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My Little Pony: Pony Life series announced (G4.5)

1-2. Princess Probz / 3-4. The Best of the Worst
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    The first two episodes (15 minutes each) have aired in Canada.

    First impressions of the first episode is that it's fun and cute, but it's really really fast paced. Think Johnny Test's pacing, but without whipcracks. Second episode is bad, but it's a Rainbow Dash episode. I'll watch them myself later.
     
    • 3. Cute-pocalypse Meow / 4. How Applejack Got Her Hat Back
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    Just going to number episodes by 10 minute chunks since that's what everyone else is doing.

    3. Cute-pocalypse Meow / 4. How Applejack Got Her Hat Back
    I enjoyed both of these episodes a lot more than the first set. The pacing felt better and I got a better sense of what this show was trying to do. Aside from the below sequence from the first episode, which I really liked, the second episode was stronger. It was just my type of dumb humor and there were some sweet friendship moments with Rarity and Applejack. The sequence of Applejack changing hats was great, and the alt-ponies with normal human names were fun.

    I was surprised to see Pinkie's participation in the Royal Jelly Juggernaut still come up as a side story in both episodes.

    Spike is now being played by Tabitha St. Germain rather than Cathy Weseluck, which is really weird. I guess that goes to show they're really cutting down on VAs.

    Also there were some really nice pieces of background music between these two episodes. What stands out to me are the gym sequence in the first, the clip below, and Applejack's comeback in the second.

    Hasbro is actually going hard on YouTube clips for this... but Twitter is all good!
     
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    • 5. Bad Thing No. 3 / 6. Pinkie Pie: Hyper-Helper
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    5. Bad Thing No. 3 / 6. Pinkie Pie: Hyper-Helper
    These episodes weren't as entertaining as last week's Applejack one, but they were nice and cozy.

    Oh my god Tabitha's Gollum voice. In general, they're playing up Tabitha's dramatic voice and Rarity's accent more, which I definitely don't mind. We're starting to see more characterization differences with this episode. Rarity here is clumsy, but with this episode, has canonically gone on more on-screen dates than FiM Rarity. Gummy is more protective of Pinkie here and... actually does stuff. I thought the bandana was oddly incorporated, but it led to fun moments. Plus it is a good look for Rarity. The ending with Rarity dumping Fancy Pants was good.

    It was interesting how the second episode actually presented Pinkie as being really responsible and reliable. I was concerned about how the others were presented at first, but they all came together to help her once they knew there was a problem. The Royal Jelly Juggernaut sequence was good. I'm glad they acknowledged Rainbow is sick and really should not be helping, and that bringing in a group would probably break the rules (and it did). Interesting that they're continuing the reality show thing by having Pinkie participate in a spinoff show, now that she lost this one.

    Title cards this time:

    Notable clips:




     
    • 7. The Trial Less Trotten / Death of a Sales Pony // 8. Big Hoof Walking / The Fluttershy Effect
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    7. The Trial Less Trotten / Death of a Sales Pony // 8. Big Hoof Walking / The Fluttershy Effect
    This is the first set of episodes where every five-minute chunk was its own story, yet they also all tied together with the story of the fake troupe, which still hasn't been resolved. I think this storyline is pretty fun; something just tickles me about the fact that the inciting incident is them being rejected for being too old to start a troupe. Applejack being the one to suggest lying and Rainbow being against it is weird, but that just brings back the old "they have the wrong Elements" jokes.

    The first story shows us Fluttershy's house, and it's an interesting redesign.
    vlcsnap-2020-07-12-12h27m04s079.png


    It also showed us Twilight's house, though I didn't realize that until the last story.
    vlcsnap-2020-07-12-12h46m01s695.png


    Sheesh, Twilight is just living in ruins that don't even have a ceiling. She's got it rough.

    The second story was a rough one, I thought. We've seen the girls get so caught up in something that they treat their friends badly before, notably in "Rarity Takes Manehattan", but the tone of this series made it seem more like Fluttershy was a different character altogether. I mean, I thought it made sense given her obsession with Finn-tastic, but others had a hard time connecting her actions to Fluttershy's personality.

    Also, uh


    Baba Yaga house! And RIP the fifth Pie sibling, I guess.

