My Little Pony Friends Forever Volumes 1 & 2 Review

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

the Geekcast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to the pull bag. This is episode 133 This is

the final episode of a fiend ship is friendship

February 2016 here inside the pull bag. I'm your

host Dave John Mike Joining me for the final

time is the pinky pie of podcasting herself Beatles

diva. Hello. Hello. It's not our final time for

February You don't get to give me crap. Pony

overload, I mean. Yay, ponies! And we're here

to talk about the first two volumes of My Little

Pony Friends Forever from IDW Publishing. So

are you Team Pie or Team Cake? No, I'm Pinkie

Pie. Alright, so just to give everybody the background

information on Volume 1 for MLP Friends Forever.

We have four stories in these things, and obviously

it's kind of a team -up thing with different

My Little Pony characters. We have Pinkie Pie

and Applejack, written by Alex DeCampi, art by

Carla Speed McNeil. colored by Jen Manley Lee

and Bill Mudron. We have Princess Celestia and

Spike, which is written by Ted Anderson, art

by Agnes Garbowska, lettered by Neil Yucatay.

We got the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Discord,

of all things. Jeremy Whitley is on the writing,

Tony Fleeks is on art, colors are done by Lauren

Perry with letters by Neil. And then there's

Twilight and Shining Armor, so it's a brother

-sister team -up. Why am I having Bernstein Bears

flashbacks, people? Written by Rob Anderson,

art by Amy Meberson, and colored by Heather Breckle

with letters by Neil as well. The cover for the

trade is done by Andy Price. Obviously Bobby

Kernow is on the editing for the series. But

yeah, the Pinkie Pie and Applejack is the first

chapter here and the cover that's in the trade

is basically Applejack and Pinkie Pie nose to

nose where one has team pie on their shirt and

the other one has team cake. Which doesn't make

sense because Applejack makes pie and Pinkie

Pie likes cake so it can get confusing. Yeah,

it kind of can the cover is done by amy maverson,

and she did a great job with this she really

did so cool So what do you think of the general

team -ups overall here? Oh, I think they're fun.

I mean it makes for a really good story. I think

Piki pineapple jack that that's not an unusual

one, but like discorded the cutie marks crusaders.

That was really cute. I really did enjoy that

Twilight and shining armor. That's not something

unusual because their brother and sister and

pike pike That was a good but but that's again

that's not really a surprising one because She

pretty much assigned spike to Twilight. So yeah,

but they're really fun. It's a really fun I wasn't

sure what to expect in this series because Friendship

is magic came before this and friendship or they

maybe came at the same time. I don't know if

they're friendship is magic. I think he had I

want to say Seven or eight issues before this

came out. Mm -hmm Okay, because After we got

done last week with friendship is magic volumes

one of volume two I Because it I just got all

these comics way but you know last year when

when we were planning to do this i just figured

okay sure i'll go ahead and buy the trades and

i'll just save them for later and i'll be fine

so i haven't even looked at any of this stuff

until you know a day or so before the recording

so i wasn't sure if friends forever was going

to be just another different ongoing kind of

like how you have not rid and more than meets

the like that's what i thought it was going to

be it was too the same ongoing but they had different

characters in each so I was kind of surprised

to see that they were doing team ups here and

I do like that I think it's a better way to go

it's kind of like you know a different version

of spotlights yeah that's true very very true

so let's see when I was taking my notes for this

one and I did break this up into the four chapters

this time thank God Obviously, I've already mentioned

my first note team pie or team cake and then

total dessert domination. Oh my god In the name

of the first story here is the pie is the limit

I love it Did you notice the cherry pit and miss

birdie thing that they were talking about? Yes,

I noticed a lot of things like I know I don't

know if They would have been able to get away

with this, but I wish it was actually the Peach

Pit in Mr. Nat. Anyone that knows what that is,

you should know it's a 90210 reference. Poor

Maureen wants her name. Maureen Sandwich. Yeah.

She gets... Like submarine sandwich. Yeah, she

gets a food fight all over her throughout the

whole episode, throughout the whole issue here.

With this issue, I love how they've made other

proties to look like celebrity chefs. Yeah. Guy

Ferreri looks awesome. Sets everything on fire.

And then, oh my gosh, I have totally forgot her

name, the one that uses butter for everything.

Mrs. Butterworth. Oh, she got in trouble for

saying oh my gosh. Oh Paula Dean. Oh my gosh

And the only reason why I know that folks is

because it was a big hullabaloo and then I ended

up watching her son Bobby on When he did the

the holiday baking championship and the the spring

baking championship on Food Network This is back

when I actually had cable. This was a while ago.

Yeah. So I mean, there's a lot of like celebrity

looks here. So that's what's kind of fun. I really

do enjoy that. And I do like how this art is

in here. I think it's really, really cool. It's

not the same, but it's not as different as what

it is in the main series, because obviously you're

going to have two different artists, two different

art styles, but you still have to keep in line

with what the ponies really look like. The part

where Pinkie's greatest day ever, she's just

eating all the cake. It's like, oh, Pinkie. No

wonder she's... So with Pinkie Pie and her obsession

with cake, it's no wonder that she's... quote

unquote always on and she I don't think it's

I don't think it's because it's her natural personality

that she's always as bubbly and as excitable

as she is I think it's because she eats all these

sweets she's on a constant sugar high all the

time there's nothing wrong with that okay come

on you gotta you gotta come down from a sugar

high at least once in a while not all the time

not all the time that's when you go to sleep

Yeah So we get to the point where Pinky's Pinky

wants to bring all these recipes. She doesn't

want to lose them out of her head She's trying

to bring all these recipe to this baking championship,

but she doesn't actually bake anything She just

brings she forgot to bring them. She didn't bake

something, but she forgot bring because she didn't

want to forget the Oh, yeah, that's that's what

it was. Okay, I Couldn't remember if she actually

forgot to make something or she just forgot to

bring what she made. So Pinkie running by Applejack

essentially sends Applejack head first into another

pony and her pie goes everywhere. Aww. But she

does eventually catch it, but she destroys somebody's

tent in the process. Oh, it's really cute. she

does and then she gets mistaken as that as marine

sandwich i love it i do love the countdown panels

four three two one i just kind of really dig

that i thought that was great how they did that

uh so we're at the ninth annual equestria super

chef contest is what we're we're doing here theme

is desserts three rounds i swear somebody watched

the uh either the holiday or the spring baking

championship on food network because it's exactly

what uh what what this this reminds me of oh

this is pretty much any cooking contest so we

have um various ponies from various lands we

got uh from manhattan it's summer van der hoof

Exclusive cuisine for exclusive ponies darlings

from Las Pegasus I'm sorry that that's just so

wrong. It doesn't even sound anything like Vegas

Vegas Vegas Yeah, I guess maybe We got blade

sparks He's ready to fire up your appetite so

he uses fire for everything. Yeah, that's guy

for every Yeah, yeah From Dodge City we have

toffee truffle And I guess that's supposed to

be the Paula Dean one since she has all the white

kind of hair I guess And I wasn't really expecting

to see the other ponies in this like I thought

this was thought these were supposed to be like

you said earlier spotlights one shots with I

wasn't expecting to see Twilight, Fluttershy,

Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. They're just in the

audience. It's not focused on them. No, I know.

