Music Chart Fan

Overall, I'd describe this as a solid middle-of-the-road episode; there's nothing particularly wrong with it, but I'm not sure it'll have much long-term appeal or impact for me. The moral about not working yourself to exhaustion and taking care of yourself is well-taken (if rather reminiscent of "Applebuck Season", but see below). The cook-off between Twilight and Spike is amusing and nice to see. And there's a bit of somewhat interesting lore building about the pony equivalent of bayou culture, along with a few other bits and pieces. One thing that I noticed throughout the episode is that it seems like none of the characters take any significant precautions to prevent themselves from contracting swamp fever - either from already-sick ponies or from the flowers themselves. The doctor examining Zecora says that very little is known about swamp fever; does that include how contagious it is and how it can be transmitted from pony to pony? We repeatedly see ponies standing and talking to infected ponies within a couple of feet or so of them, and not really protecting themselves as sick ponies cough and sneeze in their direction. Mage Meadowbrook and her mother experiment on the flowers that cause swamp fever, but seem to take no particular precautions when doing so, which leads to Mage Meadowbrook's mother coming down with swamp fever herself. It seems like significantly greater caution would be warranted, considering the rather dire consequences of swamp fever if it isn't cured. The other main thing I noticed was the setup for Fluttershy's moral of the episode to take care of herself. As Fluttershy insisted more than once that "there's no use trying to talk me out of this", I was just thinking that collapsing and passing out from exhaustion will take her "out of this" sooner or later, and that's basically what happened. In stating the lesson learned, Fluttershy does allude to the idea that going without sleep doesn't just affect motor skills or awareness of one's surroundings - eventually you won't even be able to think straight. And, of course, the moral here is reminiscent of the moral way back in "Applebuck Season". I suppose, though, that "Applebuck Season" seems to say "Don't work yourself to the point of exhaustion - ask your friends for help!", whereas this episode seems to say "Don't work yourself to the point of exhaustion - you have to take time to take care of yourself!". That's about it for bigger-picture observations (other than ones I made in a couple of previous posts), so here's the rest of my miscellaneous observations: Twilight tries to recruit Fluttershy to give a second opinion for the cook-off between her and Spike, but who was the first opinion - each other? Can Twilight and Spike trust themselves and each other to objectively judge whether their own food or their competitor's food is better? Also, it seems as though, to be fair, Twilight and Spike should cook dishes in the same category. After all, don't most cooking competition shows have the chefs all make appetizers, or all make main dishes, or all make desserts, etc.? Twilight's sweet potato muffins are probably closer to a dessert item, whereas Spike's cauliflower bites are probably more like a vegetable side dish or appetizer. Why is Spike oblivious to Fluttershy's not choosing a winner, and Twilight's and Fluttershy's leaving? The two of them were just talking in the same room as him. How does Fluttershy manage to rapidly flip through the pages of a book while holding the book in a reading position and not touching the pages at all? I feel bad for Twilight; she didn't necessarily sign up to search every single book in her library, but then that's essentially what she ends up doing. Twilight mentions a "9-by-13-inch pan" - so the imperial and/or U.S. customary system of measurement is in use in Equestria? So Cattail has no particular reaction to Twilight and Fluttershy entering his home? He doesn't ask why they entered without permission, or welcome them and ask why they're there, or anything else? Fluttershy says that the male flash bees "aren't aggressive around the queen bee, and this mask has the same stripes that she does", but it's a little weird that that translates in practice to the flash bees leaving their hive and flying off somewhere. Are the male bees supposed to be attracted to the mask? If not, why wouldn't the male bees' not being aggressive just mean that they won't attack, but they'll otherwise stay in the hive and act normally? Isn't it convenient that the flash bees' honey not only cures swamp fever all by itself, but tastes great, to boot? Swamp fever turning ponies into trees if it isn't cured reminds me of seeing Harold in Fallout 3, a character who had kind of fused with a tree and is unable to move, other than looking with his eye and talking. He asks the player to euthanize him and put him out of his misery, which is understandable, since he's been stuck like that for decades and would stand to live for decades more in the same state. Finally, the mention in Mage Meadowbrook's story of the bayou makes me want to listen to some Creedence Clearwater Revival. It also makes me think of the 1963 Roy Orbison hit song Blue Bayou (which was also a big hit for Linda Ronstadt in 1977).

Fluttershy says that she used a third book to "translate it all from Olde Ponish", which would imply that more than sporadic names or phrases needed to be translated. Your posts do make me think, though, that Twilight could have learned Olde Ponish in the course of her studies, perhaps in order to read the writings of ancient magicians or such. In that case, though, your point about modes of language makes me wonder whether there would be significant differences in the dialect of old scholarly books or writings, which Twilight might have learned to read, and the dialect (or even the language itself) that Mage Meadowbrook would have used to write her journals.

Since @Jeric's comment to me in the topic about the synopsis for the finale, I've been anticipating this episode a little more than usual, waiting to figure out what good point I unintentionally made about this episode while commenting on the finale. And now that I've seen the episode, I can think of a couple of possibilities. One thing is when Fluttershy talks about how she figured out who the Mystical Mask is; she says "All I had to do was cross-reference a book about masks with another book on ancient Equestrian healers, then use a third book to translate it all from Olde Ponish and there it was!". I have an inkling that translating perhaps centuries-old books might be a bit more complex than pulling out a handy dandy "Olde Ponish to Modern Ponish" book to translate. Furthermore, later in the episode, Fluttershy and Twilight appear to be reading directly from journals that Mage Meadowbrook wrote herself. But if Mage Meadowbrook lived 1000+ years ago, then we would probably expect that she would have written in Olde Ponish or some other language that would need to be translated, but we don't see Fluttershy and Twilight doing that. This line of thinking might also implicate, for example, Twilight's vision of the night Nightmare Moon was banished back in the episode "Princess Twilight Sparkle". Twilight was able to understand Celestia and Luna perfectly well, even as those events occurred more than 1000 years ago. (I also noted some other discrepancies I noticed in Twilight's vision in this topic at the time.) Did the written language evolve while the spoken language stayed largely the same? Did the potion Twilight drank to enter the vision also translate for her? I'll mention, though, that these things didn't really detract from the episode or anything; it's just speculation for fun.

So, if I'm understanding this correctly, the ponies from the Legends of Magic (Somnambula, Mistmane, Rockhoof, Flash Magnus, etc.) are going to be appearing in-world in the finale? When we saw these legends in the episodes so far, I would not have expected that the characters in the legends were trapped in "limbo" since the time that they were living 1000+ years ago, and that they all would show up in the flesh in present-day Equestria. So it'll be interesting to be how that plays out. The funny thing is that I might normally expect these characters from the legends to encounter significant language/culture/technology/etc. barriers, considering how much can change in a thousand years. If someone from the year 1017 were suddenly summoned to our present society in 2017, and asked to help fend off some threat, how well could such a person communicate with us or utilize current technology, as opposed to the most-likely obsolete technology with which that person would be familiar? But I suppose Luna, who had been banished to the moon for a thousand years, was still able to talk to others in a comprehensible (if not the most socially acceptable) way, and more-or-less adjusted to the present-day Equestrian culture. It also sounds as though this could all of the Mane Six (plus others), with Twilight being a bit more in focus. I'd probably enjoy seeing this become a big team effort, with all of the Mane Six, the ponies from the legends, etc. playing their parts to stop the Pony of Shadows.

This episode seems like it has potential. I think Sunburst is a likable enough character, from the relatively little we've seen of him, and the premise seems relatable. Plus, it appears that this episode won't involve Starlight misusing magic, which has figured prominently in several of her past episodes. The question for me is whether "[Starlight's] friends" means the Mane Six, or whether it means Trixie, Maud, et al. I think I've had more than enough of Trixie's, and maybe even Maud's, antics at this point, so I would probably rather have the episode not involve them.

Similarly, I totally missed Apple Bloom talking to Burnt Oak and Grand Pear and Granny Smith running the same booth at the beginning of the episode, until I saw @Batbrony point those things out in one of his posts. I guess that's the advantage of crowdsourcing the noticing of details like that!

