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1.01 The Mare in the Moon (Friendship is Magic Part 1)
- The mayor addresses the public with "fillies and gentlecolts". Since colt and filly are terms for immature horses, does it mean they never grow up? Not that it couldn't be somewhat plausible in this franchise, but then, what about Granny Smith? (and Pinkie Pie refers to her own grandmother in one of her songs) Also, Rarity mentions "stallion of her dreams".
- Nah, it's just a pun for a pony-society. Usually when there is an animal society, they make use of animal stereotypes and what we associate with them, and put it in 'out society'. Like a mouse-society has places all being puns on 'cheese'.
- Also, "mares and gentlestallions" doesn't have the same cadence of "ladies and gentlemen." "Fillies and gentlecolts" does. "Stallions and gentlemares" does, but would probably be too confusing.
- Humans have many such expressions in which grown adults are referred to as "girls" and "boys".
- Okay. Fluttershy doesn't know that dragons can talk?
- Is this really so surprising, seeing how ponies don’t know much about dragons and Fluttershy is afraid of them?
- Maybe she didn't know that BABY dragons could.
- Baby dragons are normally guarded by adult dragons, so most ponies never get to see them.
- Fluttershy did say that she'd never seen a baby dragon before.
- In the first episode we are introduced to Fluttershy because she's in charge of the music for the Summer Sun Celebration. Why? She's good at music and all, but there are ponies in Ponyville whose special talent is music! Fluttershy is too shy and timid to perform without good reason. I know the story reason (they needed to introduce Fluttershy), but there must be an in-universe reason too.
- Fluttershy wasn't the one performing; she was helping the birds to rehearse so they could perform.
- Which ponies in Ponyville have music as their special talent?
- Vinyl Scratch is a musical pony.
- Lyra Heartstrings and Octavia, for starters. Any pony with an instrument or music on their bum?
- Octavia doesn't live in Ponyville; she lives in Canterlot, or at least she almost certainly does since she performed at the Grand Galloping Gala and the garden party from "Sweet and Elite." Similarly, Vinyl Scratch appeared once at a fashion show attended by Hoity Toity (who made the trip from Canterlot), and in Canterlot itself for her only other appearance, meaning she most likely lives there as well.
- Lyra was seen in Canterlot as well in the first episode (waving to Twilight), but was also present in the background at Ponyville, so she's a bit harder to write off apart from her special talent likely not having as large a role in her life as in Octavia's or Vinyl's, since we've seen Lyra many more times than either of them but never witnessed her doing anything musical. Further theories can be made depending on whether Lyra was a Canterlot resident who moved to Ponyville at the same time as Twilight (in which case she obviously wouldn't be involved with preparing the Summer Sun Celebration) or a Ponyville resident taking a trip to Canterlot (the trip would have severely cut into her prep time, so she chose not to perform at all).
- It is confirmed in Season 5 that Lyra moved to Ponyville from Canterlot after the Summer Sun Celebration. So she wasn't part of the town to be chosen for music at the time.
- Alternatively, it was all part of Celestia's plans to get the Elements to meet Twilight.
- Fluttershy is in charge of the birds who sing for the ceremony. It's the same for Princess Cadance's wedding in Season 2. The difference seems to be between hiring a DJ or an orchestra. The celebration is a formal event, so bird song is what is traditional.
- In the first episode, when Nightmare Moon shows up, we see Apple Bloom cowering with Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell, even though she never met them until the episode with Diamond Tiara's cuteceañera. What's with that?
- Coincidence. Think about it - you're a young pony about to see the beloved princess during a great festival. Instead, suddenly everything goes dark, thunder crashes, and an evil-looking bizarro-Princess turns up. What do you do? Hide in the nearest spot you can find. Two other young fillies had the same thought process. Also note that the mane six were rather close together at that point, so chances are Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were with their big sisters, and therefore in the same basic area and close to that table. The coincidence isn't unlikely. Hell, the whole thing from Cutie Mark Chronicles is a way bigger coincidence than that.
- Plus, even if it wasn't, are you really expecting consistency in a show where Twilight is walking around (albeit with bandages) after getting a piano and a cart dropped on her and yet Rainbow Dash ends up in hospital because she crashed while flying?
- No, it's much more clever than that. "Everypony everywhere has a special magical connection with her friends, maybe even before she's met them."
- Princess Celestia tells Twilight to stop reading those dusty old books... then arranges for her to live in a library. Yeah, that'll stop her from reading books.
- I think the "dusty old books" she's referring to are the ones detailing Nightmare Moon. Twilight can freely study anything else, but the point was to bring Twilight out of her shell and make some good friends. (aside from Spike)
- More just a general 'You need to get out more, girl!' statement.
- Ah, but does she say that? The only source we have for that is Spike; when asked about it later: "I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more." (Additionally, Twilight misattributed Spike's "old pony's tale" appellation to Celestia.) Perhaps Spike was inserting his own opinions into his letter-reading...
- That couldn't be Spike. Spike is not the type to lie about what Celestia says.
- When Rarity meets Twilight for the first time, she says she's never been to Canterlot. Why not? "The Best Night Ever" shows it to be within no more than a few hours' walk, and Cheerilee takes the kids there on a school excursion in "The Return of Harmony". If she loves Canterlot so much, why can't she make a day trip there? Sure, what she actually means is "I should be in Canterlot, being worshiped as the fashion genius that I am", but that's not what she said.
- That's a bit cynical, don't you think?
- First, I think Rarity meant that she wanted to go to Canterlot because that's where the center of her industry is and she could use the opportunity to further her fashion career, not that she already deserved to be there. Second, she probably didn't go herself because she's running a business and might not be able to justify closing up shop for a week to travel. She's able to do so later in the series because after Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores, and Photo Finish gave her some publicity, business picked up enough that she could afford to leave the shop for a few days.
- My theory: Canterlot, being the Royal City, is restricted to outsiders. Whenever the Mane Six visit Canterlot, they tend to be accompanying Twilight, a Canterlot native and somepony who answers directly to Celestia, or it's during a special event. Non-Mane Six ponies tend to be there during special events (The Gala, the celebration after Discord's defeat, Hearth's Warming Eve, etc). If Rarity has access to the Royal City now, it's likely due to her being a rising star in the fashion industry, complete with connections, thus making it easier to get permission to enter. Not to mention the Mane Six are now National Heroes, so that probably helps, too. In other words, Rarity didn't have the resources to enter Canterlot when she first met Twilight. That's my best guess, anyway.
- This is a good point. And when Rarity does visit Canterlot in Season 2, Celestia is the one who arranged for her to stay. Any time she or the Mane Six visit, they're staying at the palace as guests of Celestia.
- Is anyone else a little confused that in the beginning of the episode Celestia tells Twilight to make some friends? I mean, doesn't Twilight consider Spike a friend? Celestia probably meant friends her OWN age, but when Spike reads the Letter that Celestia wrote, neither mention whether he is Twilight's friend or not. They both just address as her never having friends at all.
- They probably think of him as a family member. After all, they've been together for almost Spike's entire life.
- This is confirmed in episodes like "Owl's Well That Ends Well," where Spike is afraid Twilight doesn't love him anymore. And in "The Secret of My Excess," when Spike said, every birthday that he had in Canterlot, Twilight was the only one who ever got him a present. So while, she may seem a bit bossy and short-tempered with him, she would see him as an adopted brother.
- Another Head Scratcher comes into play with this if you consider that Word of God states that Celestia raised young Spike before Twilight was able to. Why didn't his surrogate (and incredibly wealthy) mother ever get him a gift?
- Twilight needed to have at least five friends in order to unlock her true magical potential.
- Well Celestia might think that Spike doesn't quite count. Twilight is responsible for him hatching, so she might only have cared for him and kept him around because she felt obligated to. Celestia wants Twilight to go out into the world and socialize, meeting friends for herself.
- They probably think of him as a family member. After all, they've been together for almost Spike's entire life.
- How did Celestia wield the Elements against Nightmare Moon on her own? The Elements were at that point weilded by Celestia and Luna, but it doesn't make sense for Nightmare Moon to willingly use the Elements to banish herself to the moon for a thousand years and even if Celestia forced them on her the result should have been similar to what happened when Twilight and her Discorded friends tried to use them against Discord.
- Perhaps this explains why she could merely banish Nightmare Moon and not defeat her?
- Despite what the show has given us information wise it's possible that you don't need six people to wield six Elements of Harmony. If the show was more combat based and less friendship based I suspect we would have found by now that take my sword will work.
- I'm guessing that you need to be very powerful and very focused to wield more than one Element at a time. Celestia is both.
- Word of God
is that, as soon as Celestia used all six elements against her sister, she became unable to use the elements again; perhaps she created a spell that only works once allowing a single, highly powerful alicorn to wield all elements simultaneously, at the cost of never being able to use them again.
- Why didn't Celestia lower the moon? It's clearly within her power to raise and lower both the sun and the moon so while it might not have been a long term solution she could have solved this problem and then perhaps taken her sister and the ponies aside and at least TRIED solving this problem with words and not just with Luna. I think I might be a bit wrathful too if I raised the moon and nobody loved me for it.
- The description is a bit vague, it says that Celestia tried to reason with Luna, and Luna refused to lower the moon, then transformed into Nightmare Moon. I imagine Celestia figured that forcing the moon down would have just made things worse, and she may not have been able to until the one actually in charge of the moon was dealt with. Plus, it's implied that once Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon, she was more powerful then Celestia.
- I'm guessing it's easier to lower the moon when there isn't another being with comparable power levels around trying to keep it up. Luna/NMM might have been able to keep it up, forcing Celestia to take her out before she could bring the sun back up.
- And if you watch the Season 4 flashback to when it happened, Luna challenges Celestia and transforms into Nightmare Moon - then a huge battle happens. So Celestia seals her in the moon as a quick solution to a time-sensitive issue. So Luna was already imprisoned in the moon and Celestia had no choice but to lower it afterwards.
- How was Twilight reading anything at the beginning? The pages of the books she was on clearly only had 4 pictures and no text.
- Its an old pony's tale. Maybe the book was an artist's interpretation and Twilight was telling the story that her parents would have told her as a kid.
- The future of Equestria depends on Twilight making some friends so she can harness the power of friendship. Celestia is implied to be a Chess Master, so she probably intended for Twilight to meet and befriend the five specific ponies that she does. So why does she wait until the day before Nightmare Moon's return to send her to Ponyville? Even if she somehow knows that this group will become best friends, isn't it kind of reckless to just assume that they'll form a strong bond within 24 hours? Couldn't she have made up some pretext for sending Twilight to Ponyville a few days earlier to give them more time to form a relationship?
- I'm guessing that she suspected that if Twilight spent too much time with them without the threat of NMM to force a Fire-Forged Friends situation, they stood a better chance of driving her away than bonding with her (Pinkie alone was dangerously close to doing precisely that with her penchant for unannounced parties - she's the one who drives Twilight to growl "All the ponies in this town are crazy!" even after she'd met the Five).
- A Fire-Forged Friends situation is the only way that Twilight would ever spend time with other ponies. Twilight is known for spending all her time reading and only really speaking to Spike and the princess, who she is obligated to. Putting her into a crisis where she'd have to work with other ponies was probably the only thing that would work. It's not too different from those corporate team building exercises that put colleagues into situations where they have to work with people they don't know, as a way of building bonds. And Celestia does have a habit of putting Twilight into dangerous situations whenever she wants to test her skills, so it's pretty consistent with her character.
- The first episode of season 7 offers another answer: Celestia knew Twilight needed friends, and knew of a close-knit group of friends in Ponyville that she would get along with, but Celestia had trouble letting her pupil go. She worried that if Twilight had made friends, she wouldn't need Celestia anymore, so Celestia avoided sending her away until she realized she couldn't avoid it any longer.
- Chess Master or not, Celestia's master plan to save Equestria comes perilously close to being derailed on several occasions. Shouldn't the Princess have had a backup plan or two in place? Why not retrieve the 5 Elements of Harmony and store them safely in Canterlot, and let Twilight Sparkle know where they were stored, instead of taking the risk that Nightmare Moon would find them in the ruins first and sequester them where even their shattered remains couldn't harm her? Why not train a whole army of other unicorns who already have friends, so they could all open a can of Friendship-flavored whoop-ass on Nightmare Moon the moment she appeared? We're talking about The Night That Never Ends here! Plants can't grow without sunlight, and without plants everypony would starve to death within a year if Nightmare Moon had her way. Those are awfully high stakes to play "I want to teach Twilight to make friends" with. Also for the love of all things holy, why did she wait until the day of NMM's return to try to get Twilight friends. Try sending her to meet her destined companions a couple of days before at least.
- It could at least be partially hand-waved by saying that the Element of Magic could only be activated by a pony learning/experiencing the magic of friendship for the first time. It would tie in nicely with Twilight's desperate plea for "just one spark" with the five sealed elements.
- Well who is to say that Celestia couldn't have just sealed Nightmare Moon away again for another 1000 years if Twilight didn't unlock the elements of harmony. Celestia's desire was for Twilight to purify Nightmare Moon for good, which is something she was unable to do.
- When Spike mentions that Rainbow Dash is supposed to clear the sky, Twilight states that SHE's not doing a very good job. She never met Rainbow before, and pony names are unisex. How did she know it was a she?
- Celestia probably used "she" when describing her in her letter.
- How would eternal night work? Wouldn't it just cause the same about of eternal day on the other side of the planet? (We've seen enough model planets to assume the world is round.)
- Maybe Nightmare Moon just wanted her subjects to be subjected to eternal night and damn the other side of the planet.
- Why did Princess Celestia assign Twilight Sparkle's living quarters to the library? More specifically, why did she assign Spike's quarters at the library? Still more specifically, why did she let the fire breathing dragon live inside a wooden tree and surrounded by flammable, paper books?
- Said tree is specifically mentioned to have a magical lightning rod. I don't think magical sprinklers are out of the question.
- Said dragon's flames merely teleport paper material to the princess, as evidenced by Spike's hiccup and the rain of scrolls on Princess Celestia. Lady knows what she's doing.
- Said paper materials fall on Celestia's head. Lady hasn't thought her cunning plan all the way through.
- The book's ashes didn't fly out the window to Celestia. It's the scrolls that are magical, not the fire.
- The best explanation this troper has run across is that ponies (or at least unicorns) communicate via specially prepared scrolls which, when burned, reappear in the fireplace of the addressee. Because Twilight moves around frequently for field work or at the request of the princess but is almost always accompanied by Spike, he is registered as her "fireplace" for postal purposes. Spike's fire acts normally when used for cooking and burns other paper normally; those specially prepared postal scrolls are the only things teleported.
- What, and they keep their town records on the same scrolls?
- Said dragon's flames also destroy books, as evidenced by Spike's dragon flames destroying books.
- Yes but the binding didn't burst into flames with the rest of the book, so the bindings on Equestrian books are probably fire proofed and water proofed given the number of unicorns that practice magic that exist.
- Spike has good control over his fire. We see him burn a book on accident all of once, and he reacted like it had never happened before.
- According to Ms. Faust Spike's sending ability is a learned skill taught to him by Princess Celestia. Since breathing fire is a natural part of a dragon's biology, his sending skill is probably like tensing a muscle, he can do it whenever he wants, but it can also happen accidentally.
- As for assigning Twilight to live in the library, it's Twilight. She would've gone there everyday if she lived in a normal house anyway.
1.02 The Elements of Harmony (Friendship is Magic Part 2)
- Why was Applejack so vague with Twilight? If I was hanging off the edge of a cliff and someone told me I'd be safe if I let go I wouldn't call BS on that too. Instead of just saying Rainbow will catch you or something to that effect. Really, the whole thing just seems pointless so we can demonstrate Applejack being "honest" for later. It wasn't like Applejack was struggling. If she hadn't told Twilight to let go Rainbow and Fluttershy could have just helped her up the cliff a few seconds later.
- For that matter, why didn't she just hang onto her until Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash could come get her, rather than let her fall so far before they could catch her? She's probably strong enough.
- Given the choice between putting all your trust in the strong, sensible pony holding your hooves and looking at you, and putting it in a hyperactive pony who crashes into things and another who's terrified by the sight of you... Applejack was probably better off not mentioning it. And the pegasi might have had wing clearance issues getting that close to the cliff edge.
- Yeah, I agree with this. Plus, every pony except Applejack had to demonstrate their element against adversity. Rainbow Dash and Rarity made sacrifices, Fluttershy risked a mauling, Pinkie Pie had to overcome fear, and Twilight had to recognize her newfound faith in her friends. But Applejack had no reason not to tell the truth. Unless... the test was that just crosses it into Idiot Ball territory.
- She had to understand how to withhold information without compromising the truth, and did that by reassuring Twilight rather than ordering her to let go, and appealing to her trust instead of pointing out the pegasus ponies below. Huh, this looks a little like Fridge Brilliance...
- ...until you realise that Applejack (and the rest of the cast) had no idea that they were supposed to prove or learn anything, or that they embodied the elements. All they knew is that they were on a quest to find an ancient Mcguffin and defeat the Princess's evil sister.
- Applejack didn't know (and didn't have to know) it had to be a test to know how to stay truthful while not frightening Twilight.
- It's possible that Applejack was afraid of Twilight pulling HER down too, but along with the then-questionably-skilled pegasi point, maybe she didn't want to tell her.
