Fillies, gentlecolts, and foals of all ages, welcome once again to another edition of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic recap/review. If you read my Season 2 Wrap-Up article earlier this year, you may remember that I said that one thing that I wanted to see in season 3 was an episode featuring everypony’s favorite chicken… I mean pegasus filly, Scootaloo. And finally, after 3 seasons, Scoot finally takes the spotlight. But was her first outing a classic, or was she playing fowl? find out as we get “Sleepless in Ponyville”.
Scootaloo dreams to one day be as awesome as Rainbow Dash
We open the episode in Ponyville, as Scootaloo, the orange pegasus filly, and founding member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, is doing what she does best, and that’s going fast and extreme on her scooter. She even manages to impress her hero Rainbow Dash, who says that she has nice moves. Scootaloo wants nothing more than for Dash to take her under her wing and teach Scoot everything it takes to be as awesome as her.
Cue our episode’s plot convenience as Apple Bloom tells the other Crusaders that Applejack is taking her camping at Winsom Falls. Scootaloo can get her chance to bond with Rainbow Dash. And Sweetie Belle can take Rarity (despite Rarity’s hatred of all things dirty and nature filled). So the six of them take their adventure into the forest (Sweetie Belle carrying all of Rarity’s stuff of course), all while Scootaloo tries desperately to act cool in front of Dash(and mostly failing).
A Scaredy Scoot
As the group sets up for the night, Rainbow Dash tells a scary campfire story about an evil being known as the Olden Pony, who is searching for her rusty horseshoe. When it’s time to hit the hay, everypony is ready for sleep except for Scootaloo, who is frightened by the story Dash told, and has a nightmare about being chased by the Olden Pony. After she wakes up, Scootaloo is unable to sleep the whole night.
The group continue their journey the next day, as Scootaloo hopes they can make it to the falls before dark. However, her hopes are in vain, as they have to make camp in a dark cave for the night. Rainbow Dash tells another scary story, this time about the headless horse. And despite Scootaloo’s attempts to keep everypony up with her, they all go to sleep, it doesn’t work. Once again she enters a nightmare where she comes face to torso with the headless horse. However, she is saved by, of all ponies, Princess Luna.
Luna knows what you dream about, literally.
Since Luna is the princess of the night, she somehow has the ability to enter the dreams of ponies. And in this occasion has been in the dreams of Scootaloo. She tells Scootaloo that while the thing she fears most is still out in the real world, and Scoot will soon have to face it.
Awakened again, Scootaloo hears a noise outside, and believing it to be the Headless Horse (though it’s just Rainbow Dash snoring), goes out to pursue it. However, she ends up falling into the river, and down a waterfall. But before she falls to her imminent demise, she is rescued by a now awake Rainbow Dash.
Best "not really, but sorta spiritually" sisters ever.
Scootaloo finally breaks down and admits to Rainbow Dash that she wanted so badly to be cool enough for Dash, and that she was scared by the scary stories Rainbow Dash told. Dash then admits only to Scootaloo that when she was her age, the stories scared her as well. Dash also gladly agrees to take Scootaloo under her wing to help her out. And as they make it to the falls the next day, the duo fly together (Well, Dash does the flying).
The next time we see Scootaloo dreaming, she now faces her fears of the Olden Pony with the help of Rainbow Dash, as well as getting another glimpse of Princess Luna.
Well, this was certainly a dream episode for a lot of fans. So, how was it in terms of quality? Let’s get pro and conning.
PRO
First off, they finally did a Scootaloo episode, and gave us a chance to really discover this oft forgotten crusader on the show. While Scootaloo could be looked at as a mini-Rainbow Dash, she does have a lot of individual things about her that make her a very likeable character. I hope we get another main adventure with her in the future.
Princess Luna finally gets some major TV time. The beloved princess of the night has slowly been making more appearances on the show lately, but not to the level we the fans really want for her. And while it was just a strange shoehorning to help the moral go along, it wasn’t the worst shoehorn ever. With the foreshadowing earlier this season, we know she is definitely due back soon.
The end scene with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo may honestly be one of the most touching moments in the series so far. I’ve been rough on Dash throughout most of these reviews, but when she has her chance to be compassionate, and even subdued from being too douchey, she shines wonderfully as a character. This was certainly no exception.
I’m also going to give a pro to new writer Corey Powell for this one. For someone getting into this show’s writing stuff in its third season, it’s pretty amazing to see how well she gets the show, and the mannerisms of the characters. Something a certain Merriwether Williams should have learned last season.
CON
I’m not the biggest issue taker with this one, but I know a few people who do see a problem with Rarity making Sweetie Belle carry the load. It does kind of play too far against her element of generosity. But since Sweetie Belle didn’t mind it, and in the end, they were still happy with one another, It wasn’t a super big con.
Again, another fun scene that didn’t make too much sense, and is a con is Sweetie Belle singing badly. This amazing singer (who herself doesn’t know how good she is) suddenly singing bad, and off key. Kind of odd, but still very cute.
The only other problems were a couple pacing issues, and a slow start, but otherwise, nothing monstrous.
Sleepless in Ponyville was another top shelf episode for the season. the writing was great (done by a new writer to the show to boot), tons of cute moments, and some great character development. It finally gave us a Scootaloo-centric episode, and it didn’t disappoint on that front. This season, while short, and sadly already halfway over, has so far proven to be an amazing one so far. And with episodes like these, I can’t wait for what else is in store.
RATING: 9 out of 10
Class is in session next week on an all new My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Rainbow Dash finally gets her chance to live out her dream when she is invited to attend “Wonderbolts Academy”. But does she have what it takes, or could there be a far more worthy pegasus at the school? Find out who makes the grade in seven days.
Until next week everypony.