BlackWater627

Well put. Personally, I'd give this episode a 9/10. It was great...but then it had the Great and Powerful Trixie so that makes sense.

I don't know about this. I mean a lot of the stuff she's made has been phenomenal. But then there were a few...ahem...duds. As long as she designed according to my style and I got to greenlight it then I'd love it. I wouldn't pick on her details though - like what the mane6 did with those Gala dresses. I'd just make sure I didn't get anything like those Rainbow Falls outfits.

@@Shabb3r, finished the form with my opinions. I think the question about viewership going down is complicated and hard to predict. I mean, there's the people who would stop watching it but the publicity and word-of-mouth that would come from such a big move could potentially cause new viewers to outnumber loses. Again, it's hard to predict. (Where's my Twi with glasses emoto?)

A toothpick? So that's what the last dragon lord has been using it for. Eeewww....Spike, wash your claws!

Cue epic music. If only we got that awesome princesses background episode(s) we all want! There could be some epic almost Equestria-ending stories waiting to be told there. I'm still putting my bits in for a Celestia and Luna episode. Season 6, show me the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow~!

I could go on and on with how important this is. But basically, I agree with you. The whole "big strong leader" thing has to do with basic psychology. The reason it's bad for modern society is because we don't want to live as barbarians. Or at least a sizable number of people don't. What I found good about Ember was that she seemed to be the most willing to change her ways. At the start, she was against friendship and to be fair she was still too much so at the end - BUT she had eroded enough of her "tough guy" attitude to do the right thing. I think the only real advantage she had over the other dragons was that she was slightly more open to helping others. Simply being female does not make her better than any of the others. On a related note: I'm not sure what she thought she was trying to prove early on without going the helping others route. She didn't like the emphasis on strong and tough so what did she prefer? Smart? Clever? But without the concept of helping and caring for others, those traits are no better than mere physical strength. Sure, one dragon might be clever enough to overcome lack of physical strength by poising their opponent but who cares since that's still barbarism. (The emphasis is still on force and oppression or survival of the fittest / most clever.)

True. Twipower is well known to cause material disintegration. On the other hoof, you can make the magic argument for really just about anything in any episode. I'm not saying it's wrong. I think the writers just have to choose where to apply magic so they can still have stories without easy or too-quick endings.

Well, they did it as far as I'm concerned. We got a solid Spike episode for season 6! I'm not saying it was perfect or there weren't thing I would have preferred done different, but I didn't hate this episode and I wasn't meh about it either. I enjoyed it. Kind of like Inspiration Manifestation (in the sense that I enjoyed it and thought it was well done). Spike was in character and showed the strength he has built over the seasons. Also, female dragons. Thank you. Season 6 shall be our harbor and we will dwell there.

No, you're not the only one. I would have enjoyed this route as well. Having said that, I did like what they did with the episode and there's still the chance they will explore greater Equestria in future CMC episodes. I think it was a lesson about something that is common and serious but rarely acknowledged. I think that's why a lot of people connect with it kind of like with Amending Fences.

This is not unusual or uncommon. I have a variation of it where I feel like I'm missing out when I'm not doing things with friends. It creates this weird depression in me that's almost like the grief of loss. Like life is slipping away. It's hard to explain. One of the things I took away from the episode was that it's great to do stuff with others but we can't be together all the time and we need to know it's not so bad to do things on our own. We've just got to balance our time and be okay with how we spend it. Maybe even make new friends to spend time with if we really want that...

I was only in the "closet" for a few months maybe when I first got into it. In fact, I got some of my family to become bronies as well. I think the desire to hide being a brony really comes down to immediate social circles having or not having a stigma or closed mind about it. I was surrounded by people who were pretty open and caring - which I'm lucky for. I almost eat, sleep, and breath ponies so that's doubly a good thing.

My overall opinion of this episode was high on the scale. I wouldn't say perfect or 100/100 but definitely something like 92 or 95/100. The lesson was solid, the characters were fun, a new ship was christened, and also SONG. It'll be interesting to see if Taps shows up more and what will happen in future CMC episodes. I'm excited to see if they'll further develop the CMC individually, thus going the solo AND group route with their unique cutie marks.

You and me both. We've finally got a new song! Let the remixing love flow! There definitely is a balance to be had between doing things on one's own and doing things with others. That balance isn't the same for all people and I like how Applebloom had to explore this issue. I don't feel this was a rehashed problem and it gives great food for thought. I had to look away. I never expected them to be so explicit! Just kidding. Tree Hugger is one of my favorite ponies of all time~! <3