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>would you stop trolling!
>exclamation point
>question

Fuck, that's painful to read.

Unrelated Cocobetes:

Lunar Protege said:

You know how some people get a reaction like “I can’t watch this” when they see something terrible about to happen yet they can’t do anything about it?

Yeah, that's what cringe threads are all about. Getting that feeling, and then forcing yourself to view whatever it is that gave you that feeling. I hate it when that happens in a show/movie. I tense up and then start moaning and having a fight with myself as to whether I should fast forward or not. God help me if its live TV.

Jimmy Lethal said:

>would you stop trolling!
>exclamation point
>question

>implying an imperative sentence can't end in an exclamation point
>inb4 muh lack of an implied subject

Pony General's slow genesis into Grammar General has now begun…

I totally get why people are annoyed with the lack of reverence shown to Twi, but really, what do you expect from the pony equivalent of New York?
New Yorkers would punch Jesus in the face if he tried to take their cab.
If you ask me, Twilight got off easy.

Rarity has some self-confidence issues.

Anyway, this was a really fun episode!
No quite as wild or crazy as the others so far this season, but the interactions were entertaining, the song was solid, and the lesson was probably one of the most poignant in all of MLP.
Choosing to continue being positive, even when your efforts are turned against you, is something that just about anyone can understand and it was cool to see that kind of betrayal portrayed.

Also, goddamn, Tabitha is awesome!
Even if Rarity isn't my favorite character, I've always said that Tabitha is the best VA on the show and she just keeps proving it!
The inflections and noises she adds to nearly every line add so much character to Rarity's personality.
Love it!

Finally, do we want to talk about this?

At first I thought the seven spools were for the main six and Spike, but from looking at other people talking about them, I guess my eyes are crapping up again.
So we have the main six plus the MAGICAL RAINBOW THREAD!
Considering Rarity's magical rainbow eyes at her moment of realization, most people are assuming the tread is going to have something to do with her key for the magical box of mystery.
Gotta say that that sounds pretty likely to me.

Are we perhaps going to get an episode where each pony explores their element more deeply, winding up with the discovery of a magical trinket?
All I know is that all this stuff is definitely leading somewhere…

Prehensile tails + evil =

Watch yourselves, everyone!

@DeadParrot:
Whenever I read that comic I just lose it at "Screw you, your majesty!"
Like everyone other brony in the universe I am also annoyed by nobody in the show realizing that Twilight is a mother fucking princess with wings and a horn, but this has been a problem to me for basically the entirety of the series. The series opens with the mane 6 saving Celestia from Nightmare Moon, they get a stain glass window in the royal palace for it (the first of many stained glass windows glorifying them) and yet any episode that doesn't have to do with saving Equestria usually ends up with everyone treating the mane 6 normally or even treating them like dirt. I'm not saying the ponies should be worshiped every waking second (that would cause for a boring series) but I would at least expect them to be treated kindly most of the time. For instance, in Putting Your Hoof Down while everyone was pushing Fluttershy around, overcharging her for food and cutting in front of her in line, I would have expected at least one of them to go "Whoa, you're the pony that saved Equestria twice! Here, you can have this cherry for one bit!". In Sweet and Elite we see the high class ponies treat Rarity like a redneck and look down on her even though the aforementioned stained glass windows (which I imagine would be a bit of a tourist attraction if they could be seen from the outside or it the palace allowed anything like tours) was right in the same city they were in. You get what I'm saying here? This has always been a sticking point for me throughout the series and now it's being put in the spotlight for everyone else to see with Twilight not being treated like a princess everywhere she goes. Will this problem ever change? I have no idea. Probably not within this season but I hope the writers catch on that we want a little more continuity than that. We have seen with this season that the writers are willing to focus more on continuity than they have in the past, so hopefully they will start to pay a little more attention.

@Deadparrot

I fully agree that whole cab scene was a bit odd logically speaking, I mean I was able to disregard the lack of logic in it since I knew what they were going for "Oh look! they helped him earlier and now he's helping them back! ha ha!"

but yeah.. When watching that part I was actively telling myself "Don't think about the logic in this scene just go with it! Don't you even dare think about the logic in this scene!
I mean as others have pointed out, She's a princess, so when a princess states that someone has to be somewhere very important, "Not likely!" is a strange reaction. Though I don't believe this undermines Twilight's royal role, since I'm sure he was dealt with afterwards..

Why didn't Twilight teleport? I mean we've seen her do it many, many times..

Which could lead to the question how far is she able to move distance wise, and how accurately, well in "It's About Time" not only did she move from one location to the other, but the spell that she learnt in that episode also let her go back in time as well.. that spell would of been handy at this moment in time..

Next point – Why didn't Rainbow Dash, one of the fastest flyers give her a lift? I mean she could have got her there in 10 seconds flat but no instead she thinks she'll be helpful by standing on the roof of a random cab despite the fact that she is so much faster then any cab in Manehatten. But you could say, maybe carrying Rarity from one location to the other would be a hard since it could be a lot of weight to carry.. and I guess that's true.

Also as far as transportation by cab goes, there seems to be a little bit of Flintstones logic going on here..

