie gift' because you accidentally uploaded a photo of the envelope with my home address on Twitter, lol.

Scope added,
K.Hadley
@isitlunchyet_t
Sorry was just so exited about my present. Now hanging in pride of place
1 reply 1 retweet 2 likes
K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
1h1 hour ago

yeah. my brain is so mushy now...

Celestia actually looks good! Well, probably Celestia. EDIT: It is indeed Celestia! With two OCs.

SigmasonicX · May 24, 2019

Strider_Blaze said:
@SigmasonicX I mean to be fair those 30-minute specials did release close to one another, but that counts I suppose. There were also the 5 major Shadowbolt students, but I do consider Abacus Cinch to be the true antagonist among them.

I was joking about Juniper Montage; no one would want her to return, haha. (Well, one person aside)

Though looks like I spoke too soon about the Dazzlings. Google searches have been surprisingly accurate about Equestria Girls shorts in the past, and making this search gets this result.

So the Dazzlings look like they're getting a one-off music video.

Strider_Blaze said:
And I guess another reason why it makes sense to also end EQG with FiM, is considering EQG is technically a part of gen 4 and Hasbro is to move on to gen 5 next year.

There's been some suggestion that EQG could continue with the same voice cast as an out, in case fans didn't like G5 much, but that reasoning always felt shaky to me.

On another note, surprise about the writer of episode 13 of this season: it's famous comic writer Gail Simone!

Nicole Dubuc
‏Verified account @NicoleDubuc
Replying to @GailSimone

So here's the story! I've followed Gail for awhile on Twitter, and I saw that she was in LA. Knowing her love of transforming cars (and one pencil), I invited her and @RocketSpouse over for a tour of Hasbro Studios.
9:59 PM - 23 May 2019

Nicole Dubuc
‏Verified account @NicoleDubuc
21h21 hours ago

Replying to @NicoleDubuc @GailSimone @RocketSpouse

That's when I found out they'd been watching MLP:FiM, which I was currently EPing for season 8. Learning she enjoyed the show (and being a fan of her writing), I asked if she'd be interested in penning an episode for us. She was! But we had already assigned all our slots.

Nicole Dubuc
‏Verified account @NicoleDubuc

I mentioned this to @MMeghanMcCarthy , who was also a fan of Gail's writing, and we decided that if we got a season 9, we'd ask Gail to join the herd. And so, here we are! All thanks to cars and one pencil. :)

GAIL SIMONE is MY LITTLE SIMONEY
‏ @GailSimone
21h21 hours ago

Ha, I didn't really know this part of the story, but thank you both so much!

It was huge fun. I've written animation before but I learned a LOT this time in particular. Mostly because of you, Nicole!

And someday, I'MA WRITE THAT PENCIL.

There's more to the tweet thread from Gail Simone before this point, but note that she posts videos from the Italian airing thinking they're previews >_>. It's funny that the description of one of the videos, which was taken down, is literally "I'm going to upload the full episode later".

I've actually thought for a while it would be great to get a famous female writer to guest write for this show, particularly since by season 6 the writing room has become a sausage fest. It got a bit better, but still. And since I'm not too familiar with writers outside of MLP and, well, X-Files, Gail Simone is the only famous female writer that came to mind that would write for a cartoon. And hey! It happened.

Strider_Blaze · May 24, 2019

Pretty surprising the Dazzlings are returning. It's just for a music video granted, but better than nothing. Though unless they took singing lessons since Rainbow Rocks, I'm prepared to hear them sing off-key!

Sylvee · May 25, 2019

SigmasonicX said:
m more or less alright with how say Ocellus's transformations are handled, and I think it makes sense for the changelings to just be changelings in normal situations, but it did always feel weird that Chrysalis in particular rarely transformed. She didn't at all in "To Where and Back Again", to my recollection.

Ocellus is better and Thorax and his brother have also done that sort of thing a couple times, but ignoring them changelings actually rarely transform in the show, and when they do it has usually been to impersonate someone or hide that they're a changeling, not to change into another creature that might be more adept at handling whatever task they're currently doing. It was especially glaring pre-reformation.

As for EQG potentially ending, I'm not really surprised. Given that I imagine Hasbro is going to want people to move onto the next series, it would be weird for them to also have another series based on the previous generation. EQG at this point has basically given up any pretense that it isn't just a vessel to sell toys to tweens who idolize high school and although the specials have still been generally alright most of the most recent shorts and songs have been pretty mediocre IMO and I can't really say that I would miss EQG. I understand that EQG has basically always existed to sell their toyline to an extent that was much larger then the main show, but up until recently it never felt like it was desperately trying to cash in on popular trends. I feel like a video like "I'm on a Yacht" wouldn't have been made a couple years ago.

Also the fact that the Dazzlings haven't returned to EQG in any capacity is just really weird to me. Aside from Sunset they've been the most popular thing to come out of EQG so it makes a lot of sense to bring them back. Now that I think about it, I don't think they've brought back any of the major characters from the movies/specials outside of a couple of specific shorts and Timber who has actually been a recurring character. (Dance Magic was made alongside Friendship games so that one doesn't count) I think the biggest problem with EQG is that there's just so much wasted potential. There's so many interesting things that they could do in EQG just off of the things that they've introduced in the movies, but those things are usually ignored and even when they actually do them it feels like they're just checking things off a checklist rather then actually exploring it. (Sunset seeing Celestia again, the humans going to Equestria)

I like how this started as me talking about EQG ending but it turned into me complaining about EQG. I don't hate EQG or anything, but looking back on it I feel like there was a lot of wasted potential and that the series could have been better if they had an actual series about it rather then whatever it is that we got.

Queen · May 25, 2019

I wonder how likely Ocellus/Thorax and Chrysalis confrontation is for the finale.

Changelings are rad, and I wish this show was able to do so much more with them.

SigmasonicX · May 25, 2019

Sylvee said:
Ocellus is better and Thorax and his brother have also done that sort of thing a couple times, but ignoring them changelings actually rarely transform in the show, and when they do it has usually been to impersonate someone or hide that they're a changeling, not to change into another creature that might be more adept at handling whatever task they're currently doing. It was especially glaring pre-reformation.

My assumption was that only certain changelings are able to transform into things besides ponies with any skill. It's hard to explain episodes like "To Change a Changeling" otherwise, which had Thorax and Pharynx transform into big monsters but no one else when they were all trying to fight the mole.

Sylvee said:
I like how this started as me talking about EQG ending but it turned into me complaining about EQG. I don't hate EQG or anything, but looking back on it I feel like there was a lot of wasted potential and that the series could have been better if they had an actual series about it rather then whatever it is that we got.

Back when the web shorts were announced, I thought a combination of shorts and specials would be enough to cover all this, but I've been proven wrong. EQG really did need stories longer than the shorts that didn't have to tie into a particular playset to really explore its world. Though I suppose they could have done more with the shorts as is; "Overpowered" being completely irrelevant to anything is still baffling. An entire short about how Rainbow is overusing her speed powers and how this powers up everyone else's magic, and after that, Rainbow still uses her speed magic all the time with no side effects.

