My Little Pony (pilot episode)

My Little Pony is an children's television special originally aired in the United States on April 14, 1984. It was followed in 1985 by another special, My Little Pony: Escape From Catrina. The two specials led to the continuing series My Little Pony in 1986, and were later syndicated as part of that series.

Synopsis

When several Little Ponies are transformed into monsters by the Power of Darkness, a young girl named Megan joins the fight to rescue them.

Alternate Titles

• On its original broadcast, the story was simply titled My Little Pony.
• The two parts of the repeat version were titled Rescue From Midnight Castle Part 1 and Escape From Midnight Castle Part 2. The 2005 US DVD release used 'Escape' on screen for both episodes and 'Rescue' on the packaging and DVD menu.
• In 1991, it was sold on VHS in the US as Firefly's Adventure, along with a Firefly toy.
• It was sold on VHS in the UK as My Little Pony in Dreamland
• The German translation was titled Abenteuer am Mitternachtsfluss - 'Adventure at Midnight River'.
• The French translation was titled La grande invasion du château de minuit - 'The Great Invasion of Midnight Castle'

Plot

'Call Upon The Sea Ponies'

The Little Ponies' lazy afternoon at Dream Castle is disturbed by the arrival of the Striadons, huge dragons commanded by the batlike Scorpan. The beasts capture Moondancer and Cotton Candy and takes them to Midnight Castle, a dark palace carved out of an island in the raging sea. Tirac, the goatlike lord of the castle, expresses disappointment and orders Scorpan to capture two more Ponies. Meanwhile, a pegasus pony named Firefly makes a desperate flight for help, and ends up crash-landing in a well at a human ranch. A young girl named Megan rescues the pony, and is amazed at her ability to speak. Firefly tells Megan she's just what the Little Ponies need, and invites her on a flight back to Dream Castle. Initially, Megan expresses apprehension, but Firefly assures her that her friends will be "dancing on air" upon her arrival (Song: Dancing On Air). As Firely returns to Dream Castle, so do the Striadons, who capture Bubbles and Ember. They nearly capture Megan as well, but their attempt is foiled by Firefly's "double inside-out loop." After the monsters leave, Megan angrily vows that she'll rescue the little ponies. Tirac dismisses Baby Ember as too small to be useful, and imprisons her with Spike. He then unleashes the Rainbow of Darkness on the other three Ponies, transforming them into hideous monsters - but his plan requires one more. Megan, Applejack, Bow Tie, Twilight and Firefly journey to The Mushromp to seek the help of the Moochick, a magical if eccentric gnome, but on the way Applejack falls from a rickety bridge into a deep river. As Megan dives to rescue her, both are swept under the water into a giant clam shell. They are rescued by the Sea Ponies, the brightly-coloured singing fish that dwell beneath the waters (Song: Call Upon The Sea Ponies). Upon their rescue, the Sea Ponies give Megan a charm to call upon them again should their assistance be required. After a lengthy search, the Moochick gives Megan a tiny locket containing the Rainbow of Light, saying it's the only thing that can defeat Tirac (Song: A Little Piece Of Rainbow). Upon their arrival to Midnight Castle, the ponies realize they cannot cross the raging waters. But Megan quickly uses the Sea Ponies' charm to call for help. The Sea Ponies show Megan and the others a secret entrance to Midnight Castle, and they make their way to the throne room. Along the way, Applejack is captured, and Tirac transforms her with the Rainbow of Darkness. Now that he has enough beasts to carry his Chariot of Darkness, Tirac plans to bring about something he calls The Night That Never Ends. Scorpan unsuccessfully attempts to seize the Rainbow of Darkness from Tirac, but Megan succeeds, and the Little Ponies fight to keep it from him, but he soon overpowers them and recovers it. As Tirac unleashes the Rainbow of Darkness for the final time, Megan retaliates by releasing the Rainbow of Light - but it's tiny, and quickly disappears into its vast black counterpart. After a moment, though, colour breaks through as the Rainbow of Light expands, destroying the Rainbow of Darkness and Tirac with it. Tirac's beasts are released from his spell, becoming butterflies, birds and Little Ponies once more and Scorpan turns back into a prince (who was turned into Scorpan after Tirac took over his kingdom.) - but Spike remains a baby dragon, as he's always been. The end credits porttray Megan bidding the Ponies and Spike farewell as Firefly takes her home.