- About the episode in General, I loved it! I mean.. It was al'right.. I love the setting of the city, and I know this is a controversial thing to say because Ponyville and all that, but I'd be very content if the show was always set in the city, it just seems like a great location for loads of possible plots and stories, I mean I like Ponyville, it's just I really like Manehatten.. I felt this episode felt more grown-up then other episodes, it might just be the city or that the friendship problem is something that is more likely to happen to older people I don't know, the tone felt a little different, the only part I disliked was when rarity turned all her friends into slaves. I mean I get it, I get how the episode works and why it happened, just even for the sake of the plot, it just seemed so forced.

Also.. Daniel Ingram has Rarity's scarf.

DeadParrot was all like:

New Yorkers would punch Jesus in the face if he tried to take their cab.

That's not how you spell Philadelphians. Actually, I fear to know what Fillydelphia is like.

@Dr. Whooves and the Teleporting/Flying Mystery: Ability and story segregation, I assume. I'm not really sure.

Unrelated from Power Ponies:

Was Spike as Humdrum a possible reference to the video for Without Me?

@Why does everyone seem to forget that the mane 6 saved Equestria?
I'm not gonna complain about this one. No one seemed to care about the mane 6 in season one, even though they defeated Nightmare Moon. It didn't bother me back then, and it doesn't bother me in season four. Now on to the big one.

@Why doesn't anyone seem to notice that Twilight is an alicorn?
Maybe there's a lot of alicorns in Equestria that we haven't seen. They're not common, but they exist. I think of Equestria as a small Midwestern town high school that has only 100 kids.

97 white kids

1 black kid

and 2 Asian kids

Twilight Sparkle is the Asian kid of Equestria. (or at least that's the stupid analogy I've come up with)

@Twi not getting respect from the peons

Over on this page the user HeavyTDE had a good theory:

I’ve always personally compared their level of fame with how we as humans hold up famous people. For instance, the princesses are analogous to politicians in our world. Celestia and Luna are the Equestrian version of the President of the U.S., they both not only rule their own country but make a huge impact across their own world so are renowned and respected far and wide. Cadence is more like a governor, well known in a certain region, but less respected and known elsewhere. Twilight is the newcomer and is more like a Senator, fairly well known, but hasn’t contributed enough to hold a lot of respect and fame. As for the Elements, they are like war heroes in our world, they get their attention and fame for the day, but quickly fall back into normal life soon afterward.

I think it holds up really well. The only change that I would make is that Twi's position looks less like that of a Senator and more like a member of Celestia's cabinet (or maybe something like the house speaker) – so she would be known to people who follow politics a lot, but not so much to everyone else.

long time, no siege

Im excited to see more about this 'rainbow' thats going around haha.

What I'd like to know is "Where's Derpy?" She was in the end of season 3 like 4 times and in the Equestria girls twice….But no derpy and were 8 episodes in? D8 DERPY WHERE ARE YOU!?

False, she was hidden in the beginning of RTM.

Pics or it never happened. Also, welcome to Ponythread, guys!

It's actually becoming an accepted name to both have fun with the design and to make fun of bronies who actually look and are like that.

I'm already running with it because I can't think of any other name that would fit with him. It's also fucking hilarious and the only thing left to make the design a bit appealing (before you know it fans make him some euphoric genius to circlejerk over).

Brony Friendzoni for top name.

@Omnii

Hi there! I remember you

@other people I don't recognize

Also hi

@Latest episode

Seeing a rarity episode again was refreshing. We finally caught up on lots of great Rarity expressions that we've been missing for almost a year.

I watched it with a few other guys and because I can't skip the songs or intro when other people are watching I actually had watched them for once. I see the intro hasn't changed too much and Rarity's singing is awesome.

We got to see the NY theme of Manehattan, ponified New Yorkers, New adorable characters (more on that later), much more development on Rarity's character, an important lesson to never trust anybody in New York and another lesson that you don't need to be an asshole to be successful. Overall I enjoyed it.

Some people didn't, but I figure it's for the same reason I don't like any of the CMC episodes when others do. Personal tastes with each character might play a part. I was just happy to see Rarity get some love even though the episode did have some flaws…

Even I was begging questions when the mane6 were trying to get a cab:

I can forgive why taxi drivers wouldn't let a princess get special privilege into a cab. Equestria doesn't seem to be that kind of society that gives any race more right than others, not even alicorns. And as Platus pointed out: Twilights political reputation is probably still virtually non-existent. Senators wait for taxi's like everyone else

I can forgive why Twilight couldn't just teleport everyone. Twilight seems pretty low on mana most of the time. As powerful as her magic is, teleportation seems to be a lot for her

But 3 of those horses have wings and ALL of them have the ability to carry at least one other horse. C'mon! There's no excuse this time! Just fly!

But yea, it's usually better to just not think about the logic, haha.

@On this guy

Are we really going to start calling this dude the brony pony? I keep seeing people say that this is some brony representation or at least a ponified ponychan user. I know he's got the fedora and the destiny to be grumpy but come on… Do I need to bring out the costanza and start shiggying everywhere? He's a New Yorker, not a brony. Not everything involving fedora's is a brony.

@Coco Pommel

I demand more Coco. /mlp/ is going nuts with her at the moment. Shipping and r34 took only a matter of seconds. Raricoco ships could be something to expect very soon.

