Before I get to talking about last Saturday’s episode. It’s important to remember something very important about this episode. This was Amy Keating Roger’s last episode for Friendship is Magic before she goes on to work for Disney. For the sake of shortening I will either refer to her as Amy or AKR for the rest of this.

But yes, AKR is one of the original writers for the show that was working since the very beginning with the humble beginnings that was Season 1. Season 1 was even the Season she got the most workload. In every season she worked on, she got at least 3 or 4 episodes. But in Season 1, she had a full on 6. That’s nearly ¼ of the entire season. So if you’re a big fan of Season 1, you have to be a big fan of Amy’s work for the show. Her first episode work was collaboration with Lauren Faust herself on The Ticket Master. The very first slice of life episode, while it’s decidedly average it’s her next episode that would really raise the bar for this show in Applebuck Season. Which to me is the first truly great episode of the show as it hits everything it can character-wise, humor-wise, and lots of other things too. Even if it’s kind of a shame it’s the only AJ episode that truly develops her character better until Season 4 arrived. Then on to Bridle Gossip, though this episode is actually gotten mixed responses in recent times as there is concern with how easy it is suddenly for the ponies to distrust someone just because they look different. While the episode will always be memorable for what the Poison Joke does to the Mane 6, most of all Flutterguy, those who like to judge an episode based on how the Moral played out or character-wise may not like it quite as much. I’m personally one of those who remain liking it because the effects of the Poison Joke were too funny and was one of the few CMC episodes in Season 1 where the CMC involved aren’t entirely just trying to get their Cutie Marks (Even if there is the excuse that the whole CMC thing wasn’t really introduced yet at that time. You can argue this is the only CMC member episode before the actual CMC episodes started.)

The 2nd half of Season 1 for AKR would start with Fall Weather Friends which started the friendly rivalry between Applejack and Rainbow. I consider it another one of Season 1’s pretty average episodes. But I won’t lie and say it didn’t have anything memorable things about it. But it’s her next two episodes in Season 1 that definitely showed what she can do. A Dog and Pony Show is often the episode everybody says that if Suited for Success wasn’t enough to start warming up to Rarity, this one was. As Rarity showed a very funny comedic aspect, and it was also a semi-Spike episode. With Spike and Rarity’s interactions it may have started a bit of a following for the Sparity ship (Or for some even the AppleSpike given one scene where he almost kissed AJ). The whining scene remains one of the most memorable Rarity moments in the series. And lastly, AKR even got the Season 1 Finale. Compared to Finales of the future it’s definitely low-key but that didn’t mean it didn’t carry it’s own surprises. I was there when Best Night Ever was new, Flutterage was just as widespread as some of the most surprising moments in future finales so in some ways it still created what Finales for this show are supposed to do. And Best Night Ever overall is very memorable for perhaps the best song in all of Season 1 and how it managed to compile the six different characters and pace it quite well for an episode only 22 minutes setting the stage for any other episodes that try this same exact set-up. It’s not easy trying to fit six different characters having their own moment at a place they set high expectations for only to be disappointed in the end and inexperienced writers could easily be made to rush things and/or mess up that there’s not much of a flow in the episode. But I think AKR nailed it and left Season 1 with a satisfying conclusion so that Bronies at the time could be hyped for the future of where this show was going.

