NavelColt

Nightmare Moon didn't care much about the ponies at all. She listened in to the ponies' mentioning the old castle, and then she zipped off to get the Elements before them, so that she could destroy them. She threw obstacles at them along the way to try and slow them down if not completely stop them in her tracks, but killing them was never a part of her intent. Destroying the Elements was.

Quite the interesting episode :3 Flutters still remains least interesting pony for me, even after noting such triumphs as reforming Discord, but this was a greatly formed episode for her character regardless where she falls on my personal list for Best Pony. She's shy, but on her own and more importantly, with her animals, she's (literally) in her Element, and as such her shyness, anxiety and nervousness are all non-existent. The problem of stage-fright is relateable to most people, minus a few type A personalities like Pinkie who thrive in the spotlight in front of others, so I found the theme to fit perfectly for Fluttershy and the scenario she's placed in. Big Mac, you're breaking the joke and turning it on its' head. You put Granny Smith's efforts to keep it going in Pinkie Apple Pie in vein. Big Mac. Stahp D: Pinkie was funny, this episode. What she did in the beginning was bitchy but, eh, I find it ironic more than annoying seeing as it's the same voice actor talking to themselves, and that, I would honestly expect Pinkie to come off as more annoying and loud and whatnot in a Fluttershy episode of all things, seeing as they're complete opposites. Rarity may be one above Fluttershy for me, but I enjoyed this episode thoroughly more than the last one. The only interesting thing in the last episode for me was the nicely done theme of 'Don't change who you are for the approval of others', but I enjoyed pretty much most of this one in general. Other notes: Oh wow, kudos to you Zecora, I was not expecting that continuity flashback & plot device. Very nicely done. Oh god, did she really just say 'Flutterguy' XD Oh god, it's canon. Which I'm fine with, of course. Flutterguy is hilarious. Bon Bon, why are you playing head ball with Cheese's seal from two episodes back? Yes, crazy cat lady returns More callbacks, fainting Cheerliee you sly cougar. This episode is probably the epitome of evil for those who can't stand pandas, but, who cares :3 I've never found anything wrong with a show adding things to the show for the fans; most fanbases would love it if their show did that, so people really should quit their pointless bitching and enjoy things, if you'd like my blunt opinion. It won't ever happen, but that's why I enjoy continually pointing it out

Being a DAddict, I stumbled upon this tonight. Had to share it in the official fanclub thread. While we all know, canonically, that Luna aims to allow her subjects to overcome their fears on their own, as she did in guiding Scootaloo to realize her true fear and confront it, I don't think any true Luna fan will disagree that the aspect of Luna the True Dream Warrior is nothing short of the most kick-ass concept ever forged, and that Sleepless in Ponyville's establishment of her dream-escapades is the greatest addition to Luna's character seen so far, and that the prospect of Luna never ever using her god-like control over dreams to vanquish the worst of nightmares every now and again, would be a terrible waste of potential THOU SHALT STAY OUT OF OUR PRECIOUS' SUBJECTS' DREAMS, ABYSMAL CRETIN! --> http://tofutiles.deviantart.com/art/The-Dream-Warrior-386816233

Look, more Rarity episodes! Look, more Rarity episodes with high-class celebrity ponies we've never heard of before! More Rarity episodes wit-wait a second, more than 2 minutes of screen-time? A not stuck-up personality? Almost looks like a pony version of Steven Magnet from episode one? I might actually like this guy Whoo-boy, shipping abound. Literally, 'Choo Choo goes with Chugship' could have been this episodes' alternate title. Haven't seen too much of actual adult crushes on the show before outside Mac and Cheerilee, which was forced and thus didn't fully count, only actual relationships for the most part. And with a Mane Six, no less. I bet that's getting all levels of grief from the fandom who has AJ as their waifu. Well, she's a background pony after all so she probably doesn't have too many who'd claim her as such! Oh god Spike was glorious this episode, as I figured he would be. 'HOW WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT ITS' LIIIIIKE, TO HAVE A CRU-U-U-SH ON SOMEPONY, ONLY TO SEE THEY HAVE A CRUSH ON SOMEPONY ELLSSESEEE' 'Bitch are you fucking kidding me.' A very good moral theme came from this episode, people try to be something they're not all the time to win the affections of others, whether it be for romance or just general praise and attention. A core of human nature is feeling self-worth and that often comes mistakingly from trying to get attention and positive feedback from others constantly. So yes, a very nice theme was had this day. Other notes: Rarity, please don't do a southern voice ever again. Hurr hurr, she said the episode name hurr hurr. This feels like an unofficial sequel to the sleepover episode, which I'm sure Rarity/AJ shippers like very much. It's funny because, unlike Rarity with her farm cosplay, AJ has some level of experience with being high-class. See her cutie mark flashback with the Oranges, in 'Cutie Mark Chronicles' if you don't recall. 'I wanna leave my exotic and exciting life behind and...LIVE ON A FARM.' I lol'd. Best 'Modest Rarity is Modest' ending line, ever

