The My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic Thread

[The Chronicler]

Some more concept art from the New Generation movie has recently been shared:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/early-my-little-pony-g5-concepts-reveal.html
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/a-my-little-pony-metropoplis-more-g5.html

A two-page preview of issue 11 of the comics (which will be available two weeks from now) has been revealed:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/2-page-preview-for-g5-my-little-pony-11.html

The mobile game Mane Merge got a major update a couple weeks ago:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/my-little-pony-mane-merge-gets-update.html

A recent activity book seems to reveal the names of the G5 "elements of harmony" for each of the main ponies:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/mistys-element-of-harmony-possibly.html

For those of you wondering when then next new part of the Make Your Mark series (Chapter 4, to be exact) will be out on Netflix, current rumors say that it will be sometime in June:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/my-little-pony-make-your-mark-chapter-4.html

In addition to what's already available on YouTube, the Tell Your Tale series will also become available to watch on Netflix next week, starting with the first 20 episodes:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/netflix-my-little-pony-tell-your-tale.html

And finally, here's this week's new episode of Tell Your Tale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io687-Oxxvo

Spoiler: ShowHide

And now we have an Easter special episode, though here it's a Zephyr Heights tradition known as the Royal Eggstravaganza involving bunnies that hide chocolate eggs until some talking rabbit named Eggmund Bunny declares the egg hunt open. However, Eggmund has gone missing, so Zipp and Hitch go searching for him, and eventually find him overwhelmed with caring for so many baby bunnies. Hitch sympathizes with him due to his own struggles with caring for Sparky and they're able to convince Eggmund to return to Zephyr Heights to resume his royal duty for the holiday. I have to say... I was not expecting to see anything quite like this, and that's honestly all I can really think of that's worth saying. Overall in my opinion, one of the more out there episodes, but not really bad, though the lesson regarding being overwhelmed with parenting probably could've been delivered a little better.

[The Chronicler]

If you've been wondering where you could watch the 2017 My Little Pony Movie these days, it is now available for streaming on Paramount+:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/my-little-pony-g4-movie-added-to.html

Issue 11 of the comics just released yesterday, and here's a five-page preview that was revealed last week:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/my-little-pony-g5-comic-11-5-page.html

A synopsis for issue 14 of the comics has been revealed:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/the-new-g5-ponys-name-is-violette.html

Also upcoming among the comics is a special issue that will essentially be some side stories related to the upcoming Make Your Mark special that'll be out in late June:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/new-my-little-pony-bridlewoodstock-g5.html

Now that Tell Your Tale is available on Netflix, it is now confirmed that each "episode" listed there is actually four episodes combined into a single 20-minute video, so there's a total of five of these full-length episodes available to watch at this time:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/03/my-little-pony-tell-your-tale-arrives.html

Finally, here's today's new episode of Tell Your Tale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z8YG4QZWE8

Spoiler: ShowHide

Once again, Misty struggles to do Opaline's bidding, this time failing in an attempt to steal the Unity Crystals, succeeding only in cutting through the window before accidentally alerting the other ponies with the sound of broken glass. Misty escapes, but Zipp quickly identifies that someone had attempted to steal those crystals. Sunny takes this as a warning that someone is threatening to take away magic, so she decides to take responsibility as "The Alicorn" and practice all of her alicorn abilities with help from her friends. After a long training montage that ends with success for Sunny, the main ponies discover Misty hiding in a nearby bush, but while they all still regard her as a friend despite her cowardly escape, Zipp starts to get suspicious when she notices some glass fragments in that bush. I actually liked this episode, despite much of it being spent on that training montage, because to me it felt like this was one of those rare episodes that seemed to take the whole series forward another step. Specifically, Opaline has now demanded Misty to do something besides capture the baby dragon, and Zipp now has reason to suspect Misty really has been up to no good after all this time. Overall, I would in fact rank this among my favorite episodes of this series.

[The Chronicler]

The first of the G4 compilation comics (this one focused on Twilight Sparkle) has just released:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/04/the-best-of-twilight-sparkle-released.html

A special comic for MLP's 40th anniversary will be coming out in December later this year, and it will consist of three different stories, which are summarized here:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/04/40th-anniversary-comic-details-revealed.html

And here's the new episode of Tell Your Tale (and somehow, this is the first time I've been aware of an alternate YouTube channel exclusively for this series, and unlike the main MLP channel, this one actually releases the new episodes as single videos on their own and not as the start of a compilation with several older episodes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-GiHLeFOXM

Spoiler: ShowHide

So this episode is pretty much all about the various things Opaline does at her castle whenever she's not busy demanding Misty to do certain tasks. It starts out with a villain song (to be expected, I suppose), but gradually gets into some more silly events. As for Misty, the brief moments we see her shows her pretty much just having a good time with the main five ponies, and while Opaline is still obsessed with capturing Sparky to regain her power, it seems that at least on this occasion her demand to Misty was simply to bring her a smoothie. Overall, not much was really revealed and not much really happened, so I'd consider this a rather average episode.

[The Chronicler]

The first issue of a new G5 comic series has been revealed:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/04/new-my-little-pony-g5-comic-series.html

A synopsis for issue 15 of the main comic series has been revealed:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/04/full-details-for-my-little-pony-g5.html

Issue 12 of the main comic series just released, so here's a five page preview:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/05/5-page-preview-for-g5-my-little-pony-12.html

And here's today's new episode of Tell Your Tale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUAncEXacsQ

Spoiler: ShowHide

"Mare's Day" has come again, and Zipp and Pipp have once again planned a special day with their mother Queen Haven, but those plans get disrupted again, this time from Haven having already made her own plans with Alphabittle. Honestly, the shipping fuel between Haven and Alphabittle was very strong in this episode, and as you might expect, Zipp and Pipp don't exactly take it very well. With Haven insisting on spending time with the big unicorn, his unexpected inclusion predictably causes problems for everything Zipp and Pipp had planned, and in the end, Haven reminds her daughters that the purpose of a good time is not what they do but just spending time with the ones they enjoy being with, which prompts them to apologize for their poor attitudes all day. For me, certainly not among my favorites and it was full of moments that I was not really fond of, but at least I wouldn't consider it unwatchable. I guess it really depends on what kind of humor you enjoy watching.

[The Chronicler]

Big news to share this time! We finally have some information about the next new episodes of Make Your Mark! It is now confirmed that "Chapter 4" will consist of six 22-minute episodes and one 44-minute special (so essentially the same amount of content as Chapter 2 had), and will be officially released on June 6.

