| Games Ponies Play | |
|---|---|
| |
| Season №: | 3 |
| Season episode №: | 12 |
| Overall episode №: | 64 |
| Original airdate: | February 9, 2013 |
| Written by: | Dave Polsky |
| Storyboard: | Cory Toomey and Justin Nichols[1] |
| Featured characters: | Ms. Peachbottom Ms. Harshwhinny |
| See also | |
| credits • transcript • gallery • allusions animation errors • statistics • speculation | |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Just for Sidekicks |
Next Magical Mystery Cure |
Games Ponies Play is the twelfth episode of the third season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the sixty-fourth episode overall. In this episode, the Mane Six are called on to welcome the Equestria Games inspector to the Crystal Empire so that she will select the city to host the event. The episode title alludes to the 1964 bestselling book Games People Play.
This episode and Just for Sidekicks take place simultaneously; the former focuses on Twilight Sparkle and her friends trying to impress the Equestria Games inspector in the Crystal Empire, while the latter centers on Spike as he takes care of the main cast's pets.
Production and development[]
A new stadium has been built behind the Crystal Empire's central castle tower.
On July 11, 2012, layout supervisor Tim Stuby posted online a sketch of Rainbow Dash, as she appears after returning from her collision with the Crystal Empire spa in this episode, with the text "please make rd look more like a hobo. ty."[2][3] In early January 2013, he stated on Twitter that "312 has a new title".[4]
The premise of this episode was inspired by the fourth BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers episode The Hotel Inspectors.
During the week leading up to the episode's scheduled premiere, story editor Meghan McCarthy wrote on Twitter that the original name for a new character introduced in the episode (which ended up being Ms. Harshwhinny) was Ms. Peachbottom.[5]
On the DVD My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Princess Twilight Sparkle, the episode's voice credits are different, being the same as those of Keep Calm and Flutter On but with John de Lancie credited as John Delancie.
On December 7, 2013, the episode's writer Dave Polsky was asked "Was there a point in drafting or wherever that the ending of Games Ponies Play made sense?" and replied "There was an unfortunate mix up on that episode, that would have been caught were the sched not so tight. That's all I'll say."[6]
Summary[]
Preparing the welcome party[]
After leaving their pets in Spike's care at the Golden Oak Library, the Mane Six board a train headed for the Crystal Empire. Twilight Sparkle reminds the group how Princess Cadance asked them to put on an impressive welcome routine for the Equestria Games inspector so that she will select the Empire to host the event.
Twilight and company in the Crystal Empire.
The girls arrive at the Crystal Empire to find the residents sprucing up the city for the inspector's visit. They meet Princess Cadance in a spa as she waits for a stylist to arrive and produce a ceremonial headdress as part of the welcome preparations. However, a messenger arrives and informs the group both that the stylist is ill and that the inspector, Ms. Harshwhinny, will be arriving in fifteen minutes rather than several hours as they expected. Rarity offers to attempt the headdress while the rest of the Mane Six head to the train station to greet Ms. Harshwhinny, who they are told will have flower print luggage.
En route to the station, Rainbow Dash theorizes that arriving early is part of the inspector's plan to catch the welcome party off guard, and that they should be prepared to "roll with" whatever she does.
The mare with flower print luggage[]
The friends arrive at the station and spot a mare stepping off the train with a floral print bag. Supposing her to be the Games inspector, they introduce themselves and invite her to the castle for a formal welcome, which she excitedly accepts. The group head out together, unaware that another mare carrying a floral print bag is waiting impatiently on the train platform.
Practice makes perfect.
At the castle, Twilight and her friends thoroughly impress the presumed inspector with their welcome routine. When she asks to take a break outside, Rainbow Dash assumes it's a trick and instead gets her to agree to a tour of the building led by Pinkie Pie. Twilight takes the opportunity to check on Cadance at the spa only to learn that Rarity accidentally went awry with the headdress instructions and will need more time to salvage the operation. Meanwhile, the other mare with the flower print luggage is largely ignored as she hauls her bag through town, at one point getting soaked with water when a passing cart runs through a puddle.
Somepony really likes to stretch her legs.
Twilight returns to the castle to find Pinkie giving a haphazard presentation and heads to the stadium to ask Shining Armor if he can can give the tour instead. Taking control in the interim, Rainbow ends up leading the group to the stadium as well when their guest asks to stretch her legs, though upon reaching the open air, the mare breaks out into a headlong sprint that disrupts the trainees running around the track. The ponies eventually manage to calm her down and introduce Shining Armor, but when they hear her express surprise at meeting royalty while on vacation, they realize with horror that they've been presenting to the wrong pony.
Finding the inspector[]
A chance meeting at the spa.
Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie rush to the train station but find no one else with flower print luggage. Fearing that Ms. Harshwhinny and Cadance might run into each other at the spa, the friends head over and try to talk with the princess—now wearing a finished headdress—only to unwittingly draw the attention of the inspector as she receives a "hooficure" feet away.