    The cloud gag in the third story got me. In the PonyERA stream, someone brought up FiM teaching a lesson about not believing superstitions, but then Twilight looked up Bighoof and confirmed he is in fact real. I have to say, I wasn't quite sure if Fluttershy changing size was something she was really doing, but no, Fluttershy having to get big to rescue Pinkie shows it's an actual thing.

    The fourth story had fun gags, though I feel they didn't explore Dash jumping to the future nearly as much as they could have.

    I'd like to highlight the writer of episode 8, Taneka Stotts. I believe she's the first Black writer for MLP G4, and the first Black woman writer at that. She's an Eisner Award-winning comic writer, and has written for Craig of the Creek and Steven Universe. Also, four weeks in, every writer has been a woman. I also tweeted about this.

    EDIT:


    Confirmed that Pony Life has a writer's room, which is what Lauren Faust wanted for FiM.

    Here are the title cards


    Also, a Simpsons edit
     
    • 9. The Fast and the Furriest / Disappearing Act // 10. Badge of Shame; Discord's Peak
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    The Fast and the Furriest / Disappearing Act // Badge of Shame; Discord's Peak
    It's kind of surreal actually seeing the pets do stuff again, lol. Though Angel looking nice and cuddly and seemingly not being a jerk anymore is really weird.

    Speaking of weird, Rainbow and Twilight having a rivalry. I don't think it really made sense enough that I'd consider it a consistent relationship between them, but it was interesting. We also got Applejack as a narrator a lot this set of episodes.

    Rarity acted a lot more like Trixie than herself in the second story of the first episode, though she amused me. It was also kind of nice to just have the CMC act as a single unit ala FiM season one. Their voices sound older; I imagine it's because they saw a new show as an opportunity to use voices closer to their natural voices.

    Something about "Badge of Shame" just felt nice.

    "Discord's Peak" was interesting for seeing Discord in Pony Life, and Fluttershy's relationship with him. Covering the second first, wow, they're really pushing Fluttercord, huh? She has hearts when talking to him, and she makes a volcano erupt to make the hike more exciting for him. I know some people are uncomfortable with Fluttercord, but as this is an AU, you could headcanon a different backstory for him. He's no longer voiced by John De Lancie, but rather Peter New. Voice feels a bit off, of course, but it isn't bad. Discord also comes off as less of a jerk. Oddly enough, he's also far less random.

    I enjoyed the second episode more than the first, though I liked the first fine.

    This is the first set of episodes to have male writers, and they haven't written for pony before, it seems. Dave Horwitz most recently wrote for Rick and Morty, and Greg Levine worked on Parks and Rec.
     
    • 11. A Camping We Will Go / Campfire Stories // 12. Friendship Gems / Dol-FIN-ale
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    11. A Camping We Will Go / Campfire Stories // 12. Friendship Gems / Dol-FIN-ale
    It's here, the end of the Finn Tastic story arc! I will say, it's weird that Pony Life has had tighter continuity than FiM, lol.

    The first story reminds me of "Sleepless in Ponyville" of course, which also had Rarity complaining about camping. I was surprised the story actually treated Rarity well, telling her that she was doing fine camping already. That said, it did mean the story felt low-conflict.

    In a reference only old-time PonyEra stream viewers will get, here's a clip of Rarity meeting Aya from Super Gals.

    The second story not actually being connected to the first is strange, given the titles. A minor thing, but I appreciated the lesson about plugging in too many things. This was fun, though I felt like the ways the girls' stories differed didn't really reflect their characters as strongly as they could have.

    But forget all that, story three has freaking TRIXIE.

    No Starlight, alas, and it also doesn't seem like Trixie had any friends other than herself. The story of the episode was a bit odd, with the Finn Tastic stuff being unconnected to the Trixie stuff, and Trixie herself learning friendship through friendship bracelets, but it was fun.

    Rarity lying about the invitation; I love Tabitha's delivery here. Nicole Oliver mentioned in whatever convention was last that Tabitha improvised a lot of her Pony Life lines; I imagine the "congratula-fins" part was all her.

    Trixie with wings!

