My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Seven, Episode Two: “All Bottled Up”

Tags

All Bottled Up, cutie map, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, opinion, review, Starlight Glimmer, Trixie Lulamoon

Synopsis:

Twilight Sparkle and the girls are headed off for a Friendship Retreat in the form of an Escape Room, leaving Starlight Glimmer and Spike to “castle-sit” and Starlight to use the opportunity to teach Trixie more magic. However, Trixie’s self-centered and thoughtless attitude ends up causing a series of mishaps that progressively annoy Starlight, culminating in her misfiring a teleportation spell and sending the Cutie Map to an unknown location. Starlight seethes in rage at this, which threatens to manifest itself in her magic. Afraid that an angry outburst will cause her to lose her friendship with Trixie, she instead literally bottles up her anger each time it manifests and, staying faux calm and pleasant, takes Trixie on a walk around town to try and find out what place she was thinking of when she cast the teleport spell in order to find the map. Unfortunately, Trixie’s selfish nature only leads them on a fruitless wild goose chase and causes Starlight to bottle so much of her anger she grows emotionally drained. When Trixie finally notices what she’s been doing, she accidentally causes the bottle to break, spreading her anger to Granny Smith, Bulk Biceps, and a jeweler pony…who now act out Starlight’s rage on Trixie. Starlight manages to call the anger back into herself, but as a result she finally vents her own anger on a clueless Trixie and, after she’s done, apologizes for not having made it clearer earlier when her anger was still minimal. This prompts Trixie to finally apologize for her own behavior and reassure her that she wouldn’t break off her friendship with Starlight over her losing her temper. The two reconciling prompts Trixie to remember that she was thinking of when the two first met when she was performing the teleportation spell, leading them to find the Cutie Map at the spa. The two get it back to the castle just as the girls come back from their retreat, only for them to immediately suggest they all take a trip to the spa. Trixie suggests Starlight use a spell to wipe the minds of the spa ponies to forget the map was there; and when Starlight cynically asks if she’s learned nothing from the experience, she answers if she did they wouldn’t have any fun.

Review:

Most fans liked “Celestial Advice” pretty well. This one was less well received by many, but…I personally thought it was great.

I’ve realized at this point that if you’re a fan you either love and adore Trixie or you want to stab her with sharp, pointy knives. I was standoffish to her in her first couple appearances, but since pairing her with Starlight, I like her a lot. I honestly think she plays off of Starlight really well in all of their appearances; and that deciding to make her “besties” with Starlight was probably one of the best moves the writers ever did to put Starlight in the cast. However, it can be difficult during some viewings as my (pega)sister is in the camp that utterly loathes Trixie and her rampant self-centeredness and thoughtlessness. She was seething about as much as Starlight was in this episode.

For me, I think that’s part of her appeal as a character. While in “Boast Busters” and “Magic Duel” her over-the-top ego and arrogance were played up as minor villain traits, when she’s in a situation where she’s an ally I think they make her a pretty good comedic character. And in all fairness, I do honestly believe Trixie does learn from her mistakes…it’s just that she’s not nearly as “good a student” as Twilight or Starlight and she needs remedial lessons from time to time. While she is still constantly selfish and unthinking, deep down inside she isn’t doing it on purpose–she’s just gone so long in her life without any real friends it’s a case of old habits die hard. It’s going to take her a while to learn empathy and for all her near-continuous slip-ups she is trying.

On top of all that, while it was a bit slap-over-the-head with the metaphor, it did teach a friendship lesson that hadn’t been covered yet: that just bottling up your emotions is never healthy, either for you or for your friends.

So as another Starlight/Trixie episode, I think this one is very nice.

The only problem was Starlight and Trixie didn’t provide enough material for a 22 minute episode, so they included the rather pointless subplot/song with the Mane Six and the Escape Room. There really wasn’t anything fun or entertaining in that one. The song “Best Friends Until the End of Time” was kind of nice for a padding song, although, in my opinion, it would be blown away by “Flawless” in the second half of the season. But while there wasn’t anything really outrageous or amazing that came from the Escape Room subplot, it was subtle enough to where it didn’t seem to be overt padding and therefore wasn’t distracting. Spike, in this episode, is played perfectly straight and…I think that was the best thing for him in an episode where he wouldn’t have to feature.

So while a lot of fans thought of this as a step backward from the first episode, I liked it immensely, and it made me feel really good for what would be coming the rest of the season.

Fun Facts:

While it had definitely been hinted for a while that Trixie isn’t as good at magic as Twilight or possibly even many unicorns, this episode established that she’s not good at magic at all. This is somewhat at odds with her original appearance in “Boast Busters”…unless she was clever enough to set up only tricks that would outdo everyone who tried to show her up.

Starlight nicknames Trixie: “Trix”. :3 Trixie’s own nickname for her, “Mini Twilight”, is not so nearly well received. 😛

Earlier in “May the Best Pet Win”, there was a joke that seemed to be a fourth-wall break by Fluttershy: “should we sing about it again?”. This episode established the girls are actually consciously aware of the times they break into song.

Spike’s comic is apparently the pony version of “Archie”, with pony Archie and pony Jughead on it.

This episode hints that magic is tied to emotional state. Technically, that might have been hinted as early as the first episode as “friendship is magic”, but the only other real time that factored in was in “The Crystal Empire” when both Celestia and Twilight had to use magic based off of anger and hate to unlock King Sombra’s secret passages.

“Best Friends Until the End of Time”, unfortunately, set a trend for this season in which money was saved by repeating the same bits of songs both visually and in audio. I know they’re trying to save money, but…songs are normally added to pad an episode in the first place. Recycling animation during them just makes it even worse for me, especially since the girls walking forward in a line is one of the few times in the show the fact that it’s Flash-animated really sticks out.

In both the scenes leading up to it and during the song, the lines of the Mane Six and Trixie/Starlight’s lines match up with each other. The funniest one is the end, in which Rainbow Dash’s “Aw nuts.” is turned into “AAAAAH!” “NUTS!”.

As I said in my last review, Kelly Sheridan’s voice acting is possibly the best on the show. The long monologue she gives after Starlight reabsorbs her anger perfectly crescendos from her still sounding tired and drained to blowing up in rage.

Rating:

3.5 Stars out of 5

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My Little Devotional # 152: “Good God, Bad God”

Tags

anger, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, exploitation, God, holiness, Jesus, judgment, King Thorax, mercy, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, Old Testament, perfection, Pharynx, pushovers, Starlight Glimmer, To Change a Changeling, wrath

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “To Change a Changeling”

Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, and Thorax have an unusual problem in today’s episode. It seems Pharynx, Thorax’s “rough” brother, doesn’t want to adopt the new Changeling lifestyle of being more peaceful and pacifistic; earning him the chagrin and dislike of most of his fellow Changelings as he’s assumed to be an aggressive brute. Yet while Pharynx is definitely not inclined to be more innocent and sweet like the rest of his brethren, it turns out he has more in common with them than either side would like to admit. He clings to his own aggressive and “military-esque” nature because he wants to defend the Changeling hive. It’s because the social structure of the Changeling race is important to him that he wants to remain fierce and strong to protect it. In the end, the Changelings ended up learning a realistic and valuable lesson when they are attacked and Pharynx comes to their defense: it’s always nice to pursue being peaceful, but don’t think that just because you are peaceful that you won’t have to deal with individuals who aren’t. Not every problem can be solved by “being nice”.