Overall, I'm not sure that this episode did much for me. On the plus side, it's nice to see the rest of the Mane Six and even Starlight (though NOT Pinkie) trying to help Rarity, and the best part of the episode might be their intervention to convince Rarity to get her mojo back. It's also nice that they surreptitiously arranged for Rarity to be featured in Vanity Mare even after her cancellation, especially since we might not expect the rest of them to be particularly well-versed or interested in the fashion world. However, I generally don't find Rarity's histrionics terribly entertaining. Additionally, the ultimate source of conflict in this episode is Pinkie being thoughtless, which is another repeated occurrence in this show that I've never liked, and I just find Pinkie annoying in the parts of the episode that she's in. Starting with Pinkie's behavior, as I mentioned, the whole conflict of the episode comes from Pinkie being thoughtless, which of course is a recurring thing for her on this show. Did Pinkie even consider that spraying "super-sticky celebration string" all over everything would create a very difficult mess to clean up? And with the concentration of string that Rarity has stuck on her, did Pinkie spray the can of party string directly at Rarity (while conveniently getting none on herself)? That's a pretty inconsiderate thing to do, especially knowing that Rarity puts a lot of effort into her appearance and would particularly not like it. And of course, Pinkie is nonchalant about the whole mess she's made. Furthermore, Pinkie also twice blows off Rarity's suggestions that Pinkie really should bake new goods, rather than trying to clean off and sell the ones that were covered in "super-sticky celebration string". That also seems remarkably inconsiderate to her (potential) customers. Finally, Pinkie doesn't contribute at all to finding a solution to Rarity's mane/tail dilemma, even though Pinkie was the source of that problem in the first place. The rest of the Mane Six, and even Starlight (though Spike is conspicuously absent), try to help Rarity solve her dilemma, and later convince her to stop moping and be confident again. But while that's happening, Pinkie is essentially written out of the episode, off in her own world, uselessly filling Sugarcube Corner with suds that don't even clean up the party string anyway. Of course, the other problem in this episode, after Pinkie sprayed the party string everywhere, is the mix-up of the bottles of shampoo and string remover. If Zecora wasn't going to label the two bottles, even as they look indistinguishable, could she have kept them more separate, rather than plunking them down on the table right next to each other? And after the two bottles clattered to the floor, did none of the three of them think "Wait, which bottle was which?"? When Rarity levitates a bottle and runs off with it, in Rarity's mind, how does she know which bottle was supposed to be hers? Also, Zecora rather unconcernedly tells Rarity after the damage is done that she took the wrong bottle the previous day, so did Zecora realize that at the time? Continuing with Rarity's behavior in the episode, first, it seems a little odd that Rarity doesn't quite realize that she removed most of her mane until she looks in the mirror. Couldn't she feel that most of her mane/tail wasn't there any more? When she went to wrap a towel around it, couldn't she tell that she wasn't wrapping it around much of anything? Next, when Rarity is going around town with the cloak on, is Rarity really that hard to recognize by features other than her mane? Wouldn't the combination of her voice, coat color, iris color, eye shape, eye shadow, etc. still be distinctive? Finally, when Rarity goes to see Twilight and Starlight, she bemoans how differently she's treated when she can't command other ponies' attention, but then, speaking softly and shrinking away might tend to do that. That seems more a problem with Rarity's behavior than her looks, per se, which might have been the point that Twilight and Starlight were trying to make. Another observation I had when Rarity was trying to prepare for the shoot around town is that it seems like bad business practice for the furniture salespony to have custom furniture made and reserved for a specific customer, only to sell that custom-made furniture to someone else who happens to offer a higher price before the original customer comes to pick it up. In the long run, I imagine customers would want to buy custom furniture from a business which will actually make it and deliver it when they say they will, rather than saying "We'll make furniture for you, but if you don't hurry and pick it up, we might sell it to someone else first". Also, we're told multiple times in the episode that using magic to fix manes is "tricky" and fraught with peril, but it's never really explained why that would be the case; it's more or less just stated as a known fact. But it's not immediately obvious to me why coming up with a replacement for a mane or causing mane hair in particular to grow would be beyond Equestrian magic. It kind of comes across as writing a convenient solution for Rarity's mane out of existence by fiat, rather than having an organic explanation for it. Finally, while it is nice that the Mane Six (other than Pinkie) convinced Photo Finish to focus an article on Rarity being "beautiful from the inside out" for Vanity Mare, I can't help thinking that that might not be what was advertised. If readers of Vanity Mare were expecting a story on the most beautiful manes in Equestria, but instead got a feature article that's a "human interest"-type story about Rarity helping ponies around Ponyville, would the readers be okay with that? Or is that not they buy/subscribe to Vanity Mare to read? Now here's the rest of my miscellaneous observations: Rarity's nose-booping Bon Bon seems unusually playful (if that's the right term), since I didn't think the two of them were much more than acquaintances. Maybe it's another case of ponies being more physical in normal interactions than is typical in our society. It sure is convenient that the pony who appears to be running a hardware store has a mannequin with a mane handy to make a window display. Can we please not have Pinkie use her mane/tail like hands to grip things? I just find that REALLY annoying and stupid; I want to hit my head against the wall every time I see it happen. With all the tubs of ice cream Rarity's eating, is she looking to gain weight to go along with her mangled mane and tail? Upon seeing the still messy inside of Sugarcube Corner, Rarity says "perhaps I'll fetch the rest of that remover potion". But we saw earlier that Rarity dumped the entire bottle in her mane and levitated away an empty bottle.

Good catch! And now that you mention it, I remember writing about the injustice of that incident in my post on that episode, as well. I hadn't noticed this before, but the actual words of the legend as told by the apple cart owner never specifically mention a bridge across the chasm (although, interestingly, Daring Do later tells Pinkie "There was a bridge in the story, and there's no bridge here"). The legend does say, however, that the sphinx asked Somnambula to "walk to the prince across a deep chasm...blindfolded!", which I suppose would imply that she walked on something. But yeah, the precise details of Somnambula's challenge may not necessarily have been as they were depicted. The illustration we see has the sphinx stand aside and allow Somnambula to see where to go before being blindfolded, and after Somnambula is blindfolded, she's pushed to the edge of the pit, just behind the bridge. If, say, the sphinx continued to stand and block the view to the prince as she blinded Somnambula, then told Somnambula to walk to the prince, that would have increased the challenge, and the line about being "guided by the sound of the prince's voice" would make more sense. Also, if the bridge were situated a bit further down, not within reaching distance of the edge of the pit, then Somnambula's taking a "leap of faith" would have had more meaning. Ultimately, though, I still liked the legend.