So we get, you know, they also announce Marine

Sandwich, which they assume is Pinkie Pie, and

the actual Marine Sandwich is, I guess, watching

outside or something? imposter oh no i i didn't

bring anything well you know like sometimes when

they have when you're um they still have like

big televisions on the outside so if you're you're

going out to the bathroom or you're going out

to get something to snack on you can still see

what's going on and the real marine sandwich

gets kicked out and stay out All's I can think

of is the gorilla from who framed Roger rabbit

throwing Eddie Valiant out of the ink and paint

club So we have We have marine sandwich. She's

gonna get her revenge on pinky apparently and

She's just trying to think and she can't think

and she loses all memory of how do you cook what

is rain why do birds think? why do birds think?

pinky is the ultimate ADD personality she really

really is so pinky and applejack end up talking

to each other Toffee truffle comes around and

basically they're gonna help her win kind of

a thing Because of her story of miss birdie retired

and now families don't have anywhere to go for

a treat Which oh, yeah cherry fit that's what

it was already talked about that So Applejack

and Pinkie Pie try to basically basically they

want to rig the contest for and she's like no

don't do that i want to win fair and square and

marine sandwich keeps trying to get in but the

guards keep kicking her out the looks on her

face every time it's just hilarious oh marine

sandwich yes because she's getting madder and

madder and madder What I really love is when

they get to round two and the panels you have

all the different colors like one is a black

background with red Like I love how they just

like the two tones. Yeah, just Differentiated

all the characters like this is so cool So they

all make their desserts and and stuff and when

we get to pinky It's chocolate dipped pickles

stuffed with blue cheese wrapped in garbage surprise

It's so gross. Yeah Pretty much And of course

the guy Fieri pony is I call it blade chocolate

flame boom That's a running running gag for him

and Apparently pinky wins round two Because it's

so different this just tells you how how hoity

-toity they are Yeah, that's mixed up with the

pony hoity -toity Or rarity because rarities

that upper crust as well So we get to round three

make your favorite recipe is round three and

everybody's like trying to decide what their

favorite is and basically um blades is uh the

giant flame boom and how is this different from

your other pretty other dishes more fire obviously

i like that yeah sure so uh pinky pretty much

starts singing her her what she's gonna do with

with her entry and basically it starts this giant

food fight because she has custard pies everywhere

she's got the judges all running because of the

buys so many pies you know so much fondant yeah

They get to toffee truffle. Please tell me you

have cooked a normal Edible dessert that won't

burn us that or be thrown at us or otherwise

inconvenience us Dolce delay sugar cookie cups

my mom always made these on special occasions

and Eventually, that's what gets her to win but

Marine sandwich comes back. Don't forget my entry

Call this one fondant fools Is it just mirrors

Well, we have twine this giant panel here. We

get Twilight we get Rainbow Dash and I assume

The one at the bottom center is supposed to be

fluttershy, but no that's that's cherry Jubilee

Okay Because I was gonna say fluttershy is the

reverse of those colors So the cameraman keeps

rolling the fondant keeps spraying everywhere

Not my black apple root mushroom Quick pinky

slimy with some of those pies coming right up

and She starts bombing Applejack starts bombing

marine sandwich and and Let's see Toffee truffle

says I have all this caramel if we only had a

portable party cannon Yeah Gee why didn't you

say so in the first place? Well at least they

found a decent way to explain why she has it

Again, let me explain to you. Pinkie Pie defies

the laws of physics. You can't explain... Yeah.

She always is gonna have her party cannons. You

know, you don't know where she puts it. And trust

me, you don't want to know where she puts it.

Yeah, I know, but I'm just saying it's like,

it's a night, instead of her just... Because

when we were doing the volume trades, when we

were doing the Friendship is Magic trade episode

last week... and she just pulls up the costume

lickety split at first and it's like hey wait

what you just go with the bro yeah so we got

the cannon and obviously Guy Fieri lights the

cannon for them and the caramel goes kaboom yeah

all over the place gooey gooey caramel kablooey

yep that needs to be a facebook image somewhere

that needs to be a profile picture somewhere

and of course pinky has to do the classic line

and that's what i call just desserts so basically

toffee truffle wins In the end, they all become

good friends. I like the Pinkie Pie and Applejack

story. I think it's cool. I just wish there was

more... I just wish it wasn't centered around

the cooking contest. That's like... because we

get introduced to all these other characters.

And it doesn't really seem like until the very

end that they're actually doing a team up. Because

in the beginning, they're each on their own thing.

Pinkie's got... You know, got her recipes in

her brain that she's trying to remember and not

forget. And Applejack's got her pie on her back.

Pinky just zooms by her and it's, you know, obviously

knocks her off balance and flings the pie up.

And then they're pretty much competing against

each other in the, in the, uh, in the contest.

I liked it. I thought it was a good story, but

I just wish there was more of the team up aspect.

Um, I, I didn't, I didn't mind it just, just

because. I don't know. It was a good story. I

enjoyed it. It was fun Party cannon for the win

Yeah I do like the The alternate cover by Carla

Speed McNeil where it's pinky and an Applejack

back -to -back In this kind of pie center with

all the rainbow. I do kind of like that Moving

on we have the cutie mark crusaders and discord

This is just weird. I like it. I think it's adorable

So as we all know the cutie mark crusaders are

still looking for their cutie marks and how to

get them They've tried everything under the Sun

Basic gist of the storyline is they need to basically

think of stuff. They haven't thought of yet and

who's the best person to do that but Discord.

I love Discord. There is so much fan wink goodness

in this. So amazing. Oh, I love it. I love how

they do the list because in the Comixology Guide

Review you go panel to panel to panel throughout

the whole list and then it opens up into this

giant splash page. That is so cool. So Discord

is singing, and he's at the same time messing

with their apples. Apple Bloom basically threatens

him. And he snaps his fingers, and all he's doing

is improving the apples. He says, here, try this.

It tastes like chocolate. I would love to have

a chocolate apple off a tree. That'd be awesome.

I don't know. I just don't know. Because, obviously,

continuity -wise, all this stuff with Discord

happens after he has gone good in the series,

the actual cartoon series. Well, he's never really

totally gone good. He still has this mischievous

ways. Yeah, but he's not out to steal the elements

of harmony anymore and destroy the entire world.

So he's kind of gone good. He's embraced the

friendship is magic thing more than what he used

to. And I love where he says, yes, peppers, potatoes,

pies, snozzeries, flavors of things you'd never

even think to think of. And I love the panel

with Apple Bloom with a giant light bulb overhead

So they basically employ discord to give them

ideas The stuff that they could do to get their

cutie marks and as he's going through this it's

pretty much Once he starts doing this like after

the ice skating one. It's pretty much stuff.

They've already done They've already thought

of The panel with the discord judges with the

pickle and the at sign of the Chinese like wait

a minute what? Pickle that pie that goes back

to the previous issue pickle pie. Yep And the

cool thing about the entire story here is he

keeps... He keeps mispronouncing what they are.

He calls them the cutie mark conflators. And

you know he's doing that on purpose and I love

it. So now they're gonna be football players.

Just there's certain things when it comes to

the my little pony friendship is magic franchise

the current franchise That I just can't see these

ponies doing and I'm sorry football is one of

them. It's just doesn't It doesn't come I don't

know. It just doesn't compute in my brain for

some odd reason man. You've got to let go I think

the funniest bit about the football segment is

that basically Angel Bunny gets the football

and starts running all over the place. Angel.

He's a little devil. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. See,

he shows up, but they don't really show like

they don't show him. He's a he shows that angel

bunny shows up in the football thing here. Okay,

and we got him. He's running around He's running

around and they don't really explain how he shows

up and then by the end of the football thing

discord It's like, you know, well because he

snaps him into another reality. So Angel bunny's

not gonna be in the next reality right But this

also happens with spike too because for some

odd reason spike is there as well Because I just

now realized that spike was there in the game

the whole time I didn't I don't know why I didn't

realize that now, but we get to the panel where

Discord snaps and basically snaps them out of

reality and you have angel bunny and spike basically

falling out of this giant bubble and they have

no idea what just happened and Spikes like oh

no our discord's at it again And Discord's next

idea is lion tamers. Done it. What? Yeah, we

tried this one a while ago. We still have flaming

hoops at home. I love how they out. I just want

to see their little closet with all the stuff

that they've made. Have they ever shown it? What?

