Equestria Girls: Spring Breakdown Follow-Up

What a better way to celebrate sunshine, ocean fun, high school girls in swimsuits and testing the limits of the voice actors than talking about a summer fun special in October. This special is mostly starring Rainbow Dash’s ego, Human Light throwing away all matters of science, and actual pony continuity leaking into the human world. There was a lot of world building that could've happened here, but didn't. And the moral is pretty much an "I told you so" ego built up for Rainbow Dash. Always believe your friends...even when they're trying to ruin your trip by making bad magic appear in the first place by using your own magic. I'm sure I got the gist of the moral there. Let's set sail (cliche that's totally never been used to relate to boats) and see how Dashie screws up not in a good way, but in a lucky way.

Ok since I am not in the lap of luxury, can someone explain who would actually rent a yacht that looks like it came from a Beetles album? You can see other regular guests on the ship so it's not like Canterlot High owns this. And no amount of cute Twiley will change my mind on that. But totally good luck with the toy sales because that's literally the only reason this paint job exists.

If you need a bigger hint that this cruise is gonna be a disaster, probably best not to imitate one of the biggest boating tragedies in history. Even if this comes with bedroom eyes shipping fuel, this can never be a good sign. But good luck to all the people taking the Titanic 2 since they decided “hey we learned the first time from almost 20 years ago. Second times the charm.”

So I have this interest in the contrast between characters in different dimensions (other hobby includes sleeping) and this is a pretty good contrast with the Applejacks of both worlds. In “Pony Point of View” Applejack was the main one steering their boat and navigating. She seemed to be pretty excited about treasure hunting on the seven seas. Human Jack on the other hand has been greener than Granny Smith for most of this special.

So maybe it’s just because a lot of the villains fought in the human world were all human based (minus the dazzlings’ sea pony form seen for 5 minutes) and couldn’t imagine a better looking sea monster…or better looking people. The art style going on through Rainbow Dash’s head is cute, but wow. I’d expect this from Pinkie Pie with her music video idea from “Dance Magic”.

Oh no Rainbow. Go ahead and talk about your friends and classmates being in mortal danger on a boat. I’m sure that’s good luck somewhere. But I’m sure I would have that look too if I suspected my friend of causing a mutiny just for the extreme thrill of it. But I do like the idea that even Dash notices how overly forgiving they are of villains turned semi-good when you have two of the main magic possessed demon girls front and center. I can’t tell if that was just a jab at how bad it is to be this forgiving or if they’re really fine with letting it go no matter how bad it got. 

So for continuity reasons (Silver Senpai notice me), I’ve counted 6 times where the girls had to battle Equestrian magic. At this point, how Dash finds them to be superheroes now is strange even for her character. This is the walking ego known as Rainbow Dash we’re talking about. I’m surprised she doesn’t brag about being in danger all the time.
But Sweet Celestia would that be annoying if she was this excited for a magical girl fight in every EG movie and special that has happened. Trapped in a breaking mirror relying on a pony citizen to help us? Awesome! Being attacked by killer plants from portals during the Friendship Games? Best day ever! Playing guitar next to an ex she-demon who tried to brainwash everyone into taking over a pony dimension? Pinch me I must be dreaming!

Moments of adorableness like this always needs to be showcased. I wish I had someone who looked at me like that. 

“I can make you disappear on this boat and nobody would know. Not a single soul. Just a little push off the dock and your existence goes out like a light”

Of course the moment is ruined when tackling the chef gets them both banned from the dessert buffet. Knowing my sugar intake, Pinkie is wearing the eyes of a calculating murderer. 

42 grandchildren and that grand-bunny still has a great figure. Trust me Fluttershy, that’s not just impressive. Just trying to go into the math of how many children she has to have them make 42 grandchildren would put me in Twilight freak out mode. 

Oh…Sweet…Celestia. Pony fans everywhere gather ‘round. We now have be given irritated Fluttershy. Only seen in moments like “Dungeons and Discord” and ‘Flutter Brutter”, this rare moment is when the ever so shy and calm Fluttershy goes from just upset to officially peeved (pardon my language). Rainbow Dash has made a powerful enemy.