Characters

• Megan: A young American girl who lives on a ranch, which Firefly makes a chance landing in when seeking help against the Stratadons.
• The Sea Ponies: Seawinkle, Wavedancer and Sealight lead a massive troupe of brightly colored fish in an elaborate song and dance number. Oddly, all of the Sea Ponies have Applejack, Medley, and Bubbles' colors.
• The Moochick: A powerful yet eccentric gnome who's unable to remember anything without the help of his rabbit, Habbit.
• Tirac: A horned, centuarlike creature who unleashes the Rainbow of Darkness on his enemies.
• The Stratadons: The army of dragons Tirac sends to capture the Little Ponies.
• Scorpan: A bat-like creature the size of a man who directs the Stratadons. He's eventually revealed to be a Prince transformed by Tirac's magic.
• Spike: A friendly pink baby dragon imprisoned in Midnight Castle. The ponies assume him to be transformed by Tirac, but a baby dragon is his natural form.

Twilight the Unicorn, Firefly the Pegasus and Bow-Tie the Earth Pony

Repeat Version

When My Little Pony became a regular series, the pilot episode was re-edited into a two-part story and shown along with the new episodes. Part 1 ended with Megan diving into the water after Applejack, and Part 2 opened with their musical rescue by the Sea Ponies. Other changes included the replacement of the pilot's opening song and closing credits with versions that matched the new series, and the complete removal of the song 'A Little Piece of Rainbow'.

Voice Cast

• Sandy Duncan as Firefly
• Tony Randall as The Moochick

• Charles Adler as Spike
• Tammy Amerson
• Fran Brill
• Victor Caroli
• Laura Dean
• Carol Goodheart
• Lani Groves
• Tolanda Brica Lee Lewis
• Lyn Lipton
• Ullanda McCullough
• Gerrianne Raphael
• Ron Taylor

Notes

• Twilight's ability to teleport herself by chanting 'I wish, I wish, I wish' is echoed in My Little Pony: The Movie, where Fizzy uses her 'unicorn magic' to teleport across a river of Smooze. In the series, teleportation is an ability of all unicorns, and is known as 'winking in and out'. Twilight's 'I wish, I wish..." chant is imitated by the 2003 pony Skywishes, who has a habit of saying the same phrase when wishing
• This special features a Little Pony who was never made available as a plastic toy, a white Earth Pony with pink/gold/yellow/green/purple mane and pink/blue/purple tail, and a rainbow over clouds as her symbol. She makes several appearances, always with Twinkles the Cat on her back, but remains non-speaking and unnamed. 2003 pony Rainbow Dash carries a strong resemblance to this pony. The only major difference is that Rainbow Dash's body is pale blue rather than white, otherwise hair colors and symbol all match up.
• Applejack is believed to actually be the first 'male' pony. Despite, not having the draft legs, it is still assumed. Then again, in the My Little Pony Tales series, the male ponies had a similar body type.
• Moondancer is drawn stripeless, yet the toy actually has a lavender unicorn stripe.
• None of the Little Ponies featured here, except for the nameless Sea Ponies(who also appear in Escape from Catrina), appeared in any subsequent My Little Pony serials, though Megan, Spike and the Moochick all became regulars in the continuing series.
• Ember is the only pony in the series' (and possibly the toys') history that does not carry a symbol on her hip.

DVD Releases

The two-part version of the episode is available on the following:

• USA (Region 1): Disc 4 of My Little Pony: The Complete First Season
• Germany (Region 2, German language): Abenteuer am Mitternachtsfluss
• Australia (Region 4): The Prince and the Ponies & Rescue from Midnight Castle & Escape from Catrina

External links

• Song lyrics
  
• Review by X-Entertainment Contains strong coarse language.