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[SigmasonicX]

Another art upgrade, though there's more of a design change here compared to Fluttershy's home.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Another art upgrade, though there's more of a design change her compared to Fluttershy's home.

Looks like they did the logical thing and bolted the Weather Factory parts from "Sonic Rainboom" to the wide-shot model:

 

[Myke Greywolf]

Holy crap, I loved this episode. Totally in-character for Dash, and so many fantastic laughs. Cindy Morrow needs to write as many episodes for this show as possible.

Perhaps, if you consider Dash to be reckless and self-centered to the point of complete idiocy.

I get what they were trying to accomplish, but they totally missed the mark and damaged Dash's character in the process.

 

[DrForester]

Dash has never been one to think things through. While going a little too far, this episode was pretty in character with her. She wants to enjoy her favorite season with her pet, and she'll never be able to do that. She was willing to try anything to let him enjoy the Winter with her.

 

[Myke Greywolf]

Dash has never been one to think things through. While going a little too far, this episode was pretty in character with her. She wants to enjoy her favorite season with her pet, and she'll never be able to do that. She was willing to try anything to let him enjoy the Winter with her.

You are effectively calling Dash an idiot, since if she stopped Winter from arriving, she wouldn't be able to do that either.

Her reasons were totally selfish. Any pet owner that cared about their pet would recognize the importance of hibernation, not refuse to even acknowledge it.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Perhaps, if you consider Dash to be reckless and self-centered to the point of complete idiocy.

I get what they were trying to accomplish, but they totally missed the mark and damaged Dash's character in the process.

Dash is a bit of a slave to her emotions, right or wrong. How many times have we seen her try to strike out at villains out of anger, or let pride in herself manifest as egotism?

Add to that the fact that Tank is, as far as we know, the first pet Dash has ever had. I mean, he's more like family than any of the Mane 6 even are, given that he lives with her. Her reaction to the prospect of losing him, even for a while, felt very Dash to me.

Was she a bit of an idiot? Sure. Love is known for making people act stupid.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Using Magic the Gathering terms, Dash has always felt red-white, with far more red than white. Acting impulsively without thinking things through is red and feels in character for Dash.

 

[DrForester]

You are effectively calling Dash an idiot, since if she stopped Winter from arriving, she wouldn't be able to do that either.

Her reasons were totally selfish. Any pet owner that cared about their pet would recognize the importance of hibernation, not refuse to even acknowledge it.

Yes, but this was also clearly supposed to be an analogy for losing a pet.

Also, reptile hibernation isn't like mammal hibernation. It's less something they need do every year, and more something that comes about when the environment calls for it. That's why reptile cages usually have a heating rock. They could have installed a heating element into Tank's backpack and he'd have been fine.

 

[wookieofdoom]

This episode was rad. M.A. Larson is killing it as story editor this season. And Cindy Morrow wrote yet another fantastic episode. As far the Dash debate goes, yeah, Dash is a bit of an idiot. She does stuff like this all the time. She's extremely impulsive and has a tendency to have bursts of high emotion. That's what I like about her though, but I can see why she would seem stand offish to other people.

There a lot of touches I loved about this episode. Dash's Grinch smile, the AGoT reference, the ponies arguing over their names (which just highlights how ridiculous this whole thing is). So many good moments. Oh my goodness at the third act when Rainbow just stars to cry. That whole segment was brilliant and funny. I don't know why, but anytime the characters start crying themselves into hysterics, I just find it hilarious.

Pinkie has so far been totally restored back to her old self. And I am very grateful for that. She started to become too much an exaggeration of herself in season 3 and 4. But now she is more in line with how she was in the early seasons. Pinkie is moving up a few notches on my favorite pony list. Let's hope the trend continues.

EDIT-Oh that song! One of the best songs in the show's run! Loved it!

