Story By: Jeremy Whitley
Art By: Agnes Garbowska
Published By: IDW
While my thoughts continue to vary on the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Friends Forever series, I do find the surprise pairings very fun, regardless of the actual outcomes or quality standards of the finished product. Equestria is home to a variety of characters, and there just aren’t enough minutes in a season to let all of them interact. MLP:FiM:FF (even after all this time, this acronym still pains me) provides a great solution to this problem.
MLP:FiM:FF #14 pairs Spike and Princes Luna together, the former being my favorite character of the series. It’s hard to go wrong with Spike, who seems to have a genre savvy outlook towards the world around him. He never breaks the fourth wall like Pinkie Pie, but he does have a certain grasp that other characters lack. At any rate, he’s quick to point out when things get just a bit too stupid/silly.
Spike and Princess Luna head off to Fillydelphia to investigate what the local police force believes to be arson. Mysterious fires keep cropping up at night, and the ponies are quick to blame the small dragon population that calls the city home. Princess Luna hopes that having a dragon working on the case will make conversing with the local dragon population better.
Up until now, there hasn’t been anything I’d deem “racism” or “prejudice” in Equestria. Perhaps a unicorn or two have shown up who feel superior due to their magical abilities, but the outlook the police have towards dragons is quite another animal. They’re quick to point accusing fingers at dragons simply because they can breathe fire, forgetting how easy it is to set something aflame with a magical spell.
Spike doesn’t really grasp much of what’s going on, and he certainly doesn’t see his position as one of a PR stunt. He goes off to question the local dragon populace as best he can, and while Princess Luna has some measure of faith in him, the police force certainly doesn’t.
The issue is actually a little strange given the serious undertones of what’s actually going on. MLP:FiM has tackled some harsher issues in the past, but on the whole, most are fairly benign and end with a quick lesson on friendship. What we have here is certainly much greater, especially given the social tension going on right now in America.
I like it though. Normally I prefer the more benign and fluffy nature of MLP:FiM, since I get enough real life at work, but for some reason, the serious themes work here. Perhaps it’s Spike himself, whose naivety works in his favor, or perhaps it’s the art style, which is as bright and colorful as ever.
Aside from an overall solid story, MLP:FiM:FF #14 also introduces quite a nice cast of characters, and I hope a few return. By the Books and Hard Case are the two main police ponies, and they embody the roles of good cop/bad cop to a comical level. Mina, a pink dragon, rounds out our cast as the owner of a comic book shop. She’s fond of shipping reformed villains together, and in general, is a highlight.
MLP:FiM:FF #14 is easily one of the better Friends Forever issues, offering a fun story that actually has some depth to it alongside a fun cast of characters. If you’re into the ponies, this one is worth checking out.
