The My Little Pony

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6060 on:** May 19, 2018, 08:23:09 AM

~LIVE STREAM POST~

Here's the link to the Live Streams for today's episode.

Season 8 Episode 10 - The Break Up Breakdown Live Stream

Expect the link to the online version later today.

See ya later!

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6061 on:** May 19, 2018, 01:15:20 PM

~EPISODE POST~

Well, here's the episode! Enjoy the drama.

Season 8 Episode 10 - The Break Up Breakdown Online Version

Not sure how much I'll be able to do next week. However, expect my review tomorrow.

Until then, see ya later!

The Chronicler · **Reply #6062 on:** May 19, 2018, 09:00:21 PM

Nice to see EqD is finally back to mentioning the Equestria Girls shorts being released on YouTube.
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2018/05/eqg-short-blue-crushed-now-on-hasbro.html
And here's the direct link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9D-wQgSSvc
(spoilers)
Rainbow Dash and Applejack are ready to go surfing at the beach. Fluttershy politely declines their offer to let her join them, but her brother Zephyr Breeze comes over with his own surfboard, bragging that he's a pro, though Fluttershy points out that he actually only just got that surfboard. As we all know, Rainbow Dash doesn't appreciate his behavior, so she and Applejack make him put his money where his mouth is by actually going out surfing. Predictably, Zephyr quickly wipes out and has to be brought back to shore by a lifeguard. Back on the beach, Zephyr confesses his lies about being a pro and begs Rainbow Dash to give him lessons. Rainbow reluctantly agrees, but only because she cares more about his surfboard than Zephyr himself.

Zephyr Breeze makes his second appearance (third if you also count his introduction in My Little Pony), and he's just as pathetic as ever. I'd argue this was his best appearance, because this time he actually faced the consequences for his unreasonably arrogant claims. And of course, his notorious crush on Rainbow Dash gets a major burn when she mentions that she loves his surfboard more than she loves him.
(end spoilers)

And here's my review for this week's episode.
(spoilers)
Hearts & Hooves Day has arrived, and Big Mac plans on mailing an apple pie to Sugar Belle, along with an invitation for a special date in his family's barn. However, he needs to get it in the mail very soon and it's taking too long to bake, so Spike summons Discord and asks him to use his chaos magic to instantly finish the pie. Discord begrudgingly agrees, but refuses to understand the point of the holiday. Meanwhile, Big Mac is able to mail the pie, but the address gets smudged during handling to now say "_____ Belle", so it ends up being sent to Sweetie Belle, leaving her and her friends to wonder who sent it to her.

Spike makes a wager with Discord in an effort to get him to understand to purpose of the holiday, but during their efforts, they find Sugar Belle talking to Mrs. Cake. They tell Big Mac that Sugar Belle is in town, but as they attempt to stall her before the special date is ready, they overheard her saying some things that lead to the assumption that she's planning to break up with him. Big Mac is unsure what to do, and Discord (still not caring anything about love) gives him some rather poor advice, resulting in Big Mac telling Sugar Belle their relationship is over, much to her absolute shock.

Back at the barn, as Big Mac talks with Spike and the CMCs, he realizes he make a terrible mistake and runs off to talk to Sugar Belle, while Discord (finally seeing how real Big Mac's feelings really were) offers to do something about it. Big Mac catches up to Sugar Belle and admits he still loves her, and after some more talking, it was all revealed to be just a big misunderstanding (astonishingly, the truth turned out to be exactly that wild speculation Spike had made earlier in the episode). Meanwhile, unable to identify the supposed secret admirer, the CMCs start eating the pie and when they find the invitation inside, they realize that the pie was actually meant for Sugar Belle, meaning there was never any secret admirer, but they're okay with that. Finally, as Spike and Discord talk at the end of the day, Discord reveals that he broke Sugar Belle's wagon, stalling her just long enough for Big Mac to catch up, thus proving to Spike that even Discord can understand the spirit of Hearts & Hooves Day.

