a new pony shows up to town. pinkie pie, in typical pinkie pie fashion, throws them a party with the usual wealth of cakes and cupcakes. the new pony is visibly uncomfortable at the party and won't eat any of the food. pinkie pie is upset that the party isn't going over well and confronts the new pony, who explains that they have a medical condition that means they can't eat this food. pinkie pie decides she has to throw a new party, for which she plans to bake new food using nominally safe ingredients. the new pony hears about this through the grapevine and breaks to pinkie pie the information that because this food was baked with contaminated kitchen implements, it's still not safe--but they really appreciate how hard pinkie pie is trying to include them. the episode ends with pinkie pie and the new pony baking together in the new pony's safe kitchen, and the lesson at the end is something like "it's not always obvious how to include someone when they have needs you've never encountered before, but if you talk to them about it instead of guessing, you can find a way together." cue credits.

here are some reasons i would be unhappy about this episode:

i don't know about other celiacs, but i find it stressful when someone who isn't another celiac tries to include me by making food for me. i have to weigh how much i care about disappointing them versus how risky i think that particular food is versus how much i'm going to have to manage their feelings if i do take the risk and the food does make me sick. the more someone is trying to include me by making food for me, the more anxious they tend to be about the possibility of making me sick, the more anxious i get about the possibility of having to reassure them that i'm not mad at them after i throw up a bunch. it sucks. please don't make food for me unless we've discussed it extensively. i hate having to do this math. i hate having to tell people that they put all that effort in and made me feel worse.

but the lesson in this episode is "it's on the disabled person to manage the feelings of the people who are failing them." it's completely from the perspective of the non-disabled person. the disabled person is more of a prop for ~learning that you should accommodate disabled people~ than a character in their own right. obviously the new pony is grateful and happy about the effort, and doesn't have any complicated feelings about any of it. you know?

also, while i do feel that the show would definitely depict baking together as an uncomplicatedly happy bonding activity, part of what sucks about having celiac is constantly being put in a position of having to make your own food. if you want something that tastes good and isn't going to hurt you, chances are you literally cannot buy it pre-made. sometimes you can't even buy something that tastes mediocre-to-bad and isn't going to hurt you. it feels bad when everyone else can get a food you miss dearly just by paying money in exchange for it, while you're staring down a recipe that will take you several hours and require specialized kitchenware most people will never even idly consider buying.

so an episode where the solution is "just participate in making your own safe food" would be disappointing to me. yes, that's the position i'm in if i want to be able to eat at a lot of events. but the idea that this is the best i could ever hope for makes me pretty sad. the ponies have magic! surely the zoning laws in equestria would allow for making a communally-accessible safe kitchen somewhere in the town limits, possibly with some kind of wheat-repelling force field around it. and then pinkie pie could make definitely safe food in a way where the new pony doesn't have to help. but i don't think the show writers would come up with this. i think they would see an activity that multiple people can do together and they would slam a big button that says FRIENDSHIP without thinking about the implications.

$1,250,000/4 br/2 ba/1,474 sq ft

Skaneatles, NY

Spinach Anthotype