Aurora Storm

Like every season, it has had some hits and misses. I think it's overall a good season.

A lot of things could be seen as formulaic, but with how brash and stubborn Rainbow can be I feel a lesson like that is something she needs to learn more then Rarity did. Again, being a sibling does not mean, that Scootaloo can't admire Rainbow Dash or that her being a sibling makes it less memorable. Its just, is it really that far of a stretch that 3 ponies fillies just so happened to meet each other and are siblings of the main cast of characters? Considering the fact they all live in Ponyville, go to the same school and know 3 of the main characters, even when said main characters became linked though a event one of them performed in childhood.

I see what you're saying, but I still think that it makes RD and Scoots relationship all the more meaningful with RD take Scootaloo under her wing (excuse the pun) than if they were blood relatives and "stuck with each other." Even if the other CMC crusaders weren't siblings of the mane six, I'd still think that way. And it's nice for us only children to have someone to relate to. Everyone has a sibling. It often seems the only time a character is made an only child is to bring out  how spoiled they are like Diamond Tiara or someone equally unlikable (prior to her redemption.)

I can understand that, but that could have also been a lesson that Rainbow Dash had to work toward. She would learn she needs to take up that mantle and even as a role model she still does a good job at watching over Scootaloo, I just feel that her role of being a role model would not be jeopardized by her being a older sister to Scoots. If anything it would make her more determined to make Rainbow proud of her. It's just that, if feels weird that 2/3's of the CMC are sisters to the Mane 7, it makes Scootaloo feel like the odd one out despite the archetype they have clearly made for Scootaloo, just like Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belles shares traits with their sister, Scoots shares traits with Rainbow, which is why I feel had Rainbow had a younger sister Scoots would fit the role perfectly. 

That seems a bit formulaic. Especially with Rarity already having to learn how to be a better sister and less self centered herself. It's all the more meaningful because Rainbow could easily just look at Scootaloo as a fan. She had no obligation by blood towards her and considering Scoots disability (or delayed development, depending on what ends up happening down the line) and admiration of Rainbow Dash it's all the more touching when she finally does reach out to her.

As an only child I really love Scootaloo and RD's relationship. Everyone has a sibling on most shows, it's nice to have only child representation. (That said, I hope either of them suddenly has a brother appear or something...though i did like the episode with Fluttershy and her brother.)

I remember reading an interview which Lauren Faust said she didn't think RD would make a good older sister because she was too impatient or too self centered or something like that. I'm glad the new writers didn't go with that concept because it made for excellent character development for RD.

I wasn't sure how they were going to handle this but they did a really good job with it. I liked the callbacks to the other episodes, the song was really fun and Scootaloo empathizing made her the real stand out (besides Gabby of course).

Spike and AJ had some good lines in this episode. AJ's various movie quotes made me chuckle as did her mention of the Cider Squeazy 6000.  I actually liked Starlight's regression into mind control even though it makes her seem like she hasn't learned anything from the mistakes she has made in the past. When someone struggles with a certain mind set, it can be really hard to overcome, especially when you don't have ill intent. I found it very credible. Starlight is very flawed but she tries to improve and I find her to actually be one of the most believable characters at this point, which is interesting since I did not like her at all in the beginning when I learned how weak (in my opinion) her back story was.  Also, not to go off on a tangent about it, but I do keep finding it strange that Starlight has the same skill in magic as Prince Twilight, element of magic and was "traumatized" because her childhood friend was so gifted in magic he was taken away from her. She's clearly a prodigy and those little details don't really make sense to me. I'm nitpicking though, because as I said, I do like her character and really enjoyed this episode.

This was an interesting episode and fairly entertaining overall, but I can't help but feel it would have fit better earlier in the season in terms of Starlight's friendship lessons.  I don't love Starlight Glimmer, but I wasn't opposed to her joining the Mane cast, provided it was done well. IMHO, it hasn't been done well the majority of the time.  In fact, aside from Twilight and Spike, I don't really know how any of the Mane girls feel about Starlight or vice versa. Sure that could be because she doesn't appear in episodes unless in the starring role, but heck, Discord appears even less and we still get to see more distinct relationships between him and the ponies.

 

Starlight, on the other hand, appears to be only Twilight's friend (although "friend" might be pushing it, as she's really more of a student).  In this episode, we see that she feels uncomfortable hanging  out with Twilight's friends without Twi, so much so that she has to brain wash them to avoid looking bad at their chosen hobbies. And throughout the season, Starlight has been excluded from every single Ponyville activity (ie: she didn't attend Rainbow's first Wonderbolt showcase, she didn't help Rarity move into the Manehatten Boutique, she didn't accompany the Mane Six to where ever they went in "Dungeons and Discords," didn't show up for the Applewood Derby, didn't try out for Buck Ball and wasn't even present when the whole town showed up to prank Rainbow Dash!) And really, I don't expect her to have a ton of lines, but just showing up in the background in slice-of-life episodes would have made her presence in episodes like this one a lot less jarring.

 

Could it be that the rest of the Mane Six don't like Starlight, or at the very least, don't consider her a friend? If so, I really, really wish the show would actually address this, like it did/does with Discord. Heck, this could have been a great opportunity to develop distinct roles for each pony and further develop their characters. For instance, maybe Applejack is hesitant to trust her, while Pinkie welcomes her with open hooves. Maybe Rainbow finds her annoying but wants to take her under her wing and teach her how to "chillax."  Maybe Rarity forgives her for the whole "Our Town" thing, but their personalities clash. Maybe Fluttershy feels intimidated by her. Who knows! As far as I'm concerned, that ship has, sadly, pretty much sailed.  

 

If this episode had taken place earlier, it could have served as a set-up for Starlight to acknowledge that she feels uncomfortable around the Mane Five and they could have worked on building relationships from there. As it is, it seems exceptionally strange that Starlight's entire purpose this season is learning about friendship and yet she has no relationship to speak of with her mentor's closest friends.

Just because she may not feel as close to the mane six as Twilight does doesn't mean they're not friends. She's just a bit socially awkward or uncomfortable around those she doesn't have much in common with, that's why she connected more with Trixie. You can be friendly with others without being close friends.

I want the show to keep going for another several seasons. I feel like I'm in the minority but I am enjoying season 6 quite a bit and even if some episodes are weak, every season had that. Every season had strong episodes too. And I always look forward to getting a new song.

The only part of the franchise I dislike is Equestria Girls. I just am not into high school type stuff. Maybe if they were humanized as adults I'd have enjoyed it more, but really I think I just prefer them as ponies and want them to stay that way.

This episode wasn't epic but it was cute. It catered more towards the younger audience I think, teaching about competition vs fun and how both personality types have their place and respect differences etc, etc. I liked Pinkie and Fluttershy interacting together though. They're both adorable but different and it's not often that they focus on them together like that, evening showing somewhat of a common mindset. I would have loved to watch Andrea and Ashleigh record this episode so it was all about their characters.

I think she's portrayed realistically. Someone with that many issues is going to snap at times and she does. Also, anxiety and lack of confidence are not something you overcome overnight ("baby steps"....believe me I know  first hand that's probably why my favorite characters are Rainbow Dash and Rarity. They have aspects that I really admire and aspire to emulate despite their own faults). I like that's getting more assertive but hope she doesn't lose her sweetness overall. I like both aspects of her personality and like that she's finding a healthy balance at last.  She's not my favorite pony but she's the one I relate to the most...well a cross between her and Scootaloo lol.

I love season 6 actually. I'm like RD with Daring Do. I'm one of those fans that thinks the show gets better as it goes on, in general though there are a few episodes that I'm not crazy about. (Just my opinion, feel free to disagree as I know many will) but I especially feel Fluttershy has FINALLY shown some real development. Not just baby steps. I think she would be a hard character to write for since she still has to maintain that shy sweet persona or else she wouldn't be her but to make her more assertive while keeping that in her character really is a difficult balance. This season is pulling it off wonderfully.

This wasn't my favorite episode by any means, but I liked seeing Big Mac and Spike as friends and this was far better than Discords last episode by a long shot. It's nice seeing the "sidekicks" get an episode. Now if we could get a Princess centered episode (preferably with some musical numbers since Cadence, Luna and Celestia sound awesome together, Twilight optional. I like her but she's had enough spotlight time).

Is it just me, or is this episode kind of bad?

I thought so   This was my least favorite episode of the season thus far and possibly of the series. It just felt rushed...or maybe forced....Rarity, AJ and RD were being obnoxious to the point were any character development they had in their own episodes was lost.

Derpy beating Rarity in the flashback made me chuckle though and I'm not even that big of a Derpy fan, still it was cute/amusing.

I liked G1 (the one that isn't Pony Tails) I preferred the magical adventure story lines to those which were more "realistic." I don't remember G2 but I'm definitely not a fan of either of the G3 styles.

I'm with you there about Flutters and RD harmonizing. This was seen again when they sing in 'Flutter Brutter'.

 

I'd love to ask Andrea/Ashleigh how fun it was singing those parts together.