So on to Season 2 where things before AKR’s next episode was going pretty great. You had the introduction of Discord, Twilight going insane, Luna finally making a proper debut, and a very sweet episode between Sweetie Belle and Rarity. Next was Cutie Pox however, and it was kinda the first rather average episode of Season 2 so it felt like a disappointment after a really good string of episodes. That said it had plenty of humor and while the episode is kinda muddled by the fact the CMC don’t really learn that much it certainly wasn’t a terrible episode by any means. Next however is an interesting one, it’s an episode that probably sparked the firstever widespread Fandom drama. That’s right, Last Round-Up the episode that has been heavily overshadowed by a pony who was once just a one-time Animation error in the pilot episode of Season 1, Derpy Hooves. As we all know the original airing of the episode actually had Derpy be named Derpy on-screen by Rainbow Dash which was considered a big moment for the fandom, not only that but Derpy even spoke albeit in a voice that was just as derped in production as the very pony’s eyes (Tabitha thought Derpy was male, pretty big mistake. For some though that made it fit even more). But then apparently there was controversy and Hasbro was written letters about it concerned that Derpy was derogatory towards those with mental disabilities. Which then led to re-airings being edited to not only Derpy receiving a new softer voice, but also removing the mention of the name Derpy. This angered a lot of people in the fanbase and unfortunately became a sign of things to come for future fandom drama. But one of the other sad parts of this was that it overshadowed a pretty good AJ episode with plenty of fun about it with clever comedy moments and a relatable message as AJ dealed with the pressure of not letting the whole town of Ponyville down at the Rodeo (The Mayor not helping by hammering it into AJ’s head that they need the money prize). But alas the scene that’s barely a minute long is what’s become a permanent scar for this episode. Amy even had to address the issue with an article over on Equestria Daily about it and had to say that she didn’t do it in any way to be derogatory towards people with mental illness as she has a child with one. She had Derpy named Derpy and be involved as a love letter to the fandom (The episode actually began with Derpy being named Ditzy, a name that was considered a possible use should Derpy not get past the censors. While thankfully this didn’t result in Derpy never appearing again it has led people to be on edge regarding Derpy and the issues that started in this episode wouldn’t resolve until this very season where at the very least in Slice of Life we have Derpy appear again and even speaking again in all her glory. Though some aren’t happy that her official name is Muffins, but I think everyone would rather have Derpy named Muffins then never appearing again. But in conclusion what started out as AKR simply wanting to show love for us as a fandom as far back as Season 2 unfortunately ended up backfiring, which is really unfortunate. But one thing I can say for sure, the whole thing I’m sure endeared Amy to the fans for at least trying to throw us a fun shout-out so early in the show’s lifetime.

After the controversy of Last Round-Up, AKR had two episodes left of Season 2. Her next one was A Friend in Deed which is famous for one reason and one reason alone: The Smile Song. Though if you ask me, the Smile Song was the only thing really all that noteworthy about the episode. The rest of the episode was kinda eh with Pinkie bothering this ol’ Donkey that just doesn’t want to be friends with Pinkie. It had a heartwarming moment with Cranky and Matilda which would get some closure later in Slice of Life in Season 5 where they get married. And having a return of the ol’ Droopy cartoons with Pinkie popping up in places that Cranky least expects was fun. But a Highlight reel of this episode would mainly just be the entire Smile song as it really encompasses Pinkie as a character. And if you the episode had just been the Smile song and nothing else (Basically a short) it’d be the best Pinkie related episode until Pinkie Pride showed up to knock every Pinkie episode out of the park (And that was written by Amy too so we’ll get to that shortly!). AKR’s final episode for Season 2 was yet another Pinkie episode with MMMystery on the Friendship Express. I think I remember some people had issue with some of the Main 6 eating parts of the cake but I think otherwise it was a pretty fun mystery episode. I remember laughing out loud at Pinkie’s imagination spots for the suspects like the old Donkey being a Ninja or Gustave being an oldtimey villain from the early days of film. Anyway after that AKR was done with FiM for a little while as she never had any episodes done for Season 3 so we can move on straight to Season 4 and what I think may be her best episode in the series.

