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Literally my exact reaction to that line when I heard that.

...and that's just the tip of how awesome this episode was.

I was going to write a review on the episode to go with this, but then realized this comic pretty much summed it up best, so I'll just cover the basics.

So, we've got official canon material on all our favorite background characters. Derpy speaks again, and they've changed their approach to the character yet again too, but this time I think they've got it nailed on the head with something we all can be satisfied with.

The Doctor's established as a canonical thing, and while there are Doctor Who references aplenty (to the point that it's heavily implied about as much as the crew can get away with of the Doctor's hidden nature) he's also not referencing any one Doctor in particular and comes across as one of his own, which is exactly what I'd want, and he's got a unique character-all of his own side to him that doesn't tie him down and leaves him open for exploration. Plus, Doctor Who wasn't the only referencing they were making, but also a little Back To The Future's Doc Brown too (c'mon, "great wickering stallions?" Not a reference to Doctor Who, that ).

Daisy, Lily, and Rose are established as exactly the sort of ponies we were already knew them to be; they overreact to everything.

I guess Lyra and Bon Bon are canonically a couple now, because seriously, that's about as close as the show can get to it without entering into the realm of social controversy, as they're obviously using "friendship" as a cover for something...more. I was actually a little disappointed with that at first, because not only was I hoping they'd do something a little more original with those two, it was coming across as terribly sappy, more so than usual for MLP...but then Bon Bon's revealed as an ex-secret agent, and makes Lyra seem ordinary in comparison, which is neat because normally we fans view Lyra as the odd one. It also explains the various little...inconsistencies...that have been noticed about Bon Bon over the seasons. That said, Lyra was also pretty much spot-on to how I've always envisioned her, and that bit about eating the oats seals it for me, as that's totally the sort of thing I'd figured she'd say. Only complaint is that, due to who's voicing Lyra and Bon Bon, as great as voice actresses we know they are, I can't help but hear Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, respectively, everytime they speak (you'd think it'd be Pinkie Pie, but nope, I sooner hear Fluttershy than Pinkie).

And Steven Magnet makes a reappearance in...gee, five years, has it really been that long? My only gripe about him is his established name; never been a big fan of that name, truthfully, but oh well.

I also guess Vinyl's canonically mute now, which I'm half and half about. On one side, I'm disappointed that this means we'll never hear her give those snarky, wisecracking, spiels she's so known for among us fans, but on the other side, from a writing and artistic point of view, I'm rather drawn to the idea of a mute musician.

Other than Tavi's accent sounding a little too faux pas for me, she turned out great.

Also I loved the fact that her and Vinyl's house is so cleanly divided right down the middle (though Tavi's half seems bigger...maybe she was there first), so that even though it's not really shown in this episode, it is heavily implied they don't typically see eye-to-eye on things. I also liked it's location...sort of out-in-the-hills-somewhere and kind of picturesque.

And then a salute to all the little references, like Celestia and Luna's very un-princess-like but very sibling-like squabbling, Button Mash making an appearance (no speaking lines, but let's face it, only ShadyVox is permitted to voice him now), Berry Punch lugging around a barrel of an implied fruity beverage, crying Shining Armor (worth noting; he didn't cry at his own wedding...was that something of an exception?), a random changeling...wait...random changeling? Okay, now I want to know the story behind that one.

All in all, for an episode I admit to going into rather skeptically, I walked away from it having thoroughly enjoyed it. Setting aside the Mane 6 and even most of the secondary characters so to focus on just the background characters proved to be just the ticket. And now that we've got established material to work with on these characters, not only will this leave the fanbase busy for weeks, it also sets the scene for the crew to come back and revisit these characters in some fashion in the future, which I very much hope they will do.

Happy 100 episodes, MLP.

A thought: with the defeat of the Bug Bear...does that mean that organization Bon Bon worked for is clear to go back into business? A little food for thought for y'all.

