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[SigmasonicX]

Potato quality "It's Time to Be Awesome" from the Movie! No video, just audio. The song's nice, but it's only a fragment.
EDIT: Note that the sound quality is good for what it is, and it's a minute and a half fragment.
EDIT: Season 7 episodes 1-13 coming to Netflix on August 8, literally three days after the last two air in the US. Still no EQG specials, though, despite them having been announced for Netflix first. Weird.

EDIT: Bottom of this Yahoo article has an interview with Liev Schreiber where he talks about MLP for the first minute and a half. Nothing too major, but it's nice to hear him talk about it. He says the Storm King stole his staff from Poseidon, but he might have been joking about that.

Also, analyzing the song a bit.

Spoiler

Kind of amused that Rainbow was the last one to complain about badly timed singing (in "Rarity Takes Manehattan") and now she's the one doing it. From Twilight's reaction, I'm a bit worried that the pirates are being presented as threatening and suddenly turn good after just a few lyrics from Rainbow, but we're missing a lot of context. Parts of the song remind me a lot of "All the Way to the Friendship Games".

By the way, the song was originally posted by ED, but they took their article down. Good thing I posted the video link here instead of the article.

 

[ShinySylvee]

There has been a full upload of the Comicon panel on /mlp/ and reddit and since Hasbro seems to be on EQD's case they haven't posted it. You can find it here although the camerman looks away from the screen when they start showing movie footage because apparently he was being watched by security. My guess is that Hasbro plans on reusing the material for their Hascon panels and don't want it to be old news by then, which is why they haven't released any official versions of the footage shown online yet.

Couple plot observations:

Spoiler

Storm King is holding the whole "you need me to get your horn back" over Tempest Shadow super hardcore. Them not having a super cozy relationship will likely play a part in her inevitable face turn and betrayal of him

Twilight points out that Luna was supposed to be in charge of meeting the Hippos. Implies both that the Mane 6 don't know what happened to the Hippogriphs and that Luna is almost certainly getting kidnapped. I'm hoping with them apparently divvying up contacting these other races that maybe some of the other important secondary characters (such as Starlight or Discord) might be left in charge of contacting the races that the ponies are already allies with so they at least do something in the movie.

Storm King talks about capturing the four rulers of the land. Obviously talking about the princesses so that lends even further credence to the idea that the other princesses are going to get captured almost immediately into the movie.

Capper's voice sounds really good. I like the line that they had for him because it sounds like he could just be playing dumb to fool the ponies into thinking he's not as smart as he is, which makes him seem a lot trickier and sells the Mane 6 falling for it better. For what it's worth the shot that Sigma linked seemed to me like he was more uneasy then playing hard to get. I'm guessing the context is that he's getting weirded out by Rarity flirting with him or he's having second thoughts about turning them in to the Storm King.

Edit: well this is awkward. I didn't realize that I screwed up the link to the video and now both my video and the one Sigma linked have been taken down by Hasbro.

 

[SigmasonicX]

There has been a full upload of the Comicon panel on /mlp/ and reddit and since Hasbro seems to be on EQD's case they haven't posted it. You can find it here although the camerman looks away from the screen when they start showing movie footage because apparently he was being watched by security. My guess is that Hasbro plans on reusing the material for their Hascon panels and don't want it to be old news by then, which is why they haven't released any official versions of the footage shown online yet.

Couple plot observations:

Spoiler

Storm King is holding the whole "you need me to get your horn back" over Tempest Shadow super hardcore. Them not having a super cozy relationship will likely play a part in her inevitable face turn and betrayal of him

Twilight points out that Luna was supposed to be in charge of meeting the Hippos. Implies both that the Mane 6 don't know what happened to the Hippogriphs and that Luna is almost certainly getting kidnapped. I'm hoping with them apparently divvying up contacting these other races that maybe some of the other important secondary characters (such as Starlight or Discord) might be left in charge of contacting the races that the ponies are already allies with so they at least do something in the movie.

Storm King talks about capturing the four rulers of the land. Obviously talking about the princesses so that lends even further credence to the idea that the other princesses are going to get captured almost immediately into the movie.

Capper's voice sounds really good. I like the line that they had for him because it sounds like he could just be playing dumb to fool the ponies into thinking he's not as smart as he is, which makes him seem a lot trickier and sells the Mane 6 falling for it better. For what it's worth the shot that Sigma linked seemed to me like he was more uneasy then playing hard to get. I'm guessing the context is that he's getting weirded out by Rarity flirting with him or he's having second thoughts about turning them in to the Storm King.

Edit: well this is awkward. I didn't realize that I screwed up the link to the video and now both my video and the one Sigma linked have been taken down by Hasbro.

The song link in my above post still works. Anyway, it's a shame I couldn't see that Comic Con footage in time.

Pirate toys for Twilight and Pinkie. I love that Captain Twilight outfit.
BUT HOLD ON APPLEJACK HAS A JETPACK + EYEPATCH (plus pirate bird at the link)

Ted Anderson talks about the Movie prequel comics
* He was given the movie script and character designs ahead of time.
* He was given a lot of freedom to define what the characters were up to before the movie. He was surprised to find that what he wrote ended up influencing other tie-ins, including the prequel chapter book.
* His favorite characters from the movie didn't end up in the comics.
* The trickiest part was, of course, the fact that the readers don't know the characters, so there's a leap of faith that readers would still be interested before watching the movie.

 

[Fat4all]

ya-harg!

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

So wait, can comic book talk go here? Because I quite liked issue #2 of the MOVIE PREQUEL SERIES

hoping we get some backstory out of that green parrot lady either in the movie or in the next issue.

 

[SigmasonicX]

So wait, can comic book talk go here? Because I quite liked issue #2 of the MOVIE PREQUEL SERIES

hoping we get some backstory out of that green parrot lady either in the movie or in the next issue.

Dude, you've been posting about comics here for months, what do you mean "can comic book talk go here" >_>?

Movie Prequel #2
This was a pretty good chapter. Celaeno and her crew are fun, and I liked her loyalty to her crew and reasonableness. Particularly, I liked how quickly she rejected the magic gem. It's interesting that everyone in her crew has a missing body part. I know I wasn't too keen on Celaeno's design when it was first revealed, but it works well in this comic, along with the rest of her crew, including several members that haven't appeared in trailers or promotional images yet.

I didn't expect Capper to show up as a stowaway, and for the cursed gem to go to him. I thought for sure the gem would be the source of the Storm King's weather control, but apparently he can do that already. Speaking of which, I wonder if we'll get an explanation for how he caught up to them, since Strife was surprised by it.

Silver Quill's review. Hmm, I don't think I've posted this cover art before.

As he points out, Strife is interesting, because we haven't seen him at all in movie promotion, but he's playing a large role in the prequel story so far, and he's a very unusual character for this universe. I hadn't thought about how the first two issues show parallels and contrasts between how Storm King treats his crew and how Celaeno treats hers. I forgot to mention, surprised to see Storm King actually choke Celaeno in a MLP comic, even if it is comedy Bart style.

Overall, fun enough story, but note that it's meant to be read with the first issue, and it doesn't have any ponies in it.

==

New Equestria Girls book coming December 5, which usually means a new EQG animation of some sort. With the timing, it's probably about those online shorts that were released in Russian at potato quality a while ago but still haven't appeared in English.

Join Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Apple Jack, and Fluttershy as they rely on their special friendships to guide them through the highs and lows of being students at Canterlot High.
208 pages, $10

The description is vague as hell, but they're finally actually using a SciTwi vector instead of Human Pony Twi with glasses. Also, you can tell she's an Equestria Girls G2 character because she has normal shoes.

And... oh no...

