Hello fellow spin off fans (and by “fans” I mean the few hundreds of pony fans who can stomach these spin off specials). Time to go down memory lane with a look at probably one of my favorite ship post topic turned canon mini movie Rollercoaster of Friendship. My favorite moral being that if you’re jealous of your S.O crushing on someone, suspect that they’re evil and using magic to brainwash your S.O. Or it could be about trusting your friends and not getting caught up in your ego to realize something might be wrong and are possibly using you. Whichever one works for your situation. Now, on to the Follow-up!
I don’t know if we have many specials or even pony episodes that start with our main villain Vignette Valencia (and yes I had to look up how to spell her name). Her current dilemma is constantly being inconsistent with wanting to control everything for a parade for an amusement park. If you wanted to annoy every person with an issue with stereotypical millennials, you show them this character. Internet famous, hipster attitude, bohemian style, and a motto that sounds like a What’sApp post.
So along with getting her Stress Salad (yes, somehow that name stuck), magic dust turns her phone into into a filter creator for reality. I'm not sure if I want to call this a lame power, but I suppose when it's in the hands of someone who's life is made for Instagram, this could be a dangerous weapon for catfishing.
So we have the rest of the group come in on Rarity and AJ's date and make it super awkward. Pinkie, there's no need for those looks. Of course they're at the point of using one straw between them instead of two.
If I needed a shipping fuel counter for this whole special, I’m pretty sure not even the Elements of Harmony could restore it after turning to dust. This is cute in a way, but I can never silence the squees that would happen whenever moments like this happened.
Sweet Celestia these two are too precious. And it’s amazing how their elements kind of work with and against both of them. Honestly, Applejack was probably bummed about not getting the job, but still wants to see her friend happy and succeed in her lifelong goal. Rarity’s generosity would make her sacrifice her lifelong goal to still be with Applejack for the summer no matter what. I want to say it was Applejack’s stubbornness that would tell Rarity to get a foot in on costume designing. No real jokes here. Just a really precious moment. Pretty sure these precious moments will be the death of me from sugar overdose.
If Trixie can boast about herself for hours, then Vignette can boast about anyone for hours just to turn someone into a Trixie. She wouldn’t be a typical Yes Man in this situation, but more like Jafar from Aladden in a manipulative way of blowing smoke up your flank to get you to do what they want. And poor Rarity is just eating it up. You don’t have to be too pale to see that blushing.
I do have to wonder exactly what type of city or town the Human 6 live in where Applejack still works on a farm with her family. We see later in the miniseries that both Applejack and Fluttershy drive. And given where both of them live in the pony world, makes me wonder how far they are from their school. Geography aside, I really hope this isn’t applesauce Granny Smith serves at the school. She does work in the cafeteria after all.
Appaloosa’s Wild West Gun Show, Nightmare Moon Haunted Castle, Sugarcube Everything. This special is dropping references like clockwork. And I don’t know how they would do a Nightmare Moon since that’s basically their Vice Principal. Seeing a human version of Nightmare Moon would be awesome but I somehow also see Luna putting in a lawsuit for using her image. That, or she has a double life of dressing like Nightmare Moon for festivals, parades, and Halloween attractions.
WRITERS! TO YOUR KEYBOARDS!!!!
How to describe Instagram and Snapchat in one screenshot. Duck face, peace signs and photo bombers. And I may be sounding like an old woman, but…she has a corgi named Yass Queen. Upon first viewing, I won’t deny pausing the video and shoving my face into my pillow. And then…there was this...
Uhhh…this show is still just for LITTLE girls, right? Whose clop fic did they use to even add this in?!?!
Ok so…questionable animation aside, the amount of jealousy arising from Applejack was just overwhelming. But Rarity wasn’t helping much by being just as flirty with someone else either (regardless of the ship that’s been sailing). It could be shown as high praise and appreciation for Vignette’s lifestyle and internet fame, but it’s not like I can blame Rarity for being caught up in the moment.
Yeah you weren’t gonna hide that from me Hasbro. That’s a dab. Rainbow Dash is dabbing in a My Little Pony spin off show. There’s only so much you can go down with this. First it’s a hidden animated dab, then you get deep into the rabbit hole of dated memes until you reach…
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| *internal screaming intensifies* |
*ahem* Now that the screaming in my head has stopped, let’s move on the Vignette having the Rainbooms in the parade. We also miss this bit of background with Vignette about starting a small company in middle school and moving up in the internet world. With how fast that information is given and then thrown away, it’s hard to say if it was really important. At most, it probably did give way to her motto B.Y.B.B. Be Yourself But Better. Not a bad motto to live by, but not being used in the best way for our antagonist. You can be yourself, but if there’s a way of being the best you for your sake, that’s not a bad thing. Her was is basically changing who you are to be someone everyone will like, even if that makes you not like yourself. Pretty mature concept for a kid’s show. I’m also grasping at any deep dialogue I can muster to cover up dialogue like “nae sayers gonna nae”.
