The My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic Thread

[f-22 "raptor" ace]

And this weeks episode has aired early in Russia.

[pokeplayer984]

~SUMMARY POST~

Tomorrow is another new for the US episode of pony!  We get yet another episode with Zecora.  Get the summary below.

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Title: A Health of Information

Summary: Zecora comes down with a case of Swamp Fever.  Even though there is no cure, Fluttershy does everything in her power to nurse her friend back to health.
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Let's see how entertaining this will get.

See ya later!

[pokeplayer984]

~LIVE STREAM POST~

Good morning, Internet!  Time for another episode of pony!  Get the link to the Live Streams below!

Season 7 Episode 20 - A Health of Information Live Stream

As always, I shall post the online post later today and my review tomorrow.

Until then, see ya later!

[pokeplayer984]

~ONLINE POST~

Well, here's the online version of this rather dark episode.  Enjoy!

Season 7 Episode 20 - A Health of Information Daily Motion Version

Tomorrow is my review.

See ya later!

[The Chronicler]

(spoilers)
Zecora is helping Fluttershy gathering some special moss for the animal sanctuary, but after falling into the swamp water, some flower releases pollen that causes her to become infected. They visit Ponyville's doctor and he determines that Zercora has caught a very rare disease known as swamp fever, which has no known cure and the outcome for the victim is turning into a tree (probably because a show like this can't talk about fatal diseases).

Fluttershy becomes very determined to find a cure to save Zecora, so after being told that some ancient pony known as the "mystical mask" may have the answers, Fluttershy immediately goes to Twilight to do some research. Fluttershy is so determined that even after they've searched every book in the library, she refuses to give up, not even to get some sleep. So while Twilight manages to get a good night's rest, Fluttershy is eventually able to figure out that the "mystical mask" was Mage Medowbrook (another one of the legends we've seen in recent episodes).

With absolutely no hesitation, Fluttershy immediately goes to the Hayseed Swamp, taking Twilight with her. At the seemingly abandoned village, they find Meadowbrook's old home and encounter one of her descendants, Cattail. They then read through some of Meadowbrook's old journals and discover that the cure for swamp fever is the honey from some highly aggressive electric bees, though the journals fail to mention how to safely obtain that honey. To make matters worse, Fluttershy starts to show symptoms of swamp fever. (I had initially assumed her confusion was due to sleep deprivation, but then I remembered it was one of the symptoms for the disease.)

Fluttershy tries everything to get through the bees, but not even her stare works. Then her sleep deprivation catches up to her and she faints. She wakes up three days later, and while Twilight and Cattail did make efforts to get the cure, none of them were successful. Then Fluttershy notices one particular mask on the wall and figures out that wearing that particular mask was the key, because it closely resembled the hive's queen, and she uses it to acquire the honey to cure herself and Zecora (and the doctor as well).

Quite an interesting lesson for this episode: no matter how much you'd like to care for others, you should at least care for yourself enough so that you'll be even capable of helping others. Also, all the legends of this season take inspiration from particular cultures, and based on the environment and accents in the flashback, it looks like the one for Mage Meadowbrook is Cajun/Voodoo.
(end spoilers)

As usual, another of the Equestria Girls shorts has been added to Hasbro's YouTube channel:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2017/09/pet-...irls-short.html
In addition, two brand new Equestria Girls shorts have also become available recently:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2017/09/good...k-world-eg.html

[pokeplayer984]

Well, I've been having trouble figuring out what I want to talk about.  I mean, it's good and all, but there's not much to talk about here.  It's one of those episodes.

Besides, there's something more interesting that happened.  Apparently, someone tried to record the World Premiere of the My Little Pony Movie that's due to come out in theaters soon.  Not only did he get kicked out, but so did the one who caught them in the act.
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2017/09/some...as-ejected.html

It's an interesting piece in the end.

[pokeplayer984]

~SUMMARY POST~

Tomorrow is a new episode of pony and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are taking center stage again.  However, they have their work cut out for them this time.

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Title: Marks and Recreation

Summary: The Cutie Mark Crusaders start a Cutie Mark Day Camp to help other ponies get their cutie marks.  However, one colt doesn't want a cutie mark.
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Only one question is in my mind, but we'll see if it's answered tomorrow.

Until then, see ya later!

[pokeplayer984]

~LIVE STREAM POST~

Good Morning, World!  Today is another episode of pony featuring the beloved Cutie Mark Crusaders!  They have a difficult task ahead of them and hopefully they can succeed.

Get the link to the Live Streams below!

Season 7 Episode 21 - Marks and Recreation Live Streams

As usual, expect the online link later today and my review tomorrow.

See ya later!

[pokeplayer984]

~ONLINE POST~

Wow!  Now this was a good episode and I can't wait to tell you all why.  Get the link to it below.