I don't think I posted about this in the thread, but a week or two ago we had a conversation on Discord about the bizarre fact that we've never seen Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in their own houses. Applejack had an entire song set in her house and we didn't see Apple Bloom there! The fact that this never happens is a pretty striking sign that the current system isn't covering as much as it should. The parents never appearing is weird, but at least makes sense on a production level; EQG adults have unique designs, and thus they couldn't just use generic models to make them like you could for FiM. Can't just recolor SciTwi and call it a day for Twilight Velvet.

Throwaway_Name said:
I wonder how likely Ocellus/Thorax and Chrysalis confrontation is for the finale.

Changelings are rad, and I wish this show was able to do so much more with them.

I imagined Chrysalis's defeat involving Thorax and Pharynx for a while, but so far at least, the show just isn't building up to Thorax being meaningfully involved in all this Grogar stuff. If any changeling confronts her, it will probably be Ocellus, if her obstacle in "What Lies Beneath" proves to be relevant to her character. I suppose at most we'll see Thorax welcome a reformed Chrysalis into the hive in an ending montage.

~~~

Tomorrow's episode is
9. Sweet and Smoky - May 25, 2019
Smolder returns to the Dragonlands with Spike and Fluttershy to help cheer up her sensitive brother, but when they arrive they discover the dragon eggs aren't hatching.

It'll be interesting to see Fluttershy in the dragon lands for the first time.

Note that some guide descriptions give some extra info.

Smolder's brother is Garble. I suppose with this being the last season, they would have to pick up the remaining characters that are still jerks and reform them. I don't like how this makes the dragon world feel smaller, but it isn't a huge deal.

Queen · May 25, 2019

That's true, he's kind of mostly been absent since Season 8 started. Same with Ember.

SigmasonicX · May 25, 2019

Haven't watched the new episode yet, but some more tweets from Katrina Hadley.

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t

Just a reminder there's still a good half of season 2 of EG to go that's been made by yours truly and the DHX gang. Lots of great stuff I can't wait for you to see!
7:00 PM - 24 May 2019

So we're only about halfway through EQG season 2.

Dougworld was only ever referred to as the human world internally

Chris (Half the Battle)
‏ @Half_theBattle
14h14 hours ago

Quick question (not about future episodes): Perhaps I missed it, but did they ever give a name to the world where Equestria Girls takes place? Is it too called Equestria?

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @Half_theBattle

Nope. We just called it the human world. But we didn't really need one since we dealt with it so little. And Equestria was still Equestria if we needed to refer to where SS and PTS were from so...
8:23 PM - 24 May 2019

What a director's drawer looks like

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t

A photo of the scripts ranging from Legend of Everfree to the end of Season 2. Plus all the notebooks I filled over the years! Thought you'd get a kick out of it. Bonus toy pile.
7:16 AM - 25 May 2019

And "I'm on a Yacht" wasn't meant to be in Spring Breakdown itself.

DJ Pyro Teknikz
‏ @DJ_Pyro_Teknikz
3h3 hours ago

@isitlunchyet_t - This says "Spring Breakdown" in the title. Was this song supposed to be in the special?

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @DJ_Pyro_Teknikz

Ah sorry, I get your question now, I'm still waking up. No it wasn't meant to be 'in' the special. It's just thematically related. Hasbro wanted some spring break themed stuff to go with their spring break and cruise wear toy line
8:26 AM - 25 May 2019

And also confirmation that the upcoming Rainbow Roadtrip special was animated by Boulder Media, Hasbro's new in-house animation studio.

SigmasonicX · May 25, 2019

Sweet and Smokey
Garble being Smolder's brother is weird when there's another part of his group that actually looks like he'd be Smolder's brother, but whatever.

This was an alright episode, but carried more by Fluttershy than Spike. It was nice to see more of the dragon lands and how things work there, but seriously, where are the big dragons? We saw tons of them back in "Dragon Quest", and the migration in it was specifically to lay their eggs, and there are eggs here, so...? Anyway, I also liked seeing how Smolder fit in with dragon society.

Fluttershy was pretty great all throughout this episode, with her showing zero fear of the dragons and scaring them instead, and making beat poetry. Funnily, she's even the one who resolves Garble's subplot instead of Spike.

It was a bit odd that Garble coming out as a beat poet making everyone laugh is what saved the day, which was followed up by the other dragons being told they shouldn't laugh at him. I suppose the fact that they could have made them laugh another way makes that conflict in messaging a bit less weird.

As far as redemptions go, this does go a similar "bullies are just afraid of being bullied" path as "One Bad Apple", but compared to that episode, I liked that Garble was redeemed due to pressure from his sister and an adult figure (Fluttershy), which puts less pressure on kids to redeem bullies themselves.

Also, this episode ends with kidnapping.

Unknownlight · May 25, 2019

Smolder's brother being Garble is the first time I've been surprised by a twist in this show since... I have no idea how long. It's been a long, long time.

It's not even a very surprising or clever twist (Smolder told Spike she had a brother in a previous episode—obviously it would be literally the only other named male dragon her age in the whole show) but it still caught me completely off guard.

SigmasonicX · May 25, 2019

Even more Katrina Hadley tweets with some huge news.

On shipping

Wubcake
🐟
‏ @WubcakeVA
6h6 hours ago

If you can answer.. We all wanna know... Do you ship it? O:

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @WubcakeVA

Kinda! I like all the ships really. And I have some trashy crack ships the board crew was grossed out by.
12:48 PM - 25 May 2019

Amar-Kareem Guimba
‏ @AMARKAREEM2
35m35 minutes ago

Would be willing to tell us what some of these trashy crack ships are?

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @AMARKAREEM2 @WubcakeVA

Haha ok. Gloriosa and Filthy Rich. And Juniper Montage and her manager from the movie theatre. I am in no way seriously attached to these
6:08 PM - 25 May 2019

And really what everyone could have guessed but never thought would be confirmed

Jumpie Studios
‏ @JumpieStudios
5h5 hours ago

What about Rarijack?
Was the shipping in Rillercoaster Of Friendship intentional?
Is there a possibility they're in love?
I never cared for that ship very much before then.

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @JumpieStudios @WubcakeVA

We thought their conflict felt a little like a lovers quarrel rather than a friend fight as written. So we played it that way, but rode the line so the viewer could interpret it as either type of relationship. But internally, yeah, we were Rairjack shipping.
1:21 PM - 25 May 2019

Confirmed

(Not actually a fan of Rarijack >_>)

Also some other info

Some more staff fan art, mixed with real fan art

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t

More photos! It's my side of the office and the some crew fan art mixed with some fan fanart on our door. We usually didn't have the fluorescents on, but I was packing up. So glamourus (haha not at all)
11:52 AM - 25 May 2019

So to bring down on the Rarijack hype, it looks like the staff does seriously like Timber X Twilight. But they also like Fluttershy X Rainbow!

On ponying up and geode powers

Alternate Flurry
‏ @AlternateFlurry
7h7 hours ago