 

[McNum]

I can't help but think that the entire point of this episode was to somehow find a way to make Twilight say "Prepare yourselves, everypony. Winter is coming." There aren't a lot of ways you could get that line to make sense in My Little Pony, but ALL of winter coming hurtling towards Ponyville in the form of a giant snowball? That works... barely.

Rainbow Dash was not really herself, though, but I suppose this is about as close to a pet death episode as we're going to get, so the exaggeration makes some sense. Good on Fluttershy to remember her lesson from season 4, too. "Your winter will be petless!" That was cruel to be kind. So, good job Fluttershy, somepony had to break it to Rainbow Dash in a way she'd understand. Then it turned into a pile of crying ponies, which was more hilarious than it was sad, for some reason. But Applejack cries on the inside. Of course she does.

And yes, Pinkie Pie has been on point this entire season so far. She's solidly holding on to my "Best Pony for the Season" spot for now. Last season, Rarity took that one.

 

[Cheerilee]

I got caught up on episodes 3&4, and my impressions lean towards mostly negative, with some streaks of greatness mixed in.


Castle Sweet Castle

Twilight's behavior seemed a little forced and out-of-nowhere, but "I'm pancake" was adorkable so I don't even care. But then... they need Spike to skip breakfast and escort Twilight out of the house so they can redecorate, even though Twilight was easily convinced and 100% onboard with going to the spa and letting her friends try redecorating.

During the song, it quickly became painfully obvious what the friends were doing wrong, and I was just asking myself "They wasted a song on this?" Then they need Spike to buy them some more time, and he has conveniently ditched Twilight for five minutes to check on them. Couldn't they have sent Rainbow Dash to the spa with a message? Nah, it's easier if characters are just wherever they need to be. The counter-plan backfire was again painfully obvious.

Spike's attempts to buy them some more time were cringeworthy, when all Spike needed to say was "Nah Twilight, they need some more time. Let's hang out for a while." And if they did that, I think they could've had some great Twilight-Spike character-bonding catchup time, as the two leisurely explore Ponyville. Twilight and Spike walked into Ponyville together, as they moved from one home to another at the start of the series. It would work on several levels for them to explore Ponyville while they wait for their new home to get ready, but the show hates Spike, so it can't do that.

And the final resolution was the one part of the story where they weren't obvious. Twilight's first seen home? Awesome multi-level modern Canterlot penthouse library. Next seen home? Old-timey hollow-tree library. Latest home? Empty castle. Something's missing. Friends: "We're Twilight's friends. We should know this. Books? Is it books? It's books, isn't it? Let's go to the remains of her old library." Ta-da! It's an art project made out of tree roots! WTF? This is one case where obvious would have been better. Remember when Twilight tried to sell some of her old books and learned that she wants to keep them? She's a book nerd, and I think that's a great part of her character. There should've been books salvaged from the old library. The abandoned castle in the Everfree Forest has plenty of new (old) books. They could've asked Spike to send Celestia a note asking for some Canterlot books and let Celestia get some character time in this episode (oh wait, no they can't, because they hate Spike).

But I must say, Rarity had some good little character bits in this episode (I loved her muttering about the painting), and she was the only good decorator.


Bloom and Gloom

This episode got off on a bad note with me by mentioning Babs Seed. I really hate her. But I suppose a letter saying she got her cutie mark worked as the push for this episode.

As for Apple Bloom's new cutie mark, the show played it straight for too long. I thought there were only three possibilities: It's all a dream (likely), the show has lost it's touch and gone to hell (unlikely), or three, it's something else (hopeful). Something better than a dream. Most likely having to do something with Starlight Glimmer and the season opener. They're doing another season-long story arc, aren't they?

Problems with the "dream" theory, Apple Bloom got shocked with electricity, and as a trope, sharp pain in a dream is supposed to snap you out of it (not sure how real that is, but it's a common trope), and they showed events outside of Apple Bloom's view (dream worlds aren't real, and all that exists is what the dreamer observes, characters outside of that observation shouldn't have life). Problem with the "something else" theory, the voice in the woods didn't sound like Kelly Sheridan (Starlight Glimmer). But the voice was distorted and maybe the plot is bigger than just Starlight Glimmer? Turns out it was just a dream. Kind of a let-down.

