My Little Pony Pony Tales Volume 1 Review

Hey, Tara Strong here, and you're listening to

the Geekcast Radio Network. Hey, this is Tom

Zoller, creator of Long Distance, and you are

listening to The Pullback. Hello and welcome

to episode 129 of the pull bag I am more ghost

if you're Mike Jamie is The pinky pie of podcasting

Everyone does say I am like I can't yeah, I See

where they get know where they're coming from

but Beatles diva is here And this is going to

kick off Fiendship is Friendship February. Was

it last year or the year before? I don't even...

It was last February. Okay. Ah, honey. So, this

podcast has actually been a year in the making,

folks. Last February, IDW released the Villains

one -shots for their My Little Pony franchise.

And as soon as they did that, I'm like, ooh.

that's gonna be interesting and it because I

found out about it a month after it happened

I'm like you know I'm not going back February

content for 2015 is already done I'll just wait

a year it'll be fine it's not like it's gonna

go anywhere so yeah this is Feenship is Friendship

February it's gonna be episode 129 to 134 it's

no 133 it's actually probably gonna stretch into

March so most likely depending on how I decide

to do the releases but uh in this episode we

before we talk about the bad guys we gotta talk

about the good guys so we're gonna start with

the ponytails volume one this includes stories

from twilight rainbow dash rarity fluttershy

pinky pie and applejack now if anyone's heard

uh Where where have I said this I've said this

I know I've said this before because you you

know nearly killed me saying it My little pony

that's for girls. I am the world's last Brony

I I I do not buy into the whole brony thing whatsoever.

I'm fine with with guys liking Female centered

or female driven cartoons. That's fine. I mean

we all love Shira. We all love Jim whatever but

The ponies thing has always really been for girls

in my personal opinion And I just can't I'm one

of those people if something gets to mainstream

not me I Don't want to sit here and insult the

my little pony franchise by saying it's a fad

but when it gets not necessarily mainstream,

but when it pretty much the bandwagon just churns

and churns and then goes careening down a hill.

I pretty much jump off at the top of the hill.

It's like, I'll come back to it when no one's

talking about it or when, when all just everything

is just all conversations just died down. Cause

I need to be able to find it for myself, not

just jump on and, and cause I've done that before

I've jumped onto stuff and I'm like, How do people

like this crap? It doesn't matter what it is.

No, seriously, that's generally my reaction.

It's like, okay, sure, I'll give it a try. Watch

one or two or whatever, read one or two or whatever.

It's like, huh? How, whatever. So, but I am giving

this an honest try. I have watched the first,

I know I'm way behind. I have watched the first

season of... My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.

My girlfriend Jen and I will be doing a Tooncast

Beyond on that at some point, whenever she gets

her computer back. But yeah, we're gonna do the

ponies and, well that sounded wrong. We're gonna

do the Pony Comics coverage here in the full

bag. When did you first read these stories the

the ones that compile Ponytails volume one did

you read them as they came out or? Yeah, so this

is like a little refresher course for me In case

people don't know Nicole's the die -hard. I'm

just skirting on the edge When they announced

it. At the time when it was still the hub. Yeah,

well, when they announced it. Okay, we'll travel

back. Let's go back into Nicole's world. You

know, so when they announced it, I did not like

the animation styles whatsoever, the stills that

they showed. I'm like, this is way too girly.

I am not gonna like this. First episode, the

first two episodes are different. the ponies

than the rest of it because it talks about the

legend of Nightmare moon and everything and then

you get into what? The actual ponies feel like

I was in love with these guys. So when they came

into IDW, I knew I was gonna be a fan So but

you know what how you were saying that it was

it was a girl's property when it was first made

in the 80s It was supposed to be geared to both

boys and girls if you go watch the very very

first episode you can see that yeah i'll have

to just take your word for it no really they

they they do dna tests that make these ponies

into dragons and Tirek is badass and he makes

him you know pull his chariot of death to bring

yeah this is the first episode of pony OK. You

said chariot of death. I thought you said cherry

of death. And I'm like, wait, why are they pulling

his cherry? Just chariot. Go watch it, people.

It's awesome. Yeah. So as I said, we have six

stories here. We have Twilight, which is Story,

Art, and Letters by Tom Zaller, Colors by Rhonda

Pattison. Rainbow Dash's story is done by Ryan

K. Lindsay with Art and Colors by Tony Flex.

And then we have Rarity is written by Katie Cook

with Art by Andy Price, Colors by Heather Breckle.

Barbara Kessel is on Fluttershy with Art and

Colors by Tony Flex again. Ted Anderson is doing

Pinkie Pie with Art and Colors by Ben Bates.

Hey, Ben Bates, I know him from Turtles. And

Applejack, I just... Can't believe this. It's

written by Bobby Kurnow, the Turtles editor over

at IDW. He also does the edits on My Little Pony

as well. Art and Colors by Brenda Hickey. So

we open up with Twilight and Spike. Wait, we

gotta give credit to the letters. Neil Yakutay

did letters for all of them it looks like. Because

when you get to Pinkie Pie, letters get crazy.

Yeah, they do. They do, they do. All the regular

covers are done by Amy Meberson. The regular

cover here, it's Twilight Sparkle, but it looks

like she's having a rock concert but with books.

It just looks like she's living up to her last

name. It's very sparkly. Yes it is. And Spike

is down there in the right hand corner just snickering

at her. So this first story is pretty much Twilight

and Spike going off to see Princess Celestia.

And she sends them on a quest to the library.

Which is not really... It's not a punishment

for Twilight, let's just... No, it's not a punishment

for Twilight, no. Anybody that knows Twilight

Sparkle knows she is the biggest reader in Ponyville,

in Equestria, anywhere. The whole time I'm reading

this I'm like, and I should say it's not the

library, it's not the library, it's the Royal

Archive. It's kind of the same thing though.

Oh yeah. Kind of. And we see this crotchety old

green pony basically slamming the door in Twilight's

face saying she doesn't need any help. It's kind

of like what if... Twilight Sparkle met Grandpa

Simpson. Like, seriously. It does remind me of

Grandpa Simpson, yeah. I don't want any help.

So, you know, Twilight basically tricks her into

opening the door and letting her in, and Twilight's

just... amazingly at home and this this librarian

pony and she got injured somehow we don't know

how right away because they just said that she

got hurt so oh so they don't actually explain

it but they show okay well Celestia just Princess

Celestia just said that she hurt herself in the

previous panels so you know she's she's not doing

too well yeah so And again, this is Tom Zoller,

people. This is the guy that wrote Love and Capes

and Long Distance and I just, I love the guy.

I interviewed him last year. He's an awesome

dude, but this is just weird seeing him write

ponies. At least it's weird for me. I'm not saying

it's a bad thing, but so the... I'm just going

to keep calling her the green pony because she

doesn't actually give her name. Yes she does.

Not yet. Celestia gave her name at the beginning.

Her name says summer main the royal archivist

has had a fall and can't get around so she fell.

That's not technically her real name though.

That's her pet name. No, I was going to say that's

her escape to Mexico name. Do really love this

character because you know, what's your name

Twilight Sparkle? I think I think you talk too

much. I really dig this She has all these rules

She basically tells Twilight Sparkle there's

a guest suite down the hall that's yours no snoring

basically Anything and everything. Stay out of

my way and don't talk, basically. Yeah, pretty

much. The answer is no. It's always no. Which

has been my motto for the last 10 years or so,

actually. So, Twilight goes on. Summer Mane gives

her the... the tour of of of the archive and

They're talking about Which well Twilight's cuz

she a summer main saying that young young fillies

don't read today and so Twilight's like I read

all the time and she's talking about her favorite

authors and summer mains like putting everything

down that she likes to read and I mean, it's

basically old school versus new school, I guess.

Who's the vampire pony? What the hell? I mean,

talking about vampires, her name's Twilight.

You can pretty much figure her out. That's just

so wrong. It's just just People that keep on

saying that Twilight Sparkle was named after

Twilight No, Twilight Sparkle was a G 120 in

the 80s. So yes So Summer asks her who her favorite

author is, and she said, that's easy, Jade Singer.

And Zahler is pretty much having Twilight just

wink at the audience. Well, she has her eyes

closed. But to me, it's like, after reading the

story, I'm going back and looking. I'm like,

yeah, that's a dead plot point giveaway right

there. It's not a bad thing. But what do we think

of the art so far in this story? I like the art,

it's fun. I mean, it's not too the exact of the

cartoon, but I love it. I love the expressions

that they put on Summer Mane. She has some of

the best expressions. The knock -knock that that

face and then the question mark is Twilight's

not there and cuz Twilight's already out and

The thing and I think her best expression is

the panel you got a spunk kid. I hate spunk She's

just kind of wrinkling her nose at her I don't

blame her for being crotchety though. No because

having a broken leg is not fun Especially if

you're a horse, most likely you'd be put down.

