MLP:FIM The Cart Before the Ponies

It is good to have another Cutie Mark Crusaders episode to write about, there has been to few of them lately. This episode was written by Ed Valentine and Michael Vogal. Ed Valentine started writing for the show last season with another Cutie Mark Crusaders episode. Michael Vogal started writing for the show this season, but has work on the development and production crew since the second season.

This episode is a lot of fun. The humor is fantastic (especially a brief appearance of young Derpy), the animation is great (director Jim Miller stated on twitter that it was very hard to animate the soap box derby carts), the story is nice, the lesson is quite good (and new for this show), and the characters are just as likable as ever. The designs of the carts are excellent and a joy to look at (further proof Scootaloo =Chicken).

Even when they aren't always seeing eye to eye, the relationship between Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo is very heartwarming. I love how the other ponies accept Rainbow Dash as practically Scootaloo's older sister. I now look forward to just seeing these two together.

-Michael J. Ruhland