History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E13MagicalMysteryCure

[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic *cue...]][[TriumphantReprise even HAPPIER credits music than before!!!*]]

* AmbiguousSituation: It's never made clear whether the other citizens of Ponyville had their memories altered by Starswirl's incomplete spell. If they ''did'', then it's strange that Spike retained memories of the Mane Six's original cutie marks and jobs, as there doesn't appear to be anything special about him aside from his species. If they ''did not'', then their behavior is perhaps the most egregious case of ApatheticCitizens and UnusuallyUninterestingSight they have ever experienced, and that's saying quite a bit.

* FakeMemories: The destiny switch results in the ponies with switched destinies getting false memories to go with them that dissuade them from questioning why they are so bad at their 'destiny'. The problem is they didn't receive the skills to go along with the memories. Exactly how extensive their memory alterations were is not explored.

[[caption-width-right:350:Something's [[JustForPun off the mark]].]]

* SuperOCD: Taken to the extreme with Rarity molding the weather into aesthetically pleasing patterns.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Uttered by Twilight to Spike while despairing over the heartache her mistake has caused Ponyville.

* MythologyGag: In the G3 series, Rainbow Dash was the fashionista.[[note]] G3 Rarity was a baby unicorn, so she has no real counterpart in Friendship is Magic.[[/note]] In this episode, Rarity has Rainbow Dash's cutie mark and destiny, almost literally making her "the new Rainbow Dash".

* OffModel:
** When Rainbow Dash is putting Gummy in a cage, it is briefly apparent that she has her normal cutie mark.
** Cadance, who first appears with her [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E12GamesPoniesPlay Royal Ceremonial Headdress]], suddenly changes back to her normal mane in her scene alongside Shining Armor.
** Several times throughout the coronation, the top of Twilight’s mane keeps changing back and forth between the rounded, fancy style and its regular, everyday angular style.

* CapturedByCannibals: Many of the [[DiscreditedTrope old clichés]] associated with this trope are [[ParodiedTrope parodied]] when the situation at Fluttershy's cottage reaches the [[JustForPun boiling point]]. Good thing Twilight and Fluttershy arrived when they did....

* AscendedToCarnivorism: When Fluttershy's pets have tied up Rainbow Dash and are planning to cook and eat her, several herbivorous animals are dancing around the cauldron waving forks and spoons, including mice, squirrels, rabbits, and chickens. Justified, as in real life, chickens, squirrels, and mice are omnivorous in real life.

* AscendedToCarnivorism: When Fluttershy's pets have tied up Rainbow Dash and are planning to cook and eat her, several herbivorous animals are dancing around the cauldron waving forks and spoons, including mice, squirrels, rabbits, and chickens.

** One to last season's finale; near the end of that episode, Rainbow happily proclaimed "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Best! Wedding! Ever!]]". Near the end of this one, Pinkie says Best! Coronation Day! Ever! in the same tone.

** [[FanNickname Davenport]] [[invoked]], the owner of "[[SeverelySpecializedStore Quills and Sofas]]" in "Owl's Well That Ends Well", appears in the opening number. His store oddity is even referenced in the lyrics: "here's the sofa clerk selling some quills."

* PaletteSwap: The four identical [[invoked]] "[[FanNickname banner mares]]" at the coronation are palette swaps of Fluttershy with different tails. (We don't know if they have wings.)

** After Pinkie has been restored, her first words are, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E18AFriendInDeed "Come on, ponies! I wanna see you smile!"]]

** One to last season's finale; near the end of that episode, Rainbow happily proclaimed [[PunctuatedForEmphasis "Best! Wedding! Ever!"]]. Near the end of this one, Pinkie says Best! Coronation Day! Ever! in the same tone.

* EpicFail: The swapped Manes are attempting to do difficult jobs at a high level of complexity with no talent or experience for the work. It starts out funny. The key word being [[BreakTheCutie "starts"]]. Rainbow Dash's try at managing the animals that Fluttershy usually cares for stands out, though: the pegasus ends up ''tied up in a pot'' with the critters dancing around it waving forks and spoons, cannibal-style.

** Back in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E1TheCrystalEmpirePart1 "The Crystal Empire - Part 1"]], when Celestia gives Twilight her final instructions regarding her "test", Celestia and Luna are shown with their cutie marks looming behind them, as is Twilight in her reaction shot. It's a rather significant ArtShift hinting at Twilight's destiny in this episode.

