Last week on My Little Pony gave us the first ‘great’ episode. The ones prior were good, but ‘Flight to the Finish’ was on another level. It had a lot of heart and a great story to tell. This week’s episode however was perhaps the most hyped one of the season. Ponies are already cool, so when you give them costumes and superpowers, they become 20% cooler! This would be the second superhero-themed episode. The first one was ‘The Mysterious Mare Do Well’ from Season 2. This time however we would be getting actual superpowers. While it doesn’t come close to ‘Flight to the Finish,’ it’s definitely something than can be enjoyed over and over again.

Here’s the official episode description from The Hub:

 Spike accidentally casts a magic spell that causes both him and his friends to get sucked into his favorite comic book, where they become the Power Ponies, and the only way for them to get back home is to defeat the comic’s villain, the Mane-iac.

The most notable thing about this episode is the large presence of Spike. He’s had rather small roles throughout the season, so I’m sure fans are pleased with his appearance. (In fact, you can almost call this a Spike episode.) Unfortunately, he was rather annoying with his cry-me-a-river dialogue. So Humdrum is apparently the comic relief member of the Power Ponies, I would think then Spike would try to make him into something. But anyways, the story itself is wacky and very comic book-y. (As a longtime reader of comics, I can attest to that.) The Ponies and Spike are transported into the actual comic book world, which is a really cool concept. How about the Power Ponies themselves? In the second half they got to shine more.

Pinkie Pie was the only pony to take it all in stride, definitely her best appearance in Season 4 yet. (Finally her comedy scenes don’t feel empty, this season has suffered with that.) In the final act the ponies adapt to their powers, so it was definitely fun. Though, this would have probably benefited from a two-parter. I would have liked to see more depth to them using their powers, it happens a bit fast. One of the biggest things about this episode was Fluttershy’s ‘Hulk-out,’ and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s truly something to the average person because he/she would not expect something like that from My Little Pony. (It’s probably also the primary reason why the episode got a Y7 rating, a first for the show.) The ponies were awesome with superpowers, it’s just a shame they didn’t get to really show it off, so a two-parter would have been nice.

The antagonist, the Mane-iac, is definitely pretty cool. She’s actually a parody of the Joker, which I wasn’t expecting. She isn’t a deep villain like Queen Chrysalis or Discord, (when he was bad) but she was very fun to watch. She even has a pretty great villain speech at the end, “Tonight, we stand upon the brink of immortality, for we collectively — though, mostly me — have finally defeated our most hated nemeses! We have hurled the brush of badness into the now fearful face of goodness, and have struck a blow for freedom in the name of oppression! And nothing will stop us!” Personally, I hope she finds her way into the real world, there’s a lot of potential with her character. (Which probably could have been fulfilled if this were a two-parter.) This being a comic book superhero episode, there are some references to catch, such as Maretropolis. (There’s also a Powerpuff Girls reference!) The climax is definitely the best part, since the ponies get to showcase their abilities and there’s some great dialogue. (The short exchange Rarity had with Twilight stood out.)

Overall, definitely a fun episode. Who wouldn’t enjoy the Mane 6 as superheroes? It isn’t what I would call ‘great’ however, and that’s partially due to it being very Spike-centric. Pinkie Pie however was at her finest, the writers make fantastic use of her super speed. Fluttershy Hulking-out won’t soon be forgotten. Sadly, there isn’t a really big final boss fight with Mane-iac, which is very disappointing when you think about it. But, while not amazing, ‘Power Ponies’ is still a lot of fun with tremendous reply value.

3.5/5

Daniel is a huge fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. His favorite is Fluttershy and you can follow him on Twitter: @Destroyer_199