Yes! ( I am behind as I watch them only on Netflix when time permits.) I loved it. I was hoping for new duets between the two since May the Best Pet Win.

I laughed at RD's impression of Rarity. I like when the characters imitate the other characters. RD imitating everyone, Twilight imitating Pinkie at the end of her HWE song, Rarity (intentionally on Tabitha's part) butchering AJ's accent in the previous season (or was that season 4?) etc.

I loved this episode for the music, the casting of the characters as the Christmas Carrol, my favorite songs were in the beginning where Fluttershy and RD harmonize. They sound so good together. AJ is an awesome singer, and Pinkie Pie's song was just awesome and fun. I found it interesting that Kazumi Evans didn't voice Luna in the last song, instead it was done by Aloma Steele. (I thought she sounded different and I looked it up and sure enough, different voice actress.) Anyone else catch that?

I honestly didn't find it THAT cringe-worthy. I felt bad for RD but I do imagine teams behaving that way and RD wasn't being singled out, she was just the newest member and it was her turn for that sort of treatment. If she had known going in, I'm sure she wouldn't have been nearly as panicked about what her heroes thought of her.

I have to add the most cringe-worthy part was her trying to act like the other mane 5 which is stepping out of character for her a bit, (in that she's usually very true to who she is even in difficult situations) however RD doing an impression of AJ while still sounding like RD had to have been tricky and it was extremely entertaining to see. Good job Ashleigh!

Also, why is Fluttershy suddenly afraid of a Manticore?

Yesl I loved this episode personally, but that part drove me nuts lol.

I'd like to see her flushed out more. She has real potential. I like her voice a lot. This Day Area was great as was You'll Play Your Part. (All of them are excellent singers and I love that song because of it.)

S1 8/10

S2 8.5/10

S3 6/10 (It'd have been much lower if it weren't for Sleepless in Ponyville, Keep Calm and Keep Calm and Flutter On)

S4 10

S5 10

I honestly find the latter seasons to be better and don't understand people talking about leaving the fandom or not being interested in the show anymore. I mean to each their own, but I loved the last couple of seasons and have high hopes for the current one.

The First EG movie ....3...being liberal here.

I haven't seen the others. No interest....though I love Sunset Shimmer's color scheme and wish that it had been used for Starlight Glimmer (though they'd have to change her name to fit her color scheme I think). Even though purple is my favorite color, there's far too much of it among main characters.

We saw Marble meeting a bunch of new ponies. I don't think  she necessarily has to always be that quiet. Not all shy people are alike. She's not automatically Fluttershy's clone like many assume. Some shy people are even extroverts who once warmed up can be very interesting and engaging. (Just like some introverts are comfortable talking to people they don't know...look at Twilight in the pilot episode, definite introvert, but didn't act shy at all. She was assigned to do a job and had no problem communicating and even introducing herself.) Lets not write Marble off before we get to know her, should that actually happen.

I wanted to like it, and for what it was, I suppose it was well done. I'm just not that interested in Spike as a lead character. I don't like to see him kicked around but I like him as a sidekick making smart-alecky (sp??) comments more than whole episodes devoted to him.

I would pay to see it in the theater. I have no problem seeing it by myself. Ironically I'm somewhat of a loner who loves a show about the magic of friendship. But I do have a few friends, none of which are fans of the show. My husband would probably be willing to see it with me but he's not really into it. (though he liked the Sonic Rainboom episode...he pretty much is the human male version of Rainbow Dash only with cars instead of flying) But I'd rather see something alone and enjoy it then have someone come along and not enjoy themselves.

Basically summarizing several other comments, If Apple Jack can manage to leave her farm to go on map assignments and socialize with her friends and Twilight can hang out casually on regularly basis, then Rainbow Dash can join the military and still have free time as an episode calls for it.  They all have full time jobs but unlike real life, they have plenty of time to go on adventures and just hang out.

Wait, do they all have full time jobs? What does Fluttershy do to support herself? Has that ever been established? And what about Starlight Glimmer. She's living in the palace and Twilight is supporting her, or does she actually have a job?

Another question, why do so many assume the show will end after the movie? Has anyone affiliated with the show stated this could/will happen? Or is this just speculation? I for one hope it keeps going. I like the direction they're going and think the episodes for the most part continue being solid and enjoyable. Heck, I even like Starlight now and I didn't expect that to happen.

Oddly enough, Rainbow Dash is more mature than the Wonderbolts. They could use her to keep them honest remember what teamwork is about. I don't think it'd ruin the show if she became an official member. They can write plot lines around that.  Rarity has a boutique and Canterlot and it hasn't ruined anything.