So they're giving her a second chance to recover.

Yeah, pretty much. So it looks like Twilight's

gonna be daunted at the task of having to put

all these books in order, alphabetical, all that

stuff. But this is Twilight, people. She lives

for this stuff. Yeah, this is like vacation time

for her. Yeah, pretty much. As far as the art

goes I You got to think though. This is um This

is IDW trying to take the three -dimensional

characters and put them two -dimensionally and

Tom quite frankly since he's doing the art here

He's pretty much thinking fourth dimensionally

if you really want to put it to because I mean,

it's not you're right It's not exact. It's like

Twilight's not exactly to her animated self but

the colors are right the angles are right a little

bit i mean it but you know certain artists are

gonna have to put their stamp on it i mean it's

not you know um and it's not a bad thing oh no

no no i i think the faces are adorable it does

a good job wait marble universe uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... yeah and so basically

this uh... summer breeze basically pulls this

book out because she thinks it's incorrectly

put away and twilight says but no look at it

it says the official handbook That's why we love

Twilight and We have a really awkward dinner

scene with them. So this this takes over place

over what a day day and a half or so Yeah, cuz

she stayed there. Yeah She Twilight goes to ask

ask her a question and she's oh never mind Again,

the expressions are amazing, folks. And it's

just a really uncomfortable dinner scene. It

really, really is. I love how Summer can never

get her name right. So Twi 'lek. I think she's

kind of doing it on purpose because she really

doesn't want her to be there. She's afraid she's

going to take over her job because we forgot

to mention that Twi 'lek kind of lied to get

into here. Yeah, that's that's true So we get

to the next day And books need dust covers and

Twilight tries to make a joke and sadly it doesn't

work. Yeah. Yeah, I kind of back backfires Poor

Twilight, she's trying. She really is. She is.

Very much so trying. She starts singing as she's

doing this and Summer's like, are you hurt? I

heard a terrible sound. No, I'm not. Singing,

singing. Is that what you kids call music? Yeah,

this is so Grandpa Simpson. So she pulls out

this music thing and or the what is that? It's

record player phonograph. Whatever the hell Yeah,

looks like something out of out of Beethoven's

days. It's not that old. It's more like yeah

So they start boogie woogieing down and she says

this is good stuff once you hear it you can't

get it out of your head that's what I'm afraid

of my god summer is you the earworms yep you're

wrong you're wrong Nope. Capital R? Yeah, you

know, that's a crossover we need, rung analyzing

the ponies. That would be awesome. So we get

to a bit later and they're, I guess, having a

grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. It looks like

grilled lettuce, maybe. I don't know. Good old

pony. i don't know what kind of sandwiches these

are uh the only thing uh that i will i will have

i don't think it was the i don't know if it was

tom's script or if it was the letter that did

this or no i think he's on i don't know whatever

any She says no way. I thought everyone used

a typewriter They kind of broke the fourth wall

there because they usually do every pony or any

pony or I didn't even notice that yeah, you know

So they get to talking about about Jade singer

and what she used to use and how she used to

do everything longhand and She says She says

if you like singer you'll love grande and and

she wrote more than one just one overrated book

Try like try like try like spackle She does finally

get the name right she screams it So she scolds

her because she's up there reading and She's

not doing what she's supposed to be doing she

got she got buried she buried her nose in a book

and And then everything just stopped so she could

read you know and then we have We then have them

I guess it's Time in this is just weird because

they're eating again. Well, it's just it's It's

the next day or they're having they're having

macaroni and cheese. Yeah They have this really

weird scene where It's not a weird scene, but

they have this this background scene where everything

is essentially inaudible for about a panel and

a half That's an interesting way to pass that

he got two bookworms and they finally got into

a subject that they both enjoy So I'm pretty

sure this went on for a while this this talk.

Yeah So summer goes off to town because She's

gonna get them a pie for tonight and she says

there's a new stack of books that needs filed

in the south wing and something it doesn't really

show here what um she twilight says she said

not to go into the office never go into the office

but she didn't say i couldn't look through the

door she left it open oh it's crazy i didn't

i didn't get that at first i'm like wait why

is she even looking over there don't even look

but the door is cracked okay i got it And this

is where she finds out that Summer is actually...

Her favorite author. Yeah. Yeah, Jade Singer.

I like that name, Jade Singer. And the dinners

get even more awkward and more awkward and more

awkward. Well, and then, well, Jade slash Summer.

She's like, I want you to go. just pack your

things you know she feels like her trust is she

can't trust twilight right now you know and of

course twilight being the perfectionist she feels

so bad feels so sorry for her so she's she couldn't

sleep so she stayed up all night yeah stayed

up all night shelved all the books uh you know

She basically tells Jade that, you know, oh you

were never gonna be replaced. I just made that

up so you'd let me in. That's how I got my first

job as an assistant editor. And then of course

they have another bonding experience, you know.

And Jade kind of lets down her guard and she

finally goes like, okay I could really relate

to this gal. Like the story I think it's kind

of cool. It's it's fun I don't know I like how

they do bond and because as the story goes along

she does you know Twilight tells her about her

friends and Jade says she's never had friends

like that and Well now you have one now and It's

you know, it's a typical my little pony story,

you know where you know, it is based on friendship

when When the the The cartoon star Twilight didn't

have any friends because she was so busy studying

and so for her to Reach out to make friends.

She thinks it's a big accomplishment, and it

really is for her. So this is also another big

thing for her. Yeah, I mean, I like the story.

I think it's interesting and fun. Overall, I'd

probably give it a four out of five. I agree

with you. I think it's a cute story. You kind

of could see where it was going, but it still

has, you know... Grandpa Simpson, I like that.

It's just a feel -good story, you know? This

is like one of those stories that you could share

with a kid and they'd learn something from it

like, oh, okay, you know? So the second chapter

is all about Rainbow Dash. Now this is where

the action ramps up here, folks. Rainbow. Rainbow's

awesome. Are you ditching Pinkie Pie to love

Rainbow more than her? I actually loved Rainbow.

The very first episode of Rainbow was when I

was like, I want to be Rainbow Dash, she's so

awesome. I can't be that awesome. So rainbow

is all about action and we have the the Wonderbolts

Basically the pony versions of the Blue Angels

essentially Basically basically, oh And we have

rainbow with her sonic rain boom and she's Rainbow

Dash has always been the pony because she's a

flyer. She needs to go faster and faster and

faster and faster and faster. And she keeps pushing

herself and pushing herself and pushing herself.

And in this she runs into a cloud. A dark cloud.

A very dark gray cloud. Now, I'll say this now,

folks. I was hoping this was going to be more

than what it was. Like, they made it out to be

this big, bad, oh my god kind of thing. I like

how the story for Rainbow goes as far as her

self -esteem and all of that and everything else

and how all that is, but as far as the reveal

of who the villains are actually behind the cloud,

I just hit my head on my desk. Why? I love these

guys. I think they're awesome. I'm like, really?

Really? Come on. I mean, yeah, they are awesome

characters, but the way that it's written and

the way that it's played out and the way that

Rainbow is kind of freaking out about all this,

it makes it seem like it's something more than

just a couple of gremlins. Yeah, but when you

hear that it's gremlins, it gets the fire. Go

back to the Twilight Zone with the gremlins on

the plate. That's what I got out of this. I'm

like, oh Gremlins on a plane. They're destroying

her. I mean they're taking away her flight if

you think about it, so That's what I got out

like oh, okay. They have it like a little Twilight

Zone twisted like this Yeah, all's I can think

of is don't feed them after midnight those are

other gremlins I will say the art in this one

is amazing. Oh, yeah, all the effects With her

flying with with the clouds in the red the giant

cloud the rain the thunder and light or the lightning

strikes all that There's a big splash page where

it's revealed that it's a nightmare and it's

kind of like at this giant purple eyes and mouth

and oh, that's so cool I like that and that page

is kind of awesome and rainbow basically asked

the cloud what do you want and they the cloud

wants to rain on your parade and all this and

all that and basically is breaking her spirit

pretty much oh yeah and the whole rest of the

issue is her trying to get her gumption back

her trying to you know Get her self -esteem back,

and I mean I like the story I think it's a good

story that you know if someone does lose their

self -esteem you do have to find a way to get

it back and well because Rainbow Dash is a very

proud pony and She's always wanting to be the

best. She's always wanted to you know be number

one so when she gets pushed down It's a big fall

for her. It's just like wow Because she really

knows what it's like to lose. But when she does

it, it hurts her pants. You know what we need

in this series? We need a version of Ironhide.

