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Ginger Mint

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  1. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Yeah, that reform spell was pretty dark. Considering how Celestia has been acting this season, I couldn't help but wonder myself exactly how she manages to keep Equestria in a state of peace and harmony... On the topic of Fluttershy bullying Discord into being her friend by punishing him for disobedience, I would agree that it is a weakness in the story, because it muddies the issue. However, I think its not too unreasonable to assume that Fluttershy hadn't planned for that to happen, and that she was legitimately upset that Discord hadn't agreed to cooperate on his own. Fluttershy never threatened to take away her friendship as a condition of working together, it was Discord who suggested that it was all part of a plan. I think the episode would have been better if that had been more clear, if I didn't have to wiggle around to reach that conclusion, but at least there is enough wiggle room to do so. (Also, going along with what Weesh said, it might have been better if, rather than saying she had an important summit to attend, Celestia had said something like "I should go, because my presence will make this more difficult for you." As far as establishing trust is concerned.)
  2. Ginger Mint
    hi hi I'm afraid that looking too deeply into things is just one of the many occupational hazards of being me. (Though I was pretty sure I did go over some of the things that I enjoyed about the episode, like Discord's new personality and how smooth the majority of the pacing flowed.) After having worked at a newspaper for several years, I'm used to things being reviewed several times by several people in order to catch mistakes, especially when it comes to people accused of wrongdoing. I kinda wish some of the writers would stay up late at night and come up with sinister and misguided messages, if only to lampoon them later. Concerning children and how they view the world though, I should like to point out some anecdotes. Between the ages of three and six, children begin to understand and use stereotypes. After age six, children start to understand other people's stereotypes, and by first grade, they are able to understand the consequences of discrimination. Also, by the age of seven or eight, children are just as likely as adults to act fairly when distributing resources, in contrast to children ages three to four which are almost universally selfish. Additionally, long lasting misconceptions can take root at ages younger than six. (My kindergarten teacher once told me that "Left was North," and to this day, decades later, I still have trouble getting right and left mixed up. It took me until second grade to realize what she had meant. Although the studies that were done on this subject involved misconceptions about geometry, like "A square isn't a rectangle.") Back on topic though, I do have to wonder what 1000 years encased in stone would be like. The Elements of Harmony are remarkably poetic in what they do. (Nightmare Moon wanted eternal night, and she got banished to the moon which, in Equestria, is always on the night side of the world.) Discord wanted chaos (A state of disorder, where others had no control.) and was put into a situation where he had no control at all. Very poetic if you ask me. It was undoubtedly unpleasant for him, but he also seemed to have learned quite a lot while he was imprisoned, so it wasn't like he was in a sensory deprivation tank. He learned just about everything there was to know about the Mane Six, including what each of their elements was about, as well as Celestia's plans. I suspect it would be an awful lot like being in prison, watching the world on TV, but never being able to experience it for yourself. And thats kind of what happened in this episode. He seemed to know all there was to know about friendship, magic and harmony in his last appearance -having ruthlessly exploited every weakness with clinical precision- but he'd never actually experienced it first hand. I know some people had issues with Discord's change being too abrupt, and I might have agreed with them if I didn't stop and think about it. Discord is like the paragon of untrustworthiness, and before Fluttershy says he's her friend, he even gives what is effectively a soliloquy about how he is pretending to be nice so he can manipulate Fluttershy. So at whatever point that he actually starts appreciating Fluttershy's friendship, we as the audience have no real way to determine whether it is supposed to be an act or sincere. But at some point, his appreciation of Fluttershy's friendship did become sincere, and perhaps it is part of the lesson that you might not ever be sure when it happens and that you have to give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes. Also, in other news:
  3. Ginger Mint
    hi hi The Discord from Return of Harmony and the Discord from Keep Calm and Flutter On are two very different characters. I can accept that this Discord was just a careless child, but the old Discord was certainly not. (He was chaotic and quite evil at the same time, and very deliberate in his actions. And Celestia did need to help Twilight to overcome his tricks.) Maybe getting hit by the Elements of Harmony a few times gave him some more time to think about things. On the topic of tangential things though. - J.R.R. TolkienIts not like I'm trying to hate on anything. - Ben Cato (Lora Innes)I enjoy discussing things and I've tried to be fair, but when the discussion covers an issue that I think is false, I am liable to explain why I think it is so, because I think it is important to be honest. Even if it inevitably means I will not ingratiate myself. The latter of which, I guess I'm doing a pretty good job of these days, aren't I? As for gravy: Gravy is a roux -a mixture of wheat flour and fat, which is traditionally dairy butter but can be vegetable oils as well- mixed with the liquids from cooked meat or vegetables. There are a number of popular meat free gravies, including chocolate gravy, onion gravy, cream gravy and vegetable stock gravy.