- Applejack comes from a huge family - she knows the difficulty and importance of real friendship firsthand, and she decided to hammer that bodily into Twilight. Because Honesty... is brutal.
- That makes sense. The whole scene kind of reminds me of one in Finding Nemo, where a character's order for another to "let go (and fall)" was also a metaphor for letting go of your children. Twilight never had friends and was clearly afraid, fearing she might be let down or whatever. Maybe Applejack was savvier than anybody realised and knew that Twilight needed to take a really big step and trust them if they were going to get out of this. The first step to friendship is trust. And that was the first step Twilight faced in the forest.
- It makes more sense that it was just a 'trust' exercise. We have a similar thing in real life, used to drive the point home: one person stands behind the other, and the second person is supposed to fall backwards without looking, counting on the first person to catch them or hold them up. Applejack, from her high view on what else was happening, probably saw the other two friends were open to catch her, and decided to use this as an opportunity to build up Twilight's trust in the others. It could have been keen foresight on her part, too; as far as they were concerned, this was just minutes before they'd all have to save the world from eternal night, which one troper pointed out would equal the fridge horror of death-for-everyone, since plants need sunlight and ponies primarily eat plants. Applejack was making use of this brief period of time before that uncertain point that would decided whether or not there'd be a tomorrow at all. She was basically saying 'We're going to have to trust in you in a few minutes to prevent the end of our lives as we know it, you might as well get familiar with this whole 'trust' thing.' It's a two way street, and if you were going into what could very well be the final struggle of your life, you'd better be able to say your comrades were dependable.
- It still doesn't explain why she didn't just say that Twilight would be caught by the other two, which is where the "trust game" analogy breaks down. In an emergency situation, you absolutely must tell people why you are doing something and why you are telling them to do something, or you risk panicking them. The issue of trust still could have worked if Applejack had assured her that the two would have caught her and not e.g. dropped her. Moreover, Applejack wasn't supposed to prove her trustworthiness. She was supposed to prove her honesty. Discord was capable of being as technically honest as Applejack, but no one would trust him an inch.
- Fridge Brilliance: Applejack did prove her honesty because she witnessed Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy save Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Furthermore, even if Applejack did point out that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy would save Twilight before letting her go, it's quite likely that Twilight still could have panicked or shown a little doubt.
- Why were the trees with scary faces defeated by laughter, and not by ignoring the harmless non-threat?
- Because an Element of Ignoring would be a poor addition to the team. For a more serious answer: the ponies were actually afraid of those trees (and you can hardly blame them, since they were a magical illusion, not something caused by simple fear of the dark), and fear isn't rational. So they needed a little incentive on Pinkie's part.
- What was Nightmare Moon exactly? split personality, brainwashing, an evil symbiote entity, a Beneath the Mask moment of Luna?. Nightmare Moon had an opposite personality from the little we saw of Luna. Compare Nightmare Moon who was much more confident (even making an evil speech and kidnapping Celestia) and more menacing looking. While Luna seemed like a more fragile timid and insecure pony (from the little we saw of her body language) wich make the riddle more intriguing.
- Lauren Faust has stated that Nightmare Moon was caused by an external 'evil magic' feeding on Luna's jealousy and hatred. Exactly what it is, no clue.
- Besides, wouldn't you feel awkward and insecure after your darker nature tried to take over the world and instill a forever night?
- Why was the legend of Nightmare Moon such a mystery to everyone beside Twilight in the first place? I mean, her silhouette was imprinted in the frigging moon for the last thousand years. Did nopony ever question why there's always been a huge horse head on the surface of the moon? And it's not like they wouldn't find the answer if they wanted, since the tale of pony sisters was available in the books (Twilight had one)
- It might have been a rare book, perhaps from Celestia's own collection. Not to mention the woeful literacy rates among ponies has been mentioned repeatedly, Twilight (and Pinkie of all ponies) are the only ones ever seen reading.
- Celestia tried to get rid of as much as she can because she didn't want her sister to be the Bogeymare.
- This is probably accurate. I imagine Celestia wouldn't be particularly eager to have her sister's... indiscretion remembered too vividly. If the populace had her recorded as a Great Evil of Myth and Legend, it would be much harder for Luna to be accepted than if she was only known as a villain for a few hours. In fact, this would also be a great reason to hold the millennial Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville rather than a large city like Manehattan — everyone who saw Nightmare Moon could easily meet Princess Luna immediately afterward, and it would be much easier for the royal announcement of Luna's return to outrun the stories about Nightmare Moon. The whole story could then come to light after the fact, complete with a happy ending.
- How much thousand year-old history do you remember?
- Some guy got nailed to a wooden thingy.. Then again, this could also lead to the concept of a Luna-centric cult. And what better way to kill the basis of a cult by making it boring? 'Oh, that's nice, dears, you're pretending to be the Mare in the Moon. Now help me harvest these rubies.' 'Oh, allright..'
- In all seriousness, though, we know quite a bit about our history back to about the mid-to-late of the iron age, when people were becoming really good at writing things down. One of the challenges for historians, however, is separating fact from legend—Troy, for example, was thought to be fictional until the early nineteenth century. At best, however, we have the broad strokes, because the further you go back, the less details we have. It could be the same with the legend of Nightmare Moon, ponies know she existed, but its hard to tell how much of stories are true, and how much is apocryphal.
- But only because we actively study it. Pony-academia seem rather limited, especially because those ponies that are well-read/highly educated seem to conform to the academic recluse stereotype.
- I think the Mare in the Moon story is similar to how we have the story of the Man on the Moon (or how the Japanese see a rabbit on the moon), just an old folk tale to explain an odd pattern. Meanwhile, the actual story about Nightmare Moon is less well known, hence Twilight's line about how "The Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon," because the mare in the moon is well known, while Nightmare Moon wasn't.
- Well Season 2 reveals that there's an entire holiday based around Nightmare Moon. So it could be thought that Nightmare Moon was just a legend and that's why everypony was baffled by Twilight suddenly talking about her as if she were real.
- For that matter, why is everyone so surprised that Luna is Celestia's sister? It's only mentioned in the opening narration/book AND the book that tells them where to find the Elements ("the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters")...
- As for the image on the surface of the moon, ever heard of the man in the moon, which this is a reference to? It's just a fairy tale, which it how the mare in the moon is regarded.
- It is not mentioned in the opening narration that Princess Celestia was the same pony who defeated Nightmare Moon ages before. It just refers to "two regal sisters." Why would Twilight automatically assume that Princess Celestia is over a thousand years old?
- Because it mentions that Celestia has ruled for "generations since".
- That doesn't follow. A generation is, for humans, roughly 30 years. There's roughly 33 generations in 1,000 years. She could have ruled for generations since, died sometime after the legend covers, and so on, with a normal line of succession. In fact, that seems far more plausible without knowing the full backstory than the idea that Celestia is over 1,000 years old.
- It doesn't mention Celestia, it says "The elder sister".
- Never mind Luna, but didn't Twilight know who Celestia was? If she knew she was one of the sisters from the story, why did she feel the need to inform her that "the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon"? Or for that matter that she was about to be released — if some old book knew that, how likely would Celestia not? And how would people not know she appeared all the way back in those stories, since she was right there among them all the time, living forever and clearly not just another ordinary ruler? They couldn't possibly miss her being so special, so why would they be incurious enough about it to forget the stories related to her?
- I think the answer to both of these is that no one knew just how old Celestia is, and so no one made the connection and realized that the older sister mentioned in the legend was her, and not some distant ancestor. Twilight would hardly have felt any need to tell Celestia about the legend if she realized that she was one of the only two characters in the story.
- Twilight isn't the sort to ask her mentor impertinent questions about her age/personal life. Both because it would be rude, but also because Twilight doesn't care about such things.
- Okay, we know that a lot of Equestria's ancient history has fallen into myth and mystery. Why has Celestia allowed this?
- Poor record keeping skills?
- Even though the princess has clear memories of some the most critical moments of Equestrian history.
- It may have been intentional, she did not want the truth about Luna known and spread through the world so she allowed it to pass into myth. Much of the ancient past is a painful memory for her. This seems to change once Luna returns, as we see her readily revealing various ancient history and allowing normal ponies to know it too.
- Why not? For one thing, her own library does seem to contain pretty much all necessary information, so it isn't truly lost. For another, she has been around since forever, so her personal memory covers most of Equestria's history. If the rest of the country doesn't care enough to keep records, why would Celestia force them to? Walk around on Earth and see how little people know. There was a recent survey in the USA and nearly half the people questioned didn't know who the enemy was during World War 2! And that's less than a century ago and the information is easily available on the internet. People just don't care. Equestria seems to be the same but even worse. The average pony lives very much in the present and doesn't give a thought to the past.
- Poor record keeping skills?
- When Twilight asks Fluttershy how she knew the Manticore had a thorn stuck in its paw, she responds with, "I didn't. Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness." That's incredibly stupid, and incredibly dangerous; it could have gotten all of them killed. It could have easily been justified with a simple line such as "I have a special connection with animals, so I knew something was wrong," but no. She gambled all of her friends' lives on a groundless assumption.
- How was she gambling anyone's life but her own? She walked up to the manticore while the others stayed behind; if she had failed and been torn to pieces, they could have went ahead with their mass charge without a hitch. I guess maybe her blood on the ground might have made the terrain less sure, but that's probably offset by the fact that any venom it would've injected into her when it stung her to death would have been less it had available to use on the others.
- Excellent point. But even if she wasn't risking anybody but herself, it's still a stupid and groundless assumption.
- Not if Fluttershy was powerful enough to kill it in single combat. Would The Stare have evaporated its soul? Can she apply her knowledge of therapeutic kung fu to asskicking, like a pony Wong Fei Hong? We don't know. We've never seen the true extant of the horror that is "Flutter Rage". Pray we never do.
- Knowing Fluttershy, it's quite possible she knew it would work, thorn or not. No-one — with the possible exception pf Pinkie Pie, who recognized the Parasprite — knows more about animals than Fluttershy. She knew how to deal with a dragon — despite being scared of them and apparently knowing less about them than most other animals. She knew how to deal with a Cockatrice. She knew that even she couldn't intimidate or reason with a hungry Hydra. It's likely she knew that the Manticore would respond to a soft couch.
- This I kind of doubt. Just because Fluttershy is very talented with animals doesn't mean she knows everything about every kind of animal; she wouldn't have gotten so frustrated with the animals at the Grand Galloping Gala otherwise. She doesn't seem to know anything about dragons at all, given how she reacted to Spike (and I personally think she was really lucky that red dragon was as sensitive as he was; scolding does not preclude one from being bitten in half). In any case, she says she approached the Manticore not out of any prior knowledge, but because she wanted to show it kindness. And that as a justification all on its own is stupid. Most critters on the show have shown signs of being quite a bit more than just animals (when Fluttershy asks the blue jay to correct his rhythm, he smiles and agreeably nods his head), but the Manticore doesn't seem to be one of these.
- She was annoyed with the Gala animals because they were ignoring and running away from her. And dragons are the exception, not proof that she can't tell if the Manticore
- Well, Fluttershy has many talents: veterinarian, model, singer, fashionista... "Tactical genius" is not among them.
- She's the Element of Kindness. But being the bearer of a personification of a positive trait doesn't leave you immune to the trait's dark side. Honesty's a virtue for example, but if you're being honest about what you think and what you think turns out to be WRONG, such as unjustified contempt of other people, you're just a Jerkass instead of a truthful person to be admired. Loyalty's a virtue, but if you're loyal to a group that's doing something evil, like Hitler for example, loyalty could end up overriding your conscience (see also: Milgram's experiments on obedience). Kindness also has a dark side, because if you're selflessly altruistic to someone without first checking to see whether or not they deserve your kindness, you could end up raped. So, since Fluttershy's the Element of Kindness, it does kind of stand to reason that she'd be vulnerable to the foolish ways kindness can make someone act if it uses you instead of you using it.
- I don't really disagree with that, but the Elements having negative traits didn't come until much later in the show. This is only the second half of the first episode, when we're still getting to know the basics of everything. The problem I have with this bit is that Fluttershy's actions are portrayed as "right", or the best course, despite being very unsafe bets and unfounded guesses. So while I agree with every Element having a dark side, I think that here we're supposed to agree with Fluttershy, so the flaw still stands, not that it's anything major.
- Fluttershy has a special connection with animals, so she likely knew that the manticore wasn't angry at the ponies. Besides, it would be in her nature to want to protect the manticore from the ponies as much as to protect the ponies from the manticore.
- It doesn't matter if they were introduced later. There are still negative parts of the traits. And why can't they be seen as right. They're not going to send the message that showing kindness is wrong are we?
- I think that Fluttershy is, in general, an empath and telempath. Meaning, she can sense and project emotions. She also has mind control abilities, though I don't know if she knew that yet.
- Well perhaps Fluttershy is particularly good at distinguishing between when an animal is angry and wants to kill mindlessly, or else is just in pain and needs some help.
- If in-universe pony/animal psychology is anything like IRL human psychology, it was not a groundless assumption. You'd be surprised how often it really works even when you're dealing with a would-be shooter. To be clear, that's absolutely not to say that kindness always works without fail, but Fluttershy never said kindness would definitely work either. She just took the chance because that's her Element.
- How is it better for the sea serpent to have a mustache that's half orange and straight and half purple and curly? Does he look any less ridiculous that way than with just half an orange mustache? And why isn't he bothered that his new half-stache had previously hung right behind a horse's butt? Not exactly the most sanitary thing to have dangling from one's face.
- Perhaps he just felt lopsided. Then again, he could have just had Rarity cut the other half off.
- As for sanitary issues, remember they are sentient horses who take baths and go to spa, so we can't really compare them to the real horses we know. Not to mention it's Rarity's butt we're speaking of, there's probably less bacteria on it than on most people's hands. Also, Nobody Poops.
- Maybe he's colorblind. And he could probably straighten it out.
- Maybe just the act itself cheered him up.
- Having mistmatched colors would be better than only having half a mustache. Only having half would look off balance, at least the tail gave some balance. And whose to say he didn't style it later?
- Who wouldn't want a moustache like that?!
- A pony who only just met him is willing to cut off her tail (which she obviously take a lot of pride in, and time and effort maintaining) just to cheer him up. How big of a jerkass would he have to be to start saying "It's not good enough!"?
- Maybe he just has a funky sense of fashion. But also, yeah, he saw how much Rarity sacrificed for him and he probably didn't want to seem ungrateful.
- He's wearing a Rarity original.
- He's a vain, highly fashion-conscious sea serpent. Of course he knows how to color, style, straighten, and wax the perfect moustache — but he can't do it without raw material. In fact, the natural curl of the new extension is already giving him ideas...
- Rarity is a brilliant social manipulator, and is particularly good at knowing exactly what to do to make others friendly toward her. It's been displayed in many later episodes as one of her specific talents.
- Tails have muscle and nerve endings in them. Rarity's is no exception, she can wave it and use it to pick things up. How then was she able to slice it off like it was just a piece of hair? (Perhaps this is just a headscratcher for some, but I got a little nauseous the first time I watched Episode 2; before it became clear she was fine)
- Watch a real horse's tail move sometime; the part which is actually biologically the tail is actually kind of stumpy; the rest is just hair (and Rarity's shenanigans are just cartoon physics).
- Either that, or Steven Magnet's fainting suddenly makes a lot more sense.
- Watch a real horse's tail move sometime; the part which is actually biologically the tail is actually kind of stumpy; the rest is just hair (and Rarity's shenanigans are just cartoon physics).
- Why does the freshly un-corrupted Luna look completely different from the Luna we see in season 2? At the end of this episode she's basically no bigger than any of the Mane Six with normal-looking hair. Then in season 2 she's as big as Celestia and had sparkly hair. I don't understand.
- There are several theories, so pick whichever you like the most: a) Being hit with the Elements of Harmony and purging her of Nightmare Moon left her weaker than normal, and when she regained her power, changed to what we saw in season 2. b)That's how she looks in the day, and the season 2 look is how she looks in the night or c) Luna's looks have to do with the phases of the moon, the one on S2 was "Full", while the one on S1 could have been either.
- Or you can just take the most logical option: someone with such immense powers could easily change their scale, as seen in the S2 episode, where she transforms into larger NMM and back at will. This is just her deciding to have this specific size because reasons
- There are several theories, so pick whichever you like the most: a) Being hit with the Elements of Harmony and purging her of Nightmare Moon left her weaker than normal, and when she regained her power, changed to what we saw in season 2. b)That's how she looks in the day, and the season 2 look is how she looks in the night or c) Luna's looks have to do with the phases of the moon, the one on S2 was "Full", while the one on S1 could have been either.
- "Pinkie? What are you doing? Run!" Said by Twilight, who herself wasn't running when that happened.
- We now have Word of God that it was Celestia who freed Nightmare Moon (they're no longer involved in the show, but they were at the time). So why didn't Celestia admit this afterward when everything worked out? They latter clarified her word no longer applies due to no longer being the main showrunner, but it still sounds like it was her intent at the time.
- It's likely the original intent was for there to either be a reveal later on, as Celestia's overall plan became clear, or it was something Twilight was going to discover for herself. Once the show runner changed the story direction did too and since it had never been established it was never followed up on.