Take story time to a whole new level with a Hallmark personalized book. With this customized My Little Pony book, an ordinary day turns extraordinary when a magical mirror transports your child to Equestria, the home of My Little Pony, where your child becomes a pony, too! Rainbow Dash has a cold, and the ponies need help to make sure she's better for the Equestria Parade. With a little know-how, a little magic, and a little help from Rarity, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, and all the pony friends, your child helps Rainbow Dash get better quick—because friendship is the best medicine! Learn more about
* Create a character that looks just like your child by selecting gender, eye color, skin tone, hair color and hairstyle—then add a name to create a story that's all about him or her.
* Choose a pony color, too!
* Add your name to the dedication page, so they never forget who it's from.
* Available for boys or girls.
* Hardcover; 20 pages.
* 8.75" W x 11.25" H

You can now officially have your self insert go to Equestria!
IT'S CANON IT'S ALL CANON AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

 

[Fat4all]

Fat4all and the Pony Parade

"Hey, you weird ponies ever hear about Jeffrey Dahmer?"

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Dude, you've been posting about comics here for months, what do you mean "can comic book talk go here" >_>?

There's an OT in the community area and I couldn't remember if I posted there or not. I don't have either as subscriptions so I search em and I guess grab the top one

 

[SigmasonicX]

An EQG chapter book got a listing for April 3, 2018, which probably means something is coming out around that time.

Movie merchandise is hitting stores, and the robot Twilight actually looks cute on the back. Also, the name on the delivery box is a bit overblown.

Brushables are getting pirate love too
Pinkie collectable theater cup

And with a week until episodes start up again, I'll do a season 7 + movie art dump now.

Still waiting on Myke to post his own Tempest art instead of posting it myself.

Parental Glideance
I Used To Be The Best
Look Mom, I'm a Wonderbolt

A Royal Problem
Something cute
Do you want to break the day up?
Twilarina

The Helmet is Off
This is the End!
A Royal Problem Review - Celestia's pinkness is a mistake due to the artist's tablet warping the colors.

Mirror Magic
Starlight by dino_horse
Nomming on Ice Cream
Starlight by imDRUNKonTEA - Honestly, I find detailed EQG art like this weird-looking, but I can't deny the effort.

Forgiven Friends
Starlight by linkaluote
Sunset by kuzumori

The Movie
Already the best pone
Here Fishy Fishy - Based on the Sunset Sushi toy set.
Seapony Coloratura

Mermaid Twi
Sia’s ponysona is quite adorable
Tempest by skitsniga

This is acting
Shoo be Doo
Tempest by Das-Leben

Tempest by alumx - Same with the rest of this set.
Tempest Shadow Grenade
Tempest Shadow portrait

Tempest Shadow by Koveliana
Glitz and Glam
You really like it, sis? I'm happy! ^^

Yes, shipping art based on a few seconds from a toy commercial
Movie Rarity by xSatanielx

Twilight flipping you off

Other
All Bottled Up - Teacup Besties
Forever Filly - Are you quite done ma’am?
Fluttershy Leans In - Pillow Inspector

Hard to Say Anything Review
Not Asking For Trouble Review

Plushies
Songbird Serenade
Somnambula - Seen in Legends of Magic.

Comic
All Bottled Up - Tricup

 

[SigmasonicX]

Four new Equestria Girls shorts and one music video coming tomorrow. I thought a lot of it looked familiar, but I couldn't tell from what, until I realized these are what those UK comics I posted a while ago were based on. Speaking of which, Polish comic adapting another short. Two of them, including the music video, are likely the Russian leaks from a while ago.

The Songbird Serenade toy has one of Sia's songs from the movie. Well, it's hard to say if it's actually in the movie or just part of the credits/soundtrack. It, well, sounds like a Sia song.

Work on the movie is complete!

 

[Lightning_Roller]

Four new Equestria Girls shorts and one music video coming tomorrow. I thought a lot of it looked familiar, but I couldn't tell from what, until I realized these are what those UK comics I posted a while ago were based on. Speaking of which, Polish comic adapting another short. Two of them, including the music video, are likely the Russian leaks from a while ago.

The Songbird Serenade toy has one of Sia's songs from the movie. Well, it's hard to say if it's actually in the movie or just part of the credits/soundtrack. It, well, sounds like a Sia song.

Work on the movie is complete!

Yay. Movie is complete also been a while since I've been in here.

 

[SigmasonicX]

^ Are you up to date on this season?

Unboxing of the Twilight animatronic. She starts singing two movie songs here, and while I can't be bothered to listen to all of it, she does blab about movie events, apparently. Note that this isn't Tara Strong or Rebecca Shoichet, the audio quality isn't the greatest, and Twilight probably doesn't sing the seapony song in the movie.

Equestria Girls Summertime Shorts
I expect these will officially be up on YouTube soon, but for now, you have to find them yourself.
Make Up, Shake Up - Wait, this is Y7? Has any MLP thing been Y7? Wait, is that Princess Twi? Fall Formal? Is this a flashback story to the first Equestria Girls? The short is about Rarity putting too much makeup on Applejack. Nothing much to this one.
A Photo Booth Story - Princess Twi again? Is this during the Fall Formal (before the stuff with Sunset)? This is about Photo Finish making the girls pose for pictures. Other than some callbacks to FiM episodes, nothing much to this either.
Raise The Roof - Princess Twi again! This is a story adapted in the UK comics. Applejack and Apple Bloom have a dance off against Rainbow and Scootaloo. It's alright.
Steps of Pep - Looks like we finally left the first EQG movie. This is just an extended version of the beginning of "Sonic Rainboom", with Fluttershy learning to cheer, except with Pinkie, and at multiple events. Oh hey, the Ponytones (Wondertones here) exist. The ending gag is different, though, so that's good.
Mad Twience - This is an 80's style music video with SciTwi trying to figure out her relationship with Timber using mad science. I guess this addresses one of my complaints about their relationship in my Legend of Everfree post. But she uses her love science to create a robot dog for Spike, which... what does this imply? Wasn't a fan of the song, but it's kind of cute. It could have used more energy in the visuals, particularly during the "P-E-R-F-E-C-T" parts, and probably a less douchey picture of Timber.

So wait, what about that Daring Do short that was in the commercial? And that Pinkie Pie short with her throwing paint at the screen and dancing with waitresses? And the CMC in Daring Do outfits? And everyone including SciTwi and Sunset playing music? It isn't a huge surprise that there are other shorts, but why air different ones than what they advertised? And in general, why so many shorts that took place during the first Equestria Girls movie? And I don't know why this was Y7.

Some people have noticed that the animation is more stilted than even the other shorts. Not sure if that means anything.

 

[Lightning_Roller]

^ Are you up to date on this season?

Unboxing of the Twilight animatronic. She starts singing two movie songs here, and while I can't be bothered to listen to all of it, she does blab about movie events, apparently. Note that this isn't Tara Strong or Rebecca Shoichet, the audio quality isn't the greatest, and Twilight probably doesn't sing the seapony song in the movie.

Equestria Girls Summertime Shorts
I expect these will officially be up on YouTube soon, but for now, you have to find them yourself.
Make Up, Shake Up - Wait, this is Y7? Has any MLP thing been Y7? Wait, is that Princess Twi? Fall Formal? Is this a flashback story to the first Equestria Girls? The short is about Rarity putting too much makeup on Applejack. Nothing much to this one.
A Photo Booth Story - Princess Twi again? Is this during the Fall Formal (before the stuff with Sunset)? This is about Photo Finish making the girls pose for pictures. Other than some callbacks to FiM episodes, nothing much to this either.
Raise This Roof - Princess Twi again! This is a story adapted in the UK comics. Applejack and Apple Bloom have a dance off against Rainbow and Scootaloo. It's alright.
Steps of Pep - Looks like we finally left the first EQG movie. This is just an extended version of the beginning of "Sonic Rainboom", with Fluttershy learning to cheer, except with Pinkie, and at multiple events. Oh hey, the Ponytones (Wondertones here) exist. The ending gag is different, though, so that's good.
Mad Twience - This is an 80's style music video with SciTwi trying to figure out her relationship with Timber using mad science. I guess this addresses one of my complaints about their relationship in my Legend of Everfree post. But she uses her love science to create a robot dog for Spike, which... what does this imply? Wasn't a fan of the song, but it's kind of cute. It could have used more energy in the visuals, particularly during the "P-E-R-F-E-C-T" parts, and probably a less douchey picture of Timber.