Overall, this episode had potential, and there are some good elements here, but I have too many issues with the execution to really like it. To start with some positives, having action adventure episodes, as it seems this one was intended to be, can be good for giving the show variety. The idea that local ponies are upset by the inadvertent or neglectful damage that Daring Do's adventures cause, with one of her enemies trying to exploit that, is an interesting concept. I found Somnambula's legend here more compelling than Rockhoof's or Flash Magnus's legends from "Campfire Tales". (It might help that Somnambula, and even the sphinx, are rather cute characters.) While the moral lessons of the episode are kind of muddled, I do appreciate the statement that believing that you're fighting for something good doesn't absolve you from taking responsibility for your actions. And it's nice to see Daring Do finally make things right and pay for the damages that the residents of Somnambula incurred. However, I didn't like that Rainbow, Pinkie, and even A.K. Yearling repeatedly deny, ignore, and dismiss the grievances that residents of Somnambula have against Daring Do, even after A.K. admitted that the stories about the destruction from her adventure are true. A.K. does pay for the damages at the VERY end of the episode, but only after the issue is repeatedly dodged over the course of the prior 21 minutes. Daring Do fails to do anything proactive after finding out about the damages from her adventures, even as Rainbow's and Pinkie's actions are unhelpful and even counterproductive. It doesn't really reflect well on Daring Do that she never realized that her adventures were causing damage, and that her first reaction to finding this out is to retire, rather than fixing the problems her adventure caused. And there are several other plot contrivances that pile up over the course of the episode, including some particularly prevalent ones with how Rainbow is captured and transported to the pyramid outside of town, and how Pinkie's and Daring Do's "leaps of faith" land them on miraculous vents that enable them to save Rainbow and foil Caballeron's plan. In contrast to the previous few episodes, there's a lot to talk about here, so I'll try to divide this post into sections. --- First, I'll address Rainbow's and Pinkie's actions to try to clear Daring Do's name and convince her not to give up on adventuring. To start off, at A.K.'s house, Rainbow's first reaction (with Pinkie going along) to the stories about the destruction Daring Do leaves behind is to assert that none of them are true. But my first reaction would be to ask "Well, what happened?". How much truth is there to the accusations? I would guess that there's some reason for the local residents to be accusing Daring Do of these things, even if it's just a misunderstanding or something. And when A.K. admits that the stories are true, Rainbow declares to A.K. that "for every one pony who's upset, there must be at least a hundred that know you're a hero!". But is that really the case? Do the general readers of the Daring Do series actually know that Daring Do's adventures are real (notwithstanding potential recent revelations from the Friendship Journal)? Pinkie also argues that if the three of them go to Somnambula, A.K. can be told in person just how much she's appreciated. But what warrants Pinkie's apparent complete confidence in that happening? What's the evidence that the residents of Somnambula appreciate Daring Do, especially when A.K. just said that they don't read her books down there? Finally, Rainbow again declares that the articles are "a heap of rotten apple cores", even though A.K. herself already admitted that they're true. Again, what basis does Rainbow have to declare otherwise? When Rainbow, Pinkie, and A.K. get to Somnambula, Rainbow's and Pinkie's unhelpful and even counterproductive behavior continues. Rainbow and Pinkie insist over and over, with no apparent doubt or uncertainty, that the residents of Somnambula (and ponies in general) actually really appreciate Daring Do, while never citing any evidence for it. Rainbow even tells Pinkie that, as A.K.'s friend, Rainbow has to make sure that A.K. believes that ponies appreciate her. But if they actually don't, and there's no evidence that they do, then how is getting A.K. to believe something that isn't true going to help? And Rainbow is so busy asserting that the truth is the opposite of what the residents of Somnambula say that she apparently fails to acknowledge that the residents have legitimate grievances against Daring Do (and/or the villains she was pursuing, but more on that in the next section). It seems like one way that Rainbow and Pinkie could convince the residents to think more highly of Daring Do would be to tell them that Daring Do will make things right after the unfortunate incidental damage they incurred while Daring Do was saving their town, but the two of them never make such a case. Another crisis that Rainbow and Pinkie (and A.K.) could handle better would be Caballeron's telling the residents of Somnambula that Daring Do is stealing everyone's glowpaz. Rainbow and Pinkie could ask for the evidence that that's happening. Has anyone other than Caballeron corroborated his accusations, or even seen Daring Do (i.e., not just A.K. Yearling in her usual disguise) around? Is there any law enforcement or private investigators or whatnot who could actually look into proving whether Daring Do committed mass theft? Does Equestria abide by "innocent until proven guilty"? Asking for the evidence and advocating for an official investigation seem like things that Rainbow and Pinkie could do in an effort to clear Daring Do's name, or at least get the residents to suspend judgment for the time being, rather than simply asserting that Daring Do wouldn't do that. Finally, after the telling of the legend of Somnambula, Rainbow's argument that Daring Do - like Somnambula - was working to save their town seems at least a little more compelling and tangible than Rainbow's statements up to that point. However, if the residents were to ask for proof, it might be difficult to come up with convincing evidence (other than taking Daring Do's word for it) that Daring Do actually averted a catastrophe that would have been caused by some ancient magic attached to some ancient relics. How would the residents know that the catastrophe would actually have happened, rather than it just being a fictional legend that some ancient ponies believed without knowing any better? I guess that's another problem with the way that Daring Do's adventures play out (more on that below). --- Next, I'll address the damages that Daring Do's adventures cause, and A.K. Yearling's reaction to finding out that ponies are upset by them. For the whole first half of the episode, A.K. fails to do anything proactive about the legitimate grievances that residents of Somnambula have against Daring Do, or even about the sullying of her name by Caballeron. When A.K. finds out (apparently for the first time) that ponies are upset about the destruction her adventures leave behind, rather than making a plan to redress the damage and apologize, A.K. is planning just to retire, perhaps in part so as not to have to deal with those problems. After that, A.K.'s behavior in the first half of the episode becomes "be reluctantly convinced to go with Rainbow's and Pinkie's plan, then run away at the first sign of significant adversity", rinse and repeat. And again, after Rainbow and Pinkie fail to accomplish anything, A.K. takes no proactive steps to come up with a better plan. Might we think that Daring Do would be willing to face and take on a challenge, rather than just slinking away from it? And as the episode goes on, it seems that multiple occasions pass by where A.K./Daring Do could resolve to compensate residents of Somnambula for the damages they incurred from Daring Do's adventure, but she doesn't do so. For example, prior to Rainbow's and Pinkie's plan to "explain to everypony how wrong they all are", A.K. might suggest that Rainbow announce that Daring Do will set things right with the residents of Somnambula if Daring Do harmed them. Or when Daring Do confronts Caballeron, and he tells her that "with the destruction you leave in your wake, it didn't take too much to convince ponies you were a villain!", I could envision Daring Do retorting something like "You're wrong, Caballeron, because I'll make things right with anypony I harmed, unlike you and the other villains I fight against!". But those things don't happen. At least after Caballeron runs off, Pinkie says that "all you gotta do is make it right" when "something bad happens that you didn't intend". And FINALLY, in literally the last 15 seconds of the episode, Daring Do pays to replace the apple cart, the damage done to the inn, and the statue. I'm glad that Daring Do did that, and that we saw it happen, but it's distracting how that lesson seems to be dodged repeatedly for the whole episode until the very end. Additionally, the damages highlighted in this episode illustrate a problem with Daring Do's approach to her adventures. Daring Do IS directly responsible for not paying her bill at the inn, and could be directly responsible (depending on what exactly happened) for the damage to the apple cart and even the statue. However, it was henchmen of Ahuizotl (presumably) who destroyed half of the inn's rooms looking for Daring Do, and I could imagine (without knowing for sure) that the large Somnambula statue was destroyed in the course of Ahuizotl trying to obtain ancient relics or activate ancient magic, which would essentially put him at fault. So when Daring Do apparently lets the bad guys continue to get away at the end of her adventures, that also enables them to get away from responsibility for the property damage and trauma that they caused. If the villains were actually detained, then they could probably be charged and convicted of causing those damages, and forced to pay restitution to the victims. In the absence of that, it's good that A.K. paid for a new statue and paid the innkeeper for the damage incurred, but it would probably be more just for the direct perpetrators of those damages to pay for them. I wonder if Daring Do's working with law enforcement (or even private security or something) would help to bring that about. Another conundrum to consider would