1.03 The Ticket Master
- How can Celestia possibly have a nephew? Unless I'm missing something from a previous incarnation of the show, there is no explanation that I can see that explains how Luna had a son. Unless of course, Celestia has more relatives.
- Word of God says that "Luna and Celestia have no siblings and no children" and that Prince Blueblood is "the great great great great great great great great great great great (and probably even more greats) nephew on Celestia's and Luna's mother's side, about 52 times removed, roughly speaking."
- ... which would make him more distantly related to Celestia than any two humans in Europe are to each other.
- Real-life Europe is kinda short of 1000+ year old spinsters, so, unfair comparison.
- No matter how many 'greats' you put in fornt of it, it would still make him the descendant of Celestia's sibling. It should have been a cousin, not a nephew.
- No it shouldn't.
- Word of God says
- When Spike and Twilight hide from the crowd of greedy ponies, Spike disguises himself as a hula dancer, complete with grass skirt and what appears to be a coconut bra. What kind of creature in Equestria could possibly have breasts?
- female dragons? my little human dolls?
- Harpies, if The Last Unicorn has taught us anything.
- Rule of Funny
- Rarity fantasizes about Prince Blueblood proposing to her with a ring she puts on her horn. So what if you're not a unicorn? Would you put it on your hoof? Wouldn't that technically make it a bracelet?
- Maybe earth ponies and pegasi have other wedding habits?
- So, what exactly is the criteria to get into the Grand Galloping Gala? It's implied to be extremely exclusive, so much so that even Twilight, her best student, didn't get invited for years. Then the fact that the rest of the Mane Cast weren't invited right away even though they saved Equestria from eternal night AND Nightmare Moon's rule. What on Earth does it take to get invited?
- Nobility or connections to may be a factor (as for why Celestia didn't invite Twilight for years... Celestia always found the party boring and probably didn't want to subject her to that, not without a backup plan). And by the way, Ticket Master is the first episode after the premier. She probably did send them the tickets fairly soon afterwards (probably after reconnecting with her sister). She didn't give them all tickets immediately because Celestia strikes me as the Trickster Mentor type (so wanted Twilight to work up the courage to ask). My own question is who the heck Ditzy/Derpy knows that got her in there?
- Alternately, Twilight did get invited in previous years, but didn't care enough about the event to want to go. Pre-friendship, she was a loner and wouldn't see the point in going to a party when she could use the time for studying, and she spends enough time with Princess Celestia that she has no reason to show up. In "Ticket Master", she presumably hasn't seen Celestia or been to Canterlot for a while, so she sees it as a good opportunity to spend time with her mentor. Case in point, in "Best Nigh Ever", she doesn't really care about the Gala itself so much as the chance to see Celestia again.
- Isn't Lyra Heartstrings near by in the same scene as Derpy? Maybe they went together?
- As to why Twilight was only sent two tickets. Given that Celestia seems to view the gala as a boring, stuffy waste of time that she has to suffer through every year, she might not have realized how much the rest would like to go to it. And also given that the letter that came with the first tickets didn't read like it was a personal note from her, but more like a form letter that would get sent to anypony who was invited, it's possible she simply told whatever pony was handling the invites to add Twilight's name to the list, and she got the basic form letter and guest +1 tickets. Then as soon as she found out all the mane 6 wanted to go, she sent the extra tickets herself.
- Muffin Button.
- How did Pinkie round up ponies to help with her bribery party without them learning about the Gala ticket?
- She claims to know every pony in Ponyville, and seems to be good at throwing parties. It shouldn't be a big deal for someone like her to gather up few friends and ask them for a favor.
- I'm sorry, I intended to put stress on the "not learning about the gala ticket" part. Especially because Pinkie is the only one who says upfront she's trying to bribe Twilight for the ticket in her song.
- Pinkie and Logic go together as well as oil and water.
- She gathered those ponies by saying she was throwing a party for the new unicorn in town, but she didn't mention the ticket.
- Verified. Remember what happens once the other ponies learn about the ticket.
- Ponyville Party Drill.
- She claims to know every pony in Ponyville, and seems to be good at throwing parties. It shouldn't be a big deal for someone like her to gather up few friends and ask them for a favor.
- I hadn't really thought about this until I read a YouTube comment mentioning it, but if the weather is totally scheduled in Ponyville, then why was the outdoor restaurant open if there was a rainstorm scheduled soon?
- Rainbow Dash did that on purpose.
- This right here. Dash was relying on unauthorized weather usage as part of her bribe.
- The pegasus only schedule the day, but not the exact time? They're not completely reliable, remember they also forgot to schedule a rain one week and the next one they had to make a storm.
- Well, everypony else went inside before the rain started, so it's possible that the restaurant has both inside and outside dining areas, and everyone just moved inside when the clouds started rolling in. Twilight didn't notice because RD was messing with the weather. Maybe there is a schedule and the restaurant just informed the patrons to move inside and continue their meals.
- The rain might have been scheduled earlier or later in the day, and RD was just late/early at getting it started.
- Rainbow Dash did that on purpose.
- Why was Rainbow Dash sleeping in a tree and not on a cloud like she usually does? And why at Sweet Apple Acres when she was trying to avoid helping Applejack?
- In "The Ticket Master", during Rarity's daydream, the prince gives her an engagement ring. This was cool looking, with it on his horn, until I realized that ponies don't have fingers to wear rings. Even if this is just a unicorn thing, we don't see any unicorns with wedding bands on their horns.
- Maybe it's different in Equestria than on Earth. Wedding rings for unicorns might not be worn as often as for humans. Maybe they only wear them on special occasions or even just for the wedding.
- Also in that episode, the first thing I thought was "why not just ask the Princess for more tickets?" Because Twilight can't think straight from hunger, is why.
- She might have felt that asking for more tickets would be rude.
- Agreed; when someone gives you free tickets to an exclusive event that presumably has a limited number of spots available, it's not exactly polite to use your connections in an attempt to get more tickets.
- No doubt this was Twilight's reason, but it's worth noting that Celestia asks that very question in her reply.
- It's a recurring theme throughout the show, to the point of driving the plot of multiple episodes, that Twilight Sparkle still worries a lot about offending Celestia under circumstances where any objective observer would know that Celestia wouldn't remotely feel offended. Also, the entire plot of this episode is driven by the fact that those tickets are extremely valuable and almost the entire population desperately wants one; given that, its not that irrational for Twilight to think "Two tickets? I suppose those were all the tickets that were available."
- She might have felt that asking for more tickets would be rude.
- Applejack tells Big Macintosh if she can get all the golden delicious apples in the barn by lunchtime, he must walk down Stirrup Street in one of Granny Smith's girdles. How do ponies wear girdles?
- Humans call them "cinch straps."
1.04 Applebuck Season
- There is a mule in applebuck season. a mule. As in, the sterile offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. That implies quite a bit... and the fan assumption is that donkeys are on the same level as wildlife, meaning some mare in Ponyville is very promiscuous. There is no other explanation.
- When the Pon Farr takes you, little can be done except to hide the children and the infirm.
- Why the assumption that donkeys would be on the level of wildlife? The mule seemed to be perfectly capable of holding a conversation and understanding basic social graces, so why assume that a donkey wouldn't be at least on the same level as the talking cows? Heck, Zecora isn't technically a pony either.
- A season 2 episode confirms that donkeys are not on the same level as wildlife, and are in fact fully-functional members of society.
- So far it seems Bovidae (cows and bison) and Equidae (ponies and zebras) are fully sentient, along with griffins and dragons. Also Rule of Funny.
- Word of God is that hoofed mammals and some mythological creatures are sentient and able to talk, other animals are not.
- If it was that hard for Applejack to harvest the orchard, and she only got halfway through before asking for help, how does the Apple family get it done every other year with only one extra pony helping? The failed favours she did to her friends can't have added much to it, even if each took, say, an hour, which they probably didn't. Did she just arbitrarily decide not to sleep at all?
- I think the implication is that Big Macintosh normally does way more than half of the harvest each year. That's probably why Applejack is so keen to prove she can handle a bigger share.
- Well, he is a lot bigger (and presumably stronger) than her. Apparently he's smarter too.
- Or because she's trying to get all the applebucking done by herself in the same amount of time it normally takes her and Big Macintosh to do it working together.
- Also, she's doing not only the applebucking but in addition numerous voluntary tasks for her friends. She bites off more than she can chew.
- I think the implication is that Big Macintosh normally does way more than half of the harvest each year. That's probably why Applejack is so keen to prove she can handle a bigger share.
- Why, in the scene where Twilight first tries to talk to Applejack about how she's clearly overworking herself, does Twilight teleport every couple of steps instead of walking? Applejack walks maybe 30 feet as a generous guess during the entire course of the conversation, and there's really no reason for her to teleport instead of walking alongside. I mean, she's athletic enough to run a marathon with careful pacing, but can't keep pace with a tired, slow-moving pony and has to teleport instead? Every time I see this scene I just get more and more confused.
- She's trying to get her attention. It kind of draws more attention to suddenly teleport rather than to just slowly trot alongside her, seeing as Applejack is kind of brushing her off there.
- What in the world could hurt Big Mac in the first place? This is a pony that could be dog piled by what looks like the a town's worth of ponies and shake them off easily. And he has been know to drag a two story house behind him while hopping and is barely slowed by it. That level of strength and Required Secondary Powers of Toughness should have made Big Mac all but invincible.
- Maybe he's boosted by the Power of Love? In both of the above cases, he was under a love spell when performing feats of strength. Love can probably allow ponies to do the impossible otherwise.
- No matter how strong and/or tough someone is, they still have their limitations. The real question here is what could have caused such considerable damage to a tough pony like him?
- Short of Dragons, Ursa Majors, Princess Celestia / Princess Luna, Queen of the Changlings (Rule of 34 or not), I don't think anything else has a chance of harming him. And why the heck didn't anyone notice if it took those rather dramatic causes?
- I get the idea that ponies don't work on strength alone, they have magic weight reduction powers. We see him boot an entire town's worth of ponies but has trouble with a cake which he presumably doesn't want blown over by a gust of wind. He wasn't kicking off those ponies at their full weight, he reduced them to a fraction of their actual mass, then launched them away.
- I found the cake scene off too. Maybe Bic Mac has a lot of strength but not stamina? Continuos effort tires him out, not bursts of effort. Which would explain why he was panting in the Cider 6000 episode.
- My guess in regard to the cake thing is twofold: 1. we don't know how long he was holding it for; even when you're holding something relatively light, it feels really heavy after a while. He only dragged the house for a few minutes. 2. Dragging something heavy is totally different from holding something heavy on top of you. His leg muscles are probably strong from bucking stuff, but for all we know his back might not be as tough as the rest of him and he buckled under the constant strain.
- Weight reduction powers might help, but it was litteraly one Big Mac against a town full of ponies that probably could had weight powers too. And he pwnd them all! In an eye blink from the bottom of a pony pile!
- Big Mac was trying not merely to move the cake, but to avoid dropping it. That requires very precise control over his muscles, which is very wearying over time — more so in many respects than simply exerting a lot of strength to pull something heavy that is attached to oneself and hence can't be "dropped."
- Doesn't the first few minutes of this episode kind of show that the Elements of Harmony may be on the wrong ponies? This isn't just that AJ is dependable. she is literally stated by herself, AND the entire town, AND the pony holding the Element of Loyalty, to be the most loyal pony in town. Now, I know that they pretty much never talk about the elements outside of episodes where they need them, but there is no way RD and her giant ego would've been on board with AJ being declared the most loyal pony in town when she's basically the living embodiment of that unless it was true.
- She wasn't declared the most loyal, she was declared the most dependable. You can count on her to do what she says she will do, but she's not particularly devoted to ponies. Indeed, this episode includes one of many good examples of why she isn't actually loyal enough to represent the element, as she's willing to put her own pride before her duty to her friends and the town — she's so insistent on proving she can do the job by herself that she works herself to exhaustion at the expense of everyone else.
- Applejack is extremely honest and honorable (into Honor Before Reason territory): she has difficulty lying even by omission (it's somewhere between funny and painful watching her on the rare occasions she tries to lie). In contrast, while Rainbow Dash is both honest and honorable by most standards, we've seen her lie competently. And RD is at least as loyal, if not more so, than Applejack.
- Does it strike anyone else as weird that the first few minutes of the previous episode directly contradict the main conflict underlying this one? Applejack will enlist a friend's help to win a bet, but not to take care of applebucking when it's actually a serious matter?
- Negative Continuity.
- Applejack finds it easier to accept help in a game than in something she takes more seriously. Her rivalry with Rainbow Dash is playful on both their parts, even though they both strive very hard at their contests.
- In the cupcakes scene Applejack added potato chips, lemon juice, soda and earthworms, I mean two liquid ingredients and two solid and big ones that are not able to curdle the mixture, so how did those failed cupcakes become solid and spongy when baked?
- That wasn't all that was added to them. Pinkie was also adding her own set of ingredients as well. Just giving AJ a list of what she needed to add. Also, someone made those and they turned out fine. (As long as you substitute gummy worms for real ones.)
1.05 Griffon The Brush Off
- Maybe it's just me, but in this episode I get a really bad Aesop in the form of "if a friend of yours is or acts like a jerk, drop them right then and there." I mean, okay, when left alone in town she's a Totally Radical bitch, but I thought the entire message of this show was "help your friends better themselves, and let them better you." Pinkie Pie at least tried to follow that creed, the entire point of the party was to improve Gilda's attitude, but Dash? When your old friend with a Hair-Trigger Temper reaches snapping point after a borderline Humiliation Conga you unintentionally set up for her, I was hoping the freaking Element of Loyalty would have a little more grace than to basically say "this is my new in-crowd, GTFO," especially when you're the likely only one who can actually get her to stop antagonizing your new frinds.
- It's made even worse when you consider the fact that, as far as we know, her actions may have been justified based on how griffons behave amongst themselves. However, the alternative of Rainbow Dash deciding to keep hanging out with her may be even more counter-intuitive to her element in the end, seeing as how she would split her loyalty between two groups. I completely agree on how harsh she was to quickly sever all ties with Gilda, though. There was clearly some lost potential there, hopefully we get to see more of her in the future.
- I got the idea that it's more like Gilda is the one who severed ties. After she showed her true colors Rainbow Dash gave her an ultimatum - "These lame-o's happen to be my friends. If you can't accept that you're not the person I thought you were and I'm not so sure I want to hang with that kind of person." - and Gilda decided that she'd rather wash her hands (talons?) of Rainbow Dash than admit that she was wrong. So no, Rainbow Dash wasn't exactly being purest acceptance and virtue with her ultimatum, but Gilda is the one who decided to get out of town; Dash would probably have reconciled with Gilda if she'd apologised and admitted she was wrong.
- I can understand that, but the way everything was presented, it feels like an unfortunate case of Poor Communication Kills than anything else. Gilda has a bad attitude, but that could understandably be because of a slight Blue-and-Orange Morality situation on account of her species being high predatory and frequently accounted as having particular animoisity with horses. She also clearly respects Rainbow Dash to a high degree and cares deeply about what she thinks of her, so it kinda feels like there was an oppurtunity for Dash the sit Gilda down and at least try to reconcile the differences between her and the rest of the Mane Cast that just went to waste, Pinkie Pie was just trying to get Gilda to lighten up, and Rainbow would have stood a better chance at being successful, seeing as griffons have a reputation of Undying Loyalty to their partners, meaning Gilda might have listened for Dash's sake if that option was presented. An ultimatum like that was a little too much to ask of a visibly agitated and aggressive person when the subject of the ultimatum was also partly the source of said agitation, the pranks she fell for were admittedly reaching the point of being considered excessive. "Help your friend learn to control her temper" would have made a friendlier Aesop than "Don't bother with a friend who can't keep her anger under control" is all I'm saying, and this show is all about constructive lessons.
- I think these sorts of lessons depend on the specific case. It's universal ethical principles that matter, but which ones apply to which situation varies. You have to use nuance to figure out which ethical principle applies on a case-by-case basis and why, and be able to justify it rationally. For example, yes, it's usually a better idea to help your friend better himself/herself. If this friend is not capable of listening, however, then SHE'S not acting like a friend TO YOU, so it's actually much smarter to stop associating with her, for fear that you might end up wasting your time (or even worse, pick up her bad habits). And Gilda is incapable of admitting error. Not just about her behavior at the party; she never apologized for stealing an apple and scaring Granny Smith half to death and scaring Fluttershy into tears. Rainbow Dash dropped Gilda because Gilda's incapable of apologizing for ANYTHING, it was just Gilda's behavior at the party that finally helped Rainbow Dash see that since Dash didn't see the petty theft and bullying. It's GILDA who failed to act like a friend, not Rainbow Dash (or even Pinkie Pie, for that matter, who even threw Gilda a party to cheer her up despite having a very good reason to try to seek revenge on Gilda). Gilda was given chances, she chose not to take them.
- One YouTube comment put it this way: I think saying, "If you're going to treat my friends this way then you can fuck off" demonstrates way more loyalty than tacitly accepting her old friend treating her new friends like dirt would. Thing is, loyalty is a two-way street, and those who try to abuse Rainbow Dash's loyal disposition should, by rights, become liable to lose that loyalty. There's a BIG difference between fierce loyalty and blithe servility, and that scene neatly demonstrates that.
