My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S2 E24 Mystery On the Friendship Express

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It's like an Agatha Christie novel, but with no corpses and more marzipan.

Pinkie Pie: It's the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness! It's been... mutilated!

Written by Amy Keating Rogers

It's a big day for the Cakes: they're entering their newest cake recipe, the "Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness" (or MMMM), in Equestria's National Dessert Competition, and Pinkie Pie is going to make sure that the cake gets there in one piece... even if she has to shanghai Big Macintosh and the rest of the Mane Six into getting it aboard the Friendship Express.

Once aboard, the gang meet some of the other competitors: Gustave Le Grand, a snooty French griffon who thinks his "Exceptionally Exquisite Eclairs" are a shoo-in for first prize; Canterlot's own Doughnut Joe, who's looking to make his doughnut shop world-famous with a scale-model city made out of pastry which he calls "Doughnutopia"; and Mulia Mild, who thinks she deserves the top prize with her intricately sculpted Chocolate Mousse Moose. Rivalries flare, but Twilight manages to calm everypony down and convince them to get to bed early... except Pinkie Pie, who insists on standing watch out of fear that one of the other chefs will sabotage the MMMM.

As the night drags on and Pinkie nearly nods off, she's jolted awake by shadowy figures darting through the cars. She chases them from one end of the train to the other, but somehow loses them both. Pinkie returns to the dessert car to check on the Cakes' cake when the curtains descend, leaving Pinkie Pie in the dark. Once the curtains are re-opened, Pinkie resumes her vigil convinced that her paranoia was justified... only to almost immediately nod off.

Morning comes, and Pinkie awakens to find the MMMM intact... or not, as Twilight Sparkle points out. Pinkie resolves to find out whodunnit, dressing up in a deerstalker cap and bubble pipe and dragooning Twilight Sparkle into playing Watson to her Sherlock Holmes. Pinkie Pie wastes no time in accusing each of the other bakers of being the guilty party, complete with ludicrous flashbacks to how they did it:

• She first accuses Gustave Le Grand, in the style of a silent movie, of tying Pinkie to the railroad tracks and chopping up the cake with a saw blade. Twilight is quick to point out that Pinkie is clearly not tied to the train tracks and that the cake was bitten, not sliced.
• Next, Pinkie accuses Joe... or rather, notorious super-spy "Con Mane", who knocked out Pinkie Pie and destroyed the cake with an arsenal of spy gadgets. Twilight shoots this theory down, too, citing the lack of a laser beam security system and Joe's non-spy physique.
• Pinkie decides that must mean Mulia Mild is the culprit behind the destruction of the cake, and a Ninja for some reason. Twilight points out the brow-beaten Mulia is probably not a secret master of the martial arts.

Pinkie Pie is forced to conclude that there's no evidence the other bakers were behind the sabotage of the MMMM... not only that, but she starts to wonder why the other desserts, as tempting and delicious as they look, were completely untouched. Then the train passes through a tunnel, plunging the room into darkness again... and upon the train leaving the tunnel, all the desserts are in ruins and Detective Pinkie is completely stumped.

Pinkie Pie: Now I have no idea who-do-dunned it!

Twilight takes charge of the investigation, and sends everyone back to their rooms while she and Pinkie Pie look for clues. The first order of business is to retrace Pinkie Pie's steps from when she was chasing the shadowy figures the other night. Through her thorough investigation, Twilight manages to find enough clues to figure out the culprit, and gets Pinkie Pie to gather everypony together.

Once the other passengers are assembled, Twilight reveals her clues one by one. The first is a blue feather left behind in the caboose. The second is a lock of pink hair found in the conductor's hat. And the third and final clue is a false eyelash stuck to the portrait! Which means that Pinkie's friends Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity were all responsible for taking bites out of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness! The two pegasi and the false-eyelash-wearing unicorn ask for forgiveness, which Pinkie cannot refuse.

