Season 6 Episode 18: Buckball Season
We start this episode with Applejack bucking apples from a notable distance. Rainbow Dash approaches, asking Applejack what she is doing, to which Applejack reveals that she's practicing 'distance bucking' for a new upcoming Buckball tournament. She demonstrates her skill by launching an apple right through a thick, wooden archery target. What are her apples *made* of!? Apparently Braeburn claims that Appleoosa could easily beat Ponyville at the game, so Applejack has been practicing hard to prove him wrong. Rainbow Dash takes offense at the accusation that Ponyville could be beaten by Appleoosa, immediately offering to help Applejack out by competing for Ponyville herself. I can't decide whether this is a deliberate plot point to showcase Rainbow's loyalty, or the writer's simply forgetting that Rainbow Dash is actually from Cloudsdale. Either way, roll opening credits!
Cut back to Rainbow promoting the game to Pinkie and Fluttershy. It's revealed that you need three members on a team - an earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn. Applejack and Rainbow already make up two-thirds of a team, though they need a unicorn teammate. Apparently, that's where Pinkie and Fluttershy come in. Pinkie questions whether Rainbow actually realises that neither Pinkie nor Fluttershy is a unicorn, before it's revealed that Rainbow simply wants the pair to help Applejack and her practice by forming an opposing team to practice against.
It's at this point that for contrived plot convenience, I honestly thought this episode was going to take the expected path of getting both Twilight and Rarity on board, and then having the teams argue over Twilight's unfair advantage due to her being an alicorn rather than a unicorn. I suppose that might have been considered a bit 'racist'. Instead of asking Rarity or Twilight, the teams decide to hold open casting auditions. They'll round up a few unicorns that want to try out, and whichever one performs the best will join Ponyville's team.
A handful of unicorns assemble to try out, and Applejack gives them (and tacitly the viewer) a quick explanation of the rules of the game. Essentially, it's a watered-down version of soccer -- you have to kick a ball into a goal, while the opposing team tries to stop you from doing so. You have an earth pony on offense, a pegasus on defence, and a unicorn helping to catch wayward shots by moving the basket. Considering Applejack and Rainbow Dash already have experience with the game, they each partner with one of the ponies who hasn't played before; Applejack teams up with Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash teams up with Pinkie.
The two teams plays for a while, allowing Fluttershy and Pinkie to get familiar with the game, and trying to weed out the best unicorn to represent Ponyville in the process. Despite not trying very hard, and instead having fun with the game, both Pinkie and Fluttershy how phenomenal skill - Fluttershy even seems to deny the laws of physics with her tail! In fact, Fluttershy and Pinkie even prove to be far better at the game than Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Unfortunately, the unicorns don't perform as well; literally *every* unicorn trying out for the position is absolutely terrible, and there's a long, drawn-out scene in which each one messes up individually.
Both teams have both a skilled earth pony and pegasus, but neither team possesses an even halfway-decent unicorn. Now that all other options were exhausted, it *really* felt like Applejack and Rainbow Dash were going to approach their unicorn friends. Nope. They spot Snails walking by, and throw a few balls his way. He catches them expertly, so the players unanimously agree that he should be on the team. *Snails* of all ponies shows the most promise? Now *that's* unexpected! Although Rainbow's not normally known for her humility, she concedes that Fluttershy and Pinkie played better than Applejack and herself, and states that they should be the ones to represent Ponyville in the competition.
Although conceding to Pinkie's and Fluttershy's inherent ability, Applejack and Rainbow Dash still both have a ridiculously competitive nature, and decide to help Pinkie and Fluttershy get even better by putting them through a strict training regiment -- emphasis on the 'strict'! Applejack trains Pinkie at target practice, as Rainbow Dash instructs Fluttershy through an obstacle course. Both instructors get a little carried away with the training, and apply so much pressure to the trainees that the trainees start to make amateur mistakes that they wouldn't normally. Snails practices by himself during the training, with no pressure, and manages to perform expertly yet again.
Cut to Fluttershy and Pinkie walking towards to the train station to board the train to Appleoosa for the tournament, and Fluttershy discusses how she doesn't want to let the Ponyville down with a poor performance. Pinkie mentions that Fluttershy doesn't need to worry, as nopony in town even cares about Buckball. They're greeted at the train station by dozens of rabid fans, including Lyra and Bon Bon, much to their shock. They board the train to Appleoosa for the Buckball tournament, and both Pinkie and Fluttershy are started to have serious concerns that they won't be able to perform under the pressure of the competition. Applejack and Rainbow Dash add to this trepidation rather than alleviate it by telling them how important it is that they win. Completely freaked out by this, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy run off to hide. It's at this point that Applejack and Rainbow Dash realise they may have pushed them too hard, and attempt to hunt them down to apologise.
While searching for the pair, Applejack mentions that maybe Rainbow Dash and her pressuring the pair didn't help their confidence, to which Rainbow vehemently denies this by stating that having ponies depend on you is *exactly* what you need to focus. Applejack agrees, though Rainbow suddenly realises that the 'competitive spirit' doesn't sound like Fluttershy or Pinkie at all. Applejack realises that maybe she and Rainbow got wrapped up in what was important to the two of them, ruining what was fun about the game to Fluttershy and Pinkie.
After eventually finding the pair covering behind some luggage in the caboose, Applejack and Rainbow Dash alleviate the pressure by telling Fluttershy and Pinkie that they don't have to worry, as they'll take their place in the tournament. They do however convince Fluttershy and Pinkie to play one more practice round, so that the Applejack and Rainbow Dash themselves can get some more practice. At this point, the group actually *leaves* the train bound for the tournament in order to play a match out in the open. During the practice round Applejack and Rainbow Dash change their tact, encouraging Fluttershy and Pinkie, rather than pressuring them. This causes them to regain their confidence, and subsequently their ability. Fluttershy and Pinkie agree to retake their positions on the Ponyville team, and just in time -- that train they left must have gained a tonne of ground on them!
Cut to the match itself, and Ponyville is losing to Appleoosa. Fluttershy and Pinkie score a quick point, and almost immediately the time is up, causing the game to go into sudden death. There's a quick break, in which the pair worry about the ability of the opponents. Applejack exclaims that it doesn't matter if they win or not, so long as Fluttershy and pinkie have fun while playing. The whistle blows, and Pinkie starts playing much more 'playfully', making unusual moves. Fluttershy proceeds to join her, and the pair come up with an unexpected yet powerful combo move that secures the victory for Ponyville. Braeburn admits default, stating that Ponyville played a good game. He claims that he'll have to get really "serious" about coming up with a strategy for a rematch. Fluttershy and Pinkie exclaim that he should get *too* serious, as the secret to success is to simply have fun. Both teams share a laugh, and the credits roll.
Overall, this was a pretty enjoyable episode. The concept of Buckball is fairly unique, and makes sense, playing off to each of the character treats of the three races. In fact, considering there was so much focus on the Earth/Unicorn/Pegasus relationship, it's surprising that neither of the mane six unicorns featured in this episode at all. Snips was a poor character choice for a replacement, though was nowhere near as annoying in this episode as he has been previously. The moral of utilising different types of encouragement is something I can certainly relate to, and fear of failure is an issue that everyone faces at some point. There wasn't any new music (which was a bit of a shame), and there was the gaping plot hole of the group leaving the train, but otherwise this was a fairly sound episode that was executed well.
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