I think I like everyone’s character a bit more when they all hate Rainbow Dash. These facial expressions are killing me as fast as everyone’s desire to do the same to their “Fight on Sight” friend. For someone who has a lazy streak in the pony world, Dash is a bit too into trying not to relax and have a good time on a boat with her friends. Maybe it’s that urge to fight that makes her join the Wonderbolts Air Force after graduating. 

So out of a strong desperation, Dash gets ideas from normal bad magic bringer Trixie about bringing in bad magic by using their own magic as bait. Look I know she turns out right in the end, but this can’t be anything but a bad idea. Literally using your friends and their pony power as another catalyst to bring trouble? Dash has had some dumb moment in the series, but my head can’t take anymore face palms.

During a shopping montage with Rarity, she stumbles upon a young Gordon Ramsey with the voice of Oliver Twist named Ragamuffin. His shtick is also that he can’t pronounce Rarity’s name in the British/Australian accent he has. But don’t worry too much RariJack shippers. If there’s any clue that this love interest goes absolutely nowhere, ragamuffin means someone in dirty and ragged clothes.

So this was a conversation that’s been long overdue. Dash calls it rainbow lasers, Sunset calls it ponying up, and Pinkie just thinks they turn into ponies. I know Applejack used ponying up in Friendship Games and even questions why it happens when they play music. The moment this term was coined up, the fandom has had their fill of laughs, including myself. Definitely leave your comments about what to really call this mutation. My vote is for Power Up or Super Saiyan Rainbow.

“How do I say this without being mean? You’re ruining it for everyone!”

Sunset, the element of brutal honesty. I know this line is pretty much used by Twilight 2.0 known as Starlight Glimmer in “Rock Solid Friendship”, but I like how it highlights how socially awkward two villains turned good can still be even down to Sunset not even saying sorry for what she said like most people who try to back track and sugarcoat what they want to say. They’re two characters that don’t know how to be subtle without coming off as blunt. Though it makes for a great line when Dash says her words punched her feelings. After everything she put her friends through, this had to be a troll moment.

 

No, we’re not gonna question how you can have two people with orange skin, blond hair, green eyes, and six white freckles…except that it might be only to please the RariJack shippers with a male version of the character. Unless you can come up with a better idea why this never lead to anything at all, I’m sticking with the shipping head canon. 

When there’s too much ship on a ship, ship-ception can be a dangerous thing. In the Legend of Everfree, we at least hear about moments where other than being a two dimensional villain before, Sunset and Flash talked and can even tell when something is wrong with her. And with other moments of the two getting closer and closer over time, it looks like this might go canon. Of course with Shimmy being bisexual, the ships will be endless. 

CLOP FIC WRITERS!!! TO YOUR KEYBOARDS!!!

(By the way the reason I don’t really talk about the song is because we already know it’s a ploy to attract evil magic and the song is pretty much a re-skin of “Everything is Awesome”. A catchy ear worm with repetition).

“It’s about to go down!”

Yes Rainbow. That’s the exact words you want to shout on a boat during a blackout, engine not running, and your classmates scared and confused. How about we just start the classical string quartet from the Titanic movie as your opening act next time. Pretty sure Octavia is around here somewhere.

So I was introduced to this quote by Emerson Eggerichs from a video talking about an episode on the show “Honest Apple” by Firebrand that goes “you can be right, but wrong at the top of your voice.” This works in Dash’s moment here as well. She turns out to be right about their friendship magic attracting evil magic, but when you’ve made the boy who cried wolf seem more plausible, you done messed up. In the meantime, everyone branches off to random shenanigans. Dash searching for the plot, Twilight becoming an engineer to fix the ship, Pinkie breaking into a buffet for a Bundt cake, and Rarity…

Walking into another random Titanic reference. Be careful Rarity. If he gives you a blue diamond necklace, you might not be able to keep it while getting sucked into talking about this to deep sea explorers at an old age.

Well…I’m sure that’s completely normal and has absolutely nothing to do with a pony villain with only about 8 minutes of screen time in a hour and a half theater released movie.  

You know, I like the amount of sass in this special. Even quiet bookworm Twilight is trying to take Dash down a notch. And again, this kind of argument feels like something that should’ve happened a while ago. Dash’s ego for being super and the rest of the girls being fed up with her trying to look for trouble. Sunset already had to come to that realization in Friendship Games where she can’t really control or know what to do about the rogue magic. It wasn’t until Legend of Everfree that she decided to let go of her worries and embrace what’s happening as a good thing. That was a time where Dash was also trying to relax and not have her trip be interrupted by Equestrian magic. So with this fight, it does feel like something that’s been talked about but never by someone this aggressive like Dash. 

