Afterthoughts: On Your Marks · 4:14am Apr 23rd, 2016
art by AssasinMonkey
After “Crusaders of the Lost Mark”, we have all been eagerly awaiting the next CMC episode, wondering where the writers will take the three fillies now that their flanks are no longer blank. (Well, at least, I have!)
“On Your Marks” was that episode, and it was exactly the episode that it needed to be. After the major change in the CMC’s status that came with the completion of their overriding story arc, we needed a good transition episode. “On Your Marks” delivered.
From the beginning, the CMC’s reactions to their cutie marks was perfectly in-character for these three who have been focused on little else than trying to get them since the beginning of the show. (And Scootaloo’s little twirling was utterly adorable. Also, was I the only one that noticed her voice when gazing at her cutie mark was unusually feminine, losing its normal tomboyish quality?)
“Crusaders of the Lost Mark” was easily one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, and one of the best episodes of Season 5. Season 6, at least in the beginning, has turned down the level of amazing, instead giving us one solid episode after another. “On Your Marks” follows suit. It isn’t the episode I will go to first when wanting to rewatch episodes from this season, but it is one that I will enjoy rewatching, and will probably view several React videos too as well as try to find a good quality copy of the song.
“On Your Marks” had several lessons to teach, all of which blended together well. The solving of cutie mark problems, both with Bulk Biceps and Tender Taps, was nice – but these really weren’t the soul of the episode. This episode was about growing up, dealing with change, and letting your fears run away with you.
I will speak more about them below the break. This blog has been delayed nearly two weeks, but that is because I have a lot to say about it.
art by RacoonKun
Once upon a time, I was asked if I had a personal “theme song”. (It was a silly conversation, the kind you have with friends while waiting for pizza or the gamemaster to show up.) After some thought, I had to offer up this one, especially in light of a previous decision not accept another friend’s offer to move to a state where employee benefits were vastly better at their expense.
Change can be exhilarating. Change can be a healer. But as often as not, at least for many people, change is frightening. Change is stressful. We may not like the routines that our lives have fallen into, but they do give us the comfort and safety of familiarity. Disruptions to the status quo, even when they are ones that lead us to something better, are often unwelcome.
The lives of the CMC are changing. And one of them, Apple Bloom, was completely unprepared for that. In fact, she has had nightmares about what kinds of changes getting her cutie mark might bring. And most of those nightmares were focused on how getting a cutie mark might adversely alter her relationships with her family and her friends.
Of course, those nightmares aren’t coming true here. But the situation has enough similarities to trigger Apple Bloom’s anxieties. I admire how natural, if exaggerated, Apple Bloom’s descent is in this episode. From the moment Scootaloo suggested not spending time together, I could tell how she would mistakenly take those words. Who amongst us has never been sent into emotional turmoil by a friend’s innocently sub-optimal choice of words?
What actually is happening here is quite natural as well: friendships change. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were brought together by their mutual quest for their cutie marks, and through that, they became the best of friends. Now that quest is over, and while they still are the best of friends, and still bound together, that one thing that first adhered them to each other is gone. They are not only entering a new phase of their lives, but a new phase of their friendships. And the first thing they are forced to deal with is that they no longer have as much in common.
The loss of common interests is one of the most normal shifts that friendships undergo. And it is natural for friends to drift apart. Time and life slowly fills the space between. Even when effort is spent on maintaining the friendship, that joyous original bond mellows into something else. Childhood friends who did everything together become adult friends who get together once a year, spending a few days engaging in their favorite hobby. Buddies who used to hang out every weekend now get together for dinner at mutually-attended conventions.
vector by ScarletLightning565
based on original art by CSImadmax
When I was writing Fallout: Equestria, I predicted that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic would last about five seasons. (I am exceptionally happy that the show has triumphed beyond my expectations!) The timeline that I was mentally working with gave approximately five years of “show era” Equestria, followed by another decade of “progress and decay” before the war started. That was followed by ten years of Vietnam-like “over there” war before the situation radically changed and the Ministries were formed. There were several reasons for this timeline, but one of them was that it gave the friendships of the Mane Six time to mature and drift in just this fashion. They were still very much friends, but they were not as close, their live having taken their own courses. This allowed them to become the Ministry Mares of the story.
It makes sense that Apple Bloom would be the least prepared for this change. The CMC’s cutie marks illustrate the problem. While the main motif of their cutie marks – the shield – are identical and bind them together, the secondary elements are unique and show their own secondary special talents. For Sweetie Belle, this is singing. Scootaloo’s secondary talent is her athletics. And Apple Bloom’s… is being an Apple. She really doesn’t seem to have a dominant aspect of her character outside of her family and friendships.
God, she can be adorable!
True, as we saw back in “Showstoppers”, Apple Bloom had amazing skills with architecture and carpentry. (And apparently she still does, based on how fast the holes that Bulk Biceps smashed in their clubhouse floor got fixed.) This could easily have become her Special Talent, and her Cutie Mark could have been one of design and repair had the adventures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders not taken them down another path together. But while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle still gave focus to their original talents, and developed them over time, Apple Bloom neglected hers, focusing on the CMC’s quest. The closest thing to an outside interest that she ever pursued was potion making, and she didn’t do so with anywhere near the fervor that Scootaloo pursued athletics.
It isn’t surprising then that when the CMC moved on to pursue their own interests, Apple Bloom would find herself struggling.
