This arc is nothing if not an exercise in letting Pinkie Pie be Pinkie Pie and then realizing at the last second: "Wait, that's going to be hard to write, and even harder to screencap and arrange." It's not quite writing myself into a corner, but at the same time, it's pushing boundaries I hadn't quite realized were there before. Transcript:
Twilight Sparkle: So I wave the ball at Cerberus, and…? PM: He follows it! Looks like he’s just a big ol’ playful dog at heart. Twilight Sparkle: It can’t be that easy, can it? He’d make a terrible guard dog. Fluttershy: We did carefully pacify him and establish that we weren’t his enemies first… Twilight Sparkle: Heheh, that’s true. Alright, let’s get going. Pinkie Pie: Woooah! My Pinkie Sense! Twilight Sparkle: Again? What now? Pinkie Pie: I don’t know yet! I feel a combo coming on! SFX: (FLOP) Pinkie Pie: First one’s an ear flop! Twilight Sparkle: Are you serious?? ANOTHER big monster attack?! Pinkie Pie: No, no, that’s what it means on its own, no combo. Starting a combo with ear flop could mean anything from “beautiful rainbow” to “rebirth of an Old One!” Applejack: Ah, I get it. PM’s splittin’ us. Twilight, you take care of Cerberus. Fluttershy and I will get ready for Round 2. Fluttershy: Oh… Oh no…