The Quest of the Princess Ponies

Doctorwhobox
serial_name=49-52 The Quest of the Princess Ponies
writer=Michael Reaves
series= Series 2
length=4 episodes
date=September 7-10, 1987
preceding=Through the Door
following=Spike's Search|

"The Quest of the Princess Ponies" is the nineteenth serial in the United States children's television series "My Little Pony".

ynopsis

Lavan, a lava demon, kidnaps the Princess Ponies and steal their magic wands. As Lavan grows in power, Ponyland's magic is thrown into chaos - can he be stopped before everything is destroyed?

Plot

Part 1

Spike and the Bushwoolies are utterly lost in the Jewel Desert when they stumble across the Royal Paradise, a castle built on an oasis. There they meet the six Princess Ponies - Primrose, Serena, Royal Blue, Sparkle, Starburst and Tiffany - who are arguing fiercely about which of them should be crowned Queen. They drag Spike into the dispute, showing off for him using their magic wands.

Before the quarrel is settled, Lavan, king of the lava demons, rises from beneath the ground on a wave of lava. He surrounds the Princess Ponies with lava and steals their magic wands, attempting to use them to transform himself into a powerful crystal being. His ignorance of the wands's power causes disruption to all magic throughout Ponyland. The sky changes to a distorted rainbow, howling gales blow without warning, and everything in the Jewel desert turns to crystal. Just after Princess Tiffany and a Bushwoolie leave to find help, Lavan emerges from the ground once more, announcing that Spike, the Bushwoolies and the Princess Ponies are now his prisoners...

Part 2

Flying over the Jewel desert, the Bushwoolie falls from Princess Tiffany's back and becomes crystallised the instant he hits the ground. She continues without him and meets Paradise, a pegasus pony, who guides her to the Paradise Estate.

Lavan demands to know how to drain the magic of the wands, undeterred by the knowledge that this will destroy Ponyland. When his captives refuse to co-operate, he orders the Lava Demons to take them to the lava pit. On the way, the Bushwoolies and Spike create a distraction and escape - and immediately find themselves surrounded by another group of monsters, the Ice Orcs. They soon realise that the Ice Orcs are also enemies of Lavan, the Ice Orc G'nah agrees to help Spike and the Bushwoolies to rescue the Princess Ponies.

A well-timed earthquake causes the Lava Demons to fall into the pit, and the Princesses make a run for it. Much to their disgust, their escape route leads through a dark, muddy cave, but they press on through it, and are reunited with Spike's party. G'nash leads them through a secret tunnel to where their magic wands are being kept.

Lavan once again tries to use the wands, and succeeds in turning his upper body to crystal, sharpening his senses so much that he hears a Bushwoolie sneeze inside the secret passage. Blasting the wall down, he recaptures the group, threatening to melt them into a puddle.

Princess Tiffany arrives at the Paradise Estate and tells her story to Megan and the Little Ponies. Megan says the Rainbow of Light may be their only chance to restore Ponyland's magic. Taking Rainbow Locket with her, she flies on Princess Tiffany back to the Royal Paradise. As they cross the Jewel Desert, a magical disturbance throws the Princess off balance, and the Rainbow Locket falls to the ground, becoming part of the vast crystal landscape...

Part 3

Spike, G'nash, the Bushwoolies and the Princess Ponies have been imprisoned in Lavan's dungeon. There they are visited by Sludge, a Lava Demon who claims to want to help them. He says that Lavan is mad, and that destroying Ponyland would make the Lava Demons suffer with everyone else. A truce is established, and he sets the prisoners free. Meanwhile, Lavan completes his crystal transformation, gloating over the great power he now possesses.

With the Rainbow of Light gone, Megan and Princess Tiffany visit the Moochick to find another way to deal with the problem. His magic has been disturbed as much as the rest of Ponyland, and they are driven out of the Mushromp by a ravenous armchair. The Moochick advises that all of the Princess Ponies must retrieve their wands and travel together to the Heart of Ponyland.

Meanwhile, the other Princess Ponies find the wands in Lavan's throne room, completely drained of their magic. Before they can take them, the crystallised Lavan bursts in, firing deadly rainbows and announcing that this is the end of their quest...

Part 4

While G'nash holds the Lava Demons at bay, Megan flies in on Princess Tiffany, dropping a blanket over Lavan's head. In the confusion, the group flees, and the underground caverns lead them to the Heart of Ponyland, a massive jewel that will restore their wands' magic. Before they have a chance to use it, Lavan catches up to them. Sludge and G'nash hold Lavan back while The Princess Ponies recharge the wands. Breaking free, Lavan fires a rainbow at the Princess Ponies, but the combined power of their wands deflects it back at him and he explodes.

The Princess Ponies present each of the Bushwoolies with a crown as thanks for their help. Princess Tiffany keeps the last crown, in memory of the Bushwoolie lost in the Crystal Desert, not realising that Lavan's destruction has restored everything that was crystallised. The Princess Ponies finally decide they will take turns to reign as Queen, beginning with Tiffany, and throw a picnic in celebration of this. Tiffany is delighted when an exhausted Bushwoolie clutching the Rainbow Locket appears, and happily gorges himself on the picnic food.

Notes

* Features the songs 'By Right, I Should Be Queen', 'Keep On Slogging', 'Here's To Power' and 'A Long Hard Road'.
* Princess Sparkle would make a return to television in The OC as a toy owned by Summer Roberts. She first appears in the 2004 episode "The Heartache".
* Probably the most notable mistake in the episode; Princess Primrose is drawn with a red tail instead of a blue one to match her mane for Parts 1-3. In Part 4, she has a regular tail. She also has yellow eyes throughout the episode instead of the blue ones that the actual princess had.
* Near the end of Part 2, we see Princess Tiffany with the other Princess Ponies when she actually flies with Megan and the rainbow of light. Also, a Princess Pony (mostly Princess Primrose) disappears and probably should have been with the others instead of Princess Tiffany with them.
* Uniquely, Part 3 of this story does not feature any of the Little Ponies from Paradise Estate, only the Princess Ponies themselves.
* Princess Serena turns a dark blue several times in the episode.
* Just after Lavan first uses the magic wands, Princess Tiffany angrily tells 'Lilac' to get out of her way. It is never explained who this refers to; probably Princess Sparkle since she's purple.
* Each Princess Pony switches breeds at least once in the episode: there is a Princess Starburst pegasus, Princess Serena pegasus, Princess Sparkle earth pony, Princess Tiffany earth pony, a yellow-horned unicorn Princess Royal Blue, and a Princess Primrose pegasus.
* When everything returns to normal, Wind Whistler and Locket confusingly talk to each other with the opposite voices.
* At the picnic, the Princess Ponies are inexplicably joined by baby Earth Pony versions of Wind Whistler and Locket.
* The Bushwoolie that was lost in the desert rejoins the group later on in the episode, perhaps in Part 3?
* Sometimes the Bushwoolies resemble the ones that came with the Princess Ponies, sometimes they look like the ones used in Season 1.

DVD Releases

* Region 1: "The Quest of the Princess Ponies and Other Stories"
* Region 2 (England): "The Glass Princess & The Quest of the Princess Ponies"
* Region 2 (Germany): "Die Suche nach den Prinzess-Ponies"
* Region 4: "The Quest of the Princess Ponies & Baby, It's Cold Outside"

External links

* [http://dreamvalley-mlp.com/songs87-1.html Song lyrics]