So wait, what about that Daring Do short that was in the commercial? And that Pinkie Pie short with her throwing paint at the screen and dancing with waitresses? And the CMC in Daring Do outfits? And everyone including SciTwi and Sunset playing music? It isn't a huge surprise that there are other shorts, but why air different ones than what they advertised? And in general, why so many shorts that took place during the first Equestria Girls movie? And I don't know why this was Y7.

Some people have noticed that the animation is more stilted than even the other shorts. Not sure if that means anything.

Not even close, actually. Need to catch up on all of it.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Not even close, actually. Need to catch up on all of it.

The first half of season 7 is coming to Netflix next week, so that should help. Unless you mean you haven't even finished season 6.

 

[DemWalls]

Some people have noticed that the animation is more stilted than even the other shorts. Not sure if that means anything.

It simply means someone else worked on them, with the exception of Mad Twience. I suppose you noticed the Boulder Media logo and all those lines about the contributions of the Irish government at the end. I really like the colours and shading of those that take place during the Fall Formal though.

 

[Ogodei]

So we're really going to do "Princess Sisters get kidnapped" for, what, the third time?

 

[Lightning_Roller]

The first half of season 7 is coming to Netflix next week, so that should help. Unless you mean you haven't even finished season 6.

Oh awesome. Will be able to catch up. I got through season 6 though.

 

[draetenth]

So we're really going to do "Princess Sisters get kidnapped" for, what, the third time?

Of course, you didn't expect the sisters to actually be strong and useful did you?

 

[SigmasonicX]

It simply means someone else worked on them, with the exception of Mad Twience. I suppose you noticed the Boulder Media logo and all those lines about the contributions of the Irish government at the end. I really like the colours and shading of those that take place during the Fall Formal though.

I didn't notice the different logos, no. Hmm, a different company was brought in for animation. My understanding is that they already use a different team for animating EQG, so work on season 7 and the movie shouldn't impact them. So another sign that they're working on a full blown TV series?

Also, quick follow up for the shorts.
Screenshot - Much better

WebM Video - Yup, that's a sexbot for Spike
GIF version from old Russian copy

==

This merchandise post seems to settle it. Normal Equestria Girls branding is being used for toys done in the Equestria Girls Mini style, so the doll line is almost definitely dead.

Hong Kong McDonalds Happy Meal commercial for Transformers and MLP, with both getting actual animation.

Official Movie character list has new screenshots, and you can see them more clearly in their image directory, searching for "CharacterDropdownImage_Movie". Some notable ones are below.
Songbird - The background is great here.
Skystar - We know that she made friends out of inanimate objects, so this must be that.
Celaeno - Another nice background.
Storm King - This must be the Comic Con scene where Storm King has a hard time figuring out the potion communication method.

EDIT: ED article. Note that the Canterlot screenshot probably turns to blue in the middle to make text on it more readable, not that it's an actual part of the the film.

 

[DemWalls]

I like that Canterlot shot, too bad about that blue overlay. It's the same that's at the end of the movie trailer on the Hasbro official channel. It would make for a great desktop wallpaper, if only the quality wasn't what you could expect from a Youtube screenshot:

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

^ Are you up to date on this season?

Unboxing of the Twilight animatronic. She starts singing two movie songs here, and while I can't be bothered to listen to all of it, she does blab about movie events, apparently. Note that this isn't Tara Strong or Rebecca Shoichet, the audio quality isn't the greatest, and Twilight probably doesn't sing the seapony song in the movie.

Equestria Girls Summertime Shorts
I expect these will officially be up on YouTube soon, but for now, you have to find them yourself.
Make Up, Shake Up - Wait, this is Y7? Has any MLP thing been Y7? Wait, is that Princess Twi? Fall Formal? Is this a flashback story to the first Equestria Girls? The short is about Rarity putting too much makeup on Applejack. Nothing much to this one.
A Photo Booth Story - Princess Twi again? Is this during the Fall Formal (before the stuff with Sunset)? This is about Photo Finish making the girls pose for pictures. Other than some callbacks to FiM episodes, nothing much to this either.
Raise The Roof - Princess Twi again! This is a story adapted in the UK comics. Applejack and Apple Bloom have a dance off against Rainbow and Scootaloo. It's alright.
Steps of Pep - Looks like we finally left the first EQG movie. This is just an extended version of the beginning of "Sonic Rainboom", with Fluttershy learning to cheer, except with Pinkie, and at multiple events. Oh hey, the Ponytones (Wondertones here) exist. The ending gag is different, though, so that's good.
Mad Twience - This is an 80's style music video with SciTwi trying to figure out her relationship with Timber using mad science. I guess this addresses one of my complaints about their relationship in my Legend of Everfree post. But she uses her love science to create a robot dog for Spike, which... what does this imply? Wasn't a fan of the song, but it's kind of cute. It could have used more energy in the visuals, particularly during the "P-E-R-F-E-C-T" parts, and probably a less douchey picture of Timber.

So wait, what about that Daring Do short that was in the commercial? And that Pinkie Pie short with her throwing paint at the screen and dancing with waitresses? And the CMC in Daring Do outfits? And everyone including SciTwi and Sunset playing music? It isn't a huge surprise that there are other shorts, but why air different ones than what they advertised? And in general, why so many shorts that took place during the first Equestria Girls movie? And I don't know why this was Y7.

Some people have noticed that the animation is more stilted than even the other shorts. Not sure if that means anything.

I can't wait to watch all of these and hate myself while wondering why I even bother. At this point it can't be curiosity since I know they'll suck going in.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

I like that Canterlot shot, too bad about that blue overlay. It's the same that's at the end of the movie trailer on the Hasbro official channel. It would make for a great desktop wallpaper, if only the quality wasn't what you could expect from a Youtube screenshot:

I love the gate here. Again, I love the new look for Canterlot, though I'm sure at the same time they'll act like it's always looked like that, and then bring it back to the old look for Season 8.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I like that Canterlot shot, too bad about that blue overlay. It's the same that's at the end of the movie trailer on the Hasbro official channel. It would make for a great desktop wallpaper, if only the quality wasn't what you could expect from a Youtube screenshot:

I love the gate here. Again, I love the new look for Canterlot, though I'm sure at the same time they'll act like it's always looked like that, and then bring it back to the old look for Season 8.

Yeah, that gate is gorgeous. I'm also curious how the show will handle the new city design.

I can't wait to watch all of these and hate myself while wondering why I even bother. At this point it can't be curiosity since I know they'll suck going in.

The shorts are completely harmless; even when they're kind of bland, it's hard to say they suck.

Oh, the movie character page bios are the same as the ones leaked before. And the site has this image with a seapony spoiler, so I guess it's fine to talk about that without spoiler tags now? What do you guys think?

34 page preview of The Stormy Road to Canterlot. Reading through it:
* Continuity error! The narration from Tempest's childhood flashback refers to Cadance as the ruler of the Crystal Empire! Unless the movie involves a massive timeskip, there's no way that's possible.
* She doesn't live in Canterlot, but she dreams of going to Celestia's school.
* Tempest was playing with her friends when their ball fell into a cave. As the brave one, she went in after it, but woke up an ursa minor. It knocked her into a wall, breaking off her horn, but she was able to escape. She didn't notice her horn broke until her friends told her.
* Weeks of recovery later, her friends get her to try to lift a ball with magic. Instead, a beam of destructive energy shoots out. This frightens her friends, and they say it isn't her fault, but she still feels bad about it.
* Much later, her friends tell Tempest that they took the exam to get into Celestia's school without her, which breaks her heart. They insist that Tempest's horn will grow back soon, and she can join them next semester. Besides, they'll come to visit.
* She runs away from home, angry that she was the brave one and the good friend, but got nothing for it.