Once the dream effects kicked in, I thought it was great. Luna is always welcome, but I thought Luna was kind of... generic. They really need to do more with her character. The dream thing was great and unexpected and totally made sense when they first did it, but she's just repeating it and it's getting old. Her character in Luna Eclipsed was great and had tons of potential, but walking into dreams and handing out generic advice is just putting me to sleep. And Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle's dreams were a bit underwhelming.

They should've trimmed the start of the episode with the bug-catching cutie mark, and given that time and effort to Luna, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.


Ah well, looking forward to episode 5! Excuse me while I go back into hiding for a bit.

 

[PaulloDEC]

And the final resolution was the one part of the story where they weren't obvious. Twilight's first seen home? Awesome multi-level modern Canterlot penthouse library. Next seen home? Old-timey hollow-tree library. Latest home? Empty castle. Something's missing. Friends: "We're Twilight's friends. We should know this. Books? Is it books? It's books, isn't it? Let's go to the remains of her old library." Ta-da! It's an art project made out of tree roots! WTF? This is one case where obvious would have been better. Remember when Twilight tried to sell some of her old books and learned that she wants to keep them? She's a book nerd, and I think that's a great part of her character. There should've been books salvaged from the old library. The abandoned castle in the Everfree Forest has plenty of new (old) books. They could've asked Spike to send Celestia a note asking for some Canterlot books and let Celestia get some character time in this episode (oh wait, no they can't, because they hate Spike).

But Twilight already has loads of books in the castle, and they weren't making the place feel any more like home. I think it's safe to assume that anything worth salvaging from the remains of Golden Oaks had probably already been collected, too.

That aside, I think the suggestion that simply dumping more books on Twilight is the solution to her missing her old home is... well, kind of a big misunderstanding of how feelings work. The solution they ultimately came up with was kinda genius; they turned something sad and broken into something new and beautiful. From the ruins of the past they created something that celebrated their time together while also helping to ring in the new. Above all, it was something absolutely personal that each of her friends could participate in the creation of. I think that's much more special and meaningful than any number of books could be, even to a character who loves book as much as Twilight does.

 

[draetenth]

Yeah, I've felt RD was always reckless and impulsive (doesn't mean she's stupid - she just acts before she thinks), but add to it that she's the Element of Loyalty. IMO, the episode shows that Dash was willing to do anything to keep her friend around (perfect example of Loyalty), but she didn't really think of how her actions were affecting anyone else (even Tank).

Dr. Forester could be right - they probably could have had some kind of heating system in place so Tank didn't need to hibernate (unless Equestrian animals and reptiles are different than what we have which is certainly possible).

Of course, why do that when you have a perfect way to talk about loss without dealing with death (avoiding the need to talk about AJ's parents?).

 

[wookieofdoom]

Just watched the episode a second time. Man do I love this one.

 

[Cheerilee]

But Twilight already has loads of books in the castle, and they weren't making the place feel any more like home. I think it's safe to assume that anything worth salvaging from the remains of Golden Oaks had probably already been collected, too.

That aside, I think the suggestion that simply dumping more books on Twilight is the solution to her missing her old home is... well, kind of a big misunderstanding of how feelings work. The solution they ultimately came up with was kinda genius; they turned something sad and broken into something new and beautiful. From the ruins of the past they created something that celebrated their time together while also helping to ring in the new. Above all, it was something absolutely personal that each of her friends could participate in the creation of. I think that's much more special and meaningful than any number of books could be, even to a character who loves book as much as Twilight does.

Let's look at Twilight's previous homes.

