Well, here we are. The third and final Equestria Girls special. Many folks also considered this one their most anticipated of the three due to the interesting synopsis. That synopsis including some rather intriguing character interactions. Seeing the characters in ways we haven't for quite some time. Or even in ways we haven't seen them at all period!
This is Cobalt Comet bringing you the Equestria Girls special followup finale and my first official followup at that. Come join me after the break!
*As a note for those with slower computers or slower internet connections, this blog post contains a lot of images and even some GIF images. It may take some time to properly load. Thank you for your understanding.*
I always find it fun to try and spot both background and well-established secondary characters in the scenes. Here we have Diamond Tiara and Filthy Rich off to the left. I have a feeling Diamond Tiara is the type who spends both a lot of time and a lot of money at the mall. Much to the dismay of her father.
Also in this scene we have Curly Winds, Scribble Dee, Velvet Sky, Aqua Blossom, Blueberry Pie, Starlight, I think Maud Pie, and of course Cranky Doodle on the escalator. Unfortunately I couldn't place the guy up on the second level with the black hair, but he certainly seems familiar.
Here we have the antagonist of this special; our old friend Juniper Montage. Personally I think she's rockin' that theater concession stand outfit. I especially like the hat.
And if you know me, you know I just have to point out Octavia Melody back there. I'm not even certain what she's looking at. At initial glance I thought it was a fancy horseshoe, but it looks more like either a necklace or a REALLY big earring. The way it's kept in a big glass dome like that, you'd think it were the one earring/necklace to rule them all.
Also starring in this scene we have the other half of the double trouble team; Silver Spoon, and a random backgrounder; Bright Idea.
With how all these floating frames are suddenly appearing out of nowhere, you'd think Juniper were about to sprout Alicorn wings.
I'm sorry. Not really.
But I am glad to see the continuity from the first special and how they won the music video competition carry over into this special. You can clearly see it further compound Juniper's already bad distaste for the main cast. It makes her anger towards them only that much worse.
I just wanted to take a moment to point out what a cool and fun movie poster that is. I have a feeling there will be Bronies with that on their bedroom walls before too long, if not already.
How most people feel about their boss.
I just wanted to point out this guy has three pairs of sunglasses on. I know he works at a sunglasses kiosk, but goodness. Well, on the plus side, if Celestia ever looses her mind and decides to take over the human world and bring eternal day, this guy is covered.
My big question is where exactly did this magic come from? It seems to me like the other types of magical mayhem's from the previous Equestria Girls films had some sort of origin or story that at least somewhat explained where or why the magic appeared. In this instance it appears to have simply wafted in from seemingly nowhere. I suppose with magic running as rampant as it has been in the Equestria Girls world, this isn't terribly surprising. It makes me curious as to what other sort of stray magic we might see in the future.
Oh hey, it's everyone's favorite bacon mane! Top tier bacon horse for sure.
In this scene Sunset basically notes how magic has been going haywire in their world and she's curious to understand why and how it works. So it seems there doesn't necessarily have to be a source for the magic. It's simply floating around their world at this point. Judging by how it seems to effect people time and again in this world, that's a tad scary.
Also, I just wanted to post this face. Who doesn't love silly unique facial expressions?
"No, Pinkie. Within the pages of this book lie my deepest and most secret fanfics. The world simply isn't ready."
Heh heh... "Sunsheen". Looks like bacon mane has yet another pet name. When I first heard it, I instantly thought "sunscreen".
Pinkie, what have we said about personal space? Ah, forget it.
Really though, this face. Enough said.
"Alright, Pinkie, alright! You can have the last cheese fry!"
Heh, "Equestext". Not only are people texting while driving these days, but now they're even texting other dimensions!
I wonder if this mirror also gets HBO and Showtime?
Ah, the classic boss-to-slacking-employee rebuttal. This guy knows his stuff.
Basically me when I stroll into work. Just kidding. Though I think we've all had those days, right?