- Yeah, Rainbow Dash's ultimatum was less "These are my new friends, GTFO" and more "If you can't be nice to my other friends, I'm not going abandon them to hang out with you instead", which is definitely loyal. She was basically telling Gilda "I'll still be your friend, but only if you treat my other friends with respect". Gilda didn't want to accept that, so it's her that really broke the friendship off. Dash was still willing to be Gilda's friend, but only if Gilda didn't force her to abandon the rest of her friends.
- It's made even worse when you consider the fact that, as far as we know, her actions may have been justified based on how griffons behave amongst themselves. However, the alternative of Rainbow Dash deciding to keep hanging out with her may be even more counter-intuitive to her element in the end, seeing as how she would split her loyalty between two groups. I completely agree on how harsh she was to quickly sever all ties with Gilda, though. There was clearly some lost potential there, hopefully we get to see more of her in the future.
- The term "fake friend" got passed around to descibe Gilda at the end of the episode. Maybe I'm just not understanding the term the way it was used, but how was her friendship fake? She is incredibly possessive of Rainbow, but that's pretty much par for the course when you have a borderline Clingy Jealous Girl as a companion. She is only civil when Dash is beside her, but makes no real secret of her disdain for the rest of Ponyville. Dash's new friends are not automatically Gilda's friends, and Gilda only wants to associate with Dash while on her visit. Gilda is a punk who doesn't know any of these ponies at all, Dash simply couldn't reasonably expect her to be friendly with everybody they met up with during the day. Newsflash girls, Gilda wasn't using Dash, or setting her up for humiliation, or anything like that, she just had a bad attitude, a bad day, and really wanted to spend the day with Dash with no one else around.
- Trying to drive away and just generally being rude to every other friend Rainbow Dash had isn't exactly how a good friend should act. The ponies are all generally willing to give Gilda a chance and get to know her, since she's Rainbow's friend. Gilda, on the other hand, doesn't respect Rainbow enough to even give her friends the time of day, and at the end of her rant basically tells Dash "You're not allowed to have any friends other than me."
- I admit that does makes sense, but remember, Dash only introduced Pinkie Pie as a friend at first, and she did make an annoyance of herself when Dash and Gilda where trying to be alone, and when Dash introduced the rest of the Mane Cast you had already heard at least one of Gilda's nerves snap. (Please note the preceding sentence is not an attempt to justify Gilda's berating the ponies she met.) Griffin mythos are usually quite consistent in portaying them as either solitary or in close-knit family units, so to Gilda it would probably be sensible, if unfounded, for her to feel possessive of Dash and threatened by the new crowd. Wanting a person to hang out with only you is selfish and stupid, but that's life and relationships for you. I just interpreted Dash as taking Gilda's outburst as her not thinking ponies worth her time, including Dash, which wasn't the message Gilda was trying to project. And on the side, Dash should know by now that Gilda is a bomb that only needs the smallest spark to blow up, ending a childnood friendship over one overblown emotional outburst just seems like giving up to quickly.( Dash doesn't get told about Gilda's impassioned little tirade against Fluttershy, but even if she did know there is still room for the option of just talking a compromise out so Gilda could calm down and stop viewing the rest of Ponyville as a challenge, ultimatives only get negative results in these situations.)
- While I agree that this episode wasn't written as well as it could or should have been, Rainbow Dash never really gave Gilda an ultimatum, she just called Gilda out on her behavior. I don't think she could have known Gilda for that long and still expect her to roast marshmallows with the mane 6, but she did expect her to at least be civil. Notice how Gilda stutters after Rainbow's scolding; she knows she's in the wrong, but is too proud to admit it, and would rather pin it all on Dash for being a "flip-flop" than admit to being at fault.
- Gilda is a fake friend in so far as she's only really concerned with what she can get out of the friendship. She's cool with Dash, but only on her own terms; she wants RD all to herself with no respect for the fact that Rainbow Dash has other friends she'd want to spend time with.
- Trying to drive away and just generally being rude to every other friend Rainbow Dash had isn't exactly how a good friend should act. The ponies are all generally willing to give Gilda a chance and get to know her, since she's Rainbow's friend. Gilda, on the other hand, doesn't respect Rainbow enough to even give her friends the time of day, and at the end of her rant basically tells Dash "You're not allowed to have any friends other than me."
- What bugs me is that Pinkie acts every bit as selfish as Gilda at first, yet we're clearly meant to take her side. Gilda was wrong to take it upon herself to inform Pinkie that she and Dash wanted to be alone, but it's somewhat understandable given Pinkie's clingy behavior. When Twilight draws the not unreasonable conclusion that Pinkie is jealous, she gets angry and storms out, apparently because she wasn't told what she wanted to hear. Now, to Pinkie Pie's credit, she does take Twilight's advice into consideration and try to give Gilda the benefit of the doubt, which is very good of her...and then Fluttershy comes out of nowhere for no reason other than to set up Gilda as a dog-kicker. It's as though the writer's were thinking, "Uh-oh, the situation's too ambiguous and nuanced! Quick, bring in Fluttershy! She has total power over the audience!" But, again, Gilda still proves herself to be a Jerkass by the end of the episode, so Rainbow Dash's calling out of her is more or less justified. Despite some clumsy writing, this episode turned out okay...except for one small thing; Twilight apologizes to Pinkie. WHAT?! She didn't owe her any apologies! She came to the logical conclusion, and Pinkie took her advice and was the better pony!
- Twilight was quite right to apologize. She didn't pay much attention to what Pinkie was saying, preferring to page through a book instead. Then she made no attempt to find out if Pinkie was right about Gilda or not, she just brushed Pinkie off. She was apologizing for not taking the time and effort to find out if Pinkie had a case or not before dismissing it as jealousy.
- To be fair, Pinkie seemed to visit Twilight just to vent about Gilda making her leave her and Dash alone for the day, rather than discuss how aggressive Gilda was behaving towards her. That would come off as rather clingy seeing how much time Pinkie had spent dragging Dash around in a pranking spree before Gilda showed up. Pinkie herself didn't yet really know how much of a Jerkass Gilda can be, and was only fuming over not being able to get to spend time with Dash yet. She didn't even mention Gilda pushing her around in the clouds, and didn't even seem to be as offended by the bullying as much as being pegged as a third wheel. Twilight probably assumed that Pinkie was ejected from a scenario she had forced herself into, and offered the advice "Stop trying to monopolize Dash when she has other company," which is a completely sensible thing to do if all that Pinkie told her was that Gilda was occupying Dash when Pinkie wanted to hang out with her, which, let's face it, was probably all she told Twilight, Pinkie almost never bothers with the whole story.
- Twilight's advice was good advice to give at the time, I agree. But even taking that into account, a simple apology when it became apparent that she had been misreading the situation is appropriate enough. Had I personally been in Twilight's position, I would also have felt I owed Pinkie Pie an apology. Had Pinkie Pie reacted badly to the apology, instead of taking it in her stride, I would in turn feel bad for Twilight.
- I would agree with that if Twilight's advice hadn't proved largely true in the end; Pinkie was being clingy, and she herself eventually acknowledged it. Twilight basically apologized for being right.
- Having rewatched the episode, I have to disagree with "proved largely true". Twilight apologized for "accusing [Pinkie] of misjudging Gilda", in her own words. She also says "looks like I'm the one who misjudged you." Pinkie hadn't misjudged Gilda, and Twilight had misjudged Pinkie, by assuming that Pinkie's jealousy was the sole reason for her dim view of Gilda. Pinkie told Twilight 3 things: that Gilda was keeping her away from Rainbow (this sounds jealous and clingy, I admit), but also that she popped Pinkie's balloons and told her to "buzz off". Twilight was paging through a book at the time, and only seemed to pick up on the first part. The truth of the matter is that she didn't pay enough attention to what Pinkie was saying before coming to her conclusion. The apology is completely justified, and if anything doesn't go far enough, since it makes no mention of Twilight not paying attention.
- Twilight never misjudged Pinkie; everything she said Pinkie Pie herself later admitted to being true. There's no doubt Gilda is a Jerkass, but that in and of itself doesn't mean Pinkie was always in the right, as she's made out to be. The very first reason she gives for disliking Gilda is that she's taking away Rainbow, which is blatantly selfish no matter how you slice it. Twilight owed Pinkie no apologies whatsoever.
- How is ignoring all but one thing a person says not misjudging? One should listen to all a person's reasons for feeling a certain way, not just the first, and most selfish reason. In contrast, had Twilight apologized for calling Pinkie out on her jealousy/selfishness, then that would be an apology that Pinkie wasn't owed. Secondly, Pinkie was not always in the right, since she was jealous of Gilda. But she didn't think of her as a Jerkass for that reason alone, which is pretty much what Twilight accused her of, thus misjudging her. Finally, Pinkie never demanded an apology. Twilight offered it. Perhaps Pinkie at the time should have admitted that Twilight's mistake was understandable, but that doesn't affect the propriety of the apology itself.
- Twilight didn't "ignore" all but one of Pinkie's complaints, she took them in the context she was presented; "She popped my balloon" sounded like a rather trivial complaint when Pinkie neglected to mention how she was using them to stay arborne, and only mentioned it as an afterthought offense, and, while telling someone to scram is just plain impolite, when Pinkie again doesn't elaborate on how abrasive Gilda was in dismissing her, and we are all in agreement that Pinkie came off as clingy in this episode, you can see that Twilight thinking that the cold shoulder Pinkie was given was a neccessary action in order to get some personal space is the most likely conclusion anyone would have drawn. Now; Twilight was noble in given the apology on her own, good for her, Pinkie listened to Twilight and didn't make an issue, also good for her, and Gilda is a thug no matter how you slice her, not good for her, just wanted to say how this whole deal looked to Twilight given how it was presented to her and to ask please don't get indignant over Twilight being human... pony... whatever.
- I have continually acknowledged that Twilight's conclusion (while mistaken) was understandable, so no indignation here. The only thing I wish to argue against is the assertion that the apology was not warranted. To claim that she was taking those two other comments in context is entirely unsupported by any evidence. Twilight doesn't give any sign that she even heard the whole of what Pinkie had said, since she doesn't make any mention of the popped balloons or the “buzz off” comment at all. She told Pinkie that “...just because Rainbow Dash has another friend doesn't make Gilda a grump.” That's touching only on Pinkie Pie's first comment, not the others. Secondly, those words themselves are exactly why I feel Twilight has misjudged Pinkie. Twilight is partly right... Gilda spending time alone with Rainbow Dash doesn't make her a grump, it's all the unnecessarily mean stuff she did to Pinkie Pie to get her to leave her and RD alone that makes her a grump. Twilight either didn't hear those things mentioned or didn't give them enough credence to comment on them, and in both cases, that is a mistake on Twilight's part. A large enough mistake to warrant an apology. To go even further, I would say that that is exactly what the writers were getting at. Consider the cold open to this episode. We have Pinkie telling a story, and Twilight nearby trying to read a book and ignore Pinkie altogether. She even heaves a visible sigh of relief when Pinkie runs off after Rainbow Dash. This mirrors what happens later when Twilight is again not giving sufficient attention to what Pinkie is saying, hence her getting the wrong idea (not about the jealousy, but about Pinkie's jealousy causing her to misjudge Gilda) and hence justifying an apology.
- This is neither the first nor the last time that Twilight ignores something crucial Pinkie's trying to tell her. It's obvious why Twilight does it — Twilight is an organized rational thinker, who likes to outline her reasons for her actions and beliefs. Pinkie is brilliant but in a bizarre and intuitive fashion: her stated explanations for her actions and beliefs often make no sense on the surface. Compare with "Swarm of the Century," where everyone (including Twilight) ignores Pinkie with the result that much avoidable trouble is not avoided.
- To go back to the original question, I don't think that Pinkie was being as greedy as Gilda was. Pinkie's aim was simply to spend time with RD, and if Gilda wanted to hang out too, that was fine with her. She just wanted to be included, not to exclude anyone else. Gilda on the other hand, didn't just want to hang out with RD, she wanted to actively exclude anyone else from hanging out with her. To put it in terms that will obviously lead to innuendo, Pinkie was okay with sharing RD with Gilda, but Gilda wanted RD to herself.
- Exactly. Doesn't Pinkie have a right to want to be included? She's just spent the whole day (?) having fun with Rainbow Dash and all of a sudden this old friend appears on the scene and pretty much dictates that she gets all of Rainbow's attention and time. Pinkie seems perfectly happy to want to get to know Gilda and hang out with her too at first. So presented with an awkward situation, Pinkie was willing to compromise and Gilda wasn't.
- But doesn't Pinkie have literally everyone else in town? If someone wants to hang out with Dash privately for a few hours, can't she just spend time with them?
- "Doesn't Pinkie have a right to want to be included?" She has a right to want to be included, but she doesn't have a right to actually be included. Gilda and Rainbow Dash were perfectly entitled to some alone time with each other, and it wasn't her place to force her way into that. It's not "compromising" when you're refusing to let anyone else have fun without you, purely because you can't stand to be alone, even for a little while.
- If I recall, Pinkie did give them alone time. Gilda says that she and Dash had a planned flying session, and Dash said they'd hang out later. Pinkie leaves them to their fun and checks in on them later - at which point Gilda starts rebuffing her. And it looks as if Gilda's visit was a surprise one - as Dash never mentioned anything about an old friend whose visit was planned. So Gilda turns up out of the blue and expects Dash to drop everything and everyone in her schedule to accommodate her. Note that Dash doesn't tell Pinkie she wants alone time with Gilda; it's Gilda herself who says "Dash doesn't need to hang with a dweeb like you now that I'm around." At not one point does Dash tell Pinkie to leave them alone.
- Dash said to Pinkie said to her that they'd catch up with Pinkie later; Pinkie interrupts them during their race and says that it's later, and she caught up. Dash might not have particularly minded her presence, but that doesn't mean it was Pinkie Pie's call to make. She should've let Dash and Gilda decide when to meet up with her again, rather than chase after them.
- Twilight was quite right to apologize. She didn't pay much attention to what Pinkie was saying, preferring to page through a book instead. Then she made no attempt to find out if Pinkie was right about Gilda or not, she just brushed Pinkie off. She was apologizing for not taking the time and effort to find out if Pinkie had a case or not before dismissing it as jealousy.
- So why were there presents and birthday candles on the cake? It wasn't a birthday party... that's the BIGGEST headscratcher of this episode!
- Clearly, Pinkie had some extra candles and wrapping paper lying around and didn't want them to go to waste.
- If Pinkie Pie wasn't the prankster, why did she have the hoof buzzer on her?
1.06 Boast Busters
- If Trixie travelled in the wagon, then who pulled it in the first place? She's no Earth Pony.
- She probably moved it magically, like how Twilight moved the snowplow in "Winter Wrap-Up".
- No reason why she couldn't pull it herself. We saw Twilight and Rarity- both Unicorns -hauling heavy carts overflowing with gems in 'Dog and Pony Show'. Unicorns may be overall weaker than Earth ponies, but they can still do feats of strength or defy the stereotype.
- Why do Snips and Snails look NOTHING like everypony else? Snails looks more like a goat and Snips like a pig than any kind of horse.
- Maybe they're from a far-off town or something.
- To distinguish them from the common looking ponies.
- What are Snips and Snails' purposes supposed to be?
- I'm afraid to think about that because of their Too Dumb to Live status.
- Well, since they are 'what little boys are made of', I can only presume that their purpose is to be Token Males.
- this is probably true but it doesn't really work as an in-universe answer.
- They're the village idiots.
- Well Snips's cutie mark is a pair of scissors, so probably has to do with cutting something. Barber maybe? Snails is a bit thougher to figure out though.
- Fancy French Cuisine. Ponies probably enjoy their escargot.
- They're vegetarians. They can't eat meat (even squishy booger meat).
- Ponies eat egg containing baked goods, so they aren't very strict vegetarians.
- Gardening? Or at least keeping snails and other pests out of gardens?
- There will never be an in-universe example.
- I got it! Snails' is a snail because he's slow!
- Anyone else think that Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were a little out of line when they first started criticizing Trixie's boasting? Seriously, all she had said at that point was announcing herself and her tricks as (paraphase) "a magical performance beyond anything else you have ever seen", standard street performer hyperbole, that was all she had said, no belittling had come out of her mouth yet, and suddenly they're ripping into her like she just called them pond scum under her hooves. The really bad tall-tales and insults came only as an understandable knee-jerk reaction to a challenge to her pride.Honestly, Rarity and Applejack, like either of you haven't done the same ego-stroking to yourselves before, or put up with someone else's. Yes I do mean Rainbow Dash, and notice that she gives a Hypocrisy Nod to her own bragging while calling Trixie on hers, which is either better or worse than Rarity and Applejack outright disregarding their own.
- No. There was some serious values dissonance with the Mane Cast in regards to Trixie and her stage act. That's her way of earning money to eat and live. Her boasting was to attract a crowd to see her show, like pretty much every other stage performer in history.
- Watching the show, it seems the only people to take issue with the performance was the mane cast. The rest of the town seemed genuinely entertained.
- They were only entertained once she started showing up the Mane Six. Watch the crowd's reactions prior to that; they're certainly paying attention, but their reception is rather icy — at one point, the response to her is even crickets chirping.