So for park fun, the Human 6, minus Rarity, have split off into their most popular ships for some fun. I like seeing Lily Pad, the kid Pinkie babysat for in a later short. But even for a little kid’s ride, some can get into it being scary and others can be bored and not get it at all. That doesn’t sound like something familiar at all.
I am truly left confused why Rarity would even have a siren costume for her parade. Especially one not made very well. Why do we gotta reference the best villains EG gave us in such a lackluster manner? But it’s easy to see why Rarity would be too busy to hang out with Applejack. She still has to make Aria and Sonata. Hopefully the Sonata costume comes with a taco.
Flutters face is so brilliant in this moment. But at least Rainbow Dash is trying to be supportive in a way. At least the old lady with Rose in the next row seems to be doing well. Or maybe she has dementia and isn’t fully aware of where she is. Rose what are you putting your granny through?
Ok for this moment, I have to put on my common sense cap for this. How would Rainbow Dash, a girl who flies around with her magic wings and super speed, afraid of a rollercoaster? I can try to make the argument that compared to those moments, she has no control over where she’s going, but that’s still kind of a questionable stretch. But it’s also complicated to say only because we still barely know how their magic works. They grow wings and ponytails when they play music or do something related to their element. I guess it can make sense she would still freak out over a rollercoaster as long as you don’t think too hard about it.
Of all the members of the apple family they could’ve gone with, they went with Microchips as the “caramel apple girl”. Not to say this was just an accidental application for him since Vignette wanted cool geek chic for this. And with that, you can see why her ideas are on the side of…questionable.
So other than the millennial stereotype personality, I think I see why Vignette rubs me the wrong way. She has a streak of that Sassy Saddles from her first appearance in “Canterlot Boutique”. Has a vison that they want to create using other people to help it along even to the point of changing the people helping them. Not to mention big personalities that want to hog the attention and spotlight from the actual workers, like…Rarity? I think I should be more concerned with how many times they make my favorite character used by other people.
So inside Vignette’s phone so far is her stress salad and a stressed Fluttershy. Not to mention there’s no terrible emojis so…that’s kind of a win. I also have to wonder why it would be this much of an echo in a space like this.
We leave our Flutters in danger to go to another common ship couple trying to outsmart con artists. Now I won’t say they should just use Twilight’s powers to cheat, but there’s never any harm in cheating a cheater. But then we see how both of these characters have a very strange thing in common: they don’t like to lose.
It’s screenshots like these that make Rarity my favorite out of the Mane/Human 6. When they’re happy, they’re happy. But when they’re stressed of freaking out, depending on the character and situation, it’s hilarious. Rarity has some of my favorite freak outs of the series with great facial expressions and Tabitha going all in with her vocals.
Gotta love the dynamic between these two. One is worrying about a missing friend and the other is worrying about her costume designs being seen by thousands of people. Priorities, kids. Most of the time you’re gonna worry about one over the other.
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| “There’s not always a villain with Equestrian magic out to get us.” |
Well…looks like someone hasn’t realized they’re the main characters in a tv miniseries special. My, it got super dark outside. Oh. There’s a giant number 4 casting a shadow over my apartment. Wonder if that’s a new prop for Michael Bay or something.
I would love to know the main reason they tossed in not just a G1 villain for season 9, but a human character that interacted with the ponies. Unless Megan from G1 was one of the first humans to go through a portal into Equestria, but some special magic made it so that she would still keep her human form. But then decided to go back to the human world but stopped aging from when we’ve seen her in the 80’s show….ow my head…
Stained uniform made from stuff in the garbage, random promotion to Fun Inspector, and the fact that Fun Inspector is apparently a freelance thing that even the regular security guards know about. Using the excuse “it’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it” seems like a waste.
I’ll give credit to the Flim Flam Bros. for trying to get rid of them by just giving them a prize. But of course it’s more about the principle of the matter. And that’s saying a lot for the con artists who have no problems taking your money, but even they were done with this mess.
With all due respect, Vignette shouldn’t never tried to out ego Rainbow Dash. And again, this is where her motto is twisted to suit her own needs. Dash already knows she’s the best, but in Vignette’s eyes, it’s not what’s best for herself. Her goal is to change things because it’s what she wants them to be, not to better the person.
I know they should be used to all the crazy magic stuff that happens to them, but I wouldn’t be this calm about being trapped in a phone. What’s to say they all end up here and nobody knows where they are? They either have great trust in their friends or they’re just over the panic stages and just want to wait. I mean I would panic the moment I had to use the restroom while trapped in a phone.
Trying to expose a manipulative villain: Make giant spectacle, yell the truth, fail at convincing anyone since the villain switched the phone. It’s a B+ for effort, but a D for execution. And yeah it does kind of bother me that the other three that aren’t trapped in a phone failed to remember that Applejack is honest to a fault.