Seriously though, I'm getting a sort of glamorous Marilyn Monroe vibe from this mirror. Which makes perfect sense, given Juniper's aspirations to become a big Hollywood film star.
This scene I found slightly interesting. Juniper seems to be a little nervous, perhaps even scared when she finds out the mirror appears to be more magical and more powerful than she had initially realized. Almost as if she's second-guessing the whole situation for this brief moment.
This must be what the 60's felt like. Far out, man.
Sorry, silly expressions. Just can't help myself.
But there she is! Everyone's favorite pony-turned-human-turned-pony that we've been waiting to see in pony form once again.
She also totally nailed that landing. 10/10
Uh-oh, look who it is. You know what this means.
Just kidding. But seriously, I love how the Polish voice actor says "Starlight Glimmer" in this scene. It's utterly adorable.
Starlight isn't up for your silly shenanigans, Sunset.
Sunset is also quite adorable as a pony. I think part of it is her obliviousness to the pony world and how to act in it, having been away from it for so long. And I must admit, I also love how Sunset's Polish voice actor pronounces "Starlight Glimmer". Maybe that name just works well for the accent.
No caption necessary.
Wait, aren't hooves like some type of magical magnets that things just adhere to? Maybe we should just wrap her hooves in duct tape? Luckily for Sunset, being a unicorn, she has an extra trick up her sleeve... er, hoof.
In this scene Starlight notes how Twilight would have preferred to give Sunset the book herself. But couldn't due to there being an urgent friendship problem that needed to be resolved elsewhere. It makes me wonder if that little tidbit might tie into an episode or two of the show some point later this season, perhaps even the finale. But that's honestly just me theorizing. Though this could also simply be a plot device to easily ensure Starlight can easily follow Sunset back through the mirror without any interference from Twilight.
Also, did anyone else notice how messy and in disarray the library is during these scenes? It's probably a good thing Twilight isn't around and won't be for some time.
Yup, top tier adorable right there. Her faked laugh in this scene is adorable as well.
There are just so many captions I could give this one that I'm not even going to bother. I'll leave it up to your imaginations.
And then... and then there was this face! Again, the caption possibilities here are essentially endless. Plus it's just a darn cute and silly face. Those eyes.
I do find myself enjoying the fun dynamic these two have with eachother. They seem to play off the other pretty well. And we all know the shippers are going to have a field day with these two after this.
And now we get to finally see what Starlight looks like in human form. So far I've noticed a lot of people seem to really like her design and have positive things to say about it. I think I like it as well. I will say it gives a sorta hipster vibe for me. And given her color palette matching that of a certain beverage at a certain coffeehouse, I think it works out well.
Just had to include this fun little scene. Starlight isn't drawing attention to herself at all. Nope, everything is perfectly normal, move along.
Though in all honesty, as bad as Starlight is starting out here, I think pony Twilight still holds the title for overall most awkward introduction into the Equestria Girls universe. At least Starlight has Sunset to help show her the ropes.
And hey, it's our favorite little trio of crusaders and the two best of friends.
I know what these two are currently thinking. They're thinking; "I knew we shouldn't have listened to that commercial telling us to go down to the lobby. That's the last time I take advice from a talking soda cup and candy bar!"
Really, I think most folks would have just asked for or sought out a manager. How can you enjoy the movie without your snacks?
Pinkie Pie, what did we discuss regarding personal sp-oh, nevermind.
And not a single care was given that day.
So much for that slight sense of nervousness and precaution earlier.
What's really interesting is how no one seemed to notice this huge giant burst of light and energy radiating out from this mirror and sucking this group of kids in. I guess there's some really good box office blockbusters playing this weekend. Or perhaps everyone finally just gave up attempting to procure snacks from the concession stand.