Also she is adorable

@Latest episode
I literally just finished watching it. I dunno… I didn't like it as much as some of the other ones. I mean, the setting was really cool and there were some fun characters added, but… Something just seemed "off" to me. Maybe it was the pacing? Or the song? Or some of the dialog? I can't really think of anything specific. Maybe I just need to watch it again.

@Brony Friendzoni

That's right form his tumblr page. I thought it was pretty funny.

@Princess Twilight
Is Twilight a princess? I can't remember. I think she has wings, but she never uses them. And she still lives in Ponyville. And she still spends all her time hanging out with her friends. Remember when there was that huge panic over how her "princesshood" would change the show?

Oh, and this has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but the nerd store I go to regularly to get Magic: the Gathering cards and stuff had these for sale:

DJ-PON3 card sleeves. They're probably for the MLP card game, but whatever… That didn't stop me from getting them and building a new deck to go in them!

I watched the first ten minutes of PTA3, and i'm not even sure who's that crazy. off topic: platus is now following me, i'm a bit nervous now. ..he won't leave me, anywhere. send help :c

@Fedora Pony:
I like to call him GrumpyColt. I don't really think he's supposed to represent the stereotypical brony, but I can accept him being the stereotypical internet user. I don't know, as much as people love to do it I don't really associate neckbeards and fedora wearers with bronies as much as I associate them with internet users, particularly redditors and 4channers. The fedora joke has gotten pretty old to me anyway, except for those "friendzoned again" images that have been popping up, those are pretty hilarious. Anyway I'm getting off topic. As far as what I think was intended by the animators or whoever put that in, I think it was just a grumpy cat reference. It's obvious that the cutie mark was quickly slapped on, seeing as it doesn't really move as naturally with the colt's body like cutie marks normally do, so I'm willing to bet the animators were making a grouchy pony for that scene and went "hey, wouldn't it be funny if we put grumpy cat as his cutie mark?". When I first noticed it I made the headcannon that this guy is grumpy cat's owner. I kinda like that headcanon so I'm gonna stick to it for now.

@Coco:
I've been enjoying Coco's insane adorableness just as much as everyone else. I wonder if she could compete with Flutterbat for most fan created content at a rapid pace? Also I don't know if anyone else noticed this but I catch so many anime vibes from Coco it's crazy. I mean, the animation style in FiM already borrows a bit from anime but this time it was turned up to 11. The sailor-style collar we see on every anime schoolgirl uniform, the bright blue hair (granted MLP already has hair of many colors but still blue is one of the most common anime hair colors right next to pink), the flower, the big doe eyes, Oh god I just love it all so much! I doubt we will see her again, but I sure would love it if we did.

Alright then.

https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/673515-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic#comments

@Crimson

I think it was just a grumpy cat reference.

Agree'd. I believe it was a grumpy cat references more than anything else

The character had a grumpy cutie mark because he was meant to be a typical grumpy city pedestrian. If you've lived in the city you know how mean you can get just from walking down the glass canyon.

And the fedora was there because the entire episode had a late 1920's Broadway theme. I'm pretty sure Bronies do not tie into this. As much as some Bronies cherish the thought of being referenced in their own show, it ain't gonna happen

I doubt we will see her again, but I sure would love it if we did.

You aren't alone in that sentiment it seems

If worst comes to worst, she will be immortalized in fan-art

Deadparrot222 said:

At first I thought the seven spools were for the main six and Spike, but from looking at other people talking about them, I guess my eyes are crapping up again.

>thinking Spike would get any sort of recognition whatsoever

There's your problem. If there's any lesson Power Ponies taught it's that the only way Spike will ever get recognition and respect is when it takes place in a completely fictional setting that has no bearing on canon and will never be brought up again.

@Midnight_Gear ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Sweet Jesus, and I thought Crazy☾'s name was hard to type. Welcome, and I shall now try to decipher the Illuminati code in your name.

Blue Screen said:

…I can’t skip the songs or intro when other people are watching I actually had watched them for once.

>normally skipping the songs

Raricoco ships could be something to expect very soon.

>implying a Romance fic didn't already get featured on Fimfiction

Midnight_Gear Chevron Five Encoded said:

platus is now following me, i’m a bit nervous now. ..he won’t leave me, anywhere. send help :c

That's just how Platus is. After the first few "encounters" in a back alley, the Stockholm Syndrome sets in and you'll never comprehend how you lived without him and his flexible hands.

>Leaving yourself open to unprotected follows.
>Not knowing 'bout my "flexible hands."

Why not come over for a bit so we can get to know each other?

What is up with bronies thinking that things happening in the show are supposed to be representing them?

In 'Daring Don't' people thought that Rainbow Dash being a fan of Daring Do was symbolizing bronies being obsessed with the writers. I never made that comparison when I watched that episode.

And now we have people thinking that 'Fedora Pony' is supposed to be a brony pony. Really? I thought of it as a Grumpy Cat reference and nothing more. When the writers came up with that idea I bet they were like: "Let's have a pone with a Grumpy Cat head for a cutie mark!" "That's a great idea! Grumpy Cat will still be relevant when this episode comes out!" "Yeah! Let's do it!"

The point I'm trying to make is that this show is not and never will be about bronies.

So I watched this episode mainly to see the new best pony.

But I thought it was pretty good overall. And "there's our friend Rarity going down in FLAMES! ISN'T FRIENDSHIP MAGIC!?" Is probably my favorite line in the series now.

