MLP:FIM School Daze Parts 1 & 2

Season 8 of My Little Pony begins with this two part episode about the ponies opening a school for friendship. This excellent start to the season was written by Michael Vogel and Nicole Dubuc. These are Michael Vogel's 10th and 11th episodes. He also wrote the recent feature film, My Little Pony: The Movie (the good one not the one from the 80's). Nicole Dubuc co-wrote the two part season finale for last season. Part one was storyboarded by Aynsley King (who has been boarding for the show since season 4) and Karine Charlebois (who started boarding for the show in season 6). Part two was boarded by Kaylea Chard (who has been boarding for the show since season 3) and Nicole ‘Lil’ Wang. This is an excellent episode. Like many of the best episodes of this show what makes it so good is that the characters feel so real and believable. The Mane Six, Starlight and Spike are as likable as ever. It is also again great to see Twilight in full nerd form which is always delightful. As well as this though the students are very well fleshed out. Each one feels like a real character and is completely believable. This is honestly quite an accomplishment for an hour, and something many two-hour feature films fail to do. The story is also very charming and works perfectly with the length. It never feels stretched out or rushed. -Michael J. Ruhland