No, I'm just saying I would like to see it because

they have done a lot of things. Love fluttershy

angel bunny told me what was going on and then

he spiked a ball right in my face So they all

get to this this I Really want to make a poly

sure bio dome joke here, but it's also I can

think of is the Simpsons at this point Yeah,

we we tried higher wire walking once ago We need

something really crazy and at this point discord

is getting really fed up so He puts them as firefighters

Rainbow Dash is gonna try to crash through the

bubble and that doesn't work at all Discord keeps

trying ideas race car driving Let's see, what's

the next one is the best where there's Starfleet

captain And of course, you know that John Delancey

is the voice who also played Q on Star Trek who

he is dressed up as discord as Q absolutely brilliant

Yeah, that's yeah They even basically They're

basically pointing you right at it. You know

him saying this this feels familiar There is

one problem with this Two out of the three of

them are wearing red shirts Well, yeah, cuz on

next generation the they had red But I mean I

would think that cuz wharf has a has a brown

shirt I believe on there if Obviously Apple Bloom

is supposed to be Geordie. Yeah she's got the

captain and and Number two I always had Richard

Oh, yeah, that's true Don't don't yeah, it's

been a long time. I love I've kept up with Her

riker going on with her angry face. I love it

Yeah, she's Pretty angry. Yeah, there's so much

joy in that page so much joy and then we have

a power rangers reference mega pony ready actually

i think it's uh um i think gummy's supposed to

be godzilla oh is yeah he's got little godzilla

spikes on his back i love it Hey, every time

Godzilla comes up alls I can think of is that

scene from Austin Powers Hey, look, he's Godzilla

due to international copyright law. We can't

actually say he's Godzilla So discord is pretty

much, you know They said Apple Bloom said I think

it's Apple Bloom that said it might be Scootaloo

I knew discord couldn't help us get our cutie

marks. This was a waste of time waste of time

How dare you I'll show you the power of discord

Oops, yeah, they're there so they go at all all

these adventures and it's so much fun Pirates

of the Caribbean there then they're then hung

over a witch's cauldron That they're supposed

to be French lead us Yeah, and then detectives

Lord of the Rings and they're playing Dungeons

and Dragons So we go back outside to Twilight

And apparently through all of us that the bubble

the the force field thing is expanding it's basically

destroying Ponyville Come on everypony this isn't

a drill I'll show those little ponies. They don't

think discord has a few surprises of his sleeve

And Sweetie Belle comes along and basically just

takes a second to thank him You're working hard

and it might seem like we don't appreciate it,

but I wanted to let you know that we do And this

basically softens up discord and this basically

frees Freeze everybody and stops the town from

getting destroyed and Is it all of them that

hug him well school is hugging him, right? Yeah,

okay, so I thought it was one big giant because

I could have sworn I saw part of Apple Bloom

there, but And I love Twilight at the end. Maybe

somewhere away from Ponyville next time, please?

Of course, dear Twilight. I never meant to put

any Ponyville in any danger. I could just hear

his voice saying, of course, dear Twilight. I

love it. I think the best part of the art here

is the silhouettes of him and Celestia. Where

she says, I feel like you've learned an important

lesson here today, Discord. It's basically there.

So it's it's like I don't know if you ever did

this in school, but in school We used to do almost

every year They would do our silhouettes as photos

Essentially, uh -huh, and it would just be a

black photo of our you know, we're not our face

so That's what this reminds me of here. Oh, yeah,

I love this panel. It's beautifully done. I love

the background and I love Tony flex's cover for

this which is basically the ponies and discord

the cutie mark crusaders and discord running

down the hill with the The scooters. That's awesome.

I Love it. It's fun. Yeah. Yes. Yeah It was a

fun little story. I like this Like I said before

I'm not the biggest fan of the cutie mark crusaders

just because it took them so long to eventually

get their cutie marks. But what season does it

happen in? Season five? This last one, I think.

So yeah, season six. Yeah. Oh, good Lord. I like

this team because it's something I didn't expect.

It's just like, what does Discord going to do

with three little fillies? You know? And like

I said, they won me over with the Star Trek page.

My gosh, I was rolling when I first read that

Then we get to Princess Celestia and spike and

This is your educational story folks pretty much

oh Yeah, because what the whole thing is Celestia

is going around and she's even saying I'm not

an adventurer I'm a teacher and so this is basically

yeah another teaching lesson so so Spike shows

up he basically wants to get a gift for Twilight

for her birthday coming up he wants to get her

a new lens for a telescope and they go on this

adventure to find these crystal lenses And they

each have, they each teach each other a lesson,

which is interesting. And this happens a lot,

not just with the ponies, but with any franchise

that uses this kind of story where one needs

to teach the other one something and vice versa.

I do love the art in this though. It's kind of

got like a, I don't know what kind of painting.

or process these. It almost has like a Crayola

kind of feel to it. Not like, you know, I'm saying

a crayon. Yeah. I love it. It's so cool. Yeah.

Well, I mean, if you if you look at Celestia

in a lot of the panels, if you look at her close

up, I mean, it's almost like her hair is a a

mishmash of coloring outside the lines. I mean,

it's all straight and it's all inside just the

colors the way her her mane is and because it's

all rainbow like and it's just so So cool. I

don't have a problem with this, but I just want

to say it is a little strange seeing Spike stand

or sit on some other pony other than Twilight.

Spike's got little legs. He needs to be carried.

Yeah, I wonder if he's ever going to grow up.

Oh, Spike? There is one episode where you see

where he looks like when he's bigger. Oh, okay.

Because I did do the homework from last time.

I did watch the Zakura episode and I watched

the DC... The DC episode wasn't as cool as I

thought it would be. I loved it. I love Maniac.

Love her. But did you like the Zakura episode?

Yeah, that was fun. That was fun. I wasn't spoiled

what happened to Fluttershy. I was cracking with

it. I knew it was gonna well, I wasn't spoiled

with that, but I knew as soon as I saw that the

something was happening with them with the curses.

I knew because obviously Fluttershy is the character

that is very shy and she doesn't talk that much

and when she talks, it's kind of like really

down here. She doesn't really want to talk at

all. You say anything that kind of stuff and

and I knew that I don't even remember who they

got to do that that voice for her But it's the

same guy that does Mac I believe oh, okay, if

I remember right it's it's been a while Yeah

So they're they're sharing stories as they go

on this journey and they run into Stop right

there you mooks. They run into the Krusty Krab.

I'm sorry bad spongebob joke they run into the

stone crabs rock crabs or Whatever the hell these

things are called They end up getting captured

and Celestia is just laying there relaxing and

the spike is basically pacing up and down And

maybe, I guess I do need to watch more of the

series, because I still have the same complaint

that I had last time. Spike still looks really,

really small in these drawings. More so... I

know he is small, but in the show he doesn't

look... Maybe it's the 3D to 2D thing that I'm

not wrapping my head around, because in the show

he doesn't look as small as he's being drawn

here. He's just a baby dragon. I know he is,

but... So Spike figures out a way to get them

out to get them free. He basically bites through

the bars, which are pretty much made of nothing.

Well, they're made of stalactites. Yeah. You

know, dragons eat rocks. Oh no. Iggy, CD, come

here quick. We gotta let him go. I love the look

of the rock lobster here. It's so cute. All I

can ever think of is when any character spits

anything out and it says Patoo or Patooie, all

I can think of is Mario and those damn plants.

Patooie to you too, Mario. so they get free and

The Rock the rock lobsters are like so no hard

feelings, right and Spike just bites at him.

I love it. I I Kind of like the look of these

rock lobsters because they have almost a puppet

film Yeah, and I love it and knowing that they're

rock lobsters is hilarious They're just like

five steps away from being Rock Lords So they

get free They then have a discussion of how princess

Celestia could have done it easy But she could

have gotten them out of there easily more than

spike could have This is where the lesson comes

in of You know she says I could have said this

at any time, but I wanted you to be the one to

do it And she basically says because you know

as you said you're not an adventurer, but you

want to be and You know so it's it's that whole

lesson and they eventually do get up to the crystal

peak thing of the of the mountain and you know

and he does get two lenses for Twilight and I

think the best panel outside of the Rock Lobster

panel in this is when he's holding These should

be perfect for Twilight's telescope and They

then go trumping and stumping down the mountain

sorry Bad Transformers joke from the movie and

the volcano erupts Mount st. Helen great. Just

what we need make sure the ark isn't under that

thing So Lava gets everywhere Princess Celestia

looks like she's gonna be able to save them but

Not quite cuz spikes hanging on but she's flying

a little too fast The crystals end up in the

lava and somehow spike ends up not getting burned.