This was practically a 3-in-1 episode with not just Big Mac misunderstanding a break-up with Sugar Belle, but also with Spike trying to get Discord to understand the spirit of the holiday, and with the Cutie Mark Crusaders trying to identify a non-existent secret admirer for Sweetie Belle. As part of the lesson about avoiding misunderstandings, I like that we got a reminder that Big Mac used to be a lot chattier back when he was younger (as we saw in that flashback episode of young Applejack telling lies). I was quite surprised by Discord's involvement in this episode, let alone how much he was part of it. However, due to this episode being about the issues of misunderstandings, there were quite a lot of cringe moments that I'm never fond of, so I personally would rank this as a rather average episode.
(end spoilers)

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6063 on:** May 20, 2018, 03:08:18 PM

~REVIEW POST~

You know, I seem to hardly care about this episode. Still, here's my review. Spoilers below.

The main reason for me not caring about this one isn't because I find it bad, but I find it uninteresting. Big Mac has a big plan for Sugar Belle on Hearts & Hooves Day, but a simple misunderstanding pretty much changes all that. Basically, I knew this was going to happen before I even watched it. I wasn't even spoiled in any way, shape or form. (At least what I consider "spoiled" to mean. I don't see knowing the summary as being spoiled. After all, who knows what twists will come?) I knew a misunderstanding would happen and I knew it would be resolved by the end. It was more the journey of getting there that would determine how much I liked it.

I love Discord, but he didn't help much here. He was more of a device to get the story rolling than anything else. I fully understand his opinion on the holiday and I would argue that he's "not wrong" about it. The Greeting Card Industry have done shady things like that. However, this is more of a holiday they "took advantage" of rather. It was nice to see him understand that there is something to this holiday and help Big Mac resolve things with Sugar Belle.

As for the CMCs. I almost feel like their thing was put in because the writers didn't have enough material and had to put in something to pad out the run time. In the end, they just enjoy the pie that was mistakenly sent to them and find it was all a simple mistake.

There's really nothing I found that interesting in the end.

This episode couldn't keep my interest and that's just sad, really.

Next time, Spike episode.

See ya later!

DarkWolf91 · **Reply #6064 on:** May 20, 2018, 09:26:43 PM

I've really enjoyed the new season so far, and I don't usually comment on these, but man did I hate this episode.

*spoilers start*

Okay, what better premise to use for an episode than the done-ten-million-times-over breakup misunderstanding plot? It was obvious how this episode was going to resolve right at the start, and none of the filler in the middle could save it from being boring and pointless. They even used Spike to comment on how absolutely dumb the premise was as if that would somehow make it okay. And then, in a "big surprise" twist of lazy writing, Spike's completely implausible explanation turned out to be the truth.

I've never felt mad at MLP before, but this episode was completely inane. It was out of character for Big Mac considering the HUGE effort he went through to prove his devotion to Sugar Belle, and all it served to do was make me question the strength and premise of their relationship.

*end spoilers*

0/10, awful episode. Not even Discord could save this dud.

The Chronicler · **Reply #6065 on:** May 21, 2018, 07:00:37 PM

I have to say, it's quite interesting to see such a divergence of opinions between us here and the majority of comments on Equestria Daily over the last two episodes. This most recent episode is one we didn't really like, while EqD comments were largely very positive, but the previous episode is one we seemed to like just fine, while EqD comments were largely very negative. There were a few exceptions, but that's how most of those comments went. (I don't mind reading those comments there, as they sometimes point out some interesting things I may not have noticed. Of course, I never read any of them until after I've posted my thoughts here, just to be sure that what I say here is entirely my personal opinion. Not to mention, since I don't have a discord account, I can't make any comments there myself, so that means no temptation for me to get involved with any craziness.) Quite a strange observation, but I won't let it affect my thoughts on the show itself.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6066 on:** May 26, 2018, 12:59:17 AM

~SUMMARY POST~

So, I'll be able to post the summary and the Live Stream posts, but I am unsure as to whether or not I'll be able to post the Online Post. I'll try to, but I make no guarantees.