be what Daring Do will do about the potential for these damages to occur on future adventures. Some such damages are probably unavoidable, although Daring Do might use strategies to try to minimize the damage - for example, attempting to confront villains away from innocent bystanders if possible. However, in some cases, Daring Do could be more upfront about the reasonably predictable risks that she's causing others to take on. For example, if Daring Do goes to check out a room at the inn, she could tell the innkeeper that she might be pursued by violent goons (in the course of stopping the villains from causing a catastrophe or whatnot), and ask if the innkeeper is able and willing to defend herself and her property if such goons come by. And Daring Do could offer to pay some multiple of the normal rate for taking on that risk, plus ensure that any damages would also be paid for, along with paying upfront or working out a definite payment plan in case Daring Do does have to slip away quickly. --- Now I'll give a few observations I had about the legend of Somnambula. We're told that Prince Hisan, son of the pharaoh, "was so moved by [Somnambula's] compassion that he decreed nopony would go hungry again". Yes, he was so powerful that the laws of scarcity and economics bent to his whim. It seems unusually charitable for the pharaoh to ask for volunteers to save his son, the prince, rather than simply ordering the soldiers of his army to do so. The legend says that the sphinx cast a powerful spell that prevented Somnambula from flying, and the depiction appears to show the spell acting on Somnambula's wings specifically. So the legend, as told, doesn't seem to indicate that the sphinx's spell was cast on the general area inside the pyramid, affecting anyone inside, or that it would last many years after the sphinx had departed and the events of the day were over. When the sphinx tells Somnambula that she must walk to the prince across a deep chasm while blindfolded, that doesn't strike me as a particularly difficult challenge, at least as it's portrayed. It's a relatively short distance on a straight path across what looks to be a reasonably stable bridge, and Somnambula was able to see it ahead of time. If Somnambula takes her time, feels to make sure she isn't approaching the edge of the bridge, and lowers her center of gravity by crouching or crawling if necessary, it seems like she could steadily make her way across without too much issue. Somnambula wouldn't even really need to be guided by the sound of the prince's voice, since she saw the path she would need to take. Furthermore, the bridge is within feeling distance of the edge of the floor, so Somnambula wouldn't even need to take a "leap of faith" to get on the bridge in the first place. I guess the sphinx may not have been as smart as she thought she was in coming up with a challenge for Somnambula to complete. It also seems unusually charitable for the sphinx to actually abide by the terms of the agreement with Somnambula, and simply leave without a fight when Somnambula completes the second challenge. If the sphinx breaks her agreement with Somnambula, what would the village be able to do about it? If the sphinx was presumably using the threat of overwhelming force or magic to get them to give her most of their crops, then couldn't the sphinx just continue to do that? I suppose the pharaoh could send his army to attack the sphinx, but then, if the army wasn't willing to confront the sphinx just to solve her riddle, then how willing or effective would they be in actually attacking the sphinx? --- In this last big section, I'll talk about Rainbow's capture and rescue. Of course, Dr. Caballeron has to do the dramatic reveal and explanation of his plans in the public square, while A.K., Pinkie, and even other witnesses are still around to see and hear it. And as Caballeron's henchmen approach, we see Rainbow with a determined look on her face, but then in the next shot, she's tied up and blindfolded, with no indication of how that could have happened. Plus, Caballeron says that he can't have Rainbow telling Daring Do her plan, and yet none of them think to gag Rainbow to prevent her from yelling to A.K., Pinkie, or others within earshot. In fact, none of them even react as Rainbow starts screaming for help - they don't try to shut her up or anything as they lead her off. That makes me wonder if that was part of their plan - to make it known that they had captured Rainbow in order to lead Daring Do to the pyramid outside of town. However, if that were the case, wouldn't they want to move quickly and try to get a head start so as not to be stopped and confronted by Daring Do or anyone else before reaching the pyramid? Maybe they were counting on Daring Do hesitating after having her spirit broken (and the other residents perhaps succumbing to the bystander effect), but that's still a pretty precarious plan - Daring Do and everyone else has to hesitate enough not to stop them immediately, but Daring Do still has to care enough to see where they go and ultimately pursue them to the pyramid outside of town. Caballeron says that the shame of losing Rainbow to the slime will cause Daring Do to give up, if his previous plan didn't. But how does he know that's what will happen, as opposed to Daring Do becoming determined to avenge Rainbow and bring Caballeron to justice? Plus, I don't know how much of this Caballeron is aware of, but Rainbow Dash is one of the Elements of Harmony, a member of the Wonderbolts, and a friend of all of the ruling princesses. So if Rainbow dies, even if Daring Do were to feel like giving up, all the rest of the aforementioned ponies and all of the resources they command would be motivated to find Caballeron and bring him to justice. It seems that Caballeron, if his plan were to succeed, would be getting himself in way over his head. (But then, couldn't all of them still be motivated to capture Caballeron anyway, since he tried to get Rainbow killed, even if he didn't succeed? That feeds into my earlier point about Daring Do just letting the villains get away at the end of her adventures.) Now we get to the method by which Daring Do and Pinkie save Rainbow - a bunch of convenient vents that happen to be placed and spaced out well enough to lead across the slime to where Rainbow is, and happen to blast air (I'm assuming, since steam would, you know, hurt A LOT) with just enough force (not too little, not too much), surface area, direction, frequency, etc. to allow Daring Do and Pinkie to jump across to Rainbow. This strikes me as a particularly cheap deus ex machina, especially since the episode seems to be playing this situation straight, with Rainbow apparently being in serious danger. There's no hint of the existence or the eventual use of these vents prior to their miraculously saving the day. We don't see these vents at all in wide shots of the slime, not even when we get a shot showing the slime below and in front of Daring Do as she leaps into the pit. None of the characters point out or say anything about the vents, nor is there any indication that Pinkie or Daring Do see them or are aiming toward them when they jump into the pit. But since there's no indication that Pinkie or Daring Do intend to jump toward the vents, Pinkie and Daring Do's behavior is stupid in other ways. If Pinkie is just trying to jump all the way to where Rainbow is, why doesn't she get a running start, and try to jump from any of the other sides of the pit, which appear to have a shorter distance to span? Why does Daring Do cover her eyes as she jumps after Pinkie? What does Daring Do think she'll accomplish by doing that? This whole thing is on par with Pinkie's insistence that Twilight take a "leap of faith" to escape the hydra back in "Feeling Pinkie Keen". I wrote about that episode here (the formatting is a little wonky, since it's an old post), but in both cases, only a cheap deus ex machina intervened to stop characters from, in all likelihood, dying. And one other issue with how this situation was resolved is that it breaks immersion and entertainment. As I was watching this part of the episode, I was thinking about how Daring Do and Pinkie might get across the chasm to save Rainbow - maybe Daring Do carries a rope that could be used to swing across, maybe the two of them could use a fallen pillar as a bridge, etc. But (to me, at least) any sense of excitement or accomplishment that could come from figuring out a solution alongside Daring Do and Pinkie is dashed when the solution used comes out of nowhere, with no way that it could be predicted or figured out. --- Finally, here are a few more of my miscellaneous observations: Is the "paperboy" selling the newspaper at the beginning supposed to be a kid? He really doesn't sound like one. Is A.K. Yearling just moping at home in the dark? The inside of her house is black when Rainbow and Pinkie are trying to look through the windows. Hey Pinkie, maybe don't just go rooting through A.K.'s stuff without permission? She only invited you in, she didn't invite you to rummage through her belongings. Hey Rainbow, way to respect A.K.'s personal space by literally grabbing and shaking her by the collar while demanding to know why she's quitting and moving away. I'm surprised that A.K. Yearling's newspaper of choice in which to announce her retirement is the Ponyville Chronicle. I would expect that to be a small town newspaper, not widely distributed or read in most of Equestria, and not even necessarily close to where she lives. Gee, Rainbow, might you consider having at least a little cultural sensitivity before calling it a "crummy old statue"? Rainbow already had it mentioned to her that the statue was "priceless" and "sacred". Is there any point to Caballeron sealing the top of the pyramid after his gloating to Daring Do? After all, she and Rainbow can't fly out, and the path that Daring Do and Pinkie took doesn't appear to have been blocked off, so Caballeron doesn't seem to be trying to trap all of them inside the pyramid. Finally, calling the material at the bottom of the pit "green slime" reminds me of those old Nickelodeon game shows and between-show segments. It almost makes Rainbow's situation seem less dangerous, although the "bubbling" descriptor implies that the slime is hot, it's glowing as though it's radioactive or acidic, and the characters could still drown in it regardless.