There are some similarities with Starlight's backstory. It seems like unicorn horns do grow back on their own, but Tempest has a mental block that's stopping it; it's definitely growing back after she learns about friendship again. A broken horn can still fire energy blasts, but apparently can't do anything else.

Rehearsal apparently for the music video for one of Sia's MLP Movie songs. It somehow never occurred to me that the tie in songs from major artists would get full blown music videos.

Also, though they have been posted in these threads over the years, Hasbro has the show and EQG soundtracks on their sites, including the songs exclusive to them like "True True Winter Mash-up", the Christmas songs, and an extended version of "Let the Rainbow Remind You" that isn't labeled as extended, which gives Rarity a solo verse. Despite myself, I ended up spending a bunch of time listening to songs. "Love is in Bloom" is still the best ending song, mainly because of those piano parts, but the way "Let the Rainbow Remind You" ends has really grown on me. Also, manual reminder that the character who sings "Last Year I Got Coal for Christmas" still hasn't appeared anywhere.

 

[Strider_Blaze]

Official rating for the MLP Movie is PG.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Official rating for the MLP Movie is PG.

Transformers: the Movie (1986) infamously inserted random swears in order to bump up the rating to PG.

I now want a scene where an angry Fluttershy gets into a fight with Tempest, defeats her, then blows hair away from her face and says, "Bitch," before walking away. This will have a full hour devoted to it on Bronies React.

 

[ShinySylvee]

So I read the whole novel that came out today (isn't too long) and I'll definitely say that it was the weakest prequel book/comic put out so far as well as the worst MLP novel I've read so far. (Only read a handful though so that's not a massive list) Instead of Gillian Berrow who usually writes the novels they brought in Sadie Chesterfield, who wrote "Wondercolts Forever" (Has anyone else ever heard of this before?) as her only previous MLP work as well as novel tie-ins for Minions, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Surf's Up. Since I didn't even know her other MLP novel existed and I don't watch junior novel tie-ins for movies I've never watched before this is my first experience with her writing and I'm going to go out and say she just doesn't seem to be a good writer. First off, her descriptions are extremely lacking. For example, the hat that Shadow wears for a good chunk of the book is never described aside from one instance where some other person says that it looks nice and that there's flowers on it. Not only does this make it harder for you to really visualize the scenes taking place but in several instances details that provide context to the scene and allow the reader to understand what's actually going on are completely missing. For example

Spoiler

at one point Shadow goes to Apploosa and wanders into a bar and her hat concealing her horn is blown off. Some person asks what happened to it and she runs out of there. Later it's said she was trying to forget the ponies' faces when they saw her horn. There was no description whatsoever as to how anyone reacted to it nor was there any description as to the tone of the person who asked "Say, what happened to your horn?" I have no clue as to whether their response was strong enough for her reaction to be justified or she was just freaking out over nothing and was imagining the problem because it wasn't described at all.

Additionally it's a pretty dry book as it's almost entirely exposition and trying to get Shadow's character from point A to point B. That combined with the numerous continuity errors (In addition to the one Sigma pointed out there's an even more major one that happens later on) make the whole thing feel like it was whipped together by someone that lacked the skill or the effort to create a cohesive and quality story. Honestly I'm sure you could probably find a more fitting backstory for Shadow somewhere on Fimfiction and it would be better written too.


That's not even getting to what I consider the biggest problem I have with the story, the main character herself. She has almost no personality besides being brave and being sad when things aren't going her way. Her heel turn makes less sense then Starlight's despite having way more time dedicated to it. She comes off as a moron that doesn't know what she's doing except in situations where the plot demands that she does. The only reason to care for her is all of the cliche emotionally manipulative crap she goes through. And if you were the type of person that got up in arms about how powerful Starlight was then you should brace yourself because Shadow is substantially worse in that regard.

Spoiler

I don't even know where to start because I have a ton of issues with the story. Everything feels like it happens in the story because it needed to happen to progress the story forward. While wandering through a desert she just happens to stumble across an airship wreck that has the Misfortune Malachite on it. Neither she nor anyone else seemed to notice the ship crash. There's no crew on board apparently all of them died and their bodies magically disappeared given that they aren't described. No other travelers nor any of the Storm King's fleet beat her there. Eventually Grubber's airship shows up and he demands her to give it to him. She doesn't and is apparently surprised that there was an army on the ship that chases after her. (Like seriously she was surprised that some dude that came out of a huge airship had backup) She then beats up two of the giant soldier dudes that are twice her size (no explanation as to why she's good at fighting btw) and outruns the rest since they're huge and have armor on. I understand outrunning the soldiers but what about the Airship they came in? I don't see how she could possibly outrun that but given it's never mentioned after it arrived I can only assume the writer either forgot it existed or expected the audience to.

Just about every action scene makes as little sense as this one.

If there is one major highlight of the book it's the Storm King and Grubber. Storm King maintains his usual slightly goofy slightly serious tone which makes him still slightly entertaining even though the writing for him isn't great. Grubber comes off as a genuinely nice person that actually seems to like and care about Shadow. At one point Shadow is trying to escape from the Hippogriff's castle and she tells Grubber to wait by the ship. He gets sad and says he thought they were a team. He's definitely the most likable character in the book. Hopefully Shadow and Grubber are friends in the movie because I feel like if written well they could play off each other well. Reading through this book I think it's extremely likely he ends up backstabbing the Storm King because he's just too not evil of a character to remain sided with him.

On to Shadow again she comes off as a selfish idiot whose major issues are largely her fault. My initial interpretation of the Apploosa scene I described earlier was that she was freaking out over nothing and given the more laid back question she was asked about her horn it led me to believe they would have been totally cool with it. At no point is it really mentioned that she did any research on how to get her horn back. She lived reasonably close to Canterlot she couldn't have asked the princesses to help her? She frequently mentions that all of her problems are due to her broken horn but up until she finds the Magicite she does absolutely nothing to figure out a way to fix it. Through the story she basically behaves exactly in the way that the plot demands her to in order for the plot to progress. At no point do I read her do something and think "oh yeah that's totally something Shadow Tempest would do." I said it before but she really doesn't have much of a personality. She's brave, (at least I'm assuming as much because the book feels the need to incessantly tell me constantly how she's the bravest pony ever because why show how brave she is when you could just have the others say it constantly. In actuality she does what literally every protagonist would do in terms of bravery) she feels sad because a bunch of bad things happen to her, (at one point she can't afford to pay for some dinner she eats because her bag got a hole in it and she lost all her bits so she has to dishwash for months to pay it off) and she essentially wants to be Twilight. She dreams of going to magic school and eventually becoming an Alicorn princess. Right before she's about to steal some priceless artifact from some person that's being super nice to her and give it to an obviously evil dude she's fantasizing about getting her horn back and going back to her old life being friends with her two old friends and going to magic school. It's not until the last 5 pages or so she realizes that isn't going to happen and instead decides to sell out her entire home country so she can get her horn back. Then she starts dreaming of her friends being terrified about how powerful she is and that she'll be the strongest pony in existence with all of the Alicorn magic. It just doesn't really feel like it makes much sense to me.

Lastly her power level is absolutely bullshit. She trains for WEEKS and all of the sudden she's like "oh yeah I'm totally strong enough to take on all of the Princesses now." Given that they will likely get captured I can only assume that after weeks of practice she's able to defeat Celestia, Luna, and Cadence by herself.

Obviously this is just her being portrayed by some person that doesn't know that much about the show and isn't a skilled writer but it does give me concerns about how she'll end up being portrayed in the movie. All of the other characters I've really liked so far but I'm actually pretty nervous about her now. I can only hope that she'll be more interesting, likable, and not overpowered in the actual movie.

By the way according to the book the Storm Legion (I'm using that name because I think it sounds cool) attacked the Hippogriffs and right after that they prepared their attack on Equestria. That would mean that the Seaponies only existed for less then a year. Given how they're supposed to be bored with their cozy routine I assumed that it happened years ago, possibly before Skystar was even born. That event happening so recently ruins it for me.