  4. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Elsporko, the answer is free will. All things being equal, having someone being a productive member of society is better than having them locked in a cage, but things are not equal. Some people may be very productive members of society, but if they don't get a choice in the matter, they are slaves. If someone doesn't choose to reform their actions, if they are being forced or coerced, that is the foundations of a police state. When people don't internalize the rules, when they are only doing the right thing because they are threatened with punishment, then it becomes necessary to make good on that threat of punishment at all times, in all places. As for why brainwashing someone into being a happy, productive member of society is wrong, well, perhaps a read through A Brave New World, will be enlightening.
  5. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Well, we already knew that Equestria wasn't the only part of the world all the way back in Bridal Gossip, when Twilight says, "Zebras come from a faraway land," and then later in Over a Barrel and Magic Duel, we see that there are buffalo and large ponies/horses that have their own lands as well. While I suppose there's nothing that tells us either way, Discord may not have gutted Twilight's books himself. He did have the ability to animate things to do stuff for him, like compelling the beavers to build huge dams, or animating dinnerware to hop and jump around. This is exactly my point. If you go back and look at the old arguments, you will see people making the argument that Discord wasn't evil because he had no choice in the matter. That if he caused suffering because it was his inherent nature, then he couldn't possibly be considered evil. We now know that he did have a choice. However, since he had never had a friend before, nobody knew at the time what would happen.As for the "reforming spells," I didn't want to touch on this because I was afraid I would end up sounding like a big stick in the mud, but since other people are pointing it out too, I should say my part. The writers of this show have been walking an increasingly disturbing line since the end of Season 2. While I think its fine to have characters mess things up and learn their lesson, it becomes problematic when the characters don't learn their lesson, especially when those characters are authority figures in a children's show. • Cadence's love spell manipulating the emotions of otherwise free-thinking individuals. • Princess Celestia betting the lives of the Crystal Ponies by having Twilight go without help. • Twilight Sparkle killing Pinkie Pie's clones. • Twilight encouraging Spike's unhealthy dependancy issues. • Celestia treating Discord as an object with which to cast spells, rather than a sentient being. • Twilight Sparkle trying to find and cast a reforming spell. Some of these things I just cant explain away, and believe me, I've tried to find a way. Generally, such methods are considered to be corrupt and immoral. If someone is dangerous to society, then society has some rights to lock them away for safekeeping, but such a society still has a responsibility to maintain some very basic rights for those imprisoned. (Once upon a time, I dared to think that it was only in the darkest recesses of authoritarian hearts that dreamed of brainwashing others into obedience.) That being said, if the ending had acknowledged how Celestia and Twilight had been wrong, I think this episode could have been truly phenomenal, in terms of the moral of the story. (It might have been better if Celestia had just not opened her mouth at all, and left her reasoning unexplained.) Twilight and company try to reform Discord the wrong way throughout the entire episode, and that turns out to be an excellent contrast to Fluttershy's methods. By doing it the wrong way, they help emphasize what is right about Fluttershy's methods. In many places, contractual agreements are considered null and void if the person who signed the agreement was forced to do so under duress. Telling Discord that he had to behave or else they would zap him again would not have produced any kind of meaningful agreement at all. This is one of the fundamental flaws in authoritarianism that is being put on display for everyone to see, and so the only real downside is that the ending didn't make that more clear.