Season 7 Episode 21 - Marks and Recreation Daily Motion Version

I'll see ya all tomorrow for the review!

[The Chronicler]

(spoilers)
For the Cutie Mark Crusaders, business is booming (so to speak), so helping ponies one at a time is no longer enough. They decide to start a day camp where colts and fillies without a cutie mark can do all kinds of activities, just like they used to do in earlier seasons.

Once they get the word out, foals without cutie marks sign up. However, Rumble (who's only previous appearance was just a single line in the Season 2 episode "Hurricane Fluttershy") has no interest at all, but when his older brother Thunderlane (who has since become a Wonderbolt like Rainbow Dash) finds out about it, he practically forces his little brother to join.

While everyone else is having a good time on the first day of camp (with one pony even getting their cutie mark), Rumble pretty much deliberately fails at everything (though I'm surprised the CMCs didn't even realize it until much later in the episode). When the CMCs try to offer encouragement, he pretty much snaps at them and says that he doesn't want a cutie mark at all, which naturally shocks them.

The next day, after once again being forced by his brother to attend, Rumble takes a more twisted approach and practically seizes control of the camp by convincing the blank-flank foals that cutie marks restrict them to a life of one thing and nothing else, and they should stay "blank-flanks forever" so they can be free to do anything they want. (It really makes me wonder how certain ponies like Diamond Tiara or Starlight Glimmer might have reacted to such an attitude.)

After some failed attempts to reason with Rumble, the CMCs go to Thunderlane for help, and he reveals that Rumble had apparently become so desperate to one day become a Wonderbolt like him, that he's been refusing to do anything except training like a Wonderbolt out of fear that he could end up with a cutie mark in something else and end up never being able to follow his dream.

Later, with Rumble insisting on everyone not doing anything at all (which naturally leaves everyone bored) to avoid the risk of anyone getting a cutie mark, the CMCs announce Thunderlane as a special guest for the day to help out in all the activities. It's not long before the foals all go back to the CMCs, and Rumble eventually gives in when a new activity is revealed as an obstacle course inspired by the kind used by Wonderbolts. Once he gets there, he's surprised to see Thunderlane is cooking rather than trying the obstacle course. He tells Rumble that, when it's his turn for chef duties on the team, he actually enjoys it very much, despite having a cutie mark that doesn't reflect that. This makes Rumble finally understand that no matter what kind of cutie mark he'll eventually get, he will still be able to do any other activities he likes.

Quite an interesting episode that further expands on the concept of cutie marks in a rather unique direction.
(end spoilers)

As usual, another of the Equestria Girls shorts has been added to Hasbro's YouTube channel:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2017/09/subs...ort-now-on.html

[pokeplayer984]

~REVIEW POST~

You know, I'm going to do my style of review differently.  Instead, I'm going to point out certain key things about the episode and give my thoughts on them.  So, here we go!  Spoilers below.

The "business" of The Cutie Mark Crusaders has been booming since we last saw them.  They simply have too many clients.  This Day Camp thing is a good idea to help out all of those they can.  This will help streamline the process in the end.

Wow!  We sure haven't seen Rumble in quite a while.  He's got his own following in the fandom.  Most infamous creation from them is a story where he's raised by Transformers, but that's going off topic.

Anyways, Rumble here brings up an interesting, though not well executed, thought. (Mainly due to the fact that he's young and doesn't know much on the subject, so what do you expect?) The idea that having a cutie mark makes you a slave to what your talent is.  However, it's not the cutie mark itself that does this.

I can pick out two of the Mane Six almost immediately as fine examples.  First, Rarity.  Rarity's special talent is finding gem stones.  However, what she does for a living is completely different.  She creates exotic styles of fashion and has turned that into a small and successful business.  She's made branches of her business in Manehatten and Canterlot.  Both of which she is doing well in last we checked.  I'd say she's not a slave at all to her talent.

A lesser example would be Pinkie Pie.  Sure, she loves doing parties, (We had one from her only a few episodes ago.) but her main life is being a baker. (Along with a part-time job at a burger joint.) She has worked the job of baker for most of her life.  In the end, her cutie mark doesn't enslave her and she can easily branch out.

One of those two (Mainly Rarity.) could have come in and set Rumble straight, but I guess he would have an easier time listening to his brother instead, who can cook.  What Thunderlane said is also bringing up an interesting idea in my head for a story.  Hopefully, this one will actually pan through.

The only other thing to really talk about is the song that Rumble started.  It's kind of good and catchy.  It's got a bit of a jazz tune to it.  It's actually fun to listen to.

Well, that's everything I wanted to talk about, and I found the episode to be good.  It was actually quite enjoyable in the end.

Next week, Princess Twilight goes on a family vacation.

See ya later!

[pokeplayer984]

~SUMMARY POST~

Hello, everyone!  I'm rocking a new avatar and we have a new episode of pony tomorrow.  Get ready for some Twilight and Family shenanigans.