Oh yeah one last thing that seems like a pretty big deal. Apparently Twilight is going to be in charge of raising the Sun and Moon for the festival. Given that Twilight still seems miles off from doing something like that I would hope that their plan is for her to realize that she can't do it alone and has everyone help her do it. I'm guessing she tries to do it by herself and fails before she's interrupted by something. As the movie goes on she insists that everything is her responsibility and that she needs to do stuff alone but her friends help her out anyway and she eventually learns that even leaders need help from others and at the end of the movie she organizes everyone to move it together because friendship is magic. Or at least I hope that's what they do because I really don't like the idea of them massively powering Twilight so she's capable of doing that by herself given that she has never done something remotely in that ballpark aside from when she had the alicorn magic from the other princesses.

Alright that's enough of that. Time for the response lightning round:

I liked the Pirate comic. It's nothing exceptional but I thought the pirates were really cool and felt they had a lot of personality. Hyped to see them in the movie

The EQG shorts were inoffensive but not very good. I could definitely tell another team was making them. At least the characterization was strong and I liked them better then the 30 second CGI shorts they've also released. Also Scilight+Timber is the only real pairing anything else is shit.

Screenshots look amazing. Honestly the whole movie could be horrible and if the movie is as well-animated as we've seen so far I feel like it will still be worth seeing for the animation alone.

Everything is PG these days. I'm sure even if it would have gotten G Hasbro would have asked them to give it PG since G is usually a death sentence outside of Disney movies because people assume it's going to be extremely kiddy.


Lastly that gif that Sigma linked with Twilight flipping using a movie model looks really good. I know that Meghan McCarthy was talking about how Toonboom would make the characters a lot more expressive as well. I feel like with all of the assets already having to be made for the movie they might opt to go for Toonboom for Season 9 if the movie does well.

 

[ShinySylvee]

Double post but I feel like this deserves to be separated from the massive post I did earlier about the prequel book. Toys-R-Us dropped a new "trailer" featuring what looks to be the last 30 seconds of one of the songs from the movie where the ponies are preparing for the big friendship festival taking place. Said it before but it looks like it's paying a homage to the pilot episode as it looks like each of the Mane 6 are making preparations for the party in the same vein as the first episode with AJ being in charge of food, Rainbow on weather, Rarity on decor, and Fluttershy on singing. Pinkie is "absent" but someone else theorized that this will directly precede the scene from the first trailer where Pinkie drops a cake on Twilight which is probably why the visuals cut out so abruptly at the end.

At any rate you can check it out here

Also just a reminder that the season starts up again this weekend with a double-header of Discordant Harmony and The Perfect Pear which have already aired in Australia, with never before seen episodes coming the week after.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Double post but I feel like this deserves to be separated from the massive post I did earlier about the prequel book. Toys-R-Us dropped a new "trailer" featuring what looks to be the last 30 seconds of one of the songs from the movie where the ponies are preparing for the big friendship festival taking place. Said it before but it looks like it's paying a homage to the pilot episode as it looks like each of the Mane 6 are making preparations for the party in the same vein as the first episode with AJ being in charge of food, Rainbow on weather, Rarity on decor, and Fluttershy on singing. Pinkie is "absent" but someone else theorized that this will directly precede the scene from the first trailer where Pinkie drops a cake on Twilight which is probably why the visuals cut out so abruptly at the end.

At any rate you can check it out here

Also just a reminder that the season starts up again this weekend with a double-header of Discordant Harmony and The Perfect Pear which have already aired in Australia, with never before seen episodes coming the week after.

It's weird seeing ponies be so 3D, but what's in that clip looks really nice. As far as I can tell, the shading issues from the trailer aren't present, but maybe someone else is a better judge. The coloring in some screenshots I've seen has been a bit odd, but not as distracting as before. This clip doesn't have the scenes from the first trailer that seemed to introduce the characters, so I imagine the song will start out with Twilight going through everyone one at a time, then it ends here. The cannon appearing at the end is almost definitely leading into the scene where Pinkie shoots cake onto Twilight.

I considered it a possibility that Derpy wouldn't be in the movie, so nice to see her front and center. With Apple Bloom appearing, there goes my suspicion that there was a timeskip and that's why the CMC haven't appeared in promotions.

Just from that snippet, the song's already stuck in my head. I'm constantly replaying the clip. I would have liked more singing from the Main Six, but I'm sure that will be earlier in the song.

By the way, so you don't double post in the trailer thread, I'll post the next update.

As for the book, I definitely noticed the lack of detail from the sample. For one thing, it didn't bother to say what an ursa minor is, which is fine if you're a big fan of the show, but let's not forget it only ever appeared in one season one episode, and a flashback in a season three episode. About the compressed time (by the way, one thing I missed: Luna shouldn't be around when she's a filly either!), I'm guessing that will only be an issue with this novel and potentially other supplemental material. I expect the movie to be vague about the time frame for events like Tempest turning evil, so the details from this book can freely be discounted as non-canon.

This is Wondercolts Forever, BTW. It's a book about Dougworld Celestia and Luna when they went to Canterlot High, serving as a counterpart to The Journal of the Two Sisters. It doesn't sound interesting at all to me.

And in finding that page, I discovered that they have a summary of The Stormy Road to Canterlot now, for those who want more details. Looking at it, there's also the continuity error of Appleoosa existing before it should (though the show itself has issues with this), and apparently Tempest walks to Klugetown when there should be an ocean separating it from Equestria.

They also have summaries for both Ponyville Mysteries books so far (one, two).

About the movie being PG, it's true that rating is now the bare minimum for a parent to think it's worth their time. Even Disney has been moving away from the G rating. Probably the level of violence we see in the trailers is enough for MPAA to throw them a bone, but I'm also hoping for some "we think Twilight dies from disintegration, but then she recovers and says that reforming herself from nothing was her very first act as a princess" action.

As for the movie character models, while I'm unsure about the show itself fully shifting to them, I imagine we'll get holiday specials and such that use the movie animation style.

Also, quick follow up on the new clip.

SCREENSHOTS
Apple Family
Fashion horse has best supporting cast
Coco being cute (embedded)
Princess Derpy (embedded)

GIFS/WEBM
Assembling the team
Derpy WebM
Fluttershy with Octavia and her bandmates
Final shot

==

But there is other news.

Season 6 DVD boxset finally announced! As ED notes, weird that Starlight isn't there; there's even a box for her!

Funko releasing MLP Movie figures. Applejack and Rarity have been left out for now.

Cinemascene Marketing is releasing a concessions figure set, which actually looks pretty good, Rainbow's hair aside. Rarity is here, but no Fluttershy or, again, Applejack.

 

[SigmasonicX]

EQUESTRIA GIRLS SERIES CONFIRMED

... As YouTube shorts. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't see this coming. Hanazuki is a series of YouTube shorts, and Boulder Media animated most of the recent shorts instead of DHX.

Though not confirmed, it looks like the path going forward will be Boulder consistently making EQG shorts, while DHX handles the movies and perhaps the occasional special. Since it doesn't seem like the Summertime Shorts count as the series, perhaps the actual series will be made up of 10-11 minute episodes like Hanazuki. This allows for more breathing room for slice of life and magical girl battle stories, and I think would overall be the best path forward for EQG.

The slide they used also seems to hint at season 8, with a feminine looking changeling and yak. The house has a stained glass window of Twilight, so maybe she relocates again? It does seem a bit cozier than the castle.

Speaking of EQG, Summertime Shorts continuing throughout August every Friday and Saturday night.

Movie soundtrack releasing September 22.

 

[Strider_Blaze]

Eh I'll gladly take it. So as long as the EqG series isn't part of YouTube Red, though personally surprised it didn't turn out to be a Netflix series.

And cool to see all that movie merchandise. I really don't buy the stuff they sell at movie theaters, but I would so want to get that stuff. Would be great if Hot Topic did tie-in MLP merchandise again, but I doubt it.