  6. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Gravy boat was awesome. That whole scene was pretty neat actually. It showed that Discord understood right and wrong well enough to troll everyone else by poking at their rudeness. This was actually part of why I said he showed more humanity in this episode even before he decided to play nice. In Return of Harmony, he ridiculed the mane six's strengths, but in this episode, he made fun of their flaws.
  7. Ginger Mint
    hi hi There's no need to get personal TotalEclipse. Discord displayed a drastically different amount of ability in Keep Calm and Flutter On, than he did in Return of Harmony, and it would have been advantageous for him to use the level of power he displayed in Return of Harmony. Why didn't he? "Because the plot said so," is a cop out answer. Did he have a copy of the script too? I mean, continuity isn't necessary, but at that point he's really a different character all together. Fanon is not the same as canon. Nightmare Moon never killed anyone, and was never shown to be capable of doing so. In fact, she was actually shown as being incapable of doing so. She literally struck three ponies with lightning and all it did was stun them a bit. That is not the absence of evidence, that is the presence of evidence. With Cadence in possession of the Crystal Heart, Sombra would have been defeated anyways, whether he advanced or retreated. That was the whole point of the Crystal Fair. Discord and Nightmare Moon might have been able to teleport away if they'd had enough time, but they clearly didn't. Nightmare Moon had to spool up into a little cloud first, and for Discord, they showed that the Elements of Harmony were already working before they actually hit him with the Rainbow.
  8. Ginger Mint
    hi hi There are a lot of reasons for Nightmare Moon to confront Twilight. Unlike Discord who had seen the elements in action before, she didn't know all about the Elements of Harmony, or what each of the mane six was capable of. Unlike Discord, she didn't understand the spark, the elusive element of magic, or that she wouldn't be able to destroy the elements. While she could fly rather quickly as a wispy cloud, she wasn't that much faster than anypony else. The entire reason why she became filled with hate and bitterness was because she wanted ponies to pay attention to her, and you cant get attention when you're in hiding, or if you can't get a big enough head start. (Rainbow Dash was clearly faster than Nightmare Moon.) Unlike Discord, she had an opportunity to defeat her opponents before they even found the elements of harmony. Unlike Discord, Nightmare Moon needed to be present to do things, she needed a big billowing cloud to strike the guards with lightning. In Return of Harmony, Discord was able to cause chaos all across Equestria at once, and could observe, speak to, and mess with ponies without physically being present. Perhaps Nightmare Moon could have tried avoiding the Elements of Harmony by running away, but raising the sun and moon aren't exclusive powers of either Celestia or Nightmare Moon. (I didn't used to have to turn my brain off, and I don't plan to start any time soon.) Edit: In other news, I didn't get a chance to watch the credits, so I'm wondering if anyone else can confirm if this is legit or not?
