History YMMV / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E12AmendingFences

** Is Moondancer's anger at Twilight justifiable, since Twilight didn't show up to the first party she ever threw, or has she been holding a grudge for far too long? On one hand, Twilight was ordered to go to Ponyville by Princess Celestia; on the other hand, Twilight essentially abandoned a pony who thought ''very'' highly of her and made zero attempts to contact or even explain what happened for over a year. It isn't clear whether they were more than acquaintances when Twilight left, since Twilight's EstablishingCharacterMoment in the opener implied that she tended to turn down social events. Some believe that Moondancer's bitterness isn't directed against Twilight (at least in particular), but rather mostly [[HeroicSelfDeprecation against herself]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: "Books! God, I love books! Dear Princess Celestia: [[MadeMyselfSad I'm so alone]]." This {{meme|tic mutation}} originated as a comic featuring Twilight, but is even more applicable to Moondancer, where it is played depressingly serious. To say nothing of how Twilight [[ShadowArchetype could have wound up like her]].

* HarsherInHindsight: Moondancer is essentially a glimpse into an alternate history of what would've happened if Twilight Sparkle wasn't accepted into Celestia's School of Gifted Unicorns. In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E25TheCutieRemarkPart1 The Cutie Re-Mark]], the alternate history versions of Twilight Sparkle are never seen, although it is safe to say that they also turned out for the worst, like Moondancer.

** Lemon Heart's face expression when [[ItMakesSenseInContext her head was shoved into a beaker]] has become a running gag within the fanbase.

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: Kazumi Evans is best known as the NonSingingVoice for Rarity and Princess Luna, and she had her first in-series speaking roles as the deliciously evil Adagio Dazzle and the cultured-to-a-fault Octavia Melody in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]''. But her heartwrenching [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech outburst]] and [[BrokenTears emotional breakdown]] as Moondancer prove her talents go well beyond singing and hamming it up.

* SheReallyCanAct: Kazumi Evans is best known as the NonSingingVoice for Rarity and Princess Luna, and she had her first in-series speaking roles as the deliciously evil Adagio Dazzle and the cultured-to-a-fault Octavia Melody in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]''. But her heartwrenching [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech outburst]] and [[BrokenTears emotional breakdown]] as Moondancer prove her talents go well beyond singing and hamming it up.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The inconsistent depictions of background ponies living in both Canterlot and Ponyville is given a convenient HandWave in this episode. It turns out Lyra moved to Ponyville from Canterlot, but she sometimes visits her friends in Canterlot, or they come to Ponyville to visit her. This same explanation could be extrapolated to account for most any background character that appears in multiple towns -- they are visiting friends living there.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** Some feel there could have been a lesson that sometimes, you can't save all of your old friendships, and that some people prefer to be introverts through no fault of anybody else. But others argue this show ''is'' called "Friendship is Magic" and such a lesson would be a bit negative. A similar lesson [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E18AFriendInDeed actually happened before]] (but ended with a successful friendship anyways).
** Also this episode seems like it could have worked well as a "follow the map" episode, similar to "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" (since it is about repairing a broken friendship and helping someone get past being burnt by a bad experience), but they opted to separate it from that story arc.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** Moondancer is essentially a glimpse into an alternate history of what would've happened if Twilight Sparkle wasn't accepted into Celestia's School of Gifted Unicorns. In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E25TheCutieRemarkPart1 The Cutie Re-Mark]], the alternate history versions of Twilight Sparkle are never seen, although it is safe to say that they also turned out for the worst, like Moondancer.
** On the same topic, Moondancer is a walking embodiment of this trope when one bears in mind every episode leading up to this one marks one more day she spent isolated and friendless. For five seasons, Moondancer was cooped up in her house by the self-imposed idea that she was incapable of making friends.
*** And it doesn't help that the worst day in Moondancer's life (Twilight not showing up to her party) happened in the pilot episode.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Some fans were disappointed that Minuette wasn't among the background characters who got a voice in "Slice of Life." Turns out they only had to wait three more episodes for the same writer to give it to them.
* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: Twilight amending her friendship with Moondancer, and Minuette assuring Moondancer that she has value and friends who love her.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** [[https://youtu.be/NsGeXCMCnT0?t=38 This parody video]] released a year before this episode had Twinkleshine complain that they were never going to get any character development. Then we got this episode.
** Minuette would have fit in well among the "Equal Ponies" in Starlight Glimmer's cult, even with her cutie mark.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** "Books! God, I love books! Dear Princess Celestia: [[MadeMyselfSad I'm so alone]]." This {{meme|tic mutation}} originated as a comic featuring Twilight, but is even more applicable to Moondancer, where it is played depressingly serious. To say nothing of how Twilight [[ShadowArchetype could have wound up like her]].
** One within the same episode: When Twilight is happy about being able to apologize to everyone at once, Spike snarks "Let's hope they're not all as traumatized as Minuette". Turns out one former friend ''was'' traumatized by Twilight's sudden disappearance.

* AccidentalAesop: Be considerate of other’s feelings, even if what they’re doing doesn’t seem like a big deal to you.

* {{Wangst}}: Some have found it hard to feel pity for Moondancer with her acting rude and shutting out all of her friends and loved ones, simply because ''one'' pony didn't come to her party.

* {{Wangst}}: Some have found it hard to feel pity for Moondancer with her acting rude and pushing away all of her friends and loved ones, simply because ''one'' pony didn't come to her party.