Thank you so much, for all you have done! MLP has certainly been a constant in many peoples' lives. It's been around for almost half of mine... I do have a question for you...

Do the staff have any unified rules on how magic works in-universe? A ruleset for runes perhaps?

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @AlternateFlurry

Nothing official. We don't have a written document, if that's what you mean. Ishi and I had a sort of what situation calls for pony up magic and what is geode magic but that's about it
11:16 AM - 25 May 2019

Queen · May 25, 2019

Good, good. Make it gayer.

SigmasonicX · May 26, 2019

I'm honestly amazed Katrina is being so open about all this behind the scenes stuff. Not just shipping, but also things like how disappointed she was that the duet was cut from Friendship Games. It's good to know they act the same as fans in many ways.

It'd be cool if the FiM crew shared a bunch of stuff like this once production wrapped up for them.

Anyway, the episode that aired today. Seems to be getting OK to positive reactions.

I'm amazed this was in the episode

Flutterface

About to steal some babies

And speaking of which
S9E9 - Baby dragons are all mine! by luminaura on DeviantArt

SigmasonicX · May 26, 2019

New Equestria Girls short on Discovery Go, "Festival Looks". It's short even for a short, but it's pretty fun. I laughed out loud at Rarity's "TOUCHDOWN!" followed by Rainbow trying to say that's not what it is before being muted.

On another note, I'm hearing some people are using the fact that the EQG crew does in fact ship Rarijack to bludgeon people who don't, and yeah, don't do that.

Related tweet

Rokii
🔜 Bronycon 2019
‏ @RokiiDokiLoki
2h2 hours ago

But muh appledash.

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @RokiiDokiLoki @HorseNewsMLP and

Still valid
8:57 AM - 26 May 2019

Katrina Hadley confirms that the random visual Rarijack hints aren't coincidences

Alex Inman
‏ @InmanAlex
10h10 hours ago

So, moments in later shorts and episodes like, say, this one, aren't a coincidence?

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @InmanAlex @JumpieStudios @WubcakeVA

Nope.
4:28 AM - 26 May 2019

On Rainbow in ships

Gallop-a-Gus
‏ @ajnrules
9h9 hours ago

Gallop-a-Gus Retweeted Lauren Faust

Hoooo boooooy. Now I'm curious who you ship EQG Rainbow Dash with, or is it as Lauren Faust describes it?

Gallop-a-Gus added,
Lauren Faust
@Fyre_flye
.@ajnrules Rainbow Dash's one and only true love is herself!

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @ajnrules @WubcakeVA

I'm with Lauren on this one. I don't think RD really thinks much about romantic relationships, she's too busy doing her thing and it's a a very low priority.
4:31 AM - 26 May 2019

On whether these hints are still valid when they were added in the storyboarding stage

(Original tweet this is replying to deleted)

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @AP1nkprincess

The writers have never explicitly written any of the character as LGBTQ. Is it valid? That's a tricky word as I wouldn't want to invalidate anyone's sexuality and representation in media is important for marginal groups . So we leave it open to the viewers personal interpretation
9:25 AM - 26 May 2019

And while on the EQG topic, some art.
1.Camping Must-Haves Rarity X Applejack by kakumlp
2.Festival Filters Rarity X Applejack by kakumlp
3.Twilight from Spring Breakdown by CleverPon on DeviantArt - Anthro
4.Sunset outfits by keeerooooo1
5.Sunset talking to SciTwi in her sleep by yakieringi014

1.Rarity - Camping Must Haves by Tabrony23 on DeviantArt
2.Sunset showing off her backstage pass by sozglitch
3.Sunset's swag dance by sozglitch

fony · May 26, 2019

Sweat and Smokey

This one felt more like the first dragonland episode, which was kinda meh to me. Garble being cruel is also redeemed now? The Fluttershy parts were better than the dragon ones. The twist of Garble being the brother was a nice surprise though.

Queen · May 26, 2019

I was honestly hoping for Spike to not forgive Garble for bullying him in the end.

TheWooniestWoona · May 26, 2019

I just want to know where the big dragons from season 1 went. Seems like since we've been introduced to the dragon lands we've only ever seen the small ones. It's made especially odd when Ember talks about how she's gathered all the dragons to help with the eggs and yet we only have small ones.

SigmasonicX · May 26, 2019

MattWhite924 said:
I just want to know where the big dragons from season 1 went. Seems like since we've been introduced to the dragon lands we've only ever seen the small ones. It's made especially odd when Ember talks about how she's gathered all the dragons to help with the eggs and yet we only have small ones.

That's been a weird thing since season 6. Out of universe, it makes sense that they'd prefer to use dragon types that can actually walk into a pony room. In universe, I have to assume big dragons are generally loners and are scattershot across the world. So big dragons lay eggs, peace out, and have the smaller dragons take care of them.

SigmasonicX · May 29, 2019

It's here!

The adventures of Crazy Glue, Queen Christmas, and Turkey, working under Gregory.

Was waiting to pair it up with news, but it kind of dried up after that weekend flood.

Instead, have some Fluttervideos
Fluttershy asking to go too
Fluttershy making baby noises to the eggs
Smug bongo playing

Love this landscape shot

This is fine

Also

Queen · May 29, 2019

Just make a spin off series about Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow doing incredibly petty revenge schemes.

Chrysalis steals all the pens in Twilight's castle, forcing her to buy a bunch of new ones.

SigmasonicX · May 30, 2019

MLP: Spirit of the Forest #1
A new comic miniseries started, focused on the Cutie Mark Crusaders and environmentalism. With the same team as Ponyville Mysteries, which I ended up not liking overall, I was considering skipping this. While it isn't particularly amazing, I don't regret reading it.

The CMC go out camping in the Whitetail Woods (so no deer elves here) only to discover loads of stinky trash. They gather their classmates to clean it up, which results in some pretty nice moments with Diamond Tiara specifically as she talks about how much her grandmother loved these woods. The Crusaders come back another day only to find garbage there again. They discover the litterers are lumber workers eating on the way to a lumber mill owned by Filthy Rich, and convince Filthy to implement a strict no littering policy. However, they realize they have a bigger problem when they see just how many trees they're cutting down.

Besides the ever adorable art, there are two keys to why this story works so far: Sweetie Belle's righteous indignation, which I feel ties back to her appreciation of Harmonizing Heights in season 8's "Surf and/or Turf"; and the way the woods connect to Diamond Tiara and Filthy Rich.

The former results in a lot of good Sweetie reactions, and with the latter, it's great to get some expansion on Good Diamond Tiara. It also results in a motivation for Filthy Rich that isn't just "hahaha money money money", although his desire to make sure everyone has access to the high quality wood from the forest seems like an ill advised way to respect the wishes of Diamond's grandmother.

Overall, I liked this comic, and despite being a pretty standard story, it's quite enjoyable.

With the August solicitations showing another 3-issue miniseries starting then, Feats of Friendship, I imagine we'll just keep getting miniseries like this up until IDW decides to stop supporting G4.

~~~

Already posted episode screenshots above, so I don't think "Sweet and Smoky" warrants a full episode followup. Instead just have an art dump.

The episode was pretty light on art, but there's still a bunch coming in for "Frenemies" and others before it.