  9. Ginger Mint
    hi hi While I think Fluttershy was spot on and excellent, I may need to explain what I was saying about Celestia in a little bit more detail. (Fluttershy really one-upped the Princess in this episode) Celestia never once suggests that she is trying to reform Discord for his own benefit, or that he might be happier using his powers for good. She says "I have use for Discord's magic if it can be reformed to serve good instead of evil." She may have a lofty goal in mind, but treating someone as nothing more than a means to an end is wrong. Its what Discord was doing to everyone else in The Return of Harmony, he had use for ponies if he could reform them to serve his own ends. All I can do for that is shake my head and assume that there is more to the story that we never got to see. Something like, "I'm sure you can make Discord realize that getting along is better for everyone involved." Because if the people who claimed that Discord needed to do those things he did in the past were right, on account of his inherent nature, then making him do otherwise would have been making him suffer. (And I'm not even going to touch on the ethics of spells that magically reform people... thats just, I can't even handle that, so I'm forced to assume that they were bogus spells in the first place.) But as I said, once they got past the part where they were setting up the premise, and the reasons for doing what they were doing (which seemed even more reckless than wagering the fate of an entire nation on one student's test) there was a lot of good stuff in there. Also, concerning Discord's powers before and after: Discord had the ability to teleport himself all over the place in the past. If he still had that ability, there would have been nothing stopping him from just blinking away and causing chaos somewhere else, and ruining someone else's day. (And if the mane six ever tried to find him, he could just zip away again.) What I appreciated about this episode that, as crazy and zany as Discord was, it was actually a rather down to earth episode for the most part. This version of Discord was actually a lot more relatable than he was back in The Return of Harmony. (Not that he wasn't an excellent character before, but he certainly had more humanity this time around, even before he decided to play nice.)
  10. Ginger Mint
    hi hi While the beginning and the end required a whole lot of suspension of disbelief and took a whole lot for granted, along with lots of yelling and freaking out without any preamble at all, the body of the episode was nice. When Princess Celestia first came on the scene and started talking about reforming Discord, as though he was just some kind of magic machine that needed to be fixed in order to work on demand, I thought the episode was going to make me cringe the whole way through. (Seriously, are they aiming for a reckless tyrant Celestia in season 3 now?) But thankfully, once Celestia departed for no good reason, the episode settled down and was a surprisingly smooth ride. Now, if Discord had been as powerful as he was in "The Return of Harmony," I would have said this episode was founded on a patently insane premise, but I guess being recently zapped by the elements of harmony must have sapped him of some of his well neigh omnipotent abilities. And, in giving the characters the benefit of the doubt, I'm just going to assume that Princess Celestia realized that in advance. I think my favorite part of the episode was how Fluttershy didn't have to put up with Discord at any point in time, but made the choice to do so anyway and stuck to it. Especially at the end, when Discord didn't fix the dam, it technically broke their agreement and she wasn't constrained by her promise to never use her Element against him, she decided not to use it anyway. Instead she just used regular old kindness. The ending? Well, it was rushed, and Princess Celestia was acting weird and talking about Discord like he wasn't even there, right in front of him. But, eh... it was still a nice episode. Could have been better, but other than some oddities here and there, it wasn't bad.
  11. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Twilight Sparkle doesn't seem to think that Spike's Dragon Code is a childish, personal thing. Has Twilight Sparkle finally made the leap from irrational and crazy some of the time to irrational and crazy all of the time? Anyways, I guess unless we ever meet any nice dragons, he probably wont get the chance to form a group of dragon code adherents. Might be kind of nice to see some other dragon characters though, or dragon characters that get some development at least. Thats not to say that any of the other dragons we've seen so far are necessarily bad characters. While I think some people will make an argument against the teen dragons, I'm personally ambivalent about them. Its just that we as an audience haven't ever gotten a chance to know any of the other dragons on the inside. Also, maybe Spike keeps bandages stored away somewhere that he can call up with dragon fire? That might explain where Twilight's bandages magically appear from, on any of the many occasions where she gets injured in a comical fashion.
  12. Ginger Mint
    hi hi In other less controversial news, I'm beginning to think that Pinkie Pie is one of the greatest scientific minds in all of Equestria. It's like she sprung fully formed from the mind of Rube Goldberg. Her crazy plans and contraptions in this episode are just another example of her engineering prowess. Lets not forget her Pinkie Copter, either. One wonders what marvels she might invent if she didn't spend so much of her time designing parties, creating baked goods and crafting songs instead. What other things do you suppose Pinkie Pie has invented, or could invent in the future? Do you think she made her own night vision goggles, or did those come from the bargain bin at the Canterlot Royal Guard surplus depot?
