Season 6 Episode 22: P.P.O.V. (Pony Point Of View)
We start this episode with Twilight heading to the train station. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity are expected back from an excursion to Seaward Shoals, where they were apparently trying to try something new, ad "get out of their element". Twilight worries that the trio will have had so much fun that they'll be talking over one another while recanting their tales, though is surprised to find that all three ponies clearly hated the trip, and only provide grunts. Roll opening credits!
Unable to get a recount from her friends at the train station, Twilight plans a tea party for them to talk it over during. To her disappointment, none of the ponies show up, opting to send Gummy, Winona, and Opalescence in their places. Each animal is affixed with a note, informing Twilight that the owner politely declined Twilight's invitation on the grounds that the other two ponies would also be showing up. Because Twilight's friends wouldn't come to her, Twilight decides to go and visit her friends individually instead.
Starting with Rarity, Twilight tries to extract a reason as to why none of the ponies are talking to each other. According to Rarity, it's all down to the disastrous trip that they shared. Recanting her point of view (with reference to the title) in a flashback, Rarity claims that Applejack and Pinkie wanted to get out of their elements, so she planned a cruise for the trio. Bringing only a few essentials, Rarity boards the boat with a 'normal' Pinkie Pie, and a salty sea-dog Applejack. Rarity reveals that she has brought some hors d'oeuvres for the trip, and Pinkie exclaims that she brought snacks as well. Applejack aggressively tosses both sets of snacks overboard, talking like a pirate. Twilight interjects that Rarity's recollection doesn't sound like the sort of thing Applejack would do, to which Rarity exclaimed that Pinkie was even more out of character than Applejack.
Pinkie is shown to have brought a piñata, which Rarity agrees to whack, shortly before Applejack declares her intent to drive directly into a maelstrom. Rarity suggests calmer waters, but according to Applejack, the maelstrom is the only path to Plunder Cove. Rarity asks to see the map, and Applejack cries mutiny. The two fight for control of the map, and Pinkie joins in, wearing the captain's hat, and talking of wanting to be the captain too. Rarity interprets this as Pinkie having contracted Applejack's 'sea madness'. While fighting, Applejack loses control of the ship, and they take on a fair bit of water. Applejack takes this as a challenge from the maelstrom, steering towards a tidal wave to attack it head on, capsizing the boat in the process. Twilight states that Rarity might be exaggerating the story, to which Rarity defends her recollection, stating that she's sure that Pinkie would give the same recount of the event.
Cut to Pinkie Pie, who immediately disagrees with Rarity's version of events, starting by saying that there's no way that Applejack could have capsized the boat. Twilight is relieved to hear this, shortly before Pinkie interjecting that it was impossible for Applejack to have capsized the boat, as it was *Rarity* who capsized the boat. In another Flashback, Pinkie tells of how Applejack and Rarity both wanted to get out of their element, so she decided to throw them a fun party on the seas. Without mention, Applejack is much more 'normal' in Pinkie's story, and Rarity is wearing a much more opulent dress. What is highlighted though, is that Rarity has brought far more baggage than in Rarity's version of events; she's even hired numerous porters to carry her bags onto the boat for her.
Pinkie talks about how she packed some fun snacks for the trip. Rarity complains that Pinkie's treats are "unfit" for such a voyage, and instead showcasing her cucumber sandwiches. Pinkie tries the sandwiches, likes them, and even Applejack expresses interest in Rarity's hors d'oeuvres. Out of nowhere, Rarity throws the remainder of her sandwiches overboard, claiming that cucumber sandwiches "are *so* ten seconds ago". Twilight interrupts Pinkie, stating that throwing her own sandwiches overboard doesn't sound like something Rarity would do. Pinkie goes on to say that she wanted to try some fun party games, but Rarity was being a real "wet blanket", refusing to take part in her piñata game. Applejack is seen willing to give it a go. Applejack and Pinkie play around, culminating in a tug-of-war over the map. Pinkie sees the oncoming wave, and states that maybe they should stop playing and get one of them to steer the boat. Rarity tells her not to worry, as "luxury cruises never sink". As such, Pinkie complains that the ship crashing was entirely Rarity's fault. Twilight claims that the story seems extraordinary, to which Pinkie claims that Applejack will back up her story if Twilight doesn't believe her.