Ms. Harshwhinny complains to Cadance that she received no welcome, but when the friends admit their error, the inspector reveals that the other pony, Ms. Peachbottom, had just finished giving her a glowing testimonial of the city based on the treatment she received from Twilight and her friends. Citing the enthusiastic and unrehearsed appraisal, Ms. Harshwhinny selects the Crystal Empire as the next host of the Equestria Games, eliciting cheers from the residents when Princess Cadance announces the decision in a ceremony later on.
This looks oddly familiar.
As the Mane Six wait to board the train back to Ponyville, Rainbow Dash reflects on how it feels good to help others gain something you always wanted but never had. The ponies board the train and wonder aloud how Spike and the pets are doing back home, unaware that they are in fact hiding just under the seats.
Quotes[]
- For more quotes, see the episode's transcript.
- Twilight Sparkle: Princess Cadance is counting on us to do our part to convince the Games Inspector to choose the Crystal Empire. And we are not gonna let her down, are we?
- Pinkie Pie: NOOOOOOOOO! What? I was just answering Twilight's question.
- Rainbow Dash: Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're trying to land the Equestria Games here. There is no such thing as a small detail!
- Rainbow Dash: We need to remember that the Games Inspector arriving early is probably part of a plan to psych us out.
- Twilight Sparkle: What do you mean?
- Rainbow Dash: You said it yourself. She's got a rep for trying to catch hosts off-guard, just to see if we can handle the kind of massive pressure that comes with hosting the Equestria Games.
- Fluttershy: Oh, no... We're gonna blow it...
- Rainbow Dash: Not if we always stay one step ahead and don't fall for any of her mind games. Anything she throws at us, we just need to remember she's testing us and roll with it.
- Pinkie Pie: So, you see this here? This, um, this is um, a big, round room. It's known for its roundness, and bigness, and did I mention that it's round?
- Ms. Peachbottom: I think they call it a rotunda? A small, confining, rotunda...
- Pinkie Pie: Whatever. Round is round, am I right?
- Rainbow Dash: We got the wrong pony?!
- Pinkie Pie: NOOOOOOOOOOO! I mean, YEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!
- Rainbow Dash: You know, it feels good to help others get something you always wanted but never had. Almost as good as getting it yourself. Almost.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Twitter / TheBiggestJim: Today's #mlp episode was ... (2013-01-02). Archived from the original on 2014-02-16. Retrieved on 2013 January 12.
- ↑ Twitpic (2012-07-11). Archived.
- ↑ BaloneyBrony: https://twitter.com/BaloneyBrony/status/223185230532579328 (2012-07-11). Retrieved on 2014 July 10.
- ↑ Tim Stuby on Twitter (2013-01-02). Retrieved on 2013 January 12.
- ↑ Twitter / MMeghanMcCarthy: #MLPSeason3 factoid: Original... (2013-02-05). Retrieved on 2013 February 5.
- ↑ Dave Polsky (2013-12-07). DavePolsky: @2013digibro There was an.... Twitter. Retrieved on 2014 July 10.
| Episodes, films, and animated shorts |
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| Make Your Mark | |||
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| Episode 1 Izzy Does It |
Episode 2 Growing Pains |
Episode 3 Portrait of a Princess |
Episode 4 Ali-Conned |
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| Episode 5 The Cutie Mark Mix-Up |
Episode 6 The Traditional Unicorn Sleep-Over |
Episode 7 Hoof Done It? |
Episode 8 Have You Seen This Dragon? |
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| Episode 9 Top Remodel |
Episode 10 The Jinxie Games |
Episode 11 Sunny Side Up |
Episode 12 The Manesquerade Ball |
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| Episode 13 A Little Horse |
Episode 14 Missing the Mark |
Episode 15 Cutie Blossom Bash |
Episode 16 Family Trees Pt. 1 |
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| Episode 17 Family Trees Pt. 2 |
Episode 18 Father of the Bridlewood |
Episode 19 Mane Smelody |
Episode 20 Nightmare on Mane Street |
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| Episode 21 The Isle of Scaly |
Episode 22 Roots of All Evil Pt. 1 |
Episode 23 Roots of All Evil Pt. 2 |
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| Feature films | |||
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| Equestria Girls | Rainbow Rocks | Friendship Games | Legend of Everfree |
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| My Little Pony The Movie | A New Generation | ||
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| Dance Magic | Movie Magic | Mirror Magic | Forgotten Friendship |
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| Rollercoaster of Friendship | Best Gift Ever | Spring Breakdown | Rainbow Roadtrip |
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| Sunset's Backstage Pass | Holidays Unwrapped | Make Your Mark | Winter Wishday |
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| Bridlewoodstock | Secrets of Starlight | ||
| Animated shorts | |||
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| Rainbow Rocks shorts | Friendship Games shorts | Summertime Shorts | Equestria Girls: Better Together (season 1) |
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| Equestria Girls: Better Together (season 2) | Equestria Girls: Choose Your Own Ending (season 1) | Equestria Girls: Choose Your Own Ending (season 2) | Equestria Girls Minis |
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| Baby Flurry Heart's Heartfelt Scrapbook | Rarity's Peek Behind the Boutique | Fundamentals of Magic | My Little Pony Established 1983 |
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| Friendship is Magic shorts | Hello Pinkie Pie | Stop Motion Shorts | Tell Your Tale (season 1) |
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| Tell Your Tale (season 2) | |||