Mistaken Identity

Story: The December Disco (Part 1 and 2)
Issue: Player steals Twirler's flying records!

On its own, this seems like an art anomaly, in which Player has been put on Twirler's flying records, although the text also goes along with this. Twirler, meanwhile, is left on the ground in the watching crowd as Player and Merry Treat fly away to Dream Castle.

Someone obviously had some words with someone in the writing or art team by the time part two rolled around in the next issue, however, because now Twirler is illustrated on the records. Amusingly, the second part of the story omits to name Merry Treat's companion, instead focusing on her meeting with Majesty. Maybe they hope the kids didn't notice...

Story: Various involving Sundae Best for much of 1988
Issue: Chocolate Chip, Cherry Berry and Sorbet Surprise swap identities

It's especially surprising that she's not Sorbet Surprise!


This one is Sorbet Surprise, but the comic thinks otherwise...


Meanwhile, this one's Cherry Berry!

Story: Bright Night, Baby Starburst
Issue: Sunblossom's image, Bright Night's character

This story about Baby Starburst and the Glittering Pony Bright Night became highly confusing when the comic illustrators mistakenly used Sunblossom throughout...

Princess Pearl's attendant Fiery appears in the alphabet list in issue 200, but whoever wrote the text didn't do their homework. Pearl might shed tears if she thought Fiery had been poached by Amber...
The artist doesn't escape scot-free, either. At first glance, Pearl may look like Pearl, but she's missing her wings and that is definitely Amber's symbol. Plus, it looks like Spike hanging out in the back there. Whoops.

Not Quite Right

Symbol: Check. Species: Check. Colours: Check. Eyes. Whoops...


Sweetheart Sister Starflash, who has apparently gone pale at the thought of appearing in the pony comic. Starflash was illustrated in white and pink for a long time - although eventually the comic did realise she was actually blue and purple, and amended their art accordingly.


We call Masquerade the mistress of disguise, but Dazzleglow went through many different visual iterations throughout the comic run. She was only available in 1992, but that didn't stop the artists from regularly redesigning her.


An unexpected smooze side effect for Beachball here on the cover of a My Little Pony & Friends comic - she appears to have sprouted wings.


Or perhaps it's just something going around Ponyland - here's Skydancer with a horn!


Megan as drawn on one of the letters pages in a later My Little Pony & Friends comic.
I'm terrified. That's all.

• Twinkle Eye ponies' eyes come from gem shards in the cave where they were held as slaves until Applejack accidentally freed them. This notorious story from issue 11 is compounded by the fact the six Twinkle Eyes who left with Applejack didn't realise they 'left behind' four of their friends, until Applejack and Fizzy wound up there again a year later. The poor, traumatised quartet left behind had some adjusting to do...I think they also deserved answers.
  
  
• Baby Lickety Split (Play & Care) and Baby Lickety Split (First Tooth Baby) are cousins, not one and the same. This is a bold move considering that there was only ever one adult pony release of Lickety Split in the UK. It's even bolder given that it's not just a throwaway reference but then is the theme of a whole second story in the same comic. Talk about doubling down.
  
  
• Quarterback is drugged by the Romance Ponies with a 'love lozenge' to make him participate in the Sweetheart Festival. There are a lot of moral questions here, I don't think I need to explain them.
  
  
• Napper and Twinkler, the Sparkle Ponies, happen to find a crib in the middle of the forest. Inside the crib is Baby Starburst. Apparently put there by some stellar body because the Sparkle Ponies had wanted a starburst, she's just been abandoned to sleep in the woods. If that isn't bad enough, the Sparkle Ponies decide to take her home, hide her, and only take her to Lullabye Nursery at Christmas. A baby pony is for life, folks.
  
  
• Nibbles, Dibbles, Sniffles and Snookums were brought to life from a drawing by Baby Lucky's magic. While I love this story, you have to wonder about the implications for ponyland childcare if infants can just be brought to life by a baby pony's careless spellcasting. Baby Lucky is responsible for a lot of weird stuff over the course of the comic run, including turning a toy merrygoround into a real one - but this one probably takes the cake.
  
  
• Baby Glory and Baby Firefly come to life out of Majesty's magic mirror in the first issue of My Little Pony Comic, apparently because Firefly and Glory are lonely. Unfortunately, neither Firefly nor Glory are ever shown with their baby ponies in the stories after this. Instead, the babies are left to Lullabye Nursery, and, mostly, the ministrations of Gusty.
  
  
• The Smooze appeared in Megan's home sink in a very "Ghostbusters II Dana's bathroom" scenario. Brought to Ponyland by Wind Whistler, she discovers that the Witches and the Smooze from the movie have returned, and this time they've even got to the Flutters. But no need to panic! Ice Crystal simply froze the smooze solid with his ice magic. Simples.
  
  
• One day, when Floater was out flying her hot air balloon, she ended up on Ice Cream Island, and met Banana Surprise. The wind buffetted her balloon about a bit, and she accidentally made a hole in the cloud, potentially opening a gateway for - and I quote, "The Thunder Troll [to] sneak through and spoil the Fairy Frolics!" Banana Surprise was quick to the rescue, however - patching up the hole in the cloud with...a banana ice cream sundae. We can only wonder what happened next time it rained.
  
  
• Some of the baby ponies were behaving like selfish, grumpy brats, and Majesty decided that just Would Not Do. So she cast some magic dice and used her unicorn magic to send them down a dark hole to the 'Land of Ups and Downs'. In this cross between Jumanji and Snakes and Ladders, the baby ponies, guided by Ringlets and Chief, were faced with prizes and consequences for their good or bad decisions - up a ladder or chased by slitherwigs! Once they had overcome the challenge, and were finally, safely back at Lullabye Nursery, Majesty turned up to see if they had learned their lesson - and to present them with a game of "Slitherwigs and Ladders". Majesty evils. Do not mess with them.
  
  
• One day, Galaxy saw the Grooming Parlour moving around Ponyland. Coming down from her moonbeam perch she encountered Moondancer and Lemon Drop having a dispute about why the Show Stable was under Moondancer's tree (Moondancer has a tree ?!). Then they discovered Dream Castle was in the Waterfall. Sprinkles went over the rainbow to get Megan, who was useless. Meanwhile, a lost little wizard was trying to get from Spell Land to Wand Land. Spells he had acquired from Spell Land had leaked from his boot buttons. Majesty twirled her horn and put everything to rights, and the wizard headed happily off to Wand Land.