For now, here's the summary for tomorrow's episode.

------------------
Season 8 Episode 11

Title: Molt Down

Summary: Spike struggles with a series of Bizarre symptoms that Smolder explains is something all dragons go through in adolescence-- "the molt." To Spike's horror, Smolder also reveals an unfortunate "molt side-effect," that compels a molter's family to kick them out of the house!
-------------------

Spike drama it looks like.

As always, expect the Live Stream tomorrow morning.

See ya later!

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6067 on:** May 26, 2018, 08:17:17 AM

~LIVE STREAM POST~

Remember, no guarantee I'll be able to get the online post up. In the meantime, here's the link to the Live Streams.

Season 8 Episode 11 - Molt Down Live Stream

Enjoy!

See ya later!

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6068 on:** May 26, 2018, 05:05:58 PM

~ONLINE POST~

Well, here's the link to an episode I have yet to watch at this time.

Season 8 Episode 11 - Molt Down Online Version

I will see it later today and then give my review tomorrow.

Until then, see ya later!

The Chronicler · **Reply #6069 on:** May 26, 2018, 09:00:29 PM

(Due to the unexpected issues with this forum, I will be saving a copy of this post, in case if I have to repost it later. I have already done so for my review from last week, as we've been told that was the first day for which posts on this forum might not be saved.)

I'm glad that EqD continues to regularly mention the Equesria Girls shorts as they're released on YouTube each week.
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2018/05/equestria-girls-unsolved-selfie.html
And here's the direct link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh_XVqEKbuM
(spoilers)
Twilight, Sunset, Pinkie, and Fluttershy take a selfie at the beach and discover in the background of their picture is a mysterious object in the water. Sunset and Pinkie immediately assume it's a sea monster, but Twilight and Fluttershy are more skeptical. To solve the mystery, Fluttershy immediately goes into the water, Sunset and Pinkie prepare to follow, while Twilight watches from a lifeguard shack (where Timber Spruce happens to be working). While Pinkie complains about not going into the water without her floatie, she and Sunset are about to head out when the mystery object starts coming ashore, and are soon joined by Twilight and Timber when they also see it. However, it just turns out to be Fluttershy carrying Pinkie's lost floatie.

I really liked this short because it featured a difference of beliefs among these girls that actually makes sense. Sunset, being from Equestria where magical monsters are real, is quick to believe it's a sea monster; Twilight (note that this is human Twilight, not pony Twilight) is much more skeptical, since she puts her trust in science; Pinkie is gullible enough to believe in just about anything; and Fluttershy is doubtful because, thanks to her magical geode, she couldn't hear anything coming from the object. Oh, and we also got to see Sunset's swimwear without that sarong, revealing that she really does wear a bikini.
(end spoilers)

And here's my review for this week's episode.
(spoilers)
Rarity is interested in trying to design some new fashion with a phoenix theme, so Spike volunteers to take her to see his former pet, Peewee, who has now grown enough to have his own nest. However, Spike starts getting some red itchy scales, but is convinced it'll go away after a good night's rest. But the next day, not only have his itchy scales gotten much worse, he's also now got uncontrollable bursts of fire breath, uncontrollable changes in the volume of his voice, and really awful body odor. Fortunately, Smolder (one of the Student Six) happens to be there to explain that the symptoms Spike is experiencing is the Molt, which is essentially a dragon version of puberty. In addition, supposedly all dragons end up kicked out of their old homes when they Molt, which of course terrifies Spike.

