Truffles

10 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

Since I did not see a single deer in that song I shall be outraged on your behalf! 

I feel bad for all of the abyssinian, zebra, buffalo, and diamond dog fans who don't seem to be represented in Twilight's new school, either. Especially the abyssinians - with there being hippogryphs from the movie, you'd think the felines would be present as well.

I guess rigging up new characters for all those species would be a lot of work, however.

38 minutes ago, Jeric said:

I always forget about Garble, and with the Season 7 finale he continues to serve his purpose as antagonist. Currently, I wonder if it would be a stretch to say that Chrysalis is Starlight's antagonist since the last time she appeared, Bug Queen swore personal vengeance?

Lol, as you were typing I thought the same thing about Chrysalis in my edit! 

I think it is fair to say Chryssie is Starlight's nemesis right now, even if there's evidence she's still as interested in getting rid of the entire Mane 6 and not just her. Hopefully her threat against Starlight pay wasn't just an empty one and we'll see the M6 and Starlight working together to defeat her plans.

As for Garble, if anything he's become more of one as the series has gone on. Kind of how you had a respect for Iron Will's modus operandi, I liked the scenes in "Dragon Quest" where he actually respected Spike and was happy to give him full dragon honors.

Of course, it ends with him wanting to (at the very least) commit animal cruelty and at worst murder, so any respect the audience might of had for him was squandered. (Mostly for the sake of resolving the story.) I guess I could even see him getting reformed at some point before the series ends, though I'd be just as fine with him getting some of that depth back without a full reformation.

You forgot the biggest antagonist of all: Starlight. Twilight has had the honor of being the only pony to have had two antagonists in her run on G4. (Technically, I suppose Flim and Flam count as two but they mostly operate as one mind.)

And even though your OP specifies the Mane 6, I think it's worthwhile mentioning some of the other characters' nemeses: Spike has Garble (unreformed) and the CMC had Diamond (reformed).

Edit: Speaking of Starlight, I guess Chrysalis would now be considered her nemesis? Though from the rumors I hear she's really after all of the M6?

2 hours ago, Steve Piranha said:

Well, it makes way more sense for her to lose her wings rather than her life  . I still see that very unlikely to happen however 

I guess I could see her losing her wings as a possibility (an unlikely one as you say) as a sacrifice in the series finale. I just wouldn't like it very much due to recent events.

2 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

I think the girl Changeling is absolutely adorable! 

1 hour ago, GreenGreenWhirlWind said:

Agreed, over time i've really started digging the new designs they gave the Changelings over time.

I'm curious what her backstory is. Is she the product of two of the new changelings? Or is she a nymph from the old brood that transformed with the rest of them?

How did all those baby changelings (the ones still in their eggs and those that were still in the nursery) transform anyway? I wouldn't think infant changelings would have the maturity yet to understand the concept of sharing love and kindness.

Maybe we'll find out in the premiere! 

13 minutes ago, Jeric said:

Hasbro jumped the gun.

 

I'll say. <_<

I was halfway through it when my internet died and had to go and reset the router. When I refreshed the page to restart the video, it was gone!

Fortunately, alternate links were briefly available (not anymore, tho), so I managed to finish watching it.

It makes me think at some point in the S8 planning the premiere was supposed to be this past Saturday and someone at Hasbro didn't get the memo that it had been pushed back. Aren't music videos for episodes published on the Monday after the episode has aired?

I was quite pleased with the condition that caused them to get their marks. However, I would have liked to have seen Spoiled Rich and Diamond Tiara have a confrontation a few episodes earlier to allow for a more gradual build-up to her reformation in "CotLM".

7 minutes ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

"Original story was deemed too mean spirited" Why?

All I know is from the MLP wiki, and it doesn't really go into details other than it originally was about Rarity and Spike. I guess she apparently took advantage of his crush to get him to do all sorts of tasks for her, without her even realizing what she was doing to him. Beyond that I have no idea. I think DHX and Hasbro were becoming cognizant of all the Spikeabuse (and of complaints by Spike's fans of Rarity "using" him) and having a whole episode of that would have reflected badly on the her.

