Dark Qiviut

Started with the pilot.

Apple Bloom. AJ had zero motivation to become overprotective at any point. "Apple Bloom, open the drawer to get the spoon"? Oh, my goodness, why didn't I think of that before? */sarcasm*

Headcanon: Smolder is Sunny’s distant ancestor.

Link.

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1. Best Era of MLP?

If Re-Mark was part of this group, the "Transitional" Era would get my vote. That two-parter helped seal why S5 is the best of the series. Unfortunately, it's part of another option, so I can't. The next best option is the Friendship Era. Seasons 8 and 9 are the most consistent in terms of quality with so many great episodes and nary a bad or average one.

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2. Worst Era of MLP?

McCarthy Era, and it's not even close. Yes, S6 isn't good, but it's sandwiched into four other great seasons. S3 had a four-good-ep streak surrounded by crap. Season 4 is better, but it's inconsistent, never got going, and pretended Twilight's alicorn status didn't exist for the most part.

As for the era order:

1. School of Friendship
2. Transitional
3. Starlight
4. Faust
5. McCarthy

Surprised that no one has mentioned Testing Testing or Rarity Takes Manehattan yet, two of S4's most mature episodes. Testing Testing talked about how just because someone can't work in one studying or school system doesn't mean they're dumb or a loser. Everyone learns in their own, unique way. While RTM describes how Suri's blatant plagiarism made Rarity question her generosity. Therefore, she had to learn to maintain those qualities and remind herself to not abandon them.

1 hour ago, Splashee said:

The only reason I didn't think about that episode is because it is still hiding the true fact that they are dead, and how it happened.

The Perfect Pear makes it very clear throughout that they're dead without saying the word, notably the flashbacks, them not being around, past-tense usage, and especially the tragedy surrounding Grand Pear.

And the tragedy aspect is one big reason why it's arguably the most mature episode. When Grand Pear disowned Pear Butter at the altar, that was the last time he ever saw her alive. She died when their relationship was so fractured, leaving Granny Smith rightfully bitter towards him. Unfortunately, that bitterness meant Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Applejack had no true memories of how they met, fell in love, and lived. This episode could've gone down just the sad aspect of death throughout, but instead went a different route, telling folks it's okay to grieve, remember, and forgive. Grand Pear lived a long time regretting a mistake he couldn't repair, and their kids not only forgave him, but convinced Granny to welcome him to the family, too.

On 2021-11-13 at 11:22 PM, HedonismBot said:

Or just rework the episode to keep the lesson on being a team player, but ditch the pro-hazing nonsense.

Much more is needed to fix Newbie Dash. The torture pornography and the cancerous culture go hand in hand. The episode is broken and needs to be reworked from the ground up.

On 2021-11-13 at 11:22 PM, HedonismBot said:

Besides, MLP villains have been reformed after attempting to do much much worse than Lightning Dust.

Whether they do worse than another villain or not isn't the point of reformations in the series. In order to trigger one, they need to understand what they did is wrong, feel remorse for what they did, and want to work to correct them. Luna, Sunset, Diamond Tiara, Juniper Montage, Sci-Twi, and Starlight each fall into this category.

Lightning Dust doesn't. Did she feel any remorse for causing the tornado and the near-carnage? No. In Washouts, she doubled down, using her actions and expulsion to not only reject everything she learned from the academy, but also be a worse person. LD in The Washouts is much more manipulative and calculating than in WA. Her usage of Scootaloo's disability and self-confidence issues is intentional; she knows they're close and used them to drive a wedge between them.

On 2021-11-13 at 11:22 PM, HedonismBot said:

The ending with the Scootaloo Fan Club felt like it was saying that she shouldn't have to bother doing anything noteworthy with her life, just be praised for whatever ordinary things she's done and be happy with that - rather like all those "inspirational" stories of people with disabilities being held up as heroes just for not killing themselves.

You're looking waaaaaaaaaaaay too deeply. When Scootaloo was a massive fan of the Washouts, she didn't know who they were. Even when there were clues, she was too star-struck over them for presumably welcoming disadvantaged pegasi like her. But once Lightning Dust manipulated her on the scooter, she realized RD was right; they weren't the group she expected them to be. The Washouts tokenized her disability. Their actions were far worse than Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon from FttF.

Her fanclub, OTOH, does care about her. Dash and Scoot know each other very well. Each member's appreciation for her is genuine, so she gives them her blessing. Unlike LD, they'll never give her any shit for her lack of flight. They love her for who she is and have her back, no matter what.

