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[PaulloDEC]

They have a postal system in Equestria. They exist.

Don't forget that by the time Starlight's friend left, it wasn't just about him anymore. They could've exchanged letters (maybe they did; the Starlight only says she never "saw" her friend again), but it wouldn't have changed the fact that she'd had to sit and watch as a legitimately unfair system took her only friend away. From that point onwards the damage was done, and cutie marks were the enemy.

Even if her friend had come home, she still might've ended up on the path to Equalitown.

The backstory just needs to be expanded on. That needed to be page 1, not the whole story. Maybe they'll do that in S6, but it should have been done in this episode.

Maybe. I wonder if Starlight trying to find her friend might be a key plot point in S6?

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Don't forget that by the time Starlight's friend left, it wasn't just about him anymore. They could've exchanged letters (maybe they did; the Starlight only says she never "saw" her friend again), but it wouldn't have changed the fact that she'd had to sit and watch as a legitimately unfair system took her only friend away. From that point onwards the damage was done, and cutie marks were the enemy.

I don't think the cutie mark system is unfair. It's never been painted that way by anyone but her, and she's got some issues.

The system didn't take her friend away, the society around her did. Or more than that, her friend let it happen. If he just up and abandoned her over this, then he was hardly a friend at all, which is a totally different point than the picture on his rump.

Given that she started a cult over this, I expected better than, "My childhood friend left me." But kids show is for kids and I suppose that's way more relatable than whatever awful thing spurred Jim Jones to start his cult.

 

[DrForester]

Well, the strangest thing about "abandoned by a friend" backstory is that they've already done that. This season. And I would argue Moondancers story was a lot more interesting and tragic that Starlight's. For one, we know Twilight did outright abandon her and totally forget about her in the span of a day.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Well, the strangest thing about "abandoned by a friend" backstory is that they've already done that. This season. And I would argue Moondancers story was a lot more interesting and tragic that Starlight's. For one, we know Twilight did outright abandon her and totally forget about her in the span of a day.

We also had a similar kind of story with AJ and Rara, though that was less abandonment and more drifting apart.

But still a matter of, "no longer friends = DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA" when friendships fall apart, drift apart, or otherwise end all the time. Sometimes you can't repair them, which would have been a much better lesson to throw in this season.

 

[UberTag]

But still a matter of, "no longer friends = DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA" when friendships fall apart, drift apart, or otherwise end all the time. Sometimes you can't repair them, which would have been a much better lesson to throw in this season.

I'm not sure that a show called Friendship is Magic is mature enough to tackle a story that ambitious. Musical numbers and speeches always manage to save the day. No sacrifice or loss in this realm... no sirree bob. Even Dash and Gilda are on speaking terms again.

 

[DrForester]

I'm not sure that a show called Friendship is Magic is mature enough to tackle a story that ambitious. Musical numbers and speeches always manage to save the day. No sacrifice or loss in this realm... no sirree bob. Even Dash and Gilda are on speaking terms again.

In fairness, they made that episode with absolutely no plans to revisit the character.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Rarity broke her friendship with Suri in "Rarity Takes Manehattan", so they did cover that before. They could undo it later, like people were suspecting for "Made in Manehattan" before it aired, but Suri doesn't have the popularity or "season 1 significance" of Gilda.

 

[DrForester]

Rarity broke her friendship with Suri in "Rarity Takes Manehattan", so they did cover that before. They could undo it later, like people were suspecting for "Made in Manehattan" before it aired, but Suri doesn't have the popularity or "season 1 significance" of Gilda.

Was Suri really a friend? I thought she was just someone Rarity met at the competition and was being nice to.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Was Suri really a friend? I thought she was just someone Rarity met at the competition and was being nice to.

I haven't watched the episode in a bit, but I believe Rarity described her as an old friend from Ponyville that she hadn't seen in a while.
EDIT: Confirmed with episode summary.

EDIT: Plus, there is how Apple Bloom completely stopped talking to Twist after the latter got her cutie mark, and still hasn't talked to her five seasons later.

 

[DrForester]

I haven't watched the episode in a bit, but I believe Rarity described her as an old friend from Ponyville that she hadn't seen in a while.
EDIT: Confirmed with episode summary.

EDIT: Plus, there is how Apple Bloom completely stopped talking to Twist after the latter got her cutie mark, and still hasn't talked to her five seasons later.