Poll doesn't surprise me in the least. Though, I myself find Fluttershy to not at all be the cutest of them. As I talk about here, the Mane Six have 'styles' of cuteness, unique to each of them: http://mlpforums.com/topic/43012-cdiscords-mane-six-cuteness-appeal-traits-discussion/ This is the power of Ironic Cuteness. In short, a tomboy rainbow pony that doesn't want to be cute but is cute anyway cause Rainbow butt pony who acts tough, and to me is far cuter than the generic shy pony with run of the mill 'I'm shy, love me' cuteness. Sorry, Fluttershy fans. Sure part of this is Dash bias, but its' Dash bias with perfectly sound explanations.

Just gonna leave this here :3 245: "Let's talk about Pinkie though for a minute, as I believe her character is a lot more open to interpretation than most. A lot of people have their own idea of what Pinkie's 'true character' is, and like to make claims on if she's 'in character' or not, on an episode to episode basis. I think the entire process of trying to do something like this is massively biased; which is okay, but really needs to be identified as such. The fact of the matter is that Pinkie has been all over the place since the very beginning, and trying to suss out a specific character for her, is almost an act of selective memory."

Meghan said from the getgo during the S3-S4 interval that S4 would be taking liberties and going places the first three seasons didn't go. We're just barely reaching the half-way point, and this is already incredibly obvious. Easter eggs and other visual nods and jokes galore, slightly darker themes on occasion, story, character and setting expansion out the wazoo, not to mention the on-going story of the oh-so mystical box of strangeness. Amidst the crowd of hipsters and analysts who despise the thrown pandas and direction the show is going, I'm finding S4 to have a higher ratio of episodes that I've loved, than any of the past three seasons. That is to say, I've liked or loved most episodes so far this season, with very few I was indifferent about, or ones that I even didn't like. Same cannot be said for previous seasons. I had episodes I was indifferent about quite frequently. I honestly feel like at least some of the constant criticism and negativity that's been going on since the beginning of season three comes from an invisible separation of belief on where the show is, where it's going and how that's okay or not okay. A separation coming from a list of reasons, Lauren being fully off the show's staff being one, the fandom entering growth pains being another. If a loved episode from season one or two were to hypothetically be a part of season four instead of season one or two, I feel like that'd recieve the same noticeable amount of dislike that many episodes are getting these days. In other words, people are all critics these days, as a result from a fandom growing rapidly out of control, as well as natural changes in show-staff and show progression, and I thus seriously doubt it's all the writers' faults, and the content they put out, like a whole lot of today's negative nancies would have you start to believe. Getting a bit back more to the core topic though, I dunno. I was expecting to enjoy S4 on some level, as I do for every season, and I had of course, a small list of things I wanted to see happen. So far, I've enjoyed myself plenty, and some of those things I've wanted to see have already been scratched off the list. I've limited complaints. As far as what other people were expecting, hell if I know. 'Ermerhrgawerd, I hurp Twilert dern't abandn her frends fur prncessdurm' and alike fears were the only real 'expectations' I recall seeing, and I'm pretty damn sure that DHX and its' wonderful staff have taken many of those initial fears and pile-driven them headlong into the ground. Ya know, they like always do :3

Serious Cheese Facecord here to say your topic's been merged with a past one discussing the same thing :3

What makes it all further hilarious is that her voice actor is a singer in her own band </3 One would think having AJ/RD (the first of whom got one in Bats!) songs would be the easiest thing in the world. DHX, Ashley Ball, Y U no. Realistically, it's got to be coming. I'd be surprised if Dash doesn't sing between now and the end of this season.

If the series hadn't shown nothing but winged dragons thus far, I'd say he doesn't need them. But, my ideal world of DHX having established ground-dwelling wingless dragons or something similar clearly is not canon and doubtfully ever will be, so who knows, perhaps some day he will. Dragons' life-spans are ridiculously long compared to ponies, Twilight's grown to be a young adult and he's still a, quote unquote, 'baby dragon'. For all we know he simply hasn't reached dragon puberty yet, and thus wings just aren't developing yet. After all, he may be practically the only dragon seen without wings, but he's also the only dragon anywhere near his age we've seen. We've seen teen dragons, who do have wings, so I'd say it's probably a come-of-age thing. INB4 the fandom finds reasons to bitch about Spike getting wings, too, if it should so happen.

Oooooh, a great idea for a follow-up to the official series' guide (which I too have). Will definitely need to keep an eye out for this.

Plot re-twist, everyone DOES turn into alicorns, but only because Discord does so for an afternoon for the lawlz.

Loved this remix <3 That opening was chock-full of awesome.