First up, a one minute preview clip was released last week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9npTLPrg5E

Then just a couple days ago, the official trailer was released:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqedfHodQA

There was a bunch more news revealed last week as well, such as the release of the new updates to the mobile game "Mane Merge":
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/05/my-little-pony-mane-merge-update-120.html

Several upcoming comics were also revealed, including issue 16 of the main series:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/05/my-little-pony-g5-comic-16-revealed.html

A special one-off featuring Sunny Starscout:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/05/new-my-little-pony-g5-idw-endless.html

Part 2 of the Camp Bighoof miniseries:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/05/my-little-pony-g5-camp-bighoof-2-comic.html

And the first part of the second Classics Reimagined miniseries, this one based on the Wizard of Oz:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/05/my-little-pony-comic-classics.html

And with all of that out of the way, here's the latest new episode of Tell Your Tale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqW3_ZS3O5U

Spoiler: ShowHide

The main five ponies prepare for a vacation to Ponytropico, but as they fly their Marestream vehicle to the ferry dock, they get caught in a storm and the vehicle loses power. Now stuck in the middle of a swamp, they decide to just make the most of their time off right where they are, and their strengthened friendship is able to power up the lantern that powers the vehicle, allowing them to continue on their way. Unfortunately, they just miss the last ferry, but despite missing out on their planned vacation, they instead decide to return to the swamp to continue all the various activities they had been doing previously. What I find a little ridiculous about this episode is how they seem to just give up on the planned vacation when they miss the ferry, as if the Marestream (a flying vehicle) was somehow incapable of just taking them directly to their destination. Other than that, I don't have much else to say, so I would consider this a relatively average episode.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Did this ever get good? I pretty much dropped off after everything past the inaugural movie felt like lazily-animated sloppily-written shovelware, with the only saving grace being the possibility they were simply finding their stride and would later improve. Like is it up to the standards of Gen 4 at least

[f-22 "raptor" ace]

It is its own thing. You really can't compare it to G4

[The Chronicler]

Not much new stuff to report on this time. Pretty much the only significant news (aside from the usual new episode) is that the 2017 My Little Pony movie will become available to watch on Netflix on June 19:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/05/my-little-pony-2017-movie-heading-to.html

Here's this week's new episode of Tell Your Tale (and boy does it look interesting):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TwsWuzQs5s

Spoiler: ShowHide

The main five ponies are (finally) getting suspicious of Misty's magic necklace (which she uses to communicate with Opaline), and when Misty takes it off so she can pick some fruit, Zipp quickly snatches it so she and the others can try to better understand it. However, they find out the hard way that it possess evil magic, as whoever wears it ends up turning into the total opposite of who they are. By the time Misty tracks down her missing necklace, its corruption has now spread out to affect everyone inside the Brighthouse, so Misty bravely charges inside and shuts off the necklace. Once everyone is back to normal, Misty decides to destroy the necklace once and for all, and even invites the others to watch her do it. Though Misty admits she's feeling much better already, she still refuses to reveal who gave her that necklace.

This is definitely one of those rare episodes where the overall storyline seems to progress in any significant way, and the way this one ended seems like the perfect way to end the most recent segment of episodes. We don't yet know what things will be like after the events of Make Your Mark Chapter 4 (assuming you've avoided some of the sneak peek clips in recent days), but considering how the TYT episodes released immediately after some new MYM content was always relevant to said new content, it's no wonder the schedule of new episodes in recent months was stretched out to once every two weeks instead of once a week if that next dividing line happens to be between episodes 53 and 54.

Anyway, as for the episode itself, it was kind of amusing to see how everyone behaved like their total opposite as Misty's necklace kept getting passed around. But arguably the most significant moment of all was Misty's decision to destroy that necklace, thus severing her frequent connection to Opaline. We don't yet know if this means she is choosing to completely walk away from Opaline (I suppose we'll find out in MYM chapter 4), but for fans who have insisted endlessly that Misty turning against Opaline would be an inevitable future event, this is a very promising first step. For me, the overall significance of the events of this episode makes it easily among my favorites (perhaps even a close second to episode 24 "Starscout Code"). This has definitely got me interested to see what will happen in MYM Chapter 4, despite my disinterest in the whole "Bridlewoodstock" theme.

Also, don't forget that the Chapter 4 episodes of Make Your Mark will be available to watch on Netflix on June 6, this coming Tuesday. Just like I did when the Chapter 2 episodes came out last September, I'll make another post on that day and then edit it to include summaries and my thoughts on each episode as I watch through them all throughout the day.

[f-22 "raptor" ace]

Really want to see what will happen next plot wise. and it's good to see the plot move forward in TYT.

[The Chronicler]

Tomorrow, Chapter 4 of My Little Pony: Make Your Mark will become available to watch on Netflix, consisting of one 44-minute special followed by six 22-minute episodes. I'll be sharing quick summaries (for those who won't watch for whatever reason but are still interested in what happens) and my initial thoughts on each episodes (all under spoiler tags, of course) in this post, which I'll be editing as I finish watching each and every episode. Needless to say, it'll be quite a busy day for me.

1: Bridlewoodstock

Spoiler: ShowHide

Izzy brings her friends to show them the Lumabloon, a special natural phenomenon where the flowers and crystals of a special place glow brightly at night for one week. Pipp is so amazed that she decides to organize a huge music festival so everyone can experience the Lumabloom. Izzy is apprehensive due to a unicorn legend about Troggles, which are spirits that are attracted to loud noises during the Lumabloom and steal voices, but Pipp completely disregards it as a myth and asks her friends to help her invite some musical talent to the festival. Zipp agrees to convince the pegasus rock band Electric Blue to perform, Sunny and Hitch offer to help an earth pony girl group Dreamland reunite and perform for the festival, and Izzy and Pipp are able to invite Ruby Jubilee (the latest top chart artist from Zephyr Heights) after they help her get over some creative block, but all three groups are promised to be the headline performance. Despite all the unicorns of Bridlewood being terrified because of the Troggles, Pipp presses on with preparing the festival, and it's only just as everyone arrives that she and her friends finally realize that all three music groups had been promised to headline. In an effort to avoid any further conflict, Electric Blue and Dreamland are convinced to perform earlier, but with Ruby Jubilee changing her mind and insisting on being the first to perform, now there is suddenly no headline performance at all, until Pipp's friends suggest she could be the headline performer instead, which she quickly agrees to. Once Ruby Jubilee starts the show with her new song, the Troggles eventually show up and start stealing the voices of everypony, but when Izzy recites poem of the Troggles once again, she and her friends realize the way to stop the Troggles is to feed them rubies, which they have plenty of for the stage decorations. Once the Troggles all vanish, Pipp confesses to not respecting unicorn customs over her obsession of putting on a big music festival and is willing to cancel the event, but the unicorns insist on letting the festival continue now that there are no longer any Troggles to fear. The episode ends with all three groups performing together on stage.

This was a rather okay special episode, in my opinion. I'm not much for music festivals, so it's not like I was ever particularly interested in what would happen. I was quite annoyed by the fact that the Main 5 ponies never bothered to tell each other they had promised their assigned music groups to be the headline performance until it was almost too late, and made a further failure to communicate when their efforts to convince those groups to perform earlier then resulted in no headline performance at all. I do appreciate the moral message of this special that failing to respect the local customs could lead to serious consequences, so one must always be willing to actually listen to what the locals have to say if one has big plans for something completely new for the area. Overall, not a bad special to start the next bunch of content, but it could've been better.