According to the Wiki....

"She is stated to have met Rarity before at a Ponyville knitting competition, although Rarity at first cannot put a name to her face."

As for Twist, I've joked about it before, but I think any abandonment was totally unintentional.

 

[SigmasonicX]

In any case, the problems with doing a story about a friendship breaking up are:
* If you make one of the friends too big a jerk, then you wonder how they became friends in the first place, and you'd probably just get someone like Svengallop.
* If you make the character too likable, then there'd be interest in having the characters become friends again. This is what led to Gilda becoming friends with Dash again. This is the most likely thing to happen, since a character on this show will innately be at least somewhat adorable.
* The usual reasons for friends breaking up just don't seem too likely in this show. It's already been demonstrated that distance and time doesn't dampen a friendship too much (unless you're Starlight), and it's unlikely for a character to be revealed as diet racist or for a character to cheat on another's spouse or something.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Friends Forever #23
Is it just me, or was this issue blatantly about Applejack and Fluttershy going out on a date? Especially with those early panels of Applejack looking at Fluttershy as her hair blew in the wind and that last panel of Applejack resting her head against Fluttershy's leg.

This was a cute chapter, especially in terms of the art, though I would have preferred for it to turn out that Nosy News was being honest with her photo (which didn't look fake, despite AJ's claims), and for the lesson to be more about respecting the solitude of some creatures than about how lies can be damaging. Especially since they did end up solving the problem by lying, in the sense that they knowingly misled everyone as to whether or not they found a real pigasus and implied that Nosy was using Fluttershy to fake things.

 

[DrForester]

I liked Friends Forever #23. Used the characters well and was pretty much a better version of "Bats".


The Holiday Special issue was also released several places early, and it's quite excellent. Bunch of nice Pony-Themed holiday stories.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I liked Friends Forever #23. Used the characters well and was pretty much a better version of "Bats".

I don't really see the similarities with "Bats". Both of them were on the same page in terms of protecting the pigasus and there wasn't a conflict between them.

On an unrelated note, funny fan comic involving Applejack listening to one of Rara's songs (linked because I don't want to embed each image).

 

[SigmasonicX]

I was thinking before that I'd probably stop posting in this thread and move over to the Community thread by the end of this week, but I realized that several other series threads seem to go on fine staying in OT even after the season ends. My understanding is that the arrangement before was for MLP discussion to stick in Community (and it was, in fact, the reason the Community section was created) with the one exception of season threads when those seasons are running, but the environment in which that arrangement was made no longer seems to exist.

What I'm saying is that it seems like it would make the most sense to continue discussion of official news, the official comics, etc. in this thread even between seasons instead of the Community thread. That said, I'm still planing on doing things like the recommended episode guide over in the Community thread.

Anyway, news. Weird Al has expressed interest in returning to the show as Cheese Sandwich.

GM Berrow is writing a book called Lyra and Bon Bon and the Mares from S.M.I.L.E., likely tying into the Secret Agent Sweetie Drops thing. It's still hard to believe that two characters who started off as 100% background ponies are getting their own official story.

And I hadn't been posting Balloon Pony stuff, but this one closing out the season is impressive.

 

[Strider_Blaze]

Friendship Games is now on Netflix.

http://www.netflix.com/title/80073100

Edit: D'oh! That was already mentioned. Behind on the news here.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Newest comic was fine. Didn't really do a lot for me, and the artist isn't my favourite. Was fine.

I'm hearing that the Christmas special comic released early on itunes, too. I'm a Comixology man though, so I guess I'm waiting it out.

On an unrelated note, funny fan comic involving Applejack listening to one of Rara's songs (linked because I don't want to embed each image).

This got me good.

GM Berrow is writing a book called Lyra and Bon Bon and the Mares from S.M.I.L.E., likely tying into the Secret Agent Sweetie Drops thing. It's still hard to believe that two characters who started off as 100% background ponies are getting their own official story.

I'm really loving that title. I've not read any of the chapter books, but with a name like that I might have to take a look.

And re: how we use these threads, I'll follow whatever others are up for.