(And yes, Sweetie Belle, we feel your pain. The CMC just helped Diamond Tiara find redemption through a musical. You know your friends can do better than this. But your friend’s singing operates on the science of musicals, where song is a way to express passions and feelings that cannot be kept inside. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo do not share your passion for singing, so they can only sing when the emotion and passion of their hearts demand that they do.)
(Case in point. As a side note, it took me a few listens before I could really appreciate this song, but it is beautiful.)
While Apple Bloom herself is over-reacting, the trials and emotions that the song touches on very real. With its opening refrain “As time goes by”, the song speaks to the natural changes that come with growing up. And really, this episode is about growing up, and what happens as the friendships of youth meet the forces of life and time.
One of the other lessons that the episode flawlessly adds is summed up by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo:
Sweetie Belle: Well, you don't have to be good at something to have fun!
Scootaloo: And being good doesn't always mean you will.
And these two should know, as they have lived examples of their statements. Sweetie Belle demonstrates her point this very episode with her crocheting. (By the way, that earlier line of hers imitating Rarity was brilliant!) Scootaloo, meanwhile, is seeing Apple Bloom take interest in dance. Dance is really not the sort of thing Scootaloo would be interested in. But we know she would be amazing at it. We have seen as far back as Showstoppers that Scootaloo’s athletics prowess extends to gymnastics, and the skill set could translate beautifully into dancing.
It is also wonderful that the episode directly addressed the difficulties that the Cutie Mark Crusader’s special talent itself presents. And they illustrated it with a wonderful and quite appropriate use of a venn diagram. I was actually excited by the prospect of the Cutie Mark Crusaders traveling Equestria to find those who need help. And while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were right to shut the idea down considering their age, as mentioned in my previous blog Exploring Equestria, I fully expect this to be something they do in the future.
Really, this was the episode that the CMC, and we the viewers, needed at this point in their journey.
A final note:
It was wonderful seeing Tree Hugger back, and they couldn’t have chosen a more perfect role for her. That was just a marvelous little scene. The creators of the show are always throwing in things for their mature audience; and having been a student of art in my university years, I really appreciated seeing famous painters ponified and painting Tree Hugger in the style of their signature artworks. Their cutie marks were perfect too!
For any who missed it:
1.- Pablo Picasso
2.- Salvador Dali
3.- Andy Warhol
I agree. It was a needed thought on the subject of "Well, what do we do now?" Always enjoy hearing what you think of the season so far. I for one am excited for next week's episode.
I'm glad this episode was early on in the season, I had actually been looking forward to seeing it once the season started. Glad it's not one of those episodes right before the finale.
I actually didn't notice the artist painting in their styles. I knew the paintings as those are some of my favorite pieces, but I have long since forgotten what the artists looked like.
I'm looking forward to the next episode though. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on that when it airs.
Enjoyable review and enjoyable episode overall (though very sad about the pictuer you linked, csi disappeared two years ago and has never eturned. financial issues left em homeless, and there is some fear for their fate.)
while your story was made YEARS ago i find that it can actually fit rather well with show elements as of now. Or at the very least discrepancy can be explained.
As the show is, things are going very right. The mane six bond grows ever stronger, twilight became an alicorn, a princess of friendship, and the map helps them look for disparity in equestria. Cmc have a rather special cutie mark situation going on here. And now there is a baby alicorn with an uncertain yet likely bright future.
Fallout equestria is where everything went wrong. And the absence of these features, princess of friendship, the castle tree, their tempered bond through further adventures, returning the elements of harmony. Without these features helping the world be more stable, more in harmony, harmony would weaken, and help make way to the destructive forces that come forth in fallout equestria.
So the absence of alicorn twilight and such can simply be explained as something went wrong, and it didn't happen. Hell there are two major scenarios that can easily play into that. Her cutie mark mystery cure and sombra's return. Failing either of these would make her unable to become an alicorn. And without that stimulus, harmony would begin to weaken.
Actually i would prefer to think that the failed test was the sombra one. Unable to overcome sombra would mean Celestia would not release discord, and so on. Hell without discord's help old Tirek would not be able to gather enough strength and could ahve been stopped after a manhunt or forced into hiding once more
Think that is one of the more awesome aspects of your story. It is made vague yet detailed enough that it can freely and effectively be adapted to mlp even years later.
That was a really good episode. The references were supreme yet I didn't found it great just beacuse I -heresy incoming- don't like CMC all that much. I'd rather like Diamond Tiara or Snips 'n Snails.
3890227 My inner art nerd gave a squee at seeing Andy Warhol pony's cutie mark was a soup can.
Agreed. This was a wonderfully deep episode. That bit on the bridge was an especially nice bit of symbolism: Apple Bloom stuck between two phases of her life, too depressed to see the way forward.
Also, the Da Vinci pony from "Princess Spike" was in the background of the Tree Hugger scene. It's a shame we don't get to see his interpretation of her.
It's a shame we didn't get to see Leonardo!Pony's painting of Tree Hugger
Leoneighdo?
De Whinny?
-
All in all, a nice continuation of CotLM
Another kind of dark bit that could be taken from this episode. This, along with some earlier stuff, paints Applebloom as possibly some abandonment issues. Kind of like what one could get from losing their parents while really really young....... just.. ouch.
But yeah this was a great ep that almsot perfectly followed up on the CMC getting their marks.
Whoa! With human them showing their marks like that, i can see easy dirty jokes heading your way
3892527
...and that is with the artist giving them more shorts. Definitely a scene the animators couldn't have pulled off if the characters weren't ponies.