2: Top Remodel

Spoiler: ShowHide

The Main 5 ponies enter the Canterlogic factory, which has been abandoned since the events of the New Generation movie. Pipp had invited her friends inside because she is thrilled by the spooky feeling of the place, but as they talk about things, they all decide to renovate the place so it can serve a new purpose for the community of Maretime Bay. As Sunny and Izzy go out to hear ideas from the ponies in town, Pipp and Hitch agree to help clean up the place, while Zipp returns to the Brighthouse to continue her investigation of the message from Twilight Sparkle they head heard back in Episode 2 of Chapter 2. Sunny and Izzy are quickly overwhelmed by the ideas everypony has and they struggle to figure out how to make it all work, but they eventually agree to settle on just one idea that they think everyone can enjoy. Pipp and Hitch (with Sparky) continue to explore the abandoned building (Pipp excited by the spooky feeling and Hitch terrified of it) and they eventually stumble across Spout, who insists he should have a say in what happens to the place since it still belongs to his family, but they soon discover a bunch of pegasus mice who have inhabited the building in search of entertainment, and after many struggles to get those mice to leave, Pipp and Hitch eventually perform a duet song to inspire those pegasus mice to return to Zephyr Heights. Zipp struggles to figure out anything more than what she had recorded of the message, but eventually realizes that the evil force that wants to take away magic must be so powerful that it could only be an alicorn. Meanwhile, Misty had overheard Zipp playing the recording of Twilight's message and reports to Opaline about it, and when Misty suggests stealing the Unity Crystals instead of Sparky, Opaline explains that won't help because doing so without her being powerful enough would destroy the very magic she wants to steal, so capturing the baby dragon remains the top priority, despite Misty's lack of confidence from her numerous failures thus far. In the end, the Canterlogic building is remodeled into a studio (apparently now renamed as Canterlove Studios) that can be used for all kinds of shows and performances.

I was definitely excited about this episode, as it seemed to finally address some of things I was dissappointed had not been mentioned at all during the previous bunch of episodes in Chapter 2, such as the status of the Canterlogic building (which it's abandoned state has been featured in a few Tell Your Tale episodes), as well as Sprout (still selfishly arrogant like from the movie) finally getting a more significant appearance. Not to mention, not only has Zipp figured out a major clue about Twilight Sparkle's message, we also finally got an explanation why Opaline is not interested in stealing the Unity Crystals (at least for now). Overall, this episode was long overdue in my opinion, and I'm really glad we finally got it. Definitely among my favorites, and I'm already looking forward to seeing how that new studio will be utilized.

3: The Jinxie Games

Spoiler: ShowHide

Hitch is excited to participate in Bridlewood's Forest Critter Field Day games, but even though he's someone who would try his best to follow the rules of anything, the rulebook Izzy provides him with is so confusing that he struggles to understand any of it, such as Sparky not being a forest critter and thus being ineligible to be Hitch's partner. He soon decides to have Cloudpuff as his critter partner for the games when that dog arrives to deliver a message to Pipp and Zipp that their mother Queen Haven had to cancel the brunch they had planned for her. Pipp is desperate to figure out the reason behind that and begs Hitch to investigate, but he is so excited for the games that he essentially tricks them into coming with him to Bridlewood. While Izzy and Sunny stay with Hitch to cheer him on, Zipp and Pipp go off to figure out what happened to Haven, only to stumble across her hanging out with Alphabittle. Haven and her daughters have a rather awkward conversation, after which Zipp and Pipp uneasily return to watch the games with their friends. With everyone so focused on the games, the main ponies fail to notice Sparky wander off and start climbing a tree. Eventually, Zipp and Pipp notice Sparky and rush to save him, along with Hitch. The incident not only makes Hitch realize he was so focused on the games that he failed to properly care for Sparky, but also allows Haven and her daughters reach an understanding that despite spending less time together they will always love each other (although Zipp and Pipp are still disgusted at seeing their mom being romantically involved with Alphabittle). While all of that was going on, Misty arrives at the Brighthouse to once again try to steal Sparky, but with no one around, she struggles to figure out what to do until she come across a photo of herself with the Main 5 ponies, and once the others return and Misty sneaks away, Sparky gives her that photo, and despite suddenly finding herself with a very easy opportunity to fulfill her mission, Misty decides to let Sparky go and returns home, despite how furious she knows Opaline will be after yet another failure.

This episode was kind of a weird mix for me. The rules and regulations of the Forrest Critter Field Day games are so nonsensical that I pretty much can only dismiss the whole system as further examples of weird unicorn superstitions. In fact, they're still so superstitious that when some of them notice Sparky climbing the tree, they are so confused on what's going on that they end up doing their anti-jinxie dance. As for Queen Haven and Alphabittle, while there was a Tell Your Tale episode that pretty much featured the exact same conflict as this episode did, both that episode and this episode seemed to portray their respective events as the big reveal of their relationship, so it's kind of hard to figure out which one should be taken more seriously, though it is worth noting that the relationship is very heavily implied (such as Haven calling him "Alphy") but not outright confirmed. At least there was a rather good moment where Misty later had the perfect chance to take Sparky, but ultimately chose to do the right thing and let him go, even if it means some potentially severe consequences for herself. Overall, not a lot of interesting things going on, so I'll consider this a rather moderate episode.

4: Sunny Side Up

Spoiler: ShowHide

The Main 5 ponies officially open Canterlove Studios, but with little interest from the other ponies, they realize they should set an example by starting their own show. Pipp immediately takes the lead by suggesting a cooking show in which Sunny and Hitch will show how to make smoothies, but both are reluctant about the idea, especially Hitch after how poorly things went when he once tried to run Sunny's smoothie cart back in the previous season. Things quickly fall apart, but Pipp is excited that moments like a food fight bring in lots of views. Eventually, Sunny is so distraught over not enjoying herself that she ends up giving an inspiring speech on the show about the importance of not having to listen to the demands of others and they should just enjoy being themselves. Although this ends up being the only episode of "Sunny Side Up" by mutual agreement, it does inspire other ponies to request use of the studio to the point it gets fully booked for six months. While all of that was going on, after Opaline explains how she was jealous of being overshadowed by Celestia and Luna when she was younger, she is so enraged by Misty failing yet again that she grounds the unicorn to her room (complete with a magic spell) while Opaline herself leaves her castle to try retrieving the Dragon Stone, a magical artifact that she believes will amplify the dragon fire she intends to take from Sparky. After a long hike up a crystal mountain, she finally grabs the stone, only to drop it down a deep crevice, forcing her to return to the castle without it. Meanwhile, Misty somehow uses just enough magic to break her hooves free from the floor of her room, but not enough to escape through the door. This allows her to grab her phone and happens to watch Sunny's speech, which inspires her to finally leave Opaline. However, she is so indecisive about how exactly she'll do it that Opaline returns and Misty has to pretend she's still as loyal as ever. It almost works as Opaline asks Misty to help her retrieve the lost Dragon Stone, but then points out the fake cutie mark Misty had drawn on herself when she was preparing to leave.