S: “I brought magic to this world in the first place.”

T: “I wouldn’t trade you for anything in the world. In any world”

I want to say this is because as both lonely ex-demon antagonists, this would be a connection only they would have with each other. I want to say this isn’t something to take seriously. I want to so badly, but the ship…it’s too powerful… At least Twilight was willing to say sorry for being harsh to Rainbow Dash no matter how much she deserved it. That’s at least something mature for her character, especially when Twilight was the one who planned the trip in the first place.

So here we have #947 of Dash being as stubborn as a mule made from obsidian. Going off on her own to find the source of evil magic…alone… in a heavy storm…with no sailing experience other than maybe some from Camp Everfree. Granted, normal teenagers would probably tell the captain about the missing person, but there’s literally no captain to speak of on the ship. We got to know the buffet cook Puffed Pastry more than the person driving this ship. Where are the teachers anyway? I know they might’ve been taken out due to this trip being planned by Twilight, but I know it’s because adult women in bikinis and legs that go on for miles would probably make the rating of this special a bold face lie.

It’s always nice when one person screws up royally, the others are able to step up no matter the circumstances. While SunsetSparkle venture out for RD, Applejack is gonna try to fix the engine while sea sick, Pinkie is gonna keep people calm, Flutters is on life jacket and safety duties, and Rarity is trying to see if Celine Dion can write a song about her love of blond haired, green eyed, freckled faced people.
And again, I have to wonder, “WHERE IS THE ACTUAL SHIP CREW THAT DON’T LOOK LIKE COLLEGE STUDENTS?!?!”

“Hey Ladies. Come on in. The slow impending doom is great.”

I don’t know what’s more satisfying in this scene; RD calling herself an idiot for getting stuck in quicksand or Twilight still peeved and reluctantly wanting to help. For what Twilight had to go through, still don’t blame her for this look. Do these dresses and shoes look like something to explore a forest jungle in? I don’t think so.

Well now…don’t you look familiar… for anyone who’s seen Friendship Games…I wonder why that is?

I think Sunset was more upset about this trip than I thought. Or you can see it as a mercy killing so she doesn’t have to be plant food. But with this, there’s a definite reason a giant plant monster would be here along with glowing light coming from beneath the quicksand.

So by sheer plot hole portal luck, the magic from the quicksand was actually a portal into Equestria. I think someone saw one too many DCU movies and decided on this. And also, I get to make this picture comparison…

Who wore it better?

"Kiss me you fool! It’s what the fans have wanted!"

Ok so leaving jokes and initial shock behind, let’s get some analysis going. This was something that baffled me since Friendship Games. We know not everything is a direct mirror to each other between the pony world and the human world since one small detail is that Princess Twilight doesn’t need glasses. Both versions of Rarity have those red pointed rimmed glasses, but not both Twilights.

We also know that during Pony Ups, RD and Fluttershy get wings, but Rarity, Twilight and Sunset don’t get a unicorn horn regardless of their unicorn counterparts. And when Princess Twilight goes to the human world, she’s able to get her wings back, too.

Of course there were some exceptions with Sunset’s Super Saiyan form and Nightmare Sparkle’s form in Friendship Games (even if Sunset’s was mostly light wings and horn and not physical). But for Legend of Everfree, Twilight has wings, just like Princess Twilight getting wings in Season 3 finale. It might be an aesthetic thing with the creators or just not keeping up with its own logic. Who knows. We’re giving our voice actors a run for their money!

RD: “It’s just a little rain. I’m sure our friends are fine”

So…after all that nonsense about finding evil magic and fighting back and was even convinced the storm was caused by evil magic, RD decides to abandon that idea to be a pony and take their time getting back.
“Element of Loyalty” title for sale! Slightly used! Owner doesn’t want it anymore! Will take any offer!

This stallion is truly wondering if anybody spiked his cider. But that’s what you get for drinking in the middle of the day. Meme song references from almost 10 years ago.

Well I see the princess is a fan of Salvador Poni. The fruit is a strangely nice touch though.

Sci Twi: “We have all the time in the world.”

