History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E20ItsAboutTime

* CompressedVice: Spike seems awfully fixated on ice cream this week. Unlike candy in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed "Luna Eclipsed"]], there's no real motivation here except to tease Twilight. He just does it because the effects will be someone else's problem -- specifically, Future Spike's.

* CompressedVice: Spike seems awfully fixated on ice cream this week. Unlike candy in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed "Luna Eclipsed"]], there's no real motivation here. He just does it because the effects will be someone else's problem -- specifically, Future Spike's.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: The events of the episode could have been avoided if Past!Twilight had shut up for one minute, or Future!Twilight not gone back in time to tell her not to worry. [[FridgeBrilliance Maybe that's the whole point.]]

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: The time-travel spell is specifically stated to work only once.

* MindScrew: [[DownplayedTrope Just a little bit]], which is for the best since we have the target demographic's sanity to watch out for. At the end of the episode, Twilight just wanted to warn her past self about not worrying the future, a lesson she would have not learned if her future self didn't make her paranoid. Even worse is how Twilight got the knowledge of where the scrolls are: Future Twilight got it from Past, who got it from Future, who got it from Past, who got it from Future, who got it from Past....

* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Twilight, Pinkie and Spike pose as statues in order to hide from the guards, even though they didn't really need to.

* OminousMessageFromTheFuture: What Twilight initially thinks the aborted message from her future self was. Turns out to not be so ominous after all.

* RealityEnsues: Twilight forgets a basic fact about herself when she breaks into the Archives: she is the personal protégé of Princess Celestia herself, who else outside maybe senior government ministers would have more privileged access than her?

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Twilight's scheduling conflict is never brought up after she receives the visit from her future self. Likely made worse since "deal with warning from the future" was ''not'' on her original schedule.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Twilight pronounces ''Tartarus'' as the Greek "Tar-Tar-Os", and not "Tar-tur-us" like is most common in English.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: {{Invoked|Trope}} playfully by Princess Celestia.
-->'''Princess Celestia:''' Good morning, Twilight! Love the new hairstyle. Well, happy Tuesday!

* EverybodyHatesHades[=/=]SadlyMythtaken: Averted, for the most part. Instead of going with the underworld as the usual Greek stand-in for Hell, they mention [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartarus Tartarus]] the ''actual'' Greek equivalent. Of course, Cerberus is the one guarding it instead of the underworld, but that can be overlooked; after all, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E15FeelingPinkieKeen the Hydra is busy marauding Froggy Bottom Bog]].

* EyepatchAfterTimeSkip: Future Twilight: Turns out it's because she looked into the sun with a telescope.

* [[FacePalm Face Hoof]]: Twilight, upon finally realizing that her time-traveling is what caused her ordeal.

''[{{beat}}]''\\

-->'''Pinkie:''' Like that. ''[pause]'' [[LampshadeHanging Where did that even come from?]]
* FluffyTamer

* FutureBadass: [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]]. Future Twilight comes from only a few days in the future, and she only looks the way she does because of a series of random accidents.
* FutureMeScaresMe / IHatePastMe: Future Twilight's appearance scares Twilight a bit before she becomes thrilled with the whole TimeTravel thing. Future Twilight, in turn, is frustrated by her past self's refusal to calm down and listen to what she has to say.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Just before Twilight confronts Cerberus, Cerberus has one of his back legs lifted.

* HellHound: [[GreekMythology Cerberus]] makes an appearance in this episode and is quickly tamed by [[FluffyTamer Fluttershy]] before he can do any harm.

-->'''Twilight:''' I don't have time for another one of your lectures, Spike! This is serious!\\

--> '''Pinkie:''' ''[[[FlowerPotDrop flowerpot falls from nowhere]]]'' Where did that even come from?

--> '''Twilight:''' ''[[[FailedASpotCheck notices the Star Swirl the Bearded Wing is right across the hall]]]'' Huh, how did I miss that?

--> '''Twilight:''' [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Why isn't anypony surprised to see me sneaking around in here?]]