Another episode that was worth the wait, as we finally got a real hint of where Opaline came from, and it seems she has been around since Celestia and Luna were younger, though nothing really specific is explained aside from just how she felt overlooked by those two and wanted to prove herself by any means necessary. It was nice to see Misty beginning to really understand that she would be better off without answering to Opaline, especially as she took inspiration from Sunny's passionate speech, though it seems her hesitation to act now could result in something much worse awaiting her very soon. As for the main ponies struggling to make use of the new studio, it honestly would not have been such an exciting episode with that plot alone, so the fact that those events were able to fit in rather nicely with what Misty was going through really helped it quite a bit. Also, somewhat amusing to see that Opaline having throat issues from so much evil laughter and furious shouting was actually used here and was not just a gag from a single episode of Tell Your Tale. Overall, a rather nice episode that was worth watching.

5: The Manesquerade Ball

Spoiler: ShowHide

The Main 5 ponies prepare for the Manesquerade Ball, a gala at Zephyr Heights where everypony wears masks to hide their identities (albeit not very well, to be honest). Meanwhile, Opaline leaves to retrieve the Dragon Stone and asks Misty only to remain at the castle. Once alone, Misty considers her options and eventually decides to meet up with her new friends. She catches up to them just as they are getting ready to depart, and much to her astonishment, they invite her to join them at the ball. Sunny wants to teach her friends a new dance to perform together at the ball, but they arrive before they have a chance to practice. While the others hang out at the party, Zipp takes the opportunity of being in Zephyr Heights to search the archives for anything on the subject of alicorns to continue her investigation of Twilight's message, but she soon discovers Misty has secretly followed her. Misty's behavior continues to be so awkward and suspicious that Zipp decides to demand the real truth from Misty, who decides to confess that she doesn't have a cutie mark. This is enough for Zipp to stop being so hard on Misty and assures her she doesn't have to be so afraid of being different, since differences is what makes friendship so great. As a sign of that newfound trust, Misty admits that she had stumbled across exactly the kind of book Zipp had been looking for and gives it to her. Soon after, Pipp finds them and begs them to return to the ball to help Sunny, who is freaking out about her friends not knowing the unity dance she wanted them to perform. Fortunately, once everyone is together, the song and dance goes wonderfully. After the party is over, Misty leaves to return home, but admits she had a lot of fun. Later that night, Zipp begins looking through the book about alicorns, but discovers some pages had been freshly ripped out. Meanwhile, Opaline returns with the Dragon Stone and is apparently unaware Misty had gone anywhere, while Misty secretly begins looking through the pages she had torn out from that alicorn book.

Normally, some of my least favorite episodes of all involve makeovers for some fancy event, and while this episode partly was exactly that, I did like the additional plot of Misty continuing her mental struggle between serving Opaline or having fun with her new friends. Although Misty still hasn't revealed the existence of Opaline or her evil plans, Misty did ultimately confess one major truth, which was her lack of a cutie mark. Misty was genuinely upset about what others would think of that, but with Zipp being a good friend by assuring her they would never ridicule her for something like that, this could be a major boost of confidence that Misty might need to convince herself that she would be better off leaving Opaline. On the other hand, she did steal some pages from that alicorn history book without telling anyone, not even Opaline, so it remains to be seen how things will ultimately turn out for her.

6: A Little Horse

Spoiler: ShowHide

Just as Pipp is about to perform a collaborative livestream with Electric Blue, she is immediately forced to postpone the event due to suddenly getting ill with frequent coughing and a sore throat. Zipp insists that Pipp should get some rest at home, and Pipp reluctantly agrees. Pipp's friends soon come up with ways to help her feel better, starting with Zipp bringing a massive collection of fantasy novels to read to ensure she gets the "vocal rest" she needs. When Sunny asks if there's anything she can do to help, Pipp mentions a special kind of soup her mom used to make, so Sunny tries to provide that, but after failing to make it herself, she goes to Zephyr Heights to try asking Queen Haven about the recipe while being careful to not reveal Pipp's illness, and ultimately receives a confession from Haven that the soup was not homemade after all and was just something from a food cart. Hitch and his critter friends try to keep Pipp entertained with various performances, which Pipp appreciates but finds some acts to be a little too much. Izzy offers some special unicorn tea that will supposedly cure her ailment, but after failing to get the recipe just right, she eventually decides to just get her some regular tea to help soothe her. And when Misty visits to check on Pipp, Zipp take the opportunity to share with Pipp what she's been able to figure out regarding the evil alicorn Twilight Sparkle was trying to warn them about, but once Misty has heard all of it, she rushes back to the castle to inform Opaline, who is furious by how much they know and decides she must make her decisive move very soon. Later that night, Pipp is feeling much better, and decides to proceed with her livestream right there at home with her friends helping out.

While this episode doesn't show how Pipp got sick (unlike one episode of Tell Your Tale), it did put more focus on how her friends try their best to help her feel better. I've never been fond of excessive cringe, and this episode had quite a bit of it. I knew that, ultimately, the best thing they could do was just leave her alone and let her get some rest, though at least her sister Zipp knew her enough to take away her phone so she wouldn't have the temptation to speak or sing and thus allow her to get the vocal rest she needed. I didn't care much for the majority of this episode, though it did include Misty learning about everything Zipp figured out (albeit we don't hear any of it due to being presented as a montage). When Opaline is informed of this, she is upset not only at how much of her evil plans Zipp figured out, but also that one of the few things she was not able to figure out was Opaline's name, which I guess shows just how much of a narcissist Opaline really is. Oh, and I also liked the brief flashback that showed Pipp when she was a little filly, so that was nice to see in this series. Overall, a rather modest episode, but it does get me excited for what awaits in the next episode.

7: Missing the Mark

Spoiler: ShowHide

Misty is somehow finally able to actually bring Sparky to Opaline's castle, but remains indecisive up to the last steps. Once she eventually decides to bring Sparky back home, Opaline arrives and is delighted to see the baby dragon. Opaline then suspends Sparky in a magic bubble hanging just outside the castle and intends to simply let him fall once his dragon fire has been fully drained into the Dragon Stone. Despite being promised a cutie mark, Misty understands Sparky doesn't deserve such a fate, and decides to bring Sunny and her friends to free him. Meanwhile, those ponies try to find the missing Sparky, having learned their lessons from last time, though with even the magic lullaby failing to locate him, they grow increasingly worried. When they eventually run into Misty, she immediately tells them she knows where Sparky was taken, and while she's still reluctant to reveal the full truth of her involvement, they are willing to trust her and ride the Marestream to follow Misty's directions straight to Opaline's castle. As soon as they're inside the castle, Opaline catches them by surprise, trapping the other ponies in a magic-nullifying bubble, and once they learn the full truth of what Misty had really been up to the whole time, they are upset at being betrayed by someone they thought was their friend. Misty has some time to reflect on the consequences of her actions, and after multiple apologies to the main ponies, she concludes she would much rather live without a cutie mark than to serve the evil alicorn, and uses one of the magical torches to burst the magic bubble and free them. This selfless act turns out to be enough for Misty to suddenly earn her cutie mark. Now free and all on the same side, Misty plans a trap for Opaline. While Misty distracts Opaline by pretending to have been captured by Izzy and Pipp, Hitch and Zipp take advantage of the diversion to free Sparky, and once Opaline arrives, Sunny uses her alicorn form to take a stand against the evil fire alicorn. The ponies struggle at first with Sunny being trapped under some rubble and Pipp and Izzy getting trapped inside another magic bubble, but Zipp and Hitch return with Sparky just in time to help free them. Sunny and Opaline continue their epic alicorn magic battle, and with all of Sunny's friends (including Misty) encouraging her, their combined cutie mark magic is enough to overpower Opaline and trap her within a magic bubble. With Opaline stopped for now, Sunny and her friends return home, with Misty staying behind. It doesn't take long for Opaline to free herself and believing that Misty is still on her side demands her to clean up the mess inside the castle. Unknown to Opaline, Misty is now able to use unicorn magic thanks to her new cutie mark, allowing her to quickly clean everything, though she makes an effort to hide her magic and her cutie mark from Opaline. Back at the Brighthouse, the Main 5 ponies are glad to see Sparky will make a full recovery after some rest, and they reflect on their first battle against the evil Opaline. Misty then arrives and promises to them, her true friends, that she will do everything she can to help them stop Opaline. Meanwhile, Opaline has managed to absorb some of Sparky's dragon fire to restore some of her power, but she now speculates that with one baby dragon being around, the rest of the dragons are sure to soon awaken, which would allow her to obtain far more power than she could have previously hoped for.