When it comes to the Bible, what most modern-day Christians cling to is only the New Testament. There may be a few key passages and Psalms they look at in the Old Testament, but in general the focus is away from that. Part of it is because a good portion of the Old Testament is devoted to genealogies and the Mosaic Law, but another part of it could be because the Old Testament is rather hard to swallow. Most people, secular as well as Christian, view the “God of the Old Testament” as someone far more vengeful, wrathful, angry, and condemnatory. And there is a lot more blood, destruction, and death in the Old Testament (although, in all fairness, the Old Testament takes place over a much, much larger time frame than the New Testament). Critics of Christianity often point out this fact and argue that Christians can’t possibly be worshiping the “same God” in both halves of the Bible. As for Christians themselves, I know at least some are apt to think that the New Testament is the “true Gospel” while the Old Testament was, perhaps, tainted and biased a bit by its mortal writers.

The implicit idea behind all of this is that people definitely prefer the “God of Mercy” to the “God of Wrath”. And that’s only natural. It’s far more of an easy thought to think of an all-loving, all-forgiving, welcoming God who sees us as his children than to think of a furious, vengeful, punishing God who sees us all as sinners to smite. What more, it’s very hard to reconcile these two images into the same individual. How can the image of the brilliantly holy, mighty judge of the world be reconciled to the suffering, compassionate father? It’s often easier for people to simply choose one or the other. And of the two, the merciful God is favored. That’s the sort of God most of us would like, I’m sure; especially confronted with our own sinfulness and wickedness. One who is kind, gentle, and overlooks sin with a shrug and a head-pat. Not one who issues out decrees for slaughter or consumes people with fire from Heaven.

Firstly, it’s important to realize that the idea of a “God of Mercy” is not something new to the New Testament. As Jesus said, He came to fulfill the Law, not abolish it. And many of the teachings He gave originated in the Old Testament…they simply didn’t gain as much prominence until the time of Jesus. (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5; “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19-18; ) Many sections of the Old Testament are devoted to the compassion God shows to sinners who repent. (“But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” Ezekiel 18:21-23; “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.” Jonah 3:10; “”I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the Lord my God. After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 31:18-20)

Many of the prophets proclaimed death and doom as a result of Israel abandoning God, but when the people changed their tune to start crying out that God had cast them off as his people forever, there were equally powerful prophecies assuring the Israelites that God would never forget them or fail to rebuild them. (“Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.” Isaiah 61:7; ““I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.”” Joel 2:25-26; “”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”” Jeremiah 29:11-14)

Furthermore, it’s also inaccurate to think that simply because God in the Old Testament was known predominantly as “the God of Israel” that he was any less the God of the world and all mankind. He showed his mercy to non-Israelites as well as Israelites. As the above passage from Jonah pointed out, God had mercy on the people of Nineveh when they repented. Lord Jesus himself pointed out other instances in the Bible where non-Israelites were favored over Israelites…much to the chagrin of his fellow Jews. “I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” (Luke 4:25-27)

Therefore, it’s rather inaccurate to try and claim that just because God showed more of his “mighty arm” in the Old Testament that he isn’t the same God we call our Heavenly Father in the New Testament. Rather, over a longer period of time, and different sets of circumstances, different “sides” of him were presented. That’s why it’s important to read the whole Bible to fully understand God and not just the passages we like.

Secondly, as this episode highlights, unfortunately not everything in the world can be solved by “being nice”. While we would all love a touch of mercy for our wrongdoings, there comes a time when we stop looking for mercy and we start treating someone as a pushover who lets us walk all over them. Parents know that all too well. They may hate disciplining their children, but if they don’t (and, possibly, force others like grandparents to do the same) their children eventually become unruly and unmanageable because they expect to get away with everything. They stop respecting their parents as an authority figure at all and do whatever they want even when told to stop. In the same way, if God was simply hands-off to all sin and evil in the world, simply telling people to “be nice”, eventually there would be no reason to obey him. God is against sin because sin is hurtful and damaging to humanity.  Yet people don’t always see it that way and only see what it offers them at the moment; regardless of how it hurts themselves or others. When that happens and they won’t listen, the only way to deal with it is to be more “severe”.

After all, do we expect police officers to politely ask criminals to not commit crimes? Or do we expect them to grab them, restrain them, or even force them to submit if they don’t stop? Do we expect other countries around the world to respect us and not invade so long as we be open and friendly to them, or do we threaten to “hit them back even harder” if they try something–not so much out of a desire for war but as a deterrent? If we expect that from people of such relatively minor authority, how can we expect less from God as the supreme authority?

Thirdly, the God of the Old Testament is just as important as the God of the New Testament. The old Mosaic Law was to confront people with the holiness, righteousness, perfection, and obedience demanded of all those who would follow God, with the promise that all who disobeyed in the slightest would meet terrible, swift, brutal, and everlasting retribution. It was supposed to be something frightening and terror-strickening to show the consequences of all sin and the superhuman standards needed to ascribe to God’s holiness. Through all of that, the power of Jesus’ Sacrifice and redemptive blood becomes all the more precious and powerful. The mercy given forth by His act becomes that much more glorious. After being faced with the terror of God’s wrath and the destructive power of sin, we can now freely rejoice in God’s glory. The Old Testament is admonishment to the sinner; the New Testament is wonderful glory to the one who accepts Lord Jesus’ Sacrifice.

God is Love (1 John 4:8), and it’s important to never lose sight of that, especially when we feel at our lowest and most unlovable. It’s when people are at this most despairing point, after all, that God wishes to welcome them most strongly. Just remember that God is not only to be loved but also to be respected as an object of reverence, or “Godly fear”. Don’t lose sight of that image either whenever we find ourselves lured into committing sin.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your great mercy, especially personified in the matchless sacrifice of your Son, Lord Jesus Christ, who paid the full penalty of my sins so that I may gain entry into heaven. Grant that I will never cheapen this sacrifice by taking it for granted or stubbornly persisting in sin. And help me always to remember that you are a God both to be loved above all and respected above all at all times. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

 

 

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Season Seven, Episode One: “Celestial Advice”

Tags

Celestial Advice, Discord, King Thorax, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Princess Celestia, review, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, Trixie Lulamoon, Twilight Sparkle

Synopsis:

Following the events of “To Where and Back Again”, Twilight Sparkle is throwing a special celebration for the ceremony where Starlight Glimmer, Trixie Lulamoon, Discord, and King Thorax will receive the “Pink Heart of Courage” award for saving Equestria from Queen Chrysalis. After the award ceremony and during the party, Discord comes up to Twilight and asks her what she has planned for Starlight next, prompting Twilight to realize that her normal plans for “friendship lessons” are no longer appropriate considering how far Starlight has come in a short time. Not knowing what to do with her next, she ends up drawing Princess Celestia aside to talk with her about it, and while talking realizes she needs to send Starlight away on her own to continue to grow just as Celestia sent her. Yet each time she thinks to send her someplace, she imagines an outrageous fear–eventually prompting Celestia to burst out into laughter. She insists she’s not laughing at Twilight, but rather the fact that she felt the exact same way. She helps Twilight to realize she’s not really afraid of anything bad happening to Starlight, but rather the fact that she’ll lose a friend; and reassures her that, just as Twilight is still close to Celestia, Starlight will still be close to her. Twilight ends up returning to the gathering and publicly announcing that Starlight has “graduated” from her role as a student of friendship and is free to go where she likes. Yet after the announcement, Starlight approaches Twilight and admits she’s not ready to leave; as she doesn’t want to abandon her “teacher” either. Twilight is overjoyed and gives Starlight her “award present”: a room mirror just like her own that has pictures of her own friends all around it, so that she’ll wake up every morning “seeing herself surrounded by her friends”.

Review:

Thanks to the wonders of Netflix, I no longer have to wait forever to watch an episode twice for a review. So…let’s get started!

First, as always, Season Seven in general.