He's a dragon. He's a dragon I know he's a dragon,

but no the thing is They don't get hurt by lava

or fire Because it's part of their scales Okay,

that's because they were bored. They're like

almost born in fire. So they're resistant to

fire. I Just wish that there's you know, so okay

so they have the panel where he drops the crystals

by accident and he even says the crystals like

and she he goes to jump off her and she says

spike and then all of a sudden he's in there

like you know i wish there was just a little

bit more like like him saying don't worry princess

it's okay i'm immune or what you know just something

well you what she's kind of like me because i

was kind of like oh crap you know I forgot that

he was immune to lava and fire until he actually

got in there. And I'm like, oh, OK. Yeah, that's

right. Because I mean, I forgot that too. So

I could see where she's coming from. But he also

get carried away by the current. I mean, he's

not prone to not drowning. I mean, he's still

drowned. He's still a little dragon. So he's

prone to some things, but not everything. So

we get into a point where they're trapped in

the cave and Spike thinks he can go ahead and

move the boulder and that doesn't work obviously

and This is where the lesson kind of comes in

again where it's like Some people are good at

some things and other people are good at some

things and they're not better than each other

But they're they each have their own Skill set

it's kind of where it comes in because Celestia

does free them They go back to the castle. Spike

has his lenses. He gives the present to Twilight.

And they hug. And Spike spits out a note. It's

still... The mail delivery system in Equestria

is just strange. It's just so strange to me.

You send something by fire and then when a message

comes back you basically Burp it up. Well, that's

just how it goes with spike So we get a letter

he spike himself gets a letter from Princess

Celestia Basically saying a teacher can become

an adventure a sidekick can become an adventurer

A student can become a princess, and sometimes

someone we hardly know can become a friend. I

love that. I think that's really cute. Yeah,

that's him. I know a lot of people are like,

oh, that's so cheesy, but I actually think that's

an important and a really good message. It is.

Again, I think it just shows that two people

from different... I mean, basically she's a princess

and he's a servant and they had a good time together.

Yep. the Yeah, I mean I Will say when I first

saw before I looked at this I was really skeptical

about a spike in Celestia team up because I'm

like because for me I haven't seen them really

interact too much and obviously in the first

season And I've seen episodes here and there

of the second season, but I haven't seen a lot

of it but once again the the pony comics kind

of outdo themselves and it's just you know overall

a really really good message i love it it was

it was a lot of fun yeah then we get to the final

story in this trade which is uh twilight and

shining armor it's not i'll say this now it's

not my favorite team up This trade that probably

would have to go to AJ and Pinkie Pie most likely

But this isn't bad because it's very rarely at

least it's probably rare for me that you see

them The bro, like I didn't even I don't even

remember if she even had a brother before like

I don't think it's It's been mentioned in the

first season. No, that's not the first season.

I think it's third if I remember right Yeah,

because that was the Crystal Empire thing. So

this one starts off with Spike and Twilight.

And they're looking in the Monsterpedia. I want

this book. I want this book bad. I love monsters.

So, Twilight's catching the train to the Crystal

Empire. She's leaving Spike in charge. She gets

there and she's looking for Shining Armor and

she's, because at this point, she's a Princess

Twilight Sparkle. You know, welcome back to the

Crystal Empire. Oh, you know. Shining Armor couldn't

make it. He's very, very busy. Prince's work

is never done. Because with Candice out often

some other princess Candice is out somewhere

else and shining armor basically just has This

I would almost say a very much this almost mimics

the job switch between Celestia and Luna When

they did that story, oh, yeah So so shining armor

and Twilight hug they they then go through all

these things and one of the advisors like then

there's the matter of the glowing eyes I've seen

in the library or as the librarian in the library

right before they vanish into thin air and all

the missing books and then the the librarian

mistakes Twilight for Celestia because poor eyesight

I know, he's so cute. It means you should be

eating more carrots. So Twilight breaks out the

Monsterpedia and she says it sounds just like

the Crystal Ghost on page 89. They all look at

her like she's crazy. Shining armor says toilet.

You're scaring the staff crystal ghosts aren't

even real That's just a legend that goes back

to the days of King Sombra hundreds of moons

ago And this turns into Like she believes but

he doesn't and he's too caught up in his royal

duties and yeah He wants to be a big brother

and and and come see her but he can't cuz everybody's

bothering him with all these Antiquated kind

of things here we then get a flashback what did

you think of the flashback i think it's adorable

it's absolutely cute yeah the flashback is pretty

awesome and i love the color tones that they

use the sepia sepia i don't know how people you

know always argue how to say that so you know

so this um this crystal mist here Twilight's

fallen asleep and that's why she's that's why

we get the flashback is she's dreaming about

the past with her and and shining armor running

from the ghosts and all that stuff and This blue

mist grabs the monster pediatric And basically

yoinks it away All the staff are like, hey, did

you see that? Did you see that? And the book's

missing. I gotta give it to the Plumber Ponies.

The Mario and Luigi wannabes. Yeah. Love it.

It's so cute. I love their cutie marks. And then

they're like, do you smell that? It's not me.

It's a little donkey -ish. I love it. That is

kind of hilarious I Assume the donkey smell I

assume that is is referencing Donkey Kong I Would

assume but could be also referencing Eddie Murphy,

but yeah, that was awesome So Twilight wakes

up The book is gone The librarian is there right

in her face and basically scares her to half

to death Well, not just the librarian like the

whole staff. Well, yeah. Yeah, everybody's there.

Yeah, but Well, look I don't see Luigi I see

Mario Luigi still working on the It looked a

little like a gorilla that's definitely a donkey

So So they all go running the librarian basically

says scared or not something is stealing books

And they're overdue Shining armor finally gets

out of his meeting and this is where he sees

everybody running you saw it. Oh, no twilight

thought I wouldn't help her and They go to They

go to catch the the monster and Twilight's like

hey, is that my old net? Yes, the monster trackers

are together again So they find this hidden passage

in in the bookcase, which isn't at all cliched

whatsoever What are you saying Adams family did

it Batman did it I know I'm just kidding. Oh,

I is so many other things that have done the

book in the bookcase thing. So they agree to

go down together into the cave and the librarian

is caught and she says, oh my prince, if it's

all the same to you, I believe I'll just head

to my bedroom for some rest. Hmm, seems to have

gotten turned around. I must be headed down to

the kitchen. And this - This poor librarian.

This pony needs her eyes checked badly. Yeah.

So they see all the traps and they get through

all the traps because they're they're they're

monster trackers. They're they're trained to

watch out for traps. They get through the maze

and this this whole section. It's really it's

the last crusade all over again. I love it though.

It's great. No, I'm not saying it is a bad thing.

I'm just saying the whole thing with the traps

and and everything it's like hey Only the penitent

man will pass penitent man penitent. Oh, oh and

he who will kneel will pass or you lose your

head So they get past all the traps and they

eventually meet up with the crystal ghost who

apparently is crying. Oh, I'm so sad supposedly

he's uh he's under the impression that King Sombra

is still in power because he's been trapped down

here for thousands of moons or something or other

and he explains how King Sombra had banished

him and all that and he's been hiding down in

the basement Ever since and he says he's sorry

he stole all the books, but he'd always return

them eventually eventually. I like that eventually

So the prince is just glad that they found him

and they're gonna basically free him Apparently

this is Well, according to the librarian, this

is her bedroom. It's not her vision that's the

problem. Look at her glasses in the panel. Well,

she broke them when she read it to the bookcase.