She has a deluxe penthouse in Canterlot. Her entry hall (the lower of the two floors) is decorated with some hanging plants and potted trees, and she has some sort of bed or couch near the front door. Not sure if that's for her or for guests (seems odd to have a bed by the entry door). But next to that is an open wall balcony. What's the weather like in Canterlot? Must be nice. And her entry hall opens upstairs to her library, which itself has various levels and balconies. And big windows. In the first episode, Twilight seems to like the view from her big windows, and if that's her bed by the open balcony, then she must really like the view.

It has high ceilings.

And at least two tiered levels of bookshelves, in addition to whatever's on the floor level, like the tall shelf designed to take advantage of the high ceiling and kill Spike. Her place is gigantic and open and divided up into pieces, all at the same time, so it's big in some places and small in others. Then she moved into the Ponyville Library.

It's a library. It has shelves full of books, and some upper storage spaces. And up those stairs...

Is another floor of the library, with multiple levels. And Twilight put her bed on the uppermost level of the uppermost floor, right next to the window.

And if we want to include Equestria Girls (it's a newer look at the character from the current writers), this is where she chose to rest in a strange land.

It's a library with high glass ceilings and multiple levels. That horse head in the center of the room is trying to channel the Ponyville Library.

Spike made a bed out of books for Twilight, and she liked it. Seems like it's hidden away in the back, but this isn't her place, so maybe she wants to hide.


Now let's jump back to this episode. Twilight hates her new home. She's making herself and others miserable because she doesn't want to go home (note: ten minutes later, the un-ironic joke is that Spike is having a hard time preventing her from going home). Her new castle is big, empty, cold, hard, impersonal, and cavernous, and it just makes her miserable. So her friends think that they can fix that by decorating.

The new problem of the episode is that all five of them are jumping to selfish decorations that make them happy, and not giving one single thought to Twilight. And all five of them can see that that's what the other four are doing wrong, but not one of them can see it in themselves. And not one of them is willing to say one word about what everyone else is doing wrong until Spike comes in and states the obvious (that they all screwed up). And then they all start attacking each other until no decorations are left. These ponies are jerks.

But now they're focused and back on track. What does Twilight like? What would make Twilight comfortable in her own home? How do they decorate for Twilight. They should know this, because they're supposed to be Twilight's best friends. And the audience should be able to figure it out too, because the audience has been right there with Twilight as long as her friends have. Books are the obvious answer. Twilight likes living in a library. She likes to be surrounded by books. Does she like the smell? I don't know, it's just clear that she likes them. She also apparently likes high places and balconies and multiple levels and windows. This episode never went there.

The episode pulls a bait-and-switch, implying that the answer is "books" and that the friends have figured it out, but then they changed the problem-to-be-solved without telling the audience. The problem isn't the castle, the problem is Twilight. She wasn't ready to accept her new life. But... what new life? Moving? She did that in the first episode without batting an eyelid. They're talking about her new life as a Princess. Twilight was able to hide from it for one season by living in the Ponyville Library. Now that's no longer an option, and she has a castle. A real Princess lives in a big empty cold hard castle, and she damn well likes it. Applejack: It doesn't matter if your home is big, empty, cold, hard, impersonal, and cavernous, what matters is that you live there now and you can make new memories which can be just as fun as the ones you had in the home you liked. Ummm, no. The castle is a problem. If your house is a great big lifeless tomb (and that feeling doesn't work for you), then you really need to decorate.

Also, the hanging display is made of tree roots, so that Twilight never forgets her roots in Ponyville. But Twilight's not from Ponyville. And she's still in Ponyville. They're really talking about her pre-Princess roots. The moral of this episode is that Twilight hasn't been Princessing hard enough, and her friends gave her a present to remind her of her days as a peasant, so she can let go and move forward. If they wanted to know about Twilight's actual roots, they should've asked Celestia. Celestia also knows a thing or two about decorating castles. The mane five's lack of knowledge regarding Twilight's days in Canterlot actually makes me realize that the audience knows more about Twilight than her friends do. They didn't even go with her to Dougworld. My whole picture show up above is new to them.

