Season 9 Discussion Thread [Warning: SPOILERS!!!!!]

Poison Trail
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Wallet After Summer Sale -

+Managing to take an episode with a premise that at the very least induces concern (or sends you running for the hills screaming in my case) as to how it’ll go and strike gold.
 
+Man am I happy to see them use Starlight’s reliance on her overpowered magical abilities being used against her. No, it doesn’t make up for the disaster that was S6/S7, but this is as close as I’ll get to tolerating her still being around. It shows that you can salvage a character without turning them into a Poochie.
 
+Speaking of salvaging characters, I’m so glad DHX changed their course on Mudbriar. From being a pathological abrasive shithead in an episode trying and horribly failing to frame that kind of behavior as being something that he cannot, will not and should not change to him showing that he not only realizes that he’s part of the problem, but also that he’s willing to adapt and improve as opposed to putting the burden solely on everyone else being saints walking on eggshells at all times in his presence.
 
+I’m normally not a fan of schadenfreude, especially when it’s used in such a mea culpa kind of way, but those rock jokes, OH MY GAWD. I saw the previews screenshots and immediately thought “Well, Mudbriar being a rock sure seems like an improvement”. Not only did DHX expect that, they played with it gloriously. It’s been a while since an MLP episode made me laugh, especially more than once.
 
+Trixie being the legit protagonist of a story as opposed to like, an anti-hero and whatnot.
 
+Everfree Forest being dangerous yet again and cockatrices still being around, yaaaaaay!
 
=Pretty good use of secondary characters throughout, even though it kinda seemed like some of them were there just to have a decent final appearance more than anything.
 
I’m not really a fan of “X wants to change, the very first different thing they do ends up cascading into a major conflict laser-targeted at them” plots. It’s understandable that it was for the sake of having the plot move along, but… it does feel like that part could’ve at least used some more nuance. You tell one person to stop taking you for granted and they end up causing just the right kind of mess to have others consider it a possible worst case scenario. Still, what it did lead to wasn’t all that bad and it really was more of a series of circumstances leading to a dire conclusion as opposed to a buncha characters acting like idiots and causing the mess in the first place, so… just a nitpick.
 
So yeh. It was gud. Very gud.
 
1
Frenemies  
2- Student Counsel  
3- Twilight’s Seven  
4- The Beginning of the End  
5- Going to Seed  
6- Uprooted  
7- Common Grounds  
8- The Point of No Return  
9- Sweet and Smoky  
10- She’s All Yak
Holofan4life
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Artist -
Verified Pegasus - Show us your gorgeous wings!
Preenhub - We all know what you were up to this evening~
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Wallet After Summer Sale -
A Perfectly Normal Pony - The best thing about being an anime mod is you get to eat babies for free
A Tale For The Ages - Celebrated MLP's 35th Anniversary and FiM's 8th Anniversary
Equality - In our state, we do not stand out.

I II II L
  1. Student Counsel
     
  2. Frenemies
     
  3. Sparkle’s Seven
     
  4. The Point of No Return
     
  5. Common Ground
     
  6. Sweet and Smoky
     
  7. She’s All Yak
     
  8. The Beginning of the End
     
  9. Going to Seed
     
  10. Uprooted
Background Pony #C952
Maud had some fantastic remarks this episode. I haven’t actually laughed to a pun for a long time, so “search party” by Maud really opened my eyes there.
Miss Shy
Silly Pony - Celebrated the 13th anniversary of MLP:FIM, and 40 years of MLP!
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Preenhub - We all know what you were up to this evening~
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab

You're going to love me.
Well that was fun.
 
Seriously I was on board with all the Trixie/Starlight interactions and the spotlight being put on the side character, especially Terramar making a surprise return and Maud and Mudbriar being themselves.
 
But man, Silverstream just happening to be able to tame a cockatrice off-screen by just studying is just…dumb.
 
  1. Sparkle’s Seven  
  2. The Beginning of the End  
  3. Frenemies  
    4. Student Counsel  
  4. Sweet and Smoky  
  5. Common Ground  
  6. She’s All Yak  
  7. Going to Seed  
  8. Uprooted  
  9. The Point of No Return
     
    Next time is what is most likely the last CMC episode, which I believe the first episode that’s actively about closing a character arc.
EotD
Magical Inkwell - Wrote MLP fanfiction consisting of at least around 1.5k words, and has a verified link to the platform of their choice
Birthday Cake - Celebrated MLP's 7th birthday
Not a Llama - Happy April Fools Day!

