To my surprise, we haven’t talked about this one as much…or at all yet. But this needs to be done because this was a fun special. And a three-part special no less. We get some returning characters, money making ideas, and copyright issues among students. I don’t deny, this one is probably the weakest out of the three specials, but it still has a place in setting things up for a lot of bigger and more magical occurrences. What’s one little high school cliché about raising money gonna hurt? If I had to say a moral, it would be to not let competition make you do some dirty and underhanded things. Either that or never tell your overly competitive rival school how to be you but better.
Oh goodie! We’re starting out with high school movie cliché #938. The car wash to help raise money to save something. In this case, it seems Camp Everfree is still having some money issues with repairs. Something about an evil plant demon overgrowing the fields, broken picnic tables, and psychological damages about magical possessions. Yeah, I’m sure washing Big Mac’s van and other cars will do the trick.
And of course to pair with the cliché is #939, not having money yet enough after other fundraising ideas like Pinkie’s bake sale and Twilight and Fluttershy’s doggy daycare. There also seems to be a deadline for this meaning Dance Magic should take place after Legend of Everfree, but from closer examinations, it’s not possible since the girls aren’t wearing their magical geodes from the movie. So this was either just an error on the artist’s parts or this was before Legend of Everfree. Meaning Principal Celestia was still trying to plan this field trip to happen knowing the students might not raise the money to get the camp fixed up. Somehow, Celestia making out main characters do something that probably should’ve been handled by other qualified people feels vaguely familiar to me. Can’t imagine Celestia pawning off work to the students to do for something that isn’t completely in their hands.
I can’t tell if this was just some light Spike the dragon channeling when he could read Rarity like an open book or if this pup is just that good at smelling when something is a lie. Of course Rarity boasts a little about an idea that’ll get the biggest bank. Which is why it was saved for last after probably money costing bake sales, car washes, and doggy daycares. Because plot says so. And the plot is all knowing. I do love this panicked voice of Rarity’s when she knows she’s been found out with no plan. She’s the Element of Generosity. It would probably kill her inside to know she couldn’t give as much as she could to a good cause.
Oh don’t you just love cliché #573, television or radio who doesn’t know you or can’t even see you asking the questions and a character talking back to it? It’s usually one of my favorites just because of how convenient it is. Rarity still trying to think of an idea, but then here comes this magical tv in the mall that tells of a music video dance contest with a money prize. Thanks convenient tv ad that wouldn’t have played otherwise, you really came through for us.
Well…gotta love that convenient other high school cliche for #429, the rival high school you shouldn’t get along with. And I guess were starting with some…fan favorites? Ok honestly Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, and Sunny Flare are decent characters, but how can anyone…ANYONE stand Sour Sweet. She might be entertaining to some, but I can barely stomach both of her bipolar attitudes from her sugary high pitched happy voice to her grumbling sarcastic mean voice. Even for just her middle range voice it’s filled with so much snob I get Canterlot unicorn flashbacks when I see her. It’s the weirdest form of Tourette’s I think I’ve ever seen from a character.
So this was a pretty useful exposition dump on how things were going after the Friendship Games, which seemed to have only been a few month ago. We also find out Dean Cadance took over after Principal Cinch’s…”departure”. This school is also so rich they’re trying to have a spring dance on a yacht as long as they can raise the money for it. Makes you think how Canterlot High must’ve had to raise a lot of money again for their boat trip in Spring Breakdown.
So when I was re-watching this for the follow up, I can’t help but to have the same flashback to a certain fashion unicorn who talked about their fashion concepts to some other fashion pony and was even generous to give a full bolt of her special fabric to her competitor and was surprised it was used in their work like how it was used in her own. I have no idea why Rarity’s generosity has to come off as someone who can be used to steal ideas from, but it does hurt when I see my favorite of the Mane 6 being so nice and hospitable to others and having it turn on them. In this case, I’d say Rarity was just excited to talk about her video concept and does consider the Shadowbolts as friends after the Friendship Games.
At least you can count on Sugarcoat to always be unnecessarily honest and blunt since they didn’t have a concept of their own and left it as a "surprise". My, how convenient for them. Also, can anyone describe this face on Sunny Flare? I want to say it’s annoyance since Sugarcoat had to blurt out the truth, but it’s such an animated and interesting pose. Even Sugarcoat doesn’t know what to make of it.
This was a very strange and out of place moment for Twilight when hearing about her old school. For a school whose students ignored her, a principal that blackmailed her into even participating in the Games, and even convinced her to use stolen magic to win that turned her into a demon, I wouldn’t think she would be sad hearing about how her old school is doing. Maybe she was expecting to be asked about or maybe just the strongest forms of Stockholm, but it was interesting to include here since it was only just a few months ago that the third movie took place.
So here you have six of the most worried faces you will ever see. Since Rarity says she needed the fundraising money to make the costumes for the video, this is a gamble where if they win, they’re get 4x the money needed for repairs or lose and start back at broke. Just having Twilight put it into perspective for everyone made everyone go silent. Dang Twilight, you scary.
Ok yeah Twilight still might be holding a grudge. Again, hard to tell how she’s supposed to be feeling after leaving. But we also get a hint that Crystal Prep are great dancers. Must have a dance program for their school like how Canterlot High has a lot of music based events like the Battle of the Bands. Not to mention also bringing up Crystal Prep’s strong competitive nature and their need to win. I can never stop imagining this school as the biggest Battle Royale to even happen to teenagers…except for that one Japanese movie literally called Battle Royale.