 

[draetenth]

Was busy so I didn't get to watch the two-part finale until now, but some quick thoughts (I haven't read any reactions to it/this thread since the last episode so apologies if things have been discussed to death):

Overall, I did enjoy this one quite a bit. I liked seeing the various futures/what-if scenarios and how everyone ended up. I liked how it wasn't simply Starlight stopping RD every time either: she got the bullies to be nice Fluttershy (Twilight's reaction to it was pretty good), she helped Fluttershy float through the race and my favorite was the race ending because of the fight between Starlight and Twilight.

That said, I thought it was odd how powerful Starlight was. I found it hard to believe that Starlight could do everything just as good the supposedly Element of Magic. It's hard for me to articulate what exactly my problem was, but here I go: Starlight could levitate constantly in her magic, use time magic, and held her own in a duel against Twilight as an Alicorn. I mean just because Twilight represents magic doesn't mean that I don't think she couldn't be beaten by Unicorns in certain things (like Twilight could learn ice magic, but a Unicorn who specializes in ice should be able to best her in a contest), but Starlight seemed to be better at a lot of things (not to mention she could freeze Twilight and Spike in whatever it was and hold them for some time, but when Twilight did it to her - Starlight got out in seconds).

Starlight had good ideas to stop Twilight, but she had to do the stupid gloating thing constantly.

However, my biggest issue was her reasons for doing everything was a bit lame imo. She did everything because she lost one friend and didn't want to make another for fear of losing them to Cutie Marks? Lame (and where were her parents to explain things to her?).

Overall, this was easily the best season imo with pretty much every episode being at least decent with the exception of the awful Discord episode from a few weeks ago.

 

[SigmasonicX]

That's the common opinion about the episode.

Concerning Starlight's power, it's worth considering that Starlight had an easier win condition. I imagine that in a more straightforward fight, Twilight would win. About Starlight breaking out of the crystal more easily, it's her spell, and Twilight was encountering it for the first time. Plus, it didn't seem like Twilight was actually trying to break out until they were falling. Finally, remember that Starlight was shown using different spells then Twilight, not necessarily that she was stronger than Twilight, and the time spell was only accomplished by using the power of the map. Starlight probably doesn't know Twilight's gravity spell from "The Crystal Empire" and probably can't use mass-telekinesis. Did we even see her grab Dash while levitating herself at the same time?

Anyway, Netflix derped and put up "The Cutie Re-Mark" already, but removed "The Cutie Map".

And remix of "Friends Are Always There For You" with the Wave Race ending theme.

 

[DrForester]

They could have easily solved Starlight being ridiculously overpowered.


Time travel, she changed history. Instead of overpowering her, nerf Twilight. Have Twilight revert to a Unicorn and have to deal with levitation, cloud walking spells and keeping Spike safe.

 

[PaulloDEC]

I think a few people have mentioned the Twilight/Starlight power imbalance. It was never really something that occurred to me to be honest, but then I never really had Twilight pegged as an especially "powerful" character. We know she's skilled and that she has a lot of potential, but magic has rarely been shown as coming to her without effort.

Likewise, the fact that she represents the Element of Magic never suggested to me that she might be remarkably powerful. I mean, is Applejack the most honest pony in Equestria? Is Dash the most loyal?

As for Starlight’s origins, I think people are tending to draw a line directly from “losing a friend” to “trying to ruin Twilight’s life”. The revenge plot was directly related to the Mane 6 shutting down Equalitown, whereas cult-leader Starlight was the result of a childhood “trauma” that grew into an obsession.

 

[DrForester]

Twilight is pretty much shown as an expert fighter with that silly Tirek fight. Not even the power she had, just how well she handled herself in that fight. Dodging, blocking etc.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I think a few people have mentioned the Twilight/Starlight power imbalance. It was never really something that occurred to me to be honest, but then I never really had Twilight pegged as an especially "powerful" character. We know she's skilled and that she has a lot of potential, but magic has rarely been shown as coming to her without effort.

Likewise, the fact that she represents the Element of Magic never suggested to me that she might be remarkably powerful. I mean, is Applejack the most honest pony in Equestria? Is Dash the most loyal?

As for Starlight’s origins, I think people are tending to draw a line directly from “losing a friend” to “trying to ruin Twilight’s life”. The revenge plot was directly related to the Mane 6 shutting down Equalitown, whereas cult-leader Starlight was the result of a childhood “trauma” that grew into an obsession.