That still leaves the question of who ate the other bakers' desserts... a question that Pinkie Pie is eager to answer, now that she knows to look for clues. Mousse in Gustave's mustache, eclair in Doughnut Joe's hair, and sprinkles in Mulia's wrinkles reveals the truth — they each devoured each other's entries! The bakers confess to being unable to resist eating each other's desserts after Pinkie Pie's vivid descriptions. But now no one has an entry for the contest... or do they?

The episode ends with Pinkie narrating a letter to Celestia about not jumping to conclusions... and revealing a massive cake made from the remnants of the damaged desserts, which instantly wins the blue ribbon, and she's unable to resist consuming in one gulp!

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Tropes present in this episode: YMMV tropes here.

• Absentee Actor: Spike
• Added Alliterative Appeal: About a third of the entire episode's dialogue.
  • The cake Pinkie is guarding is called the "Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness", which has been "mutilated".
  • Awesome alliterative instances abound throughout the entire episode. Pinkie Pie's the most prolific pony, but Twilight tries, too.
  • "Clearly this dastardly deed was done by the baker who knew their dessert could not measure up to the mastery of the Marzipan Marscarpone Meringue Madness!"
  • "Get your claws off that cake, you cur!"
  • "I was so sure that it was one of the other bitter bakers..."
  • "It's a spectacular city of donuty delight topped temptingly in sprinklicious sprinkles."
  • "And Gustav's eclairs look incredibly edible with glistening glaziness!"
  • "Then there's Mulia Mild's Mousse Moose. Why, this mouth-wateringly marvelous mousse moose tempts the taste buds with its silky smooth yummy nummy chocolatiness."
  • "...while leaving this trio of tasty treats untouched?"
  • "This mystery gets more mysterious every minute!"
  • "We have a cake culprit to catch!"
  • "...this cake carnage!"
  • "When committing a crime, it's crucial that one never leaves behind clues."
  • "Did you find the devourer of the desserts?"
• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Twilight to Joe. While insulting him unintentionally.
• All Animals Are Dogs:
  • Pinkie scratches herself like a dog when she wakes up the next morning. This is actually something some ponies and foals can do, though full-grown, normal-sized horses are incapable of it.
  • She also growls like a dog while pursuing the thief.
  • Applejack pants and drools while Pinkie is describing the MMMM. Pavlov would be proud.
• Badass: Mulia Mild is a BadASS in Pinkie's Imagine Spot about her.
• Balloon Belly: Pinkie gets one after wolfing down the towering cake in one gulp. Seeing how large she becomes, this could perhaps be classed as a Temporary Bulk Change as well.
• Behind the Black: There are several times where Pinkie is at the same angle Twilight was at when she saw the damage to the cake, and yet she didn't notice it until it was finally in frame. Downside of Pinkie's Fourth-Wall-Breaking abilities?
• Big Eater: It's easy to miss that, in a Pinkie Pie episode, the three chefs reduced the baked goodies to leftovers in the less-than-a-minute the train spent in that tunnel!
• Bling of War: The compartment aboard the Friendship Express where the desserts were stored is decorated with a portrait of a pony wearing a Napoleonic-style uniform bedecked with brush epaulets, medals and a sash. For good measure, he also has a Badass Mustache.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Or in Pinkie Pie's case, eating the fourth wall!
• Breather Episode: A fun, Pinkie-as-Sherlock-Holmes episode before the epic two-part Season Finale.
• Bubble Pipe: Used by Detective Pinkie, and later Twilight when she takes over her role.
• Call Back:
  • In the past the Cakes have been hesitant to trust Pinkie to be responsible and were impressed when she proved herself. Now they are entrusting her with a big responsibility and she is determined not to disappoint them.
  • In The Best Night Ever, it's revealed Rarity wears fake eyelashes, which prove to be a clue to implicate her in eating Pinkie's cake.