Even though the artwork doesn't support this theory, I suppose from a practical standpoint the easiest thing would be to have those frocks split down the back from the hooves up to where the tail has to pop out. Maybe have a button at the bottom so the two sides can be fastened together and not sway enough to get caught in their legs.

Then they'd be able to simply toss the clothing over their backs and it would fall into place, the button being the only difficult thing for ponies without telekinesis to fasten.

9 hours ago, Singe said:

Pinkie Pie:

I like cakes with loads of frosting, I like to stick my face in all those pies!

"Oh my god - they killed Pinkie! You BASTARDS!"

9 hours ago, Adamgreen said:

Looking back, Season 3 was the season that was short and felt rushed. Some of the episodes felt like they aren't finished and need some explorations to be rewritten. Though it had some of the episodes I love because of the returning villains, it also has a lot of episodes that were controversial and mean spirited

 

Indeed, "Spike at your Service" is the perfect example since the original story was deemed too mean-spirited and had to be quickly rewritten my Merriweather Williams. Unfortunately, the rush rewrite and maybe a lack of understanding of Spike's character is what caused it to turn out the way it did.

6 hours ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

Honestly I'm a little upset that I have practically wait all year for

  Reveal hidden contents

"Father Knows Best" to premiere. It's the one yet-to-air episode where I'm legitimately worried and expecting myself to hate it.

Every other episode in the past 7 seasons AND upcoming 8th season, I've always been more way more curious than furious even if the synopsis sounded bad.

And because it's near the end of the Season, I have to wait much longer than I want to for its airing date and it's possible that Spike might...(open at your own risk)

  Reveal hidden contents

Leave the show. (Sorry to even think that, Truffles)

 

Whatever happens. I'm sure Season 8 will be an very interesting one!

Anyone who wants to respond to my hidden words, be sure to put your responses in spoilers.

When I first heard the premise, like you, I was worried about the outcome at the end of the episode as well. But after thinking it over for a while:

Heck, at the last SDCC, she answered the question asked of all the panelists what they would like to see in the show's future by stating (in Spike's voice) it would be great if:

Now, I've also seen some fans speculate that Spike could indeed

but show up again at the start of S9. I guess I would be OK with this but it would be unusual to have a finale without him since he and all of the Mane 6 have at least made appearances in the finales. (S5 and S6 being the only two seasons that gave the audience pause when it came to relying on this tradition.)

I would worry, though, he'd come back a different character, and to be perfectly honest that would be kind of disappointing, too. If a character is going to change and grow, it's no good if they do it all off-screen and we're suddenly presented with this guy who looks like Spike but has been given a substantial personality transplant.

Anyway, I'm confident Spike will be around in S9. Besides, it would be a waste of time to throw away all that work re-rigging his puppet for... reasons.

2 hours ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

I am so sick of the stupid "Twilight is a Murderer" argument in 2 Many Pinkies. She clearly said the clones were to be sent back to the Mirror Pool where they came from, with the risk of the Real Pinkie being sent into the Pool by mistake. No killing involved.

It's been discussed a lot, but I can't say I'm sick of it yet. I still think it's an interesting debate to have over whether those Pinkies were really alive with hopes and dreams or whether they were nothing more than the equivalent of sophisticated chatbots. If they were chatbots - or they were alive but retained their memories after going back into the pool - then you're right - it can't be considered murder.

Since the Mirror Pool is once again open for business (thanks, Maud! XD ) maybe we'll get a definitive answer someday? Maybe that one escapee Pinkie will return again? If she does, she can befriend cloned Boulder - maybe they'd even have a lot to talk about? XD

I don't hate S3 (it was the first season I actually saw on its first run), but it's lower on my list. Here's why:

1+2 (TCE): I loved the premiere, but many don't because Celestia is written strange (unless she was sure of the outcome all along) and Sombra was all bark and no bite. Bonus points for Spike, though - his best appearance for this particular season is in the premiere. (Which is also bad in a way.)

3 (TMPP): Kinda fun, but kinda annoying. too. Gets better at the end once you feel bad for Pinkie. Also - MASS MURDER! XD

4 (OBA): I thought it was OK, but it's painful to watch the CMC get bullied like that. =P

5 (MD): I liked this Trixie redux a lot, so no complaints from me.