But apparently Twilight needed to be reminded that she has friends... with a big shiny tribute to friendship... in her room of friendship with reserved seats that have all of her friends names engraved on them (Rarity's painting doing the same thing being more proof that Rarity was the best decorator). It's nice that they took advantage of the high ceiling to hang a great personal chandelier that was made with love, but I think the rest of the house was more of an issue than the Room of Friendship. Twilight never freaked out while hanging with friends in that room before. It's the rest of the house that's a problem.

Oh right, that's okay, because while the friends were all fighting, they all basically lied to each other and snuck away to selfishly decorate different parts of Twilight's home, and somehow it all worked out. Rarity's dining room (the only decoration shown) looks great. And Rainbow Dash put up Daring Do posters in Twilight's new library (oh yeah, she has a new library and bedroom, but those things only deserve a passing mention), which works because RD knows of one thing which Twilight reads. And Fluttershy put stuffed animals in Twilight's bedroom, because we all know Twilight keeps one toy which she loved when she was a child. And Applejack added some unsanitary charm to Twilight's kitchen. And Pinkie Pie rigged random things to explode. Maybe this decorating resolution didn't turn out as well as was implied when they showed Rarity's results.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Let's look at Twilight's previous homes.

/snipped lots and lots of text

I uh... what are we even talking about anymore? That was a hell of a post man.

I was just arguing that the chandelier was a better decoration/gift than more books would've been, especially given Twi's castle already has a freakin' massive library. Whether Twilight's friends are actually any good at decorating is another issue (Rarity aside, they're kinda not).

 

[SigmasonicX]

I really don't think we needed visual evidence that Twilight likes places with books.

 

[HassanJamal]

Episode 5 was a really good episode. Great writing, pacing and an enjoyable song. Also, one of the episodes where the ponies, mostly RD's, were just fantastically animated. Only bit I disliked was the forced Winter is coming line. A lot of good stuff this episode, one of which is the sky ponies and the name confusion bit, reminded me of Space Balls.

 

[SigmasonicX]

It's nice to have Eurobeat Brony remixes back ("Our Town")

 

[SigmasonicX]

Amy Keating Rogers has left the show and has become a full-time Disney writer, so season 5 will have her last episodes.

 

[wookieofdoom]

Amy Keating Rogers has left the show and has become a full-time Disney writer, so season 5 will have her last episodes.

I saw that. Sad for us, great for her.

 

[Choppasmith]

I saw that. Sad for us, great for her.

Indeed. I wonder if that means we'll see her write for the likes of Wander over Yonder and Penn Zero or even something else.

Edit: Maybe she'll join some of her former CN buddies like Craig McCracken (Wander) or Paul Rudish (Mickey Mouse shorts)

Also kinda forgot to leave my impressions of the latest episode here. I think it's been said, this episode kinda served as a great view on death and grieving, even though no death actually occurred.


Pretty much my sister and I when Twilight said those words

 

[Lupin the Third]

Oh right, that's okay, because while the friends were all fighting, they all basically lied to each other and snuck away to selfishly decorate different parts of Twilight's home, and somehow it all worked out. Rarity's dining room (the only decoration shown) looks great. And Rainbow Dash put up Daring Do posters in Twilight's new library (oh yeah, she has a new library and bedroom, but those things only deserve a passing mention), which works because RD knows of one thing which Twilight reads. And Fluttershy put stuffed animals in Twilight's bedroom, because we all know Twilight keeps one toy which she loved when she was a child. And Applejack added some unsanitary charm to Twilight's kitchen. And Pinkie Pie rigged random things to explode. Maybe this decorating resolution didn't turn out as well as was implied when they showed Rarity's results.

We saw the library in Rainbow Rocks, when they moved all the books in. It's also where Twilight built the "Dougworld" (hate that name) portal, so that's probably why they didn't show it (they want FiM to stand alone from the EqG line, showing or not showing the portal would basically screw with that).