@Disturbed

I don't think people think the grumpy cat dude was supposed to represent a brony, I think they just think it's funny how he coincidentally shares similarities with some.

It's just like when people project themselves onto a character they like, "Oh, I'm just like [insert character name]," only en masse, and combined with the circlejerky-ness of a fandom, and one like bronies, whose greatest vocal denominator feeds on attention and (more importantly) craves acknowledgement.

Disturbed B (seriously, just a B now? You should go back to Disturbed Bacon again, that was a name that rolled off the tongue fo sure.) said

In ‘Daring Don’t’ people thought that Rainbow Dash being a fan of Daring Do was symbolizing bronies being obsessed with the writers. I never made that comparison when I watched that episode.

I'm not going to lie, the whole "Rainbow Dash tracking down where Daring Doo lives so she could make sure Daring Doo does NOTHING but write the glorious gold she loves the most" definitely seemed like it could really be the only real 'representation' of bronies in this show after you read about some stories from the voice actresses and staff about how a few bronies have been kinda Rainbow Dash-ish from Daring Don't in real life. Other than that I don't count anything else as a Brony representation but I would be lying if I didn't say I don't enjoy seeing Fedora Pony being the stereotypical brony (also I think it would be funny if he were an 'atheist' in fanon so he would think Princess Celestia and Luna are just a bunch of smoke and mirrors or some shit like that.)

I like to think of Fedora Pony being the Representation of Bronies is just a few fan's having fun with the pony before the rest of the bronies come in and make him some tragic character and some other circle jerk bullshit Randomman mentioned above.

@Blue Screen demanding more Coco.
I second this notion. I started looking for fanart of that adorable little pony only like 30 minutes after the episode ended and found porn of her immediately…..but that's not the point I'm trying to make. I just wanted to see some fanart of her so she can join the "Cute ponies that everyone loves but won't appear again due to issues involving the plot" list.

I have something that was always bothered me about the last episode and I think this is the only place to express that:
Has someone got the strange feeling that the song "Generosity" could use it for a T.V. commercial?

Also:

Coco could be fight against Fluttershy for the title "The most cutest pony causative of many deaths by Diabeetus".

I declare Coco the new fandom obsession for the week

Flutterbat is out…

Coco is in…

@Coco
Well, I don't think she's going to spawn quite the art explosion that Flutterbat did (recall that by this time last week, there were probably at least six or seven plushies and a few sculptures completed and more have been popping up every day since) if for no other reason than she's new.
Flutterbat had the advantage of being a significant modification of a character that already had a large fanbase.
Coco is starting from scratch, but I do hope she gets some love.
And here's the first big step!

SOURCE

<div class=spoiler title="This has to be a giant coincidence, but the resemblance is sort of there…">

Yeah, almost certainly unintentional, but kind of funny and cute.

@Alicorn reverence
Maybe ponies would show more respect to alicorns if they were actually rare!

Actual theory:
It feels to me like The Mane Six might be a little like Seal Team Six (The guys who ended up killing Osama bin Laden for those who don't know).
They've accomplished incredible feats that have gained them applause and praise from millions… but I know I couldn't pick a single one of them out of a line-up if I was asked.
People don't know them, they know of them, so any fame they should likely have just isn't there.
I'd actually be really interested to see one of them (probably Dash if we're all honest) 'pull rank' sometime.

"Do you know who you're talking to? Huh? Do ya? I've defeated gods and wizards! I kicked a dragon in the face! Who are you, punk?!"

Now, admittedly, this explanation only really applies to non-Twilights since she's now royalty and should probably be a little better known, even without her obvious difference in physical appearance, but eh…
I'm usually rather lax when it comes to this kind of thing.
I get that it needs to be done in order for the story to work so I'm okay as long as it isn't too glaring.
(The taxi scene scraped the edge of believability for me. Had they had any one of the other ponies try to secure the ride, it wouldn't even be an issue, but specifically having Twilight try is what did it.)

And @Alternate modes of transportation
Twilight can teleport, sure, but it's been shown that she's not too good at teleporting others with her.
She fried Spike pretty bad before and her one successful mass teleport (in Dragon Quest) seemed to be really tough for her to pull off.

Rainbow Dash flying her there is probably a bit more plausible, but then again, Dash was only carrying all those ponies after gaining a ton of momentum from that Sonic Rainboom.
Lifting a weight from a standing start is typically much more difficult.

Finally, and this is probably the big one, none of them have ever been to Manehattan before!
Even if we assume that they could get themselves around quickly, they would likely have no idea where they were going.
Catching a cab with a driver well-versed in the city's landmarks is pretty much the best way to go.
(Well, I guess AJ was there as a kid but she probably doesn't remember much and/or t could have changed wildly in the years she's been away.)

@Brony pony
Uh…

I see pretty much nothing that would indicate that this guy is meant to be a 'brony stereotype' or whatever.
Plenty of other ponies have worn fedoras and this one fit the setting so it isn't even remotely out of place.
He's just a background character who was scripted to be 'grumpy' so whoever was given that scene to design threw in a little internet humor.
I think that's about it.