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Title: Once Upon A Zeppelin.

Summary: Twilight is torn when she discovers the cruise she and her family are on is a themed vacation experience in which ponies have paid for the privilege of spending time with her, and she must please both her family and the cruise attendees.
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Well, this should be entertaining.

See ya later!

[pokeplayer984]

~LIVE STREAM POST~

Good morning, everyone!  It's time for some Twilight and family.  Get the link to the Live Streams below.

Season 7 Episode 22 - Once Upon A Zeppelin Live Streams

As always, expect the online links later today and my review tomorrow.

On top of that, I'll have a little announcement tomorrow.

Until then, see ya later!

[pokeplayer984]

~ONLINE POST~

Took long enough for a link to come, but here it is!

Season 7 Episode 22 - Once Upon A Zeppelin Dailymotion Version

Enjoy and I'll see ya tomorrow for my review of this one.

[The Chronicler]

(spoilers)
Twilight is invited to join her family on an airship cruise when her parents are offered a free trip for unknown reasons. (I'd like to point out that, since we know by now quite a bit of what the rest of the main ponies' families are like, it's nice that we finally got to learn a few things about Twilight's parents. Her father is quite fond of bingo, and her mother is a bit of a daredevil thrill-seeker.)

However, it's not long before it becomes obvious that most of the other passengers are there only because they were told princesses Twilight and Cadance (and Flurry Heart) would be there. Twilight eventually decides to confront the captain and it turns out to be Iron Will (from the Season 2 episode "Putting your Hoof Down"), who has decided to change careers after his assertiveness lessons ran their course. Even worse, Twilight's parents hadn't bothered to read the fine print when they signed the agreement for the cruise, which explained that the cruise would be a "princess experience".

Rather than turn around and end the cruise right away, Twilight makes a deal with Iron Will to do what she can to appease the passengers while also allowing her family to have the vacation they were hoping for. But as the day goes on, things for Twilight become increasingly problematic, and it eventually reaches a breaking point when she ends up missing a certain celestial event she had been really hoping to see.

Cadance has a little talk with Twilight and helps her understand that, as good as it is that she didn't want to disappoint anyone, there comes a point where she has to draw a line and not let things become too much to handle. Twilight offers apologies to the passengers, and when they end up questioning Iron Will, he admits the fine print made no guarantees for the "princess experience", and with the passengers quickly turning against him, he decides to literally jump ship while he declares "No refunds!". Kinda makes you wonder if he's got something in common with the Flim Flam brothers. (I gotta admit, once the jig was up, Iron Will sure made one heck of an exit.)
(end spoilers)

Once again, another of the Equestria Girls shorts has been added to Hasbro's YouTube channel:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2017/10/mlp-...ngs-up-now.html

In addition, it appears that all four remaining episodes of this season have been leaked. With circumstances lining up in my favor today, I was able to have enough time to watch them all. (As I've done before with leaked episodes, I've watched them only once so I won't have to worry about spoilers, but I will still wait until after they officially air before I watch them a few more times as I usually do with regular episodes. Not to mention, I will also wait until after the official air date before I post my reviews on them, as I barely had enough time this evening just for today's regular episode.)

[pokeplayer984]

~REVIEW POST~

So, at the end of my review I shall make my announcement.  For now, spoilers below!

Wow!  This episode sure had some surprises.  First, we get to spend time with Twilight's Family (Save for Spike who was dead set on making sure Twilight got the vacation she SO needed.) and get to know what they're really like.  Night Light is a laid-back stallion that loves to play Bingo.  Shining Armor sadly gets airsick. (Though entertaining, I felt sorry for the guy.) However, the very welcome one was Twilight Velvet, who is a daredevil thrill-seeker.  Probably a new favorite of mine now.

However, the real surprise comes when it becomes obvious that this was a cruise filled with fans of Princess Twilight and Cadence.  We get to see who the captain is.  Anyone who knew the voice of the announcer knew right away who it was, but they could just be using the same voice. (It happens.) It turns out to be Iron Will.  It's been a long time, but here he is!

Turns out, Iron Will gave Twilight's Parents the free cruise and Twilight Velvet didn't read the contract that she had signed, which states that it would be a "princess experience".  This doesn't go well with the family, but Iron Will guilt trips Twilight into letting the cruise continue and go along with it.

Things don't go well for Twilight.  She is forced to spend the day with a nerdy guy who won the raffle prize.  She has to do the numbers for the Bingo Game.  She has to manage the boat race. (Which her mother won.) She has to do a Q&A, which makes her miss a barrel ride with her mother.  Finally, she has to sign autographs.  The last one takes so long that she only gets to see the end of a celestial event she really wanted to see.  Cue the fandom hating Iron Will because Twilight cries.

