elsporko

Wait, who takes care of their pets when they all go out of town other times? I assumed that was why Spike didn't get to go to Twilight's birthday party in Canterlot

The thing about Spitfire's voice is that Luna went through the exact same thing. She was very passive and apologetic in Season 1, but come Season 2 the ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE surfaced and she practically changed identities. Despite the differences, it was all from the same voice actor.

There were some who complained ("Woona" would never be like that, etc), but the change was overall very well received, perhaps because of the creativity and endearing-ness of Luna's new personality .

Ironically enough, I have no doubt the Canterlot Voice was actually exaggerated for the sake humor and not as something that would ever be shown again as a characteristic of hers.

Those complainers bucked me. She had like one line in her first appearance

I really liked the other recruits, too. It seemed a bit odd that so many of them were from Ponyville, but eh, new characters cost animator time. The way Cloud Chaser and Horse Power stuck together was really cute, and I liked Horse Power better in this episode than in "Hurricane Fluttershy".

Rainbow Dash brought in a bunch of ringers to break the record

As much as Rainbow Dash's episodes last season seem to bring her worst traits in the spot light I feel like they are the difference between her and Lightning Dust.

I think if Rainbow Dash from the first season never got humbled and learned those lessons she may have ended up like Lighting Dust, willing to put everything else behind her for her goal.

Lightning Dust is a good character as she shows how Rainbow Dash could have been.

But Spike is too fat and stupid to help

If a college football player broke a ton of records his first season and was the most amazing player ever it wouldn't mean they just stroll up the NFL head offices at the end of the season and ask which training camp to show up to. There is a protocol. The Wonder Bolts probably were waiting to see if what Rainbow Dash did was a fluke or not, they likely require a pony to have several accomplishments before being asked to join. They also may have needed for a spot to open up.

I think this season is moving away from friendship lessons, which makes it hard to come up with reasons for the letters. Considering the crusaders seem to be the ones getting more the learn a moral type episodes maybe it would make sense for Twilight to have then take over or at least send their own

I don't think you really need to worry much about him being made fun of, unless from older kids. In my experience a six year old will play with whatever unless an older kid makes then not want to play with it

I think not having friendship letters isn't really hurting anything. All they did was serve to explain the moral. The ending of this episode works way better showing how Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo are beginning a sisterly relationship rather then talking about it

What exactly could Applejack have done directly to oppose Trixie that wouldn't have gotten her taken out immediatly?

Its like the French Resistannce. If they would have ran up to German soldiers and tried to fight them directly it would be over immediatly, they had to work in secret until an opportunity arose, which is what Twilight's friends did.

I don't know why Scootaloo thought she had to hide her fears, its well known she is a chicken afterall

But but it's fun to over-analyze!!!

On a more serious note, I feel like saying "remember the target audience" is a cop-out. Especially since we've already had an episode ("Griffon the Brush-Off") that dealt with bullying, did it far more convincingly and it wasn't even the point of the episode. MLP is a show that's shown it can be well-written enough to deal with a subject in a way kids can understand, but that adults can still appreciate. Why should we let it off the hook if it falls short of the standard it set by itself?

The lesson of Giffon Brush Off was confused at best If sombody is a bully sort of then you should be nice to them and they will be undone by being a jerk without actual interference by anybody

The lessong of this episode is far clearer and more direct when it comes to bullying

I wouldn't be surprised to see an episode where Diamond Tiara goes to far and Silver Spoon gets tired of her, leaving Tiara all alone, and she eventually learns that there are ways she can use her leadership skills to get positive.

Great episode. I loved it. The nods to past episodes were great

Ah, I guess I better ask the next time I am in a comic store and have enough money to actually buy something

Who cares if its a gateway to Equestria. According to North Korea, North Korea is already more magical and happy then Equestria could ever be.

They are the main characters of a show that doesn't start with "Tyler Perry's" so they are mostly white with at most one black and one hispanic/Asian

Glad to see this happen. It would be kind of lame if she kept acquiring accolades for her flying while never reaching her goal

I haven't seen any on my random trips to random comic book stores

See the various points I have made about CMC not thinking through their actions very well as well as the point I made about children in general.

The intent and embarrassing consequences of the pranks are similar.

Ignoring the fact that this is a cartoon about magical ponies, so they are physically stronger then real life magical ponies, the fact that the prank is over the top and unsafe helps the message of the story and it is not strange for a group of hyper active traumatized children to not fully consider consequences of their actions

Babs appears incompetent and foolish for not being able to drive a float.

Its along the same lines as tripping somebody and embarrassing them.

It does make sense

1. They know Babs will take things they like

2. Babs trashed their other float, they are building off of that

3. They want Babs to be the center of attention, the float idea accomplishes that.

4. If Babs doesn't fall for it then they still get to ride on the float.

5. The Cutie Mark Crusaders have shown they are not good at looking ahead. In the past they ran into a dangerous forest to get a chicken, spread rumors without considering consequences, and have used potions without considering the long term effects twice.

6. If I remember correctly they came up with the idea and executed it quickly, staying up all night to do so. That doesn't leave many opportunities to consider other options

7. Once they took time to think they did realize it was over the top. They just didn't think about it in the heat of the moment, which is like how they have acted in previous episodes. One of their main character traits is they get stuck on something and hyper focus without really thinking about it until later

Looking back as a rational adult without severe emotional attachment there are many other possibilities to consider, but treating the characters is a way that doesn't coincide with your personal beliefs and experiences doesn't make it poorly written

I consider it bad writing because the writer decided that was what they were to do. I don't want to blame the characters. I feel like they would have known better. But that is just me. Perhaps their judgement was clouded by anger. But in the end the writer makes the decision what happens in the episode.

As for the other questionable things, I'd go though each of them. What annoyed me about this is that they chose to do it knowing it would adversely affect another. It was the malicious intent that bothered me, among the other glaring issues with the scene. Most other things that were done were not with malicious intent. Also a lot of them there was no other options or limited options. Here they could have done many other things in its place.

Are you saying any fiction where character doesn't use 100% looking at the situation after it happened logic and never makes a mistake is bad?

I guess anything where characters are guided by emotion or isn't perfect just isn't up to snuff

Watch out everbody! Zombie rider's post is a trick! If you read the entire thing it summons an eldritch abomination