Frenemies Talk, Chapter XI feat. Nyronus

Frenemies Talk, Chapter XI: Amending Fences

Twilight sure is good at making amends. And overreacting. And overreacting while making amends.

But, even if I would like to express my cynicism, it would not change the fact that this was an episode I've thoroughly enjoyed and can count among my favorite episodes of this season. Why? Read below to find out, as we have Nyronus joining us once more.

Spoilers below. And repaired fences... Uhm, restored fences? You know how it goes.

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My Little Pony: Supremacy is Magic. Join us next week to see Twilight Sparkle solve yet another friendship problem, glorious unicorn master race style!

Prane: Remember that opening scene from the very first episode when Twilight, a soon-to-be Ponyville librarian, liberator of Princess Luna and the Element of Magic is stopped by some undisclosed ponies inviting her to some meaningless party? You know, that scene which was pretty much just a device to establish Twilight’s character as a socially awkward nerd? Sure you do. Well, it seems these unicorns weren’t completely unimportant, and it only took like a hundred of episodes to properly introduce them. I’m not judging - after all, the lesson from today’s story is that it’s better late than never.

We’ve got a closer look on the two of them (Minuette and Moondancer) while the other two (Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine) were just named and used as a background to have more characters in the shot and the story itself. I regret Lyra didn’t make it, but I guess she was too busy saving the world with Bon Bon. That, and there was no reason to drag her all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot just to meet up with Twilight. Besides, they really couldn’t go into details about each of Twilight’s friends, so they’ve just chosen Minuette as the most popular one to be the lead character. I’m fine with that, though it’s a shame she was given the Generic Equine Enthusiast template.

Let’s start with discussing Twilight’s (new) old friends, whose characters were mostly a matter of headcanon up to this point, and have now become a little more real (ruining said headcanons like the season is doing with pretty much everything so far)!

Gulheru: Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine, other than being clones in body, turned out to be quite bland and similar in character as well, mostly due to the attention of the episode hanging around Minuette and Moondancer, as you have pointed out. Yet they did not really appear obsolete at the same time. They’ve established the body of the group of friends well, perhaps not with their wit and charm, but at least by the presence.

Minuette I have found to be a rather believable character, even if one could point out her generic nature. Yet an “enthusiast” like her is often necessary, especially in a group of friends. Besides, she made an intriguing counterbalance for Twilight and Moondancer alike, although on a slightly different basis. All in all, we were given a character that was not entirely unique, but at the same time natural and fixed into the story well. I’ve enjoyed her, rather natural, willingness to have a photo taken with a Princess. I mean, you rarely have a chance to say that you are friends with the Princess. I mean a Princess. A Princess!

Did I mention a Princess?

Anyway, Moondancer/Moon Dancer… I liked her a lot. I mean, I might not be a fan of characters that end up traumatized by an event like a party gone wrong, but I have found her outburst at Twilight rather… incredible. There was something so very convincing, very basic in her anguished shouting. Props to Kazumi Evans for delivering her lines with so much conviction and strength, she did absolutely wonderful. And, I have to say, I’ve enjoyed Moon Dancer’s look as a “studying hermit”. I’d like to believe this is how Twilight would appear after a few more years of pure books and libraries.

However, I would be slightly worried for her then. We know she is prone to having psychotic episodes.

All work and no play makes Twilight a dull filly.
All work and no play makes Twilight a dull filly.
All work and no play makes Twilight a dull filly...

Nyronus: Well, honestly, I don’t see HOW those ponies could be fleshed out more. The episode was so tightly paced and written, and a lot of it is devoted to developing everyone’s relationships. There was just wasn’t anymore room. Even then, there were apparently background gags subtly fleshing things out, like Lemondrops giving Minuette a death-glare for bringing up the Beaker incident. It’s so jam packed with stuff, and that stuff was so brilliant, I can’t earnestly complain.

I will play devil’s advocate for Minuette; you can complain about her being perky (which is apparently a bad thing now?) but her voice actor did an amazing job selling the character for me. At first I was worried Minuette would be some kind of hanger on trying to leech off of Twilight’s fame, but as the episode continued she really grew on me. Her enthusiasm is infectious. Also, her moment with Pinkie is just great.

Which leaves us with Moondancer, and boy, what a ride that was. I have to seriously compliment not just her voice actor but also the animators for really selling every moment of the breakdown scene to me. My life hasn’t exactly been sunshine and roses, so getting to see something this raw in MLP seriously meant a lot to me. I could seriously believe that something like this could totally happen, and the fact that the writers went there shows some real chops. Also, I really liked how halfway through Twilight and Moondancer start bonding again over magical research. That was a really clever moment and I honestly expected the whole episode was going to be about that - although I can’t complain about being wrong here.