First, agrol GIF

1.Private Performance by InuHoshi-to-DarkPen on DeviantArt - Garble and Smolder
2.Hatching! by Darksly-z on DeviantArt - Ember
3.Heckin PISSED by aem97 on DeviantArt - Fluttershy
4.Rainbow teaches Garble how to dab by mightyshockwave - Based on Garble dabbing during his poetry
5.Lava Diving (Pic of the week MLPS9E9) by JonFawkes on DeviantArt - Humanized

1.Fanart - MLP. Season 9, EP 9, Garbro by jamescorck on DeviantArt - Garble
2.Sitting Smolder by uotapo on DeviantArt
3.Smolbath2 - uotapo's Sta.sh
4.Smolder hugging Garble by klondike

Comics
My Little Pony: What did you just said? by zouyugi on DeviantArt

Spike telling Garble something by tjpones - Suggestive

Older episode art

Agrol GIF for "Frenemies"

1.Chrysalis as ophiotaurus by xbi
2.That Would Make Me So Glad! by RubyG242 on DeviantArt - Chrysalis
3.Crlslninsnwrbt01 by Plotcore on DeviantArt - Chrysalis
4.I Found It! by DebMervin on DeviantArt - Cozy Glow
5.Team...something by Andromedasparkz on DeviantArt - The Frenemies

1.pony Cozy Glow by xbi on DeviantArt
2.:Frenemies: by SoundwavePie on DeviantArt
3.Diabolical by poecillia-gracilis19 on DeviantArt - Frenemies
4.Some doodles from Freniemes by FallenAngel5414 on DeviantArt - Cozy and Chrysalis
5.Wicked Unity by OinkTweetStudios on DeviantArt - Frenemies

1.Dream Team? by InuHoshi-to-DarkPen on DeviantArt - Frenemies
2.Beach Boy by VanillaSwirl6 on DeviantArt - Sandbar
3.SandBar and Pony Yona Sticker Design by AmethystCutey on DeviantArt
4.Pony Yona by pabbley
5.Luna petting goose by Marenlicious on DeviantArt
6.Do something.. by Marenlicious on DeviantArt - Rainbow
7.Angry by Coldmix on DeviantArt - Rainbow
8.EQG Pinkie by noupu

SigmasonicX · May 30, 2019

Kotobukiya Pinkie Pie statues have started to arrive at houses

It's available for purchase from this Japanese site, but it's still only in preorder on this US site, and it's pre-sold out.

Twilight is coming next, and you can preorder her on this site.

SigmasonicX · May 31, 2019

Now on YouTube. Song's still just alright, but visually interesting.

Katrina Hadley linked another studio that worked on this song.

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t

One of our favourite songs of the season! Check out the MLP:EG music video "Run to Break Free" big thanks to the Jess's at Sound Revolver, loved working with you!! Check them out! https://www.soundrevolver.com/copy-of-about and the vid! https://youtu.be/IqN9R45JHuQ
11:55 AM - 31 May 2019

Looking at the cartoon work they have done, I haven't watched the new Littlest Pet Shop (I really should get on finishing the previous series...) but the one MLP thing they did before was this live action music video from two years ago.

You can hear the similarities in the songs.
Also I find it amusing that while this music video does indeed have more views than the average MLP video on Hasbro's channel, it isn't so much more that bringing on some YouTube celebrity I haven't heard seems to have been worth it.

Sylvee · Jun 1, 2019

Forgot to make a post for Sweet and Smoky, so here's the lightning round version of it:

After the first truly excellent episode since the opener we're back to another middling and unremarkable episode. Garble secretly being a big softy that's just picking on Spike to take the heat off himself does not work at all with all of the previous depictions of his character. Also I believe the last we saw of him he barely was beaten out by Spike and Ember as Dragon Lord, you'd think that he'd be still upset about that but he doesn't bring it up once. Fluttershy being assertive was nice, but at this point it's something we've seen quite a bit. Ember's voice sounds off for most of the episode, it's missing the gruffness that it usually has and although I get that there's a story reason for it I don't really like how she sounds for most the episode. Also another petty complaint but the dragons spewing out fire when laughing looked really stupid and I felt like they could come up with a better way to give Garble closure for his insecurities then having people laughing at him somehow fix a massive problem. Also after the last episode the relative cheapness of this episode sort of sticks out. There's like 6 dragons in the whole thing, compare that to Gauntlet of fire which frequently had massive swarms of them. As a whole it felt like another non-essential episode that was pretty unremarkable but had some good moments.

SigmasonicX · Jun 2, 2019

Going to Seed
Note: don't feed pancakes to dogs.

Well I was glad Granny and Goldie weren't deliberately trying to mess with the harvest for a lesson of some kind, but rather it was just Big Mac doing things in his sleep.

Not much to say about this episode really. It's cute, and it's nice to see the Apple Parents in a flashback for once (and with Apple Bloom for the first time) but not much else.

Strider_Blaze · Jun 2, 2019

Well just finished the rest of Spring Breakdown; overall an okay special. Did start out rough with RD being obnoxious there, but all of you were right, it does it better. Though then again the special kept going back and forth between Equestria and the human world, which did bother me quite a bit. Plus I commend them that there wasn't a direct villain, while still having to deal with conflict.

The last 2 music videos were okay as well.

And got the MLP Movie for $5. What a steal! Just wish Lionsgate would participate with Movies Anywhere.

fony · Jun 2, 2019

Going to seed

This one was alright but not particularly remarkable in any way. We've finally get a callback to pancakes!

SigmasonicX · Jun 2, 2019

Strider_Blaze said:
Though then again the special kept going back and forth between Equestria and the human world, which did bother me quite a bit.

Yeah, one big shame was that they just couldn't stick to Equestria for long enough. The gag used when cutting back and forth between worlds was funny on its own, but it just felt like rubbing it in that we couldn't see as much of the humans in Equestria as we'd like.

Strider_Blaze said:
Plus I commend them that there wasn't a direct villain, while still having to deal with conflict.

From leaked assets, there's an offhand mention of a "Storm Queen" in an image showing the scale of the Storm King's staff, so it's possible there was one at one point. But if so, getting rid of her was definitely the right move.

Some info about this episode

MLP-Trinary
‏ @MLP_Trinary
11h11 hours ago

Heya! There's something in the episode that had a couple of us fans confused. AJ mentions Braeburn and Honeycrisp as possible helpers. No one seems to know who Honeycrip is--not even the MLP Wiki, which has names for virtually all the background characters! Who is Honeycrisp?

Big Jim
‏ @TheBiggestJim
Replying to @MLP_Trinary @OhJeeToriG @kayleachard

An Apple family relative we've never met.
8:50 AM - 2 Jun 2019

Honeycrisp is a new character.

Dustykatt
‏ @Dusty_Kat
Jun 1

This should be called "Its the Great Seedling, Applejack!"

Big Jim
‏ @TheBiggestJim
Replying to @Dusty_Kat

It was at one point.
8:52 AM - 1 Jun 2019

Now for fanmade stuff, focusing on the highest quality stuff.