    Fluttershy being weird

    Trixie's transformation

    And at last, we see the dolphin himself! Finn Tastic actually turned out to be a pretty swell guy. Let's give him the Element of Honesty. Things worked out for everyone, in fact. And now the CMC's troupe has more leaders than members! It was a fun story, and I enjoyed the bits with Fluttershy on her own, though everything resolving so easily did feel weird. Also Celestia out of nowhere, who already knew what was going on.

    Biggest fan

    Rarity being weird

    They really had fun with the gree-ee-ee-eets
     
    • 13. Potion Mystery / Sick Day // 14. Meet Potion Nova! / Pony Surfin' Safari
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    13. Potion Mystery / Sick Day // 14. Meet Potion Nova! / Pony Surfin' Safari
    This was a pretty fun set of stories.

    First of all, freaking Sonic reference.

    I liked Giraffeshy too.

    Twilight also gets shiny, but unlike my Rarity fanfic, it doesn't make everyone start hitting on her.

    It's interesting to see Potion Nova be portrayed like a fae in this first story, given that they don't push those qualities as much in the last two stories. I liked the visuals used for her here.

    With the second episode, I mentioned how appropriate the reaction to Dash being sick in a previous episode was, but wow, this is even more appropriate. And to think this was almost definitely written last year.

    It was pretty fun. And wow, that ending.

    That "blah" from Tabitha is hilarious.

    Third story, that's quite some lampshading.

    I was a bit disappointed Potion Nova isn't played up in a more mystical way, but she's charming enough.

    Also, Twilight dropping her monster condom.

    I was surprised to see them stay on the beach for the next story. Pony Life is getting beach stories while FiM didn't. I like the beach house designs, so I hope we're here for a while longer.

    Probably unintentional Fyre Festival reference; though it's fitting enough that I could see it being intentional.

    I can relate to Applejack trying to get everyone to stop having fun and just gather in a group for a fun group event.

    It is a bit odd that the Potion Ocean itself doesn't seem to be particularly magical, but I liked the part with the Cutie Triangle. Also, we see the fate of Bubbles the cat!

    As you can tell, there were a lot of moments I had to find or make clips of. These stories were good.
     
    • 15. All Bottled Up / All That Jitters // 16. I, Cookie / Keynote Pie
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    15. All Bottled Up / All That Jitters // 16. I, Cookie / Keynote Pie
    It's disappointing to see we left the beach setting after all, but it seems like Potion Nova is straight up a recurring character now.

    I thought the first story was pretty fun. Twilight wanting to hide away in the potion bottle actually reminded me of a certain fanfic where Twilight is sealed away and the seal is partially powered by her own desire to be so.

    Also, it had Rarity addressing Pinkie as "Pinkie-Poo-Pancakes".


    The second story was more cute than anything. I liked the dialogue and animation when Twilight freaked out. It seems like Potion Nova's personality is just generally calm and relaxed, but I like her well enough.


    Also, Twilight being frustrated.


    Pictures:


    The third story was an odd one, but I liked it. I'm glad the cookies weren't eaten or otherwise implied killed. Pinkie's imitations were fun; she was spot on with Fluttershy.

    Interesting that it's Rarity that has a devoted book shelf in the bakery. Also, that's a big plushie Fluttershy has. I'm surprised that Twilight's duplicator from that Rainbow time travel episode returned.

    The final story seems to be the biggest source of fan art so far, though just of the ending bit.


    That quiet "Pinkie" is really funny to me for some reason.

    Overall, both episodes were good.

    BTW, it seems next week's episodes will be reruns.
     
    • 17. Ponies of the Moment / One Click Wonder // 18. Zound Off / Unboxing Day
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    17. Ponies of the Moment / One Click Wonder // 18. Zound Off / Unboxing Day
    And we're back!

    Both stories in the first episode were pretty weak, honestly. The first one didn't feel cohesive as all: in particular, Rarity not helping with the cupcakes ended up being completely irrelevant to the story. Rarity wasn't even the one who put the video online. The second story was better, but still wasn't great.


    It did have ponified memes, though.


    Also, the most blatant alicornized unicorn yet.

    Second episode was better, though the first story was just alright. The ending with Rainbow realizing she's a soundboard herself didn't really work for me. However, I enjoyed the second story a lot.


    Derpy returns! Addressed as Muffins.