Yeah, I notice that, too. I keep half-expecting them to faceplant when they lift their one front hoof that (in theory) is supporting their front weight. Maybe ponies' flanks are so dense that they counterbalance the weight of their necks and heads, and shift ponies' center of gravity over their rear legs?

Overall, I think this is another one of those mixed bag kind of episodes. It's nice to see how the transformed changelings are living these days. Pharynx's position is ultimately understandable and relatable, despite his being a bit of a jerk, and he does have a good point that, even though the changelings have transformed, the hive still has to be defended from external threats. I'm glad that Pharynx and the rest of the hive reconciled, and that Pharynx is accepted as a defender of the hive, although as I mention below, there still seem to be open questions about the details of that. The part where Thorax rather smugly gets Pharynx to admit that he cares about the hive and wants to fit in despite his "tough guy" attitude is kind of cliche and eyeroll-worthy, but still sweet. As you might have noticed, I haven't mentioned Starlight and Trixie yet, and that's because they're probably the main issue I have with the episode. I just find Trixie's shtick, and her "chemistry" with Starlight, to be insufferable. Neither of them seem to be particularly helpful in this episode, and the roles they played just weren't very interesting or relatable to me. As I mentioned, the episode does come to a kind of happy ending, with the rest of the hive acknowledging that Pharynx has a point and accepting him, while Pharynx admits that he "loves the hive" and transforms. However, there are still questions I have about what will happen afterward. Will Pharynx's love for "the hive" translate into love for individual members of the hive (other than Thorax)? Pharynx says that he doesn't get excited about pretty flowers and feeling circles, but will he presumably stop trying to destroy them and stop harassing others to do things the "old way"? In other words, how much "assimilation" will Pharynx do? Furthermore, will Pharynx be trying to defend the hive by himself, or will a group of changelings agree to help him with defending it? How much would such a group be willing to do things as Pharynx wants, even if it makes them uncomfortable or whatnot? I suppose we're left to assume or speculate that they work all this stuff out somehow. One other thing I did appreciate in the episode is how Thorax tells Starlight that she of course ought to be going with him to save Pharynx and stop the maulwurf, because she caused the problem of luring the maulwurf back in the first place. And at the end of the episode, Thorax rightfully starts to get on Starlight's case for both leading the maulwurf to the hive and driving Pharynx away from it, even though that's seemingly interrupted by Pharynx's story. I see these things as an acknowledgement that merely having good intentions, or things just happening to work out in the end, doesn't let Starlight off the hook. Rather, the expectation is that she has to fix (or prevent) the damage she caused, and she ought to demonstrate that she's actually learned what she did wrong, and what she'll do to prevent doing so in the future. Those are about the only big-picture comments I had, so here are the rest of my miscellaneous observations: Starlight tells Trixie that Thorax described the maulwurf as "half-bear, half-mole, half-raging-pile-of-claws". I think that may be one too many halves... Starlight says that "now that the changelings don't feed on the love of everything around them, plants have started to grow back". But I'm not sure what exactly the connection is. How did the changelings' feeding on the love of others cause plants not to grow around their hive? Do wild plants somehow rely on love to grow? I would think that "love" is something only sentient beings would possess, not plants. Is there any actual music playing for the swing dancers? Or are the swing dancers supposed to be hearing the background music that we in the audience hear? I suppose the existence of the potluck lunch (and the changeling eating soup later) proves that the changelings apparently don't literally subsist only on love. That kind of makes me wonder, then, whether all the previous talk about changelings "feeding" on love and "starving" for it was meant to be taken literally. Are love and "normal" food interchangeable for changelings? When Thorax shows "craft time", two changelings hold up a drawing of Starlight and Trixie. Did they just draw that within the few minutes that Starlight and Trixie had been there? It's just part of the limitations of the episode format, but I couldn't help noticing that Thorax asks how things went with Pharynx just a couple of minutes after Thorax originally left - not much time for Starlight and Trixie to have done much of anything. At the "feelings forum", it doesn't seem like the changeling with the identity crisis got a solution - after saying that being different colors at different times would feel like "living a lie", she was told that it was brave to share that, and then she just sits down. With how many times Starlight's "great ideas" have turned out not to be, would it be too much trouble to run her ideas by another person or two before implementing them? Starlight's "inspirational" speech seemed like it could use some work. I felt like it meandered and failed to make an easily graspable or emotionally resonant point to rally around. Finally, when Pharynx is fighting the maulwurf, he at first tells Thorax, Starlight, and Trixie to get out of there and let him handle this. But then, no more than 30 seconds (and one attempted kick) later, Pharynx says that he could beat the maulwurf with the rest of the swarm, but not alone. Is he supposed to have done a 180 on whether he thinks he can defeat the maulwurf in that short of a time frame?

Oh, no, if I recall the episode correctly, I don't think that Pharynx's views are particularly extreme, and it seems like Pharynx and the rest of the changelings came to a good agreement by the end of the episode. I think it might be, as you suggested, that if the changelings were complete pacifists before, then Pharynx would look rather extreme by comparison.

Interestingly, I hadn't actually thought of the episode that way when I first saw it. I don't know, the idea that a society should maintain some means of protecting its members and property from external threats doesn't seem too hard to accept, unless the changelings are complete pacifists. But the issue would then be what such means is appropriate, and I can see how it might not be desirable to go along with Pharnyx's rhetoric and attitude of being hardened aggressive warriors and having to drastically alter their day-to-day life in order to prevent any possible means of a threat entering. While we're mentioning real-life politics, this dilemma reminds me a little of how many U.S. politicians, pundits, etc. seem to equate "national defense" and "keeping Americans safe" with aggressive posturing, antagonizing other non-allied countries, meddling in other countries' internal affairs - up to and including military intervention, engaging in mass surveillance without obtaining individualized warrants on the basis of individualized suspicion, etc. I would think that national defense could be achieved (and even achieved better) without doing such things.

The issue I have when topics like this are brought up is that it's almost never clearly defined who exactly is being talked about, and how many people. And the original post here is guilty of this, only mentioning "bronies", a term which could include a very wide range of people, if not the entire adult fan base. If, as I suspect, the behavior in question is coming from only a small fraction of the fan base, then I think that's needed perspective, particularly when considering what should or shouldn't be done about it. My concern, as I've expressed before, is that if some people are led to believe that fans who are "toxic" or overly demanding are a major problem, because they believe that there are many more such fans than actually exist, then that can lead to a kind of witch hunt mentality, whereby even people who are expressing legitimate concerns or criticisms are tarred as "haters" or whatnot and ridiculed or shamed into silence, stifling the range of opinions and debate on the forums and elsewhere.

I don't know what exactly your process is or if you've already thought of this, but if you're composing a reply on one page of the topic, it should be saved if you navigate to another page of the topic and restored when you click on the reply box again. So I think you can do whatever multi-quotes you want to do on one page of the topic, give it a second to save, then navigate to another page, restore your reply as you've composed it so far, and then do whatever further multi-quotes you want to do on the current page. It's still a bit of work, but that's the best solution I can think of for your dilemma.

Rainbow's throwing the fire and fire ring into the cave seems to be a gag played for humor - I may not particularly like it, but that's probably the simplest explanation, and I wouldn't necessarily draw any world-building conclusions from that. And I don't see any hot coals or anything like that in the fire ring as Applejack reignites the fire - just four other seemingly uncharred and unburnt sticks. So what was burning in the fire ring previously that seems to have burned completely and left no evidence? Considering what I said in my previous post, when choosing among competing explanations for why the campfire is depicted the way it is, I would rather avoid explanations that break the laws of physics for no particularly good reason. Thus, it seems to me that either of the explanations I posited above (oversight by the episode's creators or safety concerns about young viewers) would require the fewest assumptions and the least disruption of (what I see as) our understanding of Equestria. And that's partly because... I would really rather not have "Because magic!" be the go-to fallback excuse for any inconsistency or questionable occurrence on the show. Where does that line of thinking end? Must all standards and expectations be thrown out the window, to be replaced by a nihilistic view that none of the world-building or characterization of Equestria and its residents matters, because arbitrary magic could change any of it at any time with no further explanation? If anything and everything can happen, with no baseline of consistency across the show, I would find the show much less entertaining and relatable, probably to the point that I wouldn't watch it any more. But I don't believe that that's the world which the show's creators are trying to make. I think they are generally striving (without always succeeding) to make a consistent and relatable world, one that generally has continuity in how it works and what the audience can expect from it, with new additions to the lore occurring with good reasons that enhance and build upon, rather than just arbitrarily disrupting or even destroying, the rest of the world-building.