• Carrying a Cake: How they get the "Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness" to the train. Averted in that they manage to get it to the train safely (despite several near mishaps), if not to its ultimate destination.
• Chained to a Railway: Pinkie's Silent Movie Imagine Spot for Gustave includes him tying her to the railroad.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • That painting of a mustached stallion looks pretty normal, doesn't it? Except he has long eyelashes.
  • Also notice how Rarity's right eye is never shown after the cake incident.
  • Though there are no post-cake-munching visual clues for the viewer, the two shadowy figures that Pinkie chases down from the exterior train shown are drawn with the distinctive features of Rainbow and Fluttershy, respectively.
• Clueless Mystery:
  • The second mystery gives us no clues at all before being solved.
  • Subverted with the first one: Much is made of Twilight picking up clues that aren't shown. But there were already clues before that, and the last item picked up actually is shown, it's just subtle.
• Cock-a-Doodle Dawn
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Also Pinkie's Imagine Spots all have the cake being sliced to pieces, even after Twilight outright tells her after the first one the cake wasn't cut at all. And everything else she "deducts" until she actually solves the second mystery, especially her interpretations of Twilight's evidence.
  • "I admit it! I wear false eyelashes!"
• Continuity Nod:
  • Among the suspects on the train are characters and species from previous episodes, including a mule (Mulia Mild), a griffon (Gustave Le Grand), and Joe. And of course, the same Friendship Express Train and stations are used as the settings.
  • On a meta level, this is not the first time we've had a Pinkie Pie-centered episode just before the season finale.
  • Princess Celestia seemed pretty eager to eat a slice of that cake near the end. Considering a certain rumor that was going around last episode...
  • Pinkie's distinctive gasp from the pilot is recycled when she sees the damaged cake.
• Cosmetic Horror: Rarity considers her false eyelashes a dark secret, and pulls her mane over her lashless right eye in shame.
• Crazy Prepared: Pinkie's Holmes-ian hats could be attributed to Rule of Funny, but why exactly did Twilight think to bring evidence bags with her to a dessert contest?
• Dastardly Whiplash: Gustave is portrayed as this in Pinkie's imagination. They nail the trope down to the very. last. detail. In reality, he does twirl his mustache during his hammy moments.
• Defictionalization: Attempts have already been made to craft the MMMM in real life, such as this one.
• Deliberately Monochrome: This is how Pinkie describes Gustave's scheme in her imagination.
• Delicious Distraction: Princess Celestia seems a lot more interested in that cake than any lesson Pinkie Pie has to report.
• Double Meaning Title: The title is both a play on the murder mystery novel Murder on the Orient Express and has the sound of "Mmm", the name of the cake.
• Everypony Did It: Of the passengers on the train, the only innocent parties are Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight.
• Easily Forgiven: Fluttershy, Rarity, and Dash ruin a cake that took the Cakes months of planning and hard work to make... and are forgiven the instant they say sorry.
• Evil Laugh: Parodied with Donut Joe when he talks about his donut creation like he was about to take over the world, and with Gustave in Pinkie's Imagine Spot. The latter has to be spelled out in the intertitle, since it's a Silent Movie.
• Everypony Laughs Ending
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Rarity wears her hair differently throughout much of the episode. This hides the fact she lost one of her false eyelashes.
• Fainting: It's Mr. Cake who pulls this trope. Three times!
• Fair Play Whodunnit: The MMMM mystery, though you have to look very quickly and carefully:
  • When Pinkie runs down to the caboose, Rainbow Dash's mane style is visible in silhouette
  • Next, in the engine car, the "conductor" uses a female pony model and a yellow ear is seen. These put together mean Fluttershy.