6 (SiP): I liked this one a lot as well, and it was the start of the Luna dreamwatcher canon.

7 (WA): A strong story, but all the drama between RD and the other characters makes it an uncomfortable watch for me. This was also the start of the sheen on the mythos of the WB starting to rub off, which may have annoyed some of their fans.

8 (AFR): Kinda boring.

9 (SaYS): Oh dear god, save me. D=  I wasn't even a Spike fan when I first saw this but even then I could tell he was getting trashed and knew from binge watching S1 and S2 just a few weeks earlier he was completely different here than he normally was.

10 (KCaFO): Discord's return was pretty good, not great but not bad.

11 (JFS): And here's the follow-up with Spike's second bad episode of the series, even though he has some nice scenes with the CMC. But him getting trashed for the sake of humor is no fun at all, even if he was technically in the wrong. I guess I should thank these two episodes in a way because I felt so bad for him after S3 and partway into S4 it led to me having unlimited sympathy for him - which led to him becoming my favorite character. But still, both of these episodes are hard to stomach.

12 (GPP): An OK episode, but it's a tired premise. I wish they had done something else with Ms. Harshwhinny other than have her getting lost and annoyed. She was used much better in "Flight to the Finish" and "Equestria Games" in S4.

13 (MMC): I actually love the finale with all of its great songs. It could have been a little longer but they did an amazing job squeezing all of that into the 22 minutes Hasbro allotted them. I also have no problems with alicorn Twilight, though I REALLY wish The Hub hadn't spoiled the surprise about her becoming a princess in their promos. =P

38 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

This was my main issue with Season 3 as well. 

Spike being missing was one of my issues with S7, though I will concede he was used more often and to better effect in S7 than Rarity was in S3. She made up for it in S4, however, just like Spike will make up for S7 in S8. =)

12 minutes ago, ShiftyLips69 said:

Not her life... But her losing her wings would be the greatest thing to ever happen to the show.

Okay, we get it - three posts in three threads - you don't like alicorn Twilight. But now that something wonderful has happened/will happen I don't ever want to see her lose her wings. Lots of new story potential!

1 hour ago, Prospekt said:

I think Spike has a better chance with Ember.

I feel like that ship has sailed, too. While there's no concrete evidence - just hints from "Triple Threat" and:

it just feels like Thorax is getting set up for an official pairing with Ember. If they ever decide to go for a Big Mac/Sugar Belle wedding, why not make it a double and have Ember and Thorax get married as well? (I would really like to know what capabilities their kids have. XD )

As for Spike, he's kind of left out at this point. I'd pair him with one of the CMC, but they hardly ever interact, and most of those interactions have been unremarkable save for maybe 2 instances where he danced with Sweetie Belle and was warm with Apple Bloom.

I'd tell him if he's really that lonely he should try and start corresponding with some of his fans in the Crystal Empire to get things rolling, like those two fillies who shouted "We love you, Spike!" in "Times are a Changeling", but I'm not sure him betting on a long-term, meaningful romance with one of your superfans would make for a healthy relationship.

I know if I lived in Equestria, he'd be ready to send me on a one-way trip to Celestia because I'd be constantly trying to hang out with my favorite character. XD

1 hour ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

The Journal of the Two sisters hinted to The Sisters being born Alicorns long BEFORE Equestria was founded. So Celestia's words that "Equestria has never seen the birth of an Alicorn before" with Flurry technically didn't contradicted what the Journal said in my eyes.

What was contradicted in the journal was Starswirl and the Tree of Harmony being around at the same time, when really right after the Seed was planted, SS was in Limbo.

I suppose that is technically true, but then I wouldn't expect them to have been so shocked over the birth of another alicorn if they themselves were born as them - even if it happened to occur before the country's official inception. I guess It could just be sloppy writing/editing and there was supposed to be more to that statement but it got cut, something like "Alicorns can only be born from legendary alicorns of old - never from a mixed pairing or a pony who ascended to being an alicorn." Then their surprise would make sense and the journal's canon would remain totally intact on that point.