    Fluttershy not knowing how to open a box doesn't really... make sense, but it's cute and dumb, and I like it. Subscribes.

    Overall, the weakest set of episodes in a while, but the second half was fun enough.
     
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    • 19. Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth / The Root of It // 20. The Mysterious Voice / The 5 Habits of Highly Effective Ponies
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    19. Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth / The Root of It // 20. The Mysterious Voice / The 5 Habits of Highly Effective Ponies
    Alas, the first story doesn't involve a GIF. It was pretty alright, and featured a good Rarity moment.


    The second story featured an odd ennui among the Mane Six that we've seen fairly often in the show. Given this is in theory aimed at a younger audience than FiM, the world-weariness of the leads is pretty unexpected. I thought this was a good story, and featured some unexpected Friends (or rather, Chums) references. I suppose a lot of kids would have watched it when it went up on streaming services.


    With the third story, I find I'm getting much more used to Tabitha St. Germain's Spike voice now. It was alright.


    Last story featured cute moments of Fluttershy imitating the other characters. The lesson about patience was a bit odd when Fluttershy had already waited two weeks, but whatever. Also, great Rarity moment. With this first clip, I'll note that Andrea Libman has gotten good at making sure Fluttershy's voice doesn't bleed into Pinkie's.


    Overall, fun set of stories.
     
    • 21. Game Knight / Director Spike's Mockumentary // 22. Whoof-dunnit / Dear Tabby
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    Game Knight / Director Spike's Mockumentary // Whoof-dunnit / Dear Tabby
    This was a pretty fun set of episodes.

    "Game Knight" did a lot of amusing stuff with Twilight, with her overly complicated game and Fluttershy and Rarity's reactions to Twilight's weather machine.

    Good timing with Katie Chilson's credit

    RP explanation with humans

    Twilight weather machine stuff

    Twilight's actual house is nice. What's with the stone structures around? The statue reminds me of Steven Universe.

    The highlight of "Director Spike's Mockumentary" was definitely Rarity's song, which was just adorable. Also, Tabitha singing instead of Kazumi Evans.

    Rarity song

    Fluttershy can't control her legs

    Couch push

    "Whoof-dunnit" notably had our first writer to have worked on FiM proper (some writers have written for Equestria Girls), GM Berrow. This was a really fun story, as Detective Rarity stories always are.

    Rolling pin puns

    Marie Pondo

    Vinyl Scratch appears!

    Fluttershy snapping, then asking for Rarity to go on a moonlit stroll with her, with narrow eyes

    Visors and Twilight's bangs don't mix

    In "Dear Tabby", Tabby is an unexpectedly direct reference to the VAs, specifically Tabitha St. Germain. Both characters they suggest she could be (and who she actually is) are even voiced by Tabitha. Speaking of unexpectedly direct references, the Game of Thrones stuff.

    Mane of Thrones

    Apple vs. Cupcake rap battle

    Daenerys Rarity

    I notice that between "Dear Tabby" and "Director Spike's Mockumentary", Spike really doesn't seem interested in Rarity.

    I think one of the charming minor things of this series is the way characters will immediately react off screen to things the speaking character says, going, "Aww," and such.

    Overall, good episode, as you can see from all the clips.
     
    • 23. Pie vs. Pie / Superb Six // 24. The Debut Taunt / Flutterdash
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    23. Pie vs. Pie / Superb Six // 24. The Debut Taunt / Flutterdash
    First episode was alright. Despite introducing a new Pie sibling, Octavio, it didn't really stand out for that. Fat Twilight and the return of Buttershy honestly felt like the more interesting part of the episode.

    Fat Twilight

    Snips and Snails showing up in the second story was unexpected. It was an odd story in that they were clearly setting up for Snips and Snails to embarrass themselves at the gala, but Pinkie actually realizes the mistake before they can actually go inside and no one gets embarrassed.

    Twilight and Rarity high hoof

    The second episode was more entertaining. The first story had a ton of Rarity, so it was fantastic, of course. Though even so, the conflict of the episode was oddly light.

    Rarity's entrance

    Another short Rarity song

    Rarity inviting the others

    No talking!

    Rarity crying

    The second story was pretty interesting, and had a fun concept. And then, of course, there's the hilarious ending.