  • Finally, much easier to spot is after the blinds are shut, the picture gains an eyelash and Rarity starts wearing her mane to cover one eye.
• Feather Fingers: Gustave Le Grand initially holds his eclairs in one of his wings as he walks into the train car.
• Foreshadowing:
  • You could probably tell who ate which baker's dessert by looking at who had the most craving expression on their face when each one was being described.
  • You could also hear galloping while Pinkie was chasing down the thieves in the night.
• Food Porn:
  • The Cakes' cake, or "MMMM" is this. Just describing it makes everypony's mouth water. This was the motive for Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity for eating the cake.
  • The competitors' desserts are also described as this. That's why they ate each others'!
  • Both of the above examples also qualify from an out-of-universe level too. Several fans were salivating.
• French Jerk: Gustave Le Grand comes off as this in the beginning.
  • French Cuisine Is Haughty
• Frying Pan of Doom: Ninja Mulia takes out Pinkie with one during her Imagine Spot.
• Fun with Acronyms: The Marzipan Mascapone Meringue Madness cake is called the "MMMM" for short.
• GASP: Pinkie Pie when the damage to the cake is revealed.
• Genre Savvy: Both Twilight and Pinkie exhibit this trope. Twilight claims to have read "many mystery novels," and therefore knows what to do, while Pinkie wastes no time crowning Twilight The Watson, even going so far as to explain her role.
• Gory Discretion Shot: Spoofed in Pinkie's Imagine Spot for Gustave, in which the sliced cake's icing splatters his face.
• Grammar Nazi: Twilight, correcting Pinkie's "whodunit" to "who did it" (which just confuses her further: "who did dun dood it").
• Gratuitous French: Gustave delivers quite a few.
• Hammerspace: Where Pinkie gets a bubble pipe and a pair of appropriate hats from.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Pinkie's accusations towards the other bakers are particularly outlandish, as pointed out by Twilight. Even if Gustave Le Grand could be a moustache-twirling Silent Film Villain, Doughnut Joe is NOT an international Super-Spy, and Mulia Mild is an elderly donkey who is shaking and on the verge of tears at the end of Pinkie's accusation towards her.
• Imagine Spot: That's a really wild imagination you've got there, Pinkie.
• Innocently Insensitive: Twilight clears Pony Joe of suspicion by pointing out that he's not suave superspy material, but rather "big, gruff, and messy". Joe isn't exactly thrilled by the description.
• Insane Troll Logic: Pinkie's zany conclusions as to how each of the bakers destroyed the cake.
• Knockout Gas: Used by Joe on Pinkie during Pinkie's Imagine Spot for him.
• Large Ham: Gustave, Mulia, and Joe.
• Leg Cling: Golden Harvest and Berry Punch come out of nowhere and do this with Joe at the end of Pinkie's Imagine Spot for him.
• Lights Off, Cake Get's Eaten: Done twice, in fitting with the episode's Affectionate Parody of mystery tropes.
• Literal Minded: When Twilight asks Pinkie to retrace her steps, Pinkie starts walking backwards. Twilight is not amused.
• Meaningful Name: When taking the initials of the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, it sounds like "Mmmm!"
• The Name Is Bond, James Bond: The beginning of Pinkie's Imagine Spot for Joe introduces him as "Mane, Con Mane."
• Nice Hat: Pinkie and Twilight's Sherlock Holmes-ian hats.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Pinkie Pie's constant descriptions of the MMMM and the other chefs' creations was the main reason why they were eaten in the first place. Then again, they are pretty easily tempted, aren't they?
• Ninja: Mulia Mild is depicted as this in Pinkie's imagination.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Mulia Mild is a lot like Julia Child.
• No Peripheral Vision: Rainbow Dash manages to escape from Pinkie by flying close to the ceiling in the last train cabin.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Pinkie - who else - literally climbs over every one of her suspects while looking for clues to who ate the other desserts.
• Punny Name: Con Mane; just drop the final e.