Because Newbie Dash implicated that hazing and toxic clubhouse culture is a good thing, a great counter-lesson for a future episode would’ve been that a clubhouse with a culture that folks embraced doesn’t mean it’s healthy. What if another Wonderbolt encountered many of the same toxic elements, yet unlike Dash, this environment took such a toll that they may quit? Dash, who found herself doubtful over it before coming to terms, takes over and stands up for the newbie.

19 hours ago, HedonismBot said:

"The Washouts": We had Scootaloo come across a quality alternative to the Wonderbolts, a career opportunity which would make good use of her scooter skills and appeal to her thrill-seeking nature - only to be given the message that this was a BAD thing. Reforming Lightning Dust could have produced a lovely lesson in finding something noteworthy to do with one's life in spite of a disability.

Lightning Dust is Dash’s spitting image without the utter care for anyone other than herself. While Rainbow Dash cares for her friends and Scootaloo, Dust, Short Fuse, and Rolling Thunder only saw each other as acquaintances.

Yes, an alternative to appeal to Scoot’s love for thrills would be great. However, the Washouts weren’t that group. Their tension between them (hence Dust’s passive aggression) and complete disregard for each other means that if someone gets seriously hurt or dies, Dust would put them out to pasture. Plus, Dust knew of Scoot’s disability and used it to stir conflict between them and manipulate Scootaloo. There was no low that Dust wouldn’t cross just to get Dash back.

Washouts did the right thing to NOT teach that lesson.

S1:
Best: Best Night Ever. The Magic of Friendship in its purest form.
Worst: Bridle Gossip: Wanna write about racism? Not like this.

S2:
Best: Sisterhooves Social. A wonderful, plausible portrayal of sisters in fiction.
Worst: Dragon Quest. Sexist, xenophobic, stereotypical.

S3:
Best: Sleepless in Ponyville. First Scoot episode with one of the most heartwarming moments of the show.
Worst: One Bad Apple. How to write a bully episode? Not here!

S4:
Best: Testing Testing. Hilarious and full of heart.
Worst: Rainbow Fails. No explanation needed.

S5:
Best: Lost Mark. Best CMC episode!
Worst: Princess Spike. The quintessential Spikeabuse episode.

S6:
Best: The Times They Are A Changeling. Best Spike episode!
Worst: Newbie Dash. What MMC would've been if it was an atrocity.

S7:
Best: The Perfect Pear. FIM's masterpiece.
Worst: Fame & Misfortune. Worst written episode of FIM, period.

S8:
Best: Rockhoof & a Hard Place. Magic Sheep and No Second Prances written correctly.
Worst: Fake It. Second-worst FS episode, worst characterization of FS of the series, and Rarity is awful.

S9:
Best: Big Mac Question. Perfect capper to FIM's slice-of-life episodes.
Worst: Greaaat. No explanation necessary.

On 2021-05-04 at 1:58 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

Eeyup! Got my two Moderna shots, my last one in late-March. The worse symptom I ever had was just a sore arm, but I rather have the vaccine and not need it than need it and not have it. I wanna be part of helping this deadly pandemic end, so I hold no regrets doing so.

An update. I got my booster shot, too! Unlike before, I had a mild fever and chills. But feeling the effects of a vaccine demonstrates that the vaccine works, and it's way better for anyone to feel the effects of a vaccine than the effects of the disease itself. My fever and chills vanished after one day, the sore arm after a couple.

I said it before, and I'll say it again. The vaccine's safe and effective. Want this pandemic to end? Get it.

*hugs @Sparklefan1234 back*

This is easy to say.

Best: Perfect Pear. Greatest episode of the entire franchise.

Worst: One Bad Apple. A perfect way on how to NOT write an episode about childhood bullying.

Favorite: Shadow Play. This has more characters and less run time than the 2017 film, but Haber and Dubuc co-wrote one of the most tightly written, complex stories of the entire series. Several arcs interwove into this epic two-parter.

Least-favorite: To Where. Seriously, what a mess. It plays off Starlight like she really changed, yet her entire arc was confined into only a few episodes, and she barely showed up for the last two-thirds of Season 6. (Season 7 handled her 10,000 times better.) The reformation of the hive is rushed as hell. Chrysalis is at her most incompetent. Also, the changelings conveniently underwent "plot armor" — it took a full army to get the Mane Six to surrender, yet bits of them successfully ambushed and kidnapped the Mane Six and the entire Royal Family? The biggest plot hole of the entire series collapses this trash.

