History WesternAnimation / MyLittlePonyTVSpecials

** Is the villain in the first special named Tirek or Tirac? Not even ThisVeryWiki can agree on it. Website/IMDb further clouds the argument with the spelling Tirak. The G4 version of him is named "Tirek" according to the credits of the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 "Twilight's Kingdom"]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 two-parter]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Scorpan's true nature is hinted at early on when he saves Megan from falling during a Stratadon attack.

* GenkiGirl: Firefly. She takes Megan to Ponyland within minutes of meeting her and listens to precisely none of Megan's (reasonable) arguments that she's not qualified to be their savior.

* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Tirek and Scorpan are drawn in a far more dark and realistic style that is unusual for such a show.

* ErmineCapeEffect: After Scorpan was transformed back to his original form of a handsome prince, he's wearing the [[RequisiteRoyalRegalia requisite]] ermine cape.

** The panther statues in Catrina's lair in the second special look almost exactly like Ravage on ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers''.
** When we first see Tirek, his face is never seen, and he is petting his Rainbow of Darkness as though it were a cat. Much like [[Film/JamesBond Ernst Stavro Blofeld]].

Based on Hasbro's Franchise/MyLittlePony toyline. Created in TheEighties, this pair of MerchandiseDriven half-hour TV specials came with the wide success of the toyline. The first was aired in 1984 and another in 1985. They were followed by ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie'', which was in-turn followed by a TV series called ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends''.

* BlessedWithSuck: Having a demonic body has advantages for Scorpan, as he's strong enough to rip the bars of a cell off the hinges.

* GoodSamaritan: The Sea Ponies seem to help the other heroes simply because they like doing so, even giving them a shell (presumably enchanted) to use if they are needed again.

* XMeetsY: ''Rescue at Midnight Castle'' could be aptly renamed ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' meets ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''[[note]]The latter series was also animated by Marvel Productions[[/note]]. Heck, it even had both dungeons ''and'' dragons!

* BlessedWithSuck: Having a demonic body has advantages for Tirek, as he's strong enough to rip the bars of a cell off the hinges.

Just as Firefly and Megan arrive at Dream Castle, Scorpan returns for another assault, having only attained two on the first run, and proceeds to grab the other two while at it. Thus, Megan and a party of ponies set out to stop Tirek, but first they stop by the Mushrump to meet with the Moochick, a strange gnome wizard with a terrible memory and a mushroom motif, to ask how to defeat Tirek. He gives Megan a locket called "The Rainbow of Light" and they are on their way. Once at Midnight Castle, they break in and confront the evil overlord himself.

The Little Ponies prepare for a "Welcome Back" party for their human friend, Megan. Strangely, absolutely none of the original ponies from the first special appear in this follow-up, so it's anyone's guess why they're welcoming her back. Meanwhile, little furballs called Bushwoolies are the slaves of a drug-addicted {{Catgirl}} named Catrina and are watched over by a shape-shifting lizard-man named Rep. When they escape, she tries to make the Little Ponies her new slaves to keep her drug brewing machine working nonstop.

She and her companion manage only to grab one, Baby Moondancer, and they are pursued back into their lair by the other ponies and Megan.

* AdultFear: Both specials involved a girl who couldn't be older than fourteen. In the first, she is essentially being kidnapped by a talking pony and almost murdered. This might cause some viewers to wonder what her parents thought when she was gone. The second special involved the antagonist nearly murdering a filly.

* BadassNormal: Megan, who begins the series by fending off a ''dragon'' empty-handed and finishes the first special by [[spoiler: ''killing Tirek'']].

* BusbyBerkeleyNumber: The seaponies song is accompanied with a dance number that is very reminiscent of one in an Esther Williams movie.

** Similarly, Twilight's teleportation. We see it once early on to know she can do it, and then it comes in handy during some MacGuffin Keep-Away. (This is before the show would make it so that every unicorn could do that; in the special it's Twilight's thing only.)

* DarkIsNotEvil: Scorpan. He looks pretty {{Satan}}ic, but he couldn't be less like the original angel of darkness if he tried.

* EightiesHair: Even though they're horses, several ponies in the pilot have hair in this style. Megan herself surprisingly doesn't--her hairstyle is a timeless ponytail.

** An interesting case in the second with Rep, who's loved one is Katrina herself, namely the person she ''used'' to be before getting DrunkOnTheDarkSide. He still cares about her now, but laments how she's changed.

* FurryConfusion: Megan has a horse. A non-sentient horse. Though admittedly she lives in the human world while the ponies live in Dream Valley.