Season Six was nobody’s favorite. A few still disliked Season Three or even One or Two compared to it, but it wasn’t at the top of anyone’s list. It was, after all, quite a jarring move in which we had to quickly recover from Starlight Glimmer almost spontaneously being “turned good” and then deal with her as a cast regular for the rest of the season. A lot of fans didn’t care for her and making her a regular was enough to get some to abandon the franchise forever. I myself said I only “tolerated” her at the end, and that wasn’t easy. A lot of her critics had the fear she would eventually be put in a position where she’d have to save the Mane Six…but none of us expected “To Where and Back Again”, where she had to save everypony. And if it was, it was way too soon. Combined with the Changelings suddenly turning oddly-colored and innocent, and even Chrysalis couldn’t help salvage that. Personally I thought the season as a whole had some high points, but in general it was one of the worst.

Because of that, there was some puzzlement about what Season Seven would be able to offer. And we ended up getting something rather surprising.

I personally feel the first half of Season Seven was running on all eight cylinders and was fantastic. In fact, I dare say the first half of Season Seven is the best the show has ever been. We kept getting one episode after another that revealed new sides to characters that were totally plausible and interesting, and ended up making for episodes with a lot of heart as well as humor and entertainment. And all of it was capped off by the astounding “The Perfect Pear”.

The second half, on the other hand, went where the show had never gone before. By now, the IDW Comic was rather infamous, being one of IDW’s hottest selling titles and, at one point, enabled it to do more sales in one month than any Marvel or DC title. WOW. And after years of fans wishing and hoping that something from the comic would become show canon, and getting a taste of that in Season Six, we were getting something shocking: the IDW Comic and the show would actually collaborate on the “Legends of Magic” story arc to produce a joint story spanning both the comic and main series. Rather unprecedented for most genres.

Unfortunately…that’s where thing fell flat to me. While the second half of Season Seven had a couple good points and, in terms of lore, expanded it in new and amazing ways…the comic arc dulled it considerably. It’s the episodes that avoid alluding to the comic that are great while the ones that tie in the comic muck everything up.

As a result, what could have been the greatest season of the show’s history lapsed into “average”.

Enough of that. Let’s get to this episode.

Starting off this episode, I felt the old cynic in me about Starlight Glimmer come out. I had seen clips of it before it came out, and on realizing Starlight Glimmer was “graduating”, I rolled my eyes yet again. Hearing Twilight go on about how much Starlight had excelled at friendship made me just shake my head. Really…Starlight hadn’t done that much in Season Six to learn about friendship. She reconciled with Sunburst, she made friends with Trixie, she heard a story about a holiday, she accidentally mind-trolled five of the Mane Six…and then she saved Equestria. And that’s it. Twilight had to go through a lot more. That’s one of my two complaints about this episode, but it wasn’t one I really had at the time. I wanted Starlight “out of the picture” initially, so I didn’t care how.

The other complaint is Discord. By now I’m starting to realize that Discord just can’t change his nature of wanting to troll ponies even after what Twilight did for him. Nevertheless, he does have a line toward the end that indicates he was trolling Twilight without even realizing it; when he reveals he wanted her to send Starlight to him all along.

Yet really those are my only two complaints for the episode. The rest of it?

I had wondered if the “new” Changelings would appear after the last season’s finale, and starting with this episode I quickly realized King Thorax was a new recurring character. Frankly, I like it. The show needs more male regulars. And while I was a bit jarred at their new appearance, I’ve accepted it fairly quickly. The real jarring thing is how “childish” and innocent the Changelings became once they started sharing their love.

There’s a lot of characters in this episode and most of them only get a couple lines at most, but everyone seems in character and appropriate, so that works out fine.

What I really liked, though? While it would be “A Royal Problem” that would really give me the satisfaction I had been craving for six seasons, this episode finally, finally, finally started to get into Princess Celestia as a character rather just a plot device. There wasn’t much in this episode, but what we saw was nice and sweet. While Celestia had been getting so poorly used that, in “Make New Friends but Keep Discord”, the writers seemed to be endorsing the “Trollestia” image of how she enjoyed driving Twilight crazy, this episode brought back what I had really suspected for years. We know that Twilight doesn’t just look up to Celestia for approval as being a “good student”; she values their relationship…their friendship. And now we know Celestia does the same. It’s very touching. It’s tempting for a lot of fans to fantasize that they go so far as to enjoy a mother/daughter relationship due to their difference in age, experience, and even height, but…no, it’s just that they’re really good friends. The sort of platonic ideal where you can feel love between two individuals with no romantic element. And, frankly, it’s nice to see Celestia “help Twilight with a problem” for once. 🙂

Last but not least, Twilight and Starlight.

As I said before, I initially rolled my eyes at the prospect of this episode. I tolerated Starlight, but I wanted her gone and I figured the sooner the better. Yet a funny thing happened when I actually saw this episode. A great deal of it was from watching Silver Quill’s analysis of Starlight Glimmer’s character, I’m sure, and ruminating over what he said when I watched this episode.

Yet on seeing Twilight make her announcement, on seeing her speak with such pride, on seeing her tearing up at the thought of losing her friend, and on seeing Starlight’s own reaction to everything, I realized something odd that I never expected.

I didn’t want Starlight to leave either.

Silver Quill is right on most of his points. Starlight Glimmer does add to the show. She’s a character type that’s never been used before, but she’s also one of the more realistic character types. Kelly Sheridan honestly does a fantastic job voice acting for her. Probably the best on the show. She manages to give the sense of Starlight somehow being “the only normal person in a world of happy ponies”, and yet still fits in. She can probably emote more than most of the other voice actors vocally as well.

Yet I think what really ended up finally hooking me on Starlight I picked up in the rewatch of this episode. I still to this day hate “The Cutie Re-Mark”. I still have to consciously block it from my mind to fully enjoy Starlight. I still can’t “believe it” in that episode. However, when I saw Twilight’s tears, when I saw her express her fears, when I saw Starlight express how fearful she was at the end of this episode at the thought of leaving, and when I saw them embrace, I realized that what I did believe was the friendship between the two of them. I don’t know how exactly they connected, but I didn’t need to. It just “did”, and I believed the end result. And because I believe Twilight and her own friendships, that got me to believe in Starlight as well. Now I can confidently say I actually like Starlight Glimmer being on the show and I hope to see more of her in the future.

…I do wish she would be on the same level as the rest of the Mane Seven and would interact more one-on-one with non-Twilight characters or in smaller groups without Twilight, but I do fully accept her and enjoy her being there.

So yeah, I like this episode. In fact, I dare say it’s better than most of the season openings that were two-part dramas. And coupled with the next episode, it left me in a very good place for the rest of the season.

Fun Facts:

Season Seven was the first season not to open with a two-parter. Instead, both this episode and “All Bottled Up” premiered on the same day.

Spike channels Rainbow Dash’s mimicry a bit by being able to style his own scales to match Rarity before he imitates her.

Twilight’s mirror has scenes from “The Cutie Mark Chronicles”, “Fall Weather Friends”, “Gauntlet of Fire”, “A Canterlot Wedding”, “Luna Eclipsed”, and the Season-Six-And-Later show opening. It also features a picture of Rarity and Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Owuliscious, Twilight and Moondancer, and…Discord and Celestia. 😛

In Pinkie Pie’s greatest act of hammerspace to date, she simply pulls a cord out of nowhere to deploy the entire party setup.

The crowd at the award ceremony for the “Heroes of Equestria” includes Starlight’s former cultists, the “new” Changelings, and Fluffy Clouds.

The “new” Changelings got voices in this episode. To go along with their new appearance, their voices are equally more pleasant.

One of Discord’s two appearances this season. And (sigh) he’s back to trolling Twilight.

Once Discord teleports out of the tea, Twilight quickly dumps it out. I wouldn’t drink anything he had been bathing in either.

Twilight’s fear about one Changeling deviating from the rest of the hive would ruin all of Starlight’s good intentions. The irony is that this possibility would be explored later this season in “To Change a Changeling”.