    Transformation sequence

    Track run

    Tug of war

    Buckball ending

    Looking at next week's synopses, we're continuing the Sportactular Spectacular. We're also getting episode 26 next week, which involves the closing ceremonies, and no episodes have been announced past that point. I suppose that means it's the season finale. Possibly the series finale.
     
    • Season 2 and G5 info
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    www.equestriadaily.com

    Pony Life Gets a Second Season in Spring of 2021

    My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic News, Brony and bronies, my little pony merchandise, pony art, pony music, pony media
    www.equestriadaily.com www.equestriadaily.com

    Licensing Summit Online выход сериала G5, второй сезон Pony Life / Срочно в номер / Табун - место, где пасутся брони

    Сегодня в рамках Licensing Summit Online прошла презентация российского филиала Hasbro. О бренде My Little Pony были озвучены две
    tabun.everypony.ru tabun.everypony.ru

    EiIRaOFWoAE5XW6.jpeg


    Pony Life season 2 coming in Sprint 2021. Given the short timeframe, I imagine both seasons were made together.
    We also have G5 info! Movie's coming Fall 2021, then there's a 44 minute special in Spring 2022, then the series proper starts Fall 2022. I suppose the special is going to be the Return of Jafar to the movie's Aladdin.
     
    • 25. The Rarity Report / The Great Divide // 26. The Great Collide / Sportacular Spectacular Musical Musak-ular
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    25. The Rarity Report / The Great Divide // 26. The Great Collide / Sportacular Spectacular Musical Musak-ular
    We've reached the end of season 1!

    This set of stories was a bit weak overall, especially for a season finale. A bunch of characters came back, but I was disappointed they didn't really do much. Not the worst stories, though.

    "The Rarity Report" was the best of the lot, since it was just Rarity being Rarity. Also confirmation that Rarity knows stage fencing. That ending gag was really strange, though. Why end with a random reporter making something that isn't even a pun?

    "The Great Divide" / "The Great Collide" was pretty weak. They spent way too much time on set up, and the conflict of the girls not wanting to be in conflict was odd. Gags like Rainbow being faster when there's honey at the finish line were simply strange.

    As for the final episode, the song was alright, but also well below the singing standards of these characters. I suppose it comes down to the fact that Tabitha St. Germain is singing for Rarity and Andrea Libman is singing for Pinkie.

    I'm glad there's a second season coming if only because this would have been a letdown as an ending. I'm hoping season 2 does more to explore returning characters, especially Potion Nova, who wasn't around nearly as much as I expected. Maybe we'll get a full-on anti Mane Six to finish out Dishwater, Buttershy, and Octavio. I also hope they do more with story arcs, since that's something that really helped differentiate this from FiM.
     
    • 201. Cute Impact / The Crystal Capturing Contraption
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    Season 2 has started in the UK! One 11 minute episode aired today, and a new episode will air every weekday starting from Monday.

    US airing starts on April 10, but six episodes would have aired by then.

    Airdates here:

    Simple Ponyclock - My Little Pony Countdowns and Dates

    All important Countdowns and Dates of My Little Pony in your Timezone. You will not miss a single Event.
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    Cute Impact / The Crystal Capturing Contraption
    Season 2 opens with another story arc! Well, sort of. It seems like this will be resolved in a 22 minute chunk, which I assume is how it'll be aired in the US.

    There isn't much to laugh out loud about in these stories, and there isn't much to pick out for tweets, but it's nice and cozy. And the pacing isn't weird like at the start of season one.

    It was actually a pretty nice twist for Twilight to desperately research the menacing new astronomical phenomenon, only to find that it's actually a good thing. And then the remaining stories are all about the different aspects of the comet's arrival and the celebration.

    In the second story, it was nice to see Fluttershy push herself by being a reporter, though the lesson about her and Pinkie considering each other's feelings was very basic. It was amusing when Pinkie said she needed Fluttershy's help to get up high, and I thought she meant by using her wings, but then Fluttershy used her size changing powers that I had forgotten about.

    Overall, nothing too remarkable, but it's nice to have the show back.

    Cute Twilight moment


    Rarity book


    ~~~

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    Finally, an official way to stream the show!
     