I appreciate the effort, but I'm not sure that that explanation passes the Occam's razor test. What reason is there to believe that the animators for this episode actually intended to be lore-building with the decisions not to show logs burning for the campfire, or to show Applejack relighting the fire with almost no effort, especially considering that there's no, say, dialogue or other indications of that being the case? It doesn't look to me as though those two things are being played as humorous gags, either. Would a simpler explanation be that the animators just goofed, or that they're deliberately not depicting the building of a campfire accurately for safety reasons, so that kids watching this episode don't try (and perhaps succeed) to make a fire and hurt themselves? Regarding the issue of physics in the world of Equestria, it seems to me that, as a general baseline, our familiar physics on Earth also apply in Equestria, with certain defined exceptions - magical abilities, talking ponies, etc. So, for example, when the ponies emerge from behind the waterfall, we expect them to fall down and splash in the water, and they do, because Equestria has gravity comparable to ours, water with essentially the same physical properties as ours (density, viscosity, freezing point, etc.), a climate comparable to ours, etc. I would think that viewers would have a much harder time following and relating to the show if the familiar laws of physics were to randomly change or not apply for no good reason. So, with that in mind, seemingly arbitrary deviations from familiar physics often stick out to me, and prompt me to wonder if there's a good reason why they occurred.

Overall, I don't really see anything egregiously wrong with this episode, but it didn't do much to hold my interest, either. The legends are somewhat trite (although Rarity's is the most developed) and essentially disconnected (as of now, at least) from any current events in the show. Perhaps the legends contribute a little to the Mane Three's characterization, and expand the lore of the show a bit, but not really enough to make the legends much more than mildly entertaining. And sure, there are a few nice sisterly interactions in the episode, but the CMC also grated a bit at times, too. I don't have any major overall points to make about the episode, so I'll just go through my observations in (mostly) episode order. To start off, I suppose it's kind of a stereotypical thing to do to tell fictional "campfire stories" around the fire, but I don't recall my family and I doing that much. We've been camping many times, and spent many nights sitting around a campfire, but as I recall, we would either play some verbal group games, or talk about things we saw on the trip, or just talk about stories and memories from our own lives. So I guess I may not relate much to that aspect of the episode. Rainbow Dash can apparently punch and kick swarm clouds of the flyders and they make a smacking sound as though they're a single solid unit. I'm a bit surprised by both the sheer number and the aggressiveness of the flyders. They don't just want to eat the food, they bite the ponies and shoot webs at them with the apparent intent of keeping them from running away. Do they normally travel in a large predatory swarm like that? Did the ponies inadvertently disturb a nest of them or something? I noticed (and commented about) this same thing back in "Sleepless In Ponyville", but the campfire only consists of a few sticks, which I would expect only to produce a small flame and probably burn out within a minute or so. Why not show a campfire consisting of actual logs? Also, Applejack "relights" a roaring fire by rotating a stick on top of another stick for a couple of seconds. I mean, sure, friction can be used with something like a bow drill and a fire board to produce an ember, which is then placed in highly flammable tinder and slowly built up into a fire, but it's definitely not easy. Is it really a good idea for all of them to be snuggling with the fresh flyder bites they all have? Although I don't know, the bites and even Rainbow's major swelling vanish within a minute or so. It's kind of funny that Apple Bloom has a "favorite part" of a story that only takes about 3 minutes to tell in the first place. When Applejack says "something magical happened" and Rockhoof transforms into his stronger self, did Applejack mean that literally? It's a bit odd that Sweetie Belle says that "there is no camp to go back to" and "all our hard work is ruined" when it appears that the flyders cast webs on their tents and stuff. Do the flyder webs make their camping gear unusable and unfixable, such that the best (or only) course of action is to abandon it entirely? What are the chances that the rocks of the walls of that particular cave have easily visible gold in them? In Rarity's legend, lack of beauty seems to correspond to looking (or even being?) old, basically. But would that necessarily have to be the case? Couldn't the characters lack beauty while still looking their age? I'm not so sure that Rainbow's rock slide would actually prevent the flyders from getting in the cave if they were determined to do so. I wouldn't necessarily expect the rock slide (with various, mostly large rocks) to create a perfect barrier with no gaps large enough for any flyders to get through. Doesn't Flash Magnus's plan assume that the captured pegasi will just be left behind in the cave without any guard or anything, such that they could easily and quickly escape? Who's to say that the captured pegasi won't be guarded, or that the dragons won't take the captured pegasi with them, or that the captured pegasi won't be restrained such that they can't escape quickly enough? The fireproof shield that Flash Magnus doesn't even look large enough to protect his whole body. Plus, if it's made of metal, wouldn't it get extremely hot after the dragons repeatedly breathe fire directly on it? Rather than all of the ponies just jumping into a flowing river with unknown hazards and an unknown destination, would it have been possible, say, for Rainbow to fly ahead and see where it would go? Or at least for Rainbow to fly above the river in case of some disaster occurring? And I would think the waterfall at the exit of the cave would definitely be a serious risk, and something that should be investigated first before jumping down it like a water park ride. Finally, I think the actual lesson of the episode is to be prepared to deal with bugs when camping. Apple Bloom says that the more the six of them go camping, the better they get at it, but apparently they have more to learn yet, since they seem not to have used any, say, bug repellent or mosquito net to eat under. When my family and I have gone camping, we bring bug spray that we apply to ourselves, plus slow-burning bug repellent coils that we put on the picnic table when we're going to be around for a while. I will note, though, that we never dealt with an aggressive swarm of bugs like the flyders in this episode.