As a meta joke, this is apparently the first time ever Celestia has heard her own name being invoked in a pronouncement. 😛

Twilight’s fantasy about Starlight and Ember starts with them both calling each other’s names, slapping their arms together, and flexing…which is a knockoff of Dutch and Dillion’s meeting at the beginning of “Predator”.

The cuckoo clock that Starlight and Sunburst make in her fantasy has Flurry Heart for a cuckoo bird.

Somnambula is first mentioned in this episode in Twilight’s fantasy about Starlight and Sunburst.

Twilight’s fear about what will happen to Starlight and Sunburst is similar to the failed alchemy spell that Edward and Alphonse performed that left them both “crippled” in “Full Metal Alchemist”.

Starlight’s mirror has pictures from “Every Little Thing She Does”, “To Where and Back Again”, and “No Second Prances”.

Pinkie Pie also instantly cleans up the room with “vacuumspace”.

Rating:

4 Stars out of 5

My Little Devotional #151: “Stranger Than Fiction”

Tags

Apple Bloom, Applejack, Bible, Campfire Tales, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, fairy tales, folklore, God, Gospel, inspirational, Jesus, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, myth, New Testament, Old Testament, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, truth, validity, witnessing

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Campfire Tales”

In today’s episode, while stuck in a cave following a disastrous camping trip, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash tell their three “little sisters” some of their favorite stories about their historical heroes. The stories are practically legendary, depicting situations that seem too fantastic and incredible to be true. As a result, there’s a degree of disbelief on the part of the listeners, or at least a sense that part of the stories are a bit fabricated and blown up to make the situation look better. Nevertheless, the three older girls not only believe them but take the episodes from history as lessons for them to apply to today.

When I thought about this, only one thing came to mind for today’s devotional: what Christians themselves look to for lessons from history, and how others see the same.

When Christians hold up the Bible as defense of their beliefs, the typical response from most non-Christians is that it’s “a book of fairy tales”. It may support our beliefs, but ultimately it’s considered another work of fiction and so can’t be taken literally or authoritatively. And while Christians can defend a lot of the Bible’s content by pointing out how it collaborates with other ancient world history recordings and documents, such as the records of Josephus, and even confirm that certain prophecies did indeed exist prior to their fulfillment via documents like the Dead Sea Scrolls (for another accusation toward Christianity is that the only way the ancient prophecies could have been fulfilled so exactly would be if they were written after the historical event occurred), at the least we all know that there are very few things recorded in ancient world history that didn’t have the truth “stretched” over several thousand years.

Moreover, when it comes to the Book of Genesis, it seems there is direct contradiction between everything we know about science and the Bible. To this day, “Creationists” continue to claim Earth, and the universe itself, is only a little over 6,000 years old, in spite of mountains of evidence in astronomy saying otherwise. Many Christians today continue to aggressively insist evolution does not exist without even understanding evolution; even though in doing so they’re saying that HIV only needs one drug and not a cocktail to treat it, we don’t need any new pesticides ever, and that every generation looks exactly like the previous one. Their rationale is that, since the Bible is the only thing that can be considered to be 100% true and authentic, everything we know about everything else must conform to it or it’s a lie…completely ignoring the fact that people, and especially Christians, have been misunderstanding and misinterpreting the Bible since the beginning of Christianity and have continued unabated to this day.

But the bottom line from all of this is that, to the non-Christian, citing the Bible as authority and everything that is within it is as meaningless as holding up “The Cat in the Hat” and doing the same. Christians fail to realize this constantly, and I’m a bit stunned that they aren’t getting it. Back in college I got in a discourse with a Muslim about my faith, and at the end of it he gave me a copy of the Koran to cite his own authority for his own faith. Now, to me, the Koran may have parts of it that are adapted from history but ultimately I consider it, more or less, to be a “book of fairy tales” myself. I expected him and other non-Christians to feel the same way about the Bible. The question is how do I prove that the Bible isn’t and has the greater authority?

“Oh, the Bible is the Word of God!” Most Christians will immediately answer. The non-Christian responds: “How do you know that? I think this book is the word of God.” “Oh, but the Bible says it’s the Word of God!” “Well…my book says it’s the word of God. Why should I think yours is and mine isn’t?”

And, at this point, I see a lot of Christians take the “wimpy” way out: “Oh, the truth just hasn’t been revealed to you, so you’re going to be obstinate no matter what. Otherwise, you’d immediately see I’m right and you’d accept Jesus right here on the spot.” Maybe not that extreme, but something like that.

The Word of God, the Bible, is important and it does have power inside it. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12); “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16); “And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.” (Psalm 12:6); “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4). Yet not everyone will immediately see it that way or accept it as such.

There are a lot of books out there in the world that promise to have words that lead to life and self-fulfillment. Most of them are lying, but from a distance they all look the same. The Word of God itself has been twisted and warped into something horrible to suit a lot of people’s private agendas over the centuries. Even the Devil did the same with Lord Jesus. (“Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”” (Matthew 4:5-7)). Aside from that, a lot of people have used their own books, religious and secular, as justification for some rather bad things.

A responsible Christian, therefore, has to realize that there’s a lot of external factors at work actively trying to make non-Christians doubt the Bible’s authenticity besides simply “not having the truth revealed to them”. Frankly, I think the average Christian, and probably all Christians, have to deal with doubt regarding the Bible every so often (which is why most Christians avoid the bulk of the Old Testament because it’s “too hard to swallow”). If even we run afoul of that, how much more the non-believer?

So how do we remedy that?

I think the way is contained right there in the Bible. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Lord Jesus Christ is described as “the Word made flesh”. Just as we believe the Bible is the Word of God, we believe Lord Jesus is the Word fulfilled. It’s because the Word of God is more than text on a piece of paper and brings life and contains power that it’s not limited to a book but became tangible and alive in His body. In the same way, that’s how people will see that what we proclaim is real–by how we manifest it in our own flesh. And we should. If we truly believe the Word of God changes lives, then at the bare minimum our own lives should be changed by it, and changed enough to where others will see it.

To me, I never get caught up in doubt regarding the age of the universe or evolution, because I know the Bible is real from the people whose lives I’ve seen changed and the miracles that happened to them. People that I’ve dismissed as lost causes and wanted out of my life I now see as my best friends because of the power of the Word of God. The rest of that stuff doesn’t bother me because of that.

If you want non-Christians, or anyone, in your life to see how much power is in the Bible, to see the authority in its word, the best way to do it is live in accordance with it…just as Lord Jesus did.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for your Word, the Bible, and the incomparably wonderful message of salvation contained within. Thank you also that your Word is not merely text on a page but alive, active, and powerful. Help me to always remember that, as a Christian, I am proclaiming the Word of God at all times; whether I do so directly or in how I live my life. Grant that the words I “preach”, verbally and nonverbally, are always sharing the Gospel at all times. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Friends Forever #28 (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Friends Forever #28): “The Cutie Mark Crusaders & Princess Luna”

Tags

Apple Bloom, CMCs, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Friends Forever, IDW, IDW comic, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, opinion, Princess Luna, review, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle

Synopsis:

Twilight Sparkle has arranged a special event for the Filly Future Leaders of Equestria, which includes the Cutie Mark Crusaders: a sleepover at the Canterlot Royal Palace hosted by Princess Celestia, to act as a mentor role for young pony inspiration. While the CMCs expect a chance for palace adventures, Princess Celestia herself finds herself forced to excuse herself from the event when she needs to ensure a sudden Yak/Griffon war doesn’t drag Equestria into either side of the conflict. Instead, she suggests Princess Luna head it up; something she at first refuses on the grounds of being a bad example as a mentor figure due to her past, but ends up accepting when it turns out the arriving fillies idolize her. On noticing her social awkwardness leading to anxiety, the CMCs give Luna tips on how to properly handle a sleepover, and the night goes over well for the most part save for one filly named Thestra being bullied and mocked for her unusual Cutie Mark/special talent (which is not yet revealed to the audience). When Luna goes to get a book to read for the sleepover, the bullying leads Thestra to run off into the castle, and, on revealing that there are dangerous magical forces around the castle at night, Luna goes off to find her with the CMCs tagging along. While they do find her, she reveals she’s been made fun of for her unusual talent by everyone, leading her to feel as if she’s a misfit and an outcast. Yet soon after, a Mirrorca, a creature born of chaos magic that has a refractive surface that mimics and reflects any spell used on it finds them. Luna is unable to defeat it due to its reflective nature, but Thestra reveals her own special magic: the ability to make all skin and flesh transparent so that nothing is visible of a pony except their skeleton. On doing the same, the Mirrorca removes its reflective coating, allowing Luna to destroy it. The CMCs end up suggesting useful ways in which Thestra can use her special talent, and Luna personally congratulates her and praises her before her parents; making the filly ecstatic. Luna realizes that her own “misfit” background allows her to connect with ponies who feel they themselves are unwanted, and, after the sleepover is over, decides to go back to the “arts and crafts” portion and make a sculpture of Thestra.

Review:

One thing I don’t get about the IDW Comic writers is why they seem perpetually stuck in the “Luna Eclipsed” mindset. Every time Princess Luna is featured in an issue, she’s still doing her old mannerisms of the Royal Canterlot Voice, speaking of herself as “your princess”, and otherwise having no idea how to deal with anypony. While Luna is indeed the more socially awkward of the two sisters and, as “A Royal Problem” revealed, actually prefers being alone to having to deal with crowds of ponies, she’s demonstrated on multiple occasions that she can deal with individuals in one-on-one situations…many of which are actually mentioned in this comic.

That said, it’s interesting how this does end up feeling like a “new” Cutie Mark Crusader episode in most respects. It’s a bit surprising as the newer motif of them helping other ponies find their special talents or what to do with their special talents was still a relative novelty when this issue was planned. I’d say the parts with them are pretty well done, as are their reactions and ways of talking with one another.

Of course, the bulk of this feels like Luna is supposed to be the focus and the CMCs are the side characters. And since Luna is the focus, the fact that she’s a tad OOC stands out all the more so. Nevertheless, it’s only a tad OOC. I can still easily picture her being too socially awkward around a whole group of little fillies as opposed to having to deal with one or two at a time. I feel Thestra was an interesting character for a one-shot, and I was a bit stunned they actually had a pony’s skeleton for a Cutie Mark as well as her unusual x-ray ability. I’m not sure if they could quite get away with that on the show, but it ended up being a bizarre, yet appropriate, little twist in this story.

One final note is this is another one that uses Jay Fosgitt’s unusual art style. Again, seeing an alicorn drawn that way is a bizarre experience, and even more so in the segment of the story where Thestra shows off Luna’s skeleton. It’s not necessarily a bad thing; just…a novelty.

Aside from that, it’s a nice little story. Nothing too bad or poignant. I think the lesson could have worked just as well with Luna being fully in-character, though. But since her OOCness wasn’t anything too distracting or ruinous, I’ll overlook it this time.

Fun Facts:

This was the first IDW Comic in any of their MLP-related series to feature the CMCs with their Cutie Marks, although, based on the lag between episodes being released and comic arcs/stories being planned, they had them for several months before this was released.

“Harriet Pinto”, the pony version of Harry Potter, is shown in one panel. Odd, considering the IDW comic was already infamous for having the pony versions of various Harry Potter characters as the staff for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns (one of which even made it into the show canon). At any rate, she has a star-shaped scar on her forehead instead of a lightning bolt.

Twilight Sparkle nearly becomes self-aware of her existence as a fictional character in one panel. 😛

Considering the previous “Friends Forever”, it seems as if the IDW writers also picked up on the vibe that the Yaks are violent brutes. Nevertheless, this means that a war between Yaks and Griffons took place “off screen” in the IDW universe.

Scootaloo nearly mentions the events of “Sleepless in Ponyville” to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, but cuts herself off.

Thestra’s name is similar to “thestral”, a horse-like magical creature infamous in the Harry Potter lore. She’s notable for having a skull and bones for a Cutie Mark. Ironically, several months later, the episode “The Fault in Our Cutie Marks” would feature Petunia, another filly with a skull and bones for a Cutie Mark.

In one panel, Luna yells: “Zounds!” Nowadays people think of that as an innocent expletive for kid’s material, but it’s origin is an oath on God’s wounds.

Another letter to Celestia at the end, this time from Princess Luna.

Rating:

2.5 Stars out of 5

My Little Devotional #150: “Who’s Afraid?”

Tags

anxiety, assurance, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, confidence, devotional, doubt, Dragonlord Ember, faith, fear, God, inspirational, Jesus, King Thorax, motivational, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, obsession, Old Testament, promise, Spike, Triple Threat, worry

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Triple Threat”

Spike was a dragon under a lot of stress in this episode. He went to extreme lengths to welcome Dragonlord Ember as the ambassador of Equestria to try and keep peace with the dragon race, only in his focus he completely forgot he had invited King Thorax of the Changelings over on the exact same day. He feared the two would have such clashing personalities that they would not only hate each other but would start a war between their respective races, and devoted most of the day to try and keep them apart. Yet as a result of this, he ended up almost causing them to really get in a fight when they finally spotted one another and misinterpreted each other’s actions. On top of that, they ended up angry at him for his gesture showing what he thought of their respective personalities. In the end it turned out that the two were able to help each other with their own respective problems, and that if Spike hadn’t let his fears get hold of him things would have worked out far more easily.

As I’ve stated before, one of the biggest “internal enemies” both Christians as well as all other faiths and non-religious folks have to deal with is fear. Unlike some churches and sermons, I feel a little fear is a good thing as it, like all other emotions, is created by God. Certainly one won’t argue that we should have fear of God; at least in the sense of respect, reverence, and awe of his power. And many people in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, could have done well with a bit more fear of God (namely everyone who ignored any of his warnings). But even discounting that, fear is necessary for a lot of life. As children, if we didn’t have fear of being stung, bit, burned, cut, or electrocuted, we’d wander into a lot of dangerous situations. As adults, if we didn’t have fear of laws and for our own lives, we’d be more apt to do things such as drive recklessly, overindulge in alcohol, get into fights with strangers, or go about a promiscuous lifestyle with unknown people. Obviously, there’s a lot of dangers in this world, and many of them we can’t afford to get “hit” by once to learn better. We need to fear and respect them now.

Yet like all things God has granted us, fear can be misapplied, and I hardly need to go into detail about that. Past hurt, phobias, and paranoia are all examples of sources of fear that can keep us crippled and unable to function as normal human beings. Yet fear dictates almost all of our actions even in day-to-day life. If we find ourselves treating one group of people different from another, it ultimately boils down to fear. We see a difference between the two groups that ultimately makes us scared of one more than the other. If we don’t donate or volunteer, it again comes to fear. Fear that we don’t have enough time for ourselves, fear that the money will be wasted, fear that the organization is crooked, etc. If we don’t want to witness to this or that person, fear once again comes into play–fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of humiliation…the list is endless. These types of fear are not healthy and limit us as Christians and as human beings.