Favorite: The Cutie Map. The most tightly written two-parter of the entire series, it was a perfect blend of comedy and horror. Starlight's villainy was manipulative and cunning. The song "In Our Town" is downright chilling.

Least favorite: Crystal Empire. Two words: the "test." Thousands of lives at stake just to see if Twilight can lead a kingdom.

Way too early to say. FIM ran for nine seasons; G5 only has the movie.

Man, I'm really tardy here.

The fact that this forum is ten years old makes me feel a wee bit old. I've been here since the beginning of March 2012, less than five months after this forum's birth. Back then, this humble place began to evolve really quickly. Many years later, it's the place for bronies to converge outside of EQD's comment section.

Needless to say, it's been a pleasure to be commenting, blogging, status updating, and especially meeting several bronies from here at the BronyCons over the years, from the one in Secaucus in Summer 2012 to the BronyCons in 2013, '14, and especially the spectacular in 2019.

Happy belated 10th anniversary, MLP Forums!

On 2021-10-23 at 11:18 PM, DJStarRocket said:

Is "A New Generation" worth watching

This movie is really good. Story is nicely done. Characters are strong collectively. Songs are great. Animation is breathtaking. Definite recommendation!

3 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

@Dark Qiviut

 One of my favorite things about Pipp Petals is after her introduction message was off the air she DID NOT say something like "*Pfft* Gullible morons.".

I was relieved and SO HAPPY that she didn't end up being a two-faced "diva" stereotype. Second Best Pony! 

Indeed. Pipp really enjoys interacting with the Pipp-Squeaks to the point of displaying naivety. When Sunny and Izzy were brought to the throne room, she blurted out their presence and nearly caused all of Zephyr Heights to have a collective heart attack.

19 hours ago, TomDaBombMLP said:

Why would they kill off something that has only just started? 

Exactly.

Not to mention FIM/G4 is MLP's most successful franchise, and ANG was Netflix's #1 movie.

@Gabi, no need to worry.

I don't think you need to be worried about that. Without FIM, neither the MLP Forums nor 99% of our membership would be here.

No day's complete without Izzy-dorable fanart.

https://derpibooru.org/images/2726308

On 2018-08-09 at 1:14 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

If this question was asked after season 6, the answer would be a lot less clear. But today, I argue otherwise by firmly saying no, it hasn't. Even to this day, it still pumps up not just really good episodes, but great ones, too. The Hearth's Warming Club from last week is one of the best of the entire series.

In past seasons, there were many episodes that were really bad, especially season 6. However, since season 6, the quantity of bad episodes has declined sharply: five last year and only two so far this year. The overall consistency of good quality this season is currently in the middle of is the highest since the show began.

The answer since then is even clearer. No, FIM never underwent seasonal rot.

1. Throughout the run, FIM aired episodes that could've been shark-jumping. Each time, FIM got back on track. Princess Spike? Spike's direction improved. F&M? No FIM episode this bad was ever produced again.
2. The worst seasons of the show are okay. Yes, S6 was nowhere near the level of quality that FIM expected, but even then, some good to great episodes appeared. The seasons afterwards are much, much better.
3. Not only are S7-9 more consistent in quality compared to those before them. The consistency improved in each successive season. Hearth's Warming Club is fantastic, but more excellence awaited; Road to Friendship through Sounds of Silence later in S8 and Sparkle's Seven through Frenemies in Season 9 are FIM's best runs.

8 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

I also think "The Last Problem" and "Magical Mystery Cure" should have been hour long special's instead of feeling rushed like were.

MMC desperately needed to be two parts. Last Problem, OTOH, I disagree. The plot was far simpler in comparison, and the hijinks here fit with the moral the Mane Six learned and taught to Luster.

7 hours ago, Splashee said:

Season 9 really needed more of an ending for every Mane character. It was wasted on multiple episodes with no real impact.

The only ones I agree with you are the CMCs and Dash. Growing Up would've worked a lot better in a previous season, like Season 4 or six. Greaaat should've toned down Dash's selfishness and balanced with agreeing with Twi to try to help her students. The Last Crusade and Common Ground would've been much better "cap" episodes. (Going to Seed, while a fine episode in its own right, wasn't exactly a "cap," per se.) Rarity, Pinkie, Twi, and Fluttershy? Disagree.