 

[ShinySylvee]

Various stuff

Apparently the Movie website had a BGM only version of the full song and so for those that are interested in listening to the instrumental version of the Festival song in its entirety you can check it out here. It sounds pretty good with just the instruments I definitely want to check it out when it has voices and visuals. You can kinda hear it go through different styles in the middle that will probably correlate to Twilight talking to the other members of the Mane 6. (One in the middle sounds like it'll be for AJ)

I've been loving the animation so far, CGI ship aside. I'm hoping that the movie's visuals impress general audiences enough that it brings back big-budget 2D movies in the west, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. 3D movies are fine but a bit of diversity on that front would be nice.


Yeah I'm not getting too worked up about my issues with the book since it's just some random person not involved with the movie that wrote it. I just find it a bit surprising that there's so many continuity errors in her "official" backstory. Also as I said it before I'm not super into Shadow's character. Maybe she'll be more fun when she's in full villain mode although I'm not looking forward to her eventual

Spoiler

reformation

.


I was planning on checking out the first books of Ponyville Mysteries but I couldn't find it at my local bookstore, only the second one. I do plan on reading it eventually.


The EQG series I'm kinda skeptical on. The shorts we've gotten so far have been fairly mediocre on all fronts and if it's the same team working on the series I'm probably just going to pass on them. I'm just not sure that they'll be able to make a quality show since it will probably be working with a smaller budget then the main show and with an entirely new staff. Boulder Media have notably worked on Season 2 of Wander Over Yonder and a bunch of Hasbro's other cartoons. Hanazuki I haven't seen really although the animation looked good but it's a lot more stylized then EQG and I think its art style was made with its budget in mind whereas I don't think that is the case for Equestria Girls and since we've already seen more robust animation from the series I feel like the more simplistic and rougher animation will stick out. Of course I could be wrong but I'm not all that hyped with it being a youtube exclusive. I was hoping they would get a Netflix deal in place given how close the show has been with them so far with Legend of Everfree making its debut there and the show releasing its episodes not too long after they're aired rather then right before the next season airs.

 

[DrForester]

Fair warning, some of the kids books are starting to hit, and they pretty much lay out the film's plot.


Want to know what happens to the other Princesses?

Spoiler

The other princesses get turned to fucking stone

 

[SigmasonicX]

Eh I'll gladly take it. So as long as the EqG series isn't part of YouTube Red, though personally surprised it didn't turn out to be a Netflix series.

Actually yeah, I'm surprised about that too. The EQG TV specials were supposed to appear on Netflix too, but they haven't yet. I'd say this perhaps points to a deal falling through, but the first half of season 7 is still going on their service earlier than it would for most shows.

Apparently the Movie website had a BGM only version of the full song and so for those that are interested in listening to the instrumental version of the Festival song in its entirety you can check it out here. It sounds pretty good with just the instruments I definitely want to check it out when it has voices and visuals. You can kinda hear it go through different styles in the middle that will probably correlate to Twilight talking to the other members of the Mane 6. (One in the middle sounds like it'll be for AJ)

YouTube link.
There's another part that's recognizably Pinkie Pie. Honestly, the music itself is kind of boring, but when it reached the part from the Toys R Us clip, it was clear that this was because the singing added a ton to it.

I've been loving the animation so far, CGI ship aside. I'm hoping that the movie's visuals impress general audiences enough that it brings back big-budget 2D movies in the west, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. 3D movies are fine but a bit of diversity on that front would be nice.

It's easy to forget that the recent Spongebob movie was mostly 2D, especially since the ads focused on the CGI part that's apparently only like 10 minutes at the end. That did pretty well, but unfortunately didn't seem to lead to more 2D movies.

I was planning on checking out the first books of Ponyville Mysteries but I couldn't find it at my local bookstore, only the second one. I do plan on reading it eventually.

I took a look at MLP Wiki's summaries, and there's at least one thing that seems amazing. Two words:

Spoiler

Werewolf Twist

.

The EQG series I'm kinda skeptical on. The shorts we've gotten so far have been fairly mediocre on all fronts and if it's the same team working on the series I'm probably just going to pass on them. I'm just not sure that they'll be able to make a quality show since it will probably be working with a smaller budget then the main show and with an entirely new staff. Boulder Media have notably worked on Season 2 of Wander Over Yonder and a bunch of Hasbro's other cartoons. Hanazuki I haven't seen really although the animation looked good but it's a lot more stylized then EQG and I think its art style was made with its budget in mind whereas I don't think that is the case for Equestria Girls and since we've already seen more robust animation from the series I feel like the more simplistic and rougher animation will stick out. Of course I could be wrong but I'm not all that hyped with it being a youtube exclusive. I was hoping they would get a Netflix deal in place given how close the show has been with them so far with Legend of Everfree making its debut there and the show releasing its episodes not too long after they're aired rather then right before the next season airs.

Hanazuki doesn't have particularly impressive animation, but it works well with the art style. It does have issues with editing and pacing, though. It's true that the designs of Equestria Girls are more complicated, but if the shorts mainly stick to slice of life and magical girl beam struggles, I don't think there will be a huge issue in that regard.

Fair warning, some of the kids books are starting to hit, and they pretty much lay out the film's plot.


Want to know what happens to the other Princesses?

Spoiler

The other princesses get turned to fucking stone

This information comes from an activity book, if you want to know the level of detail we're getting (not much). As for the princesses,

Spoiler

stone? That's a surprise. It doesn't seem in theme with any of the villains.

FAKE EDIT: MAJOR SPOILERS from the Look and Find activity book. It seems to skip over the actual final battle. DrForester's spoiler is just portrayed incidentally, and they don't actually explain it. There's a bit of information about Tempest on the last page.

Latin American "turn off your cell phone" video using MLP movie clips, with a few very brief new ones. Plus, we hear a bit of the festival song in Spanish.

Huh, I guess this is what it's like to be a Marvel fan desperate for any new clips.

Updated world map!

So "beyond Equestria" is just a bit of land south of a desert. I guess the Storm King's empire isn't actually that big, since we know he didn't conquer the griffon and dragon lands.

Summertime Shorts - Monday Blues
I suppose these are going to YouTube officially sometime anyway, so here is an upload.

Holy crap, Sunset's house! Though we still have the mystery of how she can afford it. Also, SciTwi's.

Not a fan of the song, but the animation is cute enough. Though it is amusing how everything about the music video, title screen, and the song makes it seem like it was meant to be a love song between Sunset and Twilight, with some last minute changes to remove lyrics where they yearn for each other. As is, it's a song about Sunset and Twilight having a rough time getting to school on a Monday, with both their days brightening up once they meet each other at school, and they see that everyone else had a hard time too.

 

[Strider_Blaze]

Actually yeah, I'm surprised about that too. The EQG TV specials were supposed to appear on Netflix too, but they haven't yet. I'd say this perhaps points to a deal falling through, but the first half of season 7 is still going on their service earlier than it would for most shows.

Could be the deal not going through. Just hope it doesn't mean that Hasbro will have Netflix remove the MLP content from Netflix.

And looking at the image more, I do wonder if the characters are getting new clothes. Would be a great change if true, since Rainbow Dash is wearing pants! In all seriousness, I found it odd that Sunset (and Sci-Twi for that matter) was the only major character in EqG to get a complete clothes change, but the other main characters didn't.

And definitely avoiding that novelization link! I really want to see the MLP movie for myself first.

Huh, I guess this is what it's like to be a Marvel fan desperate for any new clips.

Yes indeed! Still waiting for Marvel to fully release the Infinity War trailer; has only been recorded off-camera unfortunately.

Also, the new EqG short was pretty cute to watch.

And people mention the EqG content getting TV-Y7 rating, apparently EqG seems to be aimed at a much older demographic. Thinking about how the Dazzlings were portrayed, yeah...

 

[SigmasonicX]

And definitely avoiding that novelization link! I really want to see the MLP movie for myself first.

Well, it's an activity book with a Where's Waldo for babies format, not a novelization, but still, the art and captions reveal a lot.

And people mention the EqG content getting TV-Y7 rating, apparently EqG seems to be aimed at a much older demographic. Thinking about how the Dazzlings were portrayed, yeah...

