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[ZealousD]

I thought it was a nice episode. I appreciate it when the guys in the show can get a bit more screentime. I mean I know it's a show meant for young girls but it's suuuch a clam bake most of the time.

And honestly we got a really cool setup for a sequel to this episode as far as I'm concerned. You can have the guys, RD, and Pinkie just doing an episode long session of the game.

 

[wookieofdoom]

Who knew Big Mac is such a dork?

 

[SpaceCadetKeon]

I love Squizard so much.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Who knew Big Mac is such a dork?

He also collects hoofball trading cards.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Who knew Big Mac is such a dork?

It's always the quiet ones.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Season 6 Episode 23 - Where the Apple Lies
Air Date: October 8th 2016

Synopsis: When Apple Bloom tells a white lie to cover up a mistake, Applejack shares the story of how she came to value honesty after telling a series of lies that almost destroyed the farm and landed the whole Apple family in the hospital.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Season 6 Episode 23 - Where the Apple Lies
Air Date: October 8th 2016

Synopsis: When Apple Bloom tells a white lie to cover up a mistake, Applejack shares the story of how she came to value honesty after telling a series of lies that almost destroyed the farm and landed the whole Apple family in the hospital.

Flashback episode, likely with Filly Applejack... APPLE PARENTS INCOMING?

The thing I said was delaying the episode roundup is over, but I think I'll hold off on posting it until tomorrow.

Also, it looks like Legend of Everfree will be showing in Brazil in September (scroll down, toward the beginning), as in before it's on Netflix in the US on October 1, so there might be spoilers, as a heads up. Or the Brazil commercial is misleading.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Well this is a first, combining a comic review with an episode roundup.

Friendship is Magic #45 - Ponies of the Dark Water part 3 (final)
This was a pretty fun chapter, even if the solution was a bit too easy. I especially liked the scenes of them stopping Rainbow Dash, "Nightmare Moon" meeting with Twilight and Rarity, Twilight's defeat, and Twilight pulling Pinkie into the water, though it's still weird how shallow the pool is. The art was good. I laughed at this part:

Odd moment: Applejack is calling for pork bellies from Apploosa... what?!

There are also sample pages from the new Powerpuff Girls comic, though unlike Strawberry Shortcake, it doesn't share any crew with the MLP comics. I notice it does something the new PPG show does that the old one didn't: it shows side views of their heads. It's decent enough, but it's only a few pages.

==

PREVIOUS EPISODES
"A Changeling Can Change" remixes:
KingSparta Eurobeat remix - real Odyssey Eurobeat flashblacks
InklingBear remix

It appears that Applejack.exe has stopped working

A loving mother
Keep Pretending
Forget the Routine

Crystal Hoof plushie
Cheerileader plushie

Comics:
That's how we eat
Pinkie Pie Says Goodnight: Public Speaking - Doesn't actually tie into any episode

NOTES
I forgot to mention, when everyone was leaving for Yakyakistan, Pinkie mentioned a yeti, which seems to be a clear reference to that monster she encountered that the writer didn't give a name to. Now we know it's a yeti!

SCREENCAPS
Faces

Winter outfits. Celestial tail cat. Spike art.

Ponies from Discord's Guy's Night Out world. The banana pony has become especially popular.

Discord's game world. Group shot, note that Discord's hand is a turnip.

GIFS
Discord reaction gif: eyes popping out
Big gif, full Opposite Fluttershy scene
Uninverted Opposite Fluttershy
Smug Fluttershy
Eyebrow competition: Fluttershy vs. Applejack
Discord's basketball entrance
Slumping Discord
Discord's Guy's Night Out dance
Discord going evil
Discord reaction gif: bag on head
DnD dance
Rainbow and Pinkie joining the game

FANWORKS
Banana Pony
Discord archer
Getting on the train
Saving Shmarity
Opposite of Nice and Quiet

Rogue Dash
Dungeons and Lovers
Garbunkle and Sir McBiggin
Are you feeling it now
Through Ogres and Oubliettes

Comic: Villainy - I don't think the joke is that good, but Fluttershy is adorable here.