Overall, I might describe this as a middle-of-the-road episode. The upside is that many of the character interactions are enjoyable. Thorax is likable in his kind of earnest goofiness and awkwardness. Ember can be a bit offputting when she's yelling in others' faces or appears to be (actually) threatening them, but she has many amusing moments too, including her mixing up Twilight and Starlight, her putting up with others hugging her, and her dry observations about how ponies make friends. It's nice to see Twilight and Starlight supporting Spike in his attempt to keep Ember and Thorax apart yet entertained, and Twilight's and Starlight's interactions with Ember and Thorax are enjoyable. My main issue is that there are a fair number of plot points about the episode that seem dubious, even if hand-waving explanations can be found for many of them, and the cumulative effect is that the overall plot feels a little too questionable and belabored. To start off, there are a few things about the set-up of the episode that seem somewhat questionable, although some explanation could perhaps be made for them. First, Spike seems to have no recollection at all of inviting Thorax to Ponyville, even after seeing Thorax and Thorax's reminding Spike of his invitation. When Twilight worriedly asks Spike whether he invited Thorax on the same day as Ember, Spike sheepishly responds "apparently". On the face of it, inviting Thorax to Ponyville seems like a rather big thing for Spike to forget about to this extent, although I know that that can happen. Next, Twilight says that "according to Ember's letters, the dragons are trying to be friends, but competing is in their nature, and it's leading to more and more fights", which is why Ember is seeking advice. Does that mean that attempting to be friends is leading to more fights than usual? I'm trying to think how that would happen. Would they normally tend not to interact, but trying to be friends leads to more interactions, which then break down into fights? Finally, Thorax's problem of getting other changelings under his rule to respect him is understandable, but I'm not quite sure why he wants to ask Spike specifically for advice on that. Wouldn't he have better chances of getting useful advice from another leader, like Princess Twilight, or, perhaps even better, Princess Celestia or Princess Luna? Thorax may be pals with Spike, but I'm not sure that Spike has too much knowledge or experience to help with that particular problem. However, the above issues aside, the biggest driver of conflict in the episode is probably the belief that Ember and Thorax need to be kept away from each other. The apparent stated basis for Spike's fear that Ember and Thorax will hate each other, even to the point of starting a war of dragons vs. changelings, is that...the two of them have different personalities and hence "might not get each other"? Global leaders in our world often deal with other leaders who have major differences of opinion or personality (to put it mildly), and usually manage not to start wars in the process. And many viewers of the show argue that Equestria is, if anything, a nicer place than the real world. But then I guess we don't know how much dealing peacefully with other societies dragons and changelings have done, if any. Is the concern that Ember would get offended by some unintentional slight from Thorax (or someone else) and call the dragons to war, with the dragons just doing as the Dragon Lord commands without question? Could Spike (and others) talk Ember down by telling her that that's not what friendly people do (which is what she came to get advice for in the first place), that that would cause needless death and destruction, etc.? So, again, there could be some basis for this fear of what would happen if Ember and Thorax were to meet, but it seems to require some debatable extrapolation from other observations in the episode, above and beyond the stated rationale. There's also the whole sequence of events around the Cutie Map calling Spike, and the eventual resolution, to consider. To start off, my best guess is that the Map called Spike at the moment at which Spike's friendships with Ember and Thorax were being imperiled by his lack of attention to them. But then, Spike's being called by the Map leads him essentially to blow off Ember and Thorax some more while he goes out to find the friendship problem. I might think that the first candidates for "people in Ponyville with a friendship problem" would be Ember and Thorax, who both came to Ponyville to seek advice on dealing with (essentially) friendship problems, but it doesn't seem that Spike, Twilight, and Starlight see it that way. Later, when Spike is listening to Thorax's long-winded explanation of his problems, Spike doesn't seem to pay much attention or think of any advice to give Thorax because he's still too busy worrying about finding the friendship problem. Even if Spike believes that there's a friendship problem that he has to solve elsewhere in Ponyville, is there any particular reason to believe that it needs to be found and solved as soon as possible, i.e., that Spike couldn't take care of Ember and Thorax first and find the problem in a few hours? Previous friendship problems which the Mane Six (or Starlight) were called upon to solve seemed to involve significant time to travel to the location and find them first, so we might think that the friendship problems identified by the Cutie Map aren't super-urgent. Next, with no active intervention on Spike's part, Thorax and Ember happen to meet, but the actual friendship problem is exacerbated when the two of them leave upset by Spike's unintentionally offending them. However, after the two of them work their own problems out with each other and seek Spike out, Spike "fixes" the friendship problem with Thorax and Ember by explaining himself and asking them for forgiveness. After all of that, I can't help thinking what would have happened if the Map hadn't called Spike at all. I guess Spike might have attempted to split his time between Thorax and Ember, perhaps not really helping either of them, and maybe leaving both of them with lingering resentment toward Spike for not devoting his full attention to them and not ultimately solving their problems. And if Ember and Thorax never talked to each other, then they wouldn't have helped each other find the actual solutions to their problems. So I suppose the Map's calling Spike did probably help more than hurt with fixing Spike's friendships and finding solutions to Ember's and Thorax's problems, but it did so in a very convoluted and roundabout way. Now for the rest of my miscellaneous observations: Spike says he's "pretty sure" that dragons don't like flowers, but what is that based on? Are they too effeminate or not "tough" enough? If so, couldn't that reasoning also apply to the brightly-colored balloons (including heart-shaped ones), ribbons, confetti, etc.? When the trumpeters play the entrance fanfare right at Ember, and she doesn't like it, is she on the verge of actually attacking one of them when she's interrupted by Spike? Or was she just doing the intimidation thing? I might have questioned why the trumpeters and other residents of Ponyville run away screaming from Ember shortly after that, considering that Ember is supposed to be the guest of honor, but then, if she might attack them at the slightest provocation, maybe they're justified in doing so. Was the "official friendship welcome banquet" for Ember prepared in advance for her? Or was that just food that was lying around that Spike threw together in a hurry? Could Spike have anticipated that Ember might not eat the food itself? I don't know if the other dragons have ever eaten "pony food", since it doesn't seem like they would have traded for it or made it themselves. When the Cutie Map called Spike, at first I thought it was the call of the Dragon Lord issued by Ember, similar to the one that called Spike to the Dragon Lands in "Gauntlet of Fire". When the Cutie Map first appears back in the opening episode of Season 5, Spike's chair isn't seen as contributing to making the Map appear, although Spike is sitting in it when it happens, so I don't know if we can say that Spike has been on the "call list" of the Cutie Map all along. When some curious ponies gather around Ember in town, and she announces her title and does a fire-breathing display, I'm not sure why, in that case, the ponies run away screaming in fear. I could see it being surprising, but it seems fairly clear that Ember isn't attacking them, and her display looked to be safe, as far as I can tell. I might find it pretty cool if I were there, although that might partly be due to my "fire is cool" instinct. Thorax and Ember spend several seconds charging at each other, even though they were maybe a few yards apart to start with. Ember tells Thorax that "there's nothing to be unsure of", because he's the leader "for a reason". But then, what is that reason? He was different than the other changelings, he ended up on the mission to stop Chrysalis, and he was the first changeling to share love, but (as many of us thought of at the time) that doesn't necessarily mean that Thorax has good leadership skills. Finally, Ember's advice to Thorax seems to boil down to telling Thorax to back up the rules he's enforcing with an implied threat of violence if they're not followed, i.e., letting it be known that his decision is final, and turning into a bear if that doesn't work. But I think the moral (and perhaps even practical) legitimacy of that tactic depends on the rules being enforced. For example, if Thorax is enforcing rules stopping widely-agreed-upon crimes, then the use of force to stop those crimes would be justified. Thorax's main stated problem is a renegade group of changelings who still feed off of love, rather than sharing it. In the world of Equestria, if the love on which these changelings are feeding (presumably without permission) can be said to be the property of those who produce it, then the changelings' feeding on it could be seen as theft, and enforcing a rule against that, by violence if necessary, would then be a justified prevention of a widely-agreed-upon crime.

I noticed that this episode was written by Josh Hamilton, who also wrote "Parental Glideance" earlier in this season. One way that those two episodes might be similar is that they both have character interactions and details that can be enjoyable, even as the main plots can be questionable.

So, to clarify, you think that significantly more than half (i.e., a "large majority") of bronies act in the manner that you describe? That strikes me as a pretty bold claim. Would you contend, for example, that significantly more than half of the members of MLP Forums, or the posts made on MLP Forums about the show, exhibit this behavior? The reason I ask is that, in my years as a member here, I don't feel like that's what I've observed. And as I've said in previous posts, my concern is that if people perceive there to be many more "undesirables" (whiners, haters, nitpickers, etc.) than there actually are, then they might feel more justified in ganging up on perceived "undesirables" with ridicule, shaming, and stigmatization, with the effect of stifling minority opinions and narrowing the range of "acceptable" discussion. And, particularly as someone who has often made critical posts about the show, I would think that the purpose of forums like this one is to facilitate wide-ranging discussion and debate of differing observations, views, and opinions about the show, including critical or dissenting ones which many other members might disagree with.

Funnily enough, this isn't the first time that Rainbow has tried ineffectually to use those sunglasses to hide herself. It reminds me of the scene back in "Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3" when Rainbow tried to use her sunglasses to hide the fact that she was sleeping during Twilight's lesson. I wonder if Rainbow ever realized that wearing sunglasses indoors would itself be suspicious and draw attention to her, thus defeating the purpose, haha.

I wouldn't deny that most of the complaints or behaviors alluded to in the episode have happened in the fandom in some capacity, but I think damage can still be done by drawing an incomplete, unrepresentative, or one-sided picture. Even if this episode's creators intended for the ponies' harassing and insufferable behavior in the episode to represent only isolated incidents (which I'm not sure that that's the case), there are a lot of people who seem to believe that the ponies' behavior in this episode is a realistic depiction of a large part of the fandom. In other words, they seem to believe that a large part of the fandom, including people who critically analyze the show, really act just like the ponies in this episode. And as I discussed in my previous post, my concern is that some of those people, after seeing this episode, will feel justified and vindicated in stifling, stigmatizing, and attacking others who express dissenting or critical opinions about the show. Regarding this, I would give a disclaimer that I've given to others before: I don't think that the results of a poll in an episode topic like this should be considered a particularly accurate representation of what the fandom at large, or even members of MLP Forums at large, think of the episode. Whatever the results are, they're bound to be skewed by the fact that there will be a lot of people who haven't seen the poll, people who aren't able to convert their feelings on the episode to a 1-5 scale in order to vote in the poll, people who have opinions of the episode but don't see much value or point in voting in the poll, etc. So, as a general rule, I wouldn't base any firm conclusions just on the results of a poll like this one.