It doesn't say on IMDB, but I'm pretty sure Rainbow Rocks and the other EQG movies were all still TV-Y. Thinking about it, it's possible that it's not really the shorts that are getting these ratings, but rather the movies they're attached to. Last week's shorts were attached to Garfield the Movie, and that might have been edited down to TV-Y7.

That said, EQG is indeed meant to target an older audience than the normal show: tweens, instead of young girls. They're the ones that get excited about high school, after all. It's ironic how this often makes it less appealing for older fans, who really aren't interested in high school, and how the characters feel younger in EQG.

Quick follow up on "Monday Blues".

Screenshots
Sunset uses horse shampoo! - In fact, the product description says its a "horse to human crossover shampoo".
IT reference (sailboat)
Forgot SunsetSparkle, this is the hot new Sunset ship! - BTW, Sunburst and Starlight really screwed up Sunset and Twlight couple names. Remember when we could just call it SunLight?

GIF/WebM
Stopping to pet a cat
Coming together - Note the bird in Fluttershy's hair. And man, Pinkie's hair is long.

Art
Rainy Day
Pondering Twilight - For "Mad Twience".

Unrelated comic
Pinkie Pie Says Goodnight: Wrong Turn - Warning, Flash.

Anyway, today's episodes are:
In the US
12. Discordant Harmony (aired in Australia on June 20)
When Discord invites Fluttershy to his realm for tea, he worries she won't be comfortable there and begins to change it and himself with disastrous results.

13. The Perfect Pear (aired in Australia on June 21)
The Apple Siblings learn about their parent's love story and find out that they're half Pear.

Episodes that can be discussed freely
After today, everything!
Finally!

 

[UberTag]

So many feels between the Perfect Pearents... holds true even on rewatch.

My freshly despoilered comments from SIX weeks ago...

Discordant Harmony

This episode started off rather poorly but was saved in the final act with Fluttershy doing her best to embrace chaos and salvage Discord's tea party. Like a lot of episodes this season (Fluttershy Leans In, Forever Filly, Honest Apple, Not Asking for Trouble), this episode concept felt like an ideal 12-minute episode stretched out to a full episode run-time but it was saved by the payoff at the end. I really would like to see an end to these paper-thin conflicts with obvious resolutions and a return to more complex plots driven by rich characterizations... but I'm not sure the Fox brothers are capable of it.

The Perfect Pear

Now THIS is the change of pace I was hoping for. Lewis and Songco deliver another gem. Bright Mac and Pear Butter (aka Buttercup) were adorable together. Having the Apple siblings retrace their parents' love story was a lore building episode that's been long overdue. William Shatner delivered one hell of a cameo performance. I also got a kick out of Vanhoover being the latest city name pun seeing how much of Friendship is Magic's production is based out of Vancouver.

This episode also introduced the concept of pony "identity changing" seeing how both AJ's mother and Mrs. Cake went by different names at one point. Seems like something that may come into play down the line with somepony else we know.

As for the "dodging the question" issue, I'm not sure it's one that needs to be answered, IMO. Do we really need to hear that they're dead and how it happened? I think this episode spelled that out quite clearly without having to delve into any of that tragic business.

On the episode framing issue, I can buy that AJ and Big Mac didn't know their mother was a Pear if it was something that was specifically kept from them. Given that her father moved away and she was effectively estranged from the family, I can understand why Pear Butter never brought it up.

Incidentally, I love how the symbolic apple-pear-heart tree at the end was effectively planted as a symbol of their wedding vows.

 

[Trigonometrize.]

Finally we can talk about how the Apple parents died in the horrible cart accident.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Fair warning, some of the kids books are starting to hit, and they pretty much lay out the film's plot.


Want to know what happens to the other Princesses?

Spoiler

The other princesses get turned to fucking stone

Spoiler

You know, it must be frustrating to live in Canterlot. Every once in a while some new threat comes in and steamrolls the ponies into the throne room. Military? Worthless. The princesses who have the power to control the sun and moon? Worthless. Twilight Sparkle and her friends are a miracle, being the only thing that keeps ponies from teetering off the edge of extinction, and even afterwards, Equestria is still at the bottom of the proverbial food chain. Sure, the Storm King will be defeated, but when will the next big bad guy show up? What will happen when the Mane Six die of old age?

I'm sorry, I'm thinking too much from Blue Ace's perspective.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

The Perfect Pear is probably the strongest episode of this season. It was really touching, and yeah the Romeo x Juliet plotline has been done before, but it did it well. That was one cute couple.

I feel like the only problem with the episode is AJ and Big Mac not knowing any of the information, especially since they know the Cakes pretty well through Pinkie Pie.

Still, great episode. Enjoyed the song too.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Discordant Harmony
The first half of this episode was kind of boring and repetitive, but it really did pick up a lot once Fluttershy got to Discord's tea party and had to act chaotic to save him.

I recall seeing this complaint when I scrolled past older "Discordant Harmony" posts, but it really does seem like the story just stops to have Discord do some visual gags for a bit before continuing on. While past stories like "Three's a Crowd" would just incidentally have stuff happen in the background while Discord and others are talking, this and, from what I recall, "Dungeons & Discords" would leave them up front and center for a few seconds. It would have been much better with shorter and snappier gags, probably with Discord interacting with more characters. I imagine a scene where Discord calls in a known boring pony for help, which then led me to think it would have been great if he summoned Flash Sentry. Which then led me to imagine a scene where Boring Discord serenades Fluttershy with an acoustic guitar while she sits there cringing.

That said, Fluttershy was incredibly adorable in the last part, with her trying to act chaotic to help Discord. I'm amazed they snuck in a, "This doing anything for you?" from her. Here, the slower pace made a lot more sense.

It was nice to see Discord and Pinkie have a positive interaction, even if it was a pretty brief scene. Before "Keep Calm and Flutter On" in season 3, Discopie was Discord's most common ship with the Main Six, so it's actually a bit of a surprise they haven't had more scenes together since.

It seems like a consistent feature of Fox Brothers episodes is that they are very slow paced. Discord's visual gags and Fluttershy help minimize that aspect compared to their other episodes. Overall, Fluttershy brings up the episode, but it's just OK.

The Perfect Pear
Ahhhh! Talking baby ponies are creepy!

Well, Bright Mac said how many hours passed since they were babies: 131456 hours. This converts to about 15 years, meaning they're about 16 in this flashback. This is more evidence pointing toward the Main Six being the same ages as their Equestria Girls counterparts, but it still just means that's the age when ponies get their adult model, and they can be past that age.

Oh nice, they actually remembered to have the Mare in the Moon in this flashback. Also a neat detail that Mayor Mare didn't dye her hair back then.

Anyway, the episode was good, I suppose. I don't know, from the way people were reacting, I was expecting something more meaningful. I liked the presentation of various ponies remembering the Apple Parents, but there wasn't much to the parents themselves. It was neat seeing Granny Smith when she was younger, though it's odd that there were apparently so many more Apples on the farm back then. Felecia Day worked well as Pear Butter, particularly with her song, but I don't think William Shatner really brought anything to the role of Grand Pear. It didn't help that at points, his voice started to resemble the cat voice he used in the dub of some Spanish movie about Puss in Boots, as reviewed by Phelous.

 

[Ogodei]

Discordant Harmony is kind of good as a capstone to Discord and Fluttershy's relationship. The demon who was initially using her as a guarantor of his freedom was now willing to die for her just to keep her friendship. A bit of a melodramatic reading of things, but it seemed appropriate. Some of the gags were good too. I'll agree that the episode could have used a B-plot or something. I wonder if John de Lancie costs them a lot that they had to do an episode that was basically just him and Andrea Libman?

A Perfect Pear was probably the best possible answer to the question of the Apple parents that could have come around.

 

[Andrew J.]

Mayor Mare has been in office for quite a while, huh?