 

[Strider_Blaze]

Well this hasn't brought up, but unlike the last 2 EqG films, there will be no shorts for Legend of Everfree. However like Friendship Games, bloopers confirmed and it will be part of the Blu-Ray/DVD release.

 

[ZealousD]

Felt like a pretty simple episode this week. Snails was probably the best part.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I thought this was a pretty fun episode. Smug Fluttershy is the best. I also liked Snails a lot in this episode; it seems like he's gotten a lot better at magic since "Boast Busters", where he had trouble lighting his horn in the Ursa cave. Or perhaps it's just because he had to think about lighting his horn then.

One thing I was concerned about was Fluttershy and Pinkie beating Rainbow and Applejack at the things they're supposed to be good at. However, the rules of the game meant that Fluttershy was better due to her tail and Pinkie was better due to her unconventional moves, instead of being faster and stronger respectively. That ended up being pretty well handled.

I liked how this episode demonstrates how Fluttershy's character developed. She's fine playing in front of a crowd now, but still gets nervous about doing it while people are depending on her. Plus, when Pinkie was hesitating to say what was bothering them on the train, she just laid it out there.

Buckball itself is a pretty interesting game. I'm reminded of that sport from The Legend of Korra, with how it involves three different types of players. Like Quidditch, I could see some people attempting to make a real world version.

I'm guessing they didn't ask Twilight to catch the ball because it might be seen as too big an advantage (and she counts as three races), and they knew for sure Rarity wouldn't want to do it. Odd that they wouldn't be there for the competition, if they were hyping up the entire town, though.

On the Appleoosa team, was the pegasus from the McColts family in "Hoofields and McColts"? I don't think I'll count that for "Season 5 character plays a major role" on my bingo card.

I was waiting for the character that hasn't appeared in a long time, as mentioned by someone who saw the episode at an early showing, and I guess that was just Snails. Thinking about it, I don't think he's done anything major since "Magic Duel" back in season 3, despite his inclusion in the opening group shot, so he counts.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty enjoyable episode.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

This episode is like Testing, Testing, 123 in that I can relate to the lesson. I do stress out very easily and can't handle pressure. It's cool they do something cool with Snails and don't make him that stupid colt he is in every other episode.

I am confused by the game of Buckball, namely the role of unicorns. They move the bucket so that the opponent can't score, so how does anyone get points in this game? What's the point of having them on poles?

 

[McNum]

It's the other way around for the unicorns. Their job is to catch the ball with the bucket. The pegasi have to block that from happening, and the earth ponies have to launch the ball at their own unicorn, who is behind the opposing pegasus.

I liked this one. It had a lot of strange expressions, but overall it was a good message. I get the same way with pressure, especially when I try to take something fun seriously.

 

[SigmasonicX]

This episode is like Testing, Testing, 123 in that I can relate to the lesson. I do stress out very easily and can't handle pressure. It's cool they do something cool with Snails and don't make him that stupid colt he is in every other episode.

I am confused by the game of Buckball, namely the role of unicorns. They move the bucket so that the opponent can't score, so how does anyone get points in this game? What's the point of having them on poles?

The unicorn is on the other side of the field as the rest of the team, so Snips was behind the Appleoosa team. Their job is to catch the ball, not prevent it from getting in.

On another note, it looks like the Legend of Everfree novelization is coming out in just a few days, on the 6th. I guess there will be spoilers no matter what.

 

[UberTag]

I'm guessing they didn't ask Twilight to catch the ball because it might be seen as too big an advantage (and she counts as three races), and they knew for sure Rarity wouldn't want to do it. Odd that they wouldn't be there for the competition, if they were hyping up the entire town, though.

Recruiting Twilight would have been cheating. That said, there IS a unicorn in Ponyville who stands out for never showing up in episodes where the rest of the Mane 6 are the focus who could have really benefited from having a rare opportunity to bond with them. What was her name again? Starbright Shimmer? Was that it? Isn't her whole deal that she's supposed to be making friends and having friendship lessons yet no one outside of Twilight seems to even acknowledge her existence?