It's here! Nice poetry. And that ending.

Also here, an agrol GIF already.

1.Sleeping Big Mac by kam
2.Apple Stake Out (Pic of the week MLPS9E10) by JonFawkes on DeviantArt
3.S9E10 - The Great Seedling by luminaura on DeviantArt
4.going to seed by LooknamTCN on DeviantArt
5.Great Seedling GIF by brightroom

Apple Trap by bobthedalek on DeviantArt

~~~

And I forgot there was going to be more than one of these. Synopsis for volume 2 of the MLP "manga" (written and drawn by Americans). First volume is coming out later this month (Amazon). We also have the cover for the third volume.

My Little Pony: The Manga – A Day in the Life of Equestria Vol. 2

STRANGE THINGS ARE AHOOF

Story & Art by: David Lumsdon & Shiei
Release Date: 2020/04/21
Price: $10.99
Format: OEL
Trim: 5 x 7.5in
Page Count: 120
ISBN: 978-1-642751-34-5

Toning: Ludwig Sacramento
Lettering: Nicky Lim

The Great Cake Bake Festival is tomorrow! All of Ponyville is head over hooves with excitement as they prepare. But then…the big day never arrives. Each new day is still always the day before the festival. In fact, it seems like it's been the day before the festival for as long as anypony can remember. What could possibly be the reason? A mysterious artifact from ancient Mesoponytamia? Is Discord up to his old tricks? Hopefully, somepony can solve the mystery and set things right!

Don't miss this all-new manga series set in the world of Hasbro's My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!

I'm really digging this synopsis. EQG had a Groundhog Day story in a novel, and it's nice to see a pony version.

Conkersbadfurday · Jun 2, 2019

Welp. I'm caught up! Kinda. I'm still probably behind on the EQG shorts, but I'll let them trickle by at their pace like normal. I did just watch the two posted songs.

The Yacht one is hilariously cursed in ways that are hard to describe, but it's fun.

The Run song is okay but I feel like there's too much of a chorus effect or autotune or something on the singer's voice. It sounds way more synthetic than what I'm used to. Video was neat.

As to the season, I've been pretty unhappy with it from start to now. The 200th episode was fun but didn't feel special like the 100th, and "Frenemies" was also fun but turned the last few threatening villains into petty morons hanging out with a child. I don't like or care about the goat villain. He just seems like some dude who hates Twilight for whatever reason. And that it all centers around Twilight is kind of lame. Like guys, get over yourselves and go take over the hipogryphs or some shit.

Fluttershy was fun in the Spike/Smolder/Gar episode, but everyone else was just ... not. Like Spike's trying the same thing over and over and over and it's clearly not working. Gar's also a fucking douche, so there comes a point where you just gotta go "Smolder. The world would be a better place if someone shot him." But I guess this is why I'm not a writer for this show :V

SigmasonicX · Jun 4, 2019

Forgot to mention, new EQG short this Sunday, "Five Lines You Need to Stand In", which involves Pinkie Pie celebrating the security line, the hours long food line, the photo booth line, the mystery line (actually a circle around a tree), and finally the bathroom line. It's pretty cute.

But whoa hold on, who's this running the food truck?

Well according to fans, it's clearly Principal Celestia's daughter! At least according to the artist Jake Heritagu.
Image 1
Image 2

Quoting ED, Daniel Ingram got together with Black Gryph0n, Baasik, and Arielle Tuliao (the singing voice of Scootaloo)

Arielle having only become her singing voice for season 8's "Surf and/or Turf", to be clear.

And we have a bunch more "official fan art", from the Tumblr of Bevin Brand, former storyboard revisionist for EQG (Derpibooru). Some samples.
Sunset with cat

1.Action SciTwi
2.Action Sunset
3.Action Rarity
4.Action EXPLOSIONS Pinkie
5.Rarity and Pinkie making a cupcake
6.Timber giving Gloriosa her flowers
7.Rarity getting Flash Sentry's measurements

It's funny that the Tumblr post made up of Timber and Flash art has way fewer likes than the others.

SigmasonicX · Jun 6, 2019

Some news

This person is saying that Equestria Girls season 3 was announced at Licensing Expo 2019, but no one else has said anything.

Also, given we know DHX isn't working on anything else EQG, Boulder Media's Facebook post about Rainbow Roadtrip that I posted earlier has an unexpected comment.

So Equestria Girls season 3 is coming, but neither DHX nor Hasbro's in-house animation studio are working on it? Weird.

Also, this cookbook came out a few months ago but largely went unnoticed.

You can buy it here. The Amazon page includes a "review" by the author, which includes a video flipping through all the pages, and it looks really nice.

And art. I forgot to make these images smaller, but eh.
1.Fanart - MLP. Season 9, EP 10, Great Seedling by jamescorck on DeviantArt
2.The Great Seedling by InuHoshi-to-DarkPen on DeviantArt
3.Pony by Gouransion on DeviantArt
4.Applejack finale by Heir-of-Rick on DeviantArt
5.Apple Family by cheezedoodle96

1.Great Seed by viwrastupr on DeviantArt
2.Not a single word ... by FuzzyPones on DeviantArt
3.Applejack getting ready by czu
4.The Great Seedling by Darksly-z on DeviantArt
5.He is proud by Mini-Feru on DeviantArt

1.The Great Seedling by BellBell123 on DeviantArt
2.Apple Bloom by puperhamster on DeviantArt
3.S09E09 Great Pumpkin by CowsRTastyArt on Newgrounds
4.The Great Seedling by glitteringdew

EQG
1.Rainbow getting dunked on by Sunset by lumineko
2.Run To Break Free by LiaAqila on DeviantArt - Rainbow
3.Rarity (Festival Looks) by Kafiyan on DeviantArt

And previous episodes
1.Play that funky beat big bro! by Foxlover91 on DeviantArt - Spike, Smolder, and Garble
2.Smolder and Garble by jbond
3.Inner Self by OinkTweetStudios on DeviantArt - Garble
4.Chrysalis by a campfire by setharu
5.Cozy Glow laughing GIF by zouyugi

1.Cozyy by inkyyz on DeviantArt
2.There's a better way to be bad ! by GlitterStar2000 on DeviantArt - Frenemies
3.Frenemies family by grotezco
4.Family Picture (fast drawing) by brother-lionheart on DeviantArt - Quibble, Clear Sky, Wind Sprint, and Rainbow
5.MLP FIM - Wind Sprint Want To Be Best Flyer by Joakaha on DeviantArt
6.I Can Teach Ya! by LiaAqila on DeviantArt - Rainbow

Comic
CG comic "Going to Seed" alternate ending by red4567

Videos for recent episodes

It's kind of weird how that's almost but not quite the Scooby Doo theme.

And another Daniel Ingram song

It sounds like more of these will be coming as the show ends. Pretty neat.

Strider_Blaze · Jun 7, 2019

Gotta admire how excessive Rarity can be.

SigmasonicX · Jun 8, 2019

Strider_Blaze said:
Gotta admire how excessive Rarity can be.

That's still a lot of fun on a rewatch.

Checking that channel, it looks like there's a hang up on the non-English versions of the EQG shorts. Only Russian ones were uploaded, and the ones for "We're on a Yacht" and "Run to Break Free" were both put up six days ago. Also there's this video.

Pinkie Pie gives it a try to help a customer in picking out an outfit at Rarity's Fashion Shop! Do you think she has it?

(If the video title gets changed, it's 'Pinkie Pie Knows Fashion?' 😲 Official Clip | MLP: Friendship is Magic Season 8)

SigmasonicX said:
Some news

This Instagram post was taken down, and this post from Katrina Hadley responding to it probably explains why.

Matthew Smith
‏ @mrdoctorderpy
Jun 6

@isitlunchyet_t so apparently a third season of Equestria girls has been confirmed and I was just wondering if you and dhx were involved or if this is when hasbro changed companies

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Jun 6

where did you see this info?

Matthew Smith
‏ @mrdoctorderpy
Jun 6

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByV9QZuAxOF/

K.Hadley
‏ @isitlunchyet_t
Replying to @mrdoctorderpy

All I see there, is that there's still some of season 2 yet to be released, which we produced. We make episodes months in advance of when they are released to the public. Also, you should never consider something confirmed unless you see an actual press release from HASBRO.
11:06 AM - 6 Jun 2019

So looks like no EQG season 3 after all, just someone confusing additional season 2 episodes for a season 3.

And on another note
Yona and Wooloo by Pink-Pone on DeviantArt

Edit by YellowPony

Glad other people saw the similarities.

Tomorrow's episode is
11. Student Counsel - June 8, 2019
Starlight Glimmer relishes her role as school counselor and encourages the students to come to her anytime about anything, but she becomes overwhelmed and learns a lesson.

Andrew J · Jun 8, 2019

Student Counsel

Jeez, Maud was really horny for petrified Mudbriar.

Sylvee · Jun 8, 2019

Last week's episode I enjoyed a lot more then I thought I would. I don't have a ton to say about it, but it was a pretty laid-back and fun episode for me, and everything considered it's probably one of the better episodes so far for me. It was fun seeing all the Apples together and it felt like everyone was written decently well.