* MindScrew: [[DownplayedTrope Just a little bit]], which is for the best since we have the target demographic's sanity to watch out for. At the end of the episode, Twilight just wanted to warn her past self about not worrying the future, a lesson she would have not learned if her future self didn't make her paranoid. Even worse is how Twilight got the knowledge of where the scrolls are: Future Twilight got it from Past, who got it from Future, who got it from Past, who got it from Future, who got it from Past...

* MundaneUtility

* MyFutureSelfAndMe: At the beginning of the episode and the end from the other prespective.

** Twilight's incessant questions about time travel cause her not to hear what her future self wants to warn her about. On the other hoof, if Twilight hadn't gone back in time in the first place, [[StableTimeLoop none of this would have happened.]]

* [[NobodyHereButUsStatues Nopony Here But Us Statues]]: Twilight, Pinkie and Spike pose as statues in order to hide from the guards, even though they didn't really need to.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Twilight's voice is a bit off in a few scenes, sounding more like Tara Strong's natural voice. Rainbow Dash's is unusually deep in the scene where Twilight is trying not to move.

* ParentalBonus: While a certain [[Franchise/HarryPotter other wizard]] has helped the target demographic know about Cerberus, the mythological concept of Tartarus holding back ancient evils is likely a tad above them.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis:
-->'''Twilight:''' I. DON'T. KNOW.
** Also: "Monitor. ''Everything''."

* RealityEnsues: Twilight forgets a basic fact about herself when she breaks into the Archives: she is the personal protege of Princess Celestia herself, who else outside maybe senior government ministers would have more privileged access than her?

* SchizoTech: That hydroelectric(or [[{{Magitech}} hydroarcanic]]) dam [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E8TheMysteriousMareDoWell is back again]].

* SpiderSense: [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E15FeelingPinkieKeen Take a wild guess.]]

-->'''Present Twilight:''' What a mess she is! Or I am. Or... will be!

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Twilight assumes the Canterlot Archives will be heavily guarded and thus she'll need to sneak in, hence the SpyCatsuit. She seems to have completely forgotten that it isn't out of place for Celestia's personal student to be seen there.
** Additionally, the guard pony, and Celestia, don't bat an eye at seeing a disheveled Twilight in torn catsuit acting like she is in a spy movie. Celestia even compliments her "new" hairstyle.
-->'''Twilight:''' [[LampshadeHanging Why isn't anypony surprised to see me sneaking around in here?]]

* UrineTrouble: Narrowly [[AvertedTrope averted]] when Twilight calls Cerberus away from doing his business on the ice cream store.

* YouCanPanicNow: Pinkie Pie tries to encourage everypony to panic when Cerberus approaches.
** She also ask if anyone wants to panic with her when Twilight is telling everyone about the warning from Future Twilight.

-->'''Future Twilight:''' Actually, I'm from next Tuesday morning.

!!Tropes present in this episode (YMMV tropes can be found [[YMMV/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E20ItsAboutTime here]]):

* AesopAmnesia: In ''just'' the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E19PuttingYourHoofDown previous episode]], Fluttershy learns to stop being so submissive and stand up for herself, make her voice heard. In this episode, she's seen struggling under the weight of dozens of Pinkie Pie's bags while Pinkie Pie has fun with some balloons. We would need to see the scene in which she and Pinkie Pie decide who carries what to decide for sure.
* AnAesop: An interesting two-fer. Twilight learns not to worry so much about what might happen tomorrow-- while Spike (by way of an ice cream stomachache) learns not to just shrug off consequences to the future.

* CompressedVice: Spike seems awfully fixated on ice cream this week. Unlike candy in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed Luna Eclipsed]]", there's no real motivation here. He just does it because the effects will be someone else's problem -- specifically, Future Spike's.
* ContinuityNod:
** Even though most of Ponyville laughs at Twilight when she says she received a message from the future, the rest of the Mane 6 are more than ready to listen to her. Why? Because [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero of what happened the last time they didn't take her concerns seriously]].
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E15FeelingPinkieKeen Once again, Pinkie Pie uses her Pinkie Sense, and once again, it targets Twilight]].
*** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E8TheMysteriousMareDoWell And she uses it to detect a falling flower pot]]. [[LampshadeHanging ...which sort of appears out of nowhere, indoors]].
*** Perhaps Pinkie needed a [[WrongContextMagic soapbox]] when expounding on the capabilities of her Pinkie Sense to Twilight.