We need an iron pony. Because every pony. That'd

be Big Mac. Oh, well, he's not red. He's not

red, though. Because she says. few weeks passed

between the time her her first cloud encounter

happens and She says every pony is so mopey and

all I can think of when I hear mopey is ironhide

Thanks for noticing me They have the goth pony

So she's going to try really hard About you know

about getting back into the game and defeating

the cloud and she comes up with all these different

attacks and and and This is just this is where

the book gets hilarious folks summer breeze denied

the inner shine dulled fortress of fantastic

Don't tell rainbow, but this one won't work either

She tries so hard yeah Uh, so these gremlins

are pretty much, um... We get the reveal of them.

Are these characters, have they been in the show,

or are they exclusive to the comic? Because like

I said, I've only seen season one, so I haven't

seen these guys. Okay. For the comic. Okay. I

don't remember them from the cartoon. I must

have been high if there was one. uh... there

their whole point is they want everyone to give

up and be sad that's kind of the whole point

of their plot here uh... and i do love the whole

uh... what fools these ponies be it's just it's

just classic uh... this shakespearian yeah absolutely

uh... so we then get to where uh... where Rainbow

Dash is going over to see her various friends.

We run into Applejack. We run into... Okay, so

we run into Applejack and her and Rainbow Dash

have a discussion and Rainbow wants to try again

and she tries this. Listen up, you big dumb cloud.

I'm coming for you. And rainbows are coming with

me. Tornado. Epic. Tunk. Fail. Denied. Denied.

So uncool. Yeah, I know, right? And... So we

have the, um... The results here and Applejack

is not exactly Pleased with it. Yep. That one

was your fault. Why didn't you wind it faster?

Why is this so difficult a cloud? It's not like

I'm fighting a ninja monster made of algebra

and tangled wire hangers Algebra tangled wire

hangers, oh my god. I feel that. I could actually

feel that, you know? We enter day 28 of Cloud

Gate. Young Philly, how is the cloud ruining

your life? Oh, the little goth pony is amazing.

actually kind of heart it it's totes cutie so

rainbow says she hasn't tried everything not

yet and she goes to try the sonic rainbow and

that doesn't exactly work because she gets the

reveal of the gremlin and in your face see i

wish the art would have shown the art shows him

reaching for her goggles i wish it would have

shown him pulling them and letting them fly back

on her face i thought i mean as much as i want

rainbow to win at this point i just thought that

that would be like the really because in the

one panel he he looks like he's reaching right

for them uh -huh um Hey, take your stinking claws

off me you darn dirty grandma dirty a lot of

pop references The gremlin goes and don't go

too fast weak little pony we wouldn't want you

to ruffle those wings again and you have an ouchy

I love the designs of these gremlins, I think

they're awesome. They're very evil looking gremlins.

I love it, I love it. And, Rainbow's just keeps

saying uncool. So uncool! Yeah. And she gets

really frustrated and this basically just fuels

their cloud and their... Yeah, that's so you

line consider your face is lame. I can see you

saying that I kind of like this whole like Spider

-man kind of reference. She's using a rope and

it's a web but then like a symbiote comes Yeah,

they're ruining everything everything gross pork

chops and applesauce And poor take he almost

gets it yeah, he almost does that lightning came

awfully close But why does it turtle? Need a

helicopter watch that episode What wait was it

in wasn't in season one was it I want to say

it's three is it three Okay, yeah, I haven't

gotten that far I'm pacing myself because everyone

else has a pet so she has auditions for pets

It kind of ends up like the tortoise of the hair

kind of like a little thing Yeah, we're all these

big magnificent creatures and a tank wants to

be adopted so bad doesn't give up so slow that

of course something happens and she notices how

awesome he is but she wants him to fly with her

so she gives him a helicopter and we go on and

on and on and she says that she may never fly

again and the gremlins are like she's never gonna

give up i know it's perfect i could devour her

hatred for years i love those gremlins I like

that the mr. Burns like little tippy fingers

So she's gonna give it everything she got with

the sonic rainbow and Explosions are better with

rainbows people Sonic double rainbow And this

makes basically everybody happy Because it pretty

much restores all the happiness of the ponies

and basically defeats The gremlins they say it

doesn't At first they say the happiness thing

the goggles they do nothing i love like the pop

references that they do here and i like i like

the news reporter works for pnn pony news network

yeah just it's just crazy Poor rainbows. She

gave her all literally that she's falling out

of the sky Applejack is there to save I Float

in two months and you're making jokes too soon

AJ too soon. Oh I love it cuz she goes and visits

rainbow cuz she's she's hurt pretty bad She's

still recovering from all this she brings her

orthotics uh... the uh... you're right i'm sorry

will you still come for a walk with me scowl

that's actually going to be in the post i love

that panel of rainbow the evil eye yeah yeah

because out of rainbow's double rainbow comes

a special surprise of rainbow apples Yeah, and

it's rainbow apple pie. That actually looks good.

I don't know why. It looks good to me. You know

what it looks like? It looks like General Mills

has gone into pie making with lucky charms. It

looks delicious. Rainbow pie, it's magically

delicious. So we have rainbow apples and Basically

right basically Applejack Tricks her into flying

again because she throws a rainbow Apple Easy

next bring it back down here down I'm flying.

I'm flying. You're also extremely observant.

You used all your happiness. I thought I'd bring

a little back for you I knew it would work. What

if it didn't well it did I like this story. I

thought this was a really, really cool story.

It has, you know, it has the each of these stories

because it's the whole point of the franchise

at this point. You know, they all have a life

lesson. The first story with Twilight was all

about friendship and and it's, you know, people

that you probably never get to know. Yeah, right.

Exactly. And this one is, you know, you know

giving it your all and doing your best and you

know not giving into the self doubt and just

all the negative feelings and just and letting

your friends be there for you even if you don't

want them to you know yeah yeah i i love these

guys you know uh and i'm uh... i'm going to give

this one a five i really don't know around i

thought it was great uh... i i i get i'll agree

with you gremlins those gremlins are often those

gremlins are a lot of fun you know so next we

have rarity's story and because rarity is a fashion

designer this is obviously you know i'm going

to be rarity in a fashion show and all that stuff

Because we have the canchelot fashion extravaganza

at the end of the month I've never I like rarity,

but she's probably my least favorite out of the

six I agree a lot of people absolutely love her

and I can understand why I love it when she gets

into her little mopey modes It's if I find it

hilarious. Yeah But you what? She's a she's the

pony that when she gets out of her comfort zone

She tries to make it work out so she could go

back into your comfort zone That is true I think

at this point the only person that really loves

rarity other than the fans that love her is spike

spike loves rarity Yeah, that's never gonna work

out anything anything Yeah, I do like the art

in this I do like the shininess of it how they're

how their mains their mains all look basically

like you know everybody basically looks like

all the like You look at the one panel where

rainbow saying yeah, let's go get our apple cider

on There's a plate of fancy carrot sticks with

my name on them Rainbow you look at rarity and

fluttershy is just kind of off paneling in this

Twilight Applejack and Pinkie Pie But if you

look at rainbow and and rarity right there It

looks like you know, everyone's had their hair

conditioned No, it looks like everybody's back

in the 80s and they've got a way Spray is what

it is. It's all hairspray or mainspray or whatever

And of course we finally because we haven't had

it to this point But this one is because this

is a whole fashion show thing and everyone's

showing up for Rarity This is our first real

glimpse in in these individual stories for for

Pinkie Pie. Yes a party You can't be late for

a party. That would be awful. Oh my gosh, that

would be horrible Pinkie Pie has her priorities

straight. Yeah, pretty much And Rarity, you know,

we just talked about, you know, letting your

friends be there for you. And Twilight asks her,

is there anything we can stay behind and help

with? She's like, no, I'd rather just see it

all myself. Go and have fun. I'll be along. So

Rarity is that I'm going to make this comparison

and I'm not going to be ashamed to do so. She's

essentially the Scrooge McDuck of the My Little

Ponies at this point. No, I don't mean in the

fact that she's greedy and she wants all the

money and she wants, I'm just saying, you know,

she's work, she's that workaholic and she's that

taskmaster of herself to basically she, you know,

God, I can't even believe it. Jeez. I just realized

this. I, even though she's probably my lowest

favorite pony. Oh God. I have the same problem.