If you remember my thoughts on Pinkie Pride. It’s one of those episodes I couldn’t help gushing over. I was already hyped for this episode as it involved Weird Al, not to mention the news that it would be a musical where Pinkie and Weird Al’s pony would be singing together on at least a few of the songs. And boy it did not disappoint whatsoever. Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich were awesome and I think character-wise there is no Pinkie episode (before or since) that can match it’s sure mastery of Pinkie’s character. This episode got my ideal Pinkie Pie pretty much to a T. There’s not a lot I can say that I haven’t already said and gushed over when I made my thoughts on that episode last season. It’s still one of my all-time favorites and forever put AKR as a legend upon the writers of our show. Though it is a bit of a shame to admit what came next for AKR after this because following perhaps the best Pinkie episode ever, she also wrote perhaps an episode that has one of the worst portrayals of Pinkie. Though Pinkie aside, Filli Vanilli was still a really good Fluttershy episode that covered stage fright and anxiety and even brought back Flutterguy, perhaps the most loved part of Bridle Gossip. Now I must say even though I did not like Pinkie’s portrayal much at all in the episode, I do not condone what some rather angry people in the fandom did in response. From what I heard, AKR got DEATH THREATS over on Twitter for what she wrote Pinkie as. I understand getting angry a character being portrayed in a way you don’t like, but don’t threaten the writer over it. If I had to say one moment where our fandom really looked bad one moment. That would certainly be on the top of my list of dumbest things ever. I don’t think I even remember Larson getting such kind of threats for MMC when the Alicorn Drama was at it’s peak so it’s just certainly too strange to have that in particular piss off people so much to send those kind of messages. At the very least, AKR had one more episode in Season 4 that would end on a relatively good note with Testing Testing 1 2 3. Which was a really fun Twilight and Rainbow episode and plenty of humorous moments like Pinkie rapping like they did in the early 90s. And taught how the traditional methods of teaching aren’t the best for everybody as some may have their own unique ways that they learn best. While Filli Vanilli still had it’s criticism and controversy, Season 4 for AKR was probably where she overall consistently did a very good job with her episodes. Now it’s time to move on to our current season.

Lost Treasure of Griffonstone as I said before is the best overall out of the three Map episodes we got after we got a long awaited return of Gilda and her making amends with Rainbow & Pinkie at last. And showed Amy still had good control of Pinkie after the conflicting messages of both having one of Pinkie’s best and Worst portrayals one after another. Next was Canterlot Boutique the first Rarity related AKR episode since A Dog and Pony Show. While I wouldn’t say it was quite as entertaining as that one, it still falls under some of Rarity’s many relatable episodes involving the tough decision to either try to milk the success of your most popular product or work hard at making a variety even if you know it may not be nearly as successful. After that came perhaps the unexpected huge episode that dropped like a bomb on the fifth anniversary of the show’s beginning with the CMC getting their Cutie Marks for some it became an instant Magnum Opus for AKR and considering at first AKR thought that’d be her last episode that may be what she was going for. While I personally think Pinkie Pride still was overall her best episode I won’t like that Crusaders of the Lost Mark may be a close 2nd. They wanted to make sure they got a veteran writer that was writing for Season 1 to finally give the CMC their Cutie Marks and it ended up coming down to AKR to write it and she did a magnificent job.