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| “You only like her ‘cause she’s always blowing smoke up your chimney, but that’s what she does to everyone! You’re not special!” |
And with that, I think just about every heart was broken while watching this. It’s actually a very real thing to feel sometimes. We don’t know if the people we call friends are just around us for a different purpose like using your talents, your belongings, or just because they have nothing else better to do. And this also goes with being a good friend. You’re supposed to be honest with them, but at the same time never slam them into the ground. It’s hard to see the line between the two, but you should know if something you say might be too hurtful for the other person.
And finally the last three horses make it across the “oh snap she’s evil” finish line. Again, why it took this long to realize that the Element of Honesty might be telling the truth if it’s about something important like their missing friends. But it’s even worse when that crazy chick your friend makes a fuss about tries to join your band, rename it, and propose a song she wrote to perform. That ego is borderline stalker-ish now.
Ok I won’t deny liking Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash’s style. I think they made Pinkie an office lady and Twilight a hip hop rapper. They also made Sunset an eyesore. That's something new.
So if you scroll up at the couple images I put for the white room, there’s some noticeable differences. For one thing, it’s not blinding white like before and that’s because there seems to be corners and walls in this “phone dimension”. I’ll admit to hard face palming at where exactly they are. Also, the fact that nobody has had a single leaf of that stress salad is impressive. But then again, there’s nothing there but lettuce and tomatoes. No bacon bits, no cheese, no cucumbers, not even any dressing. I was stressed just looking at it.
Yeah because this is exactly how my friends and I look while apologizing to each other. Holding hands, no personal space, hard blushing. The shipping fuel is getting so high I can hear the start of “Careless Whisper” by George Michael’s starting in the background. This was a nice scene though. It’s honest and thoughtful and once again, Applejack mostly being right about Vignette, but for the wrong reason. Anyway, didn’t we have friends trapped in a mobile device we need to look into?
Five people. Five young adult aged people who couldn’t figure out they were locked in a random white room at the park. When first viewing, I had to pause the video and just scream in a pillow. And just to add the crazy kicker, Pinkie knew all along that they were just in a room. And what was this brightly painted white room supposed to be about? What was its purpose for the park? There’s nothing in it so it can’t be just storage.
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| “Squish City!” |
I don’t know how many children understood the implications of what can possibly be a terrible blood bath. Thousands of people in a tiny room without being able to move, causing mass panic. And when people panic, accidents happen, people fall and get trampled by stampedes, people are crushed into the walls until the whole building collapses on them. What the f(buy some apples) were they thinking with this plot? This is some Final Destination craziness in a little kid’s cartoon. And no, the squishy faces of these three don’t overlook the amounts of death that can happen.
So this is something new to add to the random magic happening to the mix. Specific power ups happening depending on the ones directly involved. Rarity has always had the diamond force field powers from the geodes, but now it’s a lightning whip? Of course we don’t get an explanation for why it happened like this, but this just sinks in more of this movie being more about Rarity and Applejack then the rest of the cast. Not to say Forgotten Friendship wasn’t the same focusing on Sunset, but it still took all of them to stop Wallflower instead of just Rarity going full Indiana Jones on Vignette’s phone. A cool power none the less.
At these times, I can always hear ACRacebest saying “we’re gonna forgive her, aren’t we.” And yeah, it does get tiring just letting things go like this. Or more so, adding her to a list of friends we have but never talk to ever again. And I do love the hammered in moments we get from Vignette about only having followers and not real friends. Because she seemed so lonely in most of the special. We just have to forgive her because…well it’s not like they have to hang out with her afterwards.
Mature Writer: This was a great song and a nice montage of their better times at the park. The moments of them riding the rides, actually winning games against Flim and Flam, and the gentleness of the song and vocals work really well with the visuals. What's also nice is that compared to Legend of Everfree, there wasn't any repeated animation during the song performance and in the montage. I don't know if it was just a bit more budget or if these were deleted scenes from the special, but it made it more fluent.
Inner Fangirl: Oh my God just buck already!!!
This triumphant moment with Shimmy and Twi is just too perfect. They at least had someone who could win those games. (Even though Twilight has levitating powers and could’ve controlled where the ring lands for the first games they did). Kids, don’t cheat unless there’s a magical way of doing it that nobody would be able to figure out in the name of science.
I think somewhere in Sunset’s eyes in this picture, she knows a budding romance between two best friends was sprouting and is probably just as much of a shipper as the fandom is. For Luna sake you're holding hands in the picture girls. Your friends are going to see the pictures you know.
So that was Rollercoaster of Friendship, a kid friendly clop fic that even the creators are agreeing with RariJack being a canon ship. The visuals for the park and references about it are pretty cool. Wish we would’ve gotten to seen some more of them instead of generic park background. The others characters had their fun moments to watch, but the spotlight was always on RariJack. The antagonist is obnoxious and that’s supposed to be on purpose, but with the soon to be dated slang and lingo, it doesn’t make it as timeless. Not to mention with just trying to find the gif of Vignette I had to dive into some risqué parts of the interwebs. Pretty sure she’s at least in her 20’s so I can’t fault anybody that would find her appealing. That’s all the time for this follow-up. I’m Penny Wrights and I’ll see you next time.