Yeah. So she needs new glasses, yes. So they

find a job for him, and basically it's reshelving

books and stuff. the story kind of ends and shining

armistice is getting dark dark watch out for

night sprites you know how they love trains yep

they're listed on page 113 a cute story and that's

how it ends it's a cute little story i love i

love the back cover that they show yeah with

all the monsters the monsters and the The chalkboard

and all that stuff and then we get into the color

gallery here for this one I think my favorite

one is discord writing on the house So we're

gonna take a quick break come back with volume

2 after this all right folks up next is volume

two of friends forever the main cover is applejack

and rarity you can tell applejack is just so

thrilled to be there it's the odd couple yeah

you know i think my favorite part of this and

i don't remember if i think it's in the first

trade i didn't i didn't mention this i almost

wish i had this like a banner size like 658 by

317. The logo, My Little Pony Friends Forever

with the whole rainbow thing around it, that's

awesome. I love that. So in this one we have

Fluttershy and Zakora, Rainbow Dash and Trixie,

Pinkie Pie and Princess Luna, and Applejack and

Rarity. The Fluttershy -Zakora story is by Tom

Zoller on writing, art by Tony Fleakes, colors

by Heather Breckle, letters done by Neil. Rainbow

Dash and Trixie is also written by Tom Zoller.

Art by Agnes Garbowska. Letters by Neil Pinkie

Pie and Princess Celestia is written by Jeremy

Whitley. Art by Tony Flex. Colors by Heather

Breckle. Letters by Neil. Applejack and Rarity

is done by Katie Cook, Andy Price, Heather Breckle,

and Neil. The cover art is done by Amy Remerson.

And the series edits are done by Bobby Kernow.

Fluttershy and Zakura. Now, okay, so As I am

reading this all right when I was reading this

the other night I Every so often I make comments

on Twitter and Facebook wherever about You know

what I'm reading what I'm doing whatever And

our good buddy Michael Dodd decided to basically

lamb based me over a few comments I made about

about Fluttershy and Zucura. So the other night,

before we recorded this, I posted, Zucura from

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is the wheelie

of the pony universe, but she's better than wheelie

ever could be. And Mike's like, I know people

that would gut you alive for that statement.

I'm like. This is the that statement right there

from him is one of the reasons why I've wanted

to stay completely away from the pony fandom

because The pony fandom is crazy. I never said

Zakura was worse or is the same as really? I

said she was better than wheelie, but maybe you're

upsetting a wheelie fan. Oh Are there really?

Hey spotlight came out. I'm a fan of wheelie

because he got tortured That's why he speaks

in grime. It's his way to cope with his anxiety

of his torture. Yeah, but that's not explained

in the animated movie, though. That doesn't matter.

That's what I'm talking about is animated really.

That was 30 years ago. You need to get over it

and read something new that came out 10 years

ago. we've got uh all right so we got fluttershy

and zucura the main cover here is done by amy

meberson as always um and you got fluttershy

and zucura with all these animal things around

them we get angel bunny there and it's an interesting

cover i don't think it's my favorite though i

i love that the mirror is talking about toilet

paper because of the charm and commercials yeah

that is kind of hilarious So Fluttershy is cleaning

up and all of a sudden, because Fluttershy's

whole thing is she talks to the animals. They

don't always talk back to her, but she talks

to them and they make their animal sounds back

to her. And she goes, Oh, hello there. How are

you today? I'm great. Thank you. How are you

today? And the squirrel is actually talking to

her. You can talk. I love when Fluttershy freaks

out because it's so uncharacteristic for her,

so it's so cool when... Well, only when I have

something worth saying. And I love the squirrel

in the next panel. Since when can you talk? I've

always been able to talk. You've just started

to listen, finally. Ouch. Yeah. Don't know you

ponies can be pretty self -involved I Love this

squirrel is awesome. I oh look at the time. I've

got to go busy day today I'm gonna be busy as

a beaver beavers. No those guys are lazy. They

just have good press squirrels Where the busy

ones? So he runs off and she gives chase Basically

bounce ups in the tree and we run into rarity

I'm not done with our conversation. Mr. Squirrel.

What are you late for? Where are you going? Now,

why is it when fluttershy says that I think she

is turned into Alice and she's chasing the white

rabbit Well, that's kind of like how it is Because

all of a sudden she she does pretty much go down

a rabbit hole like oh my god Can you imagine

if they did an Alice in Wonderland spoof with

her as Alice and oh that's cute So rarity shows

up Mr. Squirrel he was talking actually talking.

I know it sounds crazy. Oh not at all darling

and Basically rarity blows her off and says just

get some rest dear. You'll be okay Know I heard

him talking. I know I didn't heard who talking

says a red bird. Mr. Squirrel the squirrel talked

to you. Yes, he he what? She seems excitable

Which is again, this is why fluttershy is and

I've said that I said this last week is probably

one of my if not my number one favorite out of

the friendship is magic crew because of How her

personality is supposed to be? then when she

breaks that mold and becomes excitable and does

all the freakouts it's just it's so refreshing

oh yeah she's so cute you can hear just doing

the gas like you know so she tries to go home

and takes a nap and that doesn't exactly work

so she goes into the is it the forbidden forest

or the forbidden forest So she's gonna go talk

to Zucura Tablespoon teaspoon teaspoon tablespoon

I get them confused. I'm such a buffoon So She

Fluttershy wants to occur to get to the bottom

of why she can hear the animals actual talk actual

talking And we have all this all this rhyming

stuff and and She puts some sort of mojo dust

on Fluttershy and Fluttershy asks, and what did

that do? Given the lack of any zing, Zakura's

powder did nothing. She even tries to give her

an inkblot test. She does the spinning lollipop

thing, which essentially makes her seasick. She

has a vision test. She has her pick a card, any

card. I love it. Sakura's so much fun. Yeah,

she is. She's probably one of my favorite looking

ponies. She's got such a style about her. I love

it. Well, she's not a pony. She's a zebra. I

know, but in the pony -verse. Yeah, yeah. So

she brings in the raccoon, this little mass raccoon.

The raccoon just sits there not saying anything

and this is where fluttershy basically Goes crazy,

please. Mr. Raccoon. Let me know I'm not going

crazy So Kura leaves and that's when the raccoon

decides to talk maybe I should just go home good

idea I've got places to be myself Poor fluttershy

I mean come on forget the raccoon. He's a rude

little bastard He's died. He's just wanted to

get back to what he was doing That's true So

Fluttershy runs after him Sakura comes back to

find her not there And she asks a couple of cats

to help her with a problem. She's having So we

get panels of that. And they finally do talk

to Zakura. And they're like, we were given a

speech by Hush, we're not supposed to tell anyone.

I already know that language you do not lack.

Why choose now to hold anything back? Nope, you

got me once, not again. It's hilarious. and Fluttershy

is still chasing the raccoon guess she needs

to know and basically the raccoon runs back to

all the animals and even angel bunny is there

you're not supposed to be here Fluttershy angel

bunny he's just so sweet that's putting it mildly

Angel bunny you're here, too. I'm not just here.

I organized this a perfectly good plan a great

plan In fact, and you messed it up. How could

you do that? It basically is Alice in Wonderland

on the next page think about it yeah pretty much

they have a whole tea party with cake and and

everything else and Lo and behold, it's discord

Did you think that he was gonna be in charge

of this? I did not think he was gonna I did not

think he was gonna show up again And because

this comes back to when When she had said to

him that they were friends Fluttershy was like

his first friend so Yeah, so in a way he was

dude so that he honestly I honestly think discord

was actually doing something very Grateful here

for oh, yeah Yeah, I don't think he had any any

malice towards her anybody else at all in this.

Yeah his intentions and his heart was all in

the right place. It's just as Fluttershy says

an incredibly disruptive scaring super scary

surprising presence, but a great one all the

same and They hug and why is it every time one

of the ponies hugs him? He looks like he's ready

to burst into tears because he he for the long

I'm talking you're talking Thousands of thousands

a year. He never had a friend. He never felt

love So it comes very rarely for him. So, of

course, he's gonna get a little sentimental that

he actually feels like oh Wow, it's one who actually

does love me And I can't help but think that

Zakura and Discord have some sort of animosity

towards each other. Uh, probably. I mean, he

probably did some horrible things to her. Yeah.