* ForgotAboutHisPowers: Unless it's a residual effect of Twilight's spell or Rarity's persistence (which is not without basis in canon), it seems odd that all the other pegasi wouldn't try to fix Rarity's messed-up weather. Rainbow Dash may do the day-to-day work normally, but they're all perfectly capable. The same can be said about the Apples not helping Pinkie Pie on the farm, which is doubly weird because they ''do'' help out once Applejack decides to pitch in. This led both [[http://icekatze.tumblr.com/image/43908268386 depressing]] and [[http://derpiboo.ru/249543?scope=scpe5f0551ed99b7d7e831d117b1ea2d0fc846f166ab hilarious]] fan [[FanFic/DividedRainbow speculation.]]

* SwappedRoles: A spell Twilight casts switches her friends' cutie marks and destinies -- Rarity gets Rainbow Dash's cutie mark and has to control the weather[[note]]even though Rainbow Dash got it for speed, not weather control[[/note]], Rainbow gets Fluttershy's and has to care for animals, Fluttershy gets Pinkie Pie's and has to make others laugh, Pinkie gets Applejack's and has to do farmwork, and Applejack gets Rarity's and has to make dresses[[note]]even though Rarity got it for her affinity with gemstones, not her fashion sense[[/note]].

** See StealthPun below.

** "Morning in Ponyville" is reminiscent of "Good Morning Baltimore" from ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'', "Belle" from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" from ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}''

** The ending, in which the view of Canterlot zooms out with Alicorn Twilight flying at the camera is highly reminiscent of the ending scene from ''Film/TheMatrix''. In the same vein, tones of The Architect's scene from ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' are present when Celestia is showing Twilight her past accomplishments.
** Star Swirl the Bearded's unfinished spell is an indirect reference to ''UsefulNotes/FermatsLastTheorem''. Both Star Swirl and Fermat left behind a piece of work that was not completed until long after their deaths.
** The scene between Celestia and Twilight on the astral plane reminds one of [[Manga/CardcaptorSakura Sakura's scene with the spirit of Clow Reed upon fulfilling her own destiny]].
** Twilight's ascension uses the same sequence as becoming an archmage in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'''s "Imperial Mysteries" supplement, which was published in January 2012 (ten months before the third season of Friendship is Magic began to air): An unusual spell that surpasses Twilight's current understanding is cast that uses unusual, unique ingredients which other spells do not require; the spell changes the entire world as a side-effect; when understanding is achieved, Twilight disappears from the physical plane in a flash of her cutie mark / her nimbus (in Mage's terms); and she then travels through a gallery of her own achievements / her Golden Road before returning, now in an ascended state.

* EpicFail: The swapped Manes are attempting to do difficult jobs at a high level of complexity with no talent or experience for the work. It starts out funny. The key word being [[BreakTheCutie "starts"]]. Rainbow Dash's try at managing the animals that Fluttershy usually cares for stands out, though: the pegasus ends up ''tied up in a pot'' with the critters dancing around it, cannibal-style.

* AngryFistShake: One pony does this to Caramel; said pony is his "very special somepony" from [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E17HeartsAndHoovesDay Hearts and Hooves Day]].

* BadassInDistress: Rainbow Dash is tied up by her animals, who are planning to cook and eat her.

* NeglectedGarden: The Mane Six's cutie marks have been switched around, with Pinkie Pie getting Applejack's cutie mark and being put in charge of the Apple family farm. Unfortunately, she's terrible at farming, causing the farm to fall into disrepair. She's seen looking despairingly at an empty, bare-branched apple tree as its last leaf blows away, while in the background there are dozens of similarly empty trees.

%%* InAnotherMansShoes

* AmbiguousSituation: It's never made clear whether the other citizens of Ponyville had their memories altered by Starswirl's incomplete spell. If they ''did'', then it's strange that Spike retained memories of the Mane Six's original cutie marks and jobs, as there doesn't appear to be anything special about him aside from his species. (Twilight herself is assumed to be immune as the caster of the spell.) If they ''did not'', then their behavior is an especially egregious case of ApatheticCitizens along with UnusuallyUninterestingSight -- though, as several other episodes show, both tropes are often on full display in Ponyville.

* AnAesop: Your destiny isn't suited in stone; you are what you choose to be.

* RuleOfCool: It doesn’t make sense that Twilight could be able to use a body part she just got flawlessly; Equestria Girls and the season four premiere point this out. The main reason why Twilight soars through the sky after her coronation is because it’s a neat way to end the episode.

* {{Adorkable}}:
** The little "Oooooooooh!" Twilight makes when she fangirls over Star Swirl the Bearded.
** Fluttershy twiddling her hooves when she says "But I don't really know anything about animals..."
** "Is there a book on being a princess I should read!?" Oh Twilight, never change.

** "Morning in Ponyville" is reminiscent of "Good Morning Baltimore" from ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'', "Belle" from ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'', and "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" from ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}''

* IdiotBall: Twilight, of all ponies, grabs ahold of it for about 10 seconds when she casts a spell that she knows nothing about except that it is incomplete. This lapse in judgement sets the whole plot in motion.