Even back in season 1, Twilight has been shown to be significantly more powerful than the average unicorn, and she's gotten obviously stronger since then. Even other unicorns skilled in magic, including Sunset Shimmer, haven't shown feats like hers, though the only magic Sunset is shown using is telekinesis and a teleportation spell once. She also generally doesn't seem much weaker than the other princesses, though that's mainly because they keep losing to villains.

As for Starlight's revenge, it occurs to me that she should also have reason to be particularly angry at Fluttershy. Has anyone written a version of "The Cutie Re-Mark" where Fluttershy is the one that takes part in all the time loops?

 

[PaulloDEC]

Twilight is pretty much shown as an expert fighter with that silly Tirek fight. Not even the power she had, just how well she handled herself in that fight. Dodging, blocking etc.

Like I said, I've always figured her as skilled and knowledgeable, but I never had her in my head as being like, one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria, for example. Maybe one of the cleverest.

Even back in season 1, Twilight has been shown to be significantly more powerful than the average unicorn, and she's gotten obviously stronger since then.

Oh sure, but for the most part we've only seen her in contrast to citizens of Ponyville, which is a far cry from the prestige and industry of the big cities. The idea that there might be more powerful unicorns, trained or otherwise, lurking out in the world never seemed unlikely to me.

 

[Sciz]

Princess Celestia: Twilight Sparkle.
Young Twilight Sparkle: Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean...
Princess Celestia: You have a very special gift. I don't think I've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities.

Twi's a prodigy among prodigies, even if she keeps selling herself short.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Twi's a prodigy among prodigies, even if she keeps selling herself short.

To be fair, that happened after Twilight had unleashed an uncontrolled and involuntary blast of magic triggered by Dash's Rainboom. We've not seen Twilight do anything anywhere close to that before or since.

That's not to say Twilight isn't powerful; based on what Celestia says, she might actually be the most powerful living unicorn (or well, Alicorn now) in Equestria. It seems like maybe her power just isn't accessible yet, for whatever reason.

 

[Sciz]

To be fair, that happened after Twilight had unleashed an uncontrolled and involuntary blast of magic triggered by Dash's Rainboom. We've not seen Twilight do anything anywhere close to that before or since.

Following immediately from the above:

Young Twilight Sparkle: Huh?
Princess Celestia: But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study.

She got taken on as a student specifically to stop her from doing anything like it again.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Another remix I like of "Friends Are Always There for You".

About Starlight's future, besides reconnecting with Sunburst, I've seen some people suggesting that Starlight could form a connection with Luna, and I also have my own idea of what they could do with her in the future.

It occurs to me that something similar to the Equestria Girls comic Christmas special from last year could be done with Starlight in the pony world. I've mentioned before that it's unlikely that the residents of Ponyville actually know about what Starlight did before, and a story could be made from someone choosing to harass Starlight by spreading that information anonymously. Hopefully not the Cutie Mark Crusaders this time. Even better if the harasser remains anonymous.

Similarly, I think it could be interesting to have a story where Babs Seed visits Ponyville but doesn't actually believe that Diamond Tiara stopped being a bully. Especially if one of the CMC says a line like, "But she is better now! We sang songs and everything!"

And on another note, another potential explanation for the wasteland timeline.

And as a reminder, over in the Community thread, we're voting on episodes to include in a potential recommended episode guide, covering season 5 this week.

 

[DrForester]

On one hand, the Evil Celestia does seem like it could have easily fit into one of the alternate timelines, so maybe it was cut. Maybe they figured Celestia had already been beat up enough in the episode and there was no need to pile it on.

On the other hand, going back to the original picture from the card game, it does not look like artwork from the show, but more one of the commissioned pieces they've had done in the past. In which case, kudos to them for the outstanding trolling.

 

[PaulloDEC]

And on another note, another potential explanation for the wasteland timeline.

As someone who was really excited to see evil Celestia (or Nightmare Star, was it?) in that episode, I came to the same assumption as that artist.

I choose to believe that she lost her temper one day and accidentally cooked the whole continent.

 

[SigmasonicX]

My Little Pony Christmas Special 2015 (comic)
The direct download version on Comixology only has the first six pages, so I had to use their online reader to get the rest, which was annoying. Anyway, this was a pretty cute special.

