Warning - this analysis contains spoilers.
Plot summary
This is Twilight's mental breakdown episode. The idea is that she couldn't find a suitable lesson in friendship this week, and thus could not manage to report anything to Princess Celestia. Afraid of failing her teacher and thus being punished by being sent back to magical kindergarden, she tries to find any pony in need of her help, but all her friends are well, and laugh it off when she says the reason she is so frustrated.
Going into full psycho mode, she tries to creates a problem for her to fix by trying to make the CMC fight over her childhood doll. When they fail to do so, she casts a charm spell on the doll. This backfires badly, as all of Ponyville fights over it. Princess Celestia, whom was alerted of the trouble by Spike, shows up and fixes everything. She gives a stern talk to Twilight, but all her friends try to claim responsability for what happened. She tells them that as "punishment" all the Mane 6 must now report to her their findings in friendship whenever they can. The lesson in the end is that friends should listen to their friends need even if what bothers them seems to be inconsequential.
Opening Changes
There were some minor changes to the opening. There is a new animation sequence for when Twilight descends into PonyVille, with a train carrying a Muffin Shaped wagon with Derpy, and the CMC in their cart on the back, as well as various of the fandom favorites background ponies walking around. Also, the picture at the end is now extra sparkly.
The music is richer now, with more background instruments, including a background violin at the final part that works extremely well. The first part is now stronger, with some kind of brass in the background (a trumpet I think) that also improves the whole thing a lot. The vocals seem a little different, but it might be from the added sounds.
The only problem I think is the transition from the old "My little pony" in the beginning to the faster part. While the original was very smooth, this one was very abrupt. Maybe it will grow into me eventually, but I preferred the original in this aspect. Also, there is a very strange "zooom" sound, kinda like when they are filming a F1 car from a static position. It sounds strange, and maybe it was a mistake or something. However, in the end I'd say the revamped intro is a fair improvement over the original.
Derpy!
Seeing as she appears on the opening and various other places on the episode, Derpy seems to have been promoted from Background Pony to Minor Character, mainly thanks to the community. I can't say I care that much, I mean, everything about her is completely outside the creator's hands, and I guess that even if something of her was denied in the Canon, such as she being a mother, or working as a mail pony, the Fanon would simply ignore it.
Anyway, I kinda like it, since she is very visually distinctive, and I look forward to seeing just how the creators will handle this character out of their hands into their show.
Fandom shoutouts
Talking about Derpy, the internet seems to be ablaze with people talking about how this whole episode was a big shout out to the community. You have people talking about Apple Dash, cupcakes, Rainbow Glasses/Deal with it, etc. I strongly disagree. While Derpy was indeed just that, the rest is simply our overactive imaginations acting up.
Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash have always been portrayed as good friends with a healthy rivalry, so seeing they doing things together shouldn't imply anything more. The Rainbow Dash with glasses thing is very fitting on that situation, since she is planning to sunbath. Besides, I think that meme is too recent for them to have added it into the show - Derpy took several months, for instance.
The cupcakes thing is simply ridiculous. They talk about cupcakes all the time on the show, and while I did do a double take at Spike's line, I doubt it was a conscious decision of making that connection, specially since references to that event tend to cause very strong reactions in some bronies. This leads me to a question: How would the fans react if Pinkie's cupcake song happened not in season 1, but in season 2?
Big Mac Daddy
Big Mac standing atop a pile of mares was a great scene. I don't like shipping fics, but I wonder how far they can take it. Also, him getting Twilight's doll was great. Someone mentioned that he represents the bronies here, and it kinda makes sense.
Awesome Ponies
I loved the super powered ponies we saw this time. Bear Wrestler Fluttershy and the Nuclear Rainboom (Tactic Rainboom? Sonic Rainnuke?) were both entertaining and unexpected. Next time someone tells me they are weak little ponies I guess I could just show those clips.
Rarity, the Drama Queen
That was one part I initially didn't like very much. The running gag part was very well done, and I loved the couch appearing in the middle of the Picnic, which should indicate she actually was dragging the thing around. But the way she did it on the first time seemed quite odd, and made me afraid they might be making her into more of a caricature character.
I really like Rarity. She is the only girly character I ever really accepted in a very long time. She is the only one in the group to really obsess over the stereotipical girly things, but is actually a very down to earth character, independent, and who will gladly ignore her obsessions whenever more practical matters arise. She is both girly, witty and independent, and would be very easy to write poorly, or to become annoying or whiny.
But in retrospect doing that is not out of character for Rarity. She will
Twilight condition
This episode shined a light on various psychological problems that Twilight suffers from. She shows minor OCD, some kind of repressed childhood trauma, and a strong need for acceptance from her superiors. While she has shown signs of those in previous episodes, here she is given free reign, since nothing appears to reign her behavior until the final Celestia Ex Machina moment.
Besides Discord, she has shown before the extents she will go to please Celestia, and how bad she feels . She tries to tightly control the party they throw for her in A Bird in the Hoof, and she reacts in pretty much the same way when Philemena disappears (except Fluttershy is there to restrain her). During the Parasprite incident, imagine if Celestia came half an hour later - Twilight would most likely go crazy forcing everypony to rebuild PonyVille. All in all, she was very in character the whole time, even if her faces were very over the top. But it is forgivable, since it was all for comedic effect.
I think this all shows just how fragile she is, and may even shed some light in why Celestia forced her to go live a more social life. I also really hope the kindergarden thing is explored in depth in some other episode. An episode about bullying, specially if she goes to confront her bullies as a grown up, would fit very well in the show.
Final Thoughts
So, this is the end of the episode. It was very good, extremely funny, and I long to see just how many memes will be spawned from this the coming weeks. The animation was even better than season 1, and makes me wonder what they would be able to do with a cinematic budget. Only downside is a distinct lack of Pinkie Pie - it has been a while since her last song, and I hope something comes up in the next episode.