Spike goes to Zecora and desperately asks for something to stop his Molt. She is unable to prevent what is after all a natural part of growing up, though she does offer him a lotion to help ease some of the symptoms. But then Rarity shows up seeking a cure for her hearing (apparently, she went deaf due to Spike's voice having one of its sudden increase in volume), so Spike escapes out a window while Zecora distracts her. After Rarity leaves, Zecora finds Spike outside, only to find out the hard way that Spike's Molt odor also attracts predators like rocs (a giant eagle). The roc captures Zecora, then also captures Rarity. Twilight soon shows up and attempts to save them, while Spike undergoes the final stage of the Molt; temporarily petrified by his own skin, then breaking free and discovering that he now has wings. Immediately putting his new wings to good use (though he certainly has trouble controlling them at first, much like when Twilight first got her wings), he helps Twilight rescue Rarity and Zecora. When Spike admits his fears of being forced to leave, Twilight assures him that he'll still be just as welcomed to stay as he always was.

Let's face it, with Spike finally gaining wings, this is one of those episodes that features a major change to one of the main characters, much like when Twilight became an Alicorn or when the Cutie Mark Crusaders got their cutie marks. Of course, with Spike living among ponies his whole life, he was obviously going to have absolutely no idea about certain things that most dragons consider as a natural part of growing up. Good thing one of the students at the Friendship School happens to be a dragon who had already gone through those changes herself (also, Smolder even mentions at one point that she has an older brother), though it seems that the part where Molting dragons are forced to leave home is actually more of a cultural effect rather than a biological one. It'll be interesting to see what kind of antics Spike will be up to now that he has wings. (And make sure to watch closely the intro for next week's episode to see if they'll include Spike wings, much like for when the CMCs got their cutie marks.) Anyway, despite a few cringe moments, I found this to be a rather good episode.
(end spoilers)

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6070 on:** May 27, 2018, 09:46:00 AM

~REVIEW POST~

I have made a commitment to stay away from the comment section of EqD. (Especially after what happened with a certain blog post.) However, I bet I can guess what the reaction was. Spoilers below.

In all this is one of the better Spike-oriented episodes. However, there are much better ones. However, for what we got, it was quite good.

I found this both entertaining and fascinating. Fascinating to find out exactly what was going on with Spike and seeing what the writers came up with for such an important change. Entertaining due to all of the antics that happened with this episode.

It's definitely a good thing Smolder was around to clear things up. However, a part of me wishes that she didn't bring up the whole "forced to leave the nest" thing dragons in The Dragonlands do. It would have been interesting to see what lengths Spike would have gone to just to protect his friends from himself. He did have little to no control over those uncontrollable fire burps. Still, it made for better antics in the end.

Let's get to the crux of the matter though. During a confrontation with a Roc, after turning to stone and breaking out of his petrified state, Spike developed wings. This is a change the fandom has been waiting for. Much like the CMCs getting their cutie marks, we knew this was going to happen eventually. How it would happen though, was much of a mystery. Dragons are pretty much a fantasy realm creature. You can make up quite a bit of lore around them. For the most part, the writer(s) in question couldn't be proven wrong because they can pretty much make up whatever they want. Spike being I'd say about 10 years old (maybe a few years older) when the series started gave the writers a lot of room to work with on how he would develop with becoming an adult, especially if the series lasted long enough for some of the bigger changes, which the series did.

Spike is someone who has been with us from the start. Seeing how he has grown has been a fun ride so far. I hope to see more from this development.

Other than a few cringe moments, this was a good one.

There have been better Spike episodes, but this one was still a good one.

Next time, a Cutie Mark Crusaders Episode.

See ya later!

f-22 "raptor" ace · **Reply #6071 on:** May 29, 2018, 11:10:02 PM

This new one was one of the best of the season so far.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6072 on:** June 02, 2018, 12:33:37 AM

~SUMMARY POST~

Well, tomorrow is a new episode. The Cutie Mark Crusaders get another episode. Get the summary below.

----------
Season 8 Episode 12

Title: Marks for Effort

Summary: The CMCs try to convince Twilight to let them into her School of Friendship, even though it's clear they've already mastered the curriculum.
-----------

I'm not expecting much, but let's see what happens.