Ah well. I won't complain too much. Snails was the best part of this episode.

 

[PaulloDEC]

I enjoyed this one, but it was a pretty simple affair. Involving Snails was an amusing twist, but otherwise the whole thing was pretty safe. Lots of time spent on exposition left little room for interesting dialogue too, which was a bit of a shame.

Some nice action though, and I liked how the characters were handled for the most part.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Apparently, the team colors and the fans wearing scarves are references to the 4chan Cup (brought up on the Community thread recently). Purple and cyan are the colors of Team /mlp/ and scarves are common merchandise affiliated with the event.

Or at least that's what I'm reading elsewhere.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Apparently, the team colors and the fans wearing scarves are references to the 4chan Cup (brought up on the Community thread recently). Purple and cyan are the colors of Team /mlp/ and scarves are common merchandise affiliated with the event.

Or at least that's what I'm reading elsewhere.

That seems... actually plausible. Here's a picture of the /mlp/ scarves:

 

[SigmasonicX]

PREVIOUS EPISODE
Squid Army Incoming
Dungeon Warriors
You're a wizard, AJ!

Pinkie Pie Says Goodnight: Negativity - this actually does tie into the previous episode

NOTES
I forgot to mention, while this episode demonstrated how Fluttershy's character has evolved, it did so even more with Rainbow Dash. In season 1, you couldn't imagine her just accepting that Fluttershy is better at buckball than her. Same with Applejack, to a lesser extent.

SCREENCAPS
ED's roundup was surprisingly unhelpful this time, not showcasing the things I wanted. In particular, Flutterfaces.

Noting these separately. Derp, and Dash trying to eat her.

Background ponies. Note the angry pony in the last picture on the left

Big Mac's snazzy outfit. Upside down Pinkie. The Appleoosa team.

GIFS
A bunch of these for this episode.
Snails catching the balls with his water buckets like a boss
Snails + Overwatch

Fluttertwirl
Spinning tail
Fluttershy in the wash
Sasuke Uchiha's ultimate technique

Fluttershy swatting the ball away
Pinkie bouncing the ball with her hair curl
Pinkie and Fluttershy playing around with the balls
Same as above
Dancing Pinkie
Fluttershy reacting to the obstacle course
Pinkie messing up
Angry Fluttershy
Pinkie panicking
Blossom (Appleoosa team) blocking the ball

Unicorn rejects:
Bucket in face
Self hypnosis
Ball to the leg
Putting on makeup

FANWORKS
Episode Speedpaint: Don't Think About It
Flutterball (made before the episode, I think, so Pinkie balancing on the ball is a prediction)
It's All About Having Fun
I LOVE this game

The Hoofball Master
The Apple's Buckball - see larger version for Rainbow and Fluttershy
Nice kick
Fluttershy
The totally unexpected Buckball champion

 

[SigmasonicX]

Three books have been released today: two book versions of Legend of Everfree (one novelization, one picture book), and the original picture book Dragons on Dazzle Island, which has pretty good art.

Some places have broken the release date, so there are already spoilers of Legend of Everfree out. I won't post any here, but I went ahead and looked at them myself, since it's still about a month before the movie comes out. If you guys want to discuss it here, feel free, but remember to use spoiler tags and say that you're talking about Legend of Everfree before the spoiler.

On a similar note, an activity book from August has summaries of "Viva Las Pegasus" and "Top Bolt".

Oh, and Paullo, that scarf image you had embedded has changed to something else.

 

[SigmasonicX]

As a heads up, this week's episode, "The Fault in Our Cutie Marks", aired in Poland already. It isn't in English, of course, but gifs and such are on places like Derpibooru. Although, apparently there has already been a fansubbed version released. It's been a while since we had a "leak" like this.

It's only going to be a few days, so I won't bother to look anything up, but if you discuss it here, please use spoiler tags.

==

On another note, a lot of people have noted that this season is "safer" than usual, even by the standards of this series. Sure, there were some unconventional episodes, but many seem like middling episodes from season 1. This Round Stable post broke down which episodes were written by new-to-the-show writers and which were by old writers, and while it isn't an exact split, it seems like the older writers wrote the more interesting episodes while the newer ones wrote more standard episodes. There's a greater split if you don't consider Mike Vogel to be new--even if he's new to writing, he's been with the show from early on.

