Somnambula

Doctorwhobox
serial_name=59-60 Somnambula
writer=David Wise
series= Series 2
length=2 episodes
date=September 21-22, 1987
preceding=The Ice Cream Wars
following=The Prince and the Ponies|

"Somnambula" is the twenty-fourth serial in the United States children's television series "My Little Pony".

ynopsis

An ancient witch lures the ponies into a fantasy world where all their dreams seem to come true. In truth, she is stealing their magic to keep herself young and powerful, and the ponies are withering away.

Plot

Part 1

The Big Brother Ponies have nearly completed their year-long race around the world, and are due to cross the finish line at the Paradise Estate. As the Little Ponies prepare a celebration, they're surprised to hear circus music, and then a beautiful song. They march towards the singing as if in a trance, ignoring Spike's attempts to persuade them to stay.

Behind the estate, Truly leads the Baby Ponies in band practice. Baby Lofty hears the carnival music, but doesn't seem affected by it. The others fail to notice over the sound of their own instruments.

The music has been conjured by a witch named Somnambula, and the singer is a canary named Kyrie whom Somnambula holds prisoner. At first, Somnambula appears ancient, but she seems to become young when the Little Ponies arrive. Promising to show them the circus, she leads the Ponies to a valley of illusions, where they find all of their favourite things - a kitchen for Cupcake, a garden for Posey, and an all-you-can-eat ice cream parlour for Lickety-Split.

When the Big Brother Ponies finally cross the finish line, they find the Paradise Estate almost deserted - only Truly, Spike and the Baby Ponies remain. Spike explains that every other Little Pony has followed Somnambula, and The Big Brothers resolve to find them.

That night, her powers greatly increased by the Ponies she's captured, Somnambula orders Kyrie to sing once more. Entranced, Truly and the Big Brothers march towards the valley, to the Baby Ponies' horror. The babies dump a huge snowball on the Big Brothers' heads and manage to break their trance, but ahead of them Truly marches straight through a huge golden door - which suddenly becomes solid rock in the shape of a dragon's mouth...

Part 2

The Big Brothers get through the door and find Truly, but she runs and hides without speaking to them. Every pony they meet ignores them, claiming they're too busy playing in their dream world - and each one has suddenly become wrinkled and old. Slugger becomes concerned with finding his sweetheart, Buttons, but as soon as he mentions it the Big Brothers' fantasies all appear - a boat, a train, a football pitch. The Big Brothers try to keep control but fail, and begin to mindlessly play along with the other ponies.

Kyrie escapes from her cage and sings a new song, returning all of the ponies to reality. As they regroup and realise they can't find the unicorns, Somnambula turns her illusions hostile, and the Little Ponies are attacked by their own fantasies.

Tex, Salty and Steamer fight the illusions while Kyrie leads 4-Speed, Slugger and Quarterback underground, where the unicorns have been chained to a crystal that transfers their magic to Somnambula. With a burst of strength Slugger shatters the crystal. A powerless Somnambula flees the valley, the ponies' youth is restored, and Slugger and Buttons are reunited at last.

Notes

* Features the songs 'The Big Brother Ponies' and 'Hey, Let's Play/No, Let's Go'.
* Baby Sleepy Pie makes her second appearance in the series, but this times sticks around for a whole part. She has no speaking lines.
* Posey is green for much of the episode.
* Magic Star is shown as a pegasus in the opening credits, as a unicorn in the episode when the canary first sings, and as an Earth pony in the closing credits.
* Baby Sundance is shown hypnotized as the ponies are first lured away.
* A Cherries Jubilee unicorn appears in the sequence.
* A pink pegasus, a white unicorn with a pink mane, and a pink earth pony, all babies, appear that do not look familiar.
* Out of the seven or eight baby ponies that follow the Big Brothers to Somnambula's lair, only three are left at the beginning of Part 2: Baby Cuddles, Baby Heart Throb, and Baby Lofty.
* Quarterback is referred to as 'Score' when the Big Brother Ponies are racing to Paradise Estate.
* In the German translation, this episode was titled Die uralte Hexe - 'The Age Old Witch'.

DVD Releases

* USA (Region 1): "Flight to Cloud Castle and Other Stories" (also includes Spike's Search, The Ice Cream Wars, The Prince and the Ponies)
* Australia (Region 4): Spike's Search & Somnambula & The Golden Horseshoes
* Germany (Region 2, German language): "Die uralte Hexe"
* The Netherlands (Region 2, Dutch language): "My Little Pony Mega Kids DVD" (also includes The Great Rainbow Caper, Pony Puppy, Would Be Dragonslayer, Flight to Cloud Castle)

External links

* [http://www.dreamvalley-mlp.com/songs87-2.html#big_brother_ponies Song lyrics]