As always, expect the Live Stream and Online Posts tomorrow.

See ya later!

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6073 on:** June 02, 2018, 08:11:30 AM

~LIVE STREAM POST~

We are only hours away from a new episode of pony. I really don't expect much from this episode, but let's see what happens.

Get the link to the Live Streams below.

Season 8 Episode 12 - Marks For Effort Live Streams

As always, expect the link to the online version later today.

Until then, see ya later!

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6074 on:** June 02, 2018, 01:26:32 PM

~ONLINE POST~

In all, an okay episode. Get the link to the online version of the episode below.

Season 8 Episode 12 - Marks For Effort Online Version

As always expect my review for this episode tomorrow.

See ya later!

The Chronicler · **Reply #6075 on:** June 02, 2018, 10:30:25 PM

I think we're getting close to the last few of the beach-themed shorts. Anyway, another Equestria Girls short has been added to YouTube.
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2018/06/equestria-girls-unsolved-selfie.html
And here's the direct link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25kMK6oPo1E
(spoilers)
Pinkie joins Twilight at the beach after discovering Rarity left behind one of her magazines, and finds that among its contents is a quiz about "how well you know your best friend". Naturally, Twilight takes quizzes very seriously, so when both of them get none of the questions answered correctly for each other, she decides to determine undoubtedly that she and Pinkie are friends. After a lot of extensive studying at the beach, Twilight ultimately concludes that friendship "can't be quantified", and she and Pinkie are happy about it anyway.

Not much to say for this one. We all know that the kind of quizzes you'd likely find in one of those fashion or gossip magazines that Rarity would likely read are the kind that don't really come with any right or wrong answers, but Twilight took it way too seriously, and ended up spending the entire day doing research, only to conclude that all of that research was actually completely pointless.
(end spoilers)

And here's my review for this week's episode.
(spoilers)
The Cutie Mark Crusaders take a look around Twilight's School of Friendship and are so excited by all the wonderful activities the students do there that they decide to enroll. However, Twilight points out that it's a school that teaches friendship, and she knows from experience that the CMCs are already excellent in that subject, so it would be pointless to enroll them. The CMCs are so determined to go to that school that they try all kinds of crazy ideas, but all of them fail in various ways.

At one point, they come across a pegasus filly named Cozy Glow, who happens to be a student at the School of Friendship. When she is very saddened about being unable to complete a homework assignment and being completely unprepared for an upcoming test, the CMCs agree to help her, and despite some difficulty at first, Cozy Glow does show some improvement over time. But in a big shock to everyone, Cozy Glow completely fails the test, and Twilight accuses the CMCs of intentionally setting her up to fail in an effort to get themselves enrolled. Despite their honest protests, Twilight bans them from the school grounds.

Cozy Glow is so ashamed of what happened that she goes to guidance counselor Starlight Glimmer (who's been very bored lately with nothing to do) and confesses that she deliberately failed her test in an effort to help get the CMCs enrolled in the school, and after some further talk, Starlight comes up with an idea. The CMCs are brought back to the Friendship School, and after Cozy Glow confesses to them about deliberately failing her test and why she did it, the CMCs are made honorary graduates, plus are given a new position at the school as tutors to help other students.

While there were certainly some cringe moments from the CMC's failed attempts to get enrolled at the Friendship School, it was nice that they decided to help a student there who was struggling. When Cozy Glow decided to deliberately fail her test, even though she had ultimately good intentions, she clearly didn't expect things to backfire so terribly. (I guess the lesson here is that, no matter how good your intentions might be, bad misdeeds could lead to completely unexpected consequences that could end up doing more harm than good.) Also, in yet another case of immediate continuity, we see Spike is still getting used to his new wings (in this case, accidentally blocking the projector at one point).
(end spoilers)

I've heard rumors that next week's episode might be released a few days early in Britain, but considering what I remember when that had happened for the last few episodes of Season 6 (slightly higher pitch and possibly edited in some places), I'd rather wait the full week for the next episode.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6076 on:** June 03, 2018, 02:38:57 PM

~REVIEW POST~

Okay, this one was fine, but it could use some work. Get the spoilers below. (Note: After the migration, we now have a tag for Spoilers. For those implementing it, it is a button marked "Sp".) Click the "SHOW" link if you wish to check them out.