I beat LoZ:BotW!!!
I slept over this one cause screw it I really need the rest.
 
What I liked:  
Trixie: She simply has the best lines. I really don’t care all that much for her but she is probably the best thing in the episdoe Like her wit is on full display here and it is great. “I have a lot of experience telling ponies I have a lot experience dealing with the creatures of the Everfree Forest”. That line is just freaking fantastic. Just having a narcissistic pony is rather refreshing, given she’s the only one that can give Starlight grief and still come out on top.  
Maud: If Trixie were straight forward “wet” comedy (Like is there such a thing as “wet” comedy? People say there’s dry comedy so therefore there must be a wet kind I suppose, but I digress), Maud is the subtle dry retort kind and I love it. While she is rather stoic, she does have a range here and it’s nice to see that.  
Mudbriar: Mostly that he gets is shtick knocked in and everyone just constantly gives him dirty looks. So less his actual character and more that he’s getting the short end of the straw is what I enjoy.  
The humor: Really it’s the main selling point here and it works well. I can not say the same for…
 
What I didn’t like:  
The story structure: It is rather clear this is more or less a strung together plot to connect all the funny bits the writer wanted to cover. The Mane 6 are all gone SUPER EARLY from the VERY IMPORTANT SCHOOL well before anyone else because the plot needs to happen. Maud is throwing a party and Pinkie’s not there, because the plot wants Maud and if Pinkie’s around well there goes Starlight’s plot so we can’t have Pinkie. Terramar just shows up because the plot needs to move to the next plot point. They don’t check the castle treehouse because then plot would be over. And most damning of all  
THE WALL IS FREAKING BROKEN: But for some fucking reason the FLYING CREATURES don’t fly over the stone embankments cause…Cause we’ve reached the part where they no longer need to be a threat and can move on to the next plot point. Like seriously just because you shut a door to an open courtyard isn’t going to mean a thing to wild animals. I highly doubt they play by Marquess of Queensberry rules  
Spring Solstice: There is no such thing as a spring solstice! THAT’S NOT HOW THEY WORK. And then they switch it halfway through to an Equinox but then switch it back, making that error even worse cause they aren’t even consistent with it.
 
What was meh:  
Starlight: I still do not care for her and here she more or less serves as the serving tray for the humor, the straight man to set up the jokes, the bland thing compared to the interesting one…yeah couldn’t come up with a third comparison there… anyways she’s not bad but she’s just there really so not much to say  
Sunburst: At least Starlight has a function in this episode, why is Sunburst here other than he’s part of Starlight’s group? Cause he really doesn’t add much, like maybe some light exposition but really that’s barely anything at all.
 
So a more comedic episode which doesn’t have the strongest of plots, I did like the jokes and it was decent enough.
Wiimeiser
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab
Dream Come True! - Participated in the MLP 9th Anniversary Event
Wallet After Summer Sale -
A Tale For The Ages - Celebrated MLP's 35th Anniversary and FiM's 8th Anniversary
An Artist Who Rocks - 100+ images under their artist tag

(Foil Hat)
This episode should be good, unlike last week’s filler  
Before we begin, though, I have to say that the general consensus of the season so far seems to be: Going to Seed is the only actually bad episode, though Uprooted is extremely divisive, and the season is good so far but not really building up to anything  
Starlight needs a break  
Yes, she does  
Please don’t ring again  
Hope Yona’s alright  
Theme  
Did the intro actually change? Spike doesn’t even have wings (though that wouldn’t count for the bingo anyway)  
How did the seaponies wash?  
So it’s spring now?  
Either he’s being abused at home or he doesn’t know better  
Maud needs streamers? How about Twocans?  
It’s gonna be a bigger problem  
Cannibal  
Enough, Silverstream  
Callbacks  
Of course the seaponies have no concept of dry  
School this late?  
Oh, it’s Trixie  
Stop it, Silverstream  
Dammit, Mud  
Another callback  
Terramar, so another callback  
An off-duty one, that’s who  
Where is she?  
Cockatrice?  
Can’t Trixie teleport now, too?  
At least Trixie is painfully self-aware  
Which way, Trixie?  
How do you know?  
I guess you don’t…  
A flock of them?  
Crash  
Be careful  
Smart move, Trixie  
Uh oh…  
To the castle  
Are they worse than Primeape?  
So moons aren’t a month, then…  
She’s okay!  
Is this Silverstream’s episode?  
At the party again  
I wonder, how does this affect the timeline?  
Also, most offensive episode number ever?
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