I Dream of Twilight modblog

This episode was just a whole lot of fun xD

Discord was just about as awesome as he was in the opener and did not disappoint. (And yes, I did see the Genie lamp during the song. Me and Navitas talked about it. We only wish it went a little further and he temporarily made Cadence and/or Twilight genies much like the Harry Potter bit. We would of gone absolutely insane if that happened xD)

I think the only thing I could complain about is how PInkie was a bit too immature this time around. If she had been this distracted by a simple balloon like she did in this episode in Too Many Pinkie Pies she would of been sent to the Mirror Pool.

It’s actually really hard of an episode to actually recap and put thoughts on because it’s just a crazy fun episode that needs to be really seen to be believed. Having Cadence show up for another Slice-of-Life episode that was a lot better then Games Ponies Play was is awesome to see.

Oh and BTW for those who are complaining about how Flash Sentry’s cameo means Equestria Girls is confirmed for canon.

>Twilight doesn’t acknowledge him, and cares more for Cadence’s visit. If Twilight still had that crush. She would of probably noticed Flash was there and at least blushed
>Before Cadence Arrives, Twilight tells her friends “The last TWO times” she met up with Cadence that were not worry free. Those two times are most definitely Canterlot Wedding and Crystal Empire. I think Twilight heading to the Crystal Empire at the beginning of Equestria Girls counts as another. You can’t argue there was nothing that was worrisome about what happened in Equestria Girls (Even if the set up didn’t make much sense)
>Flash Sentry as a character is Canon. But the events that happened in Equestria Girls are still called into question. He can be canon, but Twilight’s Relationship and/or Crush have to be confirmed too in order to consider the movie canon to the show.

There, there’s enough fuel to still ignore Equestria Girls as part of canon. If people who want to push Equestria Girls as 100% canon just because of Flash’s cameo. Then those who’d like it to remain it’s own thing can run on this logic. Equestria Girls is still as much of a removable canon as it ever was. Until the show actually refers to an event that happened in Equestria Girls (Twilight mentions the mirror, Spike refers to when he was a dog, Twilight blushes around Flash Sentry if he appears again, etc.). It cannot be proved it’s canon.

Anyway, I can’t decide whether this episode or Pinkie Apple Pie are my 2nd favorite of the Season. As I really enjoyed these two, maybe not as much as the opener. But slightly more then the other episodes for sure (Not that the others were that bad other then Rainbow Falls). Oh and I can’t wait until next week’s episode where we’re having Weird Al guest star on the show. Even better that it’s an entire musical episode with him. I wonder if Weird Al will do any parodies of the songs in the show we’ve had previously and/or references to Weird Al’s music in the episode. Either way though, we have another fun one coming up next Saturday ^^

Hm, Maybe I have to rewatch it to be sure. But I’m not too sure if I enjoyed this one like most of Season 4.

Okay first off, were the Cloudsdale team portrayed as jerks? Since that was the thing that I said would make or break the episode?

Well I think the answer is yes and no. Soarin’ was the absolute nicest of the three, Spitfire was kinda in the middle. She wasn’t too bad but she did try to persuade Rainbow Dash instead of showing concern for Soarin’. It seemed kinda like Fleetfoot was the jerk on the team, as not only does she probably try harder then Spitfire did to convince Rainbow to join the Cloudsdale team, she also tells Soarin’ who’s already a Wonderbolt to do better before he’s even injured (Though I suppose Fleetfoot was fine enough that she wasn’t too angry when Rainbow decided to join the Ponyville team anyway). What makes or break the episode for me ended up being a mixed bag, meaning I can’t exactly process how I feel about the episode after just one watch.

The ending was predictable, but pretty much if you know this show as soon as that synopsis was announced we knew what the ending was going to be. But hey we got another key to the box, we also got our first substantial appearance from Derpy in the longest time. And at least there was some sense put into this, as they answer why Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps were up for the Relay and not the other Ponyville Pegasi as the others were trying out for different events.

On the other hand it kinda bothered me that Rainbow’s idea for trying to get out was faking an injury which didn’t exactly fool the doctor in Read It and Weep when she tried a similar stunt yet she managed to do a similar bad acting job to fool both her friends and the Cloudsdale team (I think however this one strike against the people who think Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s Elements of Harmony should have been switched).

And it could be argued that the predictability of the episode was made easier as I was concerned about even if it wasn’t to the level that all of the Cloudsdale team are jerks. As it seemed to me that Rainbow finally decided Ponyville was her team because of how she found out the team didn’t check on Soarin and instead immediately made a push for Rainbow Dash. When the episode could of been a little more meaningful in showing that Ponyville is Rainbow Dash’s home now, and that’s what she wants to represent, plus a line that says Rainbow Dash would be looking forward more to competing with the Wonderbolts to see how she stacks up would not have hurt. But maybe that’s asking too specific for an ending. But it’d be a tad more meaningful and be less predictable then “The Cloudsdale team did something bad! I’m staying with my hometown’s team by default!”

Right now I’m thinking this episode and Castle-Mania are my least favorites of the Season. They have good moments in both, but the predictability works against these episodes more then usual. But I’m still feeling good about Season 4 in case you were worried about that. Rainbow Falls wasn’t my favorite but I still found enough to enjoy it over some of the more weaker episodes from the previous seasons. Plus I hope the matchup of Rainbow Vs. Spitfire in the Equestria Games is satisfying enough to make this episode all worth it. Next week we’re getting sick Discord. It’s much harder to predict an episode when Discord’s involved. I’m in particular waiting for that one, since in case you didn’t see the synopsis yet. It’s kinda like a role reversal of the Genie Sickness arc I had on this very blog where Genie Twilight was sick and she had to get Discord to help. I expect a lot of fun in the upcoming episode ^^

Oh gosh, this episode was so fun to watch!