As for the Tree, well, yeah... what say you, Spike:

It seems at the very least the mythos behind the Tree of Harmony in the journal is no longer canon. I don't mind the new mythos, but in my mind the tree had been the physical manifestation of a god-overseer to make sure everything stayed in balance on this world. But that's clearly not the case.

12 hours ago, Jeric said:

> opens thread

Oh shit!

> Is instantly assaulted by tags 

> Yells as the words trail off

Sparity will never happennnnnnnnnn*

I got a big laugh out of this, especially since I had a similar reaction when I saw the OP last night. Thanks! 

Nothing like a wall of tags to send one fleeing in horror. I didn't even think that many tags could be used, but I guess I'm thinking of FimFiction.

As for answering the OP questions:

1. Not likely, and Spike's eyes are starting to wander, anyway. Unless the last episode of the series is some kind of fast-foward that shows what becomes of all the characters and they end up married or something.

2. Not definite, since Mac's relationships seem to come and go, but it wouldn't surprise me if they hitched the two of them together in the far future.

3. Maybe. I'm not sure DHX knows what to do since Flurry kind of flew in the face of the JotTS.

4. I'm on the fence on this, and still feel it could just as easily end with her remaining a unicorn because of all the fan drama surrounding her character.

5. Could happen. DHX has often been coy on having her make an appearance in the FiM series.

6. I'm mostly disconnected from the previous generations so I don't have any thoughts on this one.

Twilight didn't do anything about Suri because the storytelling (and it being one of the key episodes) required Rarity and Coco to solve the problem on their own. Since everything worked out in the end, there wasn't anything else Twilight needed to do.

I would hope though Rarity at least filled Twilight in on what really went down so the Princess of Friendship could at least keep her on her radar. 

I would oppose killing off Twilight (or any of the characters, really) as a way of generating tears and drama in a series finale. It's cheap and creatively bankrupt way to do it, and is unnecessary since there will be enough emotional currency as it is with the characters wrapping their stories up.

Plus that would leave Spike without his closest partner, and that's just not something I want to see him go through for a long time.

This is the first MLP generation change I'll be going though (EDIT: That I actually am paying attention to). I guess I'm feeling similar to how it is when a beloved Doctor is going to retire from the role and regenerate - bummed but accepting that it has to happen sooner or later.

At least these days it's easy to know when these generation changes are on the horizon. When you don't know it's coming it's absolutely awful. I was in a terrible funk for weeks after "Logopolis" first aired.

Thinking about that further, does this mean G4 is equivalent to the 4th doctor - longest running and establisher of much lore for the series?

3 minutes ago, Sherbert Music-Guard said:

they might have passed on being a librarian

I'd rather think they got bored with the job since so few ponies seemed to use the library while it existed. Perhaps Celestia even paid them a visit and convinced them it was a good time to retire so her pupil could take the reigns and avoid going all Sunset Shimmer on her majesty again?

Privacy concerns? What privacy concerns? These are the same ponies who walk around in public without any clothes on, after all.

I imagine Twilight would be bothered though if ponies kept interrupting her while she was doing her studies. In such instances it would make sense for Spike to handle the customers while she stayed focused on her work.

Also I wonder who the previous librarian was since the show doesn't ever indicate that or why they quit?

On 1/16/2018 at 2:38 AM, Karnak said:

Agreed. Spike needs to realize his crush is not based on "love". The only reason he fell for her is because of her materialism (very dragon like) plus he just needs to enjoy being a kid. Now that ponies and dragons are pals, he has better access to the dragonlands, what he needs to realize 

He has never crushed on anypony other then Rarity, meaning its her materialism that attracts him.

That's not entirely true - he briefly crushed on Twilight(!) when her hairstyle matched Rarity's (even though I realize it was meant as more of a gag), and in an upcoming episode:

So it's not quite as simple to say it's materialism that drives his obsession her. In fact, I think(?) in "Green Isn't Your Color", he gives a list of reasons that explain why he loves Rarity so much and it isn't based solely on her being into shiny baubles and expensive outfits.

On 1/12/2018 at 1:14 AM, Karnak said:

I got it!!

Garble\Gilda!

I would fear for the very being of Equestria if those two ever fell in love. 

Okay, that is a pretty amazing clip. I wish they had all this animation tech available for the public back in 1982.