I really dug Moondancer, although there is one flaw, but I can’t blame the writers for it. Namely, both MoonLight and TwiDance(er) are already taken as ship names, which is going to make the inevitable wave of Twilight/Moondacer ship-fics harder to discuss.

"What about this? It says here that hydrofluoric acid eats through glass. It might melt Lemon's muzzle, but what real choice do we have?"

Nyronus: So, we’ve had a G-rated death/grieving metaphor with Tanks for the Memories, the emotional moment when the Mane 6 learned just how much Pinkie does for them and Pinkie learned just how much her friends loved her in Party Pooped, and now Moondancer’s bitterness and breakdown regarding the betrayal she felt Twilight had inflicted on her and Twilight’s guilt over that. As I alluded to before, I’ve seen a lot of real shit in my life, and a big appeal for ponies, besides the humor and energy, is the emotion of it. Characters dealing with and coming to terms with real and powerful emotions is basically my jam. That’s kind of been a lot of my life, and this season has been delivering in spades. I mean, besides when it’s <insert barely veiled criticism of Princess Spike here>.

From where I’m sitting, it seems like the show is getting more ambitious and more competent at talking real nuanced human drama, while still presenting it in a way kids can empathize with. What do you guys think? Do you like seeing things like Moondancer or RD’s breakdowns in the show? Do you think we are seeing more of it now than before? Do you want to see even more?

Prane: The ponies of today have to deal with different issues than those presented in Season 1 (“we’re short a couple of tickets, the world is ending”; “we can’t resolve our differences, the slumber party is ruined”). In time, those dilemmas were getting more and more complex - much like the audience got older - which is why the show can take on some pretty serious matters of life now. I’m all in for our heroines to learn and teach us something important, because so far they’ve been doing it quite well.

That said, those lessons are not what I seek in the show. Much like with the RD/Tank episode before where I was more interested in the city of Cloudsdale and Ponyville customs rather than Rainbow’s struggle to accept Tank’s hibernation, in this episode I found the look of that pony library or the game they played at the end of the episode more important than Moondancer and her past. I guess I care more about the world itself than its inhabitants and their emotions, because that’s what I need to make my writing more vivid. Getting more serious stuff from the show is inevitable, so I only ask that they take me to new places, or those not fully discovered yet. The ponies can then solve their friendship problems while I go on a sightseeing tour.

Gulheru: I am enjoying the fact that the show is taking a more serious turn when it comes to emotions. I mean, I presume that even the “former target audience” of children did grow up in these couple of years and even they are now well-prepared to start tackling more serious emotions. I, frankly, do wish to see more from these approach. Perhaps not to experience breakdowns for the sake of breakdowns, but the emotional veil we can weave around those moments can be surely inspiring and satisfying to watch.

Also, honestly think that the natural pace of the show simply had to head in this direction. After dealing with the most basic problems that might appear when friendships are formed and started, we have to come to the moment when our bonds are expanding emotionally. I might not be a specialist in these matters, but it is only natural to delve deeper into the more complex issues and begin strengthening the connection between friends when meeting with more serious matters, like death, abandonment, loneliness, betrayal. Who better to support you than your friends, especially during hardships?

Time will tell how far are the creators willing to go with this approach.

"What is it, Twi? Have you sensed something, a presence you have not felt since the season opener? Because I felt it too."

Gulheru: I would not consider myself an advocate of the villains if I were not to bring up the background appearance of our seasonal adversary, Starlight Glimmer. You can see her hiding behind a menu in the restaurant in Canterlot, probably giggling as Moon Dancer trots away from the table. The might of Friendship once again proven null and void!

What is Starlight doing there? Is she stalking Twilight? Preparing to strike? Perhaps creating a little cult of hers right in the heart of Canterlot? That would be an intriguing plot for the season finale. A large scale uprising, perhaps… You know, the one with prisons being stormed and nobles being—

… yeah, as much as I root for the villains, a plan like that can’t be. Revolutions are hardly productive if undertaken exactly as history has shown us.

So, what do you guys think she is up to? Is she even aware that Moon Dancer accepted the Magic of Friendship in the end? Or is she delving deeper into her ideology?

Nyronus: Putting aside my dislike of people reading radical real world politics into Starlight Glimmer - there just isn’t anything to go on here. She was in the frame for a couple seconds annnnnd - that’s it. I sort of appreciate the foreshadowing and such, but we have almost nothing to go on.

If I had to make bet, chances are during the finale, Starlight - if she’s the antagonist - will probably stage a nefarious scheme with her magic, possibly involving Celestia and Luna’s cutie marks, and it will probably come down to her being redeemed by friendship. Not because I feel the show is cliche or predictable, but because anyone who starts a toxic altruism cult and uses depression hexes to brainwash people into accepting their fate in the cult is probably damaged as fuck and needs a damn hug.