But now we’re on to her real final episode of the show. And wouldn’t you know it, just like AKR’s first great episode. It’s Applejack related. I think for the most part AKR’s known more for writing episodes for the two earth ponies in the group. 9 of her 17 episodes involve AJ or Pinkie in a major role. This time Ponyville’s ponies are excited to be hosting a show for Countess Coloratura (Now if I spelled it wrong I apologize, I will call her Rara for the rest of this to make it easier on me though) who just happens to be an old friend of AJ she met at a Summer camp who had an absolutely beautiful singing voice. At first AJ doesn’t think they’re the same pony (Which is strange though, have we seen two ponies with the same name before? And I mean aside from OCs or Toys I mean purely ponies that were named officially on the show. The only example I can think of is Twilight Sparkle and her mom Twilight Velvet but even then that’s not exactly official except in the comics and blindbags so I can’t say for sure). But soon comes to the realization when the other ponies are surprised AJ knew Rara’s cutie mark. When Rara arrives, Applejack definitely notices a huge difference from the filly she knew in Summer Camp. Rara has become basically Lady Gaga ponified with strange fashion design and catchy technically enhanced music with backup dancers even using an autotone spell during her songs. And behind it all is Rara’s manager Sven Gallop who even from our first scene with him we get a “We’re not supposed to like this guy at all” vibe. And boy did that work, he’s as much of a dirty manager as he is flamboyantly voiced. When he “congrats” Rara on a  good performance, that’s in quotations because he prides himself on how he enhanced things. The style and technicals of the performance he takes all the credit for as if he was the one performing out there. Rara has a hard time picking it up because it is through Sven Gallop who made her this famous in the first place. It sounds like it’s implied that despite her voice she wasn’t able to find much success until she found Sven Gallop in Manehatten and it’s thanks to him that she’s so known that nearly the entire town of Ponyville are so happy she’s even coming to their little town for a performance. So while Sven Gallop is an obvious jerk, we can see why Rara still stood behind him when AJ accused him (Even if she was right) and nearly ended her longtime friendship with Applejack over. But in time Applejack has had enough of Sven Gallop treating stuff that Rara holds dear like entertaining children and charity performances. Not to mention Sven mistreats AJ’s own friend/possible cousin Pinkie Pie really badly too giving her impossible and overworking jobs to perform. AJ finally comes up with a plan to show Rara what her manager really is interested in so thanks to the help of Twilight with a recording spell catches Sven Gallop right in the act of treating Pinkie Pie badly and shows once and for all that he’s doing things that are the opposite of what Rara wants to do. They argue and Sven outright leaves out on Rara thinking now that he’s out of the picture that Rara’s fame will crumble as he thinks it was only because of him that Rara got this famous.

And understandably those words concern Rara a lot and she’s concerned that Sven may have been right. But thanks to some last reassurances from Applejack she goes out there for her charity performance as the real her rather then the image as The Countess that Sven made her perform as. And she once again shows that beautiful voice that AJ remembers from her fillyhood with no dub the best song in the episode (There’s going to be people split on the initial song Spectacle, as things like dustup is a new genre that either gets ughs or ays. I’ve seen people both despise the song but I’ve also seen others love it as should be expected with this type of thing). Lena Hall, the voice of Rara is an accomplished singer herself and she does a really good job in this episode. Rara even invites the CMC to sing a reprise of the song she sang in AJ’s flashback. Which considering they pulled down the flag prior to the song, may as well be Equestria’s national anthem (If that isn’t official, it should be. It fits well). It’s a heartwarming end to another great episode.

What’s extra special about this episode is part of it’s like a tribute to AKR written by Amy herself. With references to some of her past episodes like the Canterlot Garden flowers from the garden Fluttershy goes to in Best Night Ever, cherries from Cherry Jubilee’s farm from Last Round-Up, Eclairs made by Gustave the Griffon Chef from MMMystery on the Friendship Express, and lastly the CMC with their Cutie Marks as well as some of the new ponies introduced in Crusaders of the Lost Mark appearing again. It’s very much a great final episode for a veteran writer of this show. Not every AKR episode hit home runs but even my favorite writers haven’t had their best moments sometimes, (Swarm of the Century and Equestria Girls 1 are the weakest performances by M.A. Larson and Meghan McCarthy respectively IMO) but no doubt AKR will always be remembered by fans of this show. Though it’s certainly not like she retired, she’s moving on to Disney where she could get work perhaps on a big movie some day. And if that happens, fans of FiM can always say we saw this coming with some of her work she did for this show. It won’t be the same without her, but she’s only one of many great writers for this show and I’m certain we’ll get some more great ones in the future.

Until then however, thank you Amy Keating Rogers for all your hard work bringing us fantastic episodes of this show and your part in 4 of the 5 seasons won’t be forgotten. I wish you the best of luck in the happiest place on earth.

Well, we’re only a few days left from the big finale for Season 5. It’s going to be interesting where it leads but once it’s done we can start looking back at Season 5 as a whole and prepare for what could be another long hiatus on our hands. It should be a wild ride coming to an end this Saturday. And also, Happy Thanksgiving!