As Sunset and Starlight are walking around looking for the rest of the main cast, Sunset opens up to Starlight regarding her fears and anxiety about the rampant magic loose in the human world. It's here that Starlight tries to impart some sage advice and words of wisdom unto Sunset. Basically explaining to her that if you focus too much on the negative, you might miss out on the positive. That's a good wisdom. I'm assuming that's going to be moral of this one.
Plus just look at how happy Starlight is with her ice cream! I suddenly have a craving for ice cream.
Of course you must have at least one occurrence involving Pinkie Pie and her legendary fourth wall-breaking abilities. The others look so surprised. You would think they'd be more used to Pinkie's shenanigans by now. Then again, can anyone truly become accustomed to Pinkie Pie?
"Pinkie, we have had just about enough of your tomfoolery."
Honestly, I just like to use the word "tomfoolery".
Like how Applejack cries on the inside.
Not much for almonds personally. But if they were chocolate-covered raisins, I'd be doing the same as Pinkie Pie right here. Mmm, delicious~
Alright, Juniper? I think you might have a little too strong of an infatuation with using the mirror to vacuum up random food stuffs off the ground. Just a thought. Unless you're aware the main characters trapped inside might be hungry and you're simply giving them something to eat. In which case, that's very thoughtful of you.
Sunset: "That's Juniper Montage!"
Starlight: *gasp!* "Oh no!"
"Did you see what she was wearing? Ugh, theater-themed styles were SO last season!"
That joke would have worked out so much better had that been Rarity instead of Starlight.
"I will simply go and confront her. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? It's not like I'll get captured and it'll be all up to you, a stranger in a strange land all by your lonesome, to come save the day. No, that would be a much too overplayed trope."
"Aw heck naw!"
I just love how Pinkie comes to the sudden realization that Sunset brought Starlight back through the portal with her; "Ooooh~!". Their expressions pretty much say it all. Busted, Sunset.
It's at about this time the girls realize their pendants are glowing and their problems are about to go from bad to worse. It seems with all of them now trapped inside the mirror, their magic has unlocked it's full potential.
And this seems to be the result of the mirror reaching that full potential. If I'm honest, it doesn't seem to give Juniper a whole lot in the way of powers. It essentially makes her much taller and the perfect image of what she had hoped to achieve. But it doesn't seem to give her anything in the way of superpowers, etc. The magical power still seems to be contained within the mirror itself.
I must say, her new wardrobe did instantly remind me of another Equestria Girls outfit...
A lot of it is probably the hair to be honest. But both outfits have a sorta very similar very pointy aesthetic. And putting the two characters next to eachother, you realize how many similarities they share.
OR they will simply run away and cower in fear of the giant ten foot tall Amazonian woman lingering towards them. That is a possibility as well.
Don't mind me, just pointing out everyone's favorite DJ in the background there. I'm going to chalk it up to yesterday being Vinyl and Octavia Day. Yeah, that's a sufficient excuse.
Looks like it's all up to you, Glim Glam. No pressure though.
Yes, let's bust out our smartphones and stand there to record it instead of running away from the danger. This just struck me as a sorta common occurrence in today's world.
Starlight, this is no time to shop for a new outfit.
Here you really get an idea for how tall Juniper is after the transformation. Strong too! I suppose that mirror did give her something besides super height; super strength.
And there's the catalyst that basically tells our heroine she's running out of time and needs to quickly solve the problem, else be defeated.
"Help us, Obi Wan Starlight. You're our only hope."
What's up with your knee there, Starlight? After all this is through, considering you survive, you might want to get that checked out.
Dang, she just picked up those displays, one in each hand, and tossed them at Starlight like they were nothing. This is not a woman you want to get into an arm wrestling match with.
Nice save, Rarity.
Starlight used Friendship.
It's super effective!
Just in the nick of time too.
It was nice to see them utilize the special abilities the human main cast possess to help them survive while trapped in the mirror realm. Twilight's high-powered magic, Rarity's ability to conjure up shapes, Applejack's super strength. Without those abilities, they likely wouldn't have made it back out.