Well, this is the one we've all been waiting to see. Sunny and her friends finally learn about the existence of Opaline Arcana, as well as realize the full truth of Misty's role in all of this. While the battle didn't end with a true defeat for Opaline, at least they were able to return home with Sparky soon to be just fine. We all knew Misty's ultimate fate was going to be to turn against Opaline and join Sunny and the others. However, what I find especially interesting from all of this is that Opaline is apparently not aware that Misty now actually has a cutie mark and can use unicorn magic, nor does she even seem to notice Misty's true allegiance has now switched to Sunny and her friends. This means that where Misty used to spy on her friends to help Opaline, now she will apparently be spying on Opaline to help her friends, a role reversal which is sure to make for a very interesting series of circumstances in the side content that is to follow (such as the upcoming episodes of Tell Your Tale). This episode saw the very first time Sunny and her friends had a battle against a real magical foe, and it was so worth the wait. I am really looking forward to see where the main storyline will progress from here. Overall, easily the best episode of this season, and perhaps even the best episode of all to date.

Well, it's been a long day, but I'm finally finished with all this writing. While not all episodes were really interesting to me, I especially enjoyed the overall storyline shown throughout this season. Trust me, if you wanted to see just how good this series could really get, Chapter 4 of Make Your Mark was likely the real defining period for all of G5 of My Little Pony. If you still don't like G5 after this point, then I can safely say it's probably not for you.

[f-22 "raptor" ace]

I'd say G5 is at the point where it's starting to get good.

[The Chronicler]

Issue 13 of the main comic series came out last week, so here's a six page preview of it:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/06/6-page-preview-for-g5-my-little-pony-13.html

Some rumors have started going around about upcoming content over the next year or so, but I won't bother sharing any of that since there's always a possibility such plans might change.

Here's this week's new episode of Tell Your Tale (and as I'm sure you might expect, it does involve spoilers for Chapter 4 of Make Your Mark):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGlSoKu-_JY

Spoiler: ShowHide

This episode is pretty much just a dramatic retelling of the events of the final episode of Chapter 4 of Make Your Mark, mostly told by Pipp with frequent interruptions from her friends that sometimes turn out inaccurate. Also notable is that Misty is with the Main Five ponies as a real friend with them, and not only does she now have an actual cutie mark, but also apparently had decided to change her hail color (perhaps that's why the dramatic retelling is taking place at Mane Melody). Overall, nothing really significant with this episode, just apparently an abridged version of the MYM episode Missing the Mark, and I'm somehow okay with that.

[The Chronicler]

The Bridlewoodstock special comic came out this week, so here's a five page preview:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/06/5-page-preview-for-my-little-pony.html

Also, the synopsis of a few upcoming comics was recently revealed, such as issue 17 of the main series and issue 3 of the Camp Bighoof miniseries:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/06/my-little-pony-g5-comic-17-revealed.html
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/06/my-little-pony-g5-comic-camp-bighoof-3.html

And here's this week's new episode of Tell Your Tale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2n5IpqeKog

Spoiler: ShowHide

So this episode apparently takes place during the Bridlewoodstock special from Make Your Mark, and... yeah, definitely not among my favorite episodes, and not just because I've already made clear how much I dislike anything involving makeovers. I seriously question Pipp's decision to retrieve the lost supplies herself and leave her friends (who apparently have little to no experience with makeovers) to manage the booth. The struggles were easy to foresee, and somehow the solution to all that big mess was to just have fun with it? I honestly don't know what kind of message this episode was trying to send, so I'd have to consider this one of my least favorite episodes for numerous reasons.

[The Chronicler]

Two more comics were released in the past two weeks. Last week was issue 14 of the main series, so here's a five page preview:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/07/5-page-preview-for-g5-my-little-pony-14.html

This week's comic release is the 40th anniversary special featuring three different stories, so here are some preview pages from each of them:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/07/5-page-preview-for-idw-my-little-pony.html
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/07/preview-pages-for-idw-my-little-pony.html

And here's this week's new episode of Tell Your Tale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FITJDus_348

Spoiler: ShowHide

So it's another episode that takes place during the Bridlewoodstock special, and I'll say that it's another one that I don't find all that entertaining. Electric Blue suddenly lose their gear down a sinkhole just before they're due onstage, so Hitch keeps the crowd distracted while the others help them clean up and get properly ready to perform, only for Izzy to mess them up again with her excessive catering, but after taking a look at everyone attending the festival, they decide to just go ahead with their show despite their messy appearance. Unlike last week's episode, I kind of understand the message of this episode, but again the way it's presented doesn't exactly seem to make any sense to me. I think at this point it might be fair to say that anything regarding Bridlewoodstock is just not for me.

[The Chronicler]

The biggest reveal over the past two weeks was this preview clip from Chapter 5 of Make Your Mark, which will supposedly release on Netflix in September, so that'll be just two months from now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ41suxIJa0

Also on Netflix, episodes 21-40 of Tell Your Tale are now available to watch:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/07/episodes-2140-of-my-little-pony-tell.html

For the comics, the first issue of the Camp Bighoof miniseries just released:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/07/my-little-pony-camp-bighoof-1-released.html

The synopsis of issue 4 of the Camp Bighoof miniseries was recently revealed:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/07/preview-page-for-g5-my-little-pony-camp_21.html

Also revealed was the synopsis of issue 18 of the main comic series:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/07/my-little-pony-g5-comic-18-revealed.html

And yet another comic synopsis revealed is for a one-off special, featuring Misty's first comic appearance:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/07/my-little-pony-g5-comic-oneshot-black.html

Finally, here's this week's new episode of Tell Your Tale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc37JUMQZVU

Spoiler: ShowHide

Looks like we're finally done with the Bridlewood prequel episodes and moving on to some real new stuff, seeing as Misty is casually hanging around town (complete with her new hair color). In this episode, Zipp is confused why no one wants to spend a hot summer day at the beach, and everyone she tries to suggest joining her at the beach flat out refuse for whatever various reasons. Thankfully, Misty had seen Zipp's struggles and feels bad for her, so she decides to join her at the beach on her own (it also helps that she had never been able to enjoy a beach day before and was eager to experience it for herself for the first time). When they start sharing pictures on social media about how much fun the two of them are having at the beach, everyone else in town finally decide to also have a fun day at the beach (though Zipp remains frustrated that everyone behaves as if she had never even made the suggestion in the first place). While not exactly one of the best episodes, it's certainly not a bad one, and I do approve of the moral that sometimes it takes just one friend joining you to show everyone else just how much fun something as simple as a day at the beach can be.