* JumpedAtTheCall: Megan goes from discovering a talking winged pony in her well to flying off to Ponyland in about three minutes.

* LastSecondChance: Catrina is offered this, and she actually accepts it to reform herself.

* PowerSource: Catrina's power depends of having a constant supply of Witchweed potion. When she is about to run out of it, she completely ''snaps,'' which kickstarts the TV special.

* Foreshadowing: Scorpan's true nature is hinted at early on when he saves Megan from falling during a Stratadon attack.

Just as Firefly and Megan arrive at Dream Castle, Scorpan returns for another assault, having only attained two on the first run, and proceeds to grab the other two while at it. Thus, Megan and a party of ponies set out to stop Tirek, but first they stop by the Mushrump to meet with the Moochick, a strange gnome wizard with a terrible memory and a mushroom motif, to ask how to defeat Tirek. He gives Megan a locket called "The Rainbow of Light" and they are on their way. Once at Midnight Castle, they break in and confront the evil overlord himself, [[spoiler:and the Rainbows of Light and Dark clash in a surprisingly epic finale in which ''Tirek is torn and ripped into shreds by the former'']].

She and her companion manage only to grab one, Baby Moondancer, and they are pursued back into their lair by the other ponies and Megan. [[spoiler:There, she gives them the choice: serve her or Baby Moondancer takes a dip in the [[FantasticDrug witch weed potion]], which would be presumably fatal. It's around this point that Rep has had enough of Catrina's increasingly violent tendencies and strongarms her into breaking the habit.]]

Based on Hasbro's Franchise/MyLittlePony toyline. Created in TheEighties, this pair of MerchandiseDriven half-hour TV specials came with the wide success of the toyline. The first was aired in 1984 and another in 1985. They were followed by ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie'', which was in-turn followed by a tv series called ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends''.

** The Smooze is an unstoppable wave of purple sludge that smoothers you just because you're there and carries a HatePlague.

In light of the first assault by Scorpan and his army of [[OurDragonsAreDifferent stratadons]], the rest of the ponies panic and hide in Dream Castle, pulling up the drawbridge. Fearful that anyone can be next, Firefly goes off for help and decides to ask it of the very first human she happens to come across. The human is Megan, a cowgirl who lives at a ranch at the other end of the rainbow. From there, Firefly basically kidnaps Megan to go back to Ponyland with her despite the girl being about ten years old and without a single means of helping them... yeah, Firefly's plan needed more thought.

* EightiesHair: Even though they're horses, several Ponies in the pilot have hair in this style.

** The panther statues in Catrina's lair in the second special look almost exactly like Ravage on ''WesternAnimation/TransformersGenerationOne''.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Is the villain in the first special named Tirek or Tirac? Not even ThisVeryWiki can agree on it. Website/IMDb further clouds the argument with the spelling Tirak. The G4 version of him is named "Tirek" according to the credits of the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 "Twilight's Kingdom"]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 two-parter]].

* ActionGirl: in ''Midnight Castle'', there are three of them: Megan, Firefly, and Bowtie.

* AnotherDimension: Not outright stated, but it is heavily implied that rainbows are passage ways between our mundane Earth and the ponies' [[MagicalLand Ponyland]]. Plus, had Megan lived in the same reality as the ponies, that Firefly could speak and fly would not have come as a surprise to her.
** Another explanation is that they do live in the same reality but the Ponyland ponies live far in an area from "normal" places.
* AntiVillain: Scorpan in the first TV special, Rep in the second.
** By the end, he's become an AntiHero ('''Type II''').

* BadassAdorable: "Danger is my life!" says Firefly, who later ''kicks a dragon in the face''.

* ChekhovsSkill: Firefly attempts her "double inside-out loop" early on in "Rescue at Midnight Castle", but fails and crashes into Applejack. She attempts it again to save Megan and later during the final battle to help defeat Tirek.

* DamselInDistress: In ''Midnight Castle'', we have five of them, including Applejack. Actually, ''especially'' Applejack, who almost drowns, later is kidnapped by Tirek's henchmen and finally is turned into a monster after she takes a direct hit of the Rainbow of Darkness.

** DistressedDude

* EvenMooksHaveLovedOnes: Tirek really ''shouldn't'' have threatened Scorpan with decapitating Spike, since this is what finally made Scorpan rebel against him.

* HypercompetentSidekick: The Moochic's long-suffering rabbit, Habit, definitely counts.