- I hear this excuse a lot, but I don't believe it. True, Trixie's first announcements were just hyperbole and par for the course of any magic show, but then she gets downright insulting and condescending, and not only is that bad conduct, it also seems, to me, to be bad business; you never flat-out insult the audience. Poking fun is one thing, but direct verbal attacks (even when they're not directed at the audience as a whole) can (and should) cause a huge backlash. If media examples from the last several years are anything to go by, there's very little room for "attitude" and oversensitivity when entertaining a crowd.
- To make up your own minds, here are snippets of that key dialogue:
Snails: There's a new unicorn in town!Snips: Yeah! They say that she's got more magical powers than any other unicorn ever!....Trixie: Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the great and powerful Trixie! Watch in awe as the great and powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!Rarity: My, my, my, what boasting.Spike: Come on! No pony's as magical as Twilight.....Twilight: There's nothing wrong with being talented, is there?Applejack: Nothing at all, 'cepting when someone goes around showing it off like a school filly with fancy new ribbons.Rarity: Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic does not make one better than the rest of us.Rainbow Dash: Especially when you've got me around being better than the rest of us! *catches Applejack's expression* Er, I mean, yeah! Uh, magic schmagic! Boo! *looks sidelong at Applejack*Trixie: Well, well, well. It seems we have some neigh-sayers in the audience. Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the great and powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they are in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?Rarity: Pfft. Just who does she think she is?....Rainbow Dash: So, great and powerful Trixie. What makes you think you're so awesome anyway?Trixie: Why, only the great and powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!- Maybe they viewed Trixie as a con artist?
- probably this. We have to keep in mind that this is a world where magic is real. Trixie is not the equivalent of a stage magician, she's the equivalent of a quack doctor.
- No. There was some serious values dissonance with the Mane Cast in regards to Trixie and her stage act. That's her way of earning money to eat and live. Her boasting was to attract a crowd to see her show, like pretty much every other stage performer in history.
- But Twilight herself seemed to feel her friends weren't being entirely fair to Trixie. She was afraid that if she did what Spike urged her, and bested Trixie with her magic, that they would then think of Twilight herself as showing off. If she thought they were being reasonable, why was she worried about that?
- At first, yes. Then Applejack explained to her that they were less bothered by the talent than by the public boastfulness. Somehow, Twilight got it into her head that any public demonstration of her powers, especially to upstage someone (even a show-off like Trixie) would be tantamount to showing off herself, and so she became shy about it until the Ursa came into town. Being seen getting up on stage and "showing off with her magic tricks" seemed to her to be what her friends disliked. Rainbow Dash does make it clear at the end that Twilight got the wrong end of the stick: "Magic's got nothing to do with it. Trixie's just a loudmouth."
- Okay, got that, but what was their problem with Trixie and her bragging exactly? She hadn't yet insulted or belittled anyone when they started voicing their complaints, she certainly wasn't hurting anyone, and "She shouldn't be talking herself up so much," sounds so hypocritical when you see how much Rainbow Dash pats herself on the back throughout the series and how easily everyone else puts up with it. It's not like Trixie was forcing the crowd to watch. They pretty much caused a scene in the audience for very trivial reasons, and they were acting almost as stuck up as Trixie throughtout the whole showdown against her. Hubris is a character trait that should cut, but not by more hubris, and thats what made Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity look so unreasonable and catty in this episode; they got angry at a performer just for bragging about how good she is, which is what at least one of the three does themselves almost every episode, and responded by saying they were better than her.
- I've mostly just come to find that a lot of Season 1 in general suffers from characters acting like idiots for the sake of the plot. It appears that the writers at the time just assumed that teaching kids morals was more important than consistent characterization. It wasn't until Season 2 and the adult fandom really started being noticed by the show staff that they began to focus on keeping things more in-line with established character.
- Their problem was that the advertising did not match the product. Bragging that includes "she's got more magical powers than any other unicorn ever", she "performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes", and "the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria", especially when the latter two are said in a voice that practically screams insufferable show-off, is just asking for it. Note that the few ponies who are skeptical of her claims have recently dealt with a Physical God, are friends with a unicorn whose defining attribute is magical power, and actually can follow up their own boasts.
- The key word here is 'skeptical': they don't actually make a scene, they pass comments among themselves, and RD makes the scene by shouting boo. The others don't insult her beyond comparing her to a school filly with fancy ribbons, the implication being that her announcing her magic using so many superlatives is simply immature. This is while she magics flowers out of thin air, so it is implied that this sort of thing is more mundane than Trixie makes it out to be. Plus, whatever else her failings are, Rainbow Dash actually asks the sensible question: what makes her think she's so special? Their skepticism pays off because the answer tells you everything you need to know about Trixie. Long story short, they're reacting to Trixie's overblown advertising.
- Though I'll admit Rainbow Dash was clearly out of line booing her and doing some boasting herself, but it's clear at least Applejack doesn't approve of this either. And you can't deny that claiming to have vanquished an Ursa Major (after said skeptical audience member asks her point blank why she thinks she is so special), which is implied to be extremely difficult to do, is bragging gone too far, especially since she never demonstrates any magic that even matches the more trivial challenges Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity actually set her, never mind that would be up to the task of vanquishing an Eldritch Abomination. Come on: exaggerated advertising, snooty voice, Jerkass behaviour in showing up her skeptics, inability to even do exactly what they do when challenged, never mind to do it better - How Anvilicious does her Small Name, Big Ego characterisation have to be?
- Well, I certainly understand what you are saying; my whole issue is just how the conflict and message was carryed out. Go on a message board and look for a comment complaining about whatever the topic is, and I gurantee you that there will be at least four comments along the lines of "go look at something else then," it's the same principle in a live show; you're supposed to just walk away quietly when it isn't what you wanted to see, it's a bastard move to throw rotten tomatoes.
- Dont Like Dont Watch is not a fair response to complaints unless the complaints are persistent, especially complaints that have a strong basis in fact. Considering they'd just pointed out, and subsequently proved, that Trixie was considerably less powerful than she had advertised herself to be, telling them to go away for voicing their scepticism would be downright rude. The only one who actually did "throw rotten tomatoes" was Dash. Applejack and Spike made one complaint each (Rarity two) before Trixie actually noticed them (after Dash shouts "BOO"), and two of those 'complaints' were explanations to Twilight - who had, after all, asked why they were unimpressed.
- And let's not forget: they weren't picking on a poor street performer whose hyperbolic advertising was misunderstood by a bunch of uber-critical Literal Genies. They were exposing a snooty Miles Gloriosus charlatan who seemed to have the other ponies under her thrall, if Snips and Snails and the crowd's reactions to what went on were any indication. Kudos to them for calling her out on it.
- Lastly, calling complaining, never mind their getting up onto the stage and showing off their skills in response to being directly challenged themselves, a "bastard move" is excessive; not least of all because they were actually good at what they did, Trixie challenged them into doing so with the assurance that she could (and was going to) do better, and was frankly overdue a Break the Haughty (the only way she could possibly have lost face in that situation was by being exposed as a fraud by her own excessive boasting). If anything, the Ponyville crowd made the "bastard move" when they laughed at the mane cast's humiliations, despite knowing them at the very least as the ponies who saved them from Nightmare Moon. Frankly, I'm surprised we're not discussing that little headscratcher instead.
- In this Troper's opinion, Trixie lodged herself clearly into "bad guy" territory with lying about having defeated an Ursa Major, and using that lie to win approval she didn't earn. The rest could be excused as just being overly boastful, but Trixie's guilty of outright "fraud." I'm not talking about the fireworks or the other tricks; I'm talking about the fact that Trixie's lie is exactly the same as if I told a woman I beat up a live bear single-handedly (when I never did) in order to make myself seem more attractive so I could talk the woman into having sexual intercourse with me. "Fraud" is when you knowingly misrepresent reality in order to gain a selfish advantage. Trixie having lied about defeating an Ursa Major to make more money than she was capable of earning with her own true skill clearly falls into that category.
- The protests did come up before she spoke of the Ursa Major though. Rainbow Dash, et al. were fortunate that Trixie really WAS a liar and a fraud—if she was simply a street performer whose tall tales are just part of her act, it would've been bullying. That being said, it is possible that their culture discourages showing off. From what I get, Ponyville culture shares many parallels with North American western culture (considering it's made by North American westerners), but there are some cultures around the world where any public display or proclamation of one's own greatness is frowned upon. Japan is an example: They absolutely hate Trixie there simply for how she keeps saying she's the greatest. (There's a reason why so many shonen villains are cocky and narcissistic, and why the heroes tend to dislike them before they even do anything wrong, most notably in Bleach.)
- There's a very strong "East Asian" undertone to Equestrian culture, even though so many of its physical manifestations are Western European or North American themed. They're ruled by a goddess-queen (even if she calls herself a "Princess") and aesthetic appreciation is very highly valued in their society.
- You know, "they started it" is not an excuse for Trixie being a Jerkass. She also attempted to pick a fight with Twilight, who wasn't doing anything wrong and was trying very hard to avoid a conflict.
- At first, yes. Then Applejack explained to her that they were less bothered by the talent than by the public boastfulness. Somehow, Twilight got it into her head that any public demonstration of her powers, especially to upstage someone (even a show-off like Trixie) would be tantamount to showing off herself, and so she became shy about it until the Ursa came into town. Being seen getting up on stage and "showing off with her magic tricks" seemed to her to be what her friends disliked. Rainbow Dash does make it clear at the end that Twilight got the wrong end of the stick: "Magic's got nothing to do with it. Trixie's just a loudmouth."
- Why does the crowed and everybody in general seem to accept "I can beat you up" as "Anything you can do I can do better?". Seriously. Trixie tying Applejack up isn't half as impressive as her rope tricks, same for Rainbow Dash's rainbow or Rarity's insta-dress. She offered a contest and beat them in a fight when they weren't paying attention. It's not at all the same but nobody calls her on it.
- Because the citizens of Ponyville are complete morons, when the plot demands it anyway.
- What makes this even more upsetting is that while it's uncertain how well known Rarity and Rainbow Dash are, at the very least, the whole town knows they helped save Equestra from eternal darkness. Applejack, on the other hand, in addition to helping to stop Nightmare Moon, is also publicly acknowledged for her contributions to the town, and was even presented with an award for her services in a public ceremony! Really, the town ponies should not have been so easily entertained by the abuse and humilation of three of their most well known and respected members.
- In a children's show, main characters aren't easily recognized as heroes or targets of paparazzi. Much like how in the Mario series, Mario isn't crowded whenever he visits Toad Town in Paper Mario, despite nearly everyone recognizing him. Also, Applejack nearly poisoned the population as well as inadvertently sending a stampede of bunnies to destroy their plants in "Applebuck Season", so that was sort of payback.
- In the very first episode, everyone in town is present when Celestia returns with the Mane Six, so it only makes sense that Ponyville knows about them taking down Nightmare Moon. Also, after everything Applejack has done for the town with no thought of compensation, "paying her back" for what was an ACCIDENT would just be mean spirited, and is not a valid arguement.
- ...you'd rather have the Mane Six treated like a heavy paparazzi target? Where they can't do their tasks because of heavy fanboy groups? It's a kid's show, after all.
- At one point in this episode, Snips brags about Trixie's exploits by saying to Spike: "The Great and Powerful Trixie vanquished an Ursa Major! Can your Twilight claim that?". This would have been a golden opportunity for Spike to reply with, "No, Twilight only discovered the Sixth Element of Harmony, which had been lost for a thousand years — an element named after magic itself — and in so doing saved all of Equestria from neverending night! ... And she totally made a moustache appear on my face, before she took it away."
- Again, the citizens of Ponyville are idiots. It's a common thing in cartoons.
- Why would giving Snips and Snails, who were the ones that woke up an Ursa Minor that nearly destroyed all of Ponyville, mustaches, which they LIKED, be considered a punishment? I don't get it.
- Princess Luna, despite her repeated attempts at high treason and genocide, was awarded co-rulership of Equestria. Easily Forgiven is a common trope in this show.
- She was possessed by the nightmare forces, according to the IDW comics. Of course she was forgiven, she wasn't herself.
- Based on the S4 previews, it looks like she willingly consorted with them until they backstabbed her.
- It wasn't really "punishment." The punishment was cleaning up the mess. Twilight was being nice to what were, after all, just two naughty colts rather than evil full-grown ponies.
- Actually, Luna wasn't even possessed in the first place. Nor was it mentioned. Also, the canon of the comics is…questionable.
- The way I see it, Twilight giving them, along with Spike, mustaches was her way of saying thank you to them for, inadvertently, helping her realize how foolish she's been for thinking that it was wrong for her to not take pride in her special talent. But still, they did have to clean up the mess caused by the Ursa Minor, so they weren't completely off the hook.
- Alternatively, it could be something that seems cool at first, but then they realize offscreen that it's kind of weird for colts their age to have them. (Never mind the reptile who wants facial hair.)
- Princess Luna, despite her repeated attempts at high treason and genocide, was awarded co-rulership of Equestria. Easily Forgiven is a common trope in this show.
- So Rarity hates green? Then how did Spike not get offended when his crush said it was such an awful, awful color? His spikes are green!
- She hates green manes.
- In a similar vein, why is the fact that it's green the big issue here? It's become a literal rats' nest!
- And while we're at it, why Golden Harvest? The mane color we usually see on her is more of an orange; why is it suddenly green here? It's not like Daisy's not in the audience, somepony who has a green mane normally.
1.07 Dragonshy
- Did Fluttershy kill those fish and worms that she was feeding the ferrets and the birds at the beginning or did she just find them? She's a Friend to All Living Things, so that goes completely against her character.
- Carnivores eating animals is the way of nature. Fluttershy, taking care off all animals, including carnivores knows and accepts this. See also the first IDW comic arc, where Fluttershy is fascinated by different carnivores fighting over who could eat her and her friends first. "Nature is so fascinating…"
- Why didn't they take Spike with them? Don't you think that when you have to deal with a dragon having another dragon in your party to talk to them as an equal would be handy? The Dragon might not care that he's bothering the ponies, but he may care about his smoke endangering a younger member of his own species.
- There's no guarantee that would work, and Spike is a baby and probably not up to the task of getting up the mountain in the first place.
- Spike might not have been in any danger from the smoke except very indirectly. Given that he considers gemstones a snack food, there's really no telling what he'd be able to live off of in a survival situation.
- As a dragon the smoke probably wouldn't bother him that much and it's implied dragons can eat pretty much anything, but it still would have been an excellent idea to take him along to act as a go-between. The adult dragon doesn't seem all that interested in what the ponies have to say (they are interrupting his nap after all) but may listen to a member of his own species. Spike is the common ground between the two. On the other hand it probably would have made the episode too boring to have Spike ask nicely and have the dragon comply.
- It's possible that Twilight thought it was too dangerous. So far, the only times he's been with them on a more dangerous mission was when Twilight didn't think there'd be much (if any) danger.
- The dragon on the mountain reacted pretty harshly to Rarity trying to take his gems, and generally speaking didn't want to go anywhere - it might not have reacted so well to someone that could EAT that stash coming along, or dragons may just be very territorial.
- "Owl's Well That Ends Well" seems to support the idea that Spike would not have been welcome, considering that the dragon in that episode tried to kill him.
- The idea that wild Dragons are highly territorial seems pretty sound based on what we have seen on screen and the behavior of Komodos in real life.
- The dragon may not have listened. After all, Spike's a baby dragon being raised by a pony—wild dragons probably wouldn't take him seriously.
- You'd take a baby to talk to an adult?
- Spike's sufficiently skilled in verbal communication to not be a waste of effort. Also, the use of young members of the species to sway the minds of adults has even been recorded in human societies.
- Operative word being "human". Given that an identical dragon in "Owl's Well That Ends Well" was all set to torch Spike for territory encroachment, "baby" or not (and that's not even going into the possibility of being considered a "race traitor"), taking him is completely out of the question.
- Why does everypony think that Fluttershy's fear of dragons is strange? Being afraid of a "huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous,sharp scale having, teeth-lashing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one but totally all grown up dragon" seems pretty reasonable to me.
- Because she's fine around other giant marauding beasts.
- It's a "phobia," and phobias don't have to be rational, that's why they're phobias instead of legitimate fears. This Troper for example is deathly afraid of dogs, even miniature puppies that have no power to hurt him, and will freeze up or run away upon hearing a bark. This Troper imagines Fluttershy's fear of dragons is a similar phobia; it's not rational to be afraid of dragons when she's fine around manticores, but that's why it's a phobia.
- I think the reason Fluttershy wasn't afraid of the manticore was that she knew it wasn't malicious; either way, being afraid of dragons seems pretty rational. But, in the context of the show, dragons aren't something to be very afraid of. Very few ponies other than Fluttershy are. Thus, we just have take their word for it that she's being irrational.
- Dragons are dangerous — just not normally all that hostile to the Ponies. Fluttershy's fear of them is however exaggerated, compared to her demonstrable courage in dealing with far more hostile creatures. This makes sense: in the real world, people have phobias for reasons not directly proportionate to the level of objective threat represented by the feared entity. One more thing — this is the first time we see her use the Stare on anything, and the first time she is shown using her powers on anything as smart as a Pony.
- Also because she's fine around Spike.
