Where Bobdude Watchs MLP Tales

[Al1701]

It would have been more in character for Bright Eyes to be more interested in building a case against Teddy based on facts and keeping prejudice out of the equation. As I said, her prejudicial lines could have come out of Melody interjecting her. That's not to say she shouldn't have put the screws to Teddy since it was her job to prove him guilty, but I think they made her too emotionally involved given her character.

And you've seen the Conference of the Smartest Ponies in my Crunch the Rockdog review, right?

[darkabomination]

lol, yeah. The voices were utter crud, but I'd like to see some sort of fic with Wind Whistler, Peach Blossom, Brighteyes, Kimono, and Twi having a debate or bonding. Razaroo possibly as well, she's levelheaded, just in an excitable fashion.

[bobdude]

Ah, Al1701. Was wondering if or when you'd eventually poke your head in here.

So, it has come to this.

Right, I'm just going to come out and say it: You have some good points, but frankly, I don't really care about how Stand By Me, or any other Tales episode, or the Tales series itself, SHOULD/COULD have gone (I say this having toyed with the idea of writing a soft core reboot/continuation outline of my own for Tales, I'm a hypocrite, so sue me). After years of having to deal with star wars 'fans', I am bunt out on the whole "X should have been done Z way instead of Y" nonsense. Yea, maybe Bright Eyes should have stuck with facts as oppose to letting her emotions get in the way and maybe that personal comment WAS beneath her, but that's not going to change how the episode went. I should know, otherwise Tales would be a sort of five season version of the Wonder Years but with some magic fights and ponies thrown into the mix.

Secondly, as for Bright Eyes environmentalist shtick, I have to disagree with the Captain Planet comparison, at least Bright Eyes isn't surrounded by four other clones of her self who talk about nothing but the environment. Besides, at least the environment episodes of Tales had the decency to NOT CHALK up every incident of pollution up to super villains as well as some decent comedy bits here and there. Also, dude, it was the 90s. Just about everyone and their grandmother was hopping on that bandwagon, remember that one sitcom with the dinosaur puppets? That one ended their run with an doom filled pollution based Armageddon. And I would go so far as to say that it's BE's love of nature and wanting to protect it that makes her unique compared to the greatness of Spockett (aka Wind Whistler), Kimono, or Princess Twilight.

Thirdly, Bright Eyes is (probably) ten years old, if maybe a few years older. All of the Tales Mane Seven and Tale Trio (the boys) are that rough age range (well, Sweetheart is 9 turning on ten but that's not the point). They are not adults (Though Starlight, BE, and Sweetheart are clearly very mature for their ages), they are, shockingly enough, not always going to act with the utmost logic and reason and from time to time let their emotions and prejudice. This is NOT a bad thing in my book as it shows them to be, gasp, flawed and thus more relatable. ow, why do I bring up the fact that their kids? Is it to excuse their behavior? No, it's to act as a reminder. They are not the mane six, and I don't mean in terms of things like vague archetypes or the like, but in terms of their respective worlds. The manes six are vauagely adult-ish ponies who while old enough to have jobs and live on their own, still think that birthday parties, pin the tale on the pony, and slumber-parties are still a big thing (Yes, yes, my example isn't perfect. The Tales gang are, in my book at least, well meaning kids, even if their not always prefect in their behavior, with the potential to group up to be function members of society. As much as I mocked it in my first review I know full well why the Mane Six's parents don't show up, because their adults and their not needed too. But the Mane Seven ARE kids, who still live at home with their parents.

Fourthly, I will freely admit that the idea of Bright Eyes attacking Teddy with logical and reasoned attacks that would have taken up time that the writers/animators frankly didn't have. Would I LOVE it if Tales had been given a full 22 minutes? Sure, but that's not going to change the reality of the situation that Tales only lasted one season with the average episode being about ten minutes long.

Now as for reviewing Tales, look, I have to ask Al, do you LIKE the slice of life genre? Stuff like Doug, or the Harvest Moon games, or the manga Bakuman, stuff like that? Because you seem to mostly be what I call a 'fantasy adventure' type of guy from your videos. Nothing wrong with that, I like my share of fantasy adventure but if you were going to review Tales (a slice of life show) and your not crazy or just don't like slice of life in general.... Then why do it? I mean I'm not that crazy about romance as a rule of thumb so I don't go around torturing myself reviewing romance novels and the like. I'm not saying you can't cut in on any supposed 'turf' of mine, but if you going to review a Tales episode, good god man try and have a little bit of fun with it? I'd recommend Sister of the Bride personally, bit cliché (then again MLP has always been a touch cliché on some level or another) in the plot, but the character reactions are freaking hilarious, not to mention it shows Clover is a pretty good light to boot.

Now, with ALL that having been said, welcome to the thread dude, and if I've come off as hostile or the like in the above then I do honestly apologize (you can never tell with internet posts and text sometimes). I'm just here to Watch Tales and have a good time while doing it. Being critical on the internet about things just seems so.... old hat I guess. If you enjoyed the above reviews well enough, then we can keep this upbeat party going, if not then to each their own.

Now, *spins around ala the 11th doctor* Dark, slightly disagree on the jerk thing in as much as it doesn't bothered me as a flaw of the show (people are, shockingly enough going to act like jerks from time to time), as I said above I don't honestly MIND it when characters like the Mane Seven act like jerks because more often then not the show either punishes them for said jerkness (ala the Great Lemonade stand war) or they realize they've gone to far and fess up and admit it. (Melody is the Plays the Thing comes to mind). But other then that I agree pretty good about Bright Eyes, though maybe if Tales had had more seasons, we may have gotten something outside of her love of the environment.

[Al1701]

Admittedly, I'd review Tales because it's tempting snark-bait. And it is a part of my childhood pony-viewing experience. And I do have a strong opinion of it which is how I decide whether or not something is worth reviewing.