It was odd that they tried to justify in-universe why the stories have characters we know for the first story, saying it was written by Luna herself, but then they didn't bother for the other stories. Speaking of which, for something supposedly written by Luna, Luna was rather odd in that first story, both in the fact that we're somehow still getting Luna's season 1 design (how?!) and that she seemed to have a stereotypical Cockney accent at points. In any case, that first story just didn't seem to have a strong hook, so I thought it was the weakest of the set.

The second story with Rarity going through the Nutcracker story but then quitting as soon as the Rat King appeared was great.

The third "Night Before Christmas" story was cute, with great art from Andy Price, but the additions really broke the rhythm of the original poem, which took me out of it a bit.

The framing device was cute, though I thought it went a bit too far with the fourth wall jokes at the end.

 

[Choppasmith]

So I just caught up with the last three episodes (Mane Attraction and Season Finale)

Mane attraction was a lot of fun. Just a perfect little swan song to AKR's contribution to the show. Boy I'll miss her writing.

Season finale though. Wow, I was expecting Twilight to deal with ONE broken timeline and not several different ones. Funny enough when we saw the preview for it from watching the previous episode, my sister says, "Wait who's THAT?!" in reference to Glimmer. I reminded her that she's the villain from the Season opener and she says "I thought she was very forgettable and that's why I didn't recognize her"

My only problem with the episode is basically the climax.

-Glimmer is just ridiculously overpowered with NO explanation whatsoever. I think if they somehow de-powered Twilight somehow through the time travelling changes (like revert her back to a regular unicorn), it would've made more sense. Or at least add some kind of dialog maybe how Twilight feels weaker than normal. SOMETHING
-Glimmer's realization came off kinda weak. If she just could've SEEN how horrible the future was and not just hoof wave it as "Oh you made me see what you WANTED me to see." The fact that she later says what she did was unforgivable would've made a LOT more sense if she really saw what she was causing. And then she goes into having the same story as Moondancer, but as said above, it just comes across as inferior and kinda lazy. I did like the final montage though, And went dawww when she goes back to her original village and they welcome her back with a hug.

As said above, this Season WAS really good in introducing new characters. Here's to Season 6!

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

The 2015 holiday special was pretty amazing. I laughed out loud a few times going through it, which is pretty much how I judge the success of MLP comics.

Freinds Forever 23 was okay, but most of the FF issues are terrible so okay is a step up.

I'm not sure that a show called Friendship is Magic is mature enough to tackle a story that ambitious. Musical numbers and speeches always manage to save the day. No sacrifice or loss in this realm... no sirree bob. Even Dash and Gilda are on speaking terms again.

I think you're giving the show a disservice there, especially since "Tanks for the Memories" is about the five stages of grief.

Maybe ti's less that htey didn't tackle why friendships didn't end but that they tackled REPAIRING FRIENDSHIPS in a ton of episodes. It was the same thing over and over again. Plus, the two Discord episodes sucked. How do you fuck up Discord?

Edit: My long-form thoughts on the season can be found here http://wethenerdy.com/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-season-5-too-much-friendship-isnt-magic/ It's also how I manage to score review copies of the comics.

 

[SigmasonicX]

-Glimmer is just ridiculously overpowered with NO explanation whatsoever. I think if they somehow de-powered Twilight somehow through the time travelling changes (like revert her back to a regular unicorn), it would've made more sense. Or at least add some kind of dialog maybe how Twilight feels weaker than normal. SOMETHING

Starlight was more powerful than most unicorns, true, but she had things stacked in her favor. She just had to be strong enough to fend off Twilight long enough to prevent Dash from performing the Sonic Rainboom, while Twilight couldn't do anything that could potentially do that. I don't believe Starlight would be strong enough to grab a bunch of ponies at once with telekinesis like Twilight can, for instance.

-Glimmer's realization came off kinda weak. If she just could've SEEN how horrible the future was and not just hoof wave it as "Oh you made me see what you WANTED me to see." The fact that she later says what she did was unforgivable would've made a LOT more sense if she really saw what she was causing.

Starlight did realize that she was behind the wasteland future, but she was just denying it at first.

And now that you finished the season, it'd be nice if you joined in on the episode guide voting in the Community thread. You can still vote on season 5, even with season 4 voting starting soon.

 

[DrForester]

Freinds Forever 23 was okay, but most of the FF issues are terrible so okay is a step up.