Cause if Don't do it. It doesn't get done right

half the time God What do you think so far? This

is typical rarity having a breakdown and I look

yeah, I Love the big panel of the party and everyone's

just like going crazy. Peaky pie is having a

blast Rainbows belching like no other Applejack's

being the world's best or worst bartender. I'm

not sure Someone found gummy and it's like Some

people have had maybe too much hard cider it

looks like I love it. Yeah, I love the artwork

in this So who in the pony universe usually brings

up the apples is it applejack that usually brings

up the apple cider because that's what she does

yeah it's all applejack anything with to do with

apples is the apple family unless women's clam

are in town and then they go oh boy um later

on because the reason why i asked that is you

know you said the hard cider and all i can think

of is mike's hard lemonade and i'm like applejack's

hard cider that yeah we need that well because

They have their yearly cider fest. And Rainbow

goes a little crazy for that. Rainbow goes a

little crazy in anything she does. I mean, we've

kind of already learned that. Who is the DJ?

The DJ is not Rarity. Who the hell is the DJ?

What are you looking at? Oh, yeah. It's DJ Pony.

That's her name. DJ Pony. Oh, OK. See I'm still

new to this stuff folks. I don't know every single

character so yes She usually has her glasses.

She doesn't have her glasses up there on top

of her head right now Yeah, yeah her and Octavia

are roommates. She's the She's one that plays

the the base or the cello You know so Twilight's

trying to basically reassure rarity that everything

looked perfect and uh... rainbows as you're working

too hard and as idle you know we're talking about

the expressions in the first is that we're gonna

have to check rainbow this is uh... uh... uh...

and where it is like you are in the end of working

hard enough extravaganza is is So, we get to

the point in the story where Applejack sees something

in the Farmer's Rowdy Weekly Roundup newsletter

that might help rarity. They say that five times

to us. Farmer's Rowdy Weekly Roundup. Farmer's

Rowdy Weekly Roundup. they see this ad this is

perfect for you rarity a week at flax and wheat's

new age all natural wellness center so they're

basically gonna send her to a spa supposedly

and oh spike spike is the luggage rack And she's

like, oh some pampering would be nice No, cuz

it is basically a working farm What I don't get

is as she's going off Rarity goes off with what's

his oh god, what's his name? They don't show

his name right away. Do they the pony that picks

her up? Uh, yeah. Well, yeah, his name is flax

Oh, that's right. That is Flax seed, that's right.

So as she's going off with flax seed Pinkie pie

is like don't forget to write I meant to like

wait why I Don't get that It's not don't forget

to write Yeah, I know what that means, but the

scene is don't forget to write, but it's it's

It's pinky Yelling and then but she's looking

at rainbow and then rainbows like I meant to

and I'm like wait what? Where'd that come from?

Huh, I guess I didn't really notice that before

Yeah Oh Because rainbow did it right pinky before

when she was gone Oh, okay. That's third. Okay.

She's just saying, okay. That makes sense now.

Okay. Yeah. So we, so we meet flax seed of flax

and wheat. Um, and things aren't what they seem

here. Um, basically, uh, it's a rundown shack.

It's definitely It's definitely a hippie village

Welcome to flax and weeds new age all natural

wellness center, it's um charming Let's see she's

trying to be nice, you know Yeah, she is It's

not her thing, but she's gonna try it out anyways

Yeah And Wheatgrass kind of looks like Daphne

from Scooby -Doo, except for not a... Like a

hippie version of Daphne. I love her. She's adorable.

I want a figure of her. She is so cute. We haven't

been open long. We're renovating. We're renovating

Spirits and Minds! Flax is one of those characters.

Flax is, um... Oh, God. Wheat is cheech and flax

is chong. Probably, yeah, there's definitely...

Oh my god. An evading spirit's mind. They're

such shippies, I love it. So you booked a luxury

suite and watch out for the skylight, ma 'am.

Night! I love that this panel is mated to a peace

sign. That is awesome. That is so cool. That

is so cool. I got to love it. What's so great

about it is the bottom right -hand corner that

you don't really see. You see it, but when it

zooms out in the Comixology Guided View, you

see the moon and then you see the Z. Yeah, a

little little possum. Yeah, sleeping in the tray.

I love it. So basically she's without luxury

this is not a luxury place people this is not

you know a Beverly Hills hotel spa whatever this

is like I said pretty much a a working farm and

she's having a really really weird dream and

she Gets woken up at the butt crack of dawn you

overslept Yeah, it's not even six in the morning

that rooster is delusional malfunctioning I feel

that every day my alarm goes off like So They

talked to they basically tell rarity it's you

know, we're gonna do a mud rap and she assumes

it's you know The spa stuff and it's so not it's

uh Basically at the end of every day. She's just

so tired. I Mean they do activities that are

not what she would call fun. She feels like she's

working Yeah Yeah, and basically the the daily

activities Put up, you know, they end up making

all this that this beauty stuff So that's what

happens each because at the end of each night

she comes in and she's dog -ass tired or pony

-ass tired Whatever you want to call it and there's

this little note the first day here. This is

a little note in this little thing Thank you

for your hard work today. Enjoy this jar of goops

for stuff Apple carrot deep main conditioner

And it's basically what she made, why she was

working all day long to make this one jar is

the crux of the story. Oh, yeah. This is because

she finally gets her spa treatment that she has

been wanting, you know, and it's the best that

she's like ever had. We forgot to mention the

whole I love Lucy thing. First stop me stopping

the vegetables and the grapes. Oh, yeah. Yeah,

I Love it like my favorite episode Lucy So she

gets you know groups for stuff milk and honey

bath soak the next day Yeah after she built the

cow and it was chased after a bunch of bees so

the next day they're gonna do soy stuff and She's

basically at her wits end. No, no my labor cannot

be bought for another day in the morning I'm

leaving. This isn't a vacation. It's it's manual

labor. I have much better things I could be doing

with my time But first up of scrub We forgot

to mention that Matthew McConaughey pony that

they have in here two panels above you so soy

inks and soy milk and soy candy and that guy

yeah i love soy oh i love green yeah his his

twin um the twin brother tempe tempe yeah he

looks like matthew mcconaughey with green hair

yeah yeah i love it So the next morning she goes

and again the expressions are just priceless.

Oh my gosh this this This comic right here. Oh

I mean the Cheech and Chong, you know Yeah, I

love flaxseed he's awesome refund as in your

bits back We already spent our bits. And then

you come to find out, you know, they're doing

everything just to keep ahead of this business.

And they already spent all the money. But Rarity

has a heart. And she lets them tell their story.

And she's like, oh, well, now I feel bad. So

she helps them out. And I love it. I Love flag

seed and now it looks like we may have to go

live in the suburbs like maybe even Ponyville

God Untaken I just love I love her expression.

He's like oh my god. I just put my hoof in it

Oh my god. Oh my god, and she's just looking

at him like she's going to kill him. Oh my god

rarity is Amy I gotta say, I love all these psychedelic

backgrounds that they're using. It is so cool.

I like, instead of hair, they have mane, the

musical. I love it. Keep on trotting. Oh my gosh,

there's so many fun things in the background

here. Harmony and understanding. Hovercraft mother.

Mystic crystal revelation. Power to the ponies.

I love anything hippie -ish. I love the whole

60s love and peace era. It's so much fun. So

basically, she goes and basically helps them

get you know the business up and running and

she gives them a whole bunch of ideas and oh

man i was hoping that would be a bigger pail

dang come on rarity think think idea we this

black seed rarity is here to save the day just

a day i think we need like a bunch of days Thought

that was gonna be like a bigger panel because

you see the other character the by just I don't

know I thought that was gonna be a bigger splash

page there so we already has all these ideas

and she basically Saves the day teaches them

how to run the business Integrity is like important

right depending on who you talk to dude Some

people have integrity No, I love flaxseed so

much this guy this guy needs to come back Yeah,

he is so much fun because they I love the big

Billboard that's say this this other guy is gonna

be taking over, you know the area and Flaxseed

the whole time. He cannot get his this guy's

face away from him. He's like He's watching me

So we go to You know, she's teaching them all

this stuff and she says next up branding But

we already have cutie marks not that kind of

branding. You look so terrified Now flaxseed

how many bottles a day can you make of the milk

and honey bath and how much do you charge for

it? Well that depends upon the vibe I get from

the bees. I love it. So basically she wants them

to charge an arm and a leg here. Well because

she, okay, Rarity knows people will spend money

on premium products. She has experienced this

premium product. She even knows that, I mean,

it's worth to her. And I'm like, yeah, kudos

for you, you know? yeah absolutely so we get

to a point where it's time to test sell something

tempeh dear would you come here for a moment

try and sell me something did you know our soy

berry muzzle mask is full of soy soy milk soy

flour You know what talking is overrated just

point and nod He's the good -looking pony he's

got the chiseled jaw he's got the nice nice rock

and everything He's a looker not a talker All

right, all right, all right So the rooster comes

up again look a customer You know, I have a much

better idea and Pack it all up. We're going to

Canterlot and She basically takes their stuff

to the fashion show, right? Yep That's where

everybody ends up buying it And and tempe gets

all the ladies look at that. He's got the ladies

all over him Peaky looks excited about the product

Where's pinky hold on he's right by the the beauty

booth Oh, yeah. Well, Pinky's excited about everything.