Comparing this to what we saw from Star Trek: The Next Generation in its last season, I'm pretty confident that a lot of this can be blamed on the upcoming movie. TNG saw a lot of time and resources being drawn away from the show into its first movie, so episodes didn't get as much attention as they usually would, and they had to fall back on a lot of stock plots, or address dangling plot threads in weak ways.

The upside is MLP is almost certainly getting another season, so we should see the quality go up again with season 7, assuming the movie isn't still taking up a lot of resources. And comparatively, this season hasn't been as bad as the final season of TNG (minus the finale). Hopefully, the MLP movie isn't as bad as Star Trek: Generations.

 

[UberTag]

Let's hope this quality regression is due to movie production and isn't simply a case of the old guard getting phased out for more "corporate" newbies who failed to understand what made this show uniquely special in the first place.

So many of this season's episodes have been driven by one-note plot premises hammered into our skulls to a ridiculous degree until the 11th hour plot realization by the characters that they've been behaving badly and a lesson is learned. The creativity has been flat - even the musical numbers have been non-existent, subpar or phased out for lyricless musical montages which stand out like a sore thumb compared to prior years.

 

[DemWalls]

Unexpectedly, I just saw The Fault in our Cutie Marks. Won't spoil anything, I'll just say it's possibly one of the best CMC episodes, though personally that's not a terribly high mark. Still, it wasn't half bad, and certainly far from the worst this season (or the show in general, really) has to offer.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Good to hear that the episode's good. Although how did you unexpectedly watch the episode? Even if you weren't aware the episode aired, I'd think the fact that it's in Polish would be a giveaway.

Let's hope this quality regression is due to movie production and isn't simply a case of the old guard getting phased out for more "corporate" newbies who failed to understand what made this show uniquely special in the first place.

So many of this season's episodes have been driven by one-note plot premises hammered into our skulls to a ridiculous degree until the 11th hour plot realization by the characters that they've been behaving badly and a lesson is learned. The creativity has been flat - even the musical numbers have been non-existent, subpar or phased out for lyricless musical montages which stand out like a sore thumb compared to prior years.

I don't think we have a problem with the new writers being too "corporate", they're just being overly cautious with the plot structure and character interactions, imitating that of the typical season 1 episode.

As for the musical numbers, really, it was only in the first two seasons that we could expect every musical number to be good or at least memorable. From season 3 on, there have been obvious tiers of songs, with ones that got a lot of effort put into them (ones in musical episodes, for instance) and ones that didn't. I will concede that it feels like this difference has been even greater this season, though, with the only memorable songs being in "A Hearth's Warming Tail" and "Spice Up Your Life" (and the sweeping song from "The Saddle Row Review").

On another note,

24. Top Bolt - October 15
Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle are sent to the Wonderbolt Academy to help two friends, Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger, solve a friendship problem that could prevent them from getting into the Academy.

I wonder if Twilight map episodes will always be the last one. Anyway, note that a summary of this episode is already available from an activity book, as I posted recently.

And on another note:

 

[DemWalls]

Good to hear that the episode's good. Although how did you unexpectedly watch the episode? Even if you weren't aware the episode aired, I'd think the fact that it's in Polish would be a giveaway.

I didn't know about that, in fact.
I'm in Italy at the moment, and they're currently airing the first part of season 6 here. I turned on the TV, waiting for The Saddle Row Review to begin, and to my surprise an episode started that I had never seen before. I was quite confused at first

After I watched it, I did some research and I found out about the original airing order, the Polish leak, et cetera.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I hadn't realized the episode also already aired in Italy.

And seriously guys, no one posted this?

25-26. To Where and Back Again - October 22
Part 1: Without the help of Twilight Sparkle and the Mane Six, Starlight Glimmer assembles an unlikely team of heroes to defend Equestria from the return of one of its greatest threats.
Part 2: Starlight Glimmer leads an unlikely squad of rescuers against one of the ponies' oldest and greatest foes in order to save her friends and Equestria.

