YMMV / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S8 E21 "A Rockhoof and a Hard Place"

• Accidental Aesop:
  • Give rookies a chance to get better when they make mistakes instead of pressuring them to resign or quit. No employee is perfect on their early days. Rockhoof kept moving jobs because he either quit or got laid off after his first mistake.
  • Get a job that matches your skills. Rockhoof kept making mistakes because the jobs he took are outside his field of expertise.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • The full details of Rockhoof's showdown with the Ursa Major.
  • Now that the Pillars have found new callings in life in the modern age, what will their lives be like now? After all, with the exception of Flash Magnus, they initially came back with the intention to help defend the land and their current jobs could be a case of Heroes Gone Fishing.
  • Since Flash Magnus became the Canterlot Royal Guard's newest drill sergeant after the events of "Shadow Play", how did he fare during the Storm King's invasion? Did he fight Tempest Shadow?
  • General Seaspray suddenly has scars all over his body unlike his debut. What could the Mount Aris Navy possibly be up to that would warrant such a result?
• Fanon: Fans and reviewers often interpret that Flash Magnus replaced Shining Armor as the Captain of the Royal Guard with the latter being busy in the Crystal Empire despite Twilight clearly stating that he was just the newest drill sergeant.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The idea Yona would idolise an older fellow that likes smashing as much as she and the Yaks does is explored in this comic.
• Informed Wrongness: Rockhoof putting out the fire in the school from the outside when it turns out that it was a dragon fire-breathing contest between Spike and Smoulder. He was supposed to be in the wrong for being an ignorant killjoy and damaging a lot of quilts that don't do well with water. The problem is that 1) the contest was held indoors instead of outside when the classroom in question was not proven to be fireproof and 2) without context, when viewed from the outside the fire generated could easily qualify for a fire hazard as it was the size of a whole classroom and any sane being would had done the same thing as Rockhoof did. (It doesn't help that Chancellor Neighsay still has it out for the school and it's just giving him fuel to prove himself right.)
• Take That, Scrappy!: After Cranky Doodle Donkey's Jerkass Ball scene back in "A Matter of Principals" (treating the friendship students like servants, and repeatedly spitting iced tea in Gallus's face for not making it the way he liked), him getting publically humilated by Rockhoof yelling to everypony in town about the rash Cranky has in an "embarassing place" makes for some decent (if slightly overdue) comeuppance.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Applejack is mostly relegated to background appearances in this episode, and Apple Bloom doesn't appear at all. Given that Rockhoof is the hero of their favourite childhood story, you'd think they'd have more to do here. Furthermore, Apple Bloom's special talent is helping other beings find their talents and destinies. Her helping Rockhoof find a place for himself in the new Equestria would seem to be a natural place for the plot to go. Not to mention the Apples live on a farm, where Rockhoof's digging talent and physical strength would be invaluable.
  • Despite Rockhoof's similarities to a yak being a plot point with Yona's adoration of him, no one thinks to see how he'd fare in Yakyakistan, where his behavior would be much more welcome.
  • It's implied that unlike Mage Meadowbrook, Mistmane never revisited nor kept in touch with her old home and descendants back in the Season 7 finale before deciding to be the Crystal Empire's royal landscape artist.
  • Twilight herself has had her own experience being Taken for Granite, but doesn't bring it up when Rockhoof expresses his desire to become a statue or when discussing her hesitancy to follow through on his request. The fact that she and numerous others have been revived from petrification is also never addressed, which could have mitigated some of the darker implications (see What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?) or added a different perspective to his request by allowing him to potentially be revived in a time that fits him better.
  • The episode abruptly and awkwardly introduces a Hippogriff Navy, rather than just reuse the band of sky pirates the Mane Six befriended in the film. One of them was even voiced by Nicole Oliver, so it's not like they couldn't get any of the actors back.
• Unexpected Character: No one predicted the return of General Seaspray in this of all episodes. And while Rockhoof was obviously going to appear, the rest of the Pillars (besides Star Swirl) came as a surprise.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Rockhoof wanting to be turned to stone when he can't fit into the modern age is a blatant allegory for contemplating suicide, which is decidedly dark for a show supposedly targeted at young children.^note Recall that the writer of "No Second Prances" actually had to publicly deny that he'd intended such an allegory. Becomes even more disturbing as Twilight seems quite willing, though reluctant, to go through with it.
• The Woobie: Rockhoof, especially by the time he wants to be a statue.

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