Student Counsel on the other hand felt like the showrunners have completely ran out of ides on what to do for Starlight episodes and just made something up. "Starlight is a workaholic that doesn't make time for her friends" feels like it comes out of left field. It is basically a Spike episode in that it introduces a character flaw for her to overcome and is likely to never be brought up again. None of the traits that I felt made her an interesting character and differentiated her from being Twilight but without wings were really on display here. None of the characters in this episode in general had a particularly good showing. There are definitely some good jokes in this episode and there's some good interactions, I do think that if you just take the episode at face value and don't think about how it's really obvious that they don't know what to do with Starlight now it's pretty fun. But even still it's kind of frustrating just how badly they ran the "Mudbriar turned into a rock and now Maud likes him even more" joke into the ground. IDK kind of a disappointing episode for me.

SigmasonicX · Jun 8, 2019

Student Counsel
No lie, Starlight constantly being called away for work was a bit triggering, haha.

I assumed this was going to be student focused, so I was surprised it was instead about Starlight's circle of friends, plus Mudbriar. They were all pretty fun, although I suppose Sunburst had the least to do. Also Starlight and Trixie are totally dating, if not already married off screen. Trixie had some good expressions, and Maud particularly was quite funny with her dumb jokes and her finding Mudbriar hot after he turned to stone.

I was surprised to see Terramar show up, and for the story to focus on Silverstream. It was neat to see more cockatrices; I guess the one in Tartarus was just a particularly mean one (probably the one from "Stare Master")?

This is another one of those odd episodes where the lesson works for adults but seems really hard to apply to children. Manage your time well, and never work overtime if you aren't going to be properly compensated.

Overall, I enjoyed it.

Andrew J said:
Student Counsel

Jeez, Maud was really horny for petrified Mudbriar.

Hard as Rock (Pic of the week MLPS9E11) by JonFawkes on DeviantArt

Sylvee said:
Student Counsel on the other hand felt like the showrunners have completely ran out of ides on what to do for Starlight episodes and just made something up. "Starlight is a workaholic that doesn't make time for her friends" feels like it comes out of left field. It is basically a Spike episode in that it introduces a character flaw for her to overcome and is likely to never be brought up again. None of the traits that I felt made her an interesting character and differentiated her from being Twilight but without wings were really on display here.

Yeah, I noticed this at the start of the episode but kind of forgot. This really doesn't feel like a Starlight conflict, but rather something Twilight would do. It feels more in Starlight's nature if she made it so she's automatically teleported back to the office whenever someone knocks, not thinking through what it would lead to but still insisting it's all fine to Trixie. Plus back in "Marks for Effort", the counselor's office was depicted as super inactive. Though the increase in activity was at least justified by none of the teachers being there and school going on break.

SigmasonicX · Jun 9, 2019

We have our first new Dazzlings content since 2014, with a new Equestria Girls music video, "Find the Magic". The song wasn't to my taste. I suppose it's good on a technical level but I just didn't like it much. Outfits should result in a lot of fan art, though.

Another one of these, this time with the actual male VAs, though Peter New's wife is standing in for Sugar Belle. I laughed when Vincent did the cheese fondue pose.

And also

Pretty straightforward this time. Surprised there wasn't anything with the cats.

We have an interview with the writer of the upcoming MLP "manga", David Lumsdon, and it's pretty interesting.

First of all, it's pretty striking to me how similar the premise of the first volume is actually pretty similar to the RPs I run on Discord. And the second volume is going to be inspired by Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer, a classic trippy anime film. I'm looking forward to this.

There's a bunch of stuff for this episode but I'll just cover this now. First, here's a GIF of Trixie tracking herself.

Screenshots from this part resulted in this.

Which resulted in this cursed GIF by alumx

And Twitter version with sound

SigmasonicX · Jun 10, 2019

Couple things I noticed on rewatch. Mudbriar definitely seems to be more aware of how much he annoys people now and makes efforts to walk back his "technically"s, which is nice to see. The episode was about Silverstream but we never saw what that poor sad pony wanted. This episode continues the streak of Mr. Cake not saying anything or even appearing for ages. Well actually, checking now, he did appear in "The Beginning of the End".

Art dump
1.flowering stick by Taneysha on DeviantArt
2.Rock solid relationship by bobthedalek on DeviantArt
3.Angry Trixie by Tajemni3 (I think)
4.balloon.png by jonathantaniuchi on DeviantArt
5.MLP: Rose by krisscheen on DeviantArt

1.Maud and Stone Mudbriary by alumx
2.Trixie with a teacup by shadowreindeer
3.Trixie with a teacup and sandwich by cowsrtasty
4.S9E11 - You Are Perfect This Way by luminaura on DeviantArt
5.Fanart - MLP. Season 9, EP 11, Silver Huntress by jamescorck on DeviantArt

And some comics
1.Hold Tight by bobthedalek on DeviantArt
2.Getting a bird cage by cheezedoodle96

Older episode art
1.Catchin' Some Z's by OinkTweetStudios on DeviantArt - Big Mac
2.Applejack As The Great Seedling by Mew-Me on DeviantArt
3.Fanart - MLP. Season 9, EP 10, Great Seedling by jamescorck on DeviantArt
4.Horrifying baby dragon by klondike
5.Loglike by The-Park on DeviantArt - Humanized Chrysalis with log
6.Chrysalis Day Cupcakes by Pony-Brush-Stroke on DeviantArt

And Equestria Girls, including for the new short. Oddly the Dazzlings have only been drawn as ponies so far.
1.Pony Adagio in new outfit by taaffeiite
2.Her new dress is really cute by Artipartyy on DeviantArt - Sonata pony
3.Applejack and Rarity on yacht by ryuu

SigmasonicX · Jun 12, 2019

There was a news article concerning this week's episode I considered posting, but thinking about it, I'll wait until after it airs.

Instead, I'll post about this. This first tweet is referring to the Dazzlings short above, "Find the Magic".

Alex Inman
‏ @InmanAlex
Jun 9

It's exciting, though. What looked to be a fun summer series of shorts has been thrown completely off by this.
That one video raises so many questions.

Nick Confalone
‏Verified account @nickconfalone
Replying to @InmanAlex

It's a really fun lead-up to a REALLY fun special
6:24 PM - 9 Jun 2019

Sean Horace
‏ @SeanHorace
11h11 hours ago

Will it be inspired by the Star Swirl Do Over book that came out in February or it will it be something different?

Nick Confalone
‏Verified account @nickconfalone
Replying to @SeanHorace @InmanAlex

other way around
9:07 AM - 11 Jun 2019

So The Starswirl Do-Over book was indeed based on an upcoming special. That book was a choose your own adventure, but it's an open question whether the animated special will be the same (Netflix has had some CYOA specials) or if we'll follow along with Sunset as she goes through different time loops. Anyway, that book featured the grand return of the Dazzlings, so we can expect that from the animated version too.

On another note, to tie into Stranger Things season 3, we're getting this.

Stranger%2BThings%2BUpside%2BDown%2BPony%2BOffiical%2B%25282%2529.jpg

Stranger%2BThings%2BUpside%2BDown%2BPony%2BOffiical%2B%25281%2529.jpg

Upside Down G1 Applejack

Also, some probably useful GIFs.

Starlight ehhhhhhhhhhhhh

Scary Trixie

Just the stallion

SigmasonicX · Jun 13, 2019

Friendship is Magic #78
Well, the Cosmos arc has come to an end. Overall, I'm not too satisfied by this arc, but one thing I'm happy about is that unlike previous big stories by Cook, this doesn't all come down to one character solving everything by themselves. Though this does mean that Cosmos at full power oddly comes off as much weaker than her, well, weaker versions from previous chapters.

The art remains a delight as ever, though, including some horrifying imagery from Cosmos's transformations.

Still, this arc really doesn't feel like it deserved four (really five) issues of material as is, given how much padding it turned out to have in the end. Discord makes a joke about having to explain everything to Rainbow and the others when they could have just read the arc, but the characters involved in the final battle not actually knowing what's going on seems like it'd undermine everything happening. Hell, I completely forgot Capper was in this arc until he appeared at the end. I don't think it even had anything particularly interesting to say about Discord and Cosmos's relationship. Discord stands up to her at the end, and that's the extent of their development.

I would recommend this arc for its fantastic art, but nothing else really.

Silver Quill's review points out that with the alicorns out of the way, the other Mane Six are left leaderless during the final fight, which allows for more interplay between them than usual, which actually was interesting to see. Plus I forgot to bring up how Spike is the key to saving the day.

