Hearts Strong as Horses (Instrumental Version, with reprise) from the episode Flight to the Finish of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (S04E05).\r
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--Overall Comments--\r
So we finally have a canon dealing with Scootaloo and her inability to fly, and it was fantastic! This episode was surprisingly fun, with emotional parts at just the right moments. The music was no different--plus, we got our first song of season 4! This season is moving along nicely.\r
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--Track Specific Comments--\r
Okay, so this is actually more an instrumental w/ backing vocals, due to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both appearing during the chorus. However, its so brief and soft overall, I was more inclined to just call it an instrumental. The harmonies are not removable, so a true instrumental is not possible, unfortunately. The CMC appear in all the front channels, so these are the only channel left to pull the instrumental from. The harmonies here are really, really fun to listen to anyway.\r
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So after four episodes, the fifth one is the charm with our first song! This song definitely has both a familiar and different feel to it from the other ones in the series. First off, we return to the musical theatre-style of song, with this one obviously being inspired by Man Out of You from the classic 90s Disney movie Mulan.\r
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The song has a unique march-like drum beat to it, very similar to the song from Mulan, which is always fun to see the animation match up with. It also utilizes a full orchestra and a prominent mandolin, as well as strong vocal harmonies from the CMC. Highlights include the quick but so what at 0:40, and the tune switch up at 1:40. For me, the best part of the song is the reprise. It actually isnt different from the end of the main song, but paired with the visuals and story at the time, it feels extra emotional, and helps drive the scene home for the viewer.\r
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Of note: this is the first song (not including the campfire song from season 3) that Claire Corlett sings for Sweetie Belle instead of Michelle Creber. She does really well, and the third voice (instead of Creber singing two parts) really adds to the texture of the song. This song is also mixed interestingly, with the CMC each getting their own channel for most of the song: Apple Bloom in the left, Sweetie Belle in the right, and Scootaloo in the center. So, for the first time, I can offer an individual track for each of the singers, which is really exciting! You can find all the different versions, including the instrumental, below.\r
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The instrumental is great to listen to--listen to some of the instruments that are harder to hear with the lyrics, such as the glockenspiel and pan flute during the verses. Plus, you can hear how great the strings section is in this song. Not to mention the epic horn parts that come to the forefront every so often.\r
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On a technical note, Ive decided to couple the reprise onto the end instead of keeping it separate as in the past. I chose to do this mainly because its the same ending from the main song, and also due to the slow start. I tried a lot of different ways, but in the end I think I was able to combine them in a way the maintains the flow of the song on a whole.\r
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(Watch in 1080p!)\r
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DOWNLOAD:\r
MP3 (320 kbps): \r
AAC (320 kbps): \r
Apple Lossless (ALAC): \r
FLAC: \r
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----) Download all BGM from episode: \r
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(Download all Songs/BGM from season 4 will be added at the end of the season at the bottom of the description!)\r
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OTHER VERSIONS:\r
Regular: \r
Scootaloo Only: \r
Apple Bloom Only: \r
Sweetie Belle Only: \r
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For a playlist with all of the Songs/BGM and songs from this episode in order: \r
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Music By: Daniel Ingram\r
Orchestrations By: Steffan Andrews\r
Lyrics By: Ed Valentine & Daniel Ingram\r
Performed By:\r
Michelle Creber\r
Madeleine Peters\r
Claire Corlett\r
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Support the show by downloading this episode on iTunes! - --\r
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***UPDATE: The COMPLETE season 4 original soundtrack is now available in two simple zip files! Get the whole thing at once here: