White Lightning Productions

Okay. Jan Animations just got Cease and Desisted by Hasbro.

This is just...

I don't...

I would post a picture of a pony face-hoofing if I wasn't afraid of getting the thread deleted because of a Cease and Desist.

For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils was pretty good at least.

The C&D probably isn't even legal thanks to Fair Use and parody law but the animators don't have the resources or time to dispute the claim - typical corporate bullying tactics. This is an unfortunate side-effect of the series' success. One of the Hasbro VPs is apparently looking into the rash of legal claims levied against fan work (http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/03/m ... about.html) but I seriously he'll have any influence. Hasbro is extremely protective of its intellectual property and brands and the people running their legal department don't give two shits about bronies.

Yes, at least For Whom the Sweetie Bell Tolls was awesome - a rare high quality Cutie Mark Crusader episode.

Stupid overprotective Hasbro! What's Sweetie supposed to do for a boyfriend now, huh?

Leap of Faith

Dang. I haven't seen an episode this predictable since May The Best Pet Win. Believe me, I'm about as good at figuring stuff out as Peter Griffin, so if I find something predictable, then it definitely is. I guess somepony had to get their key last before Twilight, and since Applejack's trait is honesty, we already knew exactly what was going to happen after the first five minutes.

I just wonder why Flim and Flam turned into such lying thieving charlatans. I don't recall them doing that in Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh7j1qUaGOc

This alone does not excuse the existence of Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks, but it is still pretty fucking awesome.

Testing Testing 1 2 3

I thought it was pretty good, me. It reminded me of just how much of a struggle studying was for me in school.

Pinkie Pie rapping was like watching a train wreck in progress, horrible but you can't make yourself look away. I was amazed at how well they captured 80's culture.

One final note. For an earth pony, Cherry Berry sure spends a lot of time flying. Makes me wonder if one of her parents was a pegasus.

Oh, the things I find when I get bored and do a Deviantart seach for 'rainbow dash cider'.

Trade Ya

The ponies experience the exhausting joys of going to a swap meet. The writing quality is decent, but there's a lot of funny facial expressions, not to mention it's fun to watch the background to notice ponies carrying all kinds of interesting items.

One of the background ponies was carrying a sword. Yes. A SWORD.

The story concept - that of a couple of loosely connected vignettes - was excellent. The execution...so-so. Rainbow Dash's quest for the special edition of Daring Doo was the best of the lot. The ending, however, was unnecessarily sappy and neat even for MLP. Love the God of War/Kratos and hidden Bioshock: Infinite references.

That is all.

It's been a while since we've had a good "x pony goes nutters" episode and this one wasn't bad. A little stretched, yes, but still enjoyable. Also, nice to see the dilemma was resolved without having Twilight Fix Everything.* And yes, Rarity's ice cream binge was the highlight.

*She just helped with the cleanup afterwards.

Rarity and Spike are spending a lot more time together lately, and now it's established that they can both eat copious amounts of ice cream. And that way she literally when he went back to check on her?!

Am I the only one starting to think there might just be a chance of a canon Rarispike relationship ACTUALLY happening at some point?

I found "Trade Ya" painful to watch- basically a 70's sitcom plot dumbed down (if such were possible).

"Inspiration Manifestation" is mediocre- really a thin plot that spent too long on Spike being Rarity's stooge.

Even so, I still think Season 4 has turned out much better than 3.

The Equestria Games

They spent that much time over two seasons building up to the Games only to have the episode focus on Spike, who isn't even competing? Eh, I don't know about this one. There just weren't enough jokes to carry it.

Yes, I had to force myself to listen to Spike's whole improvised song, but being painful to listen to was sort of the point. His heroism at the end just seemed to come out of nowhere, though.

Oh well, season finale next week: 'Twilight's Kingdom'

Well, Season 4 is wrapped up. Excuse me while I talk to myself some more.

Twilight's Kingdom

Good for a finale, though not quite as much fun overall as the Season 2 finale in my opinion.

I think we all predicted the 'gifts-turning-into-the-keys' twist by now. What DID surprise me a little was Discord being shocked at being betrayed. He was the one who brought the Mane Six's attention to their journal which helped them discover their keys. Therefore I assumed that his teaming up with the new baddie was an elaborate and intentional gambit to ultimately take him down.

Nope. He "genuinely" joined the baddie's side and was "genuinely" surprised when he was betrayed. I thought Discord was smarter than that.

The six key chest didn't make much sense to me. What was inside it? Awesomeness. Oh, and a new house for Twi, which was convenient since her old one got blown to smithereens. Um, what?

All in all a pretty great season I think.

While undeniably awesome, I wonder how the writers are going to handle the what we table-top roleplayers call 'power creep' in the show. The mane six just laid the smackdown on a being that could one-shot discord...how many actual threats to Equestria are left to deal with? Also, who or what CREATED the Tree of Harmony and gave them their garish rainbow powers in the first place?

Also, super-saiyan Twilight Sparkle!

Also also, that last bit at the end between Princess Celestia and Discord is going to inspire soo many fanships.

I like how it was the that triggered Twilight's full ass kicking mode. Why wouldn't it? All her possessions, her books that she refused to trade away for their memories, not to mention Spike's new comics, just obliterated.

Thus begins the Great Pony Famine of 2014...