Stand by Me
"Stand by Me" is the seventh episode on the My Little Pony Tales cartoon series. It was written by Kayte Kuch and Sheryl Scarborough.
Contents
Synopsis
Melody shows off her new cassette player to her friends at school, but hasn't taken the time yet to familiarize herself with the device. Pushing a few buttons, she manages to damage cassette inside, which prompts Teddy to boast he can do better. Though Melody wants him to stay away from the cassette player, he just grabs it and starts pushing buttons until it really becomes broken. Smugly stating it's Melody's fault for trying to sto him, he hands the device back to her and walks off. While the girls angrily discuss Teddy's unacceptable behavior, Sweetheart tries to explain Teddy only wanted to help and is too proud to admit he couldn't. Since her friends don't believe her, the case not exactly helped by the view of Teddy kicking over a trash can, Sweetheart walks over to him and asks him to apologize. Teddy barks that he doesn't apologize to anyone and walks off, leaving Sweetheart to cleanup the mess he made. Sweetheart is approached by Tidwell, the school's custodian, who voices his dislike of Teddy and his appreciation of responsible pupils like Sweetheart. Sweetheart feels uncomfortable talking about Teddy like that and uses the start of the classes to escape the conversation.
Meanwhile, a mysterious blue pony takes away Melody's cassette player...
Inside the school, Miss Hackney announces the lessons for the week will be about courtroom procedures, by means of a pretend trial. At that moment, Melody notices her cassette player is missing and accuses Teddy, who is late for class, of stealing it. Starlight suggests that the case of the missing cassette player will be the one they deal with in the pretend-trial, which Miss Hackney hinks is a great idea. As such, Starlight gets the role of judge, while Bright Eyes volunteers as prosecutor. Miss Hackney also requests a lawyer for Teddy, which only Sweetheart wants to do. The rest of the class ends up as the trial's jury and Miss Hackney announces that if Teddy is found guilty, he will be suspended for three days. As the clock hits three o'clock, Miss Hackney dismisses the class and tells them to prepare for tomorrow.
At the ice cream shop, Sweetheart wishes to talk the case over with her friends, but under influence of Melody and Bright Eyes, the group demands her to choose between them and Teddy. This upsets Sweetheart, but also strengthens her in her resolve to help Teddy.
The next day, the case of the missing cassette player is opened. Bright Eyes asks Bon Bon and Clover to the witness stand, where they give a testimony that boils down to "he's mean, so why doubt he did it?". Sweetheart objects and argues for Teddy's kinder side, moving her class such that Starlight suggests to bring forth Teddy himself as a witness. Sweetheart happily agrees, but her mood quickly changes when Teddy's alibi turns out unprovable, the piece of tape on his hoof is proven to be of Melody's and Teddy himself declares he'd do anything to own a cassette player of his own. Sweetheart keeps a cool head and gets an idea, asking Starlight if she can call in a surprise witness. This turns out to be Mister Tidwell, whom she asks what he does with the stuff he finds lying outside. Tidwell tells her he puts them in the lost and found box, where Sweetheart then finds the missing cassette player.
Starlight immediately dismisses the case and Miss Hackney discusses the day's lessons. Sweetheart answers she's proud she stood up for what she believed in, despite that it alienated her from her friends. Melody concedes she has judged too quickly and in the future ought to make sure to learn the whole story before pointing fingers. Teddy, finally, admits that sometimes it's good to have a friend that has your back.
Cast
Songs
You Don't Know the Boy
You don't know the boy like I do
You don't know how he can be
Warm and caring', kind and sharing
The best of company
You don't know the boy like I do
I've seen his other side
Sweet and gentle, sentimental
The things that most boys hide
Stubborn and brash!
Yes, that's true!
Impulsively rash!
He's that too.
Selfish at times!
What else is new?
But breaking the law, he couldn't do
If you know the boy like I do
You'd know why I'd take his part
He acts rough and tough
But that's all a bluff
I know what's in his heart
I know what's in his heart
Errors
Animation errors
- The ponies standing in the background while Miss Hackney introduces the day's schedule constantly change in appearance and numbers.
- While listening to Miss Hackney's explanation of the trial, Teddy's facial expression instantly goes from anger to anxiety as the shot changes.
Story errors
- Either courtroom procedures in Ponyland are different from courtroom procedures in the real world, or some odd things happen during the pretend-trial. Some of the ponies in the jury double as witnesses, which wouldn't fly in the real world. Also, Starlight, as the judge, asks Bon Bon and Clover, who are in the role of witnesses, about the cassette player. That isn't the judge's job to do, but the prosecutor's.
- Miss Hackney says that "it's been quite a day" at the end of the trial. A better phrase would be "it's been quite an hour tops".
Semi-errors
- From other episodes, the audience knows Teddy has a kinder side he likes to share with Sweetheart and generally doesn't behave too badly. But during Sweetheart's song about Teddy's true self, we see him physically and emotionally assaulting her and thén making up for it a little bit. It makes Sweetheart look more like a beaten housewife than Teddy's savior.
Notes
- "Stand by Me" has been released on DVD in Australia by MRA Entertainment on October 12, 2005, and in the UK by Metrodome on August 16, 2004.
