Picking Apart "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", Season 2 Episode 13

Baby Cakes

It's the thirteenth episode of Season 2 and since these critiques obviously don't discuss themselves, I'm really earning this.  Of course, considering how bad the season finale is, I'm not sure if this is entirely worth it, but it is the reason I started this whole mess in the first place.

So on with the story.  Cup Cake and Carrot Cake, the owners of Sugarcube Corner, have recently welcomed the arrival of their newborn son and daughter, Pound and Pumpkin.  And they are so cute!  You know, I remember back when my brother and I started kindergarten and our selected teachers acknowledged the time when we were born.  Now that I look back on that distant memory, it made us feel special.  It's really a wonderful thing when new life enters this world.

Pinkie Pie absolutely adores the little tykes and is all for throwing a special party for them, but of course Nurse Redheart has to keep reminding her that a hospital isn't really the time and place.

A month later, Pinkie celebrates the twins turning a month old... by singing about it.

[Pinkie Pie]

Happy monthiversary to you and you today

I can't believe you're already a month old time sure flies doesn't it well it seems like only yesterday you were born.

But now you're a month old today, hey!

Oh, I almost forgot.  The babies are actually a Pegasus and unicorn and yet neither of their parents are any of these.  Well, leave it to Carrot Cake to explain this matter.

Mr. Cake: My great-great-great-great grandfather was a unicorn, and Cup Cake's great aunt's second cousin twice removed was a pegasus.

Okay, yeah, I guess I can understand that.  It runs in the family... somewhere.  Don't know how, it just does.  So Pinkie immensely enjoys playing with these little toddlers, but suddenly the Cakes remember only at the last minute that they have an afternoon catering to attend to and are in need of babysitters.  Now as much as they love Pinkie as if she were their own daughter, they do not ask her at first because they initially believe that because of her carefree, happy-go-lucky, and crazy behavior, she might not be able to handle the responsibility, which of course she can't, seeing as she only desires to play with them.

The Cakes ask each one of the other main characters, but they all seem to have their hands full, never mind that Rarity doesn't actually give a legit reason.  But if I knew Rarity at this point in the series, I'm gonna guess that she has several reasons that she need not explain. 

So once the task of babysitting falls on Pinkie's shoulders, the moment the parents leave, the babies are already crying their eyes out and Pinkie realizes she's in over her head.

Try as she might, she does everything she can to calm down the twins, only being able to make them laugh by getting a whole sack of flour dumped on top of her, and she has immense difficulties following the list that the parents left for her.  Even singing to them doesn't help.

[Pinkie Pie]

First you jiggle your tail! Oink oink oink!

Then you wriggle your snout! Oink oink oink!

Then you wiggle your rump! Oink oink oink!

Then shout it out! Oink oink oink!

Twilight stops by, having finished her work early, and offers to help.  Now here's one of the dumbest things Pinkie does in the whole series.  Despite thanking Twilight on bended knee for coming and possibly being her saving grace, she sends her on her way the moment she says this.

Twilight Sparkle: Babies take a lot of work, and some ponies are just not cut out to handle the responsibility.

This may imply that Pinkie, despite not being stupid and a whole load of fun to hang out with, is not the most responsible character in the series.  Of course, Pinkie takes great offense to this and resolves to handle the job on her own.  Yeah, I'm sure she'll manage just fine.

Eventually, things spiral out of control when the twins are able to use their abilities despite being only a month old.  Pound is on the ceiling with the help of his wings, and Pumpkin is able to use magic, even levitating herself!  Even Twilight hasn't been seen doing this, though she's more than likely capable of doing so.

At this point, Pinkie is completely unable to keep the twins under her control and realizing that she truly lacks the responsibility, added on the stress with it all, she starts crying up a storm.

The twins feel sorry for her and decide to cheer her up by dumping a bag of flour on themselves.  Twenty years from now, they're gonna look back on this and laugh.

Well now, Pinkie finally manages to get the twins to bed and narrates her letter to Princess Celestia, which we have not heard during the last two episodes, as she cleans up the mess the twins made.

The Cakes return home and expect the place to be a disaster, but they find that Pinkie was able to keep the place tidy and to their surprise, the babies are sleeping.  Impressed with Pinkie's surprising ability to be responsible after all, they offer her the chance of becoming their permanent babysitter, which she turns down flat.  But then she hears them utter their first words, which are...

Pound Cake: Pinkie...

Pumpkin Cake: Pie...

Now how about that?  The twins love her.  Looks like all the trouble she went through was worth it in the end.  So she tells the Cakes that she's available next Tuesday and the episode ends.

Okay, we are now halfway through Season 2, so it's time for me to review on everything that's happened so far.  It was nice for Hasbro to bring Luna back, but when the continuity from the pilot episodes went kaput, that nearly ruined the moment.  So there's hardly anything special about that, especially when practically when all of Ponyville was acting brainless.  Some fans hated the episode "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" because Rainbow Dash's friends might not have picked the best possible way to teach her that from great power comes great responsibility.  Some even felt sorry for her because they believed being boastful is a part of who she is and it's this characteristic that she is meant to be liked for, and her friends tried to change that.  Spike and Rarity actually kicked things up a notch in their relationship, but I seriously doubt it's ever gonna be touched upon again, not even in Season 3, and blow me away if I'm wrong.  History lessons for two episodes in a row was like taking a break from present day matters, but still touched upon friendship lessons to be learned nonetheless.  And this episode deals with the lesson of responsibility.  I guess so far, nothing terrible has happened in Season 2, but its finale does concern me immensely.  Maybe this second half of the season is really where things get out of hand.  Now I'm well aware that stuff is generally added in for plot and drama, but from my point of view, things can only be carried so far before they steer clear of my own personal tastes and go too far.  You'll see what I mean when I discuss the later episodes.  Wish me luck.