I shouldn't rage, but I'm gonna. MMDW gets way more hate then it should.

Being direct about their concerns wouldn't have worked. Rainbow Dash doesn't often listen to what her friends have to say, and as headstrong as she was following her first rescues, there's no way a word of it would have gotten through.Besides, how boring would the episode be if they had just talked?
Everyone seems to think the Mare Do Well plot was bitchy. I think it was a creative solution to a problem, and that's the real lesson of the episode. Sometimes providing a good example is better than direct crtitcism.
< /fury>