Written by: Ted Anderson
Art by: Agnes Garbowska
Publisher: IDW
Issue 21 of My Little Pony started off this new arc a bit sluggishly, doing little but introducing a new plot. Trixie is back and accused of thieving jewels, and Applejack, Applebloom, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Babs Seed are thought to be her accomplices. They escape the police and decide they best find the real thief.
Issue 22 is here to deliver an ending to this small side story, acting as a cross between your favorite heist movie and an episode of Scooby Doo (though with way more emphasis on Scooby Doo).
We start off with our cast splitting up in hopes of tracking down Rough Diamond, the nickname given to the jewel thief. There are some solid jokes delivered in this section, all of them made better as everyone has a very poor costume on in an effort to be under cover. Mustaches don’t suit Apple Jack.
Babs, Seed, and Trixie share an excellent conversation about making amends and overcoming turbulent pasts, and their talk manages to be somewhat heartwarming. Both characters started off as antagonists when introduced to the Pony universe, and while Bab’s bulling was forgiven, Trixie is still trying to overcome her villainous stigma. I really liked this conversation. It shows that there’s more to Trixie, and I like that she’s become an established character and not just a returning obstacle for the more prominent characters.
Issue 22’s biggest problem is that it’s too short. It has a lot of ground to cover in a few pages, and it winds up rushing along too quickly and ending fairly abruptly. It’s a problem that’s spanned the entirety of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and I’m upset to see that it hasn’t gone away.
There’s little foreshadowing or clues to be had, so it’s hard to play detective alongside the ponies. Who the jewel thief isn’t is revealed a bit too early, which ruins some of the mystery in this arc, and who the jewel thief is is mostly sprung upon the reader in the last two pages.
I feel like the art is better in this issue than the last one, though there are a few images that don’t look right. Rarity has some moments of not looking like herself yet, but it’s less of a problem this time around. They never brought me out of the experience.
On the whole, Issue 22 is pretty solid and a fun little wrap-up to this arc. There’s more to be had here, and while the ending felt a bit too abrupt, the journey to it was fun. In some respects, it retroactively makes Issue 21 better.