* LighterAndSofter: ''Everything'' after the first TV special was this. The first special was pretty dark and grim for a kids show, included ''ponies set on fire'', considerable violence, threatening beheading, and the BigBad was brutally killed at the end.
** Ironic in that this was how the ''My Little Pony'' show ''began'', as possibly the most hardcore TV cartoon of its time, yet its second and third generations created such a powerful reputation as a little girl show that it was difficult for many to believe My Little Pony could ever be anything else even when ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'' came along to change the show's style again.

* MoodWhiplash: ''Rescue at Midnight Castle'', maybe also due to lack of time.

* NobleDemon: Scorpan was like a father for Spike and tried to spare as much people as he could from falling into Tirek's hands. Subverted in that [[spoiler:he is really an enchanted human prince and the rightful lord of the lands seized by Tirak.]]
** He also warned Megan not to interfere.

* PowerEchoes: Tirek's voice, two sentences out of three, has an echo under it. Why? 'Cause he's ''evil''.
** Or he's mostly in a castle with flat stone walls and probably isn't the type to decorate with tapestries or chandeliers.

* ShoutOut: The panther statues in Catrina's lair in the second special look almost exactly like Ravage on TransformersGenerationOne.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Is the villain in the first special named Tirek or Tirac? Not even ThisVeryWiki can agree on it.
** Website/IMDb further clouds the argument with the spelling Tirak.
** The G4 version of him is named "Tirek" according to the credits of the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 "Twilight's Kingdom"]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 two-parter]].

* TagalongKid: Averted with Megan. The ponies are tagging along with her.

* ToylessToyLineCharacter: Only three of the Sea Ponies were actual toy characters. Notably there's a [[http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg225/britesprite85/FIreflys%20Adventure/PDVD_050.jpg white mare]] who appears with Twinkles but never had a toy. Common theory is that she's the [[http://mylittlewiki.org/w/images/9/94/Newborn-porcelain.jpg "First Born"]] figurine.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the first special, an unnamed white pony with a multi-color mane, who is accompanied by a cat later given to Peaches, was never named or made into a toy.
** None of the ponies from the first special appear in ''MyLittlePonyAndFriends''.

* XMeetsY: ''Rescue at Midnight Castle'' could be aptly renamed ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' meets ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''[[note]]The latter series was also animated by Marvel Productions[[/note]]. Heck, it even had both dungeons ''and'' dragons!

In light of the first assault by Scorpan and his army of [[OurDragonsAreDifferent stratadons]], the rest of the ponies panic and hide in Dream Castle, pulling up the drawbridge. Fearful that anyone can be next, Firefly goes off for help and decides to ask it of the very first human she happens to come across. The human is Megan, a cowgirl who lives at a ranch at the other end of the rainbow. From there, Firefly basically kidnaps Megan to go back to Ponyland with her despite the girl being about ten years old and without a single means of helping them. ...Yeah, Firefly's plan needed more thought.

Just as Firefly and Megan arrive at Dream Castle, Scorpan returns for another assault, having only attained two on the first run, and proceeds to grab the other two while at it. Thus, Megan and a party of ponies set out to stop Tirek, but first they stop by the Mushrump to meet with the Moochick, a strange gnome wizard with a terrible memory and a mushroom motif, to ask how to defeat Tirek. He gives Megan a locket called "The Rainbow of Light" and they are on their way.
Once at Midnight Castle, they break in and confront the evil overlord, himself, [[spoiler:and the Rainbows of Light and Dark clash in a surprisingly epic finale in which ''Tirek is torn and ripped into shreds by the former'']].

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Tirek is a ''very'' thinly veiled {{Expy}} of Satan. Remove his back legs and your left with a red, horned, cloven hoofed lord of evil who turns beauty into ugliness with the "Power of Darkness". In a show about magical, candy colored ponies. [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic You know, for kids!]]

* GoodHurtsEvil: It only took a few seconds of struggle for Megan's ''ridiculously tiny'' Rainbow of Light to absorb Tirek's Rainbow of Darkness and ''brutally'' kill him.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Megan's a FriendToAllLivingThings, but she'll quite literally ''obliterate'' you if you're truly irredeemable. [[spoiler: [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath Tirek learned this the hard way.]]]]

* GoodIsNotSoft: Megan's a FriendToAllLivingThings, but she'll quite literally ''obliterate'' you if you're truly irredeemable. [[spoiler: FamilyUnfriendlyDeathTirek learned this the hard way.]]

* GoodIsNotSoft: Megan's a FriendToAllLivingThings, but she'll quite literally ''obliterate'' you if you're truly irredeemable. [[spoiler: FamilyUnfriendlyDeath Tirek finds this out the hard way.]]