~~~

I mentioned not posting some news yesterday, but it's popping up on Buzzfeed now too, so might as well. Scootaloo's lesbian aunts will appear in Saturday's episode, and they're lesbians there! The article contains no spoilers beyond that fact (which was the big issue with the article from yesterday I chose not to link).

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/laurenstrapagiel/my-little-pony-lesbian-couple-pride

EDIT: Huh, this is a pretty unexpected cover, since IIRC Wubcake doesn't watch the show anymore. Still, pretty good, especially her Cozy Glow voice.

fony · Jun 13, 2019

Student Counsel

I really like the second half of this, much more than the main Starlight story. Maybe I'm just a sucker for geology and deadpan jokes.

SigmasonicX · Jun 13, 2019

Oh damn, we're getting a huge dump of not just official fan art, but also production art for Equestria Girls. I'll go ahead and link their Derpibooru tags so I don't have to post all of it. Katrina Hadley, Tori Grant, and Kora Kosicka. Note that that last one currently has a fan made edit that really pisses me off, but I won't get into that. (FAKE EDIT: Thankfully, it's been deleted)

First, a bunch of fan art from former storyboard artist Tori Grant.
1.SciTwi X Timber - Reminder that the EQG crew actually does like this ship
2.Winter clothes
3.Sunset
4. Same link as above, evil Gloriosa Daisy (Gaia Everfree)
5.SciTwi and Sunset alternate hairstyles and human skin colors

And also one piece of fan art from EQG director Katrina Hadley
6.All the former bad girls (before Vignette)

Now production art all from designer Kora Kosicka. Here was a very early character design concept that I was really interested by.

Kora Kosicka
‏ @kkosicka

I wanna jump aboard this #EQG old art in folders train that @isitlunchyet_t and @OhJeeToriG started. My first concept for the first EQG movie, trying to figure out what the girls would look like:

11:49 AM - 13 Jun 2019

Dark skinned Twilight! This also raised a lot of questions about EQG's development, some of which were answered (including a question by me).

Matt L.
‏ @MattAndTheWorld
2h2 hours ago

This Twilight Sparkle looks so cute! Was her (or she?) the only character you did in this style? Or there are others?

Kora Kosicka
‏ @kkosicka
Replying to @MattAndTheWorld

Only one - we moved onto different proportions and using their pony colours for their skin-tones after this one.
1:11 PM - 13 Jun 2019

cap bottle 14
‏ @14Bottle
3h3 hours ago

Huh. So the girls were considered to have actual human colors. Interesting.

Kora Kosicka
‏ @kkosicka
Replying to @14Bottle

Just by me!
1:25 PM - 13 Jun 2019

SigmasonicX
‏ @SigmasonicX
2h2 hours ago

Huh, Twilight has a wand. Was there a point where the EQG world still had unicorn characters casting spells? Also glad you were considering dark skin for Twilight behind the scenes.

Kora Kosicka
‏ @kkosicka
Replying to @SigmasonicX

This was so early on that there was no direction as to whether the girls would have horns and wings, so I threw in a magic unicorn-horn-style wand for fun. This is so early that it really doesn't count as art that was considered seriously, haha
1:27 PM - 13 Jun 2019

SigmasonicX
‏ @SigmasonicX
2h2 hours ago

Replying to @kkosicka

Ah, so this was before you knew anything except "ponies... but humans!" Thanks.

Kora Kosicka
‏ @kkosicka
2h2 hours ago

Basically! This was my attempt to throw an idea into the ring :)

So this Twilight design came before they settled on anything about Equestria Girls' setting, and she was the only one to submit a human colored design, but it's really cool that the one human colored design went for dark skin.