It was Denis Waitley who once said: “What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon.” This can be both good and bad; depending on what, exactly, the mind dwells upon. If we constantly dwell on our fears, as Spike did in this episode, we will eventually act in accord with them. Rather than trust his friends, much less realized how they could have helped one another, Spike tried to keep them apart in this whole episode to his own detriment. But in more concrete, real-world terms… If we constantly distrust people, we won’t try to outreach to them. If we fear being cheated or lied to, we won’t donate to anyone or let anyone in to our lives. If we constantly fear rejection, we’ll never witness or try anything important. And just like Spike, once we let fear take hold in our minds we’ll just keep going over it again and again mentally and make it worse until it dominates all aspects of our thinking.

As one who struggles with anxiety and fear, I know this all too well. I’ve spent restless nights and had my weekends ruined from constant fear (usually irrational), or wasted time I could have spent with my family or doing something for other people because I spent too much time being fearful. When it becomes a learned response, as it did for me, it’s very hard to get rid of and, to this day, I’m still trying.

Small wonder that the Bible emphasizes the importance of keeping a sound mind as well as a sound spirit. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2) “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

Whenever I feel myself stricken and even crippled by fear and anxiety, I try to keep in mind two important Bible verses.

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26)

This one is very poignant. Many of us, in our zeal to be responsible and to think of things soberly, have gone the extra step and now feel worrying about something is actually doing something about it. It doesn’t. As my own pastor has recently pointed out, the only thing worrying ever changes is ourselves–making us slaves to our own obsessions and fears. We have to remind ourselves that sitting around being fearful accomplishes absolutely nothing.

And for the second…

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

As the Bible has said, God knows all of our concerns before we voice them, and he knows what we need. He has vowed to be with us at all times and to see us through everything. To claim to follow God and yet live a life of fear means we aren’t truly following God, because we haven’t learned to have faith in him yet. In all my times of worry, desperation, and fear, I sometimes have to stop, concentrate, and tell myself and all my inner feelings that God is in control and he will see me through as he has every other time I have been in distress. And I need to keep focusing on that until my belief in that overrides my fears.

In closing for today, I’d like to share Jesus’ own words from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:25-34):

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you that I am valuable in your eyes and that you know my needs even before I bring them to you, even when I feel I am abandoned. And thank you for your Word, which testifies again and again that no one need fear who trusts in you. When my own fears threaten to choke me and, especially, prevent me from living in accordance with your Will, let me cling to your Word and Promise and let it cast out all fear within me. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Friends Forever #27 (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Friends Forever #27): “Pinkie Pie & Granny Smith”

Tags

Friends Forever, Granny Smith, IDW, IDW comic, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, opinion, Pinkie Pie, review

Synopsis:

It’s cider season again at Sweet Apple Acres, but on the very first day misfortune strikes when Granny Smith trips over a rake and breaks her hip. Short the family matriarch, the rest of the Apples fear about how they’re going to make it this year until Pinkie Pie pops in practically out of nowhere. As a possible-distantly-related member of the Apple family, she agrees to help out by acting as Granny’s “chauffeur”, namely by driving her around in Apple Bloom’s wagon to carry out the errands she normally has to walk to do. Granny hates the whole arrangement as much as she hates being injured, constantly berating and complaining about everything Pinkie does, to which Pinkie herself just cheerfully agrees. This goes on for weeks, until Applejack notices one day. The next day, Granny is surprised to see that Pinkie Pie is gone, at which Applejack explains since she found fault in everything she did that she thought it was best if she dismiss her. Granny realizes she misses her company, especially as she had been using the opportunity to tell Pinkie Pie (not born a Ponyville native) about the town’s history. When Applejack takes her to visit friends at the retirement village, one of the mares drops a glass. She moves to pick it up for her and gets a tongue lashing in response; making Granny realize she had been taking out her anger on being injured and unable to move freely on a pony just trying to help. Fortunately, Pinkie Pie is also at the retirement village (as she wanted to learn more about Ponyville’s early days), and she uses the opportunity to apologize. Not long after, in spite of getting a clean bill of health, Granny has Pinkie take her out for another ride around town so they can enjoy each other’s company…although she still tells her to take it slow over the bumps.

Review:

After getting one of the better “Friends Forever” storylines, now we ended up with one of the worst.

The story in and of itself isn’t that bad. Simple, but not bad. It’s a bit of a knockoff of Pony Tales #1 with Twilight Sparkle: one of the Mane Six finds themselves the caretakers of a grumpy, unhappy older pony and ends up making friends with them. It’s not quite as good as that one as Twilight was able to help Jade Singer write again, whereas in this one the two simply learn a greater appreciation for each other…and, in this case, more of it was on Granny Smith as Pinkie Pie is just her normally happy, bubbly self throughout this story. It’s nothing monumental, but nothing bad either. Unfortunately, that’s about all it is.

Nothing too remarkable happens in this story. It’s definitely more grounded in reality and common, which isn’t that good when the focus is Pinkie Pie. There’s pretty much none of her zaniness or craziness she’s infamous for, just her being normal. The art style also seems a bit more crude and juvenile at times, especially in the panels where the ponies are drawn with dots for eyes. None of that by itself is worth voting anything down for.

But…what really sinks this arc into the mud is Granny Smith.

Here’s a good old fashioned example of Flanderization. In the first season, Granny Smith was kind of a stereotype for the elderly. But in the second season and beyond, she quickly was transformed into a feisty, energetic, and take-charge family matriarch. She had stubbornness, to be sure, but the sort of stubbornness you would expect from someone who did everything by her own elbow grease for her whole life. The type of grit of the older generation that lived through the Great Depression as farmers might have.

In this story, all she is is stubborn and cranky. The story went out of its way to point out that she was unhappy about being rendered an invalid, but I think it went way too far. So much of the story is devoted to her just simply complaining and being stubborn and mean for no reason other than she’s unhappy and wants other ponies to be as unhappy as she is. It started to seem OOC pretty fairly on, especially considering she was taking it out on Pinkie Pie. As Applejack points out in this very story, following “Pinkie Apple Pie”, the Apples considered Pinkie Pie a family member…enough to spend Hearth’s Warming Eve together with her own family. After that, to have Granny Smith suddenly so paranoid that she accuses Pinkie Pie of theft? Especially since, given the basic tone of the comic, it came off as serious rather than as a silly scene? That’s too far.

To be honest, Pinkie Pie doing nothing but simply saying “Yes Granny” for the bulk of the story was equally weak. Not that I wouldn’t expect her to do something like that, especially as persistent as Pinkie can be, but that she didn’t do anything else more silly or extreme for her reactions made it seem almost just a touch out of character for her too.

In the end, it came off that the lesson only worked because one of the characters was forcibly changed to make it work. And that’s a big vote down to me.

Fun Facts:

This storyline evokes a somewhat similar vibe to “Driving Miss Daisy”.

“Hearthbreakers” had already come out when this issue debuted, long after Pinkie Pie had officially introduced herself to the Apple family and the possibility of being very distant relations was proposed. But it’s interesting that Pinkie Pie alludes to her being able to eat rocks as well, indicating that it’s a Pie family trait.

Ponyville apparently has a retirement village, although it seems more similar to a senior citizens center like my own grandmother used to go to before she passed away. At any rate, it’s shaped like a stable.

