Rarity is all about making a good impression. Remember, she wants to marry the princess' nephew (don't tell her Word Of God implies he doesn't exist...), so it's only natural that she'd want to look her best. Caught up in her romantic fantasies, it didn't sink in until after she arrived that 'Oh yeah, you eat and drink tea at a tea party'...' At which point she started a swift descent into panic mode.

As for Pinkie's antics... Her Pinkie Sense/leaning on the fourth wall let her glean that Princess Celestia is a fellow prankster at heart?

...That, or she just has trouble restraining herself when it comes to a party. ANY party. Which may be Foreshadowing for "Party of One", if any of the fan theories about its content pan out.

I actually felt really sorry for Applejack, and wonder if Twilight's own paranoia got to her. She probably would've really enjoyed the party if she hadn't been freaking out about seeming 'proper'. At least the Cakes let her take some of the food home?

For me, the 'Forest = Banishment' and 'Diamond Dogs' Cell = Imprisonment' made sense. They're easy mental references based on the ponies' recent experiences, after all.

I liked how Fluttershy bent the bars of her imaginary jail as though she was actually there.

As I said elsewhere, this is the first time reading Harry Potter proved useful.

I thought the beging was the funniest, mainly Rainbow and Fluttershy's reactions to the guards. And seeing our otherwise voice-of-reason- Twilight in panic mode never gets old.

Funny.

Fluttershy was one of the least panicky ponies in this episode.

edited 9th Apr '11 12:48:37 AM by Enlong

I noticed that too.

It was rather sweet seeing her and Twilight both trying to take the blame for the fiasco. I was interested in Twilight's reasoning that regardless of what punishment would have been in store for them, Celestia would go easy on her. Considering her scenarios included prison, exile, and both at the same time, she must be pretty confident of her favor with the princess.

Can I just say that I found the "banishprisonment" scenario hilarious, especially since they kept on bringing it up?

Actually, Faust said that character does exist. He just doesn't have the same name as what the fans've given him, and I don't think he's technically a nephew.

Well she is her student. I don't think there are very many other ponies that have that much favor with the princess.

edited 9th Apr '11 1:16:51 AM by Gelzo

I thiiiink she said he was supposed to be like, the descendant of a close friend from long ago or something? I can't find the comment exactly...

Somehow when I watch everypony flounder around Celestia, I can't help but imagine her talking an awful lot about the moon before Fluttershy arrived...and on that note...

"I've always wanted to date a girl named... 'The Elements of Harmony'."

Gelzo , kegisak : Oh, really? That's interesting... Wonder if that means he'll appear during the "Best Night Ever"?

I think he was said to be a great-great-great(continued) nephew of Celestia/Luna's mother.

Yeah, she said they had parents.

"I'm telling you man, tromboning will save your life one day!"

edited 9th Apr '11 2:06:40 AM by Gelzo

From the start? How so?

I was like "wait, it burst into flames? ... Ooooh, I see what you're doing there."

YES.

YES.

But yeah, I loved the beginning. Angel was awesome. Rose at least a rank in my "favorite character" rankings, which I guess makes him/her my favorite side-character? Rainbow Dash was awesome in every scene she appeared in, which wasn't many, but which brilliantly fit her character. "... Too good. Bored now." Twilight being neurotic is always awesome, not only because of the great faces she makes, which contrast beautifully with her usual common sense, but also because it keeps her from being a boring one-dimensional character. Princess Celestia trolling the Pies was awesome, and the aside about the Phoenix' theatrics was nice, too. Applejack was awesome for what little she did because I could identify so well, and Rarity was awesome because of that freaking voice. "Nobody move!"

Only not-so-good things I can think of is that Pinkie Pie was indeed a little too crazy here, but it would be amazing if that weakness of her was actually addressed as a weakness in that upcoming episode. Aside from that, well, I have to say that most of the episode was a little too much on the cartoony side for me, but the only times I actually felt bothered by anything were when Fluttershy and Twilight actually fell for that moustache trick and when they started doing the Scoobie-Doo door routine. That was like "awwww come oooon". Well, and that sort of ending where everyone's just laughing is always pretty cheesy.

Overall, solid episode, and the beginning definitely makes it one of the better ones.