• Red Herring: Early on, several of the other ponies are clearly enraptured by Pinkie's description of the MMMM, especially Applejack, who turns out to be one of the only ponies who isn't guilty of any cake-eating, and she's the first one who tried to take a piece off of it.
• Rivals Team Up: In the end, Pinkie and all of the other chefs combine their creations and enter it as one dessert. It wins a blue ribbon.
• Rhymes on a Dime: Pinkie pulls this trope as well: "Eclair in his hair" and "Sprinkles in her wrinkles"
• Rule of Funny: Explains why Big Mac has trouble with a cake well within his weight class and why no one thinks of using a cart.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Pinkie expects that someone will try to eat the cake and later on wonders why no one went after the other bakers' pastries, but it's pretty much due to Pinkie's predictions and vivid descriptions that the pastries get eaten in the first place.
• Schizo-Tech: Pinkie's Imagine Spot for Joe turns him into a James Bond parody ("Con Mane"), complete with nifty spy-gadgets. Also, Twilight points out that there's no laser beam security system for the MMMM (as depicted in the aforementioned Imagine Spot), implying that lasers do exist, just not here.
• Shout-Out:
  • The title and theme allude to the classic murder mystery Murder on the Orient Express, including the ending, for which Murder on the Orient Express is both Trope Maker and Ur Example.
  • Let's see. We have a train, a mystery, and stolen food. Hmm...
  • Pinkie and Twilight appear to don the appropriate hats and pipe for a full-on Sherlock Holmes take.
  • Each of Pinkie's Imagine Spots for the three chefs is a take on classic films: Gustave's as a Silent Movie; Pony Joe's as Con Mane, a parody of James Bond; and Mulia's as an old ninja film.
  • Pinkie Pie's Animesque Ninja Imagine Spot of Mulia Mild use art style very similar to Samurai Jack's.
    • Not to mention that Ninja Mulia's jumping from train car to train car is very similar to that of Ryu Hayabusa from the NES series Ninja Gaiden.
  • Twilight's evidence bags are manila envelopes like the ones used in Clue.
  • When Pinkie Pie chases Rainbow Dash to the end of the train, she exclaims "I have you now!", followed by a surprised "What?!" when she finds no one at the exit of the caboose.
  • Pinkie Pie makes mention of the competition being to determine whose cake will reign supreme.
• Silent Movie: Pinkie's Imagine Spot for Gustave is in the style of one.
• Single-Stroke Battle: Ninja Mulia vs the cake in one of Pinkie's Imagine Spots. The cake loses.
• Sudden Name Change: In his previous appearance, Doughnut Joe was called Pony Joe by Spike.
• Summation Gathering: Twilight calls one.
• Supreme Chef: The Cakes, Gustave Le Grand, Doughnut Joe, and Mulia Mild. Their irresistible creations don't even make it to the competition whole, as various people can't resist pigging out on them, and the joint entry that they cobble together at the last minute still manages to easily win the Blue Ribbon.
• Toothy Griffin: Gustave Le Grand. Although only for expressiveness's sake, since bite marks on the cake are treated as a proof of his innocence, though the beak would figure far more prominently if he did take a bite out of it.
• Traveling At the Speed of Plot: We know that the Friendship Express can get from Ponyville to Canterlot within a day, yet we have a full night cycle and hit one of the mountain tunnels at the most convenient time. But it wouldn't be a good MMMystery without the night setting.
• Unmoving Plaid: The plaid on Pinkie's deerstalker does not follow the corner of the hat.
• Visual Pun: Mulia Mild's chocolate mousse moose.
• What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?: Rarity wears false eyelashes! Oh, and she took a bite of the cake.
• Written Sound Effect: In the title.
• The Watson: Pinkie makes Twilight play the part, much to her chagrin. They switch places later, more than once.

Pinkie: "And Twilight will be my lowly assistant who asks silly questions with obvious answers."

• A Worldwide Punomenon: Pinkie pulls this trope multiple times. For example, "I have no idea who done dood it," and "Pegassistance".
• You Are Already Dead: In Pinkie's Imagine Spot, Ninja Mulia does the lightning-fast sword slash variant against the cake, causing it to fall apart moments later.