Um... And she basically says, Discord, in this

one place you're, you know, in this one, what'd

she say? Uh... In this one case your heart was

in the right place Okay, I guess you're going

to the beach folks Sorry, I thought I turned

my phone off so this one ends with Discord and

Zakora basically really all my chats with them

have been kind of annoying But it could have

been worse. Oh how so? Yes, they could have all

spoken only in rhyme. Really, you didn't like

that? I'm so glad you finally told me. Now where

were we? At Crystal Kingdom. Tell again, please.

I love this story. This story is so cool. It's

fun. Fluttershy is so adorable. She is. Then

we get to the ego of the bunch. Rainbow Dash

of all people. I love rainbow. Oh, rainbow's

not as egotistical as Trixie. You haven't been

up with Trixie in the cartoon yet. No, not yet.

Oh, yeah. After reading this, I'm not sure if

I want to meet up with Trixie in the cartoon.

So we start with rainbow going over to meet the

rest of the ponies. and basically Rainbow gets

summoned so that I have been requested, commanded

in fact to provide a performance of my aerobatics

for the Queen of the Kingdom of Daimondia. I

don't even think the Wonderbolts have been asked

to perform there. What were you going to say?

Oh no, Daimonia, yeah. Well, yeah. Was So there's

a mapping and closed and rainbow just blasts

off and pinkies like have a good time send us

a postcard. All right Looks like the kingdom

is kind of a fixer -upper Looks like a village

at a Snow White or something is what it looks

like. Oh But wait, I just now got this obviously

they're all dog houses That's why. You need to

watch more of the cartoons. I know, I know, I

know. I didn't notice it at first, because I

said this last time, when I first sit here and

read the comics, I'm reading them for the story.

get the story just sometimes i don't notice the

art and just now looking at this i'm really oh

yeah they're the diamond dogs so that means all

their houses would be dog house shape kind of

things and all of these houses are white with

red roofs all's i can think of is snoopy laying

on the roof yeah snoopy's awesome so The diamond

dogs Basically, you know like greetings Rainbow

Dash and she's not exactly thrilled to see them.

So she's out of there We're not all like the

curves that you've met before those dogs were

more rough than we are We kicked them out of

our pack a long time ago besides our new queen

would hear no such behavior So they have a new

queen The new queen turns out to be Trixie. That's

her highness, lady of the royal order, queen

Trixie the first. Yeah, I can already tell her

ego is way bigger than Rainbow Dash's. Come,

let's have a spot of tea on the balcony. Jim,

you are dismissed. Poor Jim. Trixie wow that

character and the funny thing is every time I

see that name Trixie all's I can think of is

the stupid dinosaur in Toy Story 3 oh yeah she's

not a stupid dinosaur but just that scene where

she's on the computer oh it's just a dinosaur

from the down the street just another dinosaur

no Trixie oh my gosh Her arrogance always gets

her in trouble You think she'd learn from it,

but no, I know people like that though So basically

Trixie's story is is that she was on her way

to a performance in Seadal When I spilled my

magic trunk along with everything else the costume

jewelry and gems I had from my coal into diamonds

trick fell into the mud Was Bearing the situation

with my usual grace and poise of course Why why

do these things always happen to me? She sounds

like Lord starch bottom from the 7d right there

That's when I found myself surrounded by diamond

dogs look she's a diviner she can locate diamonds

So because of that they made her their queen

And now they won't let her leave so it's not

so good to be the queen Yeah, I know I love that

panel She looks so defeated Yeah, she does and

Basically what the story comes down to is the

the crown that she wears it. It's a dog collar

Essentially and one that she can't remove Right

the only way she can get it removed is if the

diamond dogs basically lose faith in her So the

story then becomes about how to get them to lose

faith in her and Rainbow Dash basically Goes

around this is pretty good little plot It is

yeah, it is very much so Because they basically

tell the diamond dogs essentially tell Rainbow

Dash how to get the collar off pretty much Diamond

dogs aren't aren't exactly the smartest as you

think They're they I mean Forrest Gump is smarter

than these guys So basically what happens here

is they hatch a plot to steal all the gems from

the diamond dogs And then rainbow starts her

aerobatics and At the same time Trixie is moving

the gems into the hidden floor on the stage Rainbow

dash swoops in grabs Trixie the gems basically

fall under the stage and they because it looks

like she's going to steal the gyms the caller

comes off because they've lost faith in her there's

even a line where Where Trixie says, from now

on I will be the mush - oh. We will be the mush

- she starts going through all these, these new

names. No longer will we hunt diamonds, from

now on we will hunt mushrooms. Yeah, that's it,

mushrooms. From now on I'm gonna be the mush

dogs. What? That's horrible. I don't want to

be rebranded. Uh oh. Don't do too good of a job,

Trixie. This is a dumb idea, and we know dumb.

Every that's not all every dog will be required

to adopt a cat better yet a cute little kitten

That's it. I can't stands it no more. I'm mad

So you're a mad dog yeah, but not that kind So

the collar does come off rainbow dash swoops

in with her rainbow grabs Trixie, the collar

stays behind, and the gems are nowhere to be

found. And we assume that somehow they were able

to take the gems with them, but again, I'm sorry,

Pinkie Pie's logic of stuff just showing up or

disappearing doesn't apply to these two. No.

So they go ahead and they do something you're

not supposed to do with magic. They explain the

trick, and they explain about the trap door,

and that the Diamond Dogs will find the gems

eventually. Maybe. Maybe, yeah. I like this one.

I thought it was a little fun. A little fun adventure.

I love Rainbow Dash's costume when she's performing.

I think she looks absolutely adorable. And I'm

glad that Rainbow Dash and Trixie could put their

differences behind and make things work out for

the better. I mean, this is not just good for

Trixie to get away from the Diamond Dogs, but

it's good for them as well. You know, yeah, I

could imagine her as a ruler. Oh my gosh She

had to be horrible Yeah And of course Tracy's

like now to find a new trick to play I Think

The the back cover here the the alternate cover

is my favorite for this one. Yeah The gems that's

awesome. Well, and the gems correlate with a

friendships of magic so And then we have Pinkie

Pie and Princess Luna, I love the cover of this

love it Yeah It's a little strange. I love it.

It's putting on the red light Yeah, it is putting

on the reds but once again like and I know I

need to have some sort of suspension to display

but just they're just some poses pony should

not be in and this is Pinkie Pie just She looks

really strange on this cover. Oh, I don't think

so. I think she looks absolutely adorable So

we start off with Twilight and Spike for some

reason And they're talking about How to shelve

the books by whatever And he mentions that Pinky's

throwing some sort of party because Pinky always

throw some sort of party and we get a knock at

the door, and it's Princess Luna yelling at the

top of her lungs. Twilight Sparkle, your princess

requires your assistance. Dun dun dun. I mean,

Em, I need your help, Twilight. Princess Luna,

what can I do for you? She basically wants to

be funny. So this basically turns into a story

about turning Princess Luna into a late -night

stand -up comic. I don't know about this one

so far. I haven't read enough with Luna to really

make a full -on decision on her character yet,

and so far the story is not helping. Like I said,

remember, Luna is trying to relearn her ways,

so she's still very innocent, very... I mean,

try to think of like... Maybe a junior high kid

where they they have enough knowledge of what

the world's like but not enough to actually survive

it So right Yeah, so obviously Twilight can't

help her with being funny, but pinky can so she

sends her to pinky and first panel we see is

Ah nightmare moon pinky hides in the bushes or

in a bush so the story turns into pinky wanting

to she wants to help Luna find her funny side

yeah what I love here is the panels leading up

to this because we've got Pinkie in the bushes

with her little telescope thing. Miss Pie, I

had hoped. Oh, I mean to say I was hoping that

you might teach me, because it's the next panel

that looks deeper into her. And then Pinkie bursts

out of the bushes. Silence, Luna of Equestria!