  13. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Rosewind, I only really liked Raise This Barn a little bit at first, on account of the fact that it wasn't silly enough to not take seriously like Evil Enchantress, and it wasn't relevant enough to me like how I wish winter was over... but my stars, it has grown on me a lot. The more I listen to it, and the more I am able to make sense of the lyrics, the better it gets. (And yes, Sim Gretina is fantastic. ) I found another one that I really like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FmzLk7jkSA
  14. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Phil the Time Wizard, I'm looking at this through the lens of the discussion we're currently having because we're currently discussing this stuff. I didn't bring up what happened to Spike in Secret of my Excess, but I felt obliged to respond to it. In Spike at your Service, Spike was objectifying Applejack, even if he didn't realize what he was doing. He was not concerned about her wishes, and was only using her as a means to an end, the end of being a noble dragon himself. She told him to stop, and he took it seriously enough to freak out, but he had no problems doing things for her that he wanted to do, like jamming a bellows in her mouth. (ick!) Yes, Spike is a child. Children regularly do all sorts of horrible things because the don't know any better, but when they do, that is the exact time when they should be learning to know better. (If not sooner.) The trouble is that the ending is so ambiguous, that I think you could make an argument for just about anything. Sure, Spike could have learned something valuable, but without the hows, whats, or whys, I'm not sure if any interpretation is stronger than another, including some rather unpleasant interpretations. Applejack's discomfort and insistence that he stop didn't change from beginning to end, and when Spike first learns about the fake timberwolf deception he is dismissive about it and openly mocks them, so its anyone's guess what actually persuaded him to change his mind. (If indeed it changed at all, which we also don't know, because he was given a chance to repay his life debt and got off the hook.) (And I admit that it is quite possible that it is my own personal experiences that end up filling in the blanks.)
  15. Ginger Mint
    hi hi You don't need to be at risk of turning into a big scaly monster in order to have a code of conduct, but if you are at risk of hurting your friends by turning into a monster, does it make sense that objectifying them as a means to an end and making them uncomfortable is a solution instead? I think that the more valid Spike's concerns become, the more unfortunate it is that he never learned a real way to address them. (I appreciate that hard things can give substance to a story, but stories also usually benefit from having a denouement for those things.) And since helping others really is an important skill, deciding to only help out a single person that you know and trust isn't really a good solution either. The whole knight in shining armor trope may have richly deserved being turned on its head in Dog and Pony Show and Canterlot Wedding, but there are real ways to figure out how and when to help someone out. For the record: While I might be sounding like a particularly critical neighsayer, I did enjoy a number of aspects of this episode, there was just something missing that I think it needed for me to enjoy it as a whole.
  16. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Having Spike come up with a random Dragon Code out of thin air wasn't so much of a problem in and of itself. As you say, he is a kid, and kids do silly things like that. However, when Twilight validated it, it became a valid rational adult thing. When Twilight said "Do you know how important that is?" I'd have said, "Yes, I do. Its not as important as my wishes that he stop." When someone is harassing you, allowing them to fulfill their desires is not a valid solution. Its just not. It doesn't matter if they think they're being nice, and it definitely doesn't matter if they think you'll enjoy it. (Whether its scratching your back or whatever.) Its not a problem in and of itself that they played out a scheme to allow Spike to fulfill his code by saving Applejack, the problem was that the ending was left really ambiguous as to whether or not that was a valid solution. Applejack had been asking Spike to stop the whole time, and Spike only really seemed to begrudgingly agree to not do it again, should Applejack ever save his life again. (And to be fair, Spike's desire to serve Twilight was one of the major points of contention in Owls Well That Ends Well too, for a lot of people, it feels kind of unnatural.) Personally, I don't really mind that characters struggle or make mistakes on their journey, but if they do, I'd really like for them to be able to reach their destination. So to speak.