As for Bright Eyes, the problem is she doesn't have a reason to be prejudiced against Teddy and her shtick is she's one of the more mature and levelheaded ponies in the group. The only reason she got emotionally involved is to further pile on against Sweetheart, and it's one of my pet peeves when writers make a character look better by making other characters act uncharacteristically worse. It's lazy writing.

[weirdraptor]

On that note, did anyone else notice whenever Sweetheart's friends did "us or them" shtick on her, it was NEVER Teddy, just the other girls?

[Al1701]

That's because this was a "Gang up on the person in the right episode." It's one of the most hackneyed and character breaking premises out there. And once it requires one of the character to behave atypically, it breaks the suspension of disbelief and especially the KIDS go "What are you doing?"

I thought that maybe Bon-Bon would have been a better prosecutor. After "The Diary" she would gladly rip Teddy open just to see what color he bleeds. Again, we haven't been given a reason for Bright Eyes to break her shtick (something that is particularly important this series that is more character-driven than the original cartoon) of being one of the more levelheaded and mature ponies. The only thing I can think of his Teddy kicking over the garbage can set her off.

Actually, considering Law & Order had been on for a few years, making this a two-part story would have worked using its format (and give the other characters something to do aside from being ballast causing the ship to list).

[darkabomination]

Solid point.

Though bon's Diary aired much later in the season.

And yeah Melody could have carried the acusitive dialogue while cooler-under-pressure characters like Starlight and Brighteyes should have staye more impartial.

still, it's not a terrible episode for those flaws, and really shows sweetheart's devotion and conviction for Teddy.

[Al1701]

Oh. I'm not as up on the episode sequence as I am with G1.

And I guess it does work for the episode it is. However, Ms Hackney is a terrible teacher if she thinks it's a good idea to have her students determine if one of their own should be suspended with basically only one accusation as evidence. School-aged children are mankind (or in this case ponykind) in its most savage form.

[bobdude]

So once again we're heading back to that eventuful year of 1992, the year of my birth, the death of Dr. Issac Asimov (both of which were in the month of April I might add), and the year that My Little Pony Tales aired.

Episode 6, the Tea Party, once again written by the good Mr. George Bloom, who I have to admit have had a pretty strong showing so far and seems to be a personal favorite of mine among the three writers seen thus far.

Anyways, our episode begins with Sweetheart and Bon Bon walking towards a very old, run down looking house.

Though honestly aside from time and weather having taken it's toll on the place, it's not that bad looking, I mean it looks to be what, two or three floors, has a chimney on the width side of it, a small extension thing on the other width side, one of those covered big open porch deals, and some railing on the roof, which I can only assume hints at open roof access? So either way outside of the dung condition of the place, this house is pretty impressive, though now that I think about it I think mini-mansion would be more accurate judging by the size of the thing.

But enough about the house, we don't come to MLP for houses (though I will add that I did like some of the homes that the core seven had in G3), we come for the ponies. And speaking of ponies, both Sweetheart and Bon Bon head around to the back of the house to enter from a different door, don't know why they don't just use the front door, but then again I'm either Bon Bon nor Sweetheart. Anyhoo, Bon Bon reaches into the bag that's wrapped around her neck (I will note that the bag doesn't SEEM to be a saddle, which makes sense given the lack of humans in this universe, always did wonder why those things existed in Equestria, but moving on) and pulls out a circular looking biscuit roll thingy, which she sniffs some before eating (Bon Bon's sniffing animation here is pretty amusing).

Sweetheart scolds Bon Bon, saying that those are for everyone, but Bon Bon brushes it off, saying that she made enough for everyone. You know Sweetheart, given that Bon DID make those things by her own hoof (excluding any possible help from her mother) I think that the Big Beautful Pony in the making is entitled to at least ONE biscuit roll thingy, don't you?

Either way, Sweetheart opens the screen door (the regular door has two holes above and blow it), allowing Bon Bon to go ahead of her, which she does at a gallop (complete with the clip clop of hooves no less!) but not before giving thanks (politeness, yay!) to Sweetheart, with the white mare following after.

We then cut to some (what I can only assume to be) short time later with all the girls now present in the ancient home. Bright Eyes remarks to Patch that if this place had electricity, that their tea could be hot and Patch remarks in a bemused tone that she's working on it (This explains that one Tales comic where Patch invented a boat that helped save Teddy from drowning, strangely enough I can totally see Patch learning engineering and the like just to improve her pranks or invent things to make her life less dull).

Bon Bon then puts on airs and asks if she could have a drop of cream for her tea, only for Clover to drop the whole bowl into Bon's cup, splashing some on her (Bon Bon that is) in the process.

Clover: You asked for a drop.

Oh snap, someone's brought their sass with them today!

Starlight, being the Twilight of the group (IE, their leader) proceeds to get everyone's attention by tapping her cup with a spoon. And no I don't know WHY their cups have handles clearly made for finger either, if Equestria can have boots made for human feet, then the Tales ponies can have this stuff.

Starlight then says that the topic for today's tea party is whether or not BOYS should be allowed into their club or not. The group protests (with some amusing animation from Bon Bon, Sweetheart and Clover).

Melody remarks that one of the cardinal rules of their club is that THEY aren't allowed in and Clover agrees, banging the table so hard that she causes the lumpy looking biscuit roll thingies to go flying everywhere. The sass gods were not amused by your use of the sass Clover Bloom, and shall continue to punish thee throughout the rest of the episode. (laughs evilly)

Bright Eyes, being the Wind Whistler of the group, points out that they're want to be fair, otherwise they'll be accused of being prejudiced. Sweetheart (no doubt a stand in for the audience) asks what the word means, and after Bright Eyes explains that it means having an opinion without having all the facts (just like some bronies view of the past generations! Boom!) and Sweetheart remarks that they won't want that, Bright then proposes, like a good potential scientist (Unlike Princess Twilight, who has never calmed nor described herself as one in any episodes of the show, and no Brony fandom, a love of books and checklists do not a scientist make), that they go and do some research!