Spoiler: Show

If you ask me, this was an episode that at least did it's job. It gave us an overall plot and gave us everything we could have expected from it. However, it doesn't seem to try to push the envelop, which is what really hinders it. It's nothing more than an average episode. If it wasn't for the ending, it would be forgetful in the grand scheme of things.

I get where the Cutie Mark Crusaders are coming from. School can be rather boring sometimes. (Seriously, Cheerlie wasn't winning any "Most Fun Teacher" Awards here.) Then you hear about this school that teaches while having fun at the same time? What more can a kid ask for? Heck, I'd probably be right along with them if I was their age.

However, this is a school that teaches friendship, a subject those three have overall mastered over the years this show has been around. I'm not surprised Twilight didn't let them in. However, this leads to some crazy antics of them trying to get in. Some of which I couldn't help but facepalm at.

We then get a new character, Cozy Glow. She is a student at Twilight's School of Friendship, and she is struggling. So the Cutie Mark Crusaders decide to help her out.

You know what? I actually like Cozy Glow. Not just her design, but she has a great personality that blends well with the three. If she becomes an honorary member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I'd be all for it. I do want to see more of her. Plus, I do want to know what's up with her cutie mark. Maybe it has something to do with chess.

Her failing was quite a surprise, especially with how much work and effort was put into the whole thing. We then get the Cutie Mark Crusaders being banned from the School of Friendship. However, we then find Cozy Glow failed on purpose. This at least gave Starlight something to do since she was so bored. It seems Starlight's "evil side" still exists to some degree. Anyways, we then have everything worked out. Cozy Glow confesses to everything she did and then we get a big surprise.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders not only graduate without even attending, but also become honorary tutors. Like I said, if it wasn't for the ending, it would be forgettable in the end. Instead, we get a big change for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Hopefully, we can see more out of it.

Overall, an okay episode that's mostly forgettable, save for the ending.

Next time, the Mane Six seemingly turn to The Dark Side.

See ya later!

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6077 on:** June 03, 2018, 02:59:34 PM

~EXTRA POST~

Okay, I wish to talk about something with this. It's something I've noticed. It's that this season actually has a major theme going for itself so far. That theme is "change". I mean, just think of how much things have changed since the start.

Episode 1 & 2 -

Spoiler: Show

Episode 3 -

Spoiler: Show

Episode 5 -

Spoiler: Show

Episode 10 -

Spoiler: Show

Episode 11 -

Spoiler: Show

Episode 12 -

Spoiler: Show

A little more than half of the episodes so far revolved around making changes happen. (Very few of which I disapproved of.

Spoiler: Show

) It's making me wonder how many more episodes will push for making changes happen.

I guess we'll see.

Just a little something I wanted to bring up.

See ya later!

f-22 "raptor" ace · **Reply #6078 on:** June 04, 2018, 01:08:49 AM

This most recent episode was the best of the season so far.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #6079 on:** June 09, 2018, 12:29:30 AM

~SUMMARY POST~

Well, tomorrow's the day. After this episode, we go on hiatus. Also, the episode aired in the UK early. However, I shall wait until it airs properly in the US. That's just the way I prefer to do it. Anyways, get the summary below.

-----------
Season 8 Episode 13

Title - The Mean Six

Summary - Queen Chrysalis returns, ready to exact her revenge on Starlight Glimmer and the Mane 6!
-----------

Yep, she returns!

As always, expect the Live Streams and the Online Posts tomorrow.

Until then, see ya later!

The My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic Thread