  17. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Saying "This author is a horrible person," is an ad hominem attack, saying "I don't like this author's writing style," is not. For example, no matter how much effort they put into them, I don't watch Quentin Terantino's films, Uwe Boll's movies, read Robert Anthony Salvatore's books or read John Joseco's tumblr, nor am I obliged to try. Not liking someone's work is not the same thing as hating them, they may very well be perfectly decent people. (Personally, i've been trying very hard to give people the benefit of the doubt. There isn't any other show that I would actually watch an episode again when I didn't like it the first time. And I've been going out of my way to not look at who the author is until after watching the episode.) In the past, the show has done a lot of silly random cartoon things, but they also would hang the lampshade when they did. For instance, back in season one, when Pinkie Pie started singing a song out of nowhere, ponies would say things like, "Tell me she's not..." or "Here we go." Or in Season two, when a random pot falls out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie looks up and ponders, "Now where did that even come from?" I think if they'd had somepony say something like "Wow, Spike's usually not this clumsy, you don't suppose he's getting carried away, do you?" A lot of people would have been able to salvage their suspension of disbelief.
  18. Ginger Mint
    hi hi While any individual element might be awesome, the art of compositing is required to make them all fit together seamlessly. That seemed to have broken down a little bit here with the Timberwolves, though it might not have been so bad if they weren't shown so very close up. And as Whitehawke points out, the thin black outlines were out of place. Honestly, I think they could have stood to make the timberwolves' animations more stiff and wooden. (pun intended.) Still, I can't help but like them in concept at least. (Image spoilered for size.)
  19. Ginger Mint
    hi hi If Friendship is Magic was all awesome 100% of the time, that would be awesome if you ask me. I for one love awesome things, like flying in airplanes, typing on fantastic nigh magical boxes that perform automatic computations, and being able to produce light with the flip of a switch. (I particularly appreciate it when the airplanes that I'm flying in work 100% of the time.) At least as far as I've seen in season 3, some episodes are really awesome and some are really not very awesome, but there's not many that are middle of the road. Why that might be the case, though, I can't even begin to fathom. You won't find any apologies for Mysterious Mare Do Well here, as far as morals go, MMDW is the only episode that I think was truly bad. As in, kids shouldn't watch this, bad. I may have thought that Owlowiscious was an unbearable mary sue in Owls Well That Ends Well, that Twilight Sparkle killing all those Pinkie Pie clones in Too Many Pinkies was horrifying, and in this episode, that Twilight betrayed Applejack and Spike didn't learn anything as evidenced by his clinging to Twilight at the end; but there's always at least some kind of redeeming quality to the episodes that manages to pull them back from the edge. When Spike asked "How will I know that I'm a noble dragon?" what he needed was a real answer so that he could determine that for himself. But a lack of an answer is not as bad as a positively wrong answer, so in this case I suppose I can call the moral of the story rather neutral. (As children, many dependent people are encouraged to rely solely on authority figures for direction and approval, and on reaching adulthood, are unable to rely on their own beliefs and actions to function independently. Generally speaking, I think if a kid is old enough to be worrying about it, they're old enough to be learning about it.) Up until they dropped the ball on the moral of the story though, I was enjoying the episode. (And I can admit that its partly personal preference for me, on account of my interest in philosophy.) Rainbow Dash was excellent this time around too, her confidence and then utter bewilderment when her plan failed was very well played. I liked the consistency of Applejack's discomfort, and was really looking forward to a real resolution. I was actually rather unnerved when Applejack apparently killed the timberwolves at the start, and was glad that it wasn't the case. Applebloom, Spike and the giant pig was a great little bit too. Also: I noticed that no pegasi went after the runaway balloon, is perhaps the Everfree Forest scary enough that ponies don't even fly over it?