I will say that I do fall on the side of thinking that the Daring Do episode did have some shout-outs, though.
The concept itself was pretty innocuous and probably conceived without any intentional referencing, but Rainbow's diary entry seriously sounded so much like what I've heard the writers and VAs say at conventions and the like that I feel it was at least partially inspired by those experiences.
Members of the show staff are continuously bombarded with praise and attention for their work, but they are always talking about how impressed they are with the fandom's depth and breadth of talent, too.
I always see them taking tours of the vendor halls and stopping at every table to encourage the artists and crafters.
Having a lesson about not forgetting how awesome you are just because you like someone else's work feels right up that alley.

Kewln00bs name isn't special said:

…some stories from the voice actresses and staff about how a few bronies have been kinda Rainbow Dash-ish from Daring Don’t in real life.

Like the guy that sent McCarthy 108 tweets about his fanfic script?

I mean, come on. I know there are Deviant-Artists out there, but just… ugh.

Midnight_Gear was all like:

Alright then.
https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/673515-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic#comments

Eh, guess I should weigh in at this point.

I thought the new episode was kind of shit honestly. I mean, I'd still say I enjoyed it, Tabitha's voice acting was just fucking great and I liked the new beige pony, but compared to all the other great episodes that have been getting wheeled out this season, this one was very bad.

The main problem I'd say was with the writing. The episodes pacing was rather fucked, there were all those logic and continuity errors, and I thought Rarity's behavior in this episode compounded by her behavior in previous episodes resulted in her just seeming like kind of a bitch.

I found it very awkward that this is the first non-premiere/finale episode to reference any of the mane six's element connections and they chose the two ponies who most fail to live up to their quintessential virtue to emphasize. I found it extremely strange how Rarity was slinging these bigass gems to manhattanites for doing next to nothing while in the pet episode, she repaid Spike for his real service with some little piece of shit fraction of a ruby. You might argue that that was the point of this episode that Rarity needed to learn to appreciate her friends as much as she appreciates strangers, but I'd retort that Rarity is kind of a sociopathic cunt for having to learn that lesson in the first place.

Also, Applejack has will be painfully, brutally honest when it comes to criticizing her friends; the only time she'll ever lie is if she has something to personally gain.

And as for all the logic problems, don't try to do the writer's job for them and resolve their errors, that's the Star Wars fandom's thing. There's no explanation for that cab nonsense other than that Polsky felt like being a lazy writer. Frankly, it felt like he really didn't give much of a fuck about this episode and that rather encourages me to not give much of a fuck either.

It wasn't a terrible episode, but this is fanfiction level writing.

@Fedora pony

Personally, I thought the fedora and cat cutiemark was supposed to mean he was some description of a bond villain. Also, I find it a little disturbing that the internetz is beginning to immediately associate fedoras with lame, socially awkward internet fucks. Look guys, fedoras CAN be cool if you pull them off right, don't damn the fedora just because some people without fashion sense put it on their head.

seriously, just a B now? You should go back to Disturbed Bacon again, that was a name that rolled off the tongue fo sure.

The B stands for whatever you want. It could be Brony, Bacon, Butt, Boobies, Bitch, Faggot, etc.

@Coco Pommel

I didn't say anything before, but I'll admit that she is cute. I bet if I squeeze her she'll explode into 100 smaller versions of herself. I don't know why I think that, I just do. Still, I think Flutterbat is more cute.

You know what I just realized? Some people are theorizing that the rainbow spool Rarity was given at the end of the episode is one of the 'keys' (I.E. how it just randomly sparkles even though it's just an old spool of thread) for the Secret Box of power that's so powerful and amazing the Mane 6 gave up the world's biggest defense to get the box itself. This makes me realize, it's almost 10 episodes in and we finally get our first key which is obviously Rarity's Key. Whereas we'll probably be getting Pinkie's, Fluttershy's, Applejack's, Rainbow Dash's and Twilight's keys in their future episodes later in the season. While Rarity already got her key in her first episode of Season 4…..I have a suspicion that this is Rarity's only episode of season 4…..

Well that depresses me a little, here let's have a post that's not so depressing.

Wait….that's still kinda depressing. Imma go cut myself.

Fifths said:

…her just seeming like kind of a bitch.

So, in other words, she was completely in-character.

…the only time she’ll ever lie is if she has something to personally gain.

When has Applejack ever lied like that, though? The only time I can think of is the Pinkie Promise and that wasn't actually lying, just Exact Words.

Kewln00bs name isn't special said:

Some people are theorizing that the rainbow spool Rarity was given at the end of the episode is one of the ‘keys’ (I.E. how it just randomly sparkles even though it’s just an old spool of thread)

I still like the /mlp/ theory:
>find keys
>attempt to open box
>keys break
>"Don't you see, girls, the real keys were in our hearts the whole time."
>box opens
>Rainbow Powers

Because it makes a disturbing amount of sense.

I have a suspicion that this is Rarity’s only episode of season 4…..

Speaking of,

xTSGx was all like:

So, in other words, she was completely in-character.

Kewln00b was all like:

I have a suspicion that this is Rarity’s only episode of season 4…..

Jesus, Rarity is more irrelevant than the Tennessee Titans.

@Play Theory:

Good idea though.