Rating:

1.5 Stars out of 5

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Friends Forever #26 (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Friends Forever #26): “Shining Armor & Prince Blueblood”

Tags

Friends Forever, IDW, IDW comic, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, opinion, Prince Blueblood, Prince Rutherford, review, Shining Armor, Yakyakistan

Synopsis:

Shining Armor is just finishing up his research for a diplomatic mission he and Princess Cadance plan to take to Yakyakistan following the events of “Party Pooped”, intending to start a new trade agreement with the nation. Unfortunately, Cadance and the rest of the alicorn princesses are called off on an emergency, so instead Princess Celestia sends Prince Blueblood along with him so that they aren’t forced to insult the Yaks by canceling the meeting. Shining Armor is immediately put off and angered by Blueblood’s conceited and self-absorbed behavior, as well as his shirking of any physical activity and constantly acting like an elitist snob, and in addition to getting angry at his behavior he fears that his attitude will ruin the trade agreement. As a result, on arriving at Yakyakistan, he tells him to sit things out while he handles everything, which he reluctantly acquiesces to. Unfortunately, everything Shining Armor does insults or angers the Yaks and the talks are soon a disaster. Feeling hopeless, he finally agrees to stand out and let Blueblood try his hand, expecting things can’t get worse, only to find that he easily wins over the Yaks and handles the trade agreements perfectly; managing to get the Crystal Empire and Yakyakistan on good terms at the end to boot. Shining Armor realizes that an individuals’ attitude or personality doesn’t mean that they aren’t specially talented at certain things, and, on the way back to the Crystal Empire, ends up asking Blueblood to teach him to be a better diplomat, which he agrees to so long as he doesn’t mind the “hard work”.

Review:

This one was quite interesting. More interesting than many of the Friends Forever issues.

Probably the only character that the IDW writers would hate to have to deal with more than the pre-“COTLM” Diamond Tiara would be Prince Blueblood. He had only a single real appearance in the main series, in which his self-centered attitude transformed him into Rarity’s date from Hell. A pretty much one-note character designed to be a snob. To be honest, he was also something of an enigma, as he is canonically Celestia’s “nephew” but it’s unclear exactly how that works out. Certainly not a character one would think to include in an arc in the comic, let alone the show.

But, ironically, pairing him with Shining Armor, the only other “Equestrian Prince”, was a move that could be more than a bit interesting. Before Shining Armor started to Flanderize in Season Six, he could be viewed as everything opposite of what Blueblood was like. Yet as both are princes, they’d be expected to interact at one point, and what better place than the Friends Forever comic?

How did it work out here?

Well, let’s start with the bad stuff. On rereading, it’s clear that Shining Armor as a diplomat was another snafu on the part of Equestrian Royalty. All he ended up doing was almost ruining everything, including by “being himself” as Cadance had suggested. The resolution to this arc figured, but it was the opposite extreme in which Shining Armor ended up being totally useless to the trade agreement.

Second…the yaks. Ugh. They were no one’s favorite characters in “Party Pooped”, and this storyline, which in many ways is “Party Pooped” all over again, did nothing to help with that. I get the sense that the yaks were meant to be a lesson in respecting other cultures no matter how strange and different and the danger of “faux pas” when interacting with another culture…but let’s be honest. The yaks are aggressive brutes. It’s not like the Equestrians aren’t constantly doing everything they can to try and be polite and respectful to them, only for the yaks to constantly find reasons to be big dumb animals. Perhaps they’re a lesson that sometimes the price of multiple nations living together in peace is having to bend over backward to keep from insulting another country, but if it is it’s going to leave the audience disliking diversity more than ever.

Now, all that out of the way…

This Friends Forever ended up having a rather surprising friendship lesson in it that most children’s orientated shows and literature aren’t realistic enough to address. Most people in my generation were brought up being taught subconsciously by everything in media that if someone is detestable as a person that also means that they are terrible at everything else. You can’t be a good politician, businessman, community organizer, lawyer, doctor, chef, or anything else unless you are also in possession of a good personality. If you’re a jerk, you no good at anything unless you’re also underhanded and shameful about it. We expect a person’s talents in life to stem from their individual personality and morality, perhaps because we’re taught to believe that people who are personally “bad” can’t ever succeed in life compared to someone who is “good”.

The reality is that’s not in the least bit true. You can be a bold-faced jackass and still be great at what you do. Steve Jobs comes to mind. He was a brilliant leader of the Apple company, but personally he was a jerk and a cutthroat. But everyone wants to focus either on one side of him or the other, because that makes him “easier to digest” and put into a box.

Shining Armor clearly thought of Prince Blueblood as a selfish snob who would ruin the trade agreement and had no love for him. The irony is that, in doing so, Shining Armor became a snob himself. He inherently thought his own more considerate nature to his subjects and “down-to-earth” roots made him naturally better at being able to connect with others and therefore he would be the better diplomat. All without knowing anything about Blueblood other than his few over-the-top mannerisms. And the fact of the matter is while Blueblood does come off as an egotistical prude more than once, he’s actually fairly mannerly and friendly to Shining Armor through all of it. It’s Shining Armor who starts giving him the cold shoulder first, and when he not-so-subtly indicates he thinks so little of him that he thinks he’s a bad diplomat, when Blueblood knows full well he’s the experienced diplomat while Shining Armor is the greenhorn, he humbly accepts it and stands aside until Shining Armor is ready to say “uncle” of his own volition.

From a personality standpoint? Honestly…Shining Armor and Prince Blueblood are pretty much morally “equal” in this one.

And at the end of it? The issue makes Blueblood look a bit better than how the show treated him, and even indicates that he and Shining Armor might indeed end up forming a bit of a friendship between them. Yet all of it’s plausible and, while surprising, rather fitting along with the unusual-yet-relevant lesson.

I…actually like that quite a bit. This is probably one of the most clever plotlines the IDW writers have come up with.

If it wasn’t for my two complaints, I’d actually be tempted to give this one a 4 out of 5. As it is, I think it’s definitely one of the better entries in the Friends Forever series.

Fun Facts:

Although he’s made a background appearance or two, this is Prince Blueblood’s only other speaking role since Season One’s “The Best Night Ever”.

This issue is a follow up to Season Five’s “Party Pooped”, and at the time was only the second appearance ever of the Yaks and Yakyakistan. While Season Seven’s “Not Asking for Trouble” would show all yaks live in yurt-inspired structures, in this issue they actually have a palace.

Blueblood makes a meta-humor joke about there being so few princes. 😛

While it has yet to be stated on the show itself, in the expanded universe novels and lore it’s canon that Cadance was originally a pegasus who was adopted by Celestia after becoming an alicorn at a young age. Blueblood refers to Shining Armor meeting Cadance while she was still an orphan and, apparently, a pegasus, but this is an error as even in IDW Comic lore Shining Armor didn’t fall for her until she was in teenage years and already an alicorn and royalty.

Shining Armor’s cold-weather attire is both a throwback to Season Three’s “The Crystal Empire” as well as a nod to Luke Skywalker’s garb in “The Empire Strikes Back”.

In a unique turn, the story ends with Shining Armor writing a letter to Celestia. Weird.

Rating:

3.5 Stars out of 5

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Reviews ~ Friends Forever #25 (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Friends Forever #25): “Rainbow Dash & Twilight Sparkle”

Tags

alicorn, Decepticolt, Friends Forever, Goldcap, IDW, IDW comic, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, opinion, Rainbow Dash, review, Twilight Sparkle, Zappityhoof

Synopsis:

Rainbow Dash wakes up to a horrible surprise: her wings are missing. Using a cloud, she immediately rushes to see Twilight Sparkle about how it could have happened. By using a “Traumalocation” spell, Twilight discovers a trio of unicorns, Goldcap, Decepticolt, and Zappityhoof, stole Rainbow Dash’s wings using their magic with the intent of distilling them into a potion that will let them grow wings of their own and turn themselves into fake alicorns, or, as Twilight calls them, “pseudocorns”. The two rush off to stop them with Rainbow suggesting they switch roles with her coming in from the ground and Twilight from the air, but as both are out of their element they both fail and are captured. As the unicorns proceed to distill Rainbow’s wings into their potion, Rainbow gets an alternate idea. Rather than try to do things the opposite pony’s way, she tells Twilight to free herself and then use a special spell to put them both in control of Twilight’s alicorn body at the same time. As a result, Rainbow gets command of Twilight’s incredible magic power while Twilight gets Rainbow’s amazing flying ability, and their combined effort thrashes the unicorns with a Pseudo Sonic Rainboom and gets the potion just as it completes. Twilight punishes the unicorns for abusing their magic by temporarily removing it, and Rainbow drinks the potion herself to regain her wings. After thanking Twilight, Rainbow goes for a fast-paced fly to enjoy her restored ability, and, as soon as she’s out of eyeshot, Twilight straps on some goggles and does the same.

