Tag Archives: maud pie

Cookie Fonster Reviews Every MLP Episode Part 78: A Flurry of Emotions + Rock Solid Friendship

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Introduction / Navigation

< Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 >

Season 7, Episodes 3-4

Sorry this post took so long! Admittedly, I procrastinated on it in favor of writing Eurovision reviews. My latest review is 1990, so I have 33 posts left to write. I wonder which blog post series I’ll finish first: Eurovision or MLP?

Season 7 Episode 3: A Flurry of Emotions

In five words: Twilight’s turn to attempt babysitting.

Premise: To prove herself as the Best Aunt Ever, Twilight Sparkle tries to squeeze time into her busy schedule to babysit Flurry Heart, whose parents are attending an art show.

Detailed run-through:

Obligatory mention that the nurse pony’s cutie mark was redesigned because her old one violated the Geneva Conventions.

This episode begins with the nurse pony telling Twilight she will have to spend the day with a group of sick foals, which she eagerly agrees to do.

This scene was probably meant to redeem the criticism that last season, Cadance didn’t look exhausted from taking care of Flurry Heart.

I still don’t get why Cadance and Shining Armor decided it was a good idea to drop in unannounced and tell Twilight Sparkle she has to watch over their baby. Wouldn’t it make more sense to leave her with a Crystal Empire resident, like Sunburst? And why did they just assume Twilight had nothing better to do? The best explanation I can think of is that it was a hasty decision because they were sleep deprived.

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Cookie Fonster Reviews Every MLP Episode Part 60: The Gift of the Maud Pie

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Introduction / Navigation

< Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 >

Season 6, Episode 3

Matching with the content of the episode I’m reviewing, I wrote the middle half of this post during a short trip to a major American city. The city is Chicago, and I went there to get a new German passport—the first German passport I’ve gotten since I was a baby.

(Pointless trivia: Brotherhooves Social is one of few reviews I’ve written entirely away from home, on a little trip to Michigan.)

Season 6 Episode 3: The Gift of the Maud Pie

In five words: Gift exchange reveals Pinkie’s insecurities.

Premise: Pinkie Pie goes on a trip to Manehattan for her family’s annual gift exchange, where she goes to great lengths to find the perfect gift for Maud Pie. Rarity comes with her and helps find a gift while searching for the perfect location to open her newest boutique.

Detailed run-through:

You know how fans of just about any work of media analyze it in excessively rigid and methodical ways? One observation that has arisen from methodical, data-oriented analysis is that throughout the first five seasons, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were the pair of Mane 6 members who interacted the least. While there is nothing to indicate that Rarity and Pinkie Pie are a weak link among the Mane 6’s friendships, like Rose and Jade are in Homestuck (see miscellaneous notes), not until now has an episode paired them together. Season 6 gives us not one, but two episodes pairing Pinkie Pie with Rarity, which is really smart. It redeemed the issue of fans perceiving them as a rarepair, and now I see them as an ordinary pair of friends like any other.

Anyway, this is the third episode where Rarity goes on a trip to Manehattan, and since three is the minimum number of times needed to recognize a pattern, this episode is the perfect time to subvert the pattern of Rarity bursting in excitement about this city. This time, Pinkie Pie is psyched about visiting Manehattan, while Rarity keeps her composure and says this is just a simple business trip. This feels a lot like a brony around the time this episode aired, insisting that new seasons of MLP are just a routine and that they aren’t that excited for season 6 to start…

… but when this metaphorical brony watches the beginning of season 6, they’re swept in excitement all over again, exactly like Rarity is. I think most people who have a dorky obsession have an instinct to downplay how much they like it, until they’re hit in the face with whatever it is they’re obsessed with. Once her eye catches the pony Statue of Liberty, she pops off in adorably goofy joy and ends with saying Manehattan is “everything ever”.

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Cookie Fonster Reviews Every MLP Episode Part 55: The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows + Hearthbreakers

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Introduction

< Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 >

Season 5, Episodes 19-20

Sorry this post took so long! My next few MLP posts may also be a little slow, partly because my weekly queue has caught up with me, and partly because I am working on quite a few other projects. Rest assured, I plan on finishing season 5 no later than early November.

Season 5 Episode 19: The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows

In five words: Pinkie Pie keeps baby secret.

Premise: Pinkie Pie learns that Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are going to have a baby. She must keep it a secret from her friends, and yet temptation lurks around every corner.

Detailed run-through:

I love how Pound Cake is riding on top of Gummy.

This episode starts with Pinkie Pie somehow counting 568 cupcakes without needing any paper to keep track of things or prevent miscounts. This reminds us of what makes her different from the rest of the Mane 6: her brain operates on cartoon logic rather than normal logic, which makes the moments where she’s genuinely panicked and insecure greatly stick out.

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Cookie Fonster Reviews Every MLP Episode Part 37: Somepony to Watch Over Me + Maud Pie

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Introduction

< Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 >

Season 4, Episodes 17-18

Season 4 Episode 17: Somepony to Watch Over Me

In five words: Apple Bloom struggles with trust.

Premise: Apple Bloom is left to watch over Sweet Apple Acres while the rest of her family is gone, but Applejack frustratingly won’t stop being overprotective. Apple Bloom thus sets out on her own to prove herself capable of being on her own.

Detailed run-through:

To start the episode, Apple Bloom and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders listen in on an unintelligible conversation between her immediate family, then Granny Smith breaks the good news: Apple Bloom has been deemed old enough to watch over Sweet Apple Acres on her own for the afternoon. Apple Bloom keeps up a serious image through this big decision, but as soon as she thinks her family can’t hear her, she and the other two Crusaders break into excitement. This scene establishes the episode as one focused on the difficulties of growing up and gaining your family’s trust, an experience that’s familiar to many viewers of the show. To younger viewers, this episode is likely to be immediately relatable; to older viewers, it’ll more likely bring back older memories, or maybe even remind them of their own children or younger family members.

While the other Apples prepare for their journey to deliver pies to some dangerous places, Applejack gives her sister a long, detailed list of chores and instructions to take care of. Here’s where I’ll address probably the most common criticism of this episode: Applejack being extremely overbearing.

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