@xTSGx

Uh dude, she broke a Pinkie Promise

For the selfish reason of protecting her enormous ego. Although I suppose you could argue that there is some ambiguity in the statement "I will tell you the whole truth at breakfast, pinkie promise." in that it could either mean

I will tell you the whole truth at breakfast AND I pinkie promise that I will tell you the whole truth at breakfast

Which is both a statement and a promise. OR it could be interpreted as

I pinkie promise that I will tell you the whole truth at breakfast.

which is just the promise. This might seem like a trivial difference, but a promise alone is neither true or false, but merely signifies the creation of a pact by the speaker that they shall do as they say. Only statements with truth values can be false, and a lie requires that you say something which is untrue, so I suppose you could technically argue that AJ didn't tell a lie, but is merely an oath breaker.

In any case, I think we can all agree that this isn't the kind of behavior you'd expect from your paradigm of honesty.

@BSoD below

As far as whether her being a bitch is in her character or not, I wasn't arguing that you can't create a character type who could reasonably expected to be kind to strangers and unkind to her friends, but rather that you shouldn't. I know Rarity is supposed to be a bit vain and inconsiderate at times, those flaws enrich her character and make her interesting, but I think that she gets painted as kind of a sociopath in this episode.

I mean shit, the fact that she has the sense to realize that people like it when you give them big gems implies that when she gave Spike that little one she didn't just do it out of ignorance towards the feelings of others. She KNEW that she already had Spike eating out of the palm of her…hoof…and that she didn't have to pay him a damn thing to get what she wanted.

That's the kind of character I don't want to see learn a friendship lesson and reform. That's the kind of character I want to see get Sombra'd. Honestly, she is beginning to vye with Fluttershy for the position of worst horse in my opinion. Come to think of it, Fluttershys been pretty solid these past few eps. Still has a long way to go to make up for this shit though

@Fifths

I thought Rarity’s behavior in this episode compounded by her behavior in previous episodes resulted in her just seeming like kind of a bitch.

Isn't that the point? Rarity did something bitchy in this episode and the episode was focused on her learning from the mistake she made.

She's high maintenance girl and doing bitchy things ties in with her character. Rarity will always have those kind of faults with vanity, meticulousness and pedantry because those are the imperfections she offers which the show can offer morals on. If she didn't have them to build her character on, she'd have no business being a main character

I found it extremely strange how Rarity was slinging these bigass gems to manhattanites for doing next to nothing while in the pet episode, she repaid Spike for his real service with some little piece of shit fraction of a ruby.

Probably because Rarity didn't exist in that season, there was only a background pone that looked like her

And as for all the logic problems, don’t try to do the writer’s job for them and resolve their errors, that’s the Star Wars fandom’s thing. There’s no explanation for that cab nonsense other than that Polsky felt like being a lazy writer. Frankly, it felt like he really didn’t give much of a fuck about this episode and that rather encourages me to not give much of a fuck either.

I do agree with this. That cab scene had no excuses.

It's great that the writers remembered Rarity and her type of character this time, but they still forget a lot of things. Things that should be obvious: Like who is able to fly, who has magical powers and who has a ton of strength. The respective capabilities of each pone must be something the writers disagree on a lot and that area could be improved

@Fifths:
I don't get why you are so hung up on Rarity giving Spike that tiny gem when it was a throwaway gag. In a Spike episode. With a ruby that ended up being worth enough to buy an industrial sized blow dryer. Also i think you are throwing around the "sociopath" term pretty liberally. Taking friends for granted and then learning you should appreciate them more (while making up for it in a big way) doesn't exactly read "sociopath" to me. You're criticizing Rarity and AJ for not living up to their elements 100% of the time while completely ignoring the fact that the other members of the mane 6 have also failed at embodying their elements from time to time (not including Return of Harmony). Fluttershy has been the opposite of kindness (which you have pointed out), Pinkie has let her worries take away her positive attitude and ability to make people laugh (Party of One, Too Many Pinkie Pies), Twilight has had her magic royally fuck everything up multiple times (Swarm of the Century, Bats!, Too Many Pinkie Pies if you count those orange/animal hybrids she ended up making), the only one I can think of that didn't end up breaking the rule of their element was Rainbow Dash and even then I'm pretty sure there's some moment somewhere that I'm not remembering. My point is all of the mane 6 have fucked up living up to their elements pretty frequently, so I find it unfair for you to say "Rarity fucked up the most" because she kinda didn't.

Thanks for the welcoming!

Derpy In Manehatten: Eh its to undefined to truely be Derpy for me.

Grumpy Cat Pony: Im just caling him Grumpy Colt or Tarder Sauce(like the actual cats name), Not sure where the 'friendzoni" stuff came from. I think its a bit silly to be honest.

Characters in Character: I think that Rarity was totally in character, its just she hasn't been put in enough of the right situations to show it! And Pinkie Pie is random, but everypony has a temper…Look at Fluttershy in Return of Harmony part 2 when she first uttered the "That big dumb meanie" line that was recently used in Power Ponies. Everypony can be pushed to snap, mentaly or angrily.

I also agree with Crimson Locks. Everypony has made mistakes and gone against there element virtues. They are still learning growing and developing! If they all did the right thing, then the show would be boring and would have no issues to discuss at the end of the episodes.

Twilights a princess now, but that doesn't make her perfect at magic, (she has even more to learn now than ever!)

Rainbow Dash is loyal, but her competitive side as well as her admiration of her idols gets in the way.

Applejack is honest with everypony, except with herself. Shes stuborn as a mule when it comes to doing things like in Applebucking Season.