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    • 202. The Comet Section / Cotton Candy-Colored Glasses
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    Decided to follow the US airings, since it's not like anyone's going to spoil me about later episodes; even My Little Pony Out of Context is choosing to follow the Canadian schedule for posts, and that's airing stuff after the US!

    With that,
    202. The Comet Section / Cotton Candy-Colored Glasses
    The first part was a nice little Rarity and Twilight story. Got a hug, got Rarity helping out with Twilight's calculations, so I'm satisfied. It was a pretty fun story otherwise too, with Rarity's celebrations getting pared down each time.

    Second story involves Rainbow planning to be a scalper, but then Dishwater buys up all the stock first and scalps even harder. OK, I guess the idea was that Rainbow was going to sell the glasses at a normal price, but it was unclear. In any case, Rainbow and Applejack then deciding to provide for the whole celebration was nice. This story was alright.

    Hug!
    Cat music
    Rarity helping with the math problem

    Scalper identified
    Nice to see Applejack and Rainbow help everyone out
     
    • 203. Close Encounters of the Balloon Kind / The Tiara of Truth // 204. Terrorarium / Bubble Trouble
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    203. Close Encounters of the Balloon Kind / The Tiara of Truth // 204. Terrorarium / Bubble Trouble
    With these episodes, we now know for a fact that this season will retain the heavy use of story arcs, since this story with the balloon hasn't ended by the end of this 30 minute block. Though it also looks like they've completely dropped the potion concept.

    Individually, all of these stories were a lot of fun, but all together, it's weird that no one is doing anything about these balloons. Especially since Twilight says they need to get to the root of this at the end of "Terrorarium", but come the start of the next story, she's just waiting around in Sugar Cube Corner and just reacting to another balloon.

    There isn't too much to say about each part, since they're all "weird thing shows up, the characters react" stories. I did enjoy the last one the most, since there are fun visuals and both Spike and Tank get involved. "Terrorarium" marks the first appearance of Big Mac in the show, and the choice to make his head even bigger rather than make his body larger is... a choice.

    Rarity in "Lambilton"
    Too many apples

    Twilight's secret hobby

    Title card
    Spike stealing the bubble wand
    Striking landscape shot
    Charge!
     
    • 205. Time After Time Capsule / The Great Cowgirl Hat Robbery // 206. Planet of the Apps / Back to the Present
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    205. Time After Time Capsule / The Great Cowgirl Hat Robbery // 206. Planet of the Apps / Back to the Present
    The weird thing about these episodes is how quickly they drop the entire time travel concept. One short about the past, one short about the future, and one short about an alternate present. There's so much more they could have done with all this. I thought that with the direct references to previous stories while the girls were putting things into the time capsule, we'd get a Back to the Future Part II situation with them revisiting past episodes, but no such luck.

    That said, "Time After Time Capsule" is a nice cozy story. The others are a mixed bag, mostly in the sense that they're wasted opportunities. As one off settings for five-minute stories, each setting is pretty under-baked. This was especially an issue for "Back to the Present", which didn't sell the idea of this alternate reality well, especially with regard to why things were different and what was significant about the new characters, the Wild Syde. They were presented in an extremely blatant "well, here are the new toys" way, which is especially odd when they aren't getting toys.

    I will say that in "The Great Cowgirl Hat Robbery", I liked the knitting mare who rolled her eyes at everything.

    Some interesting taste in dolphin-themed movies...
    Fluttershy's Finn-tastic pillow
    Rarity's monologue
    He has issues
    Robot Pinkie
    Alternate Mane Six, gone too soon
     
    • 207. Magical Mare-story Tour / Life of Pie // 208. The Rarest of Occasions / Portal Combat
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    207. Magical Mare-story Tour / Life of Pie // 208. The Rarest of Occasions / Portal Combat
    Time to explore The Wild Side characters! Suffice it to say, five minutes each wasn't the best way to present them.

    The first story's title notably uses a reference that was already in FiM—and for one of the most important episodes of the series! Still, it was pretty fun, though more for how it revisited locations from season one and actually gave us a map. It is notable how wistful I felt for season one. I was even a bit excited when it looked like potions were going to come up again! Though they didn't.

    The second story was alright, though I really don't get Lightning Chill's powers. It makes me think of a JRPG summon where the summon's effect has nothing to do with the animation.

