History FridgeBrilliance / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicSeason7

* Apple Bloom jokingly asks if she can call Grand Pear "Grand-père Pear". [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E6TheCutiePox Guess she remembered some of that fancy she learned way back when.]]
** Also, Van-Hoover is the Equestria equivalent of Canada's Vancouver. If Grand Pear spent all these years there, then perhaps it's fitting that his name is "Fancy"[[note]]French[[/note]] for "Grandpa".

* Mayor Mare and Mrs Cake's theory on why Granny Smith never told the Apple siblings about their parents was likely their own way of apologizing for also keeping the information a secret.

* Granny Smith used to tell bedtime stories to her trees, while Grand Pear covered his with blankets. Back in 'Over a Barrel', how does Applejack treat Bloomberg? She does ''both''.

** This also acounts for the in-universe perception from some readers that Fluttershy never really changes and forgets her lessons. Many of Fluttershy's more assertive moments came well after the journal stopped being written.

* Also, the seventh member a group of six powerful ponies who mostly plays as a helper and feels unappreciated and not like a great hero like how his friends are. Looking at it like that, Stygian could also be seen as much as a {{Foil}} to Spike.

** Also, ironically, Rumble's song contradicts his own philosophy. If they should be afraid of Cutie Marks and how they keep you "boxed up", then he wouldn't have been singing such a [[EarWorm catchy]] song.

* There's a reason why Twilight Sparkle wasn't the one the Cutie Map called for, as she would take Celestia's side.

Just like "Party of One" and "[=MMMystery=] on the Friendship Express", Pinkie investigates a mystery. However, unlike the previous two, she actually comes to the right conclusions, though they’re still a bit out there. This is because back then, she believed that she ''already'' knew the right answers to the mysteries and based all her investigating around that. In "Party of One", Pinkie pressured Spike into saying her friends didn’t want to be her friends anymore right after she just said it. In "[=MMMystery=] on the Friendship Express", she refused to budge from accusing the bakers of sabotage and it took Twilight doing actual investigating to find the actual culprits. Here, she does actual investigating and gathers evidence like an actual detective before coming to a conclusion.

* Unlike "Party of One" and "[=MMMystery=] on the Friendship Express", Pinkie does actual investigating than just instantly assuming something and, unlike the previous two episodes, her conclusions are correct, if a bit out there.

* Come to think of it, this episode could be a nice ShoutOut to [[AnAesop the lesson]] in "Fame and Misfortune": Even though the Mane 6 didn't intend for bad consequences (the {{LoonyFan}}s) to happen, that doesn't mean their cause (teaching other ponies friendship lessons) isn't worthwhile.

* Come to think of it, this episode could be a nice ShoutOut to [[AnAesop the lesson]] in "Fame and Misfortune": Even though the Mane 6 didn't intend for bad consequences (the LoonyFans) to happen, that doesn't mean their cause (teaching other ponies friendship lessons) isn't worthwhile.

* During the final battle, [[spoiler: the Pony of Shadows is able to withstand the Elements of Harmony (with the Pillars' own virtues backing them up) enough to actually struggle against them, even though Discord and a fully-empowered Tirek were unable to resist the might of just the Elements themselves. This actually makes sense when you consider that darkness is one of the most ancient and fundamental forces in the universe. It existed long before chaos, the individual Elements of Harmony, and even the virtues held by the Pillars, so it isn't too much of a stretch to believe that it could put up a fight against the combined might of the Elemnts and the Pillars' virtues.]]

** Especially given that besides egging her on, Trixie mentioned in the Season 7 finale that she moves on from her mistakes rather than actually learning from them. While she did apologize for terrorizing Ponyville, she didn't apologize for her being a jerk in her debut. These are all things that would be detrimental to Starlight's path of atonement.

* Granted, it is not a perfect resemblance but Starlight's cutie mark looks similar to the cloud of emotion generating over her horn. Given that no other unicorn is stated or implied to possess EmotionalMagic, it's possible that it is her special talent. If this is the case then it would explain her unusually high level of power when she was a rage-filled villain despite being a normal pony.