Unsurprisingly, Applejack has a different count of events. According to her, she had purchased a treasure map in order to give Pinkie and Rarity a treasure hunting adventure. In Applejack's flashback, Rarity is wearing an even more extravagant outfit than she was in Pinkie's story, and Pinkie has a much more vacant expression on her face than usual. Applejack talks of how Pinkie and Rarity started trading food amicably, before Applejack slipped on a volleyball herself, and crashed into the trays of food, knocking them overboard. Both Pinkie and Rarity consider this a deliberate act of malice, and take offence towards Applejack. Twilight again says that this behaviour doesn't sound like their friends.
Applejack goes on to talk about the piñata-whacking, which Rarity doesn't seem interested in. Pinkie blindfolds Applejack while she is attempting to steer the ship, gives her a stick, and spins her round, in the hopes that she'll partake in the piñata-whacking. As soon as Applejack recovers and retakes her position at the helm, she realises that they've gone way off course, so consults the map. Rarity proceeds to steal the map, claiming that it would be a perfect tablecloth for her cheese-board. Applejack moves to reclaim the map, and the trio fight over it, just as a giant wave comes in, which Applejack tries to steer away from in vain.
Realising the dramatically different recollections from her friends, Twilight attempts to find out the truth. After some scrawled chalkboard drawings back at her castle, she thinks she's come to the realisation of what *really* happened. Twilight summons the trio of her friends to solve a 'friendship problem', though they're angered to realise that the other ponies have been summoned as well. While they can't agree on how the boat capsized, Twilight notes that all three stories had three things in common; cucumber sandwiches, bubbling water, and a swell. Ugh, no Twilight. The stories all mentioned cucumber sandwiches, but *none* of the stories mentioned either bubbling water or a swell.
As Twilight reveals, cucumber sandwiches just so happen to be the favourite food of the tri-horned bunyip, and they produce bubbles followed by a swell when they swim up to the shallows from deep water. Essentially, the tidal wave was caused by the trio attracting said bunyip. This is (apparently) reinforced by the bunyip showing up as Twilight demonstrates her theory by tossing some cucumber sandwiches overboard. Twilight goes on to say that the bunyip is very sorry for accidentally knocking over their boat. What? Why didn't the bunyip cause a tidal wave when summoned by *Twilight* then, if the tidal wave was accidental, and caused by the bunyip's rapid surfacing?
The trio agree that it must have been the bunyip who caused the tidal wave, but state that it doesn't excuse the behaviour of the other ponies. Twilight explains that each of them were so focused on fulfilling their desired adventure plans that they didn't notice that their friends were trying to do the same. Applejack realises that Pinkie brought the games to give them a fun time, Rarity mentions that she wanted to provide an elegant cruise, and Applejack talks of how she wanted to give them a high-seas adventure. The trio come to the sudden realisation that everything the others were doing was to try and give them a good time, so they immediately forgive one another. According to Twilight, this makes the moral of the story that "even long-time friends need to work at communication". Really? Not that 'there is no reality; only perception'? Either way, they all apologise, laugh, and agree to never fight again. The episode ends with the bunyip joining Pinkie in some piñata-whacking, as Applejack hauls up some treasure, and Rarity serves ice-cream. Roll credits!
This was a very unusual episode. I *loved* the concept of having each pony provide a different point of view of the same story. Each story added emphasis to aspects that each story-teller thought was important, while glossing over points that weren't interesting to the story-teller - a true sign of great writing. It was also nice to see each story emphasise perceived negative attributes of the other ponies, as each of the story-tellers was mad at the others while telling their respective story. Each story also saw the trio wearing different clothing - a subtle yet critical plot device in highlighting the fallibility of the recanted stories. Despite the amazing writing for the flashbacks themselves, the logic behind the capsizing and subsequent apology was outright infantile. In fact, it was so contrasting that the two segments were almost antithetical.
One thing that particularly stood out was the language; this episode used the words (in order) 'treacherous', 'perilous', 'delectable', 'maelstrom', 'opulence', 'decadence', 'extravagance', 'hornswoggled', 'hors d'oeuvre', 'bunyip', and 'luxurious'! You tell me that the intended target audience is expected to understand all of those words! Considering how eloquent the writing was, I was expecting the moral of 'there is no reality; only perception' to be conveyed, though that may admittedly have been a little 'deep' for a TV-Y show. Instead, I'm presented with a *very* flimsy explanation for the tidal wave, and an agreeance that each of the trio were simply trying to help each other. I'd easily give the retrospective story-telling portion of this episode an 8, though with the episode wrapping up so poorly, I can sadly only give this episode a 6.
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