Perhaps a tad late, I know. Consider this a sort of "nostalgic" look back on the season now that the series has ended. Yeah, let's go with that. It makes the tardiness sound so much more eloquent and intended.
This episode followup was written before the series finale aired, so any predictions or guesses I make in my commentary, and what actually takes place in the finale is shear coincidence. I had not watched any leaks, so I was completely in the dark on how anything in this episode might tie in with the finale. But getting to make those predictions and seeing if any come true later on is all the fun!
So let's get to confused pones, villainous shenanigans, and old overused memes below the break!
Like many were commenting in my followup to "Frenemies", I was thinking there was a fair chance Grogar was simply playing ignorant to the other three secretly obtaining his Bewitching Bell. But now it appears he is setting out to locate and obtain a new powerful artifact to take its place. Could he still simply be playing ignorant until the very end, or is their acquisition truly unknown to him?
No, Tirek, I don't think it's quite as simple as shaking it. But what a boring turn of events that would prove to be, right?
I like the fact the bell requires certain specific knowledge to be able to wield it's magic at all, unlike some magical artifacts such as The Alicorn Amulet, which seems to simply require the wearer put it on to use it.
Unless being able to use the bell requires affixing it to the collar Grogar is always wearing? Dun dun duuuun!
"Twilight Sparkle may be the worst-!"
I think you may be confusing "worst" with "best".
She was smart to take in some of the knowledge Twilight spewed, however. She recalls Twilight mentioning the archives in Canterlot having a restricted area. If any place were to house the secrets of a dangerously powerful artifact, I suppose that would be the place to go!
"Celestia and Luna love to hoard information for themselves."
I... you... y'know what, I'm not even going to argue this one with you, Tirek.
This information pleases the Queen.
I also like the idea of Chrissy returning to Canterlot. She's returning to the scene of the crime after all these seasons.
No, Cozy. We already recently had a Roadtrip special.
I like how Celestia and Luna were already prepared for and expecting Twilight to be in full Twilighting mode. They know it's are sure as the sun and the moon.
"You may not know this about me, but I occasionally freak out..."
"That was a joke."
Doh ho ho! You crack me up, Sparkle. Also, Spike reading a Maneiac comic.
It seems Celestia and Luna are following through with their retirement plans and not only that, but their retirement is drawing near. The medallion being passed to Twilight here sorta reminds me of a "passing of the torch", as it were. Hopefully she has better luck with it now than she did back in the episode "Between Dark and Dawn".
The rest of the Mane six also expect Twilight to be in full-on Twilighting mode a fair share of the time it seems. Poor Twinkle Sprinkle.
"What are YOU doin' here?"
Do you even have to ask, Applejack? Same reason as always: comedic relief!
Discord already knows what in-store for our predictable pony platoon though. I also love how nearly everyone else (besides perhaps Spike since they're guy pals) has a look and disposition of either disappointment or neutrality thus far, meanwhile you have Fluttershy here, who has been smiling pretty much the entire time he's been present. They're such cute friends.
Some of the rest have warmed up to his presence since that last screenshot. But you can tell who the two that truly don't care much for him are. Personally, I am a Discord fan. I love the humor and wisdom he brings through his comedic antics. Plus John de Lancie always knocks it out of the park.
Speaking of wisdom, it's wonder how he can often tell just what's going to happen next. Usually, anyway. It seems he may be thrown a curve ball this time, however, thanks to character growth.
"No more crazy lists. No more freaking out."
It truly is the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine).
Fluttershy chuckling to herself in the background is utterly adorable. Just sayin'.
One of the things I love about Discord: he points out the fourth wall-breaking obvious, such as here. But I think this is a bit of character growth Twilight finally needs.
"What are YOU doing later after the festivities, black board?"
Sorry, sorry. I just happened to pause it here and couldn't help myself due to those bedroom eyes.
Hey now, don't blame Cozy Glow for the pony holidays. That tiny squirt may just possibly contain more evil at her core than even you, Chrissy.
You would think Equestria would have some sort of equivalent to a wildlife protection agency who would be up in arms over the the possible harm to any and all birds getting flung about by those giant roof-mounted blades.
Or at least Fluttershy.
Shape-shifting has to be one of the best and most useful abilities among these three. Nothing beats a good disguise. Plus she picked a cute pone to model after.
"More medallions, more problems, am I right?"
Heh, that line gave me a chuckle. Just knowing this entire scene was really Chrissy acting like this and making these expressions made it all exceedingly adorable. Could you imagine her acting like she did here, or making these faces as herself? Cute buggo.
But butter luck next time, you adorable bug queen.
What a terribly coincidental place to not only reappear in, but also discuss the entirety of your festival plans. Out of an entire city to pop up in, it had to be in front of these three.
Also, I wonder who was winning the Chess match. Cozy Glow's cutie mark IS a Chess Rook, after-all.