* Starlight's growing anger with dealing with Trixie and Trixie's behavior brings up to mind Twilight's worries in the prior season. Given how Trixie even more or less influences her, Twilight was more justified than Starlight (or some of the audience) were giving her credit for in regards to Trixie's behavior.
** Especially given that besides egging her on, Trixie mentioned in a prior episode that she tends to ignore her mistakes and move on, which means not learning from them. While she did apologize for terrorizing Ponyville, she didn't apologize for her being a jerk in her debut. These are all things that would be detrimental to Starlight's path of atonement.

* Ember having difficulty telling Twilight and Starlight apart makes sense when you think about: Dragons in general tend to have a lot of physical differences between them, not just color, hair and cutie marks. They have differently shaped wings, snouts, spikes, horns... Their appearances are a lot more varied, so it would be easy for Ember to tell her fellow dragons apart, but not so easy when it comes to ponies, who are all relatively similar compared to her own kind.

* This episode deconstructs NeverSayDie in much the same manner that the DCAnimatedUniverse cartoons enacted WriterRevolt against ExecutiveMeddling. Ponies are coming down with an incurable plague that will eventually [[BalefulPolymorph transform them]] into the trees the plague originated from to continue the plague's lifecycle. This is a TV-Y7 program, though, so the writers are forbidden from directly stating that this is fatal to the victim. So they don't. Instead, they leave the implication open that [[FateWorseThanDeath the unfortunate victim lives through the final stages of the plague]] [[AndIMustScream and watches helplessly as their spores infect other ponies with it.]] That's ''so'' better than being dead, right?

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* Rainbow Dash’s parents’ constant cheering for her flying abilities after she won was shown to cause her to be ostracized from the other ponies, thus making her more of an outcast. It makes sense, then, that Fluttershy of all ponies would be one of her only friends growing up; Fluttershy wouldn’t care about her (or her parents’) bragging or superior flying skills, because it’s not really a skill she cares about, and she already knew she wasn’t a particularly strong flyer in the first place.

* Twilight's no slouch in the kitchen herself, as showcased in "A Health of Information". She's not much happier with Rainbow Dash than AJ is.

* Princess Cadence mentions that she used to be in Twilight's position, trying to please every pony but herself, and it took Flurryheart for her to draw the line. Perhaps, in Part 2 of "A Canterlot Wedding", she wasn't just being humble and content when she accepted the Mane 5's specifications to her wedding. Perhaps, she was being too kind for her own good. It wasn't until Flurryheart pushed her limits as a tireless, unconditionally loving mother that [[CharacterDevelopment she learned to be kind to herself as well]].

* This episode deconstructs NeverSayDie in much the same manner that the DCAnimatedUniverse cartoons enacted WriterRevolt against ExecutiveMeddling. [[SarcasmMode Oh, we can't talk about ponies dying?]] Okay. We'll just infect them with a plague that [[BalefulPolymorph transforms them]] [[FateWorseThanDeath into trees to spread the plague]] [[AndIMustScream without actually killing them.]] Not dead! Oh, we can talk about a historical figure, but we can't bring up that she ever died? We'll have characters repeatedly say she vanished without a trace [[NothingIsScarier without bothering to elaborate.]] Not confirmed dead!

* Why did Pharynx turn out to be smaller than his younger brother, Thorax, after his transformation? After Spike convinced Twilight Sparkle to accept Thorax as a friend, Thorax was allowed to stay in the Crystal Empire for several days. And Because the Crystalling Ceremony had happened recently, the Love in the Crystal Empire was more abundant and potent than anywhere else in Equestria. The new glow in Thorax's wings and lack of hunger are evidence towards the fact that he was given some of this love before he was sent to try
and find help in Ponyville. So when Thorax transformed himself by giving his love, the power of the love he received from the Crystal Empire resulted in a very significant growth spurt that drastically altered his size and form.