History FridgeBrilliance / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicSeason5

* Spike gets visibly annoyed when Rainbow Dash asks him how to deal with Tank wanting to [[YouKeepUsingThatWord brumate]] because she thinks they are almost the same. While Spike may have been angered at Rainbow Dash's way of speaking (Which kind of combined a seeming FantasticRacism and extreme ignorance at how different Spike and Tank were to each other), it's very probable that Spike simply found Rainbow Dash's endless questions nonsensical - Spike may be a reptile, but he's a fire-breathing dragon. With the ability to produce fire, dragons should be endothermic, and as such they shouldn't brumate on cold weather. Spike would have no idea how to deal with brumation.

* [[spoiler:Their Cutie Marks have the sign that look similarly to a crest. Crusaders in RealLife have been known to carry around a crest of their own. Talk about a nod to their name.]]
* It seems fitting that the [[spoiler:The Crusaders help Diamond Tiara [[HeelFaceTurn reform]] as she is the one who indirectly created their group, so it's also fitting that helping her become a good guy got them their cutie marks]].
* The CMC [[spoiler:vowing to help other ponies discover their talents as ''their own'' special talent]] makes a lot of sense from a meta, series-wide perspective. Yes, people have been speculating, for example, that [[spoiler:Sweetie Belle would get a cutie mark in singing, or Apple Bloom would get one relating to potions, but if these three actually got these cutie marks, they would have their own separate ways to go, essentially breaking the three-filly adventure-seeking team dynamic that viewers have grown so accustomed to for almost 5 seasons. With the cutie marks that they earned this episode, the writers found a way to "reward" the CMC for their long search, while at the same time allowing the three of them to stay a team]].
** And the writers also gave the fandom theories their own nod. [[spoiler:Each Crusader has a symbol inside their shield that matches with the viewers' theories on what they'd get their cutie marks in. A musical note inside a star for Sweetie Belle (singing), a heart inside an apple for Apple Bloom (something apple-related), and a lightning bolt inside a wing for Scootaloo (speed/acrobatics).]]
** Not only that, but from a meta standpoint [[spoiler: their new role allows them to ''still'' be referred to as the "Cutie Mark Crusaders". It'd be hard for fans to drop that name after 5 seasons, but with this the name is still valid, it just has a new meaning: instead of crusading to find their ''own'' Cutie Marks, they now crusade to help ''others'' find theirs!]]
** [[spoiler: The heraldic shields of the CMC's cutie marks each feature a tricolor field. The colors in the field match each filly's mane color (red for Apple Bloom, light pink for Sweetie Belle, and magenta for Scootaloo). This signifies the fact that their cutie marks are intricately tied to their friendship, just as the Mane Six's cutie marks are all connected via sonic rainboom. Of course, each filly has a different secondary symbol, indicating their respective capacities.]]
** Scootaloo's [[spoiler: cutie mark also calls to mind Rainbow's because of the wing/lightning bolt, seeing as a lightning bolt is part of Dash's cutie mark and was the emblem for her Element of Loyalty. Something that must please the little filly who admires Dash so much]].

* The crusader's [[spoiler:collective cutie marks]] stem from not just a tight bond and a wealth of different experiences, but the ability to see the good in others even they thought wasn't there. Both Troubleshoes and Diamond Tiara earned the ire of those around them when they misinterpreted their talents, until the crusaders gave them a brighter perspective on it.

* If the committee has always been loose on what counts as a "sister", why couldn't the Sisterhooves Social be established as the Siblinghooves Social to include brothers officially instead of dancing around the topic of having stallions competing in the first place? As Big Mac's performance has shown, many of the activities were shown to lean towards a more physical edge, meaning that stallions would no doubt have an unfair advantage over most mares. While it would not happen to such an extreme in Big Mac's case, the difference would still be noticeable with victory being usually decided by the team with the strongest big brother.

** Add to that Twilight's attitude throughout the episode, pompously denying she is capable of jealousy, thus indirectly insisting she is a better person than Discord. If he had ever seen this demeanor from her before since his own outburst, it would make perfect sense he would target her to make her accept she is NotSoDifferent from him. Note Discord's rather excessive and well punctuated gloating about it afterwards, and that Twilight looks more ashamed than angry, she's being called out on acting HolierThanThou.

*** Except Pinkie hid it on the ''train''. Who’d look through an entire train or even think of looking there at all? If anything, it shows that Pinkie’s an unconventional hider and would hide her presents in the last places the ***Except Pinkie hid it on the ''train''. Who’d look through an entire train or even think of looking there in the first place? If anything, it shows that Pinkie’s an unconventional hider and would hide her presents in the last places the recipient would look or in places they wouldn’t bother to look at in the first place.

** Pinkie's extreme over-protectiveness of Fluttershy in the early episodes, in spite of Fluttershy being much older than her, could definitely come from her relationship with Marble Pie - she always treats Marble like a child in spite of them being twins.