Fluttershy is kind, but shes also too shy to show it half the time. And she does have a temper sometimes.

Rarity is generous, but also enjoys the glamor of high society life. So when it comes to dirt and things she doesn't necessarily likes, shes usually is selfish.

And finally Pinkie pie… She is funny! She is laughter, but there is alot about her we don't know yet! But she does have a tendency to get sad and upset when she isn't sure of herself. I believe well see more of this in Pinkie Pride.

Overall, everypony makes mistakes and thats okay But I don't think we should just single one or two of the mane six when really everyone is struggling to find there way in the world of Equestria.

Tara Strong just ran a small charity drive in which reaching her goal brought promises of 'Twilight talking dirty.'
Here are the results: Dirty, Dirty Twilight

More Tara:

Rainbow Dash has emerged into our world!

SOURCE

@'Derpy'

For anyone who wasn't sure, sorry, doesn't look like it's her.
She's kind of unclear in that opening shot, but the same animation is reused later in a higher resolution so you can tell it isn't her.

Fifths said:

In any case, I think we can all agree that this isn’t the kind of behavior you’d expect from your paradigm of honesty.

I've never understood where the whole "they must always embody the Elements they represent" thing came from. Pinkie's been sad, Twilight's had less than "friendly" encounters, Applejack's lied, Dash hasn't always been there for others, Rarity's greedy (to the point where, when I first watched Return of Harmony, I thought she was perfectly in-character during the Minecraft scene), and Fluttershy's been mean.

Given what we know of the Elements--the fact that Luna supposedly "wielded" the Element of Laughter despite having a difficult time understanding the concept in Luna Eclipsed and Celestia could use all six without a problem--I think the whole "the Elements choose them because they embody the Elements" thing is a load of crap. It's a moot point anyway, with the Elements no longer being in the picture.

I'd also hardly consider Applejack trying to save face in the midst of all the pressure both she, and the town placed on her an example of "ever (lying)…if she has something to personally gain." Manipulative Bastards do that. Applejack? Not so much--especially when Party of One disproves it.

…but I think that [Rarity] gets painted as kind of a sociopath in this episode.

Sociopath? That's a really, really long stretch.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders said:

A) There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three or more of the following:

1. failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest;

2. deception, as indicated by repeatedly lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure;

3. impulsivity or failure to plan ahead;

4. irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults;

5. reckless disregard for safety of self or others;

6. consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations;

7. lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another;

B) The individual is at least age 18 years.

C) There is evidence of conduct disorder with onset before age 15 years.

D) The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or a manic episode.

We could get into a multi-paragraph long debate over whether 2. is valid for Rarity, but I'm not seeing any of the other ones and you need 3 for a sociopath (technically, Antisocial Personality Disorder--which is synonymous with "sociopath").

@Princess Affinity For Muffins
My apologies for not welcoming you. I can never tell who's new and who's just returning after months of bitter cynicism.

Deadparrot222 said:

Tara Strong just ran a small charity drive in which reaching her goal brought promises of ‘Twilight talking dirty.’
Here are the results: Dirty, Dirty Twilight

Damn, I was hoping it would be Twilight literally saying "something dirty."

Also, this has nothing to do with ponies, but if someone links you or you happen across a music video on Youtube named "DyE Fantasy", don't watch it. I've read fanfics--written by Kaidan --that were less disturbing.

xTSGx said

I’ve never understood where the whole “they must always embody the Elements they represent” thing came from.

Twilight calls them the SPIRITS of the elements, the living, breathing embodiment of what those mere trinkets NMM broke represent. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the SPIRIT of honesty to tell the truth even at the threat of personal shame or inconvenience as that's what being honest is all about. I'd also expect the SPIRIT of generosity to be willing to be generous on more occasions than when she is just trying to impress her new Manehattanite friends like a sociopath.

Oh wait, you wanted to contest my use of the word sociopath. Alright.

I'd also expect the SPIRIT of generosity to be willing to be generous on more occasions than when she is just trying to impress her new Manehattanite friends like an unsympathetic cunt.

Honestly, I don't understand what you and Crimson expect to accomplish with your arguments other than to convince me the entire show is shit and the newest episode fits uniformly into the shittyness. I don't see how showing that not just Rarity and AJ, but ALL of them fail to keep up with their element designation hurts my point that it was a stupid to bring up in the new episode. In fact, I'd say it's entirely the reason why I think it's bad writing on Polsky's part.

I've been willing to turn a blind eye to the fact that they've more or else daned to kind of just ignore the whole element thing that Faust established right from the get go, but it becomes difficult to maintain that suspension of disbelief when Polsky starts dredging it up and obnoxiously insisting on their element associations; it invites me to start examining their past behavior and notice that the claim is in complete contradiction to the canon. I then start to realize that ALL of them fail to live up to their element designations, and I start to become painfully aware that I'm watching a show being produced by an entire gaggle of writers who apparently can't be arsed to coordinate their interpretations of the characters.

You can try to shoehorn some explanation in, but the bottom line is that my suspension of belief has been shattered and all of your ad hoc arguments aren't going to glue it back together for me. That's BAD writing.

@Tara's dirty Twilight

Hey Deadparrot, isn't that first plushie the one we saw Tara get at the first EQLA?