* CrazyPrepared
** Pinkie Pie has stashes of balls and eye patches all over Ponyville in case of ball or eye patch emergencies.

*** It also nodes to Solid Snake from the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' games, including a ''sneaking mission'' and [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4 posing as a statue.]] All that's missing is the cardboard box.
*** The Metal Gear explination doubles as a subtle ActorAllusion; one of the many characters voiced by Tara Strong is [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker Peace Walker's]] Paz.

* ShownTheirWork: Those equations on the blackboard from TimeDilation. From astronomy, Twilight's telescope directions are [[AvertedTrope not]] TechnoBabble, and the Horsehead Nebula really exists.

* TalkingToThemself: Quite literally, as Twilight converses briefly with Future!Twilight.

* CallBack:
** The basic plot is that [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero Twilight's going mad over something that happens on a Tuesday (specifically, the next Tuesday).]]
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E13HearthsWarmingEve Star Swirl the Bearded]] is mentioned once again, and the Star Swirl "wing" in the Canterlot Library that was mentioned is basically just an extra-secured room -- which is as big as the entire Ponyville library. A section of the library named after him was alluded to [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed from the start]].

** The guard also doesn't bat an eye at the trio's statue impressions. One might assume that he went "oh, it's [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Pinkie Pie]]" and moved on.

* HighlyVisibleNinja: Twilight, Pinkie and Spike aren't quite as sneaky as they think. {{Downplayed}} for Twilight, as she does spend most of the sneaking out of sight.

** Future Twilight herself to Solid Snake from the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' games, including a ''sneaking mission'' and [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4 posing as a statue.]] All that's missing is the cardboard box. Also, by extension, that [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork other guy named Snake]].

** The guard also doesn't bat an eye at the trio's statue impressions. One might assume that he went "oh, it's [[{Cloudcuckoolander} Pinkie Pie]]" and moved on.

** The guard also doesn't bat an eye at the trio's statue impressions. One might assume that he went "oh, it's [[Cloudcuckoolander Pinkie Pie]]" and moved on.

%% Remember: DON'T ADD SPOILERS FOR FUTURE EPISODES, even under tags. Those go on the later episode pages.

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: [[spoiler:That random aside with Cerberus will have dire consequences two years later.]]

* {{Hammerspace}}: After finishing her checklist for disaster-proofing Ponyville, Twilight puts her scroll away. The hammerspacing comes in because [[http://chzbronies.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/73c1a569-e501-4f6e-806b-f7926315d371.jpg Twilight doesn't have anything else with her]] that would store the scroll.

** Another meta example: Twilight previously calming that time travel is not scientifically possible. Twilight, of course, is a magical talking unicorn.

** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed Pinkie Pie loves being scared]]. "Does anypony else want to panic with me?"

* Another meta example: Twilight previously calming that time travel is not scientifically possible. Twilight, of course, is a magical talking unicorn.

->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Who are you? I mean, you're me, but I'm me too. How can there be two "me"s? It's not scientifically possible. ''You are not scientifically possible!''

* CerebusRetcon[=/=]ChekhovsGun[=/=]SequelHook: Did any ancient evil creature capable of destroying Equestria escape from Tartarus while Cerberus was away? We don't find out until [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 two years later]].

* CerberusRetcon[=/=]ChekhovsGun[=/=]SequelHook: Did any ancient evil creature capable of destroying Equestria escape from Tartarus while Cerberus was away? We don't find out until [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 two years later]].

%%* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: Retroactively as of the Season 4 finale.

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: Retroactively as of the Series 4 finale.

* SealedEvilInACan: The episode reveals that there're a bunch of these things sealed away in Tartarus that are guarded by Cerberus. This is referenced again in a later episode.

* SealedEvilInACan: The episode reveals that there're a bunch of these things sealed away in Tartarus that are guarded by Cerberus. Becomes significant in the Season 4 finale.

* SealedEvilInACan: The episode reveals that there're a bunch of these things sealed away in Tartarus that are guarded by Cerberus.