[The Chronicler]

Issue 15 of the main comic series released last week, so here's the five page preview:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/08/5-page-preview-for-g5-my-little-pony-15.html

And here's this week's new episode of Tell Your Tale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcT9OJCCO2g

Spoiler: ShowHide

Once again, we're reminded that in G5 MLP, cutie marks glow whenever ponies do something that is an expression of their true self. This time, Misty struggles to figure that out for herself due to how recently she had gotten her cutie mark. Izzy's efforts to help result in several embarrassing moments for Misty, but when Sunny has a personal conversation about how her early struggles with becoming an alicorn made her feel lonely at times, Misty is able express sympathy with her, which then causes her cutie mark to finally start glowing. I consider this episode to be relatively good, not among the greats, but still good enough that I enjoyed watching it.

[The Chronicler]

The first issue of the "Unicorn of Odd" classics reimagined comic miniseries just released. Can't find any preview pics, so here's the news link about its release:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/08/my-little-pony-classics-reimagined.html

We've also got some more revealed about the upcoming Chapter 5 of Make Your Mark. Here's a few teaser images:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/08/netflix-releases-more-teasers-for-my.html

Also revealed regarding Chapter 5 is that it will officially release on Netflix on September 18. Some preview clips have also been released, though I'm avoiding the lyric videos for two of the songs. However, I will share this preview clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=besrQL8RZlU

And with that, here's this week's new episode of Tell Your Tale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9rdIjoOlDQ

Spoiler: ShowHide

Apparently in this Equestria, the moon makes its closest approach once every ten years, during which Zephyr Heights has a huge celebration called the Moon Festival (featuring a lot of Chinese style, for some reason). Notably, this is the first one since magic returned, and while nearly all the other ponies try to enjoy themselves, Zipp notices everyone's magic powers seem to be getting out of control. She eventually figures out that the moon is somehow supercharging magic, so to get everything back under control, she and her friends work together to send up a bunch of paper lanterns to block the moon, which blocks its effects on magic with the bonus of a spectacular show. This episode featured a rather interesting concept, but so much more could've been done with it, so I consider this a perfect example of something that would've worked better in a longer episode rather than these five minute episodes (unless if they plan to feature this concept in a few more episodes). Overall, a rather interesting episode, but certainly could've been better.

[The Chronicler]

The upcoming Chapter 5 of Make Your Mark will consist of six episodes, and it seems the names of three of them were recently revealed:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/09/three-episode-titles-for-my-little-pony.html

Quite a lot going on with the comics recently. Last week, the one-off summer special comic released. A couple preview pages:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/08/2-page-itunes-preview-released-for-idw.html

The synopsis of a couple upcoming comics were revealed. Specifically, issue 19 of the main series, and the 5th and final issue of the Camp Bighoof miniseries:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/08/my-little-pony-generation-5-19.html
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/08/my-little-pony-camp-big-hoof-5-synopsis.html

And this week, not one but two comics officially released on the same day, issue 16 of the main series, and issue 2 of the Camp Bighoof miniseries. Some preview pages of both comics respectively:
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/09/5-page-preview-for-g5-my-little-pony-16.html
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/09/5-page-preview-for-g5-my-little-pony.html

Finally, here's this week's new episode of Tell Your Tale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRlbN5hJ77Y

Spoiler: ShowHide

Pipp's next perfume launch is ruined when Izzy fails to be honest about accidentally ruining the batch that makes it attractive to critters but not ponies. Pipp and Izzy later stumble across a field of special flowers that give off the scent of whatever someone likes, but supply is very limited, and despite Izzy's warning, Pipp takes too many and causes a very rapid ecological collapse. Thankfully, Pipp uses her ruined perfume to summon the critters to replant the flowers and quickly asks Sunny and Hitch to use their earth pony magic to restore life to the flowers. The effort works, and a large magical tree also grows to reward Pipp with its petals for doing the right thing. What I'm getting from this episode are two morals: lying to cover up your mistakes is very bad, and you should respect nature by not taking too much from it. Overall, while not quite a favorite, I can appreciate the messages of this episode.

And since Chapter 5 of Make Your Mark will officially release on September 18, that means my next post here will be about those six episodes. (and hopefully I'll be able to set aside enough time to watch and review them all...)

[The Chronicler]

Tomorrow, Chapter 5 of Make Your Mark will become available to watch on Netflix, consisting of six 22-minute episodes. As I have done previously, I'll share summaries of each episode (for those of you who can't or won't watch them for whatever reasons but would still like to know what happens) and my initial thoughts on those episodes. I'll edit this post throughout the day as I watch each episode, with everything obviously being under spoiler tags. After how the previous chapter ended, I am really looking forward to seeing what happens in this chapter.

1: Cutie Blossom Bash

Spoiler: ShowHide

The main ponies, including Misty, travel to Zephyr Heights for the annual Cutie Blossom Bash, where young ponies get to show off their newly acquired cutie marks. Misty is nervous about being part of it, so to help calm her nerves, her friends share stories about how they got their cutie marks (Sunny was selling lemonade when she resolved a dispute between two ponies, Zipp practiced parkour in her effort to figure out to help pegasi fly, Pipp was so awed by her sister's actions that she sang in public, Hitch chose to stop playing with the bullying colts he had been with and instead began playing with the filly who had been bullied by them, and Izzy found a growing pile of junk that she decided to rebuild into a small fountain which inspired her to to start calling her talents "unicycling" (as in "a unicorn who likes to recycle")). Once they arrive, Queen Haven makes final preparations with help from Hitch and Zipp due to potential rain in the area, while Pipp helps Misty get ready for the celebration (including giving her a new color for her mane and tail). As the bash begins with a meal with the other ponies who also got their cutie marks within the past year, Misty continues to be nervously awkward, and when the time comes to present themselves out in front of a large audience, Misty backs out at the last second and confesses her immense shyness to her friends. Her friends apologize for being too excited by the ceremony to not realize that it just wasn't for her, so they instead arrange a small private celebration that involves planting a sapling in the same garden where Pipp and Zipp had once done the same, and after a song, their combined magic causes it to quickly grow into a massive tree. After all of that, Misty makes one final confession that Opaline was not really defeated and that Misty has decided to become a double agent, meaning she will now spy on Opaline to help her friends while pretending to still be on Opaline's side. When Misty returns to the dark castle, she uses makeup to cover her cutie mark and passes off her changed hair color as some magical incident, and it seems Opaline remains completely unaware of Misty's switched allegiance.

