OptimisticNeighsayer

“She’s All Yak” is a rather unusual example that I would not give much weight to because there it’s implied that Yona had a lot of control over her creative process, and even if you don’t interpret the pre-Amity ball sequences that way, making a dress for a yak was something out of Rarity’s experience level. Something like that gaudy sequins dress in “It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies” I’d call a better example of her worse days. Her design choices seemed to really start to decline from that episode on, but fortunately picked back up in Season 7 or so. That said, she usually has a good eye.

One thing that does give this episode a bit more nuance than “Shadow Play” is the importance of doing so even if all the parties aren’t being completely candid. The conflict between Stygian and the Pillars was because of poor communication, here there’s no such innocent failure (except maybe on Azuihotl’s end). Or so we’re told. I wasn’t too keen on the device of the talisman that forces truth-telling for such a moral; true mediation emphasizes the voluntariness of the parties to come to an understanding. It would have been more powerful if Fluttershy’s charismatic kindness itself somehow persuaded everyone to tell the truth.

Oh, I agree that she does have genuine feelings. It might be my own bias, but it just seemed the episode emphasized the exploitative side more but was glossed over in the end.

Am I the only one who thinks that Rarity should have confessed outright that her relationship with Spike over the years has been a bit exploitative, or am I missing something? I feel that is bogging down my reception of the episode and I need some help.

While tofu has historically been a meat substitute, not all of the various theories on its origin indicate that it was developed to promote a vegetarian diet specifically. (In fact, many in East Asia today do not regard tofu strictly as a meat substitute, but a dish in its own right.) Note too that meat had historically been a food for the rich, so getting protein in through plants was more of a necessity than a choice for the average person. Many theories on its origin do indicate, however, that tofu developed in China partly because the Chinese did not raise cows or goats for dairy on a large scale (and many Chinese are still lactose intolerant). By contrast, cheese seems very well established in pony culture. As far as explaining why they'd like tofu, I really can't say anything beyond why any human would like tofu. As to other ideas, since cheese is well-liked by ponies, Welsh rarebit, Cauliflower cheese, or even macaroni and cheese might also be the equivalent of a steak.

Assuming strict vegetarianism, tofu or something soybean-based. (Soybean is actually a very common part of horse feed, but like steak, must be cooked somewhat well.) Portobello mushrooms might also be a good vegetarian steak-like dish, and yes, horses can eat at least some types. I do, however, think that ponies are not necessary strict vegetarians, as Twilight in "Surf and/or Turf" was open to drinking salmon juice. Salmon might in fact be an "exotic" dish for ponies, appealing to the wealthy or adventurous, and perhaps with increased contact with the hippogriffs, salmon dishes, and thus salmon steak, might become more mainstream.

Can I say that I feel like we got pulled a bait and switch? The synopsis made it sound like the focus was going to be on Twilight and Co. managing Equestria, but instead we got an episode mostly about the Princesses and their vacation. The vacation parts were okay (the song in fact was really good) but the Mane 6 parts felt like a tedious retread of things they’ve already learned. Do I need another rewatch? I feel like I’m missing something about this episode that most people are readily getting. I want to like this episode, but so far the flawed parts stand out more than the good parts.

I don’t have too much to say about this one. At least it more clearly and more delicately showed the benefits of believing in whimsical and apparently implausible things than, say “Feeling Pinkie Keen.” The problem I have with the set-up is that we are already in a whimsical world—I wouldn’t have been surprised that the Seedling actually exists. At least “Feeling Pinkie Keen” posed a real challenge to the scientific-magical worldview of Twilight. AJ may be no-nonsense but with all the experiences she’s had with her friends you’d think she wouldn’t have dismissed the existence of the Seedling out of hoof like that. At least the show gives her more of a “sour grapes” motivation for not believing it. It also seems that Big Mac being the Seedling was just a lucky coincidence, especially if he was tired before Goldie Delicious came to Sweet Apple Acres. The episode would have come out the same way if Goldie didn’t appear at all and it was Granny Smith spinning the yarns and inspiring Apple Bloom and (eventually) Applejack to hunt the creature. But it was still great to see some nice Applejack and Apple Bloom interaction by the middle, and there is something magical about Applejack’s later enthusiasm. That’s enough for me not to consider it wholly not “going to seed” as it were.

Mind if I recycle my Equestria Daily review here?