And thus we get the song for the episode, Boys Boys Boys. And like I've said before, this is a pretty enjoyable song for what it is. Beats catchy, all the girl's VA do a good job at singing together (thanks G4 Spike!) and I personally get a kick out of how all the girls line up bipedal style on their roller skates (which actually look a bit more hoof shaped then the ones in Equestria do I think) with bedroom eyes and one of their leg and hoof resting on their side all sass-like, my mind being what it is a can't help but think that the girls in that scene are going to do a bit more then just long distance viewing research, if you know what I mean (I mean they look as if their about to get their flirt on son).

As for the song and the subject of the male gender, I think it's pretty even handed. Yes pointing out that boys can be rough and tough and apparently smell like sauerkraut (or at least Ace does, maybe Starlight just really truly likes sauerkraut?) ain't exactly breaking stereotype barriers, but does go point out that guys can be just as sensitive as they can rough and tough.

Incidentally, I love how we get a good number of background male ponies for the song, yet I think the only time some of these dudes reappear in during Roll Around the Clock. Plus I just can't hate a song that says that Acehole smells of sauerkraut, that and the roller skate thing just amuses me to no end.

So the song ends with Startlight saying that after school tomorrow, they'll make their vote. Ah, the wonders of song montage. Small aside here, but I always found it amusing how Twilight was able to become Princess of the Fall Formal by way of an youtube popular cafeteria song, showing that even when their humans, singing in MLP seems to accomplish quite a lot.

Moving on, we cut to the next day, where Patch and Bright Eyes are walking together, with Patch commenting that boys sure make it tough to like them. If you're thinking about about to make a lesbian joke, then shame on you, that would be both horrible stereotypical and very cliche (not that it stops the Brony fandom and Rainbow Dash any ^sighs^).

However their conversion is soon put on hold as they see two white coated, multi colored mane ponies taking away their things from the club house! The male pony remarks that they'll come back later for the rest of the stuff and drive off, leaving a black cloud of smoke in their wake.

Patch remarks that they have to protect their club house and an emergency meeting of the Coltenville Six is called. With all the girls back in the cub house, Starlight (being the chairpony of their club and again, basically the Twilight of their group) tables for a vote on the boys but Clover points out that the table is gone, at which the rest of the girls let out a shared giggle.

Patch remarks that this is not the time for laughing that their club house has been invaded by thieves. Sweetheart can't help but wonder what the six of them can do, as they are in her words: “just little ponies” can't help but find it interesting how she says that as oppose to saying something like, “We're jut kids,” or “We're just little girls”

Starlight * in a very dramatic voice* Well I'll tell you what we can do.... Well better yet, I'll tell you what we can't do. We can't ignore the problem, we can't sweep it under the carpet, we can't allow someone to come in here and take our things! Because if we do, when will it stop, where will they go next? Maybe your house Bon Bon, or yours Sweetheat, or your Melody! And before we know it, all of ponyland will be picked clean of everything we own! We can't let that happen, we have to stop them now, no matter the cost! They may take our lives, but they'll never take our club house! And we can't just give up when the going gets tough either! Did the Americans give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?-

Bon Bon: What?

Patch: Don't stop her, she's on a roll.

Starlight: Well, Neigh, NEIGHT I SAY! THOUGH THE COURAGE OF MARES MAY FAIL ONE NIGHT, TONIGHT WILL NOT BE THAT NIGHT! WE SHALL NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT, WHO IS WITH ME!?

Patch: Yeah, for the firemen!

Okay, okay, so everything past that we have to stop them now bit didn't happen, but I still think that Starlight's VA did a good job with the speech, so big props to Willow Johnson for giving in an especially good performance here, also liked how Starlight has to let out a big exhausted sigh when she finishes her rousing speech.

Clove asks how they'll do it, and Patch then shows off why if she were an Alicorn, she'd be the Princess of Pranks, and all the traps they set up during the next little montage, such as making makeshift slingshots out of the elastic of their napsacks (can't imagine their parents are going to be very happy about that). After Patch leaves to go supervise the others (looks as if Twilight isn't the only mini horse that can get ponies organized ^^) Sweetheart accidentally smacks Bon Bon with a sling, and apparently one of them decides to practice their ventriloquism, as Sweetheart's voice comes out of Bon Bon's mouth. Ah AKOM animation, really and truly your animation errors know no bounds (still not as bad as Wind Whistler during the Quest of the Princess Ponies though).
Anyways, the rest of their preparations go something like this; doorknob on the front door gets lossened, Clover accidentally whacks her hoof with a hammer (that's what you getting for trying to wield the power of the sass my dear), bag of flour gets hoisted up with rope, scary picture is put in one of the rooms, white goop is put on the floor.... Moving on, a main sling is put at the top the staircase, jam filled projectiles are made, and Clover covers the staircase with some cream from eariler, which she slips and falls on Jar Jar style, getting covered with the stuff in the process.

Sass God 1: Nice.

Sass God 2: I know right? Silly ponies.

With all their Home Alone style traps laid down, they wait until darkness (or at least the sun is very low in the sky as to basically be darkness) and some appropriate bgm come a knocking.

The white coat ponies from earlier drive up in their van and approach the door, as the girls heading to their battle stations.

The loose doorknob halts them, but only for a little bit as male pony proceeds to kick the door down with one hoof (eat it G4 Applejack fans!).

I won't be recaping the traps, as I don't think my summarizing them would do the visuals justice, instead I'll just say that the traps work (apparently that white stuff on the ground is honey.... Bees in the Tales verse are odd) and dad pony surrenders, with Patch calling a cease fire. She starts to walk down the stairs Spike style, but slips and falls down butt first, landing in the white honey from earlier.