Taking bets on Starlight's team and the villain! I'm guessing her team will be made up of characters she met this season, meaning Trixie, Thorax, and whoever's in "Every Little Thing She Does", but here's hoping for some "Slice of Life" characters. The villain is likely Chrysalis.

 

[PaulloDEC]

I hadn't realized the episode also already aired in Italy.

And seriously guys, no one posted this?

25-26. To Where and Back Again - October 22
Part 1: Without the help of Twilight Sparkle and the Mane Six, Starlight Glimmer assembles an unlikely team of heroes to defend Equestria from the return of one of its greatest threats.
Part 2: Starlight Glimmer leads an unlikely squad of rescuers against one of the ponies' oldest and greatest foes in order to save her friends and Equestria.

Taking bets on Starlight's team and the villain! I'm guessing her team will be made up of characters she met this season, meaning Trixie, Thorax, and whoever's in "Every Little Thing She Does", but here's hoping for some "Slice of Life" characters. The villain is likely Chrysalis.

Chrysalis sounds like a safe bet for the villain.

The story itself sounds like something very different for the show; basically the Slice of Life format applied to a season finale. I wonder who's writing?

Paullo, that image in your previous post is messed up.

Crap, thanks for the reminder. Fixed.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Paullo, that image in your previous post is messed up.

Updated Christmas album coming out on October 7, and it will contain the songs from "A Hearth's Warming Carol" (EDIT: in addition to the songs from last year), presumably without the sound effects and dialogue, and that should be worth checking out on its own. This will be released both online and physically, and the CD will come with a poster.

And since I already have a big buildup of "Buckball Season" stuff, I'll dump it here instead of on Sunday. Oh, and also "The Times They Are a Changeling".

Good piano cover of "A Changeling Can Change"

Friends

The Zen of Snails
So you think you can play? - Ironically, I think this is one case where an all-princess team wouldn't necessarily be that good, unless everyone's allowed to use magic.
Buckball Season (Fluttershy)

You Ready to Buck and Slam? - I really like this one, so check out the full version
Flutter Player
This technique of Flutters works pretty good

The real reason Rainbow Dash wasn't upset - a bit larger to make legible; mind the typo

Comic - The Revenge - The real reason why Fluttershy's tail was so useful
Pinkie Pie Says Goodnight: Don't Wake Me! - actually the night before the episode this time; doesn't actually tie into an episode

 

[DemWalls]

Chrysalis sounds like a safe bet for the villain.

The story itself sounds like something very different for the show; basically the Slice of Life format applied to a season finale. I wonder who's writing?

It's been confirmed Haber's written it, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[draetenth]

I enjoyed this episode. Gabby was... something. She certainly had spunk. Definitely a different portrayal of griffons than we've seen so far (gilda + griffonstone). Convenient that she was there when RD and PP were on their mission.

I thought it was a bit odd that the CMC were afraid of gabby at first, but apparently no one else was since they talked about the work the CMC.

Nice to see the CMC are out and about helping ponies like we've seen them trying to do since they first got their marks.

I wonder why only ponies supposedly can get cutie marks? Something to do with pony magic perhaps?

 

[DrForester]

So, Gabby was pretty much a Textbook Mary Sue....

 

[brian577]

I wonder why only ponies supposedly can get cutie marks? Something to do with pony magic perhaps?

Probably. They seem to be the only species that possess real magic. I'd guess Spike's teleport ability was imbued by Celestia and Zecora skills are just herbology and slight of hoof.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I thought that was a fun and adorable episode. I knew I was going to like it from the cold open with the not!murderer filly. I admit that it took a bit too long to get from Gabby being introduced to the Crusaders starting to actually help her, though.

I was surprised to see the ponies from "On Your Marks" appear. Maybe my bingo card should have asked for a season 6 character to return instead of a season 5 character.

Gabby was an adorable character. Her size made me think at first that she was closer to the Main Six in age, but I suppose Gilda is larger than the ponies and Gabby is only big in comparison to the CMC, so she's closer in age to the CMC.