  20. Ginger Mint
    hi hi On second watching, it would seem my impression has not improved. I think I'm going to have to rate this episode as "At least its not as bad as Mysterious Mare Do Well," on account of the good humor between Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack. After watching them try and fail to get Spike to give up, I was feeling pretty optimistic that we'd see a real solution before the resolution. However, a real solution never really showed up, and it doesn't seem like anything in the second act of the story had any bearing on the resolution. Applejack had made a number of reasonable arguments for why Spike should stop giving her unwanted favors, arguments that were just as good as her final argument about respecting her own code, but if I didn't know any better, I'd almost be compelled to think they're suggesting you should actually allow someone to complete their unwanted favors as a way of getting them to stop. (Which, if true, would be extremely uncool.) After the second watch through, I was able to pinpoint the moment where the episode was lost beyond hope for me. When Applejack goes to seek Twilight Sparkle's help in talking some sense into Spike, I simply couldn't believe Twilight's response. I was thinking: "This is your friend Applejack you're talking to Twilight, are you seriously going to tell her that creepy stalker behavior is more important than her own wishes on the matter? What is wrong with you? Applejack is not the one who's at fault here." There are very few things worse than when the people you trust don't take you seriously. (I'll never forget when a friend of mine had to flee her home town and not tell anyone where she was going because her parents didn't believe her when an ex-boyfriend started stalking her.) Maybe if Twilight had apologized, but at the end, she just digs herself in deeper with a lame, "I thought you were right behind us," line. (A far cry from the caring Twilight Sparkle in Feeling Pinkie Keen, when she turns back and risks herself to save both Spike and Pinkie Pie from the Hydra.) I really hate to be such a downer. I would much rather write about how awesome I thought the episode was, so I'll try to end on a positive note. Do you suppose Applejack is really writing a novel of her own? She sure seemed to respond when Rainbow Dash brought it up. (And if so, what do you suppose its about?)
  21. Ginger Mint
    hi hi I'm afraid my impression of this episode was: "What the hay did I just watch?" There were some funny moments, especially in the middle when Rarity and Rainbow Dash got involved, but I found myself enjoying those moments particularly because they pulled the spotlight away from Applejack and Spike's totally awkward and incomprehensible dilemma. I guess the whole concept of Spike's "Dragon Code," broke my suspension of disbelief and it never recovered. And he was still doing it with Twilight at the end, which left me with a really skeezy feeling to wrap things up with. I mean, who actually does that? People with dependency issues need to learn how to function on their own, not just bounce from one giver to the next. I was surprised that Applejack didn't grow a backbone, because even Fluttershy figured out how to say "No," in Putting Your Hoof Down. I dunno, I guess there wasn't anything that I found particularly bad about this episode, but there wasn't anything that I particularly liked either. (Also: The 3D models felt weird and out of place, but not terribly so.)
  22. Ginger Mint
    hi hi I've seen enough people getting escorted to the office for detention that, in a show where punishment is meted out in the context of punishment for children, that was what I assumed was happening. I would have thought that if she was actually being kicked out of the camp, it would have necessarily been a bigger deal.
  23. Ginger Mint

    Danger

    Ginger Mint commented on Kudalyn's gallery image in Canterlot Community Art

    Danger
    Who could forget Aqua Drop?
  24. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Nowhere in the episode does it state that Lightning Dust got kicked out. She lost her lead pony status, that much is certain, but that is the extent of any explicit punishment. Everything else is pure imagination on the part of the viewer. That being said, I do like how the original ending made it more clear that she was simply being demoted, and that she was getting a second chance, but the original ending seems like it totally fail to address the negligence of Spitfire and the way she was encouraging Lightning Dust's behavior. I would have probably been upset if the original ending replaced the current ending because it marginalizes Rainbow Dash's actions. (You did what you were supposed to do, you actually lifted a hoof to help someone in dire need, let someone know about it.) On the other hoof, if it was meant to be played after the current ending and simply got cut because of time constraints, then it is a serious shame. Since that would have contained the best of both worlds.
  25. Ginger Mint
    hi hi Or maybe some of them are just not married at all? When you're dealing with genetics, its the gambler's fallacy to assume that you will have an even distribution rather than a random distribution.
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