Description
Literally my exact reaction to that line when I heard that.

...and that's just the tip of how awesome this episode was.

I was going to write a review on the episode to go with this, but then realized this comic pretty much summed it up best, so I'll just cover the basics.

So, we've got official canon material on all our favorite background characters. Derpy speaks again, and they've changed their approach to the character yet again too, but this time I think they've got it nailed on the head with something we all can be satisfied with.

The Doctor's established as a canonical thing, and while there are Doctor Who references aplenty (to the point that it's heavily implied about as much as the crew can get away with of the Doctor's hidden nature) he's also not referencing any one Doctor in particular and comes across as one of his own, which is exactly what I'd want, and he's got a unique character-all of his own side to him that doesn't tie him down and leaves him open for exploration. Plus, Doctor Who wasn't the only referencing they were making, but also a little Back To The Future's Doc Brown too (c'mon, "great wickering stallions?" Not a reference to Doctor Who, that ).

Daisy, Lily, and Rose are established as exactly the sort of ponies we were already knew them to be; they overreact to everything.

I guess Lyra and Bon Bon are canonically a couple now, because seriously, that's about as close as the show can get to it without entering into the realm of social controversy, as they're obviously using "friendship" as a cover for something...more. I was actually a little disappointed with that at first, because not only was I hoping they'd do something a little more original with those two, it was coming across as terribly sappy, more so than usual for MLP...but then Bon Bon's revealed as an ex-secret agent, and makes Lyra seem ordinary in comparison, which is neat because normally we fans view Lyra as the odd one. It also explains the various little...inconsistencies...that have been noticed about Bon Bon over the seasons. That said, Lyra was also pretty much spot-on to how I've always envisioned her, and that bit about eating the oats seals it for me, as that's totally the sort of thing I'd figured she'd say. Only complaint is that, due to who's voicing Lyra and Bon Bon, as great as voice actresses we know they are, I can't help but hear Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, respectively, everytime they speak (you'd think it'd be Pinkie Pie, but nope, I sooner hear Fluttershy than Pinkie).

And Steven Magnet makes a reappearance in...gee, five years, has it really been that long? My only gripe about him is his established name; never been a big fan of that name, truthfully, but oh well.

I also guess Vinyl's canonically mute now, which I'm half and half about. On one side, I'm disappointed that this means we'll never hear her give those snarky, wisecracking, spiels she's so known for among us fans, but on the other side, from a writing and artistic point of view, I'm rather drawn to the idea of a mute musician.

Other than Tavi's accent sounding a little too faux pas for me, she turned out great.

Also I loved the fact that her and Vinyl's house is so cleanly divided right down the middle (though Tavi's half seems bigger...maybe she was there first), so that even though it's not really shown in this episode, it is heavily implied they don't typically see eye-to-eye on things. I also liked it's location...sort of out-in-the-hills-somewhere and kind of picturesque.

And then a salute to all the little references, like Celestia and Luna's very un-princess-like but very sibling-like squabbling, Button Mash making an appearance (no speaking lines, but let's face it, only ShadyVox is permitted to voice him now), Berry Punch lugging around a barrel of an implied fruity beverage, crying Shining Armor (worth noting; he didn't cry at his own wedding...was that something of an exception?), a random changeling...wait...random changeling? Okay, now I want to know the story behind that one.

All in all, for an episode I admit to going into rather skeptically, I walked away from it having thoroughly enjoyed it. Setting aside the Mane 6 and even most of the secondary characters so to focus on just the background characters proved to be just the ticket. And now that we've got established material to work with on these characters, not only will this leave the fanbase busy for weeks, it also sets the scene for the crew to come back and revisit these characters in some fashion in the future, which I very much hope they will do.

Happy 100 episodes, MLP.

A thought: with the defeat of the Bug Bear...does that mean that organization Bon Bon worked for is clear to go back into business? A little food for thought for y'all.