When Gabby had her flashback, I was thinking that Griffonstone hadn't actually improved much, but then it was revealed this was before the events of "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone". So, I guess we still don't have a canonical view of what Griffonstone is like now.

I liked that we didn't have the CMC make any false promises to Gabby or anything, even if that meant it took a bit too long to get going, like I mentioned before.

The song was a pretty typical post-season-3 Crusaders song, but I liked this one, and Gabby's singing was cute. The start was a bit awkward, but I liked the Crusaders bouncing to the beat and then Gabby joining in without question. I would have liked a fourth wall break with Gabby getting excited about a song, though.

I wonder if they remembered to tell Twilight it was a false alarm, or if everyone just comes in one day to see the castle covered in griffon anatomy charts.

So, Gabby was pretty much a Textbook Mary Sue....

Haha, yeah, I did notice that. Comes in, is instant friends with main characters, is good at everything. But she was there as someone to be helped, the story remained focused on the CMC and their own problems, and she certainly didn't become the focus of the entire show. That just goes to show that having qualities affiliated with a Mary Sue does not make you a Mary Sue.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Cute episode. Sigma's description of the song was pretty much on-point, though it has some nice moments regardless. Kinda wish Gabby had gotten to meet Pinkie, I feel they'd have gotten on. I liked the scene with the archeologist pony at the start, too.

Biggest missed opportunity was a final scene with a cranky Twilight and bored Spike still waiting for Gabby and the Crusaders to come back.

I wonder why only ponies supposedly can get cutie marks? Something to do with pony magic perhaps?

That actually made me wonder about Zecora. Do Zebras qualify as ponies, or is her spiral-sun dealie just a tattoo?

 

[draetenth]

Yeah, I noticed that Gabby defintely seemed Mary Sueish, but since she wasn't the focus/main character it didn't seem like a big deal.

I have to admit that when the episode opened and the CMC were helping that filly with the bone cutie mark, Pirates wasn't the first thing that came to my mind >.> (it was a bit darker...I know it's a children show and all that, but i couldn't help it).

Finally got to see the last two episodes:

Dungeons and Discord - I enjoyed it though I can't really say much about it (I guess I liked the little dance Spike and Big Mac (and later Discord did) and I like how Discord joined their little group in the end).

Buckball Season - Alright episode, though a bit predictable in what would happen. It had some good/goofy facial expressions (mainly when Fluttershy and PP wanted to quit).

For some reason Braeburn sounded different to me in this episode (not something I expected to notice from such a minor character...).

Snails was a surprise..

The bulky pegasus was... something. She looked like a cross between Bulk Bicep and Flitter/Cloud Chaser.

 

[SigmasonicX]

That actually made me wonder about Zecora. Do Zebras qualify as ponies, or is her spiral-sun dealie just a tattoo?

I vaguely recall Lauren Faust claiming that Zecora's marking was similar to a cutie mark, but had a meaning that was known only to zebras.

Guardians of Harmony got a flash game on Hasbro's site. It's nothing too remarkable... other than the special attack you get from collecting enough gems, which is amazing. Play it for that, at least. Also, Shining Armor has an oddly feminine grunting voice.

EDIT: Completed story mode. For some reason, despite using Princess Twilight assets everywhere, in-game Twilight has no wings. Characters that have high gem stats are so much better than the others that it's crazy, since it allows you to summon Spike multiple times in a level. Well, up until the final level, where summoning Spike causes the level to freeze up (you can still pause to restart the level), for my playthrough at least. Despite being called Story Mode, there's no story.

Our own DrForester got Jim Miller to reveal why this episode was delayed: to get a CMC episode in the second half of the season, nothing more. Obviously, other countries airing it before the US was not their plan.

And lastly, but perhaps most interestingly, new brushable models are coming. More images at the link.

The brushables are the bread and butter of the MLP toyline, and a change to the models doesn't come lightly. In fact, the "generations" of MLP are actually defined by major changes to the brushable models, not the shows, despite what many assume. So My Little Pony Tales is actually still G1; G2 never got a cartoon. There is admittedly some stretching with G3.5 not being a separate generation from G3 due to marketing, when the toys aren't that similar. Many suspect that this change to the models is meant to tie into the movie. So, could this mean the movie is technically the start of G4.5? Or is it more of a 4.1?