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

Didnt even know ponies were back until today! Just watched the first 3 epsiodes.
Had fun and will continue to watch.

 

[draetenth]

Amy Keating Rogers has left the show and has become a full-time Disney writer, so season 5 will have her last episodes.

I liked her as a writer so I will miss her.

 

[DrForester]

Amy Keating Rogers has left the show and has become a full-time Disney writer, so season 5 will have her last episodes.

Can we trade Meghan and a third round draft pick to keep Amy?

 

[Cheerilee]

Finally caught up on episode 5.

Great episode, IMO.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Lots of good YouTube captions this time

 

[DrForester]

A OK episode. Bit of a strange message.

"Hey you wanted to do this, but why don't you settle for this instead"


Toubleshoes Clyde is a massive pony.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Yeah, this episode was just OK, probably the worst of the season so far. It reminded me of the 80's childhood hijinks movies (The Goonies, etc.), but duller than the greatest of them, so I suppose just an average one of them. It was odd that no one pointed out that the upside down horseshoe was also the entrance of the rodeo area. Also, I suppose this does complicate the entire cutie mark thing, since Troubleshoes got his cutie mark and immediately interpreted it negatively, but maybe we can just say it's a strange exception.

I know people have been wanting an episode where the CMC encounter an adult pony without his cutie mark, and I guess this is kind of close to that.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Another fast fans are fast entry

And quick and dirty size comparison. That's one big pony.

Also, this is the fewest comments we've had for an episode by this time on the release day this season. I suppose people just don't have much to say. Or a lot of posters here are being distracted by sports. In any case, this was a pretty weak episode to start a break on.

EDIT: Modified the Other Media section of the OP now that FIENDship is Magic is over.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

I agree, this was a OK episode. I for one would be humiliated if my special talent was being clumsy, never being able to do anything properly without screwing it up.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I agree, this was a OK episode. I for one would be humiliated if my special talent was being clumsy, never being able to do anything properly without screwing it up.

Hey now, she's a traveler and great mother to Dinky--oh wait, Clyde, right.

 

[wookieofdoom]

Well, at least this one was better than Over A Barrel.

Mid-tier episode.

 

[DrForester]

Hey now, she's a traveler and great mother to Dinky--oh wait, Clyde, right.

What does Golden Harvest have to do with anything?

 

[Andrew J.]

A lot of episodes this season have been about cutie marks. I can't help but think it's a prelude to the CMC getting theirs.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Enjoyable episode. As the Doc said, bit of a weird message, but still a fun little story.

Also, this is the fewest comments we've had for an episode by this time on the release day this season. I suppose people just don't have much to say. Or a lot of posters here are being distracted by sports. In any case, this was a pretty weak episode to start a break on.

I had to work most of today, otherwise I'd have been here as usual. I was only distracted by sports in the sense that my boss wouldn't shut up about the fight.

 

[draetenth]

Yeah, I also think this was an OK episode. It actually got better as it went on. So far, this season really seems to hammer the fact that cutie marks define you so maybe the CMC are right to worry about getting the wrong Cutie Mark.

It makes me wonder how names are created if Cutie Marks seem to go with the names and the Cutie Mark defines you. Troubleshoe should blame his mom. If he had a luckier sounding name, maybe he would have gotten a different Cutie Mark. Things did work out though as he still got what he wanted - if not how he expected it.

Troubleshoe also seems to be the most horse-like pony (other than the Saddle Arabians we saw briefly) shown yet.

I like how SB seems to be improving her magic.

What does Golden Harvest have to do with anything?

I'm pretty sure the fandom explains it away as Golden Harvest foalsits Dinky while Derpy is off delivering mail - that or the Foal Protection Agency finally succeeded in taking Dinky away. I've seen both explanations often enough.

 

[ZealousD]

A lot of episodes this season have been about cutie marks. I can't help but think it's a prelude to the CMC getting theirs.