Male pony demands to know just what in the hell is going on, saying that they're the Berrytons and that they own the house (guess they like fixer upers projects). Mom Berryton remarks that they're moving in next week and that they just wanted to remove the junk in the house before hoof (begs the question as to why they waited until it was almost dark before coming back, but eh, I'ma call rule of drama on this one).

After the girls explain that this is where they hold their tea party meetings (Where they rant and rave about how the mayor is turning Coltenville into some sort of hippie Communist commune, oh for the love of- and I was almost there without making THAT kinda joke too!).

Having heard this, Dad Berryington is pretty understanding about the whole situation (to be fair he and his family did get off a heck of a lot better then the two crooks from the first two Home alone movies did), and commends the girl's bravery but says that they'll now in quite the predicament (I also like how as he says this the girls all look a bit shame faced). Starlight then offers up their help as way of apologizing for going all Kevin on their butts (what, you expected me to say plots? Don't be silly, stories have nothing to do with this episode! Yes I am sick of that bit of fanon why do you ask?).

Through everyone's hard work, the house is quickly repaired and fixed up what I can only assume to be the next day, with Son Berryington saving Sweetheart from a falling paint can. (Thanks Clover's tail!).

When the girls are finished, everyone gathers in the front of the newly refurbished house (which looks comically huge as the camera or whatever the cartoon version of the term I'm looking for, pans down to the group).

Mom Berryington thanks the girls for helping them fix up the house, holding no ill will against scaring her like they did before, and we see that they have a baby pony with them by the name of Poesy.

Starlight then asks if Cherry (must be one of those hyphen names, Poesy-Cherry Berryington. That or Bloom done goofed) can be in the picture and Mom agrees and asks if Sweetheart would like to be her baby sitter, which Sweetheart agrees to (also, apparently babies in the Tales verse are alled newborns? Rises some interesting questions about Bon's baby brother) and the photo, taken by a stand camera, is snapped.

Son pony then comes and says that it's ready, and it's revealed (after a bit of dramatic drumming out of nowhere) that the girls have a new club house, one that even looks a good bit like the old house.

The girls are all impressed with their new base of operations, with this little gem from Melody: Farout! Let's have a tea party! Honestly the only way that could have been any more amusing if she had said groovy in as un-Ash Williams a way as possible.

The girls have their tea party in their new crib and vote as to whether or not Logan (that's the son pony dude) can join them or not. Sweetheart sticks up for him and says that he saved her life, while Patch good naturally jokes that he just saved her from getting paint on her. Sweetheart: Same difference.

They vote yes and the episode ends with Logan (no idea who the hell voiced him) asking for a scone/cookie thing, before tacking on the world please, causing everyone to laugh as a result.

And the number of times Logan and his family appear after this episode? None (as far as I can recall), making Sweetheart's conversation completely pointless. Which is odd, because I'm almost certain that this clubhouse makes future appearances. Oh well, maybe if Tales had been allowed more than just one season, we might have seen the Berryington's again.

Also, this episode (or at least the high quality version I downloaded off of the internet, hey it's not like I can buy this stuff on Amazon or the like given how obscure it is) has some end credits, they're literally the exact same as the opening song, same animation, same song. But we do learn the names of some of the people who worked on the show besides the writer, both the title song and music was done by a Mr. Terry Goodman, with the lyrics to the title and other songs by Barry Harman. Wally Burr directed the Vas when Weseluck wasn't directing the singing, and someone by the name of Doug Parker was the casting advisor (what that entails I don't honestly know), Dennis Venizelos did the background designs, so I'll tip my hat to him, assuming he's still alive/around. We also learn that the animation studio that Tales was Akom production company, and it's... basically DHX's anti self, whereas DHX clearly cares a lot about animating their ponies, AKOM was notorious for cutting a lot of corners with their animation (such as Bon Bon's shifting weight). In fairness, AKOM does an alright job when not compared to DHX, so that's the last I'll speak of it (knock wood).


So what are my overall thoughts on the Tea Party? Pretty positive, though I think that the name mix up with the baby pony is sloppy by Mr. Bloom's standards. One could say that the episode is similar to Bats!, in that the beginning conflict is dropped half way for a different one, but I would disagree for both episodes. I think that both Bats! And Tea Party's switch half way do in fact tie in with their beginning plots. The Coltenville Six study the boys of the town so they can decide fairly if they want them to be able to join and not appear prejudiced, but then latter judge that the Berryington's are criminals, in other words they had an opinion about them without getting all the facts (like the fact that the Berryington's don't look remotely like criminals for starters).

Likewise with Bats!, Applejack's at first all gun oh about getting rid of the bats in her orchard, not caring that the most likely reason why their there is that because Sweet Apple Acres is the largest and best source of food for them, and if Winter Wrap up is anything to go by, the odds of the fruit bats being able to fend for themselves and find a new and better source in time before they all die isn't very likely.

But once Fluttershy becomes one of them (BY ACCIDENT I might add, I highly doubt Twilight would have gone through with their plan if she had known that it would have transformed Fluttershy like it did), aka a pony that Applejack knows and cares about, it's not just a matter of me vs them but now has a transformed face that individualizes the problem on the middle child Apple.

Now I know a some people feel differently (even if those people have a history of missing the point on some episodes) and that we're most likely not going to agree on the Bats! Episode, so I just want to get this out of the way, each their own.
Personally I've been taking it easy and enjoying season four quite well, not letting my hype or expectations get to high, and just going with the flow of the episodes. Daring Do's real and the writer of her own books? Works for me, if people think mashing the other Gens into one Frankenstein mish mash world's a good idea, I fail to see how something much smaller in scale and scope as Daring Do could raise any issues, plus works in well with the old adage of writing what you know, well when all you know is adventure and saving a very obscure part of Equestria on a semi regular bases...