 

[SpaceCadetKeon]

I couldn't get enough of Gabby's enthusiasm and cheerfulness. I wanna give her a hug.

 

[DeadPhoenix]

I couldn't get enough of Gabby's enthusiasm and cheerfulness. I wanna give her a hug.

I actually couldn't stand it, from pretty much the moment she started talking. Just, calm down for a second!

 

[SigmasonicX]

Episode roundup. I already posted the stuff from previous episodes earlier. Since this is the third roundup on this page, the images will be a bit smaller than usual.

NOTES
So, does anyone else think that Apple Bloom saying, "What the apple" is a reference to the fan gag of replacing swearwords with "buy some apples"? Notably used in Friendship is Witchcraft, IIRC.

On Round Stable, some people have noted that this episode could be a way to assure little kids who grew up on the show that they'll be fine even if they can't get cutie marks themselves.

And I suppose I'll put this here. Since this episode already aired in Poland, we have the episode's song in that language. It also aired in Italy, as noted earlier, but I can't find the song on YouTube.
English
Polish

SCREENCAPS
I'll be noting details hard to see in these small versions, so as a reminder, you can replace the s250 in the URL with s2000 (or another value) for a larger version.

Petunia Paleo celebrating. Petunia's parents with pirate gear; with the father's cutie mark being fencing swords and her mother's being a pearl, I wonder if they actually wanted her to be a pirate. Note the background ponies here: on the left we have Derpy and Dinky; in the middle, we have the pony nicknamed CaraMac, who is Caramel + Big Mac; and on the right, we have Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon talking with Pipsqueak.

TFW you can never have your own pet Crusaders. Death by hugging. I found the squabbling griffons funny.

Not sure if this was intentional, but the way the cane is placed in her hand makes it look like she's giving Gabby the bird. Letter in mouth. Gabby teaches trigonometry instead of precalculus.

This is the first time that the beach (and the ocean) has appeared in the show, isn't it? As noted on Round Stable, back in season one, there's no way there would be this many unique ponies in the audience. Gabby's great gardening.

And the true story of this episode.

GIFS
Fancy Apple Bloom tea drinking
Cat Scratch Griffon
Death by hugging in gif form
Gabby hugging Scootaloo
Gabby touched by "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone"
Excited Gabby getting mail from Gilda
Gabby excitedly shaking her head
Gabby peaking in between her fingers
TFW you'll never be wing-hugged by a griffon
Scootaloo explaining why she wants to help Gabby - while watching, I thought she was just comparing it to them getting their cutie marks, and I hadn't noticed her flapping her wings
Sweetie Belle's mind breaking at Gabby's cutie mark
Excited Twilight
Excited Twilight running away

FANWORKS
Epic Sax Pony

Gabby and the CMC - even after John Joseco posted that human Twilight art recently, I didn't expect him to make new episode art
Cutie Mark Crusaders - Visit to Griffonstone
Gabby

Friendly Postal Service
Behaving like a cat - Derpibooru exclusive?
If you like helping people, never take a job at a support line.

Gabby sketches
Gabby and CMC 16:9
Gabby + Speedpaint

The Fault in Our Cutie Marks
Gabby Happy
Scootattoo

Gabby Hugs
And for a change, Petunia the archaeologist

GIF - Gabby the Birb

Here are some good humanizations.
Finding your purpose
Big fan
Gabby

Comics - Both involve Twilight after the end of the episode
Griffon Mark Study
Cutie Mark??

 

[DemWalls]

And I suppose I'll put this here. Since this episode already aired in Poland, we have the episode's song in that language. It also aired in Italy, as noted earlier, but I can't find the song on YouTube.
English
Polish

HERE

Gotta say I found Gabby's English singing a bit disappointing. The Italian songs are really hit or miss (just listen to the CMCs), but in this case I can definitely say I prefer Italian Gabby.