Twilight breaks down!  She lets her anger out and even injures the guy she's forced to spend the day with.  Twilight's mom and dad take him to their room to get fixed up while Cadence has a talk with Twilight.  Basically, Cadence tells Twilight that, while it was good that Twilight didn't want to upset everypony, a princess needs to know when to draw the line.  She even hints to Twilight that thanks to having a family of her own, it got easier to understand where to draw the line.

So, Twilight decides to make up for it.  She starts off with apologizing to the one she injured, whom is quick to forgive her.  She then has a talk with the passengers about the situation and they take her side and confront Iron Will about the issue.  He then defends himself by saying that the contract said that there were no guarantees.  The passengers turn on him and Iron Will literally jumps off the ship declaring that there are no refunds before opening his chute.  We probably won't see him again for a while.  The day ends with a few members of the family dressing up as stars to cheer up Twilight.

A good episode and one I would see again.

Now, I have plans to see the movie tomorrow.  If things go well, you can expect a review of said movie afterward.

Next week, Rainbow and Pinkie shenagigans!

See ya later!

[pokeplayer984]

I won't be able to get to reviewing the movie until some other point later this week.  I could squeeze it in tonight, but I'm not making any promises.

In the meantime, I'd just like to say this.  I know that people say "haters are gonna hate" and all, but in a case like this, I wish they would just leave us alone.  Case in point, 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, and I feel that to be too harsh for a movie I obviously enjoyed.

Yeah, you can see why I'm kind of upset at this.

[landbeforetimelover]

Well since no one's mentioned it yet, I'll give you my opinions of the movie   ***Spoiler FREE***.  The animation wasn't great (it lacked the same feeling and the characters seemed to have no emotion), and the story was badly laid out.  We don't even find out about the motivation for the main antagonist until near the end...like it was an afterthought or something (and it was a stupid motivation to boot - and I thought Starlight Glimmer's motivation for enslaving the village was bad).  The characters just weren't believable as they never prescribed any real motivations behind their actions.  Overall it was a very shallow film, not worthy of the MLP name.  

But honestly, this is like pretty much ALL movies I've seen in recent years.  Characters just have sex for no reason (I'm talking about OTHER movies right now, NOT the MLP movie!) when they don't even know each other, they throw some transgender or lesbian/gay person in for no real reason, and the directors don't do anything to make you actually CARE or even give two shits about the characters.  There's no CONNECTION there, and that's what was missing with the MLP movie too.  If I hadn't known the mane6 from the TV series and this was my first exposure to MLP, I probably never would have become a brony because they did nothing to connect me to the characters.  Which is fine I guess for the mane6 because we already know them, but I couldn't care less about any of the other characters.  I can't even remember their names.  I only remember Tempest because she looked badass in the movie trailers and I thought I'd really like her character, but like all the new characters they didn't do anything to make me actually CARE about her.

The bar has been set pretty darned LOW in movies in the past few years. It seems all you have to do to make a fortune nowadays is make a bunch of explosions and push the latest PC bullshit and people eat it up like mindless sheep.  I miss GOOD stories, with BELIEVABLE characters that they actually made you CARE about.  Not the crap I've seen lately (the new Star Wars movie, the Abrams BS "Star Trek" movies, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (I think it had something to do with Harry Potter but the film was so bad I don't remember anything about it), and now this steaming pile of a MLP movie.  I've seen a few other movies in theaters, but they were so bad I can't even remember their names.  I'd seriously rather watch one of those weird black and white movies from the 1930's than another one of those steaming piles.  Granted, the MLP movie is the best movie I've seen in a long time, but that's not saying much.

In conclusion, I give it a 4/10.  And that's because I'm biased and love ponies so much.  If it hadn't been about ponies it would be a 1/10 or 2/10 because they did absolutely NOTHING to make you care about ANY of the characters.

[pokeplayer984]

~SUMMARY POST~

Okay, I promise to give my thoughts on the movie on Sunday.  This week has just been hectic for me is all.

Anyways, tomorrow is another episode of pony.  This time, Pinkie and Rainbow take center stage.  Get the summary below.

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Title: Secrets and Pies

Summary: When Pinkie Pie thinks she sees Rainbow Dash throw away one of her pies, she suspects the worst - that Rainbow Dash secretly hates her pies; Pinkie Pie attempts to catch Rainbow Dash in her web of lies.
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Uh-oh!  Dashie could be in trouble!

Anyways, I'll see ya all tomorrow for everything that will happen.

[pokeplayer984]

~ONLINE POST~

Well, here we are with the first of the leaked episodes.  I haven't watched this one, but I hope the fandom will be respectful enough not to spoil it during the stream.  We'll see how it goes.

Anyways, link to the Live Streams below.

Season 7 Episode 23 - Secrets and Pies Live Streams

As always, expect the online post later today and my review tomorrow.

Until then, see ya later!