That's a heck of a reference.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svengali (E: lol bronies already edited it

)
Also neat to see that the unicorn magic auto-tuning wasn't something AKR wrote, but was a pleasant surprise for her to see how the team had handled it.
On top of being a callback to The Last Roundup, this is an allusion to Van Halen and the brown M&Ms, isn't it?
http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.aspI've been feeling like the show has recently been on its best game during song-heavy or fully musical episodes. There was a period in seasons 3 and 4 when it felt like the songs were getting tired and samey, and in fact this season some of the CMC's songs (like in Crusaders of the Lost Mark) seemed like retreads of the same old ground. But sometimes it all comes together really nicely. I actually feel like it's the times when the show strikes out in new directions musically that it scores some of its best hits; the Filli Vanilli song is a great example (barbershop as pop music, how perfect is that for pony world), and of course in S1 so many of the songs from that period are still among the most memorable of the show simply because of how fresh they were at the time, and how much vibrant energy they carried through from the staff's brand-new freshly tapped wellspring of creativity. And so it was really nice to see them tackle two new musical styles/genres here, the diva-pop thing and the unplugged piano ballad. I don't know if either of them will have legs like the Flim Flam song or I've Got the Music In Me, let alone S1 perennials like Winter Wrap Up or Art of the Dress; but they felt like someone had put some real serious
effort into them, and that goes a long way with me.
Downside, though: I had a real hard time getting past the "hooves on the keyboard" thing. Every time I saw it I was like
whaaaaaat 
In fact that whole song with the musicians in silhouette was so distracting for me that I could barely concentrate on the music. Horses playing instruments is something I can accept as a background gag, like Octavia and the tuba pony and so on at the Gala; but if you put it up so front and center I can't suspend my disbelief that far. When she sang "I am just a ponyyyyy" I was like "Uh okay if you say so, but you and your orchestra might as well be Smurfs for all the horselike you're being right now".
But then at the same time you get the unicorns lighting their horns so