Really? I think the Friends Forever series has been on a really strong run. Took a while for it to get it's footing, but for the most part, I've really enjoyed them.

 

[Choppasmith]

Starlight was more powerful than most unicorns, true, but she had things stacked in her favor. She just had to be strong enough to fend off Twilight long enough to prevent Dash from performing the Sonic Rainboom, while Twilight couldn't do anything that could potentially do that. I don't believe Starlight would be strong enough to grab a bunch of ponies at once with telekinesis like Twilight can, for instance.


Starlight did realize that she was behind the wasteland future, but she was just denying it at first.

And now that you finished the season, it'd be nice if you joined in on the episode guide voting in the Community thread. You can still vote on season 5, even with season 4 voting starting soon.

Glimmer was really clever to get the drop on Twilight at first. But after a while it made me go "Come on , now"

While I agree she was in denial, I wish they could've driven the point home a little better is all.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Really? I think the Friends Forever series has been on a really strong run. Took a while for it to get it's footing, but for the most part, I've really enjoyed them.

I feel like I enjoy one in four. Of the three i don't, two are just okay and the fourth is a wreck.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Really interesting set of comics coming in March.

Friendship is Magic #40

Ted Anderson (w) • Brenda Hickey (a & c) • Sara Richard (c) • Jennifer Myer (c)
The untold first meeting of Twilight and baby Spike! Twilight is given her most difficult task yet by Princess Celestia when she is told to take care of a baby dragon who is quite a handful! Will Twilight learn the right lesson in caring for another?

Friends Forever #26

Jeremy Whitley (w) • Tony Fleecs (a & c) • Sara Richard (c)
Shining Armor will have his hooves full when Prince Blueblood gets involved in a sensitive diplomatic mission. Will Shining Armor be able to make use of the Prince’s unique talents?

Filly Twilight and Baby Spike is a story I've wanted to see for a long time now. It's worth noting that in the past, Faust said that Spike was raised by Celestia, but there has been absolutely nothing to indicate that in the show itself or the comics.

I never expected Shining Armor and Blueblood to be paired up, but it makes a lot of sense. I'm surprised to see that Prince Rutherford of the yaks will be the first season 5 character to appear in the comics (even before season 4's Maud), but I expect he'll be a lot of fun.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Really interesting set of comics coming in March.

Woah, they really are! Twilight and baby Spike ought to be an interesting one, and Shining and Blueblood visit Yakyakistan sounds insane enough to be totally great.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Wow, Prince Blueblood is back? This will be interesting.

 

[googleplex]

Nightmare Nova?

 

[DrForester]

Excited for the Twilight and Spike comic, but at the same time it's kind of sad that this story idea was run by the show runners and the response would have been basically "we have no interest in ever addressing that, go ahead".


Curious about the Shining Armor and Blueblood comic.

 

[DrForester]

Final Issue of the Siege of the Crystal Empire is out.

MAN was that stupid. The ending would have been decent had the road to get there not been terrible.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Final Issue of the Siege of the Crystal Empire is out.

MAN was that stupid. The ending would have been decent had the road to get there not been terrible.

Great last issue, but yeah, the journey as a whole was kinda muddled. There was lots of good stuff in there though, and I enjoyed big chunks of it.

 

[DrForester]

Great last issue, but yeah, the journey as a whole was kinda muddled. There was lots of good stuff in there though, and I enjoyed big chunks of it.

Other than the design of the Umbrum, I found absolutely nothing worthwhile about the story. Turns out Celestia and Luna were brought in just to be worfed, and not for some bigger reason, like say, Celestia knowing that Sombra is capable of good. And once again a story of the Crystal Empire sees Cadance playing no role in the story. Hope was a terrible character and the arc kind of relied on her being at least somewhat sympathetic.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Other than the design of the Umbrum, I found absolutely nothing worthwhile about the story. Turns out Celestia and Luna were brought in just to be worfed, and not for some bigger reason, like say, Celestia knowing that Sombra is capable of good. And once again a story of the Crystal Empire sees Cadance playing no role in the story. Hope was a terrible character and the arc kind of relied on her being at least somewhat sympathetic.

I think that Hope and Sombra's story was a good one, but as you say, the execution didn't really work too well. Celestia and Luna didn't really need to be present at all, likewise the rest of the Mane 6 and the million and a half villains from the start.