    The third story was also alright, though it's really weird how we hear so much about how funny Sugar Snap is, but she still gets little to do. I actually would have really liked to have seen Rarity bond with a fellow actress, but for some reason they decided this story would have a B plot, which gave even less time to them.

    The fourth story, however, was pretty good. Rainbow having to run from a portal for days (I guess) while Twilight tries to figure things out was a fun visual, and this is the kind of sci-fi weirdness I can get behind. Also, stretchy Dash. Oh, and Echo was there I guess.

    Overall, the Wild Side... I wouldn't call them a flop, per say, as I don't dislike them. But they only served to bring down the show. The pacing of the show simply doesn't allow them to be well defined, and it's hard to connect with them knowing how little we'll see of them. I'll also mention that I accidentally watched episode 209 instead of 208 first, which doesn't involve the Wild Side, and I liked that a lot more.

    World map!

    JRPG summon

    Rarity's channel reaches its 100th video
    Rarity singing
    Echo in Food Wars
    Coleslaw and Order

    Dash Master could have gone better
    Figuring out ApplePie
    Spaghettified Dash and fixing the portal
    Stretchy Dash flying by
     
    • 209. What Goes Updo / Communication Shakedown // 210. Lolly-Pop / Little Miss Fortune Pony Life
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    SigmasonicX

    SigmasonicX

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    209. What Goes Updo / Communication Shakedown // 210. Lolly-Pop / Little Miss Fortune Pony Life
    With the dimensional travel behind us (and all the orbs forgotten about I suppose), we reach a pretty fun story arc about a carnival.

    The first featured the first appearance of Cadance! Similar to Big Mac, it's weird that she's the same size as everyone else. She's presented as more of a celebrity here; it's odd that the Mane Six seem starstruck by her, but she's pretty fun. I wonder if her "yass" was improvised. I have to say, Rarity vomiting gems is great.

    The second story had a more overt moral than most in the show, and one that specifically couldn't be done in FiM (but could in EQG), which was interesting. It was fun seeing everyone in the different attractions, particularly Applejack getting a big apple. The moral was just kind of there, but learning that text doesn't do a great job depicting tone is certainly an important lesson.

    The third story is one I'd seen screenshots of a lot, with Fluttershy as a clown. It was nice seeing her enjoy herself, and hey, Flim and Flam are doing something that isn't at all a scam! I thought the story did a good job navigating Fluttershy's clown interest and Applejack's fear of it, and there were fun visuals.

    The fourth story featured the first appearance of Shining Armor! Who's apparently in charge of the traveling circus now. I suppose things are dull in the Crystal Empire now. Twilight's reaction to her fortune was great. Rainbow's motivation for joining the circus and the resolution felt quite perfunctory, but her routines were still fun. The Cutie Mark Crusaders showed up again, but they didn't appear to have the same voices and no one was credited for them; I suppose because all they did was cheer, so they had the other VAs cover them.

    Cadance yassing to hairdos
    (distant yass)
    Rarity's screaming and gem vomiting

    AJ living the dream
    Fluttershy on the cup ride

    Flim and Flam clowning things up
    AJ scared of Fluttershy
    AJ as a clown, ending with her upsetting her evil clown reflection v_v
    Fluttershy fixing her clown makeup
    Fluttershy reacting to AJ's fear

    Twilight reacting to her fortune
    Shining Armor is a ringmaster???
     
    • 211. Playwright or Wrong / The Shows Must Go On // 212. The De-Stress Ball / Mad Props
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    211. Playwright or Wrong / The Shows Must Go On // 212. The De-Stress Ball / Mad Props
    We're approaching the end, and it's disappointing that it doesn't seem to be doing anything particularly special. The Trail Trotters arc last season was six 12-minute episodes, and it's a shame nothing like that is happening here.

    None of these episodes are particularly laugh out loud, but the stories are nice and cozy.

    First story was set up, not much to see here, other than the bit with Trixie.

    Second story had a lot of fun moments with Rarity, including an evolution of her gem vomiting, and her dialogue is just a joy to listen to throughout. It's nice to see her and Sugar Snap still getting along, but we don't see much of that overall. Fluttershy being a mime is a nice bit of continuity with her clown interest.