 

[ShinySylvee]

Sigma's first post

I listen to song bgms all the time for the show so I'm used to it feeling a bit empty without the vocals. Usually I just sort of imagine the lyrics in my head but obviously aside from the last 30 seconds you can't do it for the full instrumental for the song right now. What I've heard sounds pretty cool and no doubt it will sound much more interesting in context of the song and the actual movie.

Ironically I probably would have seen the Spongebob movie if I knew it was mainly 2D animation. The CGI shown in the promotional stuff was a massive turnoff for me because it looked like they were just going CGI because every other movie was. I need to check that movie out at some point since I heard it was actually pretty good.

I checked out the short that was shown last night and I actually liked it quite a bit. If there's one thing that these shorts have been getting well it's characterization and in the video here where there's no dialogue that really shines through. Seeing Twilight's preparedness contrasted with Sunset was fun to watch. I'm surprised to say that I seem to like SciTwi a lot more then pony Twilight. I feel like she's a lot more fun when she isn't having to juggle being a princess and the group leader on top of her normal quirks. Also this short gives me the suspicion that Sunset's character is supposed to be the "everyman" self-insert character that everyone can relate to, and that doesn't have to inherently be a bad thing. In this short here I think most people would probably relate more to Sunset slowly getting out of bed and rushing through preparing for the day instead of how Twilight handled everything. I think that there can be a benefit to having a character on the show who is there to just say what the audience is thinking as well. (Like how she thought the dirt biking in Friendship Games was a bit excessive or her calling out SciTwi for being careless)


Most of the stuff from the look and find book are things we could already infer. However there's a couple nuggets there that can help piece things together a bit more:

Spoiler

>The airship scene from the trailer appears to be the Mane 6 getting attacked on their way to the Seaponies. I had previously assumed it tied into the climax
>Storm King's tornado is going to get out of hand. I'm guessing that the bad guys are going to get caught in it as well and the Mane 6 are going to save them, which is going to likely be the big thing that causes Shadow and Grubber to switch sides.
>Speaking of which, both of them are in the celebration shot at the end. Shadow getting reformed isn't surprising but as me and Sigma had suspected Grubber is going to as well. Shadow's horn is still going to be broken from the looks of things although we can see her shooting out "fireworks" with it. Sounds like Trixie has got a new assistant Kappa

Also Shadow didn't have the power to turn stuff into stone in the book, she could only make explosions. I'm guessing that might be more Storm King's doing or some other artifact. Also I wish they would have given Shadow a legit name rather then a gag one.

Could be the deal not going through. Just hope it doesn't mean that Hasbro will have Netflix remove the MLP content from Netflix.

And people mention the EqG content getting TV-Y7 rating, apparently EqG seems to be aimed at a much older demographic. Thinking about how the Dazzlings were portrayed, yeah...

I sincerely doubt they would remove the show from Netflix unless they had another deal lined up with a different streaming service. I believe that a ton of the people that follow the show do it through Netflix so they would be massively shrinking their audience if they did that. My best guess is that they're waiting for all the summertime shorts to release as well and then they could throw all the EQG content from this year up at the same time.

I feel like EQG is specifically targeting a tween audience whereas the main show is more general. Ironically I get the feeling that I'm too old for what I'm watching when I see EQG more then when I check out the actual show for reasons that Sigma already pointed out.




It's been way too long since I've watched the episodes that dropped today and I don't feel like rewatching them now so I won't really comment much about them.


There's been a preview for the upcoming episode Fame and Misfortune. That being said it's weird having new episodes to look forward to lol. It's been such a long time since there was new episodes for the show and now hopefully we'll all get to watch them together without someone releasing them way early. Also wasn't super crazy about the episode before but

Spoiler

it looks like Starlight will be playing a pretty important role in it so naturally I'm really intrigued now. I'm hoping we'll be able to see how she interacts with the rest of the Mane 6 since we haven't gotten many interactions between her and them so far. From the preview it looks like she's casting some sort of spell on a copy of the friendship journal. We briefly get to see Twilight's friendship mirror that she references in Celestial Advice in the preview too. I find it really odd that we have Moondancer, Owlowicious, Discord and Celestia, and Cadence on there but no pictures for Starlight aside from the group photo. Also there's no Trixie either although I can't say I'm surprised lol.

At any rate, you can check out the short clip here.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I'm making a larger post for other stuff, but Shiny, you should probably spoiler tag that information about next week's episode. I was avoiding clips and got blindsided by you just talking about things like

Spoiler

Starlight playing a major part in it

; I didn't realize you were talking about "Fame and Misfortune" at first.

 

[ShinySylvee]

I'm making a larger post for other stuff, but Shiny, you should probably spoiler tag that information about next week's episode. I was avoiding clips and got blindsided by you just talking about things like

Spoiler

Starlight playing a major part in it

; I didn't realize you were talking about "Fame and Misfortune" at first.

Alright done. Didn't quite know the rules for that kind of stuff. Also looking back my original post didn't really make it clear what I was talking about. Also I kinda had the book spoiled a bit reading your spoiler so I guess we're even or something.

 

[Strider_Blaze]

The next 2 EqG specials up: Pet Project and Subs Rock.

Spoiler

Huh haven't heard the MLP jinge pop up in EqG content for a long while.

And Sunset's in her old outfit it seems, down to having the same hair color. Random...

 

[draetenth]

For some reason my DVR didn't count the two episodes today as "new" (I know they leaked early and weren't technically "new", however, that didn't stop the DVR from recording any of the other episodes..) so I didn't get to catch the Discord one (it should be on again tomorrow), but I did manage to get to see the Pear one.

It was okay, but it kind of bugged me that there were 3 other ponies in addition to Granny Smith who knew what happened and all 3 conveniently never could find the right way to bring it up to the kids before...

How did the old pear manage to get all the way to Ponnyville, talk to/about his grandkids and regret things, without even mentioning his daughter once? If she died, it had to have been awhile... so he just showed up all of the sudden with regrets, never mentioned his daughter and no one remarked about it?

How did Granny Smith never know about the trees at the end, but her kids did? Was it really that remote of an area/somewhere she would never go?

I thought foals couldn't get uglier after the Cake twrins, and then they go and make them able to talk...

 

[DrForester]

The next 2 EqG specials up: Pet Project and Subs Rock.

Spoiler

Huh haven't heard the MLP jinge pop up in EqG content for a long while.

And Sunset's in her old outfit it seems, down to having the same hair color. Random...

Principal Celestia gets a focus episode before Princess Celestia. That's hilarious and sad.

Both specials were fun, nothing great though.

 

[ShinySylvee]

The next 2 EqG specials up: Pet Project and Subs Rock.

Spoiler

Huh haven't heard the MLP jinge pop up in EqG content for a long while.

And Sunset's in her old outfit it seems, down to having the same hair color. Random...

Not as good as Monday Blues but they were alright. Pet Project was literally just May the Best Pet win but over 4 minutes rather then 22 so all that was really there was just pets being cute which might be enough for most people but I didn't care for it that much. Part of the problem is that unlike with Rainbow we don't really know enough about Sunset's personality that would indicate what kind of pet she would actually want so what she ended up with could have been literally anything and it would have had the exact same impact. It was pretty funny that Gummy was a toy in this version. Also it was weird seeing all these pets and then Spike sitting along with them.

Subs Rock was alright just for the vocal performance alone. Nicole Oliver pulled it off pretty well and it kinda makes me wish we could see more emotional range from Celestia in the actual show. It does bring up the question as to why Celestia was subbing if she was clearly needed to do a bunch of other things but it's a 4 minute short I can't take it too seriously. One cool thing about the EQG setup is that Celestia isn't some 1000 year old demigod that runs an entire country so they might feel more comfortable making her have a more significant role in the show

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Discordant Harmony: I think the best part of this episode was Fluttershy getting chaotic herself, as well as seeing Discord's house, which I don't recall seeing before.

The Perfect Pear: Finally, we get to see the Apple parents, and it's a sweet love story, even if we still don't know entirely what happened to them, and I don't know if this show's willing to push hard enough to talk about it. Also appreciate William Shatner.