As you might expect, I really don't like this episode. It seems like the premise of the episode is just to set up a bunch of barely-veiled (if at all) fandom stereotypes and portray the ponies demonstrating them as irritating, ridiculous, and intractable. And no doubt there are people who think that that depiction is spot-on, and find the episode hilarious as a result. But I don't think that a lot of the fandom criticisms or stereotypes alluded to in the episode are inherently ridiculous, worthy only of being laughed at. And I also don't think that the analogies really work between the ponies' behavior in the episode and fandom behavior; in fact, it seems to me that those analogies make out members of the fandom to be much worse than many of them would seem to actually be. And that feeds into my final big issue with this episode, namely, that I fear that this episode will just fuel more chastising, ridiculing, and ganging up on others in the fandom who express criticism or minority opinions about the show. As mentioned above, one issue I have with this episode is that I don't think the analogies really work between the behavior of the residents of Equestria and the (supposed) behavior of people in the fandom. There is a meaningful difference between people in real life criticizing or getting too wrapped up in a fictional cartoon and ponies harassing and being jerks toward the Mane Six themselves. To give a couple of examples, I don't buy that ponies ganging up on Fluttershy and demanding to know why she seems to have to learn the same lesson over and over is equivalent to fans of the show asking why Fluttershy, a fictional character on the show, seems to have to learn the same lesson over and over. I also don't buy that ponies complaining about the character development of the Mane Six in stories in the Friendship Journal, which describes actual events happening to actual ponies in the world of Equestria, is equivalent to fans of a fictional cartoon criticizing the development of characters in that cartoon. The problem I have is that this implied comparison between ponies' behavior in this episode and certain fandom behaviors is that the comparison makes members of the fandom seem significantly worse than I would think many of them actually are. I wouldn't assume that fans who complain about characters seeming to relearn the same lessons or who complain about character development would harass or be jerks toward other people in real life going through similar lessons or development. I would guess that many, if not most, such people are aware that they're criticizing characters in or episodes of a fictional cartoon, and that they would be more tactful or considerate in talking about the behavior of actual people, particularly to those people's faces. Another issue I have with this episode is that it alludes to a bunch of stereotypes of fandom behavior, but doesn't seem to have anything clever or insightful to say about them. Does the episode give any particularly useful advice on how to deal with or respond to the negative criticisms or behaviors to which it's alluding? Nothing the Mane Six or Starlight do really alleviates the problems in the episode, and the episode deliberately ends with the seemingly intractable mob still outside, undealt with. Does the episode ever model what the happy medium "correct" behavior of fans should be? Essentially everyone other than Starlight, the Mane Six, and the two kids at the end are made out to be insufferable jerks. It seems that there's little else to the episode, after the set-up of making and distributing the copies of the Friendship Journal, other than "Look at these fandom complaints and stereotypes! Aren't they irritating and ridiculous? Point and laugh!", but I just don't agree with that premise, nor do I find it entertaining. The final big issue is that, even as I was watching the episode, I feared that the episode would be fuel for some people who seem to believe that there are way too many whiners, haters, nitpickers, and overanalyzers in the fandom, and who often make posts (whether directed at specific individuals or not) chastising and condemning that group. I imagine such people might think that this episode vindicates their feelings and their behavior - "even the show's creators think that that group are ridiculous troublemakers and need to stop!". What concerns me is that it seems like many of those people, in their zeal against perceived whiners/haters/nitpickers/overanalyzers, don't appear to see much, if any, value in allowing and encouraging a diversity of opinions. In fact, I've seen commenters openly wish for or directly tell people who don't like certain characters or the direction of the show to shut up or get out. I've even seen a few commenters say that they think people who are too "negative" about the show should be punished or banned. And there are still others who, even if they don't make these arguments themselves, still brohoof or upvote or sympathize with them. I think I've often had minority opinions, about this show and on other topics, and I've had plenty of criticism and pot shots directed at me over the years, so I might be more inclined to observe this and see it as an issue. But I would think that one of the main reasons to have forums like these is to facilitate sharing and discussion among people with differing views on common subjects, including, in this case, the show itself. I wouldn't see much point in forums where essentially everyone holds the same basic opinions about the show and about its characters, episodes, etc., and where people with unpopular opinions are made to censor themselves or driven out. One common response I've seen to this view is to protest that there have been people who take it too far by threatening or directly harassing the show's creators, other forum members, etc. And I would reply that those behaviors are almost certainly against site policy, in which case people can just report posts like that to the moderators and move on. I don't think the existence of such relatively rare cases justifies a general attitude against people posting criticism, most of whom don't engage in behaviors like that. Another common response I've seen is that criticism is well and good in the abstract, but there are (supposedly) some people whose posts don't contribute anything or are nothing but tiresome. But it seems to me that judging exactly which posts or posters have insufficient "value", and therefore should be targeted for ganging up on with ridicule or arguments to stop posting, is an inherently slippery and subjective enterprise. When the forums have members and visitors with a variety of opinions, then posts that some people might consider "low value" or tiresome might be considered interesting or entertaining or relatable by other people. I would rather the forums cultivate an atmosphere of civil engagement with dissenting opinions or otherwise essentially leaving them be, even if it means scrolling past or ignoring some posts or posters, which doesn't seem too burdensome a thing to do. Now for a few other miscellaneous observations: Did Toola Roola and Coconut Cream, two fairly young kids, buy all this ice cream they're throwing at each other? Or are they taking the store's, or other customers', ice cream to have their food fight? How did the Friendship Journal degrade so much that the pages are turning to powder and falling out? Wasn't it in perfectly good shape when everyone was writing in it, probably a few years ago at most? Furthermore, it seems rather strange that Rarity doesn't seem to recognize the Friendship Journal at all. Again, wasn't it not that long ago that they were writing in it themselves? When Starlight makes copies of the Friendship Journal, does she also copy all of the potential problems of the original? Rainbow says that Fluttershy's lessons are written so small that they can barely be read, Rainbow is dumbfounded by Rarity's calligraphy, and Rainbow's lessons themselves were written "aggressively". Do those issues all carry over to the copies sold or given out to everyone else? Finally, where is the material for making all of these copies coming from? Is Starlight creating matter out of thin air, or is she maybe teleporting stocks of paper, ink, etc. from somewhere else? If the latter, are those stocks of materials being paid for?

@CypherHoof, I agree that this episode demonstrates in a few ways that Fluttershy and Discord are friends - Discord puts significant effort into (what he believes is) making Fluttershy comfortable, Fluttershy shows some understanding of the kind of chaos that Discord would create, Fluttershy says she likes Discord as he is, etc. But I guess seeing that still kind of leaves me wondering why exactly Fluttershy likes Discord as he is, and why Fluttershy has spent this much time with him. For example, what exactly do Fluttershy and Discord do at these tea parties week after week after week? I guess Fluttershy could talk about what she did that week, and maybe Discord would try to riff off of that and play the wacky/funny man, such as how he made puns in the beginning of the episode. But if that's all that Discord really does, then it seems like that shtick would wear out sooner or later. Other than that, does Discord sympathize with, elaborate on, or give advice for Fluttershy's conversation topics? I don't know that we've really seen him do that much at all. This also raises the question of what Discord does with all of his time. Does Discord do things week-to-week that Fluttershy would find interesting or relatable? I suppose the idea might be that it can be good to have friends who differ from you in some respects, but it seems to me that friends would still need some common understanding and experience to build off of. And maybe that's what I'm not quite seeing with Fluttershy and Discord.