But enough of my unpopular/unorthodox opinions on G4, next week we cover one of my favorite episode of Tales, and where I get somewhat more personal than usual, The Masquerade, also you'll want to make your own Phantom of the Opera jokes because I won't be making them.

[bobdude]

So, apparently folks aren't fond of tea parties, go figure. Regardless, I say it's time for an update, and what better way to update a Tales thread then by covering one of my personal favorite episodes. It is mentioned on TV Tropes, under the YMMV section, that many of Tales' morals weren't exactly subtle (as we'll see with some of their green aesops), but that they did manage to occasionally be surprisingly subdued from time to time, and I would like to think that episode 7, the Masquerade, is an example of such. This episode covers, from my point of view at least, a topic that not many kids shows touch on, but I'll get into that later.

Today's episode was written by Marv and Noel Wolfman. Wait, Marv Wolfman. As in the Marv Wolfman that did Crisis on Infinat Earths Marv Wolfman, as in the Marv Wolfman who served as the editor for that run of Doctor Strange comics from the late 70s that I enjoyed. THAT Marv Wolfman?

I think my good friend John can pretty much sum up my thoughts when I first saw Marv Wolfman's name in the episode credits: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVGNJvWnG5E

Thank you John.

And no, I don't know if it's the SAME Wolfman, but I like to think that it is because the idea amuses me so.

So our episode opens with Mrs. Hackney giving everyone back their most recent tests, Bon Bon whispers to Patch that she's sure that she failed, though her face doesn't look all that worried. Turns out she got an A-, and everyone else in the class seems to have done well as well, so much so that Mrs. Hackney says that the school is even setting up a masquerade party tonight, on the condition that they all dress up as what they want to be when they grow up.

It's at this point that Patch starts making noises for her paper airplane. Mrs. Hackney narrows her eyes and comments, 'And yes Patch, one day you too will grow up.”

Patch: And when I do I'm going to be... a circus clown!

Mrs Hackney: rolls her eyes and sighs Why aren't I surprised?

Clearly Mrs. Hackney adopted much of her Grandfather's first incarnation's sass and- You know, one of these days I really should get around to separating headcanon Mrs. hackney from canon Mrs. Hackney. Eh, I'll put that on the same list as repairing the cemelion circuit.

So we cut to some time after class as the girls are walking down the street (or in the street I should say, which just occurred to me seems somewhat dangerous for them to be doing) and talking about what they want to be when they grow up. Clover wants to be famous ballerina like her older sister, Melody a rockstar, and Bright Eyes remarks that she wants to be an environmentalist. (Eh, she'd still be less preachy than the Planeteers) Patch can't help but snark and ask exactly what that's supposed to even look like and Bright Eyes is forced to admit that she doesn't know, while Starlight says that the ice cream shakes are on her. Ah, the advantages of having a friend who runs the ice cream bar at their parents mane salon. Good times.

Bon Bon, however, turns the offer off free dairy goodness down with some weak stammering excuses and quickly bolts from her friends. What's this, Bon Bon turning down food, and free food at that? WHAT NEW SPORE OF MADNESS IS THIS!? You know, it's time like these that I bet the girls had Ten's Zygon detector thingy (Wow, two Doctor Who references in one review, I am on a roll!). Small aside, when the girls are walking down the street and before they turn the corner to the big ice cream cone entrance, there seems to be a pink building with rainbows and heart shaped windows. I know hearts and the color pink and all that stuff are mostly just thrown about on this show without any real thought put into it, but I can't help but wonder exactly what the hell that store/building does.

So after the camera pans over Bon Bon's purple vaguely v shaped house (gotta say her parents keep up a hella nice garden in the front yard) we she Bon Bon enter her room and as she walks over to her closet, we see some model pony posters on her wall, while walking Bon Bon comments to herself that her friends could never understand her life's ambition. After picking though a few things in the closest, she then walks over to her desk, where a number of pony mags are shown scattered about, and picks one up.

It's at this point that we finally learn what Bon Bon wants to be when she grows up: A world famous model.

It's now that we get our song for the episode: The Best Dream. Now, before I start making my atypical semi-amusing observations, I'd like to take some time and talk about the heart of this episode, Bon Bon's character, and a bit about myself. First off is the fact that Bon Bon wants to be a model, and a famous one at that, as oppose to the more predictable route of say, becoming a pastry chef or the like. I like this as it shows that Bon Bon does actually have interests that aren't related to food. In an even more typical show then Tales, that role would have gone to most likely Melody but instead the Wolfmen decided to make Bon Bon the one with the fashion model dreams.

Now, this is the first episode that we've heard of such a desire, and if the lack of model posters are anything to go by in Too Sick to Notice, this is probably a very recent life long dream of Bon Bons, which again helps separate Bon Bon from the likes of Melody, Patch, Bright Eyes, ect. A more cynical person could think that Bon Bon's dream won't last, that she'd eventually settle into become a very well know baker or the like, or perhaps point out the fact Bon Bon's shown to have both an inconsistent size and at times doesn't even appear different in body size from the rest of the Coltenville mane six, and thus shouldn't even count as the shows token 'fat girl'. Those people are, of course, welcome to their opinions, but I happen to think otherwise.

Consistent animation or not, Bon Bon is STILL the closest thing this show has to a fat girl, and I happen to think it's very telling that not only does Bon Bon at first think that she'll be laughed at and mocked by her friends, but that she just can't plain match the ponies in her magazines. I'll freely admit that Bon Bon's weight or size is never brought up as a specific reason WHY she feels inadequate as a model and we could spend all day arguing if Bon Bon's self confidence in this episode has anything to do with her weight, or if it's just Bon Bon's personality that's the culprit and her size has nothing to do with it.