Eh, maybe it's just me. But the moment it showed the cage, you heard that squawk, and flame-colored feathers flew up... my mind immediately went 'that's a phoenix, and that's where they're going with this!' So I guess it wasn't from the very start so much as the second the bird appeared. Was a bit shocked that they actually had it turn to ash, though I suppose I shouldn't have been.

...I wonder if we're supposed to think Mr. and Mrs. Cake are Pinkie's parents? Mrs. Cake did do the exact same gasp Pinkie did, and in some ways, they treat her like a daughter... but if that were the case, she wouldn't have addressed them as Mr. and Mrs. Cake, right? Even if they were, like, her aunt and uncle, you'd think she'd call them 'Auntie' and such...

I didn't really like how Pinkie was written into this episode either. I don't think it was because she was too crazy, but because her craziness didn't have any direction. She was just kind of a non-sequitur.

But I guess that might have been the only way they could think of to give her some screentime in an episode where she doesn't have any relevance to the plot.

Huh, I just kinda assumed they were her parents, hence why I called them "Pies". Turns out when I watched the beginning again that they're indeed actually called "Cake". Huh.

I'm pretty sure it's been stated that Pinkie is just a live in helper at the shop, not their daughter, but I noticed that gasp too. I know it was probably just that they had the same voice actor, but I couldn't help but notice a lot of assets seemed like they got re-used here...Kinda pulled me out of the episode, even though it was still a really funny one.

Okay, so...If Luna and Celestia are confirmed to have parents...what happened to them? Celestia is the full and highest power, so the parents obviously aren't around, so, did they die? Does that mean they were mortal? And if so, does that mean that at one point Celestia and Luna weren't? Man, I'm really curious now. Wasn't there a fanfic that dealt with something like this, now that I think about it?

And man, now I wanna doodle regular show/MLP crossover art...with Dash as Mordecai, and Pinkie as Rigby, of course. And Applejack as Benson.

edited 9th Apr '11 2:37:31 AM by kegisak

kegisak: Probably quite a few, actually. There was one that justified her still being called 'princess' by having her as acting regent for her ailing father; once he eventually passed on, she became queen. And another took the tack of having their father have sun-based powers and their mother moon-based powers as well... I know in that one, they were powerful, but still definitely mortal...

I've noticed that quite a few fanfics tend to have it that earth ponies live significantly less longer than the other types. Is there any particular reason for making them mayflies?

Hm...well, it may only be what I've read, but in my experience with Fantasy media, Magic is generally accepted to have life-lengthening properties. So, if we assume they start out at roughly the same level, due to biology, Earth ponies would get the boost from their earth-connection, but they don't have any really 'active' magic. Pegasi magic is still relatively passive, but it has more inherit application, and can be directly channeled - Walking on clouds is one thing, we can accept that as inherit magic, but kicking a cloud to make lightning is a whole other deal, so they would live longer than Earth ponies...Unicorns being the most long-lived of the three, then, having potent enough magic to be able to actually channel and use it consciously, rather than the Earthy passive, or the Pegasi physically activated magic (ala Biotics). This would also explain the nigh-immortality of the two sisters, having potent enough magic to move celestial bodies and seal one another away. Of course, that's a reaaaaaly broad assumption, but hey, that's what WMG is for, right?

The one fanfic I'm thinking of, I think had something to do with How Luna and Celestia came to rule the son and moon in the first place...I think. I only read the description, and that was a while ago. I think it was called Paradise, but I'm not sure.

Heh. When Dash whispers to Philomena at the end, you can hear her distinctly tell Philomena to tickle the guards. It's not just gibberish-y like most cartoon whispering is.

edited 9th Apr '11 4:32:46 AM by edvedd

Interestingly enough, the guard whispering in Celestia's ear IS gibberish.

I wonder why...

I didn't really like this episode, it felt like filler to me, somehow. I did like seeing the Gala dresses again (Twilight and Pinkie's can be seen in the Cold Open, and Rarity wears hers for most of her screen time), and it always amuses me when Twilight's calm demeanor breaks. That's about it, though.

Maybe Pinkie is like an apprentice or something, she might have picked up the gasp from the Cakes after all her time working there.

Yikes, I submit two videos to Equestria Daily and overnight the viewer count jumps past a thousand. 9_6

I don't really think it's possible to have filler episodes for this show. It's pretty episodic even if there is a little arc.

Maybe that's not the right term. I should probably have used "underwhelming". (I also feel this way about "Fall Weather Friends", which I re-watched a couple of days ago to see how well it held up)