- Most humans are fine around a lion's cub. A grown up line, not so much.
- Because she's fine around other giant marauding beasts.
- Why is Rainbow Dash, The Element of Loyalty, constantly trying to ditch Fluttershy or get her kicked off of the mission? Shouldn't she be the one sticking up for her not Applejack?
- Being loyal doesn't make you blind. Having someone who is terrified of her own shadow around when dealing with a dragon is likely to do more harm than good.
- Human Furniture Is a Pain in the Tail. Why would park benches in Equestria look anything like their human counterpart?
1.08 Look Before You Sleep
- "Spike is away in Canterlot on royal business". Wait; what? Maybe I'm putting too much thought into a throwaway line of dialogue used to explain Spike's absence for an episode, but what kind of task could Celestia have for Spike and Spike alone? He's a child, and occasional bursts of competence aside, generally shown to be as capable as such. What kind of job is he qualified to do that requires him personally to do it? Was there a field of worthless diamonds sitting on prime apple growing land that needed to be disposed of?
- Spike's a baby by dragon standards. By pony standards, he's on the same emotional and intellectual level as the Mane Six (if only slightly more naive), and fully capable of preforming any needed duties on his own. He's the assistant to the personal student of Princess Celestia and shown to have some contacts in Canterlot that afford him influence far above what he should be able to do (contacting Hoity Toity comes to mind). It's entirely possible that Twilight had some Celestia-related business that would require Spike to make the journey to Canterlot in her stead.
- It is also possible that Celestia needed a letter sent to an extremely specific location. Spike is the only known being who can generate letters from Celestia. (Inversely, it's also possible that Celestia needed a letter delivered from an extremely specific location—that is, a signal.) One more possibility is that Celestia intended to teach something to Spike that only he needed to know, such as a heads-up regarding Twilight that must be kept secret from her.
- Considering one doubts Applejack left the Library to find the frou-frou dress... One wonders what Twilight was doing with it and WHY?
- Maybe a housewarming gift from Rarity? Twilight's not the sort of pony who would throw out a welcome gift, after all, and Rarity would do something like that for a friend.
- Twilight's not very "girly" but she is female and an at least upper-middle-class female at that — why wouldn't she own at least one very girly dress? Perhaps intended for formal occasions, possibly bought at some time when her tastes were different?
- Twilight claims she always wanted to have a slumber party, but she later claims she never felt the need for friends other than Shining Armor before meeting Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Wtf mate?
- Perhaps she liked the idea of having a slumber party from what she'd heard of it, but still believed it wasn't worth it to have friends. Once she had them, she decided she might go through with that anyway.
- To be honest, the claim in "Canterlot Wedding" that Twilight "thought friendships were silly" always felt tacked on to me, to justify Twilight having a brother we never heard about. In the first episode, Twilight TRIED to make friends with Pinkie and Fluttershy, but Pinkie's randomness and Fluttershy being even more socially akward then Twilight thwarted that. She might have been more open to Applejack and Rarity had the former not come on too strong and the latter not had ulterior motives at the time. In other episodes we see Twilight is socially akward and has self-esteem issues, combined with "Lesson Zero" STRONGLY hinting Twilight was bullied, gives Twilight very little motivation to make friends. Not to mention the likliehood of ponies sucking up to Twilight due to her being Celestia's student (not unlike what Rarity was doing when they first met) and all this throughout fifty episodes suggests Twilight had a very lonely fillyhood where she wanted friends, but didn't know who or how to trust. Then fifty one episodes in out of nowhere she's revealed to have thought friendships were silly, which seems out of character for her, especially as "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" showed us she was good natured even as a filly. In short, she probably DID want friends before her attitude was retconned
- Either that, or all the things you mentioned soured her on the idea of friendships as being a good thing. Like as a filly she did want friends, but for whatever reason it didn't work out for her and she ended up prioritizing her studies over socialization. Basically, she became more jaded over time, and the premiere episodes show that jaded-ness being broken. If that's the case, it's entirely possible that Shining Armor and Spike were her only close friends during her years in Canterlot as Celestia's student. She never shows any sign of being good friends with any of her classmates after all.
- Maybe Twilight had mixed feelings about friendship and slumber parties, until she actually made some female friends her own age? Remember that before "Mare in the Moon," she as far as we know had never had such a friend — Cadance is considerably older than her, and Shining Armor and Spike are both male and of different age cohorts.
- Well there's a difference between having casual friends you'd exchange pleasantries with and close friends you'd invite over to stay the night. Twilight from the first episode does seem like someone who was more into her studies than spending time with others. While she may have had casual friends in Canterlot, she clearly didn't have close enough bonds to ask them over for a sleepover.
- In "Look Before You Sleep", Twilight acts like Pinkie Pie, which is quite the opposite to her character. And she doesn't even do anything when the tree comes crashing in, beside looking for help in a guidebook. Was she so afraid to stay alone at stormy night? Or maybe she saw Applejack and Rarity bickering and decided to bring them closer together?
- I thought that too (that Twilight was acting more like Pinkie). One theory is that the writers did actually have Pinkie in mind when they wrote the first draft of the episode's script, but for any number of reasons, they gave the role to Twilight instead.
- It's canon that she hasn't really had friends before, and it was her first sleepover. For all she knew, a tree crashing into the house was a part of the sleepover experience.
- Twilight is concussed in that scene. (This also explains most of Feeling Pinkie Keen.)
- Rarity? Really? If you were choosing ponies for the task she and Applejack were undertaking at the start of the episode, would Rarity really be one of them? And if she volunteered, why, if she was just going to complain about getting wet and muddy? I realize that, narratively, they needed somepony to contrast with and clash with Applejack, and the only mane pony likely to do that would be Rarity, but the best partner for the job — aside from Rainbow Dash, who probably has a hoof in the weather — would probably be Twilight herself. Once their task has been properly explained to her, the rest is cake.
- This happens before "Winter Wrap Up", and for that episode we know that Ponyville's organization skills sucks. It's not impossible that the tasks were given at random, or that the one who gave them thought that, because Rarity and Applejack are friends, they would do a good work together.
- Just what was up with Rarity's Death Glare which prompted Applejack to gently toss the branch out the window instead of bucking it out? I'm really stumped.
- She didn't want Applejack accidentally smashing somepony or their window with a forced-bucked branch.
- Wait a minute... There's no electricity in Ponyville! How did a lightning cause a blackout in the library?
- Who says there's no electricity in Ponyville?! There definitely is, or at least some magical phlebotinum which works nearly the same way. The very first episode had the lights in the library "flick on" instantly as if by light switch.
1.09 Bridle Gossip
- I find it more than a tad disturbing that so many people deride the cast as being "mean, racist and closeminded" in "Bridle Gossip". Up until the very end when Applebloom did The Reveal, it really did seem like Zecora was...well, an "evil enchantress".
- Actually, most of the cast had her branded as an evil enchantress waaay before there was enough evidence for it. If I can understand how Twilight was eventually swayed by the "curse", the eerie incantations, the cauldron of suspicious stuff and Applebloom's disappearance, Zecora was already thought to be evil just for looking different, digging at the ground, wearing a cloak, and coming to Ponyville occasionally.
- The point was not to judge other ponies by how they seem. Even if she "seemed" like an evil enchantress, they never even bothered talking to her before making such horrible judgements.
- How did she seem like an evil enchantress? OK, so her house has creepy-looking masks and she was cooking up a brew in a big cauldron (which, granted, could easily have been food or medicine, but it did look scary), but before then? She wore a black cloak, came into town to look at shops, and dug in the ground. None of those actions are evil.
- Yeah, Pinkie Pie aptly demonstrated the lack of evidence of evilness with the whole "I heard...she eats hay!" line.
- I think some of it was because Zecora lived in the Everfree Forest — "where clouds move on their own, and animals take care of themselves!" Come one, just look at the place. They probably thought the only way Zecora could live there was to either be the most badass sorceress imaginable, or to be in league with the monsters, else they'd have eaten her.
- Ok... so... how is it racist in the first place? That I don't understand. They clearly did not know she was a zebra and different from a pony, since they call her a pony and have apparently never seen what she LOOKS like, since Rarity notes "just look at those stripes! So garish!" It's a bit hard to be racist against somepony when you don't know what race they even are. They clearly thought she was just a pony with a Mohawk who painted stripes on herself. The thing with Zecora was like... looking at a goth and assuming at once that they are a witchcraft-practicing Satanist at once just on their attire. Or assuming KISS is evil because of their stage makeup. Or assuming Harry Potter teaches witchcraft to children since it's a book with references to magic. There's a MAJOR difference between being prejudiced and being racist. They were the former.
- In that case, the racism was simply
Unfortunate Implications. But that vibe is given off pretty strongly by the fact that she's a zebra, an animal native to Africa IRL, and displays many characteristics associated with African tribal culture. - There's no evidence that Equestria has any unfortunate history with Zecora's homeland. Rather, it seems that very few Zebras come to Equestria. Twilight is more cosmopolitan and better-educated than any of her friends, even Rarity, so it stands to reason that she would be the one least convinced that Zecora was an evil enchantress simply because she was a Zebra: she's probably read about Zebras. Maybe she's even seen one before, in Canterlot.
- In that case, the racism was simply
- From what I've gathered, Zecora was seen as an evil witch due a combination of three factors: to the ponies of Ponyville she looks creepy due them having never seen a zebra (they thought she had dyed her hair and styled her mane that way on purpose), her speech patterns and the habit of coming to town with that cloak; she living in a place the ponies consider an Eldritch Location and filled with dangerous beasts (like hydras, manticores, the gigantic Ursa Maior and her child, and a style-obsessed dragon with a moustache); and her habit of digging the ground to search for water being a threat posture among ponies and other horses, thus making her look like she was randomly threatening people. It's only normal that it was the cosmopolitan Twilight Sparkle and the child Apple Bloom who gave her the benefit of doubt.
- If everypony was scared even to look at Zecora, let alone speak to her, how did they know her name?
- It's possible Zecora herself told them her name.
- Would Apple Bloom really have had the time to get back to Sweet Apple Acres and pick up her saddle bags, and then search for herbs? She's an energetic filly, and the Mane Six were slightly handicapped by their afflictions, but still...
- It's possible, considering how long it likely took for the rest of the Mane 6 to head back to the Everfree Forest, accidentally rescue the shrunken Applejack from the branch that Apple Bloom set her on, and spent some time conversing with each other before breaking into Zecora's hut.
- Didn't Apple Bloom walk through the poison joke too? If so then why did nothing seem to happen to her.
- Technically, she's never shown walking through the flowers. The closest she gets is when she's standing on Applejack's back, who's in turn standing among the flowers. She disappears in the next scene, so logically she had to jump off Applejack and into the flowers, but yeah... never shown.
- Did Fluttershy just gender bended in the episode? This would be the first and only episode to have gender bending.
- No, it just changed her voice. Spike's nickname was just underlining how much of a Vocal Dissonance it was.
- Are you sure, the fandom believes she did. Look at the art.
- Fan art isn't canon. Had she been converted into a stallion, she would have looked like a stallion, if anything, her design would have lost the eyelashes.
- What about the way she says "I don't want to talk about it." It implies that apparently, a part of her got replaced with something else, or the fact she turned into a guy.
- Yes, Her voice was replaced with a deep male one, that's why she didn't want to talk more than necessary. Furthermore, if she *had* changed genders, then the whole "transforming Applejack into a dude" in "Magic Duel" wouldn't have been treated as such a huge spell. If a random plant on the Everfree Forest can do it, then it wouldn't have been nothing to brag about.
- Well, they did forget about the whole poison joke experience, so by that time of "Magic Duel", they forgot about Fluttershy gender bending. And don't forget the girl's reaction when Fluttershy spoke. It is a similar reaction to an Unsettling Gender Reveal, proof that they figured Fluttershy turned into a guy.
- They didn;t forget. They use it in a later episode when they need to replictae Big Mac's voice.
- The girls reaction when Fluttershy spoke is the exact same reaction they got with each reveal of their particular curses. And what makes you think they had forgotten about the poison joke? That's how they meet Zecora, and there is a patch of poison joke in the path to her house. If anything, at least Twilight Sparkle would still be careful about it. Again, changing a mare's gender is treated as a much bigger deal than changing age, so it's very unlikely that that's what happened.
- Changing gender with unicorn magic is nigh-impossible. But that doesn't mean that something else couldn't do the trick easily. For example, duplication was also listed as incredible difficult, but there's a pool that makes them by the dozen out in the Everfree Forest.
- In addition, Poison Joke has a variety of effects, only one of which was the voice — and possibly gender — change. Making it happen with unicorn magic and making it happen via the application of a capricious plant seem more equal. (Though by the time of this writing, we've seen a potion made from it used to give her that voice again so she can be Big Macintosh's "voice" for a while, so...)
- No, it just changed her voice. Spike's nickname was just underlining how much of a Vocal Dissonance it was.
- I'm probably gonna hate myself for asking this, but why couldn't Applejack join the other ponies in the bigger tub while getting the treatment for Poison Joke? Can somebody please explain?
- Because she could've drowned in there, I suppose. The others were perhaps fifty or sixty times more massive than she was, and even if they didn't move around much, she could've been injured while in (from her perspective) deep water.
- Okay, THAT I'll buy, but are we actually supposed to believe that there was no reason for Applejack to join the others in the tub after getting restored to her normal size and would therefore be an unnecessary move on her part?
- Rule of Funny. It's funnier to see a full grown pony doing 'if I fits, I sits' in a tiny bucket than it was to have her walk to the tub.' As to why not be in the tub to start, there was no mention of how long the cure would take to take effect, and having poor Appleteeny paddling around in a miles-deep pool with nowhere to stand would just be mean.
- Well, it was instant for Pinkie. Though yeah, kinda dangerous. (Although we didn't see the entirety of their spa visit; who's to say she didn't join them once she was full size?)
- Because she could've drowned in there, I suppose. The others were perhaps fifty or sixty times more massive than she was, and even if they didn't move around much, she could've been injured while in (from her perspective) deep water.
- Why doesn't Rainbow Dash just walk around like all the other ponies? Rule of Funny aside, she doesn't have to fly to move.
- Force of habit. Rainbow flies pretty much all the time, so every time she needs to go somewhere, she automatically tries to fly.
- Why was Zecora digging at the ground? I've heard that she was frustrated, bored, looking for food, looking for water, looking for potion ingredients... which one was it?!
- Why is Spike so eager to give Rarity a nickname poking fun at her condition? He has a crush on her.
- He gave nicknames to everyone - Rarity, the unicorn he has a crush on, Fluttershy, the pegasus who was very very nice to him when they first met and Twilight, the unicorn to whom he is number one assistant. It doesn't matter what relationship he has with them, he nicknamed them all.
- Did Spike really want to stay in the library to look for the cure or was he lying to stay and come up with a nickname for Twilight? Judging by the expression he has on his face during this scene, the latter seems more possible.
1.10 Swarm of the Century
- How come that parasprites are practically unknown to everypony but Pinkie Pie and Zecora—including Princess Celestia who has apparently never even heard of them in 1000+ years?
- I can't answer for Pinkie Pie, but since parasprites are from the Everfree Forest, the mysterious place free of Princess Celestia's rule, she probably doesn't know much about it and its inhabitants. It's likely that the residents in the towns have never had to deal with parasprites brought there (the bugs emigrated to the edge of the forest or something).
- Maybe Celestia knows all about the parasprites; her line of "thanks for the parade" was just a polite way of glossing over the fact that they'd obviously had an embarrassing infestation recently.
- This is likely, when you consider the look on her face when she saw the "parade" of parasprites. If she really thought it was a parade, she'd probably look more excited and happier about it, not confused and startled.
- Then again, there's another reason for her to be confused and startled — this was supposed to be a casual visit. Princess Celestia tries (and fails) to make almost every event she's involved with fun and casual. She may have still been hoping it would work this time, and was surprised when they staged a parade for her.
- Celestia's dialogue about a parade and an invasion in Fillydelphia sounds like code for "I realise you've just been embarrassingly invaded by parasprites, so I'm going to make up an excuse to leave and let you save face." If she'd really been called away to Fillydelphia to sort out an infestation;
- a) why would she turn up in person, and not send an explanatory letter? It was an emergency after all.
- b) why did she dawdle with the friendship report? Her country needs her!
- c) why didn't she mention it before the parasprites showed up?
- At one point Rainbow Dash creates a tornado which sucks up all the parasprites. She loses control of it after Pinkie Pie's cymbals get sucked in, and the parasprites are released. It sure looked like Rainbow's method was working perfectly until Pinkie messed it up. Pinkie may have gotten rid of the parasprites eventually, but Rainbow would've done it sooner! And with a lot less property damage. Now ultimately there's plenty of blame to go around - Twilight for her "stop-eating-food" spell, Fluttershy for secretly keeping a parasprite - but Pinkie definitely deserves a large share of it. Instead, the end of the episode implies that she deserves all the credit for getting rid of the parasprites and her friends apologize to her. Granted finding instruments was the most reliable and would have been the fastest solution if everyone pitched in but still, they could have shown both Applejack and Rainbow Dash as only being able to gather most of the parasprites.