So I can’t tell if this is supposed to be comedic with going from chocolate fondue with a pony princess to boat catastrophe or if this is the worst friends you can count on when needed most. There’s literally no excuse. There’s a portal back to the human world in the next room while they’re having fondue.

Well it looks like the ship hit some rocks, it’s starting to sink, everyone on the boat is in a panic, and the worst part is RD burning her tongue on chocolate fondue. Oh the calamity!!! 

Smug Rainbow Dash is only partially right. There is the notion to mention how long the Mane 6 have saved Equestria compared to Sunset and the Human 6. Not to mention the increased dangers that comes in the pony world. I don’t think the humans have to worry about a foreigner casting hexes on them but was only caused by a flower that messed with them. But now I am concerned that Zecora has yet to be in any of the EG media other than a doll.
There’s only a few instances of humans gaining magic and turning corrupt and a lot of those times, they just give a little speech and turn them into friends. Now Sombra and Storm King on the other hand…they’re dead. Flat out dead. And Sombra died twice. Can’t say the Human 6 ever had to turn someone to stone and drop them off a building.

Oh look! The plot finally showed up after being fashionably late for 20 minutes. Guess the humble Princess of Friendship can stop bragging about her many accomplishments. Do you know how long it probably takes to sum up 9 seasons? I’m surprised the boat was just now starting to sink.

So now that the Lazy 3 remembered they had friends to protect, they use The Storm King’s staff to vacuum up the storm in a pretty neat effect. Like this could’ve been some Harry Potter levels of magic harnessing. But I somehow feel like they’re still forgetting something very important.

OH SWEET CELESTIA THEY FORGOT TO GET THE CHOCOLATE FONDUE RECIPE!!!

Oh yeah. The hundreds of people still on the sinking boat about to drown. I forgot a sinking ship was a thing and after all the Titanic references. Guess they shouldn’t have been telling their morals to each other during an important time.

“It’s hero time”

“Just because we’re superheroes, that’s no excuse for not being safe on a sinking ship. Always wear your lifejackets and even you can be an Equestria Girl, too.”
So at the 39 minute mark of this 44 minute special, we finally have them being useful. Well with this and no real villain to fight, this really is turning into a DCU movie.

Bunny bump!

So we get some moments of the Human 7 not being useless. Rarity making a diamond life boat (which is confusing since I guess she can just form giant diamonds and have them stay in reality), while everyone else is kind of just helping people off the boat with their powers. It’s not really that action packed but it’s something I guess?

Also Pinkie eating a salty, sea soaked chocolate Bundt cake to free the chef that banned her from the buffet. I have no words for this. I don’t know anybody else that would be this desperate for a dessert. Or to save a chef who wouldn’t even let a person eat breakfast let alone the dessert buffet.

So everyone is rescued, Pinkie and the chef bond over keeping baked goods on their heads, and the Ragamuffin and Rarity ship sunk faster than the actual boat. It’s always best to stick with your real ship mates. Right, Applejack? The only thing to worry about now is how everyone is gonna get off the island and get home. Your cellphones? A hand radio that should be carried by the staff and crew? Keep using the diamond boat with RD as the motor? Any of the heroes with wings that can fly to get a rescue team? No, nothing with that much common sense.

Nice job Sunset. Brilliant idea. Couldn’t get you guys to leave sooner to help everyone on the ship, but we’re definitely gonna bring hundreds of people (regular folks who don’t know about the school included) through a magic portal, have them turn to horses, and go talk to a pony princess for help. Well, can’t blame them for trying. At least it ended before Flash could try to hit on Princess Twilight and turn the fandom into a giant mob...again.
Well that was Spring Breakdown. It has funny moments and plenty of references to the movie so good continuity bonus. But when the conflict is just supernatural weather and three very forgetful teenagers, it’s not really a big wow factor. It’s funny and interesting with three characters going into the pony world, but that was mostly filler for the dangers the rest of the cast was going through. They could’ve done more with the concept of more portals or portals that turn them into other creatures, but it was mostly “watch these ponies have fun while humans are screaming in terror.” For EG specials, it’s not my favorite, but I can say that it’s better than the first EG movie. That’s something. I’m Penny Wrights and thanks for reading. Now if you’ll excuse me, I still have to sell of this “Element of Loyalty” title on Amazon.