If it's the former, then I have to applaud both Wolfman's for writing an episode where the fat girl is shown to have the dream to become a model, and is never put down for it outside of her own head and a misunderstanding on her part. Bon Bon's never once mocked or told 'Oh Bon Bon, you're too fat to be a model.”
“Oh Bon Bon, don't you know that models don't eat that much? You'll want to cut back on those snacks if you're really serious about this sort of thing.”

Hell, at the party at the end both Teddy and freaking Ace (aka suburban mundane 90's pony Light Yagami) remark on how beautiful Bon Bon looks. And if it's the later, I still have to applaud the writers for not going the easy route and making Bon Bon's weight a central issue tied in her self esteem and making Bon Bon more than just: “the fat pony”.

Not that being 'the fat girl' is all that bad a fate in my eye, as I'll freely admit I have a fondness for larger sized women in real life. Now, is that part of the reason why I like Bon Bon's character, and in turn this episode in the first place? Yes, I won't deny that that doesn't play a role in it, but even moving aside my personal tastes I still think that my reading of the episode's message, that you can be big and still be considered beautiful and follow your dreams, to be a powerful message that American/Western society just doesn't dish out as often as it should.

Now you could say that the actual moral is that you shouldn't let your fear of what your friends think stop you from expressing your hearts desires, which is a perfectly good moral in it's own right, I just happen to like my own reading of the episode more.

Mind you, I am the type of person who stinks at reading symbolic meaning in books in the like, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but hopefully I've raised some interesting points to think about if nothing else.

So having gotten somewhat more personal then usual, let's jump into that song.

Bon Bon's rockin some puffy fro mane with lipstick while ponies praise her.
Bon Bon's idea of a rock star is apparently to slap stars and wear blue headband thingies over your body. Possibility of glam rock not existing in this world? Dunno.
Bon Bon shows off some fabulous flank/hip symbolage. Why am I getting flash backs to that one song by Queen?
Teacher! Starlight seems to be rocking some very Mrs. Hackney styled glasses. Also, like the graduation cap. Not sure what to make of the very clearly earth like globe there on the desk though. Animation thing or just Bon Bon's brain running away from her, YOU decide!
You know it's funny, I would have thought that Patch would be the type who wants to be an explorer more than anything. Then again, these are all kids and considering the Internet (possibly) exists,) I could totally see Patch becoming a sort of anti-video game nerd/Critic type of reviewer, a reviewer who reviews things for fun while entertaining everyone in the process, not really caring if the movie (or whatever) is good or bad in the end.
Side note, Bright Eyes environmentalist thing doesn't last long, but good god that is some beautiful background layout of the forest/mountains/river. Props to the animators, good job guys!
OMGOHC (Oh my god holy scrap)! IT'S TEH EILFE TOWER! Or at the very least a background of it! This adds further to my “France is the center nexus of the pony multiverse” theory. Suck it “G1 is Equestria's past”ers! (laughs in insane glee)
Gotta say Bon Bon, that's one heck of a fancy big hat you got on, green scarfs not bad either. Though if a white pony with a fancy purple mane comes up to you and starts talking about how big your hat is, run. Run very very fast deary.
Bon Bon. In a bikini. I can dig it. *puts on a pair of dark sun glasses
Bon Bon? Why are you holding that Bamboo pole is a vaguely erotic manner?
Wintery mountains and a light blue scarf. Groovy.
Back to the beach again, and for some reason Bon Bon's candy hip symbol is floating around for some reason? I got nothing people, make your own theories. (on second hand, I've seen some of those theories, don't.)
Now we got a collection of mags, and one of them has Bon Bon on the cover! In a one piece swim suit.... with non pony body correct boobs. …. Bon, dear, are you like the pony version of a furry or something? Because if so there's a very obnoxious bit of G4 fanon I'd like to introduce ya too, it's called “Lyra loves the idea of humans even though humans are shown to clearly not exist on any level in their world”
W-Why are there two nurses looking lovingly into each other's eyes? Bon Bon, exactly what KIND of model do you want to grow up to be? W-Why do I get the feeling she'll eventually wind up working on the Tales version of the Bigcuties website at some point? Or at the very least have her own pules sized thin privilege blog thing on Ponblr
Apparently they have magazines dedicated to clowns. Teaching and exploring (which is Lancer's dream of all things apparently. Once again, would have thought that would have been Patch's game) I get, fine but clowns? … Hope it isn't one of those X Gone Wild sort of deals.
We get a few more different montage shots of Bon Bon being fat and fabulous before ending with our pulse sized pony protagonist looking like some sort of 80s workout instructor, or at least that's the best I can figure.
So how is The Best Dream? Well, I have to be honest here, compared to the rest of the cast I think that Chiara Zanni is the weakest singer of the bunch, but in fairness she was only 14 when she did this stuff (born in 1978 would put her roughly at that age in 92), and not every child/teen voice actor can be like Applebloom's and be professionally trained and all that. So while the singing or lyrics might not be the strongest for the series, I do like the visuals if nothing else, (good god that mountain area was quite pretty though).

So with our song of the episode over and done with, we cut back to Bon Bon's room, and the girl's decked out from head to hoof in what even I can tell are tacky clothes, and she's crying. Don't cry Bon Bon! What that jerk CR in semi mockery I say with sincerity: You CAN be beautiful, you just have to believe in yourself! Besides, it's 1992, that outfits par for the course I'd say.

Bon Bon: A world famous model? Me? Who am I kidding?

Oh God, I'm getting flashbacks to Sweet Stuff and the Treasure Hunt. Dammit! I promised myself I'd stop crying when I think of that episode, move on man! (One much needed man cry later) So, back again. Right, Bon Bon's outfit. All and all I have to say I kinda like it. The big white hat with the red flowers is pretty nice looking, and the sky blue tail bow looks cute. The pearl neckless isn't too shabby either, nor is the butterfly shaped hair pin in her mane (Bon Bon's mane is giving me flash forwards to Rarity). Granted, the other neckless and the leg ring bracelet thingies on her front legs are a bit much, but take some of that stuff off and you have a perfectly decent costume there Bon Bon.

