Episode review: S8E07: "Horse Play"

Celestia has most definitely had enough of Twi's... yeah

For the second week running, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic had a new writer debuting an episode. This time it was Kaita Mpambara, who although new to this show has a reasonably extensive CV in animation. I don't remember seeing anything by him before, but then there aren't many other cartoons I watch where the writers are especially well known. After the page break, let's see how he did with "Horse Play".

Despite a few hiccups, some of which may be New Writer Syndrome, I think he did pretty well with the story of Celestia's part in Twilight's "Ones-versary" play. Now, NWS doesn't get you out of any blame for problems: after all, Corey Powell's debut was the sublime "Sleepless in Ponyville". But I can forgive a few bumps if the ride as a whole is enjoyable, and I had plenty of fun with this episode. Best Celestia-heavy ep? No. That remains "A Royal Problem" from last year. But I'm certainly glad we had it.

Characterisation was a bit strange: not bad, but in places it felt about five years out of date; witness Rainbow's blunderbuss approach to show publicity, Pinkie's very clunky line about the fireworks, etc. (I can absolutely credit Trixie trying to sell dodgy magic props in a back street, though.) Together with the broad humour of a lot of the ep, I felt there were echoes of "Lesson Zero" here – which is, incidentally, when Celestia previously used the Royal Canterlot Voice in canon.

Even for Equestria, "destroyed by giant flaming marshmallow" would be quite an insurance claim

This will probably also decide how you feel about Applejack's part in all this. Again, broad-brush stuff here and more like what we might have seen in S2 than today, but it was funny. The scene in which Pinkie (who was rather unevenly written and sometimes irritatingly idiot-balled) uses a giant flaming marshmallow as "the Sun" was hilarious in itself, but Applejack's brief reaction to sparks ruining her just-painted scenery completely cracked me up.

Let's now consider the fact that Princess Celestia, a consummate politician and diplomat, can't stage-act. Is this a problem? To me, no. This seems to be an example of the Centipede's Dilemma – Tia can doubtless do 99.9% of her royal duties on autopilot. Just look at our real-life Queen for another example. But when she actually needs to think about her acting, she collapses in a heap. (Also, Margaret Thatcher appeared in a self-written Yes, Minister sketch once and was pretty bad.)

And here's the thing: late on in the episode, when faced with an acknowledged actual crisis (albeit not a world-threatening one for once), Celestia was superb. She chose the right pony for the right job in every single case, barely needing to pause for breath as she did so. She knew Fluttershy could play her, and she knew how to give her the confidence to do so. Delegating well is a huge part of effective leadership, and something Tia could probably have done in her sleep. I really appreciated seeing Celestia on top of things here.

She's a natural, of course

I thought all the voice acting this time was superb, but Nicole Oliver's turn as Celestia was a tour de force. I always wonder how hard it must be for a genuinely fine actor to pretend she's terrible. I'd guess quite tricky. Her fillyish joy early on was heart-warming, but it certainly paled by comparison with her "angry and disappointed" bit towards Twilight. The last time we saw Tia that upset with Twi was... well, come to think of it, it was the aforementioned "Lesson Zero".

I think the way Spike was treated by the Mane Six (sans Twi) late on was a bit beneath their S8 personalities. However, at least Spike himself managed to play a solid supporting role, and – that fruit-throwing scene apart – he wasn't usually the butt of a joke. I liked his "Now that's the best acting we've seen all day" aside, for example, and it was nice to see him narrating given that he did the same for the play in "Hearth's Warming Eve".

Starlight didn't have much of a role, but she had an absolute zinger of a line in "You're not a Princess princess". As with many of Glimmy's one-liners, she does have a point. Acting coaches On Stage and Raspberry Beret (uncredited, but voiced by Andrea Libman) were okay, though I didn't find their segment terribly interesting and Celestia behaved like an utter blockhead at times. The coaches weren't created for this episode: they belong to the Method Mares in "Made in Manehattan".

That's the reflection of the huuuuge firework that's about to go off

Celestia to Fluttershy: "You're a princess." Never mind the context, this is up there with "You're a wizard, Harry" for sheer importance. :P Also, 'Shy seems to be good in this role, as she also did it in S4's "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3". Celestia aising the actual Sun was quite something, and Luna did not look amused! :D Twilight probably had mixed feelings given that Tia and co refused to do something very similar for Twi near the start of the movie! (Hat-tip to Aldersgate on UK of Equestria for pointing that out.)

Briefly noted: The Journal of the Two Sisters has been at least partially canonised. The two-legged Smolder's costume has a little wheel holding up the back. Twilight's freakout has the red background from her freakout in S1's "Feeling Pinkie Keen", though not the Ponyta flames. The clouds Rainbow collects look like stage props, not real Equestrian clouds. And, of course: "Gotcha!" Trollestia returns with the line she used in "A Bird in the Hoof" all those years ago.

Like last week's episode, "Horse Play" was one which was far from being flawless but which I nevertheless found enormously entertaining. Celestia's disappointment in Twilight didn't quite tug at my heartstrings like Scootaloo's swimming, but this is still an ep I feel I will return to, just for fun, sometimes. I wouldn't say S8 has done remotely enough yet to be considered a classic season, but things are going in the right direction.

And now, Logan will improvise something approaching a review summary

Best quote: Starlight to Twilight: "That's different. You're not a Princess princess."

Yays

• Very funny for much of the time
• At long last, an episode that's actually about Celestia specifically!
• Superb voice work by pretty much everyone
• The "Ones-versary" adds some interesting definiteness to chronology
• The Journal of the Two Sisters semi-canonised
• Princess Fluttershy. Who needs M. A. Larson?

Neighs

• Characterisation feels a little old-series at times
• Pinkie was written a bit unevenly
• A small number of lines fell flat

★★★★