Deadparrot posted

I'll give her $50 and a half eaten apple for that marvelous thing.

@Fifths:
Ok, let's just have a show about characters that are always perfect and do every single thing right, I'm sure that will be incredibly interesting to watch.

In case you haven't noticed yet, this show is about this small group of ponies learning the faults in themselves and each other and helping each other become better ponies by working through it with the magic of friendship. In other words: if Fluttershy was always kind, Twilight's magic always worked, Rarity was always generous, AJ was always honest, Pinkie was always happy, and Dash was always loyal then we would lose almost all conflict and character development that this show has to offer. It's very obvious that we have different interpretations of what "In spirit" actually means, and it's extremely obvious that your interpretation of it is very different from all of the writers for this show. To me being the spirit of something and being the embodiment of something are not synonymous. To me, "in spirit" means it is in that pony's nature to be generous/honest/etc. but just because something is in your nature doesn't mean you are going to show it all the time. For instance, I consider myself a very positive person. If you wanted to you could say I am the spirit of positivity. It is in my nature to be positive and find silver linings. Still, I have my days where I have a pessimism that rivals Edgar Allen Poe. You'll notice I am not a poorly written character, I am a real human being. My point is the mane 6 having inconsistencies in what they're supposed to be the spirit/embodiment/whatever you want to call it is not poor writing, it is good writing that gives the characters dimension and makes them feel real and relatable. I really don't understand why you are getting your knickers so in a twist about this whole concept.

@Crimson

Oh come on, that is just a complete strawman of my position. I never argued that the characters should be perfect in everything forever, only that if you're going to belabor this point that they have some special connection to some virtue, then they should more often than not display that virtue. Having them do otherwise is inconsistent and breaks my suspension of disbelief, thus diminishing my enjoyment of the show. Also, in the case of Rarity, while it's okay and indeed necessary for characters to have flaws, I don't think that mean they should display the same level of scrupulous, low cunning that Rarity seems to have going on. It's one thing to have flaws and another to be, well, evil.

And as for your arguments concerning what being the spirit of something means, first let me say I think you have a weak reading. In the context that episode 2 put it in, I think the show is definitely making the point that the ponies have some real, metaphysical link to the various virtues of friendship. The entire point of that sequence was that it didn't matter that NMM broke the physical elements because the real living, breathing virtues they represented were standing right behind her. Applejack doesn't need some trinket to channel the power of honesty because Applejack, in some ways, IS honesty.

Hell, I'm pretty sure that's the entire point of the show; Friendship, not trinkets, is magic.

But let's ignore all that and assume your interpretation is correct and that to be the spirit of something just means you have some aspect of that something in your soul. Surely you'd agree that it has to at least be a predominant aspect correct? No one would say that Poe was the spirit of sunshine and positivity because once every blue moon he'd actually smile. If that's the case, then I'd STILL feel like AJ and especially Rarity turn against their respective namesake's far too often and too naturally to, even in your sense, be considered the spirit of them.

Holy crap. That thing is huge. Imagine what would happen if it came to life like in Ted…

…

…someone write this. NOW.

@Fifths
You're putting far to much emphasis on the "fact" that they were the Spirits of the Elements. I used quotes around that for two reasons. First, because Return of Harmony showed they needed the actual Elements in order for them to work. Second, because the flashbacks we saw in Princess Twilight Sparkle showed you didn't need all the "spirits" in order for the Elements to work.

Just because they represented the Elements doesn't mean they must always live up to their element. That's ridiculous. They're ponies just like everypony else and still have the faults and personalities of those ponies.

I’ve been willing to turn a blind eye to the fact that they’ve more or else daned to kind of just ignore the whole element thing that Faust established right from the get go,

Your daily reminder that, under the direct supervision and direction of Faust, the Element of Kindness did this:

The Element of Laughter did this:

The Element of Loyalty did this:

The Element of Generosity did this:

And the Element of Magic caused this with her magic:

Why? Because Faust never intended them to always represent their Elements.

…and I start to become painfully aware that I’m watching a show being produced by an entire gaggle of writers who apparently can’t be arsed to coordinate their interpretations of the characters.

How are they not coordinating the characterization? This has been their character since the get go. You've taken a line of dialogue from the pilot and stretched it far beyond what was intended and implied. It's not the writers fault that you've misinterpreted the Elements and built your Disbelief on a faulty foundation.

I think the show is definitely making the point that the ponies have some real, metaphysical link to the various virtues of friendship.

And I think the opposite given what has been established in Return of Harmony, Equestria Girls, and Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's been very clearly shown in those episodes that there really isn't a "bond" between the Elements and their Bearers. If there was, the Elements wouldn't have worked with the human!Mane Five, they wouldn't have had to play Discord's games or fight the changelings, and Celestia would have been unable to banish Luna.

@xTSGx

Again, I fail to see how pointing out more contradictions in the show helps your case…at all…

Whatever, I don't care anymore. Bad writing.

Not to interrupt your shit or anything, but Take a Bow made honorable mention for the ten best pony videos of December! Whoo! Honorable mention!

It's not like I was just refreshing JHaller's YouTube channel all day or anything.

I really need to catch up on the show so that I don't have to avoid the thread of out fear of spoilers. I guess that's what I'll do for the rest of the night. Also, who screwed up the thread so that each page starts with post 7,450 instead of post 7,451?