So Bon Bon writes in her dairy about her insecurities about going to the party dressed as a fashion model, saying at one point: “I'll look so silly trying to dress up like them.” Again, whether this is because of Bon Bon's weight or not is left completely up to the viewer, but I've already said my peace on that.

Thankfully, it's mom to the rescue as Bon's mom (whatever sitcom name I gave for her) walks in, saying that she heard a noise. Bon Bon asks if she can skip the party and mentions that if she goes as she is, she'll be laughed at. Honestly, given the... over-enthusiasticness of the outfit in question, can't say that's an unreasonable idea. But Bon's mom, being the good mother that she is (glares at the nonexistentness of the Mane six's parents) just says that Bon Bon's over doing it and says that Bon Bon looks beautiful. Bon Bon replys that she's just saying that cuz she's her mom while Bon Mom starts to trim the outfit down (sadly getting rid of the tail bow in the process, which is ashamed, I liked the tail bow).

Mom Bon (or is it Bon's Mom? Hey you think writing this stuff is easy?) says that everyone knows how beautiful Bon Bon really is while she puts on a very nice (though not quite as large) white hat from the closet, and as mentioned before, this is very much proven to be the truth. This is again, something I like about the episode.

Bon Mom tells Bon Bon to finish getting ready while she finishes the cookies for the party (much be a pot luck sort of deal) and we cut to later where we see the party itself in full swing in the school's gym. Amazingly enough, the color pink is nowhere to be seen on any of the walls, floor, or ceiling. We soon see Sweetheart, who's clearly dressed as a doctor (and has a watch on her front leg for whatever reason) and oddly enough I can see that in Sweetheart. Not so much a medical doctor mind you, but as a shrink or teen counselor or the like, something that could put her compassion and maturity to good use, I could see that working out for Sweetheart.

Patch soon slides in on a pair of roller skates and hands Sweetheart a present, which is of course, a prank. Unlike Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy however, Sweetheart just breaks out into laughter and takes the gag as harmless fun, show once again how a 9/10 year old can be in many ways more mature then some adults. Indecently, Sweetheart seems to have quite the gut on her when she's on the ground (having been knocked on her butt from the gag present). This amuses me.

It's at this point that we finally see Lancer, who offers to help the Doctor up with the assistance of a “poor but honest explorer”. Honest, I'll buy. But poor? Lancer you are a good many things, but poor isn't one of them. Maybe the kid plans on doing a sort of Andean Vetet sort of deal where he'll sell his family's money to work his way in the world from scratch. Eh, so long as it doesn't eventually accumulate with half of Coltenvillie being destoryed in a convoluted plan to bring about world peace, I'm sure everything will be fine. Sweetheart even comments on Lancer's earnest kindness.

Patch then gets into the shot of some pony dude with a camera, who is no doubt recording this party for prosperity sake, and makes a silly face. Patch then asks if Sundae (that's the best name I can come up with here folks, work with me people!) if he got a shot of her. Don't see how he could have missed, Patch. You silly billy.

Sundae remarks how he's recording everyone and will be more than happy to replay the recording on his tv. Why this guy is here doing what he is I don't know, but I won't make a pedeo joke, I think he's just a chaperon parent who volunteered and thought it would be a cool idea to record the part with the best tech 1992 has to offer, a film video camera. You just know if Tales were done today everyone would be too busy recording this thing on their smartphones to actually interact with one another.

Two background ponies compliment one another, and they have now become my OTP. That's right folks, I ship BP2 (that's Background Pony squared, or Background Pony X Background Pony). Now all I need is a scrap ton of fan art, videos, and music to back it up!

Anyways Starlight (who is dressed like she was in Bon Bon's song... Is bon Bon a wizard?) announces Melody and the Rocking Beats, not realizing that Teddy and Sweetheart's daughter, Great Scott, from the future has replaced Melody with the hopes that she can set her timeline right and still exist by the time this is all over with.

And we get a small/short reprisal of Sweet Music, YAY! Also seems that Melody/Great Scott is dressed like Bon Bon thought she would. ALL HAIL BON BON, PREDICTOR OF THINGS!

Sadly, Sweet Musics sweetness is cut off as we cut back to Bon Bon and Bon mom, who are late (it's a very lovely sun set outside I might add) because of cookies. Just as Bon Bon enters the room though, we see that Patch is attempting to juggle watermelons while a circle of ponies watch in ah. The key word here is attempting, as the melon falls right on Patch's head and you guys can pretty much see where this is going. Bon Bon, upon hearing the laughter and comments, thinks that their directed at her.

And so, with tears running down her face, Bon Bon rushes out of the school house and into the starry night sky. Teddy (who wants to be a pirate when he grows up, maybe my Gta protagonist comment wasn't that far off the mark) sees Bon Bon run out of the town limits and asks where's she's heading off to.

As she enters the Old Woods, Bon Bon remarks outloud that seeing as how she can't go back to the party, she'll have to fine some new friends someplace else. And then she falls down a rabbit hole to a strange world where the sun and moon need manually raising, and magic and flying ponies exist, and-

But back at the party, Starlight, Clover (who is indeed dressed as a ballerina, keep aiming high Clove) are all muching on some cookies. Why they don't take part of that nice looking cake in the background is beyond me. Apparently Bon Mom must have worked for Willy Wonka at some point, because no matter how many bites the girls take of their cookies, they (the cookies) don't seem to get any smaller. Anways, Bon Mom asks if anyone's seen Bon Bon and Starlight and Clover say that they haven't, though Clove does find the cookies good, so good to know Bon Mom did a good job with those. Good Job Bon Mom! So Bon Mom continues her search for her daughter and Teddy eventually reveals that he last saw Bon Bon heading towards the woods.

Starlight asks why Bon Bon would even go though, and Bon Mom reveals her daughter's big dream (which no pony even bats an eye at, though in fairness more important things are ahoof at the moment) and Starlight remarks that they'd never laugh at her as she's their friend. (awww). Lancer, in defile of his trope names, takes the charge as some dramatic background piano music starts playing. Sundae says they can take his van, which is apparently not only big enough to hold Bon Mom, the rest of the Coltenvillie mane six, and Lancer, but a tv as well. Why do I get the feeling that that van is the van they were originally going to use in the first draft to the first Bill and Ted movie? (Party on Dudes!). Seriously, that van is like a freaking TARDIS!

So next scene is the van driving through the woods and we get some nice foreground shots of some grass, rocks, and trees. All the while dramatic horns and piano play as we see Bon Bon running up an inclined hill. Bon Mom shouts for her daughter but this only renews Bon Bon's determination as she keeps running... until she's at the very edge of a cliff! You'd think something like that would have been noticed soon, but it is dark out and Bon Bon is more worried at escaping then looking where she's going. The front lights of the van shine on Bon Bon like a spotlight and she sees that all of her friends have come, no doubt (in her mind) to mock her some more.

Starlight pleads for Bon Bon to come back but Bon Bon retorts that everyone said that she looked dumb and silly. As you might expect, her friends explain to her that it was Patch who was the very silly pony, and that it's something that she (Patch) works very hard at being. Patch would make a good element of Laughter I think as an adult.

Bon Bon of course, doesn't quite believe their words (with her self esteme I can't say I balme her from her point of view) Thankfully it's random pony guy to the rescue with his TV. That is in the back of his van. And is somehow still able to work even though there shouldn't be any plugs in that van in the first place.

….

Strange things are afoot in Coltenvillie my friends.

But thanks to the convenient powers of video evidence, Bon Bon finally believes her friends! Yay!

Now they just have to get her down and-

(Cue the ground giving way from under Bon Bon's hooves, forcing her to cling for the cliff for dear life)

Not going to lie, when I first saw this scene, my eyes bugged out slightly. I mean I've heard of cliff hangers, but this is ridiculous! Starlight, being the Tales version of Twilight Sparkle, takes charge and both she and Lancer rush to the rescue with a lasso of rope (and yes, Lancer did in fact have the rope earlier as part of his costume). They manage to snag Bon Bon around the waist, but more ground crumbles under Bon's hoofs and she starts to fall, thankfully with the help of the rope their able to slowly lower Bon Bon to the others down below safely. The bgm even lets out a sort of exclamation point of sound when they succeed, which I found amusing the first time I watched it. So with thanks given everyone returns back to the party so Bon Bon can show off her fashion Model swag. And Swag she does indeed, I particularity love Bon Bon's expression when she walks in. She's all like, “Yea, I'm fat and fabulous and I know how to rock it girl.”

Ace (in a rare moment of non Aceholery): You look beautiful Bon Bon!

Teddy: (lets out a wolf whistle)

Lancer even offers up a chance to dance, which Bon Bon accepts. As the two twirl around, confette and balloons fall from the ceiling.
Elsewhere-

Sweetheart: You really truly did a good job tonight Melody.

Great Scott: Thanks M- I mean, Sweetheart. Um, quick hypothetical for ya: If you have a daughter, and if that daughter one day accidently sets fire to the rug, try to go easy on her, will ya?”

Sweetheart: Um, alright?

Great Scott: Also, don't stay too mad at either Teddy or Bon Bon, what feelings are between them are going to pass, okay?”

Sweetheart: O-Okay? But what does-

Great Scott: WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!?

Sweetheart: (turns her head around but doesn't see anything) I didn't see- (sees Melody, the real one, walk in with a hoof to her head). Are you okay Melody?

Melody: some white coat pony with an orange mane jumped me and knocked me out. Had the weirdest dream too. Dreamed about this magical land of flying and magic ponies and how a bunch of grown guys spent their time over analyzing and over thinking and complaining about every little detail about the land. Was freakin' weird Sweets, I'm tellin' ya. So what I miss?

So that's The Masquerade. Really, what can I say about it that I haven't said before? Though a thought just occurred to me: Did we ever see Bright Eyes at the party? Maybe she couldn't think of what an environmentalist was supposed to look like. Great going Patch.

Next time we have 90's Derpy battle the teapot from hell as her luck finally... runs out.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YMPAH67f4o

[darkabomination]

So me and a friend were watching And the Winner Is... with him describing it for me. And the Cleevland Bays concert bit has a pony lookalike of Flash Sentry, so we uploaded it.

i.imgur.com/pZi7Z6L.png

Makes me wonder if it was lifted from that episode for Equestria Girls, and what other designs were recycled like Bonbon.

[bobdude]

THINK that might be Chain Link, but couldn't say for sure either way. And given Hasbro's completely ignoring of Tales existence (Oh Beast Wars and G1 TF are fine but ponies, yea right) I think Bay pony and Flash's resemblance to one another is just happenstance. So what were your thoughts for both reviews, like em okay?

[darkabomination]

They were good, as usual.

Gah, I need to write a Tales fic sometime. Crossover or original flavor, not sure.

[bobdude]

Anything in particular stand out? Also, I'd say go with the crossover concept. Crossover aren't seldom done with Tales, btw what did you have in mind?

[darkabomination]

Your pointing out Melody's super smugness in the Play's the Thing was amusing. Love that pony.

As for fics, I'm really not sure. I had an idea where Tales is G1's distant future, in a magic goes away type situation where the D and D fantasy is degraded to a magic realism level.

This is mostly taken from Clover's odd quirks of wildly varying luck and possible prophetic dream, dragons becoming rare or extinct as the ghost turned out to be real, and the unicorns and alicorns, as well as Patch's oddly seeing both things on her own.

But, I'm open for any premises or ideas you've got.