 

[Orcastar]

That was definitely one of the better episodes of the season.

This is the first time that the beach (and the ocean) has appeared in the show, isn't it?

Seeing as how Ponyville is located righ in the middle of the continent, the CMC had to literally travel halfway across Equestria just so Gabby could try her claw at kelp gathering.

 

[SigmasonicX]

HERE

Gotta say I found Gabby's English singing a bit disappointing. The Italian songs are really hit or miss (just listen to the CMCs), but in this case I can definitely say I prefer Italian Gabby.

Hmm, I guess my downfall was specifically including "song" as part of my search. It's interesting how the lyrics are different, notably not being specific about what Gabby's doing in a lot of cases.

Concerning the voice, this is similar to something I remember noting for the Japanese dub of "Sonic Rainboom", regarding Rainbow's bullies. They had weird voices in English, which I didn't like, and thus when the Japanese dub gave them generic anime voices, I thought that was an improvement. I've noticed that Gabby's English voice is rubbing some people the wrong way, especially with its scratchiness, so the fact that the Polish and Italian dubs give her a more standard voice can be an improvement.

 

[ZealousD]

I couldn't get enough of Gabby's enthusiasm and cheerfulness. I wanna give her a hug.

I dunno. She's like that friend who is way too comfortable invading your personal space, lol.

 

[DemWalls]

Oops, double post. Sorry.

 

[DemWalls]

Concerning the voice, this is similar to something I remember noting for the Japanese dub of "Sonic Rainboom", regarding Rainbow's bullies. They had weird voices in English, which I didn't like, and thus when the Japanese dub gave them generic anime voices, I thought that was an improvement. I've noticed that Gabby's English voice is rubbing some people the wrong way, especially with its scratchiness, so the fact that the Polish and Italian dubs give her a more standard voice can be an improvement.

Actually, Gabby's Italian voice may be even worse in that sense :lol: It's very high pitched. Doesn't bother me though.
I was specifically talking about the singing voice (which is done by another voice actress/singer).

 

[SparksterMeta0]

I couldn't get enough of Gabby's enthusiasm and cheerfulness. I wanna give her a hug.

I actually couldn't stand it, from pretty much the moment she started talking. Just, calm down for a second!

I was afraid about that optimism of hers breaking at some point.

Spoiler

She was upset at first, but I liked the twist near the end how she claims her "faking it" [getting the cauldron cutie mark] was meant to help the CMCs rather than herself.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Well this is a surprise. At the Middle Equestrian Convention in Poland, the current lead character designer for the show, Kora Kosicka, confirmed unambiguously that Applejack's parents are dead. This makes me think that the upcoming "Where the Apple Lies" will address that after all. There's some other stuff in the link, including that "Rainbow Dad" isn't Rainbow Dash's father, but I'm thinking that's less set in stone and/or was just forgotten.

On another note, while I like Gabby, I'm amused by these Mary Sue / self-insert jokes.
One Talented Griffon
Art Commissions

 

[draetenth]

Another good, but not great episode for me. Honestly, this season feels "safe" to me. There hasn't really been an episode that has wowed me, but for the most part I haven't been overly disappointed anyway.

I had a feeling early on that the owner was behind everything with is talk of "friendship".

I thought Las Pegasus would have been more like a city filled with attractions, but it struck me like a giant carnival or something.

Animation was pretty good for the episode imo and I liked the variety of ponies.

I don't know if it was just me, but I thought Fluttershy was harder to hear/understand than she usually is...

I did like how AJ wanted to just walk away from Flim & Flam.

 

[ZealousD]

I had a feeling early on that the owner was behind everything with is talk of "friendship".

He had the "big corrupt Texan businessman" thing going on. The trope was obvious enough to me that I thought they were subverting it for awhile.

 

[PaulloDEC]

To be honest, I wasn't expecting Gladmane to be the villain because I was fully expecting another "Oh, its Flim and Flam up to their old tricks!" type story. Very happy to be surprised, and I really enjoyed the story overall. Lots of great new one-off characters, a visual style distinct from the rest of the show and a neat plot with some interesting and clever twists and turns.