* Pinkie says that "Applejack cries on the inside", which AJ admits... This is made harder when you remember that in Apple Family Reunion, two shooting stars resembling her parents fly at the end of the episode. Applejack cries on the inside because she is the one that keeps her family together, and therefore needs to be strong for anypony in need.

* Why did Applejack lose touch with Coloratura? That would have been about the time her parents died.
** Actually, Applejack already had her cutie mark by the time she met Coloratura. And her parents died roughly before she earned it. So it could be that Applejack and Coloratura simply lost touch when the latter went to pursue her singing career.

** And last but not least, this is basically the equivalent of your food singing to you and obviously wanting you suffer.

* When looking at Gilda's flashback to her first meeting Rainbow Dash, her nasty treatment of Fluttershy in ''Griffon the Brush Off'' makes a little more sense. Back then she was also very shy and bullied by the same pegasi only for her to befriend Rainbow Dash and gain confidence. To her, Fluttershy reminded of her past self and, combined with her desire to be cool, [[IHatePastMe she probably wasn't very proud of her old self]].

** The more obvious reason, seeing as Griffonstone has now become a PlaceWorseThanDeath to its inhabitants, is that they're all desperate to make enough money [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere to leave Griffonstone forever]]

* Gustav, the baker griffin from '[=MMMystery=] on The Friendship Express', was prideful and rude, yet later revealed to be a decent guy. This is because, unlike the Griffonstone's inhabitants, he didn't just integrate to the pony society, but also made himself a successful career and comfortable living; in this episode, we learn that, when griffins were at their best, their greed was mostly replaced by pride. So, griffins with a good, successful life are proud of their achievements, while those who're doing badly are extremely greedy; their dominant FatalFlaw depends on their living conditions.

* Pinkie complaining about the lack of singing, partying and bakeries, and Gilda's sarcastic comment about how Griffonstone really needs those, actually makes a lot of sense. As seen in 'Magical Mystery Cure', without some amenities to ease the tensions from living in a troublesome town, the inhabitants grow increasingly cranky and unfriendly. The griffins don't just live in 'a dump', but don't do a thing to try improving their living conditions, and those who achieve some measure of success are more than eager to leave the place.

* While Twilight's WakingNonSequitur doesn't make much sense, either in-context or not, Whinnyapolis (as an expy of the capital of a breadbasket state) would be a major producer of hay, and Manehattan is clearly an expy of BigApplesauce, so her response is at least marginally related to the delegates involved. [[IceCreamKoan The candle, however, lights nothing]]

* Now with this episode taken into context, would Twilight have taken Celestia's orders of "making some friends" as a reason to attend Moondancer's party, resulting in GoneHorriblyRight all the way back in the first episode and dooming Equestria? Most likely no. Why? Because Twilight at that time only considered them acquaintances while having a low opinion on friendship overall and would have considered the earlier clause of having to go to Ponyville for festival preparations as well. Given how much Twilight worships Celestia, there's no way she would defy this part of the order. Not to mention, having the Elements of Harmony be wielded by only unicorns scream UnfortunateImplications. Since Celestia was their headmare back in when they were younger, it's possible that she knew about Twilight's Canterlot classmates and put emphasis on Ponyville for that particular year. Notice how previous and future Summer Sun celebrations all take place in Canterlot instead. Coincidence? I think not. The only plausible scenario that wouldn't screw Moondancer over would be if Twilight had attended the party after receiving the order... only to tell Moondancer that she has to go to Ponyville. The rest would then suggest having Moondancer move her party to Ponyville while attending the celebrations along with the others instead. Given Twilight's attitude at that time, that's sadly very unlikely.

* Why is Pinkie Pie so determines to keep the secret? Considering how much she [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E20GreenIsntYourColor hounded Twilight]] over keeping s secret, she wants to prove she lives up to the idea.
* In retrospect, choosing Fluttershy as the FakeDefector makes perfect for a reason other than stated in the episode. After all, who was the only one that Discord failed to brainwash via BreakThemByTalking way back in season 2? She may not look it (or act like it sometimes) but Fluttershy is made of pretty stern stuff.
* Un-marked Pinkie Pie, i.e. a Pinkie Pie who is greyer in colour palette and never learnt that joking and laughing is more fun than farming rocks, talks a lot like her grey rock farming sisters, particularly the overly literal and monotone Maud Pie, and also somewhat the overly serious and never smiling Limestone Pie.

* If you look closely, you'll see that everypony in the village has a very desaturated color scheme. And once the mane 6 have their cutie marks stolen, their colors fade towards grey as well, showing it to be a symptom of cutie mark removal. But, if you look closely, one pony's colors are still relatively vibrant, despite having an = cutie mark [[spoiler: Starlight Glimmer.]]

* Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie standing near each other. Starlight backing up behind them so the equal sign is visible between them. VoiceActorJoke?