- The message I took from this episode was that everyone should have been working together on one plan of action rather than each trying a separate method. Had the others helped Pinkie Pie, or at least gotten her to help with Rainbow Dash' or Applejack's method, the problem would have been solved. It was only because the different methods ended up interfering with each other that the problem persisted. Pinkie Pie's solution wasn't the best one, it was simply the one that ended up working.
- And of course they could blame Pinkie for not explaining everything to them in the beginning.
- Pinkie tried to explain, but she was too much of a Cloud Cuckoo Lander to explain properly.
- Either A) Pinkie wanted to stop the Parasprites herself or B) she was knew that something was probably going to go wrong with Rainbow's plan any moment. After all, the episode wasn't nearly over yet.
- Well, perhaps in that she wanted her idea to be the one that worked, but wasn't she trying to enlist their help even as they were busy doing something that only didn't work because Fluttershy tried to keep one back?
- What did Pinkie do wrong? She was still gathering materials for her solution, and very much did NOT want her cymbals sucked into the tornado. There's a reason she calls herself the ruinee (or whatever). I wouldn't blame her for that; it was just an accident. And one could even suggest that if it wasn't cymbals, it would've been some other chunk of metal lying around Ponyville.
- Pinkie Pie accidentally ruined the tornado, but would it really have worked anyway? What happens when you get the tornado all the way over to the forest and then stop tornado-ing? What's to stop the parasprites from just flying back over to ponyville? (Apparently Pinkie Pie's solution makes them stay in the forest for some reason.) And it's not like Dash could keep up the tornado forever.
- Do you know how Pinkie made sure the Parasprites stay in the forest? What, she just led them there and they didn't just fly back out you say? Well what the flying fish would have made Rainbow Dash's method of just bundling them over to the forest not succeed? She didn't need to keep the tornado up forever, just keep it up until she got up against the forest and let it blow inside the forest with the parasprites in the tornado, and it was working! Pinkie was just a Spanner in the Works whose own method succeeded only when it was an eternity to late!
- Also, Applejack herded a whole group to the forest, and they stayed. It was only due to Fluttershy keeping one (which multiplied very fast, assumingly due to Rule of Funny) that the problem wasn't solved.
- The probable answer is that Pinkie's method was the only way of ensuring every Parasprite was collected and sent back to the forest. The other attempts by the rest of the mane six consisted of gathering them up and forcing them back into the forest. They would work, but only if they managed to gather every single Parasprite, and if they missed just one (or kept one as a pet) then the problem would repeat itself. Pinkie's method caused lured the Parasprites out en-masse instead of gathering them one by one. Unless there was one hiding where it couldn't hear the music, her music would collect every Parasprite in town with relatively little effort.
- As for how Pinkie makes sure Sprites don't return, well, we don't see where exactly she's leading them to. Evergreen forest seems to be a dangerous place, surely there must be some swamps there or worse. Remember the story about the Ratcatcher of Hamelin? Yep.
- Indeed, that the Parasprites could breed so quickly implies they have at least one predator in the Everfree Forest that can go through the Parasprites that quickly (or, if Darwinian evolution exists in the pony-world, even faster than the Parasprites can multiply). This was the case with tribbles; it's extremely likely that this is the case with Parasprites too, considering it shares a habitat with a lot of fearsome monsters. (This is known as predator satiation and is the survival strategy for locusts, cicadas, and Alaskan pollock.)
- Yeah, Pinkie wasn't exactly doing her utmost to explain to them, and she had plenty of opportunities. Honestly, how hard is it to just say "you can get rid of them with music/a parade"? Applejack would have succeeded if Fluttershy hadn't kept one (Idiot Ball much?) and Rainbow Dash's plan was working well until Pinkie Pie showed up. If anything, the aesop should either have been "don't keep a Horde of Alien Locusts in your house just because they're 'cute', especially when there's no way you're going to keep them a secret for long" or "if you have the solution to the problem, just tell somepony and don't hide behind the 'I'm the Cloud Cuckoo Lander what d'you expect' excuse".
- Agreed, Pinkie could have explained what the problem was without breaking character. "A parasprite! Don't you know how dangerous they are? THEY COULD EAT ALL THE CANDY IN THE CITY!!!! I'm off to get a trombone! TO SAVE THE CANDY!" There's basically no reason, even by Pinkie Pie standards, that she had to be as obtuse as she was. Further, there are some instances of Pinkie sobering up just enough when she needs to be serious. Considering the threat level posed by what were essentially a horde of adorable locusts, this qualified as an emergency. Poor Communication Kills all around though. At the very least, those present when Pinkie Pie sees the first one should have followed up on her recognizing them. "A parasprite? So you know what they are? What does that have to do with a trombone?"
- Or a more real "Don't bring creatures you don't know to your home just because they look "cute"". Which would be a good aesop for little boy and girls who bring birds/frogs/dogs etc. home.
- Why, at the end of the episode, does Princess Celestia ask Twilight to deliver her latest friendship report in "person"? Shouldn't it have been "in pony"? They usually say everypony, somepony, anypony, and nopony instead of everybody/everyone, somebody/someone, etc., even though ponies have bodies and are ones, whereas they manifestly are not persons; they are ponies.
- Maybe they figured it would be too confusing in the end. While the already-established terms are easy to figure out since we're used to them in everyday conversations and how they're modified to fit a situation, "In person" is a stand-alone expression meaning "face-to-face", changing it to "In pony", while it would fit the setting, would likely cause a slight pause in which the viewer tries to understand the term. That, or it simply is an overlook.
- They've messed up on their "pony/body" swapping syntax before and after this. Also, be honest, do you think "in pony" sounds right? It works for variations of "body" precisely because those variations are much more generic. "In pony" doesn't fit.
- They're persons and people, they just happen to be ponies as well. Person, people and body are all grammatically correct, even in the context of the series. Using pony in the place of other pronouns is actually the oddity; there are plenty of sapient non-ponies in the setting, making the usage of pony seem thoughtlessly exclusive.
- In stories that feature intelligent non-human entities, 'person' is a generally accepted term to refer to any intelligent individual (i.e. anyone with a personality). There's nothing about the word 'person' that suggests being human, it's just that in the real world, there's nothing other than humans that are generally agreed to fit the description, although many will claim pets, or certain animals (such as Apes or Dolphins) are 'people'.
- If Twilight's spell caused the parasprites to eat generally non-edible material(wood, metal, etc.) why is there still an Everfree? what would have stopped the parasprites from devouring every tree in the forest?
- There are many creatures in the forest that could easily stop or eat a parasprite swarm (timber wolves, cockatrices, dragons, manticores, Steven Magnet, etc). Maybe the Ursa Minor from "Boast Busters" got hungry and decided it wanted a snack.
- Why were Twilight, RD, AJ, and Rarity yelling at Pinkie Pie for ruining Rainbow's "Brilliant Plan" (which I could KIND of understand even though both parties didn't ask or explain why she was obssessed with instraments) yet they just kind of facehoofed when Fluttershy hoarded the Parasprites, making Rainbow's "brilliant plan" pretty much pointless?
- First, Fluttershy had been actively helping them get rid of the parasprites, and only made a single mistake, whereas Pinkie wasn't helping them at all and had in fact been hindering them on multiple occasions. Second, they know that Fluttershy is really sensitive to that sort of thing, where Pinkie is tough enough to take it.
- But Fluttershy purposefully kept a parasprite even though she knew how dangerous they were. Meanwhile, none of what they blamed Pinkie for was really her fault. Pinkie clearly did not intend for her cymbals to be sucked in the tornado, she was just trotting along when it happened.
- That doesn't matter. They should know better than to yell at some pony as sensitive as Fluttershy
- First, Fluttershy had been actively helping them get rid of the parasprites, and only made a single mistake, whereas Pinkie wasn't helping them at all and had in fact been hindering them on multiple occasions. Second, they know that Fluttershy is really sensitive to that sort of thing, where Pinkie is tough enough to take it.
- When Zecora said "Have you gone mad?", why wasn't she rhyming and why was she balancing on a stick?
- Because it's funny.
1.11 Winter Wrap-Up
- In the episodes song, Applejack says:
“But the food we've stored is runnin' outAnd we can't grow in this cold”
Which has me wondering. If equestrians are capable of controlling the weather, why do they even have Winter? Just to suffer?
- How was the Winter Wrap-Up started by earth ponies? The pegasi are very important to the process, after all.
- It wasn't. Every town in Equestria has their own Winter Wrap-Up. Ponyville simply doesn't use magic because the town was founded by Earth Ponies.
- It's possible the clouds will eventually take care of themselves, but it takes another month or so and no one wants an extra month of winter. Thus Winter Wrap-Up is possible without pegasi but much more difficult.
- Couldn't the exact same be said of the unicorns' magic?
- They roped them? Applejack was capable of catching clouds in Season 2's second pilot episode with a lasso.
- Clouds made of cotton candy, not water vapor. One's a lot thinker than the other.
- Or it was a tradition that the Earth Ponies had done before they came to Ponyville and just carried it on when they founded the town. Since there were Pegasi there too, they could have adjusted the tradition to include them - since the Pegasi's wings are natural and don't really count as using magic. They have the unicorns doing things by hoof don't they?
- So how did Ponyville handle the sky before the pegasi moved in?
- There's an Original Flavor fanfic that puts forward a pretty good fan theory covering that.
- Remember Pinkie's flying contraption?
- Using magic makes Earth ponies unnecessary , while pegasi mainly take on jobs that Earth ponies couldn't do anyway.
- There's an Original Flavor fanfic that puts forward a pretty good fan theory
- Is it just me, or is there a worrying hint of forced conformity in 'Winter Wrap-up'? I can accept people wanting to do things traditionally, but the way they treat Twilight for trying to use her talent isn't really fair. Can an aesop of 'Sometimes you have to rely on your other talents to fit in' be valid?
- It's not as though the whole town bans the use of magic all year long. They have (presumeably) one event a year that relies solely on everyone coming together and working hard with no magic involved, the way their founders did. If someone decides to come along and start magically shoveling snow, that's disrespectful to the whole idea. And to be fair, the only one to really snap at her for using her talent was Applejack, after Twilight caused an accident that a) could have hurt someone and b) disrupted everyone's task of growing the next year's food supply.
- What bugs me about Winter Wrap-up is that they have forgotten about Twilight. Everypone seems to have a job assigned, except for Twilight. Why? Did they forget about her? Did they think she would be useless? She obviously wanted to help, and she did get there early (too early), so why they did it?
- The whole point of the episode was that the event was poorly organized, remember. They probably just forgot to assign her a role, which would completely fit.
- This. Case in point, and a little Fridge Brilliance ... when Twilight's going out of control, she ends up going across about four or six other plows, who have to stop. But what would've happened had those guys not had to stop, and just kept going in their lines?
- Twilight needs to have more than one talent available to her besides magic. As episodes 9 and 27 show, it is quite possible for her to be deprived of her magical abilities, so she needs to appreciate her other skills.
- She is also the newest one in town, so she was likely not assigned a role yet. Notice that Spike doesn't have a role either, as he moved into Ponyville at the same time as Twilight.
- Using magic is not allowed in the titular winter wrap up ritual, because Ponyville was established by Earth Ponies and thus the winter wrap up has to be done "the earth pony way". However, the pegasi use their flight ability and their power over clouds to help with the wrap up. Pegasi flight and weather control are certainly not earth pony abilities, so why do the pegasi get a pass while the unicorns don't?
- Flight is a physical ability, while the weather controlling isn't the same as unicorn magic—their ability to stand on and move around clouds is "passive" magic. They're just using their natural abilities. Although, you could argue that unicorn magic is a natural ability of the unicorns. Still, the whole point was that they don't use unicorn magic.
- Also the ponies might not recognize the passive magics as actual magic. They might just see it as something those ponies can do. Not every human can be an Olympic-class runner, and not every pony can walk on clouds and such.
- Er, no. The concept is of doing things the Earth Pony way, just like the founders of Ponyville, before anyone knew what a pegasus or unicorn was. So allowing pegasi to use their talents, natural or not, is simply Mayor Mare completely missing the point.
- Perhaps the reason is that while the tradition probably started as a purely Earth Pony ritual, it has diluted a bit without ponies really noticing it. So the ritual now includes Pegasus elements that has slipped in over time. Another reason could be that the services that are provided by the Pegasi are considered to be essential, while the wrap up could be done without unicorn magic, so that doing the wrap up without magic is a form of Self-Imposed Challenge. Yet another possible reason could be that "doing it the earth pony way" is just a less confrontational way of saying "no unicorn magic allowed".
- The fanfic "The First Winter Wrap-Up" proposes one possible answer: The restriction against magic was actually self-imposed by the unicorns who were involved in the town's founding, after a feud among them resulted in members of each of the three pony types discovering they couldn't live without the other two. The unicorns saw it as a way to make sure that all three types of ponies work together rather than relying on unicorn magic for shortcuts. Pegasi would have been exempt since there isn't any non-magical way to control the weather, hence using their own abilities isn't a "shortcut".
- Another possible interpretation is that usually (in Canterlot, for instance) the winter wrap-up is performed simply by casting a single Winter Wrap-up spell. Doing things the "Earth pony way" just means not casting that particular spell, while lesser magics are fair game. Perhaps Twilight misunderstood the restriction; note that Rarity quite casually uses her telekinesis at one point.
- Yeah, though Applejack scolds Twi for bringing the plow to life.
- Though a lot of that was no doubt because how much trouble that particular bit of magic caused.
- It's probably more to do with the physicality and 'hands on' approach rather than magic persay. The pegasi are still doing manual labor and Rarity would presumably place the nests by hand (the making of required magic since... they don't have hands). Thus using a 'short cut' of sitting on your butt and casting a spell is 'bad' not because it's magic but because you're not really getting involved and exerting yourself. There are many other reasons why they might handwave flying and such but not allow more general magics.
- If you want to get technical, even the earth ponies are using magic. Their mystical connection to the earth allows for faster, more bountiful harvests as well as increased physical ability. It's allowed because it's very low-key and secondary to their physical effort. Pegasus Ponies kinda stretch it a bit, but they still seem to be doing their work "manually" instead of just commanding the clouds to do their bidding. It's just Unicorn ponies or spell-casting that breaks tradition (though given the effort involved, telekinesis might just squeak by as an allowed power).
- The whole argument really raises the question why "magic" gets singled out as anything special in the first place. Earth ponies are stronger and connected to the land, pegasi fly and control the weather, unicorns get to levitate stuff and cast spells. That's the way things have always been in Equestria, at least as far as we know; unicorn magic should by all rights be considered just as "natural" as the gifts of the other two races. So why is magic suddenly such a big deal here, unless it's simply as an expression of unspoken (and admittedly perhaps even unconscious) anti-unicorn prejudice?
- Using unicorn magic runs the risk of making Earth ponies pointless (since all their jobs could be done quicker by using a spell), which flying doesn't do.
- My theory is that you can indeed use magic in the Winter Wrap-Up, everyone just told Twilight that she couldn't for no other reason than to mess with her.
- If Twilight was so desperate for something to do, why didn't she just find the Mayor and ask for an assignment?
- She's a socially awkward nerd with confidence issues?
- She figured someone listening to her solo would just hoof her a vest and point her at Applejack or Amethyst Star?
- Winter Wrap-Up is only one day long, tomorrow being the first day of spring. But during the organised!wrap-up montage, it switches between day and night repeatedly. It appears that about three days pass during said montage.
- Right after the montage, Mayor Mare points out that "Spring is here on time!" So this is probably intentional. It seems pretty clear that everyone involved with the show wants the timeline to be completely impossible to understand. Why else would they directly follow the episode with Fall Weather Friends?
- The air date inconsistency aside, it appeared that everypony worked through the night and finished at dawn. so they did wrap up winter on time.
- There is no repeated switching of day and night. There was only one night sequence between the two day sequences. So it took only 1 day and night of effort.
- Why did Spike join Applejack in chewing out Twilight for using magic when it was his idea to do so in the first place?
- That's the joke. If I remember correctly, Applejack even gives him a dirty look.
- Why did the ponies only wrap up at the end of winter? And why do you have to wrap up for winter to end?
- Because in this world, nature needs help. Winter needed to be wrapped up because it doesn't wrap itself up.
- Magical Underpinnings of Reality. As for why they do it at the end, you can't "wrap up" anywhere else, because "wrap up" is another word for finish.
- Rarity. Why does NOPONY go after HER for using magic? She uses her telekinesis to give Twilight some materials to make a nest out of, and ALL magic is a no-no, but Rarity is okay? And she uses it in front of TWILIGHT, who is obsessed with not using magic. Somepony explain this to me...
- Perhaps magic falls under two different classes, simple magic (Earth Pony endurance, Pegasus Pony flight, Unicorn telekinesis) is okay, but complex magic (like make winter go away, animate inanimate object, etc) are frowned upon.
- The ponies take issue with using magic to help in the actual work, which is why Twilight caught flack for making the plow move itself. All Rarity did was move the materials over to Twilight. She made the nests by hoof.
- Note that the only magic Rarity uses is simple telekinesis, which isn't substantially different from doing things by hoof, beyond the magical element. We've seen in other episodes — including the earlier episodes "The Elements of Harmony" and "Look Before You Sleep" — that if she had been using her full power, she could have fixed Twilight's mangled nest with a thought. Her magic is related to bringing out the beauty in things, and turning a mangled and ugly nest into an ideal one is well within that realm.
