Things were just starting to pick up for the brony fandom back when this episode first aired. Sure, the initial few episodes were being talked about and posted everywhere, but it really started to explode once we got a few more weeks under our belt. "WHY ARE WE WATCHING THIS?" men everywhere were saying.
I'll tell you why!
Go get an episode rewatch below the break based on one of the most interesting episodes for our fanon building madness to feed off of.
I bet a lot of you kids out there have no idea who Pepe Le Pew is, or what most of the weird references us 20somethings chuckle at are. This one was one of the reasons a lot of us watched the show though. The nostalgia of Pinkie Pie pulling off some of that olds-chool cartoon humor was wonderful.
It also makes me realize how many years 5 really is. Kids that were watching pony at 13 are now entering adulthood! That's terrifying. I'm getting so old.
Few and far between were the moments that made Celestia look less godlike, and more pony back in the day. I think there may have been some Hasbro influence in keeping her high and mighty. Seeing her clobbered with scrolls was refreshing.
These days, the princesses seem to have more flaws than even the mane 6! I guess 1000+ years takes a toll on your sanity.
Nostalgia was one thing, incredibly, cute ponies was another. Friendship is Magic was absolutely exploding in screenshots like this, and in an internet where cute animal imagery and videos are the key to viral success, pony was primed to take it over with a vengeance!
And take over it did.
We all expected the griffon when we saw the episode title, but had no idea how they would actually portray one in Friendship is Magic. The final design was actually really well received... if only she wasn't such a douchebag.
They literally paired up a rainbow maned tomboy pony with a biker style griffoness. As if the "Rainbow Dash is as lesbian" trope wasn't already exploding enough as is. This was like tossing a barrel of gasoline on a bonfire made of wood dipped in hair spray.
This was also one of the first weird pony powered technology pieces we got to view. I remember a fanfic about Applejack building a glider way back in the day and joining some high-end pegasus club. We've seen a lot of Equestrian tech expanded upon these last few years in the show, but stuff like this was what helped build lots of neat fanon ideas off of.
That moment when everyone collectively agreed that Gilda was literally pure, malevolence filled evil.
Fluttershy's "I'm a year older than you" response to Pinkie here sparked a pretty major debate on what exactly the rough age of the mane 6 ponies actually was. To this day, we still have no idea. I'm guessing mid-20's considering they are all graduated from whatever schools ponies attend, but we may never find out an exact.
And thus begins a many season long friendship between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. I mentioned in an earlier rewatch that none of these ponies really had a whole lot in common other than the elements thing. Rainbow's reluctance to hang with Ponk at the beginning was sort of a testament to that. It's interesting to see how close they have become over the seasons.
And more shipping. So much shipping.
NOW GO WATCH THE EPISODE!
What was your initial reaction? How does it make you feel looking back?
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Episode 5... by Jonny_Manz
