Erugalathon

I think people just have a tendency to worry about the things they love going down hill. It's part of being a nerd (and I don't mean that in a bad way). The more passionate you are about something the more bitter disappointment can be (i.e. Star Wars prequels). Consequently bronies cant help but to hold the show to the excellent standard it has set for itself. Personally, I definitely do not think season 3 has gone down hill. It's still good, but with that said it has yet to ... capture me like the other two seasons. There haven't been any episodes that I would consider amongst a list of my favorite episodes. The Crystal Empire and One Bad Apple have probably been my favorites of this season, but there are a number of past episodes that I like more. And even though we're only 9 episodes into the season there have already been 3 episodes that I didn't care for. Well, maybe more like 2 1/2. There is only one episode in season 1 that I don't like, Feeling Pinkie Keen. There were 2 episodes in season 2 that I don't care for, Dragon Quest and The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. In season 3 there have already been 2 episodes I didn't care for, The Wolderbolt's Academy and Spike At Your Service, and to a lesser extent Too Many Pinkie Pies. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that the remaining episodes really wow me. If they don't then this will probably be my least favorite season, but its still good on average though. All shows have certain seasons that are stronger than others and the weaker one's are not even always at the end of a series' run.

Sorry, but I’m going to enter rant mode. This been a few things that have bothered me somewhat (mostly with the Wonderbolts Academy episode) and I wanted to see if anyone agrees with me. I just wanted to say I did not like the change to Spitfire in the last episode. It wasn’t just her voice; it was her personality too. Previously Spitfire was depicted as too chill and laid back for me to imagine her being a drill sergeant. I do understand that people can act differently on and off the job and a drill sergeant needs to be tough. The thing is though, with Spitfire’s old personality I wouldn’t imagine she would even want to be a drill sergeant since it would require her to act so differently. Hypothetically, if I had to be a drill sergeant I would try to act a lot tougher then what I actually am, but the thing is even if I was in the military I would never want to be a drill sergeant. It just wouldn’t suit me. I view Spitfire in the same way. Granted, we’ve only had a few minutes of her in the Gala episode to build any personality so I’m not really going on a lot here, but still. I would have preferred seeing a new character act as a drill sergeant. That might even make more since considering Spitfire is the leader. As the leader of the Wonderbolts and the flight camp, I think it would make sense that she would be too busy with managerial and bureaucratic duties to have time to be a drill sergeant. Another thing I’m not liking with the Wonderbolts is how they are increasingly being portrayed as more militaristic. I’m not saying there’s anything objectively wrong with this though. This is just my personal preference. In season 1 there wasn’t any real indicating that they were part of an Equestrian military, despite the Blue Angels being a possible inspiration. They just put on shows and what not. Honestly, at first I sort of compared them to the Globetrotters. That seemed like the closest real life example I could think of. But season 2 and especially the Wonderbolts Academy episode is changing this. Again this is just my personal preference, but I prefer thinking of the Wonderbolts as a laid back fun flying stunt team then a part of the military. That just doesn’t seem as fun. I’ve thought the former interpretation fit Rainbow Dash’s aspirations more. RD is too much of a free spirit for me to imagine her wanting to join the military and become a tool of the government. Joining a simple fun stunt team, I can imagine though. Is RD going to be a Wonderbolt now? Wouldn’t they have to take on new members at the end of the flight camp? There wouldn’t be much point in having it if they didn’t and I’m sure if they’re going to pick someone it would be Rainbow Dash. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I don’t want her to become a member though. Sort of. It’s weird. It’s like I do and I don’t. I want her to join because I adore her and I want to see Rainbow Dash accomplish her dream, but at the same time I don’t because of artistic and storytelling reasons. RD’s dream is a major part of her character and a source of conflict. If she becomes a member then the major source of conflict goes away and RD isn’t as interesting. For story structure purposes, I think it would be better if RD become a member at the end of the series, like if they knew a particular season was going to be their last. Same thing with the CMC getting their cutie marks. This is also the same reason why you rarely see romantic interests in shows get together early on even if they both like each other. Once they hook up, the writers just got rid of a major subplot so the resolution is usually saved for the end of the story. And another thing. Where are the letters to Celestia. I’ve been kinda disappointed they got rid of them. I like the letters. Again, sorry for being so ranty. So what do you all think? Agree on any of this? Disagree? Am I over thinking it? Am I an idiot for thinking all this? P.S. Despite complaining a lot about the Wonderbolt Academy episode I did like a lot of things in it. Rainbow Dash was great, it had a great lesson, the background character’s were notable, and I thought Pinkie Pie was really funny. It’s probably my least favorite episode of season 3 so far despite the fact that a lot of people loved it, but with that said it’s definitely not on the worst episodes of the series.

Your right! We might never see something like that because of similarities to other episodes, but that could be a good plot . *hears distant snickering* No, not that kind of plot!

Fair enough. I had to look up the episode myself to double check. On one hand, Fluttershy's ability with animals seem to make her an ideal leader for the animal team, but then again she couldn't be further from the leadership type. I'm glad they didn't make her a leader in that episode despite the fact that the other two teams are led by one of the mane 6. Its consistent with her character, unlike in some other episodes like "Suited for Success" where Fluttershy doesn't seem to have any qualms with being put in a fashion show. I don't care for it when they ignore character personality traits for the sake of a plot (although with that said, I still easily consider "Suited for Success" one of my favorite episodes). I've wondered before if Fluttershy might have her animal friends help gather food from the wild. With so many animals there to help her, I'd imagine it would be easy for her to be a bit of a natualist.

Well it hasn't actually been "confirmed." Lauren Faust has said that she was entertaining the idea, but one, she never said she committed to the idea (at least not to my knowledge) and two, regardless of what she says the only way it would be