One thing I really liked about this episode is how we got to see how all of the Main Five ponies got their cutie marks through flashbacks. Among them, we even got to see Sunny's father Argyle once more (though he didn't actually speak and was instead quoted by Sunny), so while we may never know what happened to Argyle, at least it's now confirmed that he got to see his daughter earn her cutie mark. Interestingly, unlike the winter wishing holiday, the Cutie Blossom Bash is one type of celebration that had been almost identical between the three pony tribes, despite being kept separate for a very long time, and is only now being celebrated in a single unified event for the first time. This episode also conveniently kept Sparky absent by having Hitch let Grandma Figgy take care of the baby dragon while he remains exhausted from having his magic drained. And while the end of Chapter 4 implied Misty would from now on be spying on Opaline to help her friends rather than the other way around, it was nice to see this episode make it official, even going so far as to have Misty reveal Opaline was not really defeated but rather had only suffered a brief setback. It was also kind of amusing how oblivious Opaline seemed to be regarding Misty's absence throughout the episode. Overall, it was a nice episode to tie up some loose ends from the previous episode.

2: Family Trees (Part 1)

Spoiler: ShowHide

Misty has a bad dream and quickly warns her friends that it might mean trouble ahead for them, though she is unable to remember much from the dream. When she mentions that she had lied about being from Bridlewood and couldn't recall ever being there, Izzy decides they should all go there right away, with Hitch agreeing in the hope they might find something to help the still very tired Sparky. Along the way Pipp decides to temporarily stop using her phone entirely for the sake of improved mindfulness while also searching for ingredients for a new beauty product. Once they arrive, Zipp is eager to get answers from Misty's vision, but Sunny insists on being patient and letting Misty figure it out on her own time. As they tour around Bridlewood, Misty realizes what she's been seeing is actually memory flashbacks, but is not yet able to piece together anything more than that she once lived in Bridlewood when she was a filly. When they reach the wishing tree, it triggers a hurtful memory for Misty, which causes her magic to react with the tree. The tree not only blossoms brightly, but also releases several breezies, who are eager to welcome everypony inside the tree for the Night Market. Meanwhile, Queen Haven is visiting Alphabittle, and when Haven asks him to consider opening a second shop in Zephyr Heights, he insists on staying in Bridlewood for personal reasons he refuses to explain, but then some breezies arrive to also invite them to the Night Market. As everypony explores the Night Market, Zipp continues pressing Misty for answers to her vision while Sunny keeps assuring Misty to take as much time as she needs to, Hitch struggles to find anything that can help Sparky, and despite trying to stay off her phone Pipp refuses to trade it away for some ingredients that interest her. When Zipp is distracted by Haven's arrival and Sunny is distracted by some special berries for new smoothies, Misty follows one breezie who gives her a key that can only be used once to find what she most desires. When Alphabittle arrives, Zipp decides to introduce him to Misty, but she and her friends soon realize Misty has gone missing...

Quite an interesting cliffhanger to end this episode on. It sure is nice that we're starting to see some hints to Misty's past, which we will likely see more of in the next part. In addition, it is very nice that the Breezies from G4 have also made a comeback, apparently having stayed hidden within the Wishing Tree while gathering bits and pieces of the outside world over the ages (though a couple breezies seem particularly fascinated with Pipp's phone, having never seen such "magic"). (Interestingly, their language is the same as the pony language, only spoken much faster to the point that most can't understand it.) Also, at this point, it's starting to become highly suspicious that there might be some past connection between Misty and Alphabittle, but I guess we'll see about that in the next part.

3: Family Trees (Part 2)

Spoiler: ShowHide

Misty somehow ends up lost somewhere outside, but one breezie is able to guide her back to the Night Market. While her friends search for her, Sparky is suddenly rejuvenated when he encounters a fossil dragon footprint, but the effect lasts only temporarily, leading Hitch to realize that the cure for Sparky is to get him somewhere with a lot of dragon magic. Misty eventually returns and reveals the key that was given to her. After they do some searching around the market, Zipp eventually finds the door from Misty's vision hidden under some overgrowth. While Misty remains curious about her past, she decides to use the one-use-only key to take Sparky to his homeland, opening a portal to the Dragonlands. Once they arrive at a strange jungle, Sparky quickly becomes energetic again, but the six ponies start becoming concerned by the apparent lack of other dragons, speculating things like maybe they all left or perhaps Opaline got to them. With Sparky cured and seemingly nothing else to find, they decide to return home (thanks to a trail of flowers Pipp was smart enough to leave behind). Once back in Bridlewood, the door closes, as well as the gate to the Night Market, with one Breezie noting that there's no certainty when it will next reopen. Despite concerns from her friends, Misty assures then that she's okay with still not getting answers about her past, as she sees them as her new family, much like with Sparky. When Pipp reveals some photos her family had taken with Alphabittle earlier in the Night Market, Misty suddenly has another flashback revealing that Alphabittle is actually her father. Meanwhile, Alphabittle confesses to Haven that the real reason he refuses to leave Briddlewood is because his daughter went missing a long time ago and he still holds onto the faint hope that she might one day return. The moment he had hoped for occurs literally seconds later when Misty arrives with her friends, and the long lost father and daughter tearfully reunite.

To be honest, Alphabittle being Misty's father was perhaps one of the worst kept secrets of this season, mostly due to some promo images that came out over the past few months and everyone kept speculating about it (heck, I even read a fanfiction that someone had written about that concept over the last few weeks). Even so, it was nice to see Misty finally reconnect with a lost part of her past, despite sacrificing the key she could've used herself to instead help Sparky. Speaking of which, while we didn't see any other dragons, we did get a glimpse of their homeland, including some footprints and some statues scattered around. It seems the big mystery now is where all the dragons might be and what possibly might have happened to them. (Oh, one thing I forgot to mention in part 1, while there were plenty of remarks about how the Night Market seemed so vast for being inside a tree, I'm surprised no one said something like "it's bigger on the inside" or "it looked smaller on the outside", so that was a missed opportunity for some meta humor.) Overall, a very nice two part episode that's got me eager to see more.

4: Father of the Bridlewood

Spoiler: ShowHide

Alphabittle is very excited to have Misty back in his life, but while Misty is happy to be reunited with her father, her inability to remember anything from her childhood with him makes her struggle to enjoy her time with him, especially since he seems to remember her younger self being a vary different pony from who she is now. Most notably, she used to love being in the spotlight, while her current shyness makes her terrified of any amount of attention. After several efforts to do all the things they used to do, Alphabittle eventually comes to understand that the young filly he once knew is now a grown mare with different interests, but Misty would still like to spend time with him, so they agree to try some new activities they both might enjoy. While all of that was going on, Zipp is still desperate for answers, but Sunny firmly insists they should leave Misty alone for now, so Izzy suggests introducing them to Elder Flower, who has much wisdom to share despite her strange manners. Once properly acquainted, Elder Flower agrees to share some stories on the condition that they let her visit Zephyr Heights. As Elder Flower excitedly explores the city and does some shopping for vintage fashion, Sunny and Zipp eventually come up with the idea of showing her the old hangar in hopes that it might remind her of some interesting stories, but once they get her there, she tells them of a story about some greedy bat. As they prepare to depart, Elder Flower notices the tree that Misty has recently planted and refers to it as a Together Tree, and when Sunny and Zipp ask about it, she goes on to explain there are others like it around Equestria with interconnected roots that help spread unity magic. At the end of that day, Alphabittle decides to let Misty stay with her friends at the Brighthouse and arranges to have many of her belongings moved there. Once they're finished unpacking, Sunny and Zipp return and ask Elder Flower to share her story of the Together Trees with the others.