Some that may have expected to see something like Pinkie’s family in this episode might be disappointed. Plus the fact that just like with Scootaloo’s disability in Flight to the FInish the episode makes it go out of it’s way to reach a neutral position by making sure everything that would make a 100% confirmation that Pinkie is indeed related to the Apple family is smudged. The point is, the end of the episode basically had the Apples adopt Pinkie whether Pinkie was really related or not. So even if Pinkie isn’t really an apple, the Apple family basically accepted her into their family anyway. So I think for those who like the idea of Pinkie being an official part of the Apple family have something to hold on to (Now if only this episode took place before Apple Family Reunion, she would of made the episode at least a little more interesting. Heck her one part in that episode, where she covered Applejack in luster dust was one of the few entertaining moments)

The interaction between the characters were really funny. Big Mac’s angry “AY-YUP” was a top one for me. The song is still as awesome as it was in the Season 4 Comic-Con previews (It’s interesting that my favorite songs so far in this season both have Applejack play a major part, Applejack doesn’t normally get the good song treatment other then in episodes where all the Main 6 sing (Winter Wrap-Up, Best Night Ever, and Magical Mystery Cure). Apples to the Core is a much better Apple family related song then Raise the Barn was in Apple Family Reunion. I’m so sorry I even keep mentioning that episode. But this episode even if you forget all what Pinkie brought to it, had great Applejack and Apple Family moments then Apple Family Reunion and Spike at your Service combined. And probably the most fun I’ve enjoyed in an Applejack related episode since The Last Round-Up (Which interesting enough also had a fair amount of funny Pinkie moments).

I noticed we had a little bit of dark humor in this episode similar to Fluttershy thinking Angel got crushed by debris in Castle-Mania. A fish and a duck that gets an important item for the Apple Family road trip is immediately taken away by an eagle presumably to be eaten. And to a lesser extent, the dust cat in the Crazy Cat Pony’s house. (Though I suppose the duck is seen later flying at the waterfall, but we certainly don’t see the fish again). I also noticed we got a picture of at least two creatures the Family saw in that cave at the end. Will we see another of those monsters show up again later in the season? If not, oh well we have something the fandom can use their imagination on until they’re used.

This was really just a good hearted episode. And I think perhaps my favorite one outside of the opener so far. This was even done by a new writer. Once again a good showing from new people being brought in. Merriwether Williams so far is the only writer post-Season 1who had a debut episode that didn’t turn out well. That’s about 9 enjoyable episodes. Will we see 10 in a row for Season 4? We’ll have to find out next saturday! (I am a little worried about the next one though called Rainbow Falls, please don’t make most of the cloudsdale team jerks, it will just make the obvious ending of Rainbow joining with the Ponyville team too obvious, not to mention technically a repeat of Wonderbolt Academy and to a lesser extent Griffon the Brush-Off…)

This is probably going to be less a thoughts on Rarity Keeps Manehatten and more of how glad I am that Season 4 has shaped the way it has. I can proudly say that with the first 8 episodes. Season 4 has had the best start of any Season of the show thus far. There is not a single otherwise lackluster episode in the 8 we have so far. You can argue how much Daring Don’t and Power Ponies has had mixed responses at times but it’s nowhere near the consensus.

When Season 1’s own Pilot has looked cheesier and cheesier with each new two-parter, Boast Busters showing a little too much antagonism from characters that are supposed to be who we cheer for, and the predictable and at times dull Look Before You Sleep.

Season 2 had an awesome start in it’s first 5 episodes, but then you had Cutie Pox that was more filler then we ever needed and added to some of the frustration a lot of people have with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and of course Mysterious Mare-Do-Well which was and still is considered one of the worst of the series yet.

Season 3 had an at least decent start with the first three but One Bad Apple seemed to turn away some as it played the Bully episode cliches a little straight, and Apple Family Reunion having barely of anything worth the entertainment value (Other then maybe joking about Raise this Barn being “Racist Barn”).

But Season 4 have managed to remain consistent and memorable through episodes. My optimism for the season couldn’t be much higher. We may be in the midst of the best Season yet. Even if there isn’t any huge hits yet like the Opener was yet, it’s avoided having an episode that ultimately just didn’t have it. You could almost say there was an Episode 8 curse in the show considering the aforementioned Look Before You Sleep, Mare-Do-Well, and Apple Family Reunion. But Rarity takes Manehatten broke that for sure.

The best part is there’s still plenty to look forward to! Rarity takes Manehatten may have also been the first episode with a key to the box. Many speculate that the Rainbow thread that Rarity got in the episode is one of the keys. If that’s the case, then my fears are alleviated that they could just rush the keys for the last episodes of the Season. That’s one to go, and 5 to spread around 18 episodes ^^ And of course there’s the Weird Al episode, and quite possibly the Equestria Games as well, and don’t forget more Discord as well (Including a song!). Oh gosh, there’s just so much going for this season. That it’d have to purposely fall really far to get anywhere near not being able to compete with Season 2 for the best Season yet. It gives me great relief in seeing the season succeed in the way it has so far.

I apologize that I’m talking more about the Season in General then the episode. It’s just that it’s easier to recap what I thought of the episode when I’ve at least seen the episode twice. And I haven’t been able to catch a 2nd watch of the episode (Blame the bad winter weather in Michigan blocking internet signal). As the first watch isn’t enough to really nail down what I think a lot of the time.

I think that’s it for today. I hope if you’re reading this you also enjoyed the Genie Twi update. The dress made for it was made completely from scratch, no references used so I hope that came out good enough. If there’s a formal or royal event that needs clothing in the future I’ll likely have Twi wear it again since that’s one of the purposes that Rarity made it for her for.

Anyway, seeya next time for Pinkie family shenanigans ^^