Because I have to meet my humorous expressions quota for this followup.
Seriously though, Applejack holds this exact same face for a good several moments. We won't even note the face Dash is making towards Rarity. Oh wait, whoops.
Aw, I do love a nice sweet heartfelt moment.And I'm sure the shippers are loving it as well.
Juniper, you got some splainin' to do!
Then in an effort to show they can indeed truly relate to Juniper's little rampage, several of our ex-villains turned reformed good guys give her a quick rundown of their past escapades. Starlight is up to bat first.
Then Twilight.
And finally Sunset.
Yeah, I'd say that seems to be the proper response here.
Leave it to Pinkie to point out exactly what we've all been thinking.
It's a very good thing the school and town didn't decide to remove the base after the statue was destroyed.
In these scenes Starlight voices her dismay in having to return back to Equestria so soon without getting to know everyone better. When Sunset gets an Equestext from Twilight hinting at the possibility of Starlight staying in the human world longer, my initial first thought was they may either have her visit for a very extended period of time, or perhaps this was how they were going to move Starlight onto different pastures entirely. I know some folks who would have been overjoyed with the second option. Though I gotta say, for me personally, I'd miss Starlight in Equestria.
But it seems to have been a false alarm. She's only staying in the human world for a few more days to catch the movie premiere.
I figured the moral of this special was to think positively. As I mentioned earlier in this followup, it's good to try and focus on the positive and not on the negative.
End on the the final sweet group scene and fade to credits.
All-in-all I really enjoyed this special. It had some sweet moments, some great character interactions, the usual fun little reference here and there. And we finally got to see Sunset as a pony again. I know a lot of folks who have been hoping and waiting a long time to see that. In a similar vein, we also got to see Starlight as a human. Her design and how she interacts in that world. Also getting to see these two meet and interact. Probably the aspect that interested me the most. So I'm very pleased with all the great things this special brought.
That being said, there are a couple minor personal criticisms I have. Keep in mind these are just my own personal opinions and in no way are to be considered right or wrong. Simply personal preferences.
A part of me would have liked to see Starlight and Sunset team up together in order to defeat Juniper. As opposed to Sunset getting trapped inside the mirror and Starlight being the sole character to save the day. The extended synopsis had it sound like the two would be teaming up to save the rest of the cast. Even still, I enjoyed it the way it was done regardless.
My other personal criticism is how anticlimactic I felt the resolution was. At the last moment Starlight seems to fairly easily be able to convince the enraged Juniper to stop trying to seek that fame she so desperately strives for, and instead simply accept, well, the magic of friendship. It works of course, but it seemed fairly sudden to me. But then again, it's good to keep in mind this is only a twenty minute special. And it's a show that revolves around the dynamics of friendship. There's only so much you can squeeze into such a short duration of time and only so much you can do while still keeping that friendship theme the main focal point. So though I did feel it was a little sudden, I'm not surprised by that and I'm perfectly content with it.
So yeah, overall another entertaining Equestria Girls. I look forward to any future ones they produce!
This has been your friendly neighborhood blog pony and followup guide, Cobalt Comet, signing off. Until next time!
A lot of it is probably the hair to be honest. But both outfits have a sorta very similar very pointy aesthetic. And putting the two characters next to eachother, you realize how many similarities they share.
OR they will simply run away and cower in fear of the giant ten foot tall Amazonian woman lingering towards them. That is a possibility as well.
Don't mind me, just pointing out everyone's favorite DJ in the background there. I'm going to chalk it up to yesterday being Vinyl and Octavia Day. Yeah, that's a sufficient excuse.
Looks like it's all up to you, Glim Glam. No pressure though.
Yes, let's bust out our smartphones and stand there to record it instead of running away from the danger. This just struck me as a sorta common occurrence in today's world.