I'm certainly curious how Misty seems to lack any memories at all of when she used to live in Bridlewood with her father, especially since the daughter Alphabittle seems to remember is very different from the Misty we know. Their interactions in this episode kinda reminded me of the G4 episode where Rarity is forced to realize that Sweetie Belle is growing up and has developed different interests. As for Elder Flower, while that greedy bat story might have come across as nonsense to Sunny and Zipp, I can't help but think of it as a metaphor for how Opaline tried to take over and how she was stopped in the past. Worth noting is that the old hanger in Zephyr Heights now looks a bit cleaner than when we last saw it way back in the New Generation movie, including the stained glass window apparently being restored (though still lacking the middle panel for the earth pony crystal). Another minor detail I picked up is that Elder Flower briefly remarked that an ancestor of hers (specifically her many times great aunt) is named Moondancer, so make of that what you will. Lastly, the way Elder Flower described those Together Trees makes me wonder if they might somehow be related to the Tree of Harmony from G4. Overall, awkward moments for Misty aside, this was a relatively nice episode.

5: Mane Smelody

Spoiler: ShowHide

While foraging in Bridlewood for ingredients for new beauty products, Pipp stumbles across a type of flower that makes her hooves shine brightly, but it also comes with a foul odor. Even so, she gathers those plants and brings them back to Mane Melody and prepares to sell the new hoof polish. Jazz, Zipp, and Sunny all try to respectfully keep quiet about the stench, and Jazz reluctantly goes along with Pipp as they open the salon for the new treatment. Meanwhile, Zipp continues investigating and asks Sunny if they could search through what little remains of her father's research, and they soon come across a mysterious map. Unable to figure out what it's for, they try searching the Breezie Night Market, but while they are unable to find any answers, one breezie gifts them a heart-shaped ruby with a cryptic message that one with friends is never alone. After returning home and getting no help from Hitch, Misty suddenly arrives and warns them of Opaline's new plan to enchant all of the recently awakened dragons to steal their dragon fire power. Back at Mane Melody, business continues to remain booming, and Jazz soon discovers it's because the new hoof treatment has become a viral challenge about enduring the stench. Soon after, Izzy arrives and quickly identifies the stench as being from the stinkiest plant in all of Bridlewood, though one is able to get used to it after a while, which explains why Pipp seems to not be affected by it. After all of that, Jazz finally confesses the full truth to Pipp, who takes it remarkably well now that everything makes sense to her. And rather conveniently, Izzy returns with a pink flower that is able to neutralize the stench of the new hoof polish.

Quite honestly, I feel like the main plot of this episode would've worked better as a Tell Your Tale episode. It's actually the side plot that more interests me, as it involves further investigation into events surrounding the entire series. Sadly, it is now confirmed that a large majority of Argyle's research had been destroyed with Sunny's old lighthouse, though at least some bits and pieces managed to survive. And at the part where Sunny and Zipp visited Hitch, no one seemed to notice the mystery map glowed along with Sparky's scales, so that could imply the map might have something to do with the Dragonlands. Also, if you remember a certain G4 episode, I think you might remember where we last saw a heart shaped ruby. Overall, not much interest for me from this episode, but I'll take whatever new clues we can get.

6: Nightmare on Mane Street

Spoiler: ShowHide

It's Nightmare Night, and there's a lot going on. Hitch has planned a lot of events for the town, but nopony seems to be interested in any of them. Also, Pipp has plans to open the Brighthouse as a haunted house experience, with help from Izzy on lighting, Zipp on some decorations, and Sunny with preparing all kinds of treats. However, Pipp ends up distracted by her desire to give a good scare to Misty, who turns out to be very nonreactive to playful scares. Meanwhile, Opaline is surprised to see a bunch of pumpkins suddenly appear in her castle, but soon realizes it's because her old Together Tree she had grown through her castle is now connected to the one in Maretime Bay (which had been grown by Hitch and his friends back in episode 2 of chapter 2), and anything and anyone can now travel between the two locations by simply standing in just the right spot. She makes a dramatic entrance into town, but since she fails to recognize the ongoing holiday festivities, she is frustrated that everyone brushes off her threats as little more than a playful act. The only time she manages to genuinely terrify somepony is when she steals Posey's cutie mark, proving that she really is capable of doing that to another pony, but doesn't go any further with it due to how time consuming such an effort would be for an entire town. While that's going on, once the "Frighthouse" opens, there's very little organization and things quickly become a big mess, eventually driving Sunny to close the attraction and kick out all the guests. In the aftermath, everyone comes to the conclusion that they were all so focused on following their traditions that they were unable to have any fun with each other. The next morning, a mishap causes Sparky to use his dragon fire on the mystery map from the previous episode, completely restoring it to reveal that it leads to the Dragonlands, so the six ponies decide to use the map to get there first before Opaline can threaten the dragons.

We already saw some Nightmare Night themed episodes of Tell Your Tale last year, so it was a little strange to see everyone behaving as if this was the first one held since the pony tribes reunited. There were quite a lot of side plots in this episode, but some just went nowhere, like Jazz and Rocky trying to find the golden pumpkin from one of Hitch's events. I was also quite confused about what lessons were supposed to be learned from the "Frighthouse" fiasco. One thing I did like from this episode was Opaline discovering a way for her to finally enter Equestria, but her unfortunately poor timing ended up greatly diminishing whatever terror she had intended to unleash upon arrival. Even so, with Posey having her cutie mark stolen, there's bound to be a ton of speculation regarding what will happen as a result of that alone (I suppose it's possible we might see it addressed in one of the upcoming Tell Your Tale episodes). Overall, quite a bit of a mixed bag with this episode, and ended somewhat anticlimactically with a lot of open ends. At least it's good to know that Chapter 6 is due to be released in just two months.

And that covers all of the episodes of Chapter 5. And we won't have to wait too long to find out what happens next, because Chapter 6 is scheduled to officially released on November 23.

[The Chronicler]

Not much new to share this week, probably due to the release of Chapter 5 of Make Your Mark. At least another preview clip of it recently went up on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2pcEVGHH90

Anyway, at least we still have another new episode of Tell Your Tale this week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9H_FioujnE

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So this episode features Sunny and Windy earning Trail Trotters badges, specifically going for wilderness survival with the rest of Sunny's friends (including Misty, of course). Things get crazy when a bunnisus (pegasus bunny) comes into contact with a special crystal that causes it to grow into a giant, so the ponies work together to stop it from causing any further problems and eventually shrink it back to normal with some other crystals. While it was interesting to see Windy join the main six ponies for once, I honestly thought that with this being the first episode following the release of new Make Your Mark episodes we might get some acknowledgement of those events, but nope, just more of the same for now. Overall, just another mediocre episode, as far as I'm concerned.