Review:

This one’s a bit interesting. While at it’s core it’s a Friends Forever story, with Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash getting a chance to “be each other” at the same time, it has the feel of a drama based episode. I think it pushes the envelope a bit with an act of pony mutilation, even if it was using magic, bloodless, and “off-screen”. I remember how jarring that was for the first read. And the trio of unicorns definitely have a “Dazzlings” vibe to them, especially Goldcap who, with her hair, almost looks like a clone of Adagio Dazzle. While it’s another case of simply leaving the villains behind, it still had a bit of satisfaction in them actually getting a punishment for a change; and a fitting one as they’d get to experience what it’s like to have someone take their own special talent away.

That could have fit as a nice little lesson about “do unto others”, but…this story isn’t going for that kind of vibe. It focuses more on a relationship with Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, and…in that vein, it’s kind of different. Most of their interactions on the show are somewhat of a clash of personalities, as Twilight is the bookish nerd and Rainbow is the athletic slacker. Most of the time they’re together they act as a foil. While it wasn’t necessarily anything monumental for the normal friendship lesson episodes, it was nice that at the end they both got an appreciation for each other.

Aside from that, an entertaining storyline with nice visuals. Pretty much good all around. It may not have taught anything new or gotten too much into drama, but still a good little addition to the Friends Forever series.

Fun Facts:

Brenda Hickey, the same artist who did the almost psychadelic artwork for “Twilight Sparkle & Pinkie Pie”, does this one.

Apparently, pegasi do not need their actual wings to stand on clouds.

Spike…shares a bed with Twilight…

Zappityhoof’s Cutie Mark is the Flash emblem from DC Comics. Decepticolt’s name is a parody of “Decepticon”, the name of the evil Transformers (also put out by Hasbro).

When being assisted by Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle is able to approximate a Sonic Rainboom. It shows she does actually have the natural ability to be a great flier…she’s just too awkward. 😛

Rating:

3 Stars out of 5

My Little Devotional #149: “Open to Misinterpretation”

Tags

Applejack, bias, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, devotional, evangelism, false accusation, Fame and Misfortune, Fluttershy, God, inspirational, intention, Jesus, motivational, motive, My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, New Testament, offense, Old Testament, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle

Inspiration for Today’s Devotional: “Fame and Misfortune”

In today’s episode, Twilight Sparkle hits on a new idea she hopes will help all ponies across Equestria with friendship problems by publishing the old friendship journal she and her friends used to keep up. Unfortunately, things soon turn disastrous as a result. It seems every pony in Equestria reads something “different” into it. One misinterprets Rarity as being completely self-centered and mean. Another misinterprets everything Pinkie Pie says as funny. Still another demands that Fluttershy justify all of her individual negative character traits. Yet another thinks Rainbow Dash is “better” than everyone else…and so on and so forth. In the course of doing so, everypony misses the point of the journal completely. It’s only a pair of small fillies who end up getting what the journal was going for out of everyone else in Ponyville.

Unlike most other Christians, I believe that our society needs some measure of “political correctness”. I feel everyone is entitled to at least some amount of respect, if for no other reason than that is the tradeoff for a polite society and obeying the Golden Rule. But political correctness has gone too far in modern times, as it’s no longer about showing respect to other people at all but a means of silencing people. In a world where everyone has grown to believe their opinion is worth more than it is, many people have reached the point where they feel they have a right not to “be offended”; as if being offended is somehow an act of external immorality on someone’s part.

It’s true that there are things that are put up with the explicit desire to offend people. Racial epitaphs or symbols, explicit imagery, or pure hate speak condemning a group of people…all of those are designed to incite anger and express hate. The problem is nowadays even the slightest thing that is unintentional can cause things to grind to a halt and demand for change. Wearing a Cat-in-the-Hat hat is suddenly racial. Game developers are suddenly offending an entire country if they use the wrong slang term on a sign in the background. Even the word “history” is suddenly gender biased because it says the word “his” in it. (Does that mean I have to say “ther” when I mean “this” now?)

As this episode illustrated, anyone can find anything wrong with what you say or do. They can always misrepresent it and claim a wrong motive. And nowadays, they can put that opinion everywhere and find like-minded individuals to say the same thing. Occasionally, it can get savage and mean. Yet the part that scares me is that, more often than not, people end up apologizing and changing to accommodate the people who complain. They catch themselves up in a never-ending cycle to “please everyone” and leave no one upset. That, unfortunately, is a dangerous precedent to follow. Yes, there are some things that genuinely do merit an apology. Yet to apologize for something that genuinely had no ill intent in it and try to change the world to accommodate the “offended” is essentially making everyone cater to their whims and, occasionally, their biases and imaginations. Especially if the person already has a mindset against something, for in that case no amount of apology or censorship will ever be sufficient. And for many people, they use that as a tool to completely silence all opposition period. After all, if “being offended” becomes an act of immorality itself, then you can shut down an opposing viewpoint for even existing.

Where does it end? At what point do we think something is so unreasonable that we tell someone, “I’m sorry, but that wasn’t my intention. You’ll just have to ignore it.”?

I don’t know if it will end any time soon, but there’s an important lesson we can learn from it right now. We should realize that someone will always, always, always see something wrong in what we say or do. If you’re a Christian witnessing the Gospel, that’s a given. We know it all too well. But they’ll do the same for everything else. Say you want to let some refugees into the country and you’ll be accused of promoting terrorism. Say you want to allow people to own guns and you’ll be accused of being a murderer. Say you’re against abortion and you’ll be accused of wanting to make women second-class citizens/slaves. Say that police acted inappropriately shooting an unarmed man to death and you’ll be accused of wanting lawlessness. Say that you voted for Donald Trump and you’ll be kicked out of your local YMCA (the last one actually did happen to my father after nearly 20 years of attendance and donations).

The important thing is not to care so much about what people say your motive is as to know what your motive is. Jesus was constantly accused of saying things that were all together untrue. “Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.”” (Luke 11:14-15) “A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man[Jesus] is a sinner.”” (John 9:24) “The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.” (Matthew 26:59-60a) It never stopped Him because He knew exactly what He was about and His intentions. After that, He left it up to whether some people would accept what He said and some people wouldn’t; and ultimately it was all about the people who would accept it. He never changed the message for the people that needed to hear it for the people who didn’t want to hear it at all.

Whenever you find yourself speaking boldly about something important and being assaulted for the wrong motive, always remember to be respectful and calm (for by getting angry and defensive you’re merely playing right into their hands), but so long as your motives are pure and true keep on going. Remember that it is inevitable that people will assign false motives to you. That’s life. Or, as Winston Churchill once said, “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” As with so many uncontrollable things in life, our response matters more than whether or not it will occur, which is why we should care more about what we say than how some people will react.

And for that reason, equally important is to also make sure our own hearts are in line at all times…both to make sure the words we speak are good as well as to avoid the sickness of distorting what we hear to suit our own agenda. As the Bible says, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45) Therefore, let’s all make sure our hearts stay full of good things.

Suggested Prayer: “Lord God, thank you that your Word is right and true, and contains the ways of eternal life to all who are able to hear it with a clean heart and let it “bear fruit”. Whether I am proclaiming your Word, explaining a viewpoint, sharing advice, or admonishing someone, please let my motives always be pure and in tune with your Will. And when opposition inevitably comes, let my focus always be more on quality of my message over the whims of society. Gratefully in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”