Here you really get an idea for how tall Juniper is after the transformation. Strong too! I suppose that mirror did give her something besides super height; super strength.
And there's the catalyst that basically tells our heroine she's running out of time and needs to quickly solve the problem, else be defeated.
"Help us, Obi Wan Starlight. You're our only hope."
What's up with your knee there, Starlight? After all this is through, considering you survive, you might want to get that checked out.
Dang, she just picked up those displays, one in each hand, and tossed them at Starlight like they were nothing. This is not a woman you want to get into an arm wrestling match with.
Nice save, Rarity.
Starlight used Friendship.
It's super effective!
Just in the nick of time too.
It was nice to see them utilize the special abilities the human main cast possess to help them survive while trapped in the mirror realm. Twilight's high-powered magic, Rarity's ability to conjure up shapes, Applejack's super strength. Without those abilities, they likely wouldn't have made it back out.
Because I have to meet my humorous expressions quota for this followup.
Seriously though, Applejack holds this exact same face for a good several moments. We won't even note the face Dash is making towards Rarity. Oh wait, whoops.
Aw, I do love a nice sweet heartfelt moment.
Juniper, you got some splainin' to do!
Then in an effort to show they can indeed truly relate to Juniper's little rampage, several of our ex-villains turned reformed good guys give her a quick rundown of their past escapades. Starlight is up to bat first.
Then Twilight.
And finally Sunset.
Yeah, I'd say that seems to be the proper response here.
Leave it to Pinkie to point out exactly what we've all been thinking.
It's a very good thing the school and town didn't decide to remove the base after the statue was destroyed.
In these scenes Starlight voices her dismay in having to return back to Equestria so soon without getting to know everyone better. When Sunset gets an Equestext from Twilight hinting at the possibility of Starlight staying in the human world longer, my initial first thought was they may either have her visit for a very extended period of time, or perhaps this was how they were going to move Starlight onto different pastures entirely. I know some folks who would have been overjoyed with the second option. Though I gotta say, for me personally, I'd miss Starlight in Equestria.
But it seems to have been a false alarm. She's only staying in the human world for a few more days to catch the movie premiere.
I figured the moral of this special was to think positively. As I mentioned earlier in this followup, it's good to try and focus on the positive and not on the negative.
End on the the final sweet group scene and fade to credits.
All-in-all I really enjoyed this special. It had some sweet moments, some great character interactions, the usual fun little reference here and there. And we finally got to see Sunset as a pony again. I know a lot of folks who have been hoping and waiting a long time to see that. In a similar vein, we also got to see Starlight as a human. Her design and how she interacts in that world. Also getting to see these two meet and interact. Probably the aspect that interested me the most. So I'm very pleased with all the great things this special brought.
That being said, there are a couple minor personal criticisms I have. Keep in mind these are just my own personal opinions and in no way are to be considered right or wrong. Simply personal preferences.
A part of me would have liked to see Starlight and Sunset team up together in order to defeat Juniper. As opposed to Sunset getting trapped inside the mirror and Starlight being the sole character to save the day. The extended synopsis had it sound like the two would be teaming up to save the rest of the cast. Even still, I enjoyed it the way it was done regardless.
My other personal criticism is how anticlimactic I felt the resolution was. At the last moment Starlight seems to fairly easily be able to convince the enraged Juniper to stop trying to seek that fame she so desperately strives for, and instead simply accept, well, the magic of friendship. It works of course, but it seemed fairly sudden to me. But then again, it's good to keep in mind this is only a twenty minute special. And it's a show that revolves around the dynamics of friendship. There's only so much you can squeeze into such a short duration of time and only so much you can do while still keeping that friendship theme the main focal point. So though I did feel it was a little sudden, I'm not surprised by that and I'm perfectly content with it.
So yeah, overall another entertaining Equestria Girls. I look forward to any future ones they produce!
This has been your friendly neighborhood blog pony and followup guide, Cobalt Comet, signing off. Until next time!