I mean, the only time Pinky isn't, yeah. Yeah,

wow, I see it now. Holy crap. She's excited.

She's yelling. I wish I could get Andrea Libman

for an interview. That would be so awesome. Just

to get Pinky stuff for this pony stuff. I like

how the hippie ponies run into photo finish and

hoity -toity It's just like so you get one extreme

to the other and I love it Yeah, and I love rarity's

expression just oh my god deer in headlights

lipo You know just going back to the beginning

where she's all stressed out So we end the story

with all the orders being placed and this whole

experience was a triumph wasn't it and She got

a lifetime supply of plum and pear withers cream

You should be happy about that And Twilight says

I think you might have a story to tell princess

Celestia spike take a letter Why? We're in Canterlot.

We can literally just walk 40 feet and tell her

about it. She's right over there. Poor Spike.

I mean, seriously. Like, that little dragon just...

But you know what? It's for rarity, so he'll

do it. Yeah, but I'm saying like Twilight. She

just... She just can't get over her herself And

I love the ending here for Celestia is reading

the letter I'm so glad rarity was able to see

past her own discomfort to help these ponies

make this wonderful assortment of goodies But

why didn't they tell me about it in person? I

was right there today. I spoke to them for an

hour Like the end Oh anger, would you stop saying

like every other word? I Just love the whole

The the whole page flip I think I think comics

need to do that more not necessarily with the

With a character or rarity is but just I don't

know. I just think certain And now we get to

Fluttershy. Aw, little Fluttershy. Hi, little

Fluttershy. Fluttershy is the pony of the group

that loves the animals. She works with the animals.

They all have pets, right? Yeah, they do now.

Yeah. Technically, Spike is Twilight's pet. No.

Twilight has aluishes. Oh, that's right. I remember

that episode. Poor Spike. He got so jealous.

Spike is her intern, basically. Yeah. Twilight

has Aluicious. Pinky has Gummy. Let's see. Well,

Fluttershy has Angel. Rarity has Opal. And Rainbow

Dash has Tank. Oh, and Applejack has Wynonna.

We see that angel and fluttershy is against it's

the expressions It looks like she's scared. It

looks like she's scared of the side. It doesn't

look like she's excited It looks like she's scared

of the thing and I know it's fluttershy and I

know fluttershy's personality she's obviously

very shy and very timid and Whatever, but I mean

the look on her face in this panel The sign jumped

up and bit her. So the sign, uh, extreme art

contest. Princess Celestia invites her subjects

to display their works of outrageous creativity.

Medals to be awarded. means that kimber's going

to show up right there you go i just i mean i

know gem is a whole other thing right now and

and the comic is in its own direction with kelly

and all i just don't know what a gem my little

pony crossover would even look like i would love

to see it but i just don't trust you so you could

pair them up no sir you can pair the holograms

up with um I'll see we get Jim, Jerika, Kimber,

Shayna, Ajah, eventually Rhea. So that's five

and there's... Synergy and Twilight could go

together. God, the color schemes, it's too matchy.

That's why they make it good. They're both matchy.

Okay, okay. So you got Synergy and Twilight.

I know we're on a tangent here, folks. You got

Synergy and Twilight, Jim and... Wouldn't be

rarity because I know Kimber and Pinkie Pie.

It's the same personality. I think Jem and Fluttershy

would go together. Okay, Jem and Fluttershy.

Kimber and Rainbow Dash. No, Kimber and Pinkie

Pie. Come on. They're both that extreme. But

Rainbow Dash is pretty extreme too and they both

have kind of the same kind of attitude. No, no,

no because no look look just shut up and look

I can't believe we're even awful Okay, so you

got synergy and Twilight that makes sense you

got Jim and Fluttershy you got pinky and Kimber

you got Aja and Rainbow Dash Think of the car

I guess yeah, and you got Shayna rarity oh yeah

cuz they're both fashion designers and who am

I missing oh yeah we haven't even met her yet

so but who I'm missing on the pole Applejack

Applejack and Ashley because we have met the

starlight girls I don't know sorry folks Tangents

are what we do around here at the Geocaster Network.

Applejack and Jerrica, there you go. That's,

yeah. Cause they're both very hard workers. Yeah,

that's true. So Fluttershy swoops in, she basically

chumps the piece of paper off the thing. She

goes back to her house and basically, do you

think anypony saw me, Angel? She's like so scared

that someone saw her take the sign down. Yep.

And she's doing this whole super secret thing.

I would be mortified if anypony knew what I've

been hiding downstairs in my secret room. Luttershy

has a secret room. She's secretly evil. Secretly

evil. Why is the bunny giving her a thumbs up

sign? Because Angel is evil. I'm not kidding.

He's a mean little guy. But I love him. I just

assumed it was a she, but okay. Angel's a boy.

Oh, does that mean he's gonna turn into a vampire

rabbit? No, the other thing is they had a special

cover, or where was it? I can't remember what

it was now. They had Angel and Spike as a cover

at one point. I can't remember if it was fan

-made or if it was an actual cover now, because

it was so good. But I thought it was awesome.

They had the leather on and everything. Just

imagine if they knew the truth of what I do here

in my Chamber of Extreme Knitting! I've seen

people like that before, that's so scary. The

Palace of Friendly Pony Grotesqueries? What the

hell? Chamber of... It's so grotesque. I like

the little, like, demon dragon that she has on

this side there. Yeah, that's a little much,

but yeah. Demon butterflies, too. Yeah. I love

it. Here in my studio I've turned a simple craft

into a radical art and created objects that...

dark and scary even me. Even though they were

all made by my own hoes. I love the look on Fluttershy.

So cute. She's one of these ponies that she's

one of these people or one of these characters

that she constantly has breakdowns. Yeah. You

will love me. fast now angel bunny you don't

want to get a tummy ache you really should eat

more than that don't you think it's not playtime

yet i know you want to run but just three more

bites two more bites one more bite pretty you

okay are you coughing because there's a carrot

stuck in your throat because you need some water

because of that giant cloud of scary black smoke

i'll take that as a yes all right so you know

you you look at these three panels here oh angel

i want so badly to enter princess slushies art

contest but i'm afraid of everypony's reaction

to my art that's why i've always kept migrations

hidden away down here the expressions you know

we've talked about this the whole podcast but

the expressions that one panel where she says

oh angel she looks really really kind of happy

a little bit and then she just descends into

madness what if what if What if they hate it?

Oh angels just like yeah, right So she's gonna

do it in disguise and The cool thing about Fluttershy

is is when she gets you know up and like you're

right angel So what I'll do it you you expect

her to almost stay that way and then she goes

back to Disguise like she gets really excited

and then she just goes back to her standard personality.

It's it's it's interesting. I like it and she

comes up to this thing basically just Yeah She

kind of looks like the Joker in her veil The

hat because there was a point in the death of

the family storyline There was a point where

he was like Joe's garage and he was wearing this

like mechanics uniform with a hat yeah So the

the pony event people are like help setting up

ma 'am, oh no, that's fine. I don't need me help

No, no, no, that's fine. Don't look at it. Don't

look at it It's very delicate. So the security

guards walk off and I love angel angels just

like Well, he he can't talk can he he makes little

sounds here and there so Right, but none of the

pets actually No None of them actually speak

word how you wish it says to a lot of course.

He's the owl. Well, but he's an owl I mean, it's

he makes it's an animal sound technically So

Fluttershy goes through the gallery and she's

looking at all the amazing pieces and she says

your angel I'll never know unless I show it and

and she basically whooshes it out and It's this

giant Knitting thing of her with butterflies

a portrait. It's a self -portrait in in yarn

Yeah That's Fraser pan Is Captain Hook gonna

show up next people Like seriously Fraser pan

come on now He's the art critic. He's critiquing

all the art. I do love his line here. Some other

ponies think that we adore seeing their trite

little collections on display. They confuse art

with hoarding. It's modern art, definitely. I

really think at this point Fluttershy is my favorite

out of the group because she's just so awesome.