You come wishing me to learn the art of comedy.

Why do you seek this knowledge? And just the...

The way that they their roles reverse. I love

it in the three panels. You've got pinky Having

Luna scared. I'm lies. What is your true purpose?

Every point I love Celestia and they're scared

of me. I'm tired of police treating me like a

monster and then she starts basically going up

on on her tippy who's there and and Looking down

on pinky. I just I just love that art choice

So he's got her sunglasses on again, too And

they go over the jokes about now if I taught

a lot of ponies to be funny I take it very seriously.

Are you sure you're ready to learn? Yes, it's

very important to me. I can't hear you I said

yes, I was speaking perfectly reasonable voice.

You were you standing right next to me. I Don't

you're just supposed to say yes louder. Why it's

fun. Trust me Can't hear you. Yes. I still can't

hear you. Yes You ready to be funny barely that

is fun barely and they go Where's chevy chase

me? You know folks they go to the funny farm

Come on that is funny Yeah It's ironic is more

than that so they get trainers to teach Luna

how to do different variations of comedy And

let's see what does she go through she goes through

the the The water trick she goes through the

Well the pie in the face and yeah pie in the

face And then a horrible combination of everything.

Yep, yep, yep. And Pinky mentions as well that

Princess, that was amazing. I never thought that

one pony could set all of them off at the same

time. And of course Luna gets mad again and I

think the best panel out of this entire story

is the After where where pinky says, oh we were

laughing at the prank not at you princess the

panel right after that where it's Luna with the

with the dark sky around to the dark the black

cloud with all those stuff on her face and I

Love that panel. It looks so gorgeous. I don't

love the classic comic book Pinpoints in the

background and she apologizes to everybody uh

because she's not used to being laughed at and

she shows them where she spends most of her days

during the day and uh we have this other pony

yes do i know you i don't think so i'm pinky

pie fancy schmancy how do you do there's a pony

named fancy schmancy people my god so pinky pie

and luna have this little fist bump thing going

on oh it's this it's the zapper that's right

because have you ever been zapped with one of

those no thank god that's for sure yeah no i've

seen roger rabbit enough times to stay away from

the hand buzzer even though it is their best

seller So we have pinky teaching her the hand

buzzer we have pinky teaching her the bucket

of water Which essentially it falls on one of

the guards instead? We have the giant month the

giant pink monster with pinkie pie a little bit

inside They gotta work those damn Kremlin's into

every issue. There's nothing wrong with that

I'm just getting tired of those characters. No,

you're wrong again Nah So they talk some more

about how she can be funny And Luna basically

insults her she says pinky says you you have

to be able to laugh at yourself if you want other

people to out of the question i am a princess

of a question and my subjects need to respect

me not mock me laughing and mocking are not the

same thing you do not understand pinky pie i'm

very important you're just a clown oh i see then

she apologizes and talks about her responsibilities

and yada yada yada and the night of the chuckle

lot. I love it. So many strange names that they

use. Well, the chuckle hut is a very, it's, oh,

if I remember right, the chuckle hut isn't that,

um... L .A. or New York or... No, uh, Pauly Shores.

I think it's Pauly Shores, uh, place, so it's

kind of a reference to that, if I remember right.

So... And Twilight's like, I'm sorry things didn't

work out with Luna, but I'm glad you came anyway.

Pinkie's like, me? Miss a comedy party? You must

be kidding. No party like a Pinkie Pie party.

So Luna has these two gifts. One for Celestia,

one for Pinkie. And they end up being pies in

the face. And this gets everyone laughing. and

Pinky grabs another pie because she sees it because

it has and one for Twilight Sparkle and basically

Twilight gets a pie in the face and Luna slips

up and ends up nose diving or horn diving into

Celestia and We start a letter to Celestia where

Luna is talking about how it's important to laugh

be able to laugh at yourself And that's kind

of how the story ends. I Like it, it's good.

It's not my favorite. I mean, I still love Pinkie

Pie, but just Luna I just can't wrap my head

around her character. I like Luna So up next

is Applejack and rarity Oh Before we move on

to this the one thing I do when when Luna was

up on stage when she came up on stage with the

gift I Did notice this reference because it's

pretty classic at this point I'm sorry to do

this, and I'll let you finish. Who does Luna

think she is, Kanye? That's when she was coming

up to give the pie to the princess. So basically

what the Applejack and Rarity story is, it's

a combination of two things. It's a combination

of the odd couple and Uncle Buck. Yes. Not not

not not uncle buck combination of the odd couple

and planes trains on wheels. That's what it is

As soon as I saw salt Lake City, I laughed so

I was like, are you kidding me? That's so funny

rains trains and carts with wheels and We started

this one off with the postal pony Delivering

piece of mail and Granny Smith's like what's

all this then it's called the mail Granny Smith.

I thought you knew that It's derpy delivering

the mail Is it really? Oh, yeah She's the mailman

Whippersnappers So letter says deal Ponyville

dear Ponyville apples we were just talking about

your delicious apples and we had an idea we'd

like to Incorporate some of your produce in our

new line of desserts in our shop Do you have

time to come out for a visit and business in

a business chat? We'd love to see you sign the

West Coast oranges So Applejack is like a business

expansion how exciting Selling our apples out

West this could earn us enough bits to rebuild

the barn again We flashback to yesterday where

Big Mac went to whack and nail in the barn and

it destroyed the barn. Mm -hmm. She's how hard

was he hidden? It doesn't look like you hit it

that hard. It does say a whack, but doesn't look

like it was that hard so We got another thing

between Applejack Granny Smith a Month is nothing

when it comes to planning Planning a harvest

I need to count how many baskets we have I need

to check The silo and see if those raccoons are

still nesting there. I need to take your time

Those zap apples aren't due for harvest for another

month. I Need to build a barn or you up Poor

Mac that guy can never get a break Kenny. Oh

Boy, he does for once in a while So Applejack's

gonna grab some samples and head off and She

was gonna get her Her saddlebags, but apparently

the key mark Crusaders are using them For some

weird things so she goes to rarity to see if

rarity can can get her Something to carry the

apples and I like what would she ask where do

you give me something? It's hey rarity you got

a small non -frilly suitcase I can Apple would

Why, that's the home of some of the biggest stars

in Equestria. You must take me with you. We can

see the Applewood sign, compare our hoof prints

with celebrity hoof prints, on the Walk of Fame,

go shopping on Rodeo Drive, and yes, I did that

on purpose, and go to Winnie World. So let's

see. Uh, we've already got the odd couple. We've

got planes trains automobiles We now have vacation

because there's winnie world like wally world,

which is awesome That's three movies. And if

you really want to count rodeo drive That's technically

pretty woman because she got shunned out of all

those shops and pretty well rodeo drive Um So

rarity's all excited and she's gonna pack everything

up and they get on the train ends up turning

into a cross -country adventure because they

missed the train. They have a stop in... where's

the stop? Yeah, they stop in the most unlikeliest

of places. Salt Lake City, ponies. You know,

a few hours before we head off again, why not

go for a walk? Love it is because you're really

nothing to do there seriously one salt looks

80 Yeah, there's plenty of stuff to do here Do

you guys really have a big ball? So they go and

see a big ball yarn Applejack tries to pet the

goats, but unsuccessful there Man no, I love

the sign do not climb fence goat will eat your

your valuables Like how they have the season

5 script right there Funny oh It says here that

they could knit over 3 ,000 sweaters from the

ball I wonder if they mean like playing cardigan

or cable knit so Applejack falls asleep and she

has this dream where she's the rodeo champ and

there's dancing apples and all kinds of stuff

and she basically oversleeps and they're gonna

miss their plane or their their train again this

is the first time I know I'm just saying she's

dreaming it right oh yeah no No, she is okay.

Never mind. Sorry. Yeah rarity wakes her up because

she yeah rarity wakes her up So they get to the

train Are you sure this is the right? Of course?

I'm sure it's the only one leaving isn't it?

