art by RockingScorpion

Warning: super video heavy blog!

I'll admit, I've gotten wrapped up in a number of other projects and fun activities with friends, and so I haven't watched all the new episodes since My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic came off of hiatus. But there is one episode -- one amazing, heartwarming, EPIC episode -- that I have seen again and again.

And the music was awesome!

I could listen to that music all day. The episode was perfect -- the kind of episode that evokes liquid pride and leaves you feeling happy for hours. The incredible development, and the turn it means for the show, make me eager to see what comes next.

"Every blank flank needs our help!"

art by NCMares

Back in May, I wrote a blog giving my thoughts on the first six episodes of this season. If you would like, once I have watched the other new episodes, I can give my thoughts on the post-hiatus batch. But there is no way I could hold back expressing how much I loved "Crusaders of the Lost Mark"!

One of the best, if not the best, episode in the whole show. I simply cannot gush enough over how beautiful this episode was. And if you've seen it, you don't need me to tell you why. And, considering the episode came out weeks ago, I doubt there is anything I could add that you haven't already heard.

After watching the episode for the first time, I yearned for more of it. So while working on other projects, I found myself watching reaction videos for the episode (starting with the one below by Strategic Jordan, whose YouTube channel first came to my attention when he started a highly-enjoyable "blind reaction" Let's Read series on Fallout: Equestria).

He warns when he posted this blind reaction video "I feel you all should know I freak the FUCK OUT!" We all did, Jordan. Even if only internally.

You simply cannot overstate the importance in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic of learning and embracing that which makes you special, whether it be your talent or your virtue. That better part of you that allows you to rise above and be the better person. It is the very core of this show, and it is what drew me to it from the start. It was the foundation of my magnum opus, and serves as a reminder to myself in daily life: we can be better. Seeing that the true talents of the Cutie Mark Crusades is helping others, and that their epiphany came when they abandoned their self-focus to focus on aiding those around them, drove home and reaffirmed these themes in the most gorgeous way. This episode was an anthem for the series.

"I see the light that shines in me. I know that I can be my better self."

~Diamond Tiara

art by Sirzi

In tangential news, Bethesda Softworks just released the final video in their S.P.E.C.I.A.L. series: Luck! So now, as promised previously, here are all seven videos in order. Enjoy revisiting what makes you S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

Strength

Perception

Endurance

Charisma

Intelligence

Agility