    Third story was fun, though Applejack being the one to get stage fright is a bit odd with Fluttershy right there—and explicitly not getting stage fright until later. Chamomilia is a fun character, and the imagination sequences have some fun visuals.

    Last story, with the play in action, was good. The story of the play seems surprisingly heavy, with some clear inspiration from Death of a Salesman; the girls' requests for the play seem to have been incorporated more naturally than you'd expect. Discord's pranks on the play were fun, and I liked the bit where they fought the prop monster, though it's a bit odd to have that revelation be an ending cliffhanger.

    Presenting the Mane Six
    Cute Rarity

    RIP teapot
    Super gem vomiting
    Angel and Queen Rarity
    Closed due to magic

    AJ has stage fright
    Chamomilia seems nice
    Chamomilia scaring Applejack
    Chamomilia scaring everyone

    Rarity stealing the spotlight
    Twilight with that thing around her neck is a good look

    Surprised Contextless MLP didn't have any clips of the props going awry. I may edit in some clips I made later.
     
    • 213. Magic is Ahoof / Journey to the Center of the 'Cord // 214. One Last Wish / Wild Heart Beats (FINAL)
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    SigmasonicX

    SigmasonicX

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    Sorry for the delay, just was busy.

    Made some more clips for "Mad Props"
    Rarity hamming it up in the play
    Really cute "yes", or rather "yays", from Twilight
    Twilight's sad acting is legit good
    Final bit of solo singing from Rarity!
    When all the props magically disappear, you gotta do what you gotta do
    Fun monster fight

    Now, for the final episodes

    213. Magic is Ahoof / Journey to the Center of the 'Cord // 214. One Last Wish / Wild Heart Beats (FINAL)
    The end is finally here. While the episodes are alright in and of themselves, as a conclusion for the entire show, I found them disappointing.

    There's some attempt to tie the chaotic magic to the Cotton Candy Comet, but there were problems right off the bat with how the "gacha bubbles" were handled. They disappeared after the time travel story, but no one mentioned them, so I and other viewers were left to assume they were still around. They still don't get mentioned here, but there's some visual indication in the last episode that they were gone and then reappeared as the chaos increased. I would have appreciated acknowledgment of this in the dialogue.

    Tying Discord into things would have made sense to explain the dimensions falling apart, but it doesn't look like he he anything to do with that? At least no one brings it up. It's just needlessly confusing. They specifically flash back to the Cotton Candy Comet episode and show him there, so continuity was already being evoked, so it's strange.

    Anyway, aside from the weird way of tying things together, the first story was a nice last look at Noir Rarity, with Pinkie joining in. Though not as much was done with it as I would have liked.

    The second story was pretty fun. I liked the bits inside Discord's mind we got, and we have a final use of potions—and the first of this season.

    The third story was an odd followup to the previous, though it's a fun idea on its own, with them trusting Discord to use his birthday wish to fix things. I think it would have worked a lot better if it was developed more. Anyway, we get a very unusual appearance from Cheerilee here. I'm convinced Nicole Oliver was voicing a normal background pony and just decided to use her Cheerilee voice, so they went with it. Regardless, it's a funny performance from her.

    The last story was nice for bringing back all the characters that showed up this season, though I'm disappointed season one characters like Potion Nova didn't. The final song of G4 is alright; stronger than the song in the PL season one finale, but still not up to FiM's level. The goodbye at the end still gave me feelings.

    With the ending stinger of Discord's vial of chaos cracking, I wonder if this was intended to be the end of the series as a whole.

    Overall, this was an alright set of episodes, but as an ending for the show, it's disappointing. Pony Life season 2 in general was weaker than season 1, though I still enjoyed watching it.

    I'll have a big post about Pony Life in general later this week, hopefully.

    Horsies to hug!
    The stallions on the beach seem pretty gay tbh
    Crazy for crafting yarn

    Fan out!
    Discord's security

    Discord's first birthday - One thing I thought was cute in Pony Life was the quick responses the other ponies have when one pony's talking.
    Cheerilee, everypony!
    Rarity's reference-ful props

    Body swap
    Singing Fluttershy
    "Wild Heart Beats", the final song of G4!
    And how G4 ends; maybe we'll meet again someday
     
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