And Twilight never ceases to be right about her old school seeing as Rarity had to stumble upon the same girls practicing for their music video. Always gotta have high school cliché #39 in the mix when the rival school steals an idea or something of value from the main school.
And of course in usual mean girl fashion, even when caught, they’re proud that they stole someone else’s good idea to use as their own because they care more about winning than anything else. I also see that Sour Sweet seems to be the pseudo leader of this group so yeah. There’s nothing but strong toxicity coming from this image alone. But I give credit to Rarity for trying to stand up for her concept and try to talk it out to reason with them. As futile as it may be.
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| RD: “We’re great at doing things super fast. Look at Pinkie. She made a castle made of chocolate while we were talking.” |
Best way to cheer up from betrayal, have a random Pinkie Pie moment. I can always say “it’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it”, but I still have too many questions. Why did she even do this? How did she even do this? Where was she hiding all that chocolate and cake and frosting? Who exactly plans on eating all of it? She even had macarons on her from somewhere. But since the Rainbooms need a new video concept, let’s see what everyone comes up with.
Of course Applejack’s would involve baking apple fritters and somehow in cowboy attire. But I do love these outfits. The dark shirt with the light beige skirt on Sunset is probably my favorite. And sadly this video idea was only happening because Applejack was hungry. Sugarcube, there is a whole chocolate and pastry castle in your classroom made by Pinkie Pie. I suggest not waiting for an invitation and start digging in.
Next concept, something adventurous with Rainbow Dash and being shot at with arrows while running through the jungle. I know they made Applejack look like Indiana Jones on purpose since she knows how to use a lasso. Glad to see this Rainbow Dash and Twilight still love jungle adventures like from the Daring Do books. And what a very familiar shadow of this giant beast. Sadly, probably best not to copy an idea from a book series…or a children’s cartoon show about pastel ponies.
Ok Pinkie had the best idea ever. This change in animation style had my rolling just seeing this. Pinkie has some strange ideas put in the most simplistic way including being in space suits and a dog eating gorgonzola cheese flying everywhere. I do love how even more accented the characters in EqG have these super long legs that stands out so much.
Yeah some things never change with certain characters. Like having Rairty flip out about wasting time on a dance music video without any dancing in it. Then she finds herself at a diner crying and eating ice cream. Big props to Tabitha St. Germain for making these om nom nom noises in between the sobs and dramatic music just to make it a little less sad.
Ok now it’s just annoyingly convenient how they keep running into each other at random places. Looks like the Shadowbolts are having some issues since they needed an original song instead of the Sapphire Shores song they were using for practice. Ok first, love that Sapphire Shores was even a mention in this universe, but since it was just instrumental we don’t get to hear any of that famous Sapphire Sass that made her so memorable while only being in two episodes out of the whole show. And second, for a school that excels in just about anything and everything, how they don’t have a music program is a bit odd. They have a dance studio, but no music studio? Was music that big of a cutback for their school to not be included? Anyway, I guess it makes sense for the girls to use some underhanded tricks to help their school, especially after promising to have the dance on a yacht and don’t want to let everybody down. Understandable, compared to Suri Polomare, who would use someone else’s hard work for her own benefit.
As much as this short doesn’t really stand out against the other two, I love this this is circled around Rarity trying to better a situation through compromise. She was truly the star of this special and the fact that she’s smart enough to know they can win together and both schools can raise the money they need is good hindsight. So The Rainbooms has the music and the Shadowbolts have the dance moves. It’s at least good that Crystal Prep is trying to shake off the harsh competitive vibes that plagued their school when Cinch was principal.
Don’t worry I plan on doing a deep look at the music video in another follow up. The song is fun, light and pretty catchy for probably just another generic pop song for the kids. I love the outfit ideas, the editing for the video (shot and done by Photo Finish, of course) were amazing and eye catching and there’s quite a few cool things in the video as well. But again, I’ll get to more details a bit later. And of course, they win the contest. So Crystal Prep can have their dance on a yacht and Canterlot High gets to see their money and hard work get destroyed by evil plant lady in the next movie.
I like the dynamics between these two, which is very odd to me. Rarity is my favorite of the Mane 6 while Sour Sweet is my least favorite Crystal Prep student. Maybe second least favorite since Sunny Flare doesn’t really have much of a personality and I had to look up her name to even remember her. This also happened with me when it comes to Starlight Glimmer and Trixie. A favorite character paired with a…not strong favorite. But somehow they all bring out the best in each other making them more tolerable as a duo. And the fact that Rarity offered to have the Rainbooms play for their yacht dance and even help with what they can wear for the dance just shows why Rarity is my favorite. Always doing the most for others.
And that was Dance Magic, cliché high school story, but made a bit more fun with the characters, the music and the jokes. I like that we really get a breakdown of time here since this was a few months after Friendship Games, we see the girls on their way to Camp Everfree later, and we get to follow up on a redemption story that doesn’t really have bad characters, just misguided characters. The Shadowbolts are fun at times (Sugarcoat being my favorite) and I appreciate that they still have a long way to go to become better people than just overly competitive. I’m Penny Wrights and I have more remixes to download. Their song is too catchy.