And other concept art I'd like to talk about.
1.Rainbow Dash concept art... with pants! - Also one look with short hair.
2.Some alternate non-uniform looks for SciTwi
3.Rarity concept art

The tweet for that last image says this:

Kora Kosicka
‏ @kkosicka

How about this sassy AF early Rar (man I'm glad the feet eventually moved away from those mandated hoof things):
12:20 PM - 13 Jun 2019

So the Equestria Girls characters were mandated to have hoof feet early on! Probably to match the toys.

Was going to have an episode followup, but due to all this, I'll wait until tomorrow.

Sylvee · Jun 13, 2019

SigmasonicX said:
So the Equestria Girls characters were mandated to have hoof feet early on!

Dodged a bullet there. All things considered I think EQG ended up looking alright, despite all the complaints it had when the art first leaked for it.

SigmasonicX · Jun 13, 2019

Sylvee said:
Dodged a bullet there. All things considered I think EQG ended up looking alright, despite all the complaints it had when the art first leaked for it.

Yeah. I'm still not a huge fan of most of the designs from the first EQG, but looking back, it's clear that this is only because of the limited production time. The new characters of Rainbow Rocks and Friendship Games look great, and while new character designs plateaued there, the new outfits for the lead characters got way better with them being more willing and able to give them one-off new outfits.

Also, more news

TORI-COMMISSIONS OPEN
‏ @OhJeeToriG

The MLP wrap party is tonight and I'm going to miss out because I'm catching a flight. Party hard my pals. It's the end of an era but it was so fun to even briefly be a part of it. The crew was the best, all of you made it so special. Friendship is magic✨
6:42 PM - 13 Jun 2019

justin price
‏ @justinp54212556
25m25 minutes ago
Replying to @OhJeeToriG

Wait. Season 9 Production Is Completed?

TORI-COMMISSIONS OPEN
‏ @OhJeeToriG
24m24 minutes ago

Almost.

Production is still going on, but it's close to done, and the wrap party is tonight. We're getting closer and closer to the end.

SigmasonicX · Jun 14, 2019

Still good. And since the Discovery Go upload, we've gotten confirmation that the hearts filter was an intentional bit of shipping.

And we got stuff from the wrap party I mentioned above.

The yearbook they gave out, with some fantastic ponifications of the crew. It's shown off in video form.

And a shirt they got.

Since it's an image, I can embed it for those who have Instagram blocked. Note that it's on the grim side.

And about production

Big Jim
‏ @TheBiggestJim

For those asking, while we did have our wrap party last night, we still have 1 more week of production to go. I've written up a little something that I'll post next Friday.
7:16 AM - 14 Jun 2019

Only one week until production on FiM has wrapped up. Hard to believe.

Episode followup coming later. And I'm behind on fan art in general.

SigmasonicX · Jun 15, 2019

Alright, episode followup.

SCREENSHOTS
Posted GIFs earlier, but there are generally a lot of good faces. Took these from ED's followup due to laziness.
1.Chipmunk cheeks
2.Starlight surprised
3.Starlight pfft
4.Double scrunch
5.Trixie pressed against Starlight

1.Starlight squiggly face
2.Smolder smiling
3.Starlight smiling at Trixie
4.Starlight ugh
5.Trixie angry about cake complaints

FAN CONTENT
Art for "Student Counsel"

Agrol GIF

1.Student Counsel by Darksly-z on DeviantArt
2.Roseluck by puperhamster on DeviantArt
3.Starlight and Trixie picnic trouble by jowybean
4.Anti-cockatrice summon by jowybean
5.Plush picnic scene by nekokevin

1.Trixie listens by lou
2.The Many Faces of Glim Glam Part 2 by MegaAnimationFan on DeviantArt
3.Trixie angry tea drinking by xbi on DeviantArt
4.Silverstream and Edith the cockatrice by el-yeguero
5.The Point Of The Problem by bobthedalek on DeviantArt - Sunburst and Stellar Ray

1.Angry Trixie by wildetrashbag
2.Macizo by Shamy-Crist on DeviantArt - Maud and Stone Mudbriar
3.Sticky Roseluck by Dusthiel on DeviantArt
4.Maud and Mudbriar anniversary plans by pixelgrip94
5.Roseluck-mlp-pony by Cuervo-of-Cristal on DeviantArt

Comic
Stone Cold Poker Face by DeusExEquus on DeviantArt

Art for "Find the Magic".
1.Find the Taco Dress by BefishProductions on DeviantArt - Sonata
2.Find the Magic by JumbleHorse on DeviantArt - Aria
3.Dazzlings by jake heritagu
4.Dazzlings by acclast
5.Never Forget... by CBear624 on Newgrounds - Includes a story about how much the Dazzlings mean to the artist

1.The Dazzlings by LooknamTCN on DeviantArt
2.Sonata by rockset
3.Sonata by melliedraws
4..:Find the Magic:. (EqG Shorts) by The-Butcher-X on DeviantArt
5.Sonata by focusb

1.Sonata Dusk I look good (EQG) by TheRETROart88 on DeviantArt
2.Dazzlings by MysteriousShine on DeviantArt
3.Adagio new outfit by Xan-gelX on DeviantArt

And older art
1.The Great Seedling by Marbola on DeviantArt
2.Applejack and Apple Bloom camping out by erufi
3.The Great Seedling by xbi
4.Big Mac and the Great Seedling - 30MC by Empyu on DeviantArt
5.MLPS9E10 - Sweet and Smokey Fluttershy by Dusthiel on DeviantArt

1.Happy place by GlitterStar2000 on DeviantArt - Fluttershy and a baby army
2.Evil Team (fast drawing) by brother-lionheart on DeviantArt - The Frenemies
3.Yona X Sandbar by bennimarru
4.(1 out of 5)yona found her true love by creepycookies on DeviantArt - Pony Yona and Sandbar
5.Student Six by aleximusprime
6.Twilights fear Mlp season 9 screenshot redraw by KatePonyLover on DeviantArt - Celestia, Luna, Daybreaker, and Nightmare Moon

Tomorrow's episode is
12. The Last Crusade - June 15, 2019
Unexpected visitors to Ponyville threaten to break up the Cutie Mark Crusaders forever.

Also includes Scootaloo's gay aunts, a fact I hear is actually getting play in local NBC news reports. I'm surprised this has spread that much.

My predictions, which I'll spoil since the episode aired early, and some predictions are based on things I got from how people reacted.

Before the episode aired, I assumed Scootaloo's parents would return and take Scootaloo away, leading to a moral about friendships being able to handle long distances. This is "The Last Crusade" in the last season, after all, so it would make sense to break up the Crusaders.

However, I've become convinced that while Scootaloo's parents appear, they don't take Scootaloo away. This is because few people are talking about this episode, instead focusing on next week's episode. If the CMC were actually breaking up, I'm sure there would be a lot more people talking about how sad this episode is.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic FINAL SEASON |OT| I used to wonder what friendship could be...

One Winged Slayer