Bad Pinkie. Good pones don't use official titles to eat all the foods. Those take a lot of time and work to make.
And goodness gracious, ya bottomless pit!
It's not an episode followup by me without some silly expressions! And yay Braeburn!
I think we all know there's someone out there somewhere who will Photoshop that last one.
"But I see a suspicious-looking cookie!"
Haha. I'm sure many folks feel the same way when I say I love that line.
Never noticed before, but Tirek seems to gain quite a large amount of power and strength from draining just a single pony. And an Earth pony at that!
Drained pone also gives me much sad. Look at her. :'(
She should have thrown the pie at the face of one of the other two ponies here, it would have been tremendously more hilarious.
Pinkie totally would have. Hmmph!
And speaking of Pinkie, isn't that cart on the right the one Pinkie just emptied only a few frames earlier? Wow, these guys really DO bake fast!
I do love how Tirek casually steals a pie while fleeing the scene and cackling maniacally. But who wouldn't, right? It's free real estate pie!
If only he had took the entire cart. Than I could have made a "He stole 40 pies!" joke. I mean, 40 pies is a lot.
If only he had took the entire cart. Than I could have made a "He stole 40 pies!" joke. I mean, 40 pies is a lot.
*sigh* Darnit, Dash.
I feel bad for this poor guy. Though not as bad as when Rarity catches him in that tacky tie.
His character model very vaguely reminded me of Svengallop. I think it's the mane and tail design along with the glasses. It certainly isn't due to personality similarities.
Oh gee golly, here we go.
Has no one noticed these three are missing from Tartarus yet? Does Equestria not have an "Equestria's Most Wanted" billboard somewhere? I think that would come in extremely handy given the current circumstances.
Nothing much to say. I just like these evil expressions.
Is this Sunset Shimmer's long lost sister?
Oh hey, it's this persona of Chrissy's again. Giant bug queen is now entering the game. This can only end well.
You can already tell this group is going to be ridiculously easy to manipulate. One sentence and they're already questioning what they're doing with their lives.
"We are the most powerful ponies in the land!"
Let's be honest, she's just stating what all of them, and many of us, were already thinking/knew.
"And after we discuss the unicorn takeover of Equestria, you wanna come back to my place, sweet thang?"
Yeah, that seemed a little too easy. Are all of Equestria's denizens this easy to coax into turning on eachother? Thank goodness these guys don't have social media. Yet.
D'aww, just d'aww. So many group hugs in Equestria. Is that portal almost finished?
"Now that truly is amazing."
I absolutely love when the princesses get snarky.
And now it's The Royal Swanifying all over again. At this point I would just go on assuming by the end of the day a group of ponies or other creatures would be peeved at me about something, and just brace for that. Emotions sure can run high at the drop of a hat in Equestria.
"It's total chaos out there!"
"Don't look at me!"
Haha. Poor Discord. Even when he's being perfectly well-behaved he's still the first suspect when things go awry.
:I
Dammit, Applejack! Did you even rehearse this scene?
"What are YOU doin' here?!"
Nice save, dragon boi. Nice save. She doesn't suspect a thing.
I agree, Twilight. How horrifying.
Pfffffft!
Do I even need to say anything about this one? I think it speaks for itself.
Hallelujah!
I love when Discord imparts words of wisdom in ways only he can. For a creature so silly and bent on chaos, he is surprisingly level-headed and insightful when he wants or needs to be.
Oooh, ominous~
They should simply publish a book: "The Many Evil Expressions of Cozy Glow". I'd buy that.
She is Doctor Pinkie Pie and she is saving lives,
She is Doctor Pinkie Pie and she prescribes high-fives!
Just remember, Pinkie, all toasters toast toast!
Also, this tongue thing looks like it really hurts. This guy didn't even flinch or complain for 5 minutes prior. Truly the patient every doctor hopes to have.
This.
There's another one for the soon-to-be-released
This scene is just sorta epic, if but a tad dangerous perhaps. Still pretty epic though.
Seeing all those clouds, I'm thinking they're going to need some larger barrels...
Knowing what they do about the heightened security measures around Canterlot, I would be certain to be extra careful snooping around the castle itself. If any place in Equestria had even more security in place, that would be it.
Is this their opportunity? A chance for the geese to prove their an invaluable part of the new security features?
Have you ever paid close attention to their walking animation where a character has one leg in the air? The entire front of Rarity is actually levitating across the stage at some points here. That's some circus-level balancing skills right there!
What do they plan to do with all these fireworks now if they're no longer performing? Maybe they should give them to The Great and Powerful One.
Nope, guess not! Chrissy is credit to team! Transforming even allows her to be able to speak goose, huh. How did she know they were being tailed in the first place? This bug must have eyes on the back of her head.