I've never wanted anything more in my life.

Seriously. How many episodes can they make about cutie marks without giving them the things!?

 

[Sciz]

Sat on the last few episodes after the opener fell kinda flat, but wow, glad I caught back up. Solid four-episode run they've got going, even with a Polsky script in the mix. The show's at its best when it isn't afraid to be a bit melancholy and sentimental, and the writers are delivering in spades.

 

[UberTag]

I've never wanted anything more in my life.

Seriously. How many episodes can they make about cutie marks without giving them the things!?

All I ask is that Apple Bloom gets hers last. It's only fitting.
Ideal order would be the order they've each had their Luna dream appearances.

 

[wookieofdoom]

Sat on the last few episodes after the opener fell kinda flat, but wow, glad I caught back up. Solid four-episode run they've got going, even with a Polsky script in the mix. The show's at its best when it isn't afraid to be a bit melancholy and sentimental, and the writers are delivering in spades.

To be fair to Polsky, he killed it last season. Rarity Takes Manehatten is my 2nd favorite episode ever.

 

[PaulloDEC]

To be fair to Polsky, he killed it last season. Rarity Takes Manehatten is my 2nd favorite episode ever.

I'd agree with this, Polsky lifted his game dramatically in Season 4. Stuff like Twilight Time, Rarity Takes Manehattan and Equestria Games are all great episodes in my books. This latest one doesn't feel like a step down at all, to me.

That being said, it does occur to me now that maybe morals aren't his strongest suit. Feeling Pinkie Keen was Polsky, wasn't it? That one is pretty much the definitive example of dicey morals in FiM. Daring Don't is another one he wrote with some super shaky morals.

 

[Cheerilee]

And quick and dirty size comparison. That's one big pony.

Now ask yourself, how old is Troublehooves?

In "Over a Barrel" that town was less than a year old.

That's some growth spurt.

 

[ZealousD]

All I ask is that Apple Bloom gets hers last. It's only fitting.
Ideal order would be the order they've each had their Luna dream appearances.

I originally thought that it would be a good idea if they got their cutie marks at different times, so that they could have an episode where the girls have to deal with being friends even though one or more of them might have a cutie mark while the other(s) don't.

But they've spent so much time not giving them cutie marks that they basically already did that, just in a dream sequence. I feel like they've milked the cutie mark plotline long enough.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Now ask yourself, how old is Troublehooves?

In "Over a Barrel" that town was less than a year old.

That's some growth spurt.

It isn't necessarily the same town. If the buffalo confused you, Appleoosa probably wasn't first contact with the buffalo.

 

[Cheerilee]

It isn't necessarily the same town. If the buffalo confused you, Appleoosa probably wasn't first contact with the buffalo.

The background is the same, and the ponies are the same.

<- then

<- now

<- then

<- now

We could dismiss that with "this show is cheap", but Lauren Faust already said that Pony growth in MLP is similar to pony growth in the real world, where they're all tiny and cute one day, and then they hit a growth spurt and jump to full adulthood, almost indistinguishable from other adults that have already been at that stage for years.

This was one year in the poor guy's life. He coulda been a CMC. Now he's a giant living alone in the woods, showing them how to get home.

And it will happen to them toooo... [/Grandpa Simpson]

 

[SigmasonicX]

The implication is definitely that Troubleshoes has been down on his luck for years, though. I think it's just that rodeos look alike and old ponies still look old years ago.

 

[SigmasonicX]

More potential season 5 details in the CCG. Many of these seem like they could be from episode 100, but I'm pretty sure the Fleetfoot flavor text is a reference to the comics.

 

[DrForester]

More potential season 5 details in the CCG. Many of these seem like they could be from episode 100, but I'm pretty sure the Fleetfoot flavor text is a reference to the comics.

Well, the bit regarding Steven Magnet is known due to the animation preview for episode 100.

And yeah, the Fleetfoot comment is certainly in reference to the comics.