The constant personality changes is just so cool.

She's always so worried about everything. And

she's not ready for this. Of course... Rarity

basically whisks her disguise off, because she

recognizes her. She's like, I can handle this,

I'm fine, as long as no pony knows it's me. That

voice. It couldn't be. It is. Butterflies? No,

absolutely cannot be, but my couture sizing sense

is never off. Oh god. Talk about another spider

-man joke people Oh with her with her couture

sense just in the whole red and outline and She

figures it out. It's fluttershy No, no, no, it's

not me. No fluttershy it is you and she basically

pulls off the disguise You this extreme piece

came from someone as Inconsequential as you know,

I hated that line. I'm like, oh See, I thought

the line at first like I know Praiser pan is

you know, this big art snobbish critic kind of

guy and I thought it was gonna be someone as

shit like as shy as you like because Flutter

shy the whole point of her personality is she's

shy And we get all these negative comments and

she's like, oh this is worse than my worst nightmare

and They're big they're basically just putting

a bunch of self -doubt into her and she's saying

she's worthless and then again the personality

changes and it's not a happy personality change

it must be destroyed that's so sad alls i can

think of is um and i know this isn't exactly

the um gonna be the right reference because um

it's flipped around but um Also, I can think

of when I see this panel it must be destroyed

Dinobots destroy devastate horror So Fluttershy

nearly attempts to destroy her creation, but

she can't You know, she stands up to them I made

it and I like it and that's all that matters

no matter what you say And then Princess Celestia

comes along saying that it's delightfully original

and everybody else, because Princess Celestia

said it. Yeah, because they're followers. Yep.

They like it, of course they do. Princess Celestia

likes it. There's the one point where she still

doesn't like it, even though Princess Celestia...

That's cool. It's good to know that she just

doesn't like it because the princess does. So

all the ponies show up and we get to kind of

the end of the story here and later that week

and they're all kind of wearing things that Fluttershy

made for them. i love it yeah it's pretty awesome

uh and the message here is um and that's how

i learned that you should never let your fear

of being criticized stop you from expressing

yourself through art especially if you have terrific

friends to help you do it even though i suspect

they do not truly understand the artistic impulse

that drives me which makes them even more terrific

That's I love that last page that last yeah,

so sweet. It's so fluttershy This is what I like

about this writing. It's so true to the characters.

They are. Yeah, absolutely And we have Pinkie

Pie up next I love Pinkie Pie always I can think

of after seeing the first season of the show

Pinkie Pie is kinda like what Shredder was talking

about at the end of Turtles 2. In smaller doses,

through future mutants! Like, Pinkie Pie is awesome.

I'm not gonna say she isn't, but... Oh my god,

there's only so much Pinkie Pie I can take. Oh,

Pinkie Pie is awesome. You're wrong. Again, you're

wrong! No, I'm not! Wait a second, how can I

be wrong? When I'm not saying I dislike her,

I'm just saying that she's the best pony ever.

So, Pinky... Pinky does basically almost a sonic

rain boom into Twilight's house, which is why

it's like, is that an earthquake? Was there an

earthquake scheduled for today? Yeah, like, earthquakes

are scheduled, Twilight. Come on now. Uh, and

it's Pinky basically just diving into her house

here. Hello, Pinky. Oh my gosh, Twilight. I won.

Won. What did you? I can't do it even. I can't

do it justice. I just can't. I can't do Pinky's.

I can't. I just can't. Oh my god. You're always

hopped up on soda. You tried doing that really

fast. The one line? The Coca Cola. Okay, let

me blow this line up here says Okay, so close

look on the left side of the contest you had

to do the frequent winning crap So I did drink

314 bottles of the cola coke and none of them

won, but there was a 315 and I went one cap and

I went Twilight I won I was trying not to scream

Think it's Twilight. He's performing tonight.

I got tickets and I want you to come with me

uh... pretty calm down the rest tickets to what

who is performing uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

so If the, if the rarity story, or if the Fluttershy

story was coming over, you know, coming over

your fears and not giving in to peer pressure

and all that stuff, this one is more of being

true to yourself than anything else. Oh, yeah.

And we meet a strange, a strange pony at the

Ponyachi place and... Pinky tells him that you

know she's studied every one of his routines,

but all of his jokebooks I even have the talking

Ponyachi doll She's never would fan Are you here?

You know she goes on and Twilight asks him are

you here to see Ponyachi? No, I'm afraid not

even Ponyachi could get me to laugh pinky just

pinky being pinky what oh no no don't say that

every pony deserves to laugh so she gives she

tries to give him her ticket what we come to

find out is that he is actually Ponyachi jokes

he's just burnt out man poor guy I Mean he does

everything she goes and lists everything that

he does and I Mean I meet the pony who invented

the sideways backflip and a silent knock -knock

joke. I Don't even want to know how that would

work a silent knock -knock like Like you kid

the That can't be done. Apparently it can, but

Pinkie Pie defies physics, so apparently she

can't. Pinkie Pie defies everything. I mean,

she... So, she goes up and asks him to sign her

doll, and he says, sure, just let me take my

makeup off. It's you, I mean, you're him, you're

the pony we met before the show. Horiachi. Yep.

Well, that's just it, miss. I'm sorry, I didn't

ask your name. Pinkie Pie. Two P's, two E's,

and three I's. Wink. She broke the fourth wall

in the comic, people. I love that. So he goes

on to tell her that he's been a clown for a very

long time and he hasn't Been a young pony in

a very long time and all I want to do in life

is make ponies laugh Comedy is even in my cutie

mark But being a clown is draining I can't keep

performing like I used to so I've decided to

retire And this just devastates pinky I know

well, I mean it's her hero Well, no, I'm you

look at that panel there where she says what

and Twilight's like you're quitting clowning

like Twilight's like there's a mystery here.

I must solve And Pinkie pie is more like what

the did you don't say that In fact tonight might

have been my last performance ever And basically

the story is all about inspiration. And he basically

says, well, every performer needs to know when

to leave the stage. And this basically makes

Pinky just bawl out crying. I love it. I like

it because she has so much feeling for this person.

She's barely met because because he's so influenced.

I mean, how many times does this happen? I mean

a lot of our heroes are dying off ones that we

grew up with So it's kind of sad. It it brings

that feeling like oh my gosh. It really happened

They're gone, you know No, this can't happen

and you feel that you feel that loss even though

you never really personally knew them So I that's

what I like about that panel. You can actually

feel her pain Yeah, absolutely Yeah Well by the

time this episode goes up it would probably be

a week or so maybe or I might actually go ahead

and backdate it and put it up but um Yeah, the

day this episode goes out for the pullback We

lost voice actor Joe Oleski who did the voice

of plucky duck he did bugs and Daffy and all

that other stuff after malpast and just I've

been going back and watching Tiny Tunes now because

you know just kind of you know reminding myself

what what what he had done for for voice acting

and all that with the Looney Tunes and stuff.

I love I love the next few panels. Sai Ponyachidal,

thanks for trying to cheer me up. Pinky, I know

you're sad because pointing out you're retiring,

but I'm trying to get my grocery shopping done

and oh, don't worry about me. Just pile the vegetables

right on top of me. She's going through, you

know, her depression. You know, I feel sorry

for her. And then Pinkie really gets mad about

it though. That's practically the same, because

Twilight says, I think maybe you're overreacting.

It's not like Ponyachi is going away. He's just

not performing anymore. That's practically the

same thing. A clown who doesn't do any clowning

is hardly a clown at all. How can you just give

up on his profession? Well, like he said, he's

getting older and being... He's been performing

for a long time. I don't think he wants to stop,

but he can't keep it up forever But he's an inspiration

million. How can he abandon all his loyal fans?

This is where pinky gets mad. I Love the emotion

emotional changes in pinky This is so going through

the signs of depression or grief, I guess yes

Yeah, grief anger all that stuff So she has Spike

gives her I wish I could have seen plenty at

you before I mean must have been pretty inspiring

Spike that's it. You're a genius. I know what

I can do twilight How many boxes of glitter do

you have none? Great. I'll need all of them.

She's not even listening She basically, um, pulls

a Bugs Bunny routine. Letter from Mr. Ponyachi!

My god, Nicole, you are Pinkie Pie. Whoops. Wrong

part of the postal service. Is that like you

don't do windows too? Look this way! Surprises!

