Animation Monday: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season 5 Premiere

By Nathan Young on April 6, 2015

It has been almost one year since the season four finale of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. And now, season five has started! Before I dive into my review, first take a look at my life lessons from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic!

So, season five begins in Twilight’s new castle. And as soon as each of the Mane 6 sits in their respective throne chair, a huge map pops up from under the ground, which is a full map of all of Equestria. The cutie marks from the six ponies all converge on a small village on the outer parts of Equestria. Soon, the Mane 6 reaches the village, and all the ponies have this really weird smile. And when you look around, all the buildings are the same, the food is terrible, and nothing fun is happening. And all the ponies have a black equal sign cutie mark. Welcome to communist times!

The ponies are soon taken to a house where they meet the leader of this village called Starlight Glimmer. I loved how Pinkie Pie was trying to break the fourth wall and knew something was wrong, and why Fluttershy, did you find these ponies as having the same meaning as you? Soon, three of the ponies talk to the Mane 6 in private, and they talk about what it’s like being friends. The ponies at the village have been taught that different talents and cutie marks leads to different opinions and bitterness and misery. This is what the communist taught their people!

The ponies at the village also were taught that friends with different cutie marks hates each other. They are told that each of the ponies at the village has gone through the cutie unmarking, and they wind up with equal signs on their butts. Soon, the Mane 6 are taken to the cutie mark vault, where all the cutie marks off the ponies in the village are stored. And soon, the Mane 6 are forced into a trap, and have their cutie marks taken away. Something else you notice, along with the black equal sign, the colors of the coat, mane, and tail are also dimmer. And without their unique talents, the Mane 6 are pretty much like real horses, except they can talk! Now, the Mane 6 will get to see what communist times are like!

In the second part, the Mane 6 are trapped in a room with equal sign books and words coming from a loudspeaker with phrases like “free yourself from your cutie mark” and “to excel is to fail” and “conformity will set you free” and “be your best by never being your best.” I would go insane in this room! Soon, the Mane 6 get Fluttershy to become a part of the group, and during the night, we see the bombshell. Starlight Glimmer is using makeup to hide her cutie mark with a black equal sign. And she is keeping the cutie marks of the Mane 6 in a special room in her house. In other words, she is faking it! Common during communist times.

Fluttershy manages to get the brainwashed ponies in the village to see that Starlight Glimmer is a fraud. But, without their cutie marks the Mane 6 can only walk, and don’t have their special abilities to chase down this evil pony. Luckily, the other ponies in the village wake up for real, and free the cutie marks in the vault and get their cutie marks back. Now, it takes the friends of four ponies in the village to stop Starlight Glimmer and have the Mane 6 get their cutie marks back. The four friends teamed up to chase down Starlight before she went into the caves. See, having friends work with each other is not evil! It’s a part of being a friend!

Even with every pony getting their cutie marks back, Starlight Glimmer still escaped. And you have to think that she will be back. I mean, two episodes and never come back? The fan artists of My Little Pony have already drawn many pictures of Starlight Glimmer, and she is quickly becoming a fan favorite villain. Another thing that could also come into play, Starlight Glimmer probably does not know what she did was evil and wrong. Yes, that could come back into play in a future episode. I guess we will see!

Back in the village, the ponies celebrate the end of communist times! And getting their cutie marks back. And the ponies see the true meaning of friendship and having special and unique talents. Everyone has a speical and unique talent, and you should celebrate that, and not be ashamed about it! And also, even if everyone has a unique talent, you can still be friends with people who act and think differently than you. There is nothing wrong with having an disagreement or different opinion, a true friendship should overcome that!

Overall, the two-part episode called “Cutie Map” was very good! It was great to see something different from your usual epic fighting another villain character like we have seen in the past season premieres. I guess we will see the Mane 6 using that map in Twilight’s castle to explore new parts of Equestria and show all ponies and other figures that friendship is magic. For the kids, the lesson of this episode. Friendships can’t be forced or made because other people are the same. A friendship is built on a special bond where other people or ponies can share their different talents.