If I get to it, it'd be interesting to rough out an outline for the same story but without all the extra characters. I'm certain there's a good story in amongst it all.

 

[Infinite Justice]

Should i read these comics?

Kinda sounds like the Avatar ones (aka fucking terrible) tbh

 

[SigmasonicX]

Friendship is Magic #37
I agree, this was a decent ending to a weak story. The villain team-up was the obvious weak link, and they didn't even appear in this last issue. If the story was more focused on Hope and Sombra, and did more to make Hope seem justified in her actions, this would have worked a lot better. I can accept Sombra turning good, especially given recent events in the show itself, and I think it would be neat if, in the final episode of the show, they did the following. As Twilight narrates about all friends she met and adventures she had and such, we get a montage of everyone. At one point, we see Hope walking through a field (a show only watcher would just think she's a random crystal pony) and in the background, there is an out of focus shot of good Sombra, and then it does an anime close up showing only his lower face and his mane blowing in the wind.

The Umbrum looked great, but I was disappointed by how they acted. As soon as they were released, they should have rushed across the landscape, blotting out all light, making Shelob noises, and instead they just stand around making Star Wars references. Look, I get it, Episode VII hype, but directly quoting the scene before Alderaan is destroyed really took me out of it.

The entire rebellion thing was kind of weird. How much time passed since the last issue? It seems like it would be a few hours at most. That said, the battle scene was entertaining, and Maud did end up appearing before Prince Rutherford in the comics, albeit as a cameo.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Should i read these comics?

Kinda sounds like the Avatar ones (aka fucking terrible) tbh

There are good comics and bad ones. Note that there are multiple series.

The main series, Friendship is Magic, has story arcs of varying length. They used to be OK at worst at the start, but starting from the "The Good, The Bad, and the Pony" arc (issue 25), the series has been in a real rut. I can't think of a single issue I really liked starting from that point.

The other ongoing series, Friends Forever, is entirely made up of one-shots, so quality can greatly vary. However, it has generally been pretty good, and there haven't been any issues as disappointing as those in the main series recently. Note that the very first issue, teaming up Applejack and Pinkie, is very bad, but it gets better immediately after.

For completed series, the microseries miniseries (aka Pony Tales) is also made up of one-shots, and it's generally pretty good, besides a wonky first two issues.

There was another miniseries, FIENDship is Magic, about the villains. Two of the issues are good (Sombra and Chrysalis), two are alright (Tirek and Nightmare Moon), and one is terrible (Sirens / Dazzlings).

And then there are the specials. The first annual special and the first Christmas special are about Equestria Girls, and aren't very good. The second annual special is about the Power Ponies and is pretty good. The second Christmas special is about ponies and is pretty decent.

EDIT: Whoops, double post.

EDIT: A post I made a while ago reviewing each comic.

 

[Infinite Justice]

There are good comics and bad ones. Note that there are multiple series.

The main series, Friendship is Magic, has story arcs of varying length. They used to be OK at worst at the start, but starting from the "The Good, The Bad, and the Pony" arc (issue 25), the series has been in a real rut. I can't think of a single issue I really liked starting from that point.

The other ongoing series, Friends Forever, is entirely made up of one-shots, so quality can greatly vary. However, it has generally been pretty good, and there haven't been any issues as disappointing as those in the main series recently. Note that the very first issue, teaming up Applejack and Pinkie, is very bad, but it gets better immediately after.

For completed series, the microseries miniseries (aka Pony Tales) is also made up of one-shots, and it's generally pretty good, besides a wonky first two issues.

There was another miniseries, FIENDship is Magic, about the villains. Two of the issues are good (Sombra and Chrysalis), two are alright (Tirek and Nightmare Moon), and one is terrible (Sirens / Dazzlings).

And then there are the specials. The first annual special and the first Christmas special are about Equestria Girls, and aren't very good. The second annual special is about the Power Ponies and is pretty good. The second Christmas special is about ponies and is pretty decent.

EDIT: Whoops, double post.

EDIT: A post I made a while ago reviewing each comic.

Hmmm i'll check this post out.

I remember reading the Equestria girls Christmas one and thought it was below average tbh.

I don't mind more Sunset backstory and development but wasn't much of a fan of the incident due to how harsh it was and the fickle nature of the 5 + other characters in that universe rared its ugly head again.

What are your reasons for not liking it though?