Few we've made it. Yeah, looks like you ponies

made it just in time. You got your tickets to

see daddle See that'll what no we're going to

Applewood Train was delayed 15 minutes. Looks

like you're bored of the wrong one. Oh I love

once again the art. I just love some of the facial

features Morning and just And I had even falls

off to rarities just like as this big cheesy

grin on her face So they go see the the sights

here And they almost end up missing their their

train again They get stuck in the rain because

it's seadattle and I mean, you know, I get stuck

in the rain and seadattle There's so many wonderful

things in here, yeah Just looking at Applejack

and how basically flustered she is from the rain

to the inside to just poofing all out. Very cranky

wanky and we get to some time later and they

finally get to Applewood, even though I keep

wanting to call it Hollywood. They get to Applewood

through - What's supposed to be Hollywood, yeah.

Yeah, but they get to Applewood through some

old biplane which once again another movie reference

for me It's a mad mad mad mad world Because that

was one of the things they did in that movie

And we get to the fact that Granny Smith did

tell them that I'd be along by and by I guess

it's when I show up Because they start getting

into a fight over how to deal with business The

fact that Apple doesn't, Applejack doesn't have

any pie charts or graphs or anything like that

and they end up crashing the plane into Mount

Ponymore or whatever it is. It's basically the

My Little Pony version of Mount Rushmore people.

I love it. Please excuse our mess as we sculpt

our new edition Princess Twilight Sparkle. So

we've got Celestia. Luna. Cadence and twilight.

It's into okay So they end up Having a hold on

the side of this thing here. They get a bird

on the top there. They get AJ's hat there Mount

monument that means we're flying the wrong way.

Yeah, that definitely is wrong They do eventually

get to Applewood Not before some a giant gang

of so so they're on a stage coach at this point

Not before the the ponies stay in the coach.

It's the cattle rustling gang They're gonna try

and rob us and this is basically where the both

of them just kind of Kick -ass. Well Applejack

does anyway. Applejack's amazing. I love her

She is so pissed off at this moment. She's ready

to just kick everybody's ass But I gotta go back

the Sam Elliott pony I Love that man. He has

the sexiest voice ever That's funny You haven't

seen the last of us we'll be back in another

issue So they get to Applewood finally They make

up from being in in you know argument amongst

friends and all that but they eventually make

up and Apple Jack's like I thought we'd take

a detour and they Go to Winnie land or winning

world or it's Winnie land. Yeah They see the

haunted stable the city bear disco the rainforest

yacht club Pirates of the carriage being They

finally get to the West Coast ponies house Everything

looks so citrusy. Thanks again rarity. You really

are a good friend best friends Applejack Applejack

it's been years one in a question you're doing

here I mean you wrote to come you wrote Granny

Smith to come Granny Smith sent word to expect

me Well, I have no idea what you're talking about

But but pie charts Back in Ponyville, you know,

I think this says East Coast and not West Coast

Granny Smith Cudgy old grays. Uh, I love that

that last page with all the pictures and yeah,

yeah All their adventures it's it's kind of like

a vacation or the national emptying vacations

when they end up with all the pictures and stuff

Well, we went dancing across across the Equestria

May have the odd ponies cover. I love that cover.

I Love that. It's probably my favorite covers

of all my little pony covers. It's just because

I love the odd couple And then we have the story

of Winona a story in our by Katie cook Who is

one who's pet itchy jacks, okay, that's right

It reminds me so much of my dogs. It's just like

really you're clean now. You're gonna get all

dirty She eats Apple Bloom's homework She eats

do not eat bake sale Granny Smith She gets a

cat to chase she chases a cat and the cat chases

her That's Rarity's cat. Oh, yeah, that's right.

Why don't you use such a good dog? And then we

have the cover gallery here. We got Fluttershy

and Zakura and all the animals looking, stirring

the stew. That one is done by Brenda Hickey.

Then we got Mr. Cake with his twins. Okay, I

don't know why they put that in because he wasn't

in the trade, but it's cute That's that one was

done right by Amy membership I like friends forever.

I don't know if it's something I'm like I'm You

know like I said last episode with the friendship

is magic Ongoing sure we'll do more of those

because I really dug those but this might be

a once -in -every -few kind of Like once on a

blue moon, we might do another one of these because

I don't know they I like the stories I do but

they just didn't I don't know It's just a little

strange for me you need to watch more of the

cartoon so you can know these characters that's

the thing it's kind of like a little continuation

You know because in the cartoons all every season

each pony and spike gets a little Spotlights

so it's kind of like kind of like that Yeah,

I Like Friends Forever like I said, I like it

but it's it really it isn't about not wanting

to read pony stories It's about if they're telling

a story that I'm gonna be interested in or a

story that I'm gonna like and While I do enjoy

most of these there are some I would rather go

back and read than others The Fluttershy and

Sakura story the Applejack and Rarity story here

in the first trade. The Rainbow Dash and Trixie

story, I like that. And the art and the writing

are very, very well done. The art looks great.

I mean, once again, all these different artists

being able to translate the 3D cartoon characters

into a 2D comic is just absolutely awesome. Any

other final thoughts from you Hello no, it's

it's it's if I personally enjoy it I personally

enjoy it. I think it's a lot of fun But You know,

I I'm into ponies so it's gonna be stories I'm

excited to see what other team ups are gonna

be and How they're gonna pull it off what adventures

are? are the team -ups gonna be, you know, you

never know what you're gonna get. Life is like

a box of ponies. That's disgusting. It's a forest

gum thing, come on! I know, but you're just like,

you eat chocolates, but you don't eat a horse.

On purpose. Okay, I didn't... Alright folks coming

up next. I have no idea Honestly, what's coming

up in March? I know I'm skipping Marvelous March

this year. I just don't have the heart to do

it this year I don't have the time or the patience.

I'm doing so many other podcasts right now So

I'm trying to get stuff for the pullback. That

is fairly easy. Just you know Bing -bam -boom

we're done We will still have Batman month in

May Looking at the schedule here now. Let's see.

We've got for March we will have one new origins

episode we will have one new after dark episode

the after dark episode is going to be talking

about the DC's reboot oh I'm sorry rebirth it's

still I don't care what DC says it's still a

reboot Nicole and I once issue two comes out

on March 9th Nicole and I will be back to talk

about kennel block blues So we'll be talking

more animal stuff as well. I think Dan Movie

revolt Dan and I are gonna talk about the first

two issues of I hate fairyland So that's coming

up in March and then April there's a bunch of

stuff like we're gonna be getting the dark gem

part one We're going to start doing He -Man,

Eternity, War Reviews, and a whole bunch of other

stuff. So that's what's coming up on the pull

bag. Where can people find you online? Just Google

Beatles, Diva. That's Beatles like the band,

not the bug. You can find me at TFGO and Mike

on Twitter. Find the pull bag on Twitter at the

pullbag at GeekCast Radio for all the other network

updates. Make it your greatest game in the comics,

and we will catch you next time. Aloha. Ugh,

what a dream. Curses, Schmurses. Whoa. Maybe

Zakora cursed my hair. Or she cursed my horn.

No, no, no, no, no. None of these books have

a cure. There has to be a real reason for this.

An illness? An allergy? A curse? I said a real

reason. Something that points to something real.

How about this one? Supernaturals? Spike, the

word supernatural refers to things like ghosts

and spirits and zombies. Witchers make believe

as curses. This book is just a bunch of hooey.

But what if you're wrong, Twilight? What if this

really isn't? A purse? How could it be a purse?

Pinky! There doesn't seem to be a thing wrong

with her. Fluttershy? Are you okay? Is there

something wrong with you? Would you care to tell

us? So you're not gonna tell us? Yes, you're

not, or yes, you will. Good Grady, girl. What's

wrong with you? I don't want to talk about it.

Got nothing twirly spark. I mean seriously. I

can't even work with that This is no joke spike

now start looking for more books so I can find

a cure You've just heard the latest episode of

the pullback the GCR ends comic review and discussion

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