Still, like I said, we basically know next to nothing new here, so most speculation is basically going to be spurious.

Prane: Perhaps she’s just taking some time off her nefarious activities. She knows her master scheme has to be ready for the season finale, so she figured she can drop by those silly capitalists of Canterlot to see how they’re doing. Just like heroes can’t always be in the middle of a world changing crisis, villains also deserve a slice of life for themselves. It makes you wonder, though: should now expect more cameos from Starlight? Placing her in the background from time to time would provide a good build-up for her reappearance in the future, much like the rainbowy gift-keys heralded the awesomeness back in Season 4. I’d like those cameos to be subtle, perhaps not clearly noticeable by the characters, maybe even just for the sake of the audience. If they can write in a couple of events with a mysterious force behind it, and then wrap it all together with Starlight Glimmer, then I’ll be content.

Speaking of cameos, my heart melted once I saw that brief shot of Fancy Pants and Fleur. I’d like to add to my concerns on Fancy which I had around Princess Spike - back then he clearly was stressed out by the whole situation because his lovely companion was away (a fashion show, or something), and because of that he raged out. There, canon applied, headcanon saved, character integrity maintained. Thanks to whoever thought about adding them to the episode!

"You really gonna love this place! True, there's some dirt laying around, spider webs, and dragon-bitten furniture, but hey, at least the Wi-Fi is great!"

Prane: Anybody else feels disappointed that they didn’t show much of how Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns works? There was only that one flashback scene with the science lab (we’ve learned a pony can stuck her head in a beaker, though, that’s crucial information!), but nothing really substantial for people in dire need of knowing how school for magical mini-horses work. The message and the episode weren’t bad, but I think the whole thing could use some nice worldbuilding to explain or introduce certain things. How long it took them to graduate? What were their teachers’ names? Which courses would you find in Twilight’s timetable? For the record, “all of them” is not helpful, however probable.

And speaking of Twilight, we’ve visited her old place. I find it hard to believe that nopony cleaned this place up! It’s been over a year! Is the tower part of the campus, or did Twilight get herself a free apartment in Canterlot once she became Princess Celestia’s favorite?

Nyronus: Eh.

…

Ehhhh.

To me that sort of worldbuilding is sort of pointless and a waste of the audience’s time.

Fiction is primarily about people. It’s why even when stories deal with the inhuman or the fantastic the non-human elements are often invested with some degree of anthropomorphization (Bug’s Life, Toy-Story) or aspects of human psyche or experience (Monsters representing various fears, Gods representing ideas, etc.). To invert the proposition, imagine a story about a rock or a tree without any investiture of character in it.

So, when a story gets bogged down in meaningless history or minutia, it defeats what, for me, is kind of a primal part of the appeal of stories. Learning that there was a war between the Ponies and Minotaurs would be vastly less engaging or meaningful than meeting a troubled old vet from the war.

That said, I feel that his episode had fantastic worldbuilding in all the right ways. Equestria seriously felt like a bigger, more vibrant place in this episode. We got a sense that there was a world bigger than Twilight and her friends, and that it was alive and filled with people living their own stories.

That’s the kind of worldbuilding I can dig.

Gulheru: I have to agree and at the same time disagree with the above. As much as I understand the appeal of showcasing stories and worldbuilding through various characters, a proper setting is also required. It would not have to be down to minute details, like a specific timetable shown for the classes at the School, but I would have preferred some hints to make this, quite prestigious as I presume, place appear more realistic. During the story with the beaker, could one just not drop a name of the teacher? Or how she reacted to that? It would not distract from the story and already would grant us with an insight on the level of strictness of the institution, for example.

I think there is a place for worldbuilding through both meeting characters and showing places. Just on a different level. Otherwise we would risk having cardboard characters in a beautiful, breathtaking landscape of dangerous, but appealing, jagged mountains, or we shall have a jovial, old stallion, his mane turned milky white by his age, but his eyes keen and mind still sharp, living on a cut-out island.

And when it comes to Twilight’s place, I would believe it to be some kind of a personal apartment for her, considering her position as a royal protégé. The lack of care for the place is another thing. Just imagine the vast number of valuable tomes and treatises about magic and sciences, all of them gathering dust. I, for once, would not mind rummaging through such a collection.

And, who knows, maybe somepony else did so already?

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That's a wrap for this week. Slightly behind schedule, but for a good reason. Go over and tell Prane "Well done!" as he has finished his studies and defended his dissertation with an A+ grade.

We would like to thank Nyronus for getting together with us again.

We will definitely be around for next week. And I shall have a splendid time. Why? Catch us then to find out.

Gulheru