7 hours ago, Totally Sunny said:

I'd change the season 7 finale to something else entirely and cut everything afterward.

That would be a big mistake. Shadow Play had less than half of the time compared to the movie despite way more content to deal with, yet SP balances the cast better, has tighter dialogue, and way better pacing. Shadow Play's tight dialogue, especially, carried over into Seasons 8 and 9; Horse Play, Break Down, Road to Friendship, Sparkle's Seven, Frenemies, and Big Mac Question held together in large part because of the dialogue.

On 2021-10-17 at 7:51 PM, Lone Traveler said:

Starlight herself should not have been redeemed here.

Strongly disagree.

1. One of the biggest differences between Starlight and 95% of all the villains in FIM is how she has a very gray morale. Yes, she was the villain in The Cutie Map, but she was also delusional to believe that her philosophy is the true Magic of Friendship and true harmony; no amount of FS outing her as a hypocrite changed that. Because of how TCM was written, the possibility of Starlight being reformed was possible.
2. Starlight is smarter and stronger than Twilight. Her to-go method of defeating Starlight (returning to the home of the butterfly effect to outmuscle her) failed. The only way TS was going to break through SG's obsession was to present her the consequences of her actions firsthand. When Starlight witnessed that wasteland, her delusions of grandeur finally began to break. Only from there did her philosophy crack further.
3. It's one thing for adult friends to fade away. It's another when it happens to children. Plus, Starlight's only friend was shipped off due to circumstances beyond her control. No goodbyes, no letters to each other, nothing. To her, if he never got that magician-related cutie mark, they would've never lost contact. (Their reunion in The Crystalling is the first time they contacted each other since childhood.) Her behavior in the climax explains why she loathed cutie marks so much, why she studied to become a strong witch, and why she established Our Town with utmost control; she didn't want something like that to ever happen again.
4. Because Starlight is both physically strong and emotionally vulnerable, reforming her makes the most sense. Twilight had to treat her not as a villain, but as an equal. Asking her to give the Magic of Friendship a second chance and offering her the help she needs was the best way to convince her. Even though Starlight had the fate of Equestria in her hooves, she accepted her offer.
   
   Punishing her also doesn't work. If Twilight and her friends decide to punish her, then Starlight's decision to accept her offer for help is pointless. Even worse, you're telling the audience that no matter how hard you try to turn your life around, those who promise to help you will betray you and toss you aside. They threw away one of their first ideas immediately — exiling her — for good reason. You're just starting from square one. Teaching her the Magic of Friendship and helping her however possible was the best and most proactive solution.

On 2021-10-17 at 7:51 PM, Lone Traveler said:

This episode is where MLP truly jumped the shark in my view.

Again, strongly disagree. Yes, Magic Sheep could've handled their story much better. Re-Mark is nowhere close to being on that level. Season 5 had many really good episodes despite not being nearly as consistent as Seasons 7 through 9, but when they got good, they got great. IIRC, after Mane Attraction, I considered S5 to be close to the best season of the show, with Re-Mark being the deciding factor. Re-Mark sealed it.

For specific episodes:

1. Cutting the jealousy angle entirely from Owl’s Well and What About Discord. Both Spike and Twilight had real reasons to react the way they did. Spike was Twilight’s longtime right-hoof dragon, and then another suddenly showed up to take up half his time; why wouldn’t he think he feared he was getting replaced? As for Twilight in WAD?, Twilight still justifiably doesn’t trust Discord over the events of Return of Harmony. His shadiness since then doesn’t help. Citing “jealousy” downplays the plot. (Oh, and cut Discord’s admission that he intentionally left her out. That nullified the moral.)
2. Mare Do Well: For the love of Celestia, that episode is so mechanical and fundamentally broken, I think it would be best to start from scratch. 28PL? Replace that fucker for a Starlight episode!
3. Flutter Brutter: Focus more on Zephyr’s fear of failure. The problems surrounding this diva are twofold: his behavior is insufferable and he was in complete control when he didn’t do what was told of him. The twist of fearing failure in particular is hollow.
4. Cart Before the Ponies: Have the older sisters become more obsessive in winning and not hog from the CMCs immediately so the audience can feel sympathetic. Focus on why racing in the Derby is a world of fun. DON’T have all three competing styles on the same double-figure-8 track! Most importantly, DON’T make the episode so boring!

Rewriting Newbie Dash from the ground up. What was supposed to be an achievement for RD became the show's biggest black mark.