Season 5, Episode 12: Amending Fences

I'd give it a solid nine.

It was nice to see so many callbacks to previous seasons, and it addressed one of the most nagging issues of Twilight's ascendency.

 

That episode was great, it was actually great to see Twilight's old friends. The thing is though, it feels like watching the very first episode again. It was kinda like when Twily didn't care about her friends that much and just read those dusty old books. Then there was Moondancer who also didn't care her friends but now she does. I would give it a 9/10.

But really though, Moondancer looked kinda weird to me.

 

She's a G1 pony, so they had to stick with her original color scheme or face The Wrath of Fandom.

 

Aw man, this episode had everything going for it, it really could have been a hit! Would easily have been a solid 8/10, possibly higher, if the ending weren't just total bunk. This really could have turned around my opinion of Larson, but he just couldn't carry it through... what a disappointment.

Still a good episode though, 7/10 I guess.

 

It was a very good episode I like the fact that Princess Twilight Sparkle apoligized to and made up with her old friends from when she lived in Canterlot, it really shows how much she has grown and learned since Season One, she truely does deserve her title as the Princess of Friendship.

 

Very well said, I couldn't agree more.

 

Funny, the episode actually kinda showcases precisely why Twilight being the princess of friendship makes no sense, especially with Pinkie Pie around.

There are a lot of problems with the ending, but the biggest one is that there was no resolution to the conflict. Rather than there being any reason why this apology from Twilight is any more effective than the numerous previous apologies from Twilight, the characters just all decide at once that there just isn't a conflict anymore so they can be happy.

 

Exactly, she learned the same lesson but with far simpler and stupider circumstances. Imagine if in episode 1, Pinkie's party just suddenly made Twilight happy to have friends. (And on that note, Twilight should know better than anyone that a Pinkie Pie party is a terrible idea for Moondancer.)

No one is above criticism, especially the once-best writer of the show.

I hope people aren't missing that I'm saying this episode is leagues better than the rest of the season so far.

 

I don't think it was the party itself that made Moondancer realize that she actually wanted friends.

It looked more like her breakdown at the party gave her the opportunity to admit just how unhappy she was, which in turn allowed her to finally move on and try making friends again.

Basically, it was the Equestrian equivalent of visiting a shrink.

 

So nothing Twilight did mattered at all. All Moondancer needed was a quick vent and all their problems were solved.

 

Yes and no.

She obviously needed to get her problems out in the open, but she wouldn't have been able to do so if Twilight and the others hadn't pushed the issue.

 

I don't know. Something about the episode just rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, the episode looked pretty decent at first, but Moondancer quickly ruined it for me.
Honestly, when Twilight imagined her not attending Moondancer's party being the reason for the later to become such a mishippoic shut-in, my first thought was: "Really, Twilight? Aren't you a bit full of yourself? Surely there has to be another reason for her to be such a loner now." And then it turns out that, no, this really is the entire reason for her behavior. Uhm... what!?
"Oh no, one of my four friends didn't show up at my party! I'll never allow myself to have friends ever again!" I just don't know what to say to this? How old is Moondancer supposed to be? Five?
Or maybe she was in love with Twilight or something? If so, the episode did a really poor job addressing this.
So no, I'm not a big fan of this episode. Some of the things I liked were Hieroglyph Twilight and Helicopter-tail Pinkie. And I guess Minuette was pretty cute, even if she didn't really do anything. It's still nice to see those background ponies have more prominent roles every once in a while.

 

It looked to me like she felt much more of a connection to Twilight than she did to her other friends.
They shared a common interest in books, a Moondancer had even styled her mane and tail to match Twilight's.
Considering that Twilight was Celestia's protege and probably the smartest filly in school, it's likely that Moondancer idolized her.

It's also suggested that Moondancer was extremely shy and introverted, and Moondancer herself says that the party was her first attempt at opening up to other ponies.
She goes on to say that not only did Twilight not show up to the party, she left Canterlot without saying goodbye.
She said that it made her feel humiliated and unimportant, and she never wanted to feel like that again.

So, if I understood the episode correctly, Moondancer ended up feeling abandoned and betrayed by the pony that she considered her closest friend.
That's why she shut herself off from the world, and why she wasn't interested in Twilight's apology at first.

 

You know, Moondancer trying to match Twilight's style would have had so much more impact if this wasn't a series already full of ponies (at least the background ones) with matching mane designs. Also, the show has recently gotten into this habit of throwing dark counterparts of Twilight at us, usually with somewhat similar names, this time with a similar design. Throughout the whole episode, it never felt to me as if Moondancer was actually trying to mimic Twilight because she used to look up to her, it was just the show that wanted to emphasize their similarities, showing us what Twilight could have become had she not realized the importance of friendship.

It was all about Twilight, never about Moondancer. So I still think the episode did a poor job addressing the later's feelings for Twilight. Oh, they talked to each other as fillies once. Surely they must have felt such a special connection right there...

 

Ah, I see. So the moral is "If someone won't be your friend, push and push until they flip out and that will solve all your problems."

I agree 100%, I actually thought the episode was looking fantastic right up until the end. There are just SO many reasons to doubt that Moondancer even cared in the slightest about Twilight not going to her party, Twilight simply assumes it for NO reason, Moondancer repeatedly dismisses the apologies as if she couldn't care less, and of course the rationale for her caring doesn't make a lick of sense. I'm sure a million other people thought of it, but like you I figured the only way it makes any sense is if Moondancer were preparing to reveal her hidden feelings for Twilight at that party, because no "bond" they could have shared could possibly have been anything that requires Twilight's involvement.

Even going with the really stupid idea that Twilight was the reason behind Moondancer's grumpiness for the past... less than two years, I think the very least they could have done is have Moondancer's rant against Twilight go farther, saying that not only dd she blow off the party and forget about her after moving to Ponyville, but she then became the nation's best exemplar of friendship and call herself the Princess of Friendship, without even once calling back her old friends and saying hi.