And she basically pops out of the box. Oh, Mr.

Ponyachi, Ponyachi, what's got you so blue? And

she starts singing the song. I love the art here.

I think the art here is amazing with Pinkie.

Oh, yeah, I love it, too. I mean, it's so vibrant

and active. Yep, absolutely. And she goes on

and sings and sings and sings. I suppose you're

in Ponyachi says to Twilight, I suppose you're

trying to convince me not to quit too. No, I'm

just handling props and background music. You

know what? Good for Twilight for helping her.

Well, how can she not? I mean. So I think he's

all tired out. She asks him, did I convince you?

And he says no, and she goes blue. I'm sorry,

Ms. Pie. It makes you feel better. Your performance

was excellent. Fine singing, good juggling. Your

balancing act could use a little work, though.

Here, listen. If you should inflate it a little

more, give yourself a farmer surface. Yeah, he's

giving her all these tips and whatever else and

She then gets Again, the emotional people the

emotions people with the like I didn't realize

the ponies could be this. Oh, yeah, they're very

Very active when their faith facial expressions

You know, she's there's a panel here where he

asks her have you considered makeup? You could

do a lot with your complexion and her face is

just like so downtrodden and then she's just

like oh Hey, that's it you don't need to be a

clown you should teach clowns Each I never thought

of that before that's really a good idea pinky

you just knew what to look for in my performance.

You could help other ponies become better clowns.

You could leave your mark on comedy forever.

This next panel? Yeah. That's the look of psychotics,

this right there in his eyes. Like, for some

reason that look scares me. You're brilliant.

I can keep being funny without having to perform.

Yeah, that's um... It reminds me of old school

Disney. Yeah. Or Psycho. So they have a hug,

and she says... He asks her, how can I repay

you? Well, there is one thing. Well, there is

just one thing. Let's check your pie throwing

recruits custard bullseye nice job troll. Oh

wind to the right tighten up your throw I Have

to say Pony archie looks much happier, and he's

got students coming from all over Equestria the

school's a huge success Giggle fit what kind

of a name is giggle fit? What's your aim you're

almost hit laughing I like the name Gigglefit.

That's awesome. And we get a letter from... Well,

this letter to Celestia is from Pinky, right?

Yes. See, that's what I like about it. Don't

get me wrong. I like in this series, at least

from the first season when I've seen it, I like

the fact that Twilight is the one that writes

the letter and telling... Princess Celestia about

her friends, but with the comics, I like with

these so far that it's each pony that's writing

a letter. They changed that up for the cartoon,

too. Oh, good. Don't get me wrong, Twilight doing

it is fine, but after a while, it kind of gets

a little monotonous. So we've got that. What

did you think of the Pinkie Pie story? I love

Pinkie Pie. I because of her just raw emotions,

you know, she loves a party she She loves to

that other people like to celebrate party in

and so when they retire from party and she's

like you can't retire from party She finds a

way for them to keep a party in and I love it

It's just I mean Hurt the art the expressions

in this It's just so good. It's so much fun the

splash faces. So so create ed Yeah, I love that

first the the regular cover that Amy members

and done that has to be my favorite cover out

of all of these because it's pinky with the photo

booth pictures Because you see how expressive

her face is. And of course, the brick in the

fourth wall is a classic peaky thing, and I love

it. She's essentially the modern day Ferris Bueller.

I can see that. The final chapter here is all

about Apple Jacks and the Apple family. On the

cover we have... I know you're gonna have to

help me out here on some of these. We have Apple

Bloom, we have Mac, and we have Granny... Granny

Smith? Granny Smith. Who are the others? Okay,

um, oh my gosh. I know his... You should know

this! No, I know, I just lost it. Oh crap. He's

from Appaloosa. Oh, god. It's another name of

an apple. Why can't I think of his name? I remember

everything about him. Oh my gosh Give me a second.

So we start this one out as the ticket album

holder steady and The Apple family is essentially

and I don't mean this to insult them. They are

the rednecks of Bab seed what I remember You

sure do love our apple treats this time of year

granny So what are they doing they're doing?

What is this all hell not all hellos? That's

Halloween All hard this Heart -swarming Eve,

that's what it is So they're getting ready for

all of this and Applejack comes in Already all

doing stand there. We got tons to do sorting

apples peeling apples corn apples smudging apples

mushing apples creating apples delivering apples

splash You simmer down now Applejack having everything

just so ain't what the holiday is about Yeah,

I love I'd have to say at this point my Four

favorites are Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, well, Fluttershy,

Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. I'm

sorry, people. I just... No left for Twilight.

Twilight's all right. I don't know. I think I

need to see more of her, like, not just the single

story. Like, I think... Brayburn six I found

it. I remember I'm going through apples here

like Go through a list of apples people Okay,

so the six one shots that make up this trade

paperback ponytails volume one Out of the six,

five of them, I get more out of five stories

than I do all, like, okay, well, four. I mean,

the rarity one was good. I understood, I understood.

You had hippies. I know, I know, I know, but

I'm saying that with Twilight, like, Twilight

is almost a one -trick pony. Everybody else,

huh? No, she's not. She is She's all about the

rules. She's all about reading. She's and that's

not a bad thing I'm not saying all being all

about reading is a bad thing. That's her personality.

That's fine. I'm just saying that so far I've

had more enjoyment and fun out of rare Applejack

Rainbow Dash Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie So basically

this holiday story here is It's almost Christmas

time It's almost Christmas time, but it's them

showing Applejack she can kind of slow down a

bit because it is almost Christmas time and I

Really don't want to make this comparison, but

I'm gonna anyway. It's almost like she's the

Grinch not in a bad but it's like i don't know

it's i'm not gonna word this and get it out properly

here it's she wants to do all the work make sure

everything's done but she doesn't it's almost

like she's the grinch and scrooge kind of combined

here a little bit because she doesn't know how

to slow down is all that big mac says is a yelp

uh well he said he says nope as well. There's

one episode where he actually has a lot of lines,

and it was really, really odd, but it was awesome.

But yeah, Big Back's a very simple pony. You

know? Yep. The story comes along, and there's

this thief, this pear thief or whatever, and

he's stealing the apples and leaving pears. Or

not pears. That pear's a squash. That's the whole

point of this it's squash Why could I have why

I could have slept till next horsewarming Eve

but farmers work waits for no pony ain't that

right y 'all Yeah, y 'all Applejack look it's

terrible Lots lots of apples. They've been stolen

and replaced with squashes What in tar nation

I could do it Applejack pretty well, okay? What

intarnation? What intarnation? How could this

happen? It's the Sasquatch, Granny says. Sasquatch.

Let's spell it out for people. S -A -S -S. Second

word, squash. S -Q -A -S -H. There you go. I

love that. When I saw that, when Granny said

that, I was like, oh my gosh, that is, that is

awesome. I literally laughed out loud with that

one. Come on young and I'll tell you all about

it So we have a flashback as granny is telling

the story of the Sasquatch or Sasquatch What

do you think of the flashback and the basically

I don't want to say sepia tone but kind of olden

time like black and white photos, you know, yeah

Absolutely adore it. I love it. I love the picture

of this at the Sasquatch Sas You know what I'm

saying? Yeah, because it's it's like the 1960s

photo of Bigfoot and It's perfect. I love it

That is just so cool And granny goes on says

You know, I must have spooked it cuz I never

did see it nor it squashes ever again till now

that is Well, it's not gonna cause any more mischief

this holiday. I'm gonna catch it You go Applejack

you go. Yeah, everybody wants to help her and

they have all these ideas nets magnets Yeah an

apple trap Apple Bloom says Mac just holds up

the net. He's like, I love it. I love the look

on his face or two. Yeah, it's just kind of awesome

and Applejack gets her revenge because they're

all excited about trapping the thing. She throws

a bucket of water on them all. Y 'all don't fret,

I'll catch it. I want y 'all to enjoy the holiday.

I'm not gonna let everything be ruined by a no

-good varmin. You just went Yosemite Simmer,

sir. It's just in people's natures that he eats

rabbits. Here's to vice versa and all that kind

of stuff. But Applejack, you can't do it all

by yourself. Isn't that right, Mac? yeah he really

is iron -eyed holy crap thanks for noticing me

so applejack goes out she goes and builds a bunch

of different traps trying to catch the the sasquatch

and each night and each morning uh it doesn't

work and she she gets foiled by her own traps

um i do love the um The whole interaction between

her and Apple Bloom, though. Little Apple Bloom

is adorable, yeah. Applejack, you fell asleep.

Well, maybe just rested my eyes for a moment,

but what are you doing inside that cage? What

in the world are you talking about, Apple Bloom?

