Funny / Spectrum

The rebooted Spectrum is considerably Lighter and Softer than the original story, and embraces this wholeheartedly.

Main Story

• Chapter One - "The Human"
  • Rainbow Dash flies into Golden Oaks Library (and covering Twilight and Spike in parchment and sugar), utterly panicked. Why? Because her advance copy of the newest Daring Do book didn't come in on time!
    • Not so much "funny" as "wryly ironic" is the Reality Subtext of her conversation with Twilight about how editing and writing can be tough, to the point of sometimes requiring full rewrites.
    • After a Beat, she asks why Twilight and Spike are covered in sugar.

• Chapter Two - "Friends on the Other Side"
  • Pinkie Pie's charade to Mayor Mare, filled with various Noodle Implements such as a bear, honey, and a crescent moon.

• Chapter Three - "They Are Us"
  • Twilight gets annoyed at Lyra for teleporting without a licence.
  • When Twilight and her friends are discussing the possible meanings behind Alex's camouflage uniform, which is unfamiliar to them, the following exchange occurs;
    Twilight: "There’s a 'tactical espionage chic'? Seriously?"
    Rarity: "Oh, you'd be surprised. Raggedy chic, distressed denims, anything ever a little subversive of mainline fashion. It's all rather endearing, actually… Not that I'd ever be caught dead going punk, mind you!"

• Chapter Four - "Nightfall Over Boston"
  • It's something of a Mood Whiplash, but there is humour in the PHL High Command transitioning from discussing their troubles in the war to the trouble Doctor Whooves is going to be in when his wife founds it he isn't resting properly.

• Chapter Five - "Understanding Dawns"
  • Prince Blueblood's I-don't-give-a-damn attitude is entirely Played for Laughs. As is his and Cadance's discomfort when Cadance realises she walked in on a rose-tinted dream of his past romance with Captain Celaeno.
  • Why is Cadance the one to handle Blueblood? Because Luna can't stand him, and so drops her off to deal with him instead.

• Chapter Six - "The Trinity Harmonious"
  • Redheart, in a Villains Out Shopping moment, takes some time in teasing Icewind and Winter.

• Chapter Nine - "The Heart Goes Last"
  • When you really think about it, Redheart is ultimately defeated in part because Rainbow Dash forgot her book in Ponyville.

• Chapter Twelve - "To Seize the Day"
  • Princess Luna tries to upstage her Long-Lost Relative Galatea, asking her what fun means. To her chagrin, Galatea does know what the word fun means, and proceeds to turn it right around to point out that she, unlike Luna, has been keeping up with events, culminating in her asking if that satisfied Luna's query with utmost sincerity, thinking she doesn't know what fun means. All without ever intending to make fun of her.
  • Queen Chrysalis, after discovering that Garble isn't vaccinated, takes matters into her own hooves and forces him into a cage like a dog. With a rolled up newspaper. Not that it was necessary at all to whack him with it, but Rule of Funny is Chrysalis' schtick.

• Chapter Thirteen - "Concordia Maxima"
  • In an otherwise dramatic chapter, the Mood Whiplash that is Luna coming across Pharynx destroying her lavender pots.
    Luna: [putting on her best fake smile] "Soldier, may I ask what you're doing?"
    Pharynx: "Inspecting these bushes. These are a safety hazard."
    • Luna's fake smile is apparently The Un-Smile, as Darkhoof notices.
    • As a comment notes, Luna proceeds to disregard Pharynx's advice after saying she would address his concerns.
  • Way before this, though the scene turns to drama soon enough, Luna has a bit of an Angrish mood swing that amounts to a little sister complaining about their estranged big sister, who left when they were children and now awkwardly tries to insert herself into their lives in adulthood.
  • Luna's room has a telescope and an abacus. Celestia's meanwhile, has (in Luna's words) excessively large pillows, and she wonders just how she managed to bring them from Canterlot.

• Chapter Sixteen - "An Angel's Wings"
  • Galatea is referred to as the G-Mare by Cadance.

• Chapter Nineteen - "When the Dust Settles"
  • Luna, having fobbed off the responsibilities of dealing with UNAC to Cadance, teleports her and Maxine to Jarden, Texas. Maxine isn't exactly happy about this, and storms off.
    Luna: "Where are you going?"
    Maxine: "Somewhere that isn't with you."
  • After having calmed Maxine down, Luna assumes a Paper-Thin Disguise; her own younger self. Calling herself Claire de Lune, she lovingly indulges in her disguise, and acts much like a teenage girl would - with the added bonus of breaking into song once every so often. Again, Maxine isn't happy about this at all.
    Luna: "Sibling rivalry perhaps? I can relate. I was just the second born sister, who most of the town ignores! Like a button, like a horseshoe, like a mare who’s bad at metaphors!"
    Maxine: "Stop, I don’t wanna talk about it, least of all to someone who breaks into song every few seconds."
  • Finally, meeting Dan Radwick, Luna still keeps up with her disguise. Dan, experienced in marketing, sees right through it.

• Chapter Twenty - "Accept the Dawn"
  • Cadance finally reunites with Luna, and initially is none too happy, having just spent the previous day flying from location to location and dealing with multiple major factions. She chews out Luna briefly for leaving her worried sick, when the last they saw each other the latter was coughing out blood. She pauses when she notices what Luna is wearing.
    Cadance: "Okay, and that’s not even getting into… this! Why’re you’re all dressed up like you’re on a vacation to Las Pegasus? You don’t even like poker."

• Chapter Twenty-One - "Nostalgia"
  • Mostly played for drama, but right after assuring Alex that she's got the aftermath of the incident between Ember and Pharynx handled, Lady Cadenza immediately punches Chrysalis in the face after she gets insulted one times too many.

• Chapter Twenty-Four - "Unveiled"
  • A melancholic Prince Blueblood, wandering the Hall of Unity's pagoda gardens, stumbles upon Ana Bjorgman lying at rest by one of the fountains. What comes of this is a sincere, heartfelt conversation where the Prince opens up to a complete stranger about his secret worries and listens to hers... completely unaware that Ana is in fact sunbathing naked, owing to Equestria's lack of a taboo.
    • Ana starts off appropriately embarrassed by this, trying fruitlessly to cover herself in front of an oblivious Blueblood. Arguably the best moment is when Blueblood, on instinct, glances to see if Ana has a cutie mark, which effectively means he checked out her butt.
    • However, Ana grows increasingly comfortable around Blueblood as the chat progresses, until it seems she herself has quite forgotten how unusual the whole thing is... and then, in attempting to be gentlemanly, Blueblood offers to carry her strewn clothing... by compressing it into his null-space, complete with Audible Gleam. Worse, the Prince has invited her to attend a gathering. Poor Ana can only save face by asking him if she may borrow his longcoat.
    • Eventually Ana attends the gathering hosted by Lyra, still wearing Blueblood's longcoat. Because of the lack of taboo, absolutely no one outside of the PHL-affiliated Dame Moondancer and Lady Cadenza realize that anything is amiss with Ana. Naturally, Cadenza assumes that Ana is wearing Her Boyfriend's Jacket and finally tells Lyra about the Elephant in the Room. Who then wastes no time in teasing Cadenza about her supposedly perverted thoughts.