Figures the runt would be an expert lock-picker. I was waiting for Tirek to just go up to the door and rip it off the hinges. With those muscles he probably could have.
Discord wears his sunglasses at night so he can, so he can, see the chaos right before his eyes~
I just thought this would make a good caption image. Somethingsomethingcupcakesreference.
Oh, Rarity~
It seems like it would really hurt to just be pushed across the dirt or pavement like that. I genuinely felt bad for this guy though. He's essentially just an innocent party stuck in-between all this nonsense.
"But nopony ever listens to me!"
Okay, I know a lot of us laughed at this scene right here. Poor Applejack, even she realizes her background pony predicament.
Dayum! Twilight coming on strong with the power move. She just picked them all up and threw them on the ground! She ain't gonna be apart of your syst-err, shenanigans!
It looks like freak-out Twilight really is a thing of the past now. It's good to see characters overcome obstacles they've faced for so long. Yay character growth!
Though I gotta agree with Discord here; it's not nearly as entertaining to watch.
Senpai acknowledgement acquired! It was really nice to hear Celestia praise Twilight here for her ability to keep herself calm, cool, and collected under pressure. That is indeed part of being a good leader, and Twilight is growing into her oncoming big leadership role nicely.
This scene makes me imagine Celestia as a caring mother. I suppose she sorta was like a second mother to Twilight growing up. I bet she would make a really awesome mother. Plus if she were your mom you'd be royalty! It's a win all around.
Fluttershy too for that matter. Can't get much more motherly and caring than Fluttershy.
Dash has gotten really good at managing sonic rainbooms, giving her the ability to manipulate them in various ways like here. I always thought she had to reach some ridiculous mach speed to achieve one, but she didn't appear to be traveling all that fast to create this mini one.
The rainbow trail that follows her also doesn't appear to be coming from her tail at all, but rather her butt, haha.
This was hooves down one of my favorite scenes in this episode. From Discord nonchalantly shoving the cloud under the very fabric of their reality into the static void behind, to Luna's reaction with her initial surprise and shock, followed by her amused eye roll. Exactly the sort of thing you'd expect from Discord. And perhaps Pinkie Pie.
Speaking of Pinkie Pie...
It's a Pinkie Pie scene, don't bother questioning it. The reactions are priceless though.
You gotta admit, she is deceptively adorable.
Y'know, you could have just went around the bookcase. Kids these days, I tell ya.
I love how the book has a picture of a key on it.
Now, I'm not saying this isn't one stronk book, but perhaps Celestia and Luna should look into using a heavier gauge chain from now on.
Just another sinister Crazy Glue face. I also really like this super happy super adorable bug to the left!
Pinkie Pie + fireworks = duck, cover, and prepare the fire extinguishers.
Awww, so sweet!
Hah, I didn't even notice the overly-enthused fan in the crowd initially. Cheerilee pulls him back down. I can't blame the guy, I would be the same way if I saw Celestia and Luna. Or any of the pones really.
Cute pones nomming their cookies. Sweet Biscuit and Rain Drops are being adorbs.
*GASP!*
BronyCon 2018 Closing Ceremonies flashbacks.
Something else I had not taken note of initially; Doctor Whooves pulling Rose in close to him as Twilight gives her speech. If that isn't incredibly heart-warming and endearing I don't know what is.
Anyone else like Twilight's slight head bob as she says "Festival of The Two Sisters" here? Just me? Okay. I'm odd, I know.
Festival of The Two QT's, is more like it.
Oof, I want a hug from Celestia. Or Twilight. Or any of them really. Pone hugs are the best.
I'm a simple kind of person. I see cute pone, I screencap.
Back to the cute pone hugs. You know you want to jump in there.
And you wouldn't be the only one!
It was fun watching their expressions frame by frame as they readied themselves for what they could see was coming: Pinkie Pie dive hug!
Haha! I'm sure I echo many others' sentiments when I say I really enjoyed this scene. And does Cozy Glow remind anyone of anything else at this moment?
I know I'm not the only one who was reminded of this.
You're so lucky. Tirek. I want Chrissy to whisper sweet nothings into my ear too~
"Gettin' real tired of your crap, Crazy Glue~"
This one borders horrifying. You can see the unhinged mindset shine through when she gives some of these stronger expressions.
"Now THAT is something to think about..."
Dun dun dunnnnnn!
They're echoing my thoughts from earlier regarding how easy it was to turn all the ponies against eachother. I wonder if that will play a major role in the finale.
I hate how Blogger always messes up my end credits gif. But there's the episode staff!
Not much for me to say about this one. It was a pretty good episode in my opinion. Then again, I like any episode with these three villains in it. Which is why I did the followup for "Frenemies" and why I didn't mind doing this episode followup. They have that fun dynamic and bounce a lot of good material off eachother.
What were your thoughts on this episode? This is Cobalt Comet signing off! See ya later, Space Cowboy~