I'm on the outside. Dang, navid, I've been bamboozled.

Are you sure you can use some help? Her pride

is just too much at this point. So I Like that

Apple boom always has her bow on Yeah, even on

the outside of her hat. I love it that she has

a hat with a big old bow on I love it Yeah So

Applejack is essentially I love when granny says

well, she's lost it yeah She's walking in circles,

she starts like, hallucinating and walking on

two legs and... Let me guess, you want help using

your net? Ayup, and ayup! Double dang blast it,

mirror's all gone, I can see that! I love how

she scares granny and he don't move muscle. Ah,

I've got this place booby trap This entire area

is rigged with tripwires and snares. Oh my And

they're all just worried about her oh, yeah,

she's lost it and she gets caught in her own

trap We have a song in the middle of this You

think of a little song there So she goes and

paints on their free apples We get more of the

song as it goes along and she I can't turn my

neck that far to read it's Extra oh Extra sticky

molasses. Oh, wow. I can't believe I just read

that upside down You did a good job. Way to go.

I thought it was tar at first because I figured,

you know, tar and feather and all that. Oh, no,

they were kind of apple farmers. They're good.

I know, I know. So we get the song and she just

hits her head against the stone. Thanks. With

the squash. Squash. Squash. I'm gonna say it

wrong, I know. He's a very tricky guy. Yeah.

I love it. Darn dang shoot fiddlesticks and marmalade.

You know, I can't help but think they really

wanted her to swear. I mean, you're from Kentucky,

you know how... I know, I know. I know, I know.

Absolutely. So yeah, she's um she's beyond lost

it at this point It's not your job to make everything

perfect quote -unquote. Then whose job is it

granny? Applejack comes back, you know basically

saying I've failed you And she's, you know, they're

like, oh, none of that's important. And they

basically tell her, by golly, that she says,

Ashley, all right, Granny, I've been going about

this all pigheaded. This holiday's not about

doing things by yourself. It's about coming together

and working with those you love most. And by

golly, that's just what we'll do. We'll work

together and catch this critter. Boy this will

be fun look at Apple Apple bloom is so just mischievous

right there. She can't wait She wants to be just

like her sister So everybody's got the plan everybody

goes and And is it is it granny or Apple bloom

it says yeah, that's granny Hoot hoot, I'm coming

to get you you great green goofus. I love that

that granny has no fear Now people if you've

read this story before or if you haven't read

it yet that scene basically should tell you what

It basically it doesn't give the plot away But

pretty granny runs off saying she's gonna go

get the great green goofus and then the great

green goofus shows up It's a Scooby -Doo kind

of thing. Uh -huh. Do -do, do -do, do -do. It's

the Scooby -Doo ending. Yeah, pretty much. Uh,

we got him, we got him. Huh, what's it doing?

Ah, I got you. Youngin's good. Granny is awesome!

What, in the hay now? What, in the hay? You see,

after I ran into the forest, I suited up into

this old costume I made years ago, you see, but

why would you do all this, Granny? To bring us

all together, of course, we're so busy preparing

for the holiday that we forgot to spend time

with each other. And that's pretty much the basis

of the story. Oh, but there's a little surprise

at the end. Yeah. They're looking through the

old Apple photo album, Apple Jacks, and it couldn't

be. Might just surprise you. Sincerely, Apple

Jack. You enjoy now, big feller. Your work's

all done. Oh, and happy arse -warming eve to

you. And there really is a Sasquatch. Yeah, I

love I love that that she pretended to be the

Sasquatch, you know to protect him because they're

really friends and I'm like, oh Love it Now the

trade here also has all the the variant covers

in the back of it We've got one with art by Sabrina

Alberghetti, which is the Apple family here.

We've got Twilight and Spike, which is done by

Tom Zoller. We've got Rainbow Dash and Tank.

Oh, and Tank. This is probably one of my favorite

covers. I love that. That is so cool. Yeah, that

is pretty awesome. We got Rarity, Psychedelic

Rarity. My gosh, I love this one too. I love

it. It hurts my eyes. I love it, but it hurts

my eyes. Oh, I love it. It's beautiful. It's

270s. Oh, that's why I love it. It's 60s. Hippie

age was in the 60s. Yeah, but she's got bell

bottoms on. Those are from the 70s. No, that's

the 60s. What the hell am I? No. What am I thinking

of that's in the 70s then? Disco? Yeah. Austin

Powers whenever the summer of love that's the

whole that was 60s I Think outside of the the

pinky selfie Photo booth cover my favorite is

the one done done up here by Ben Bates her with

all her little snacks and stuff just the star

glasses and all that I I thoroughly enjoyed this.

I wasn't sure how I was going to react after

having read this, but I really, really did enjoy

it. I thought it was great. Like I said, I'm

not too thrilled with the... I like the Twilight

story, but her as a character in the story, I

just felt that it was her... I obviously, like

I said, I've seen the first season of the show.

So I knew what all their characters were like.

I just felt like four out of the six stories,

the characters of Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie

Pie, obviously, and Fluttershy were more flushed

out and were more like what they are in the show.

Like I could actually hear Andrea Libman in my

head when Pinkie would say anything. or when

she would scream, or when a facial feature would

pop up. For the Applejack story, I'd give it

a four out of five. It was good. I'd give it

a five, because I think that's my favorite out

of the whole series. Oh, really? I love it when

you think supernatural. And to think that Granny...

Granny did two wonderful things. She brought

her family together, she gave them an adventure,

and she's protecting her friends so no one will

go out and destroy them. I really like that.

Like I said, I'm a sucker for pretty much anything

supernatural. I really enjoyed that one. I thought

that was really cute. If you think about it,

it's a really good holiday story as well. It

is. It is. I just wish that... And I know they're

two different stories. We had the holiday leftover

episode about four podcasts ago or so. With Twilight

and all that. I like that this holiday story

obviously focuses on Applejack and the Apple

family and all that. Like I said though, I still...

Pinkie pie is probably my number one favorite

and then Fluttershy and then Rainbow Dash. I

thought you said Fluttershy was your favorite.

I don't know. They'll flip -flop back and forth

probably. Who knows? Alright folks, we're gonna

take another quick break and come back with final

thoughts and give you a little teaser of what's

coming up next after this. It's Showtime Synergy!

The latest review podcast from the Geekcast Radio

Network is here! So join TFG One Mike, Nicole

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Well, now you can't be both you be shocked. I'll

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That's right. We're launching a boy and girl

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So come on and walk through the world with us.

I can't believe I didn't bring this up when we

were talking about Pinkie Pie's story, but why

is it after reading this story I feel like Pinkie

is Harley and Ponyachi is the Joker? Don't you

do that. Don't. What? You do not combine one

of my favorite characters with one of my least

favorite characters. Wait, you don't like Harley?

I don't care for Harley. Not anymore. Oh, come

on. Nope, not anymore. I used to like her. Then

the world destroyed her. How did how did the

world destroy her they they did the same thing

like they made her to something that she's not

I Can I can talk about 30 minutes about what

the world has done to Harley Quinn and it's not

good We'll save that for another day, but I'm

just saying that I Just after reading the story.

I just felt that He taught her everything The

Joker taught Harley everything she knew and I

and I'm not talking about that. I'm really not

talking about the comics I'm talking more about

like Batman the animated series that that Harley

I like okay, right? I know that the world destroyed

Harley Okay. All right. All right Calm down pinky

But this that's the version I'm talking about

when I made the note was the dc and universe

version of harley and that's that's what i thought

of uh... okay so coming up next we've got uh...

next uh... time on the pullback here we've got

episode one thirty with ponytails volume two

this features the key mark crusaders celestial

spike and luna don don don Well, like I said

overall I enjoyed ponytails one. I don't volume

one I don't know if the pony comics are gonna

be something I stick with You know, we're doing

this here because I thought it would be something

fun and cool and whatever else But I just don't

know if it's a franchise. I'm gonna stick with

it depends on How much more of the show I actually

get around to watching it the comics are pretty

funny and There's a lot of hidden gems in them

Especially if you're a fan when you were younger.

Let's see. I want to say it's issue two. There's

a splash page. I want to say page three or four.

I think it might be three and four or something

like that. And it's just a bunch of pop references.

See how many you can name. It's awesome. Alright

folks, that's gonna do it for this week here

on The Pull Bag. We'll be back next week with

more pony coverage. Make your greatest game into

comics and we will catch you then. Aloha! You've

just heard the latest episode of The Pull Bag,

the GCRN's comic review and discussion podcast.

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