- Again, this is just a theory, but I think that you can use magic, the other characters just decided to mess with Twilight's head by telling her that she couldn't.
- Why was the Mayor depicted as carrying a basket of apples in the final Hard-Work Montage? Isn't the end of winter the last time you'd expect to be harvesting apples?
- Those apples weren't being harvested. They come from the food stores Applejack's portion of the Winter Wrap Up song mentions. Everypony was working through the whole day and night, so they'd need some food to keep their energy up.
- Close to the end of the episode, Spike is left asleep on a chunk of ice floating in the middle of some cold water. Instead of, I dunno, trying to HELP him, the ponies joke about how "he's in fer' a big surprise as soon as that there ice melts" and then LAUGH. Sure, he got better, but that's a bit cruel, don't you think?
- The guy can be jammed full of needles and dropped in a pool of magma without harm. A little cold water would just wake him up.
- But aren't dragons reptiles? As in "cold-blooded"? Cold water would actually hurt him more.
- Dragons are reptiles that breathe fire. They're almost certainly capable of generating body heat.
- Considering that Spike had been encouraging Twilight to use her magic, and I can't remember him doing anything himself, it's possible they saw it as karma for being lazy. I doubt he would be badly hurt by the cold water, or Twilight'd be more worried about him.
- I'm sorry, I can't agree with this. Let's forget the fact he is a reptile. He is still a kid falling in cold water. He is in danger (heck, he gets sick). It's not funny and I don't get why the writer believed we would have found it funny.
- You obviously didn't read the whole thing. Karma is karma, and karma doesn't care how young you are. (And him being a kid is debatable due to dragon standards being different from pony standards) As for why the writers thought it was funny, its their opinion. And Twilight DID help him. Spike wouldn't be alive if she didn't.
- We see him wrapped in a blanket and shivering. If that was supposed to be "karma" for being lazy... Disproportionate Retribution much?
- I get that Twilight has a knack for being obsessively organized and that's supposed to be her contribution to the whole shebang, but she never demonstrates that she has any idea how the work is supposed to be done, and in fact tries to cheat, only to fail at it even then. How did anyone arrive at the conclusion that the most incompetent pony is the one who should be in charge?
- The Peter Principle
- She was actually explained all the key points of Winter Wrap-up and while she may have been incompetent at actually doing the job herself she is actually the only one that sees the whole picture and can get the logical sequence of the steps necessary to efficiently wrap-up winter while everyone else is too engrossed in their specific task to see the bigger picture.
- Exactly. An event coordinator doesn't have to be able to perform every single separate task in the event herself to an expert level; she just has to know what all the separate tasks are, and what order they need to be done in, and what supplies are needed to be where when for each task to be able to start. Twilight "The Walking Flowchart" Sparkle is the most overqualified pony in Equestria for that kind of job.
- The teaser shows Twilight explicitly getting dressed into various winter gear, albeit significantly earlier in the morning than she should be. So... why is she not wearing that gear immediately after the title sequence, or at any later point in the episode?
- Another point - she got up incredibly early for the event. So why is it that when she arrives, it's not only full-blown daytime, but everypony else is already there before her?
- She realized she woke up way too early, went back to bed and overslept.
- It turned to be a warmer day than she thought.
- Another point - she got up incredibly early for the event. So why is it that when she arrives, it's not only full-blown daytime, but everypony else is already there before her?
- More of a Meta question, why is this episode placed BEFORE "Fall Weather Friends" instead of after? Do the seasons come in a different order in Equestria? It's not likely that nearly an entire year went by in just three episodes, considering the whole plotline with the Galloping Gala that was ongoing in season 1, so is it just a simple case of Out of Order?
1.12 Call of the Cutie
- So at one point in the episode, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon talk about how Diamond's new party outfit "totally shows off her new cutie mark". But when we see her at the party, the dress she wears completely covers up her cutie mark.
- She saw Apple Bloom there before she hid and couldn't resist making another snide comment, even if it didn't really make sense?
- Since Sweetie Belle is Rarity's little sister, wouldn't Apple Bloom have met her before, or at least known about her? Comes to that, it doesn't seem like Apple Bloom's class is big enough for there to be anypony in it she's never met.
- Can you name everyone who was in your elementary school class? This Troper can't. It's not that far-fetched to imagine that Apple Bloom didn't speak to literally every filly and colt who had a desk.
- Not anymore, but I could when I was in that class. It's unlikely that they didn't know each other's names, even if they had never talked before.
- I'll concede that point, but even so, the fact that Rarity's sister didn't have a cutie mark either surely would have come up in conversation with Applejack at some point, even if for some reason the two hadn't actually met?
- Would it have? Applejack and Rarity don't seem to have made much small talk before "Look Before You Sleep", if any, and Sweetie Belle doesn't even live with Rarity most of the time. It wouldn't surprise me if the subject was never mentioned to Applejack. Also, keep in mind that for adults like Applejack and Rarity, getting a cutie mark is no big deal; certainly not a great topic of discussion or matter of concern. It was a plot point that Apple Bloom being teased over and ashamed of her lack of a cutie mark was a problem no one else could really understand, except Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo.
- Can you name everyone who was in your elementary school class? This Troper can't. It's not that far-fetched to imagine that Apple Bloom didn't speak to literally every filly and colt who had a desk.
- The composition of Apple Bloom's class changing between the first and second seasons. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo weren't a part of Apple Bloom's class until the second season.
- It's probably not just one class. This seems to be the sort of 'all children share the same classroom' type of school that you see in small villages. That would explain the variations in composition as older children leave and younger ones are added.
- Just what is Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's talent anyway?
- The real question is, what would happen if you took away Diamond Tiara's... err... diamond tiara?
- Presumably Diamond Tiara's talent is the same as Rarity, with whom she shares both a name and similar brand: finding treasure. Obviously not by magic, being an Earth Pony, so maybe by being really great at the stock market. Silver Spoon probably has a cooking-related ability, similar to the Cakes. She seems more "wholesome" and less "bitchy rich girl" than Diamond Tiara so it would fit.
- Season 5 finally elaborates on this. Diamond Tiara's crown cutie mark references that she has great potential for leadership. She already shows that quality by being able to lead Silver Spoon into being a bully just like her. But she eventually reforms and realises she can use her leadership skills for good. Silver Spoon's could possibly be recognising the value in things. For example at first she attaches herself to Diamond Tiara because she recognises her leadership skills. Then she abandons her after Diamond Tiara makes it clear that she's not going to win the election. Of course since Silver Spoon isn't as developed, we don't know for sure.
- The real question is, what would happen if you took away Diamond Tiara's... err... diamond tiara?
- I hate to ask but...considering the, to be blunt, obvious to the point of parody implications and the mention of dresses that "show off your Cutie Mark"...does this mean that Cutie Marks are the pony equivalent of breasts? Because if so, this episode may have gotten more past the radar than every episode of Rocko's Modern Life ever. Also that would officially make Applebloom a (puts on shades) late bloomer.
- Although males have cutie marks too (Big Macintosh). But it is very comparable to puberty.
- It's possible that cutie marks are used by both genders to attract mates by showing whatever their main talent is.
- Whoa there! I don't think she's showing it off due to you-know-what, I think she's showing it off, in the same way you or I would show off something that represents our skills, seeing as cutie marks are all about talents. After all, she is just a foal.
- I always thought it was less like puberty and more like....getting an A on a report card? Because you accomplish something that helps you find your place in life. Actually, more like a university degree
1.13 Fall Weather Friends
- The ponies are sometimes seen throwing horseshoes into the air, and not just when Applejack and Rainbow Dash were playing the game. After looking up the details of the term "throwing a shoe"... um... ouch?
- Maybe horseshoes are used as work shoes (or even just normal shoes that are just never drawn while they wear them), while the shoes that are actually drawn are dress shoes.
- Throwing a shoe isn't painful for a horse. The part of the hoof to which the shoe is attached has no nerves in it. It's awkward, because it leaves that leg nearly an inch shorter, but that's another issue.
- So their work shoes need to be stapled to their toenails... oookay.
- Humans stab themselves in the face and pull metal pins through the wounds to keep them from closing, and that has no practical use whatsoever.
- Just a simple sight gag. A fight isn't really going to throw up stars and a gigantic cloud around the fighters (dusty ground aside), but it happens in cartoons all the time. It's the same as the "squeak toy" noise that the ponies occasionally make: it wouldn't really happen, but it's used for humor's sake.
- The tree sap being collected confuses me a bit. Maple sap is collected to make maple syrup, but it is collected during the spring when trees are sending stored sugars up their trunk to feed the growing leaves. Is that a mistake or are there trees for which this is appropriate? Because they looked like maples trees.
- The syrup was mainly there for a gag, nothing more. Anyway, the ponies have to run past to knock all the leaves down in preparation for winter, which is itself constructed by pegasi. Are you really going to start asking about natural cycles?
- Why did no one but Applejack care that Rainbow Dash cheated on the long jump and tug-of-war? The way she cheated on the long jump was fairly subtle, I guess, but the tug-of-war cheating was incredibly blatant.
- If you see enough of your friends being competitive towards each other, eventually you just don't even bat an eye.
- Well, if a snake challenged you to a race would it be cheating to use your legs? The contests were poorly balanced, but that's an issue that would have to be raised before the competition began.
- That argument works for some of the contests, like the chick carrying one, but for most of the ones we see, it doesn't. It's pretty blatantly cheating at tug-of-war and long jump, and by using wings to do pushups, she's using different muscles and they're not true pushups.
- Because Twilight was the judge, but she had no rules written down to refer to?
- Like Dash herself said when Applejack accused her of cheating, nothing in the rules of the contest said that she couldn't use her wings. By the technical definition, as long as she isn't breaking the rules, she's isn't cheating.
- Actually, that's a misconception, because Applejack herself said "I didn't think I needed to tell you to play fair!" That there actually implies that there were rules against using wings in the competition, which is certainly more than I can say for the switcheroo that Rarity and Applejack pulled in "Sisterhooves Social" which I find more justified and understandable to a degree.
- Applejack only objected after the competition was already over. If she had pointed out Rainbow's unfair advantage earlier on in the competition, most ponies would probably have taken her side, but to wait until Rainbow had a) already won and b) used it at least 11 times (since she used it in over 1/2 of 20 competitions) before just made her look like a sore loser.
- I can tell you've never played a game against a Scrub. "I didn't think I needed to tell you" means that it wasn't a rule, just an assumption the other player made.
- It wasn't necessarily an "assumption"; it's not always unreasonable to claim that certain things are implied by the rules even if they're not directly stated. That's why blatant Loophole Abuse is generally frowned upon.
- How was Rainbow Dash able to beat Applejack so easily at arm-wrestling? They seemed evenly matched in "The Ticket Master".
- Knowing Rainbow Dash's competitive streak, it's not impossible she actually trained to get better, while Applejack just keep doing the same stuff as always
- How in Equestria are they supposed to figure out "who is the most athletic" if Dash, a pegasus, isn't allowed to use her wings, where over half of her athleticism comes from? Isn't it kind of cheating if she's NOT allowed to use them? Yes, she's fairly athletic without them, but again, Dash spends most of her time flying, that's how she's athletic. It's really not fair to judge her on Earth Pony-based grounds when she's not an Earth Pony. If she had not cheated, she would have lost most of what she won, since she's used to flying. It's bugged me since the first time I watched it.
- Allowing her to use her wings was shown to be even more unfair, seeing as how well over half the challenges were made far too easy for her that way. If anything, the fact only Applejack dared to point out how unfair it was shows that while there is possible imbalance when it comes to competitions between different pony breeds, it's not apparent enough to cause a divide. Still, having Rainbow Dash zoom across the Running of the Leaves definitely wouldn't make for good sportsmanship, since only Pinkie Pie in Reality Warper mode could keep up with her. Even the other Pegasi in the race were land-bound, Applejack wanted to make sure Rainbow Dash wouldn't literally cheat by flying while no one's looking, but flying was probably already frowned upon for the race.
- Of course it was. The race isn't competitive, and it isn't even really a race - the impact of running hooves makes the leaves fall. And while one could argue that a fleet of pegasi zooming past the trees might do the job just as well, if not better, that's not the point.
- Besides that, it was pointed out in a later episode that causing a divide between the pony species could cause everlasting Winter. Maybe the ponies didn't want to suffer through that and just decided not to bring it up.
- Allowing her to use her wings was shown to be even more unfair, seeing as how well over half the challenges were made far too easy for her that way. If anything, the fact only Applejack dared to point out how unfair it was shows that while there is possible imbalance when it comes to competitions between different pony breeds, it's not apparent enough to cause a divide. Still, having Rainbow Dash zoom across the Running of the Leaves definitely wouldn't make for good sportsmanship, since only Pinkie Pie in Reality Warper mode could keep up with her. Even the other Pegasi in the race were land-bound, Applejack wanted to make sure Rainbow Dash wouldn't literally cheat by flying while no one's looking, but flying was probably already frowned upon for the race.
- The real question about the wing this is why wasn't this situation resolved the very first time a pegasus and an earth pony had to compete in an athletic event? They've coexisted for at least a thousand years. Surely someone should have come up with some ground rules on wing use by now.
- Perhaps they simply had little to do with each other in athletics. Either way, Applejack and Rainbow Dash seem to have made up the competition on the spot, so there's nothing to suggest they were consulting historical rules. Nobody made a big deal until Applejack brought it up, by which point it was too late.
- Applejack ties up Rainbow Dash's wings so that she can't cheat in the Running of the Leaves and declares that she is now "trussed up like a turkey." You normally truss up a turkey to cook it, so one wonders why vegetarian ponies would truss up a turkey.
- Maybe predatory species do it, like dragons.
- Most Writers Are Human.
- If Rainbow Dash is loyal then why did she cheat?
- Ponies Are Flawed. Many episodes have circumstance and the ponies vices (like Rainbow competitiveness in this case) cause them to act against their Element.
- I could get this if it was any other pony, but..this one's The Element of loyalty. It's her job to consistently loyal. Also, shouldn't she lose her element?
- That's not how the elements work. You don't need to be a thing every second of every day. Rainbow Dash is the element of loyalty because loyalty is a fundamental and core piece of who she is. Being loyal is important to her on a personal level but that doesn't mean she can't make mistakes. As far as the elements go you only need to eb in tune with your element when actively trying to use the magic of friendship.
- Ponies Are Flawed. Many episodes have circumstance and the ponies vices (like Rainbow competitiveness in this case) cause them to act against their Element.
- In the Iron Pony contest, Applejack claims that Rainbow Dash using her wings is cheating. Yet, over half of the contests involve leg strength, where a pony who flies places instead of walking is obviously at a disadvantage. This is never addressed.
- Rainbow Dash can walk/run, but Applejack and the other Earth ponies can't fly and (obviously) don't have wings to use to get ahead.
- The physics aren't always consistant, but I would expect Rainbow Dash to be a lot lighter than Applejack. As such she could likely run faster with less muscle strength behind her.
- She could also alter the pitch of her wings to increase or decrease her glide potential without technically "flying," which would give her an advantage over certain terrain.
- If her muscles aren't as strong, then she doesn't deserve the title of "most athletic pony". Using her wings to hover over the mudpit in a tug-of-war is clearly cheating. She was pulled far enough to lose, she just didn't happen to touch the ground beyond that point.
- You shouldn't really be able to compare them. For a pegasus to be as good at everything you can do without wings and an be excellent flier, she'll need to train much more than someone who does the same things minus flying. Without flying, she'll be at a disadvantage. But with flying, she'll have a huge advantage.
- Think of it this way: had either pony been facing off against Twilight, she could have easily used magic to dominate every challenge, and that is certainly cheating. Rainbow using her wings is no different. The contestants should be limited to skills that apply to all ponies. Had any challenge involved growing plants or whatever earth pony magic does, Applejack would have been expected to play fair. If influence over animals is a quality of earth pony magic, she may have already passed up a chance to cheat!
- Its been shown that earth ponies are slightly stronger than other ponies to make up for not having magic or the ability to fly.
- This is common fanon, but it's never mentioned by Word of Faust or really shown in the show. However, Word of Faust has stated that Earth Ponies are magical. They have a magical connection to plants and animals that non-Earth Ponies can't match aside from rare examples like Fluttershy. And it's been shown in the show, too. How many unicorns and pegasi do you see with plant or animal related cutie marks that aren't obviously about something else (such as the unicorn teacher in Cutie Mark Chronicles having an apple, which is clearly indicative of a talent with teaching rather than raising apples).
- In that case, if anyone is to blame, then it would be Twilight, in my humble opinion. She was recruited as a judge for the contest, yet she never calls out Rainbow Dash on her behavior. In those circumstances, you can't blame Rainbow Dash for doing something she considers natural for her and that the impartial judge of the contest seems to be authorizing. But this raises the question, how could someone as obsessed over rules and order as Twilight is have turned a blind eye to Dash's antics?
- Flying wasn't mentioned in the rules. And Applejack didn't bring it up until after she'd lost, making herself look like a sore loser.
- To be fair to Applejack, the instances were we saw her being bugged by Rainbow's wings were cheating: One was a jumping contest and the other was the tug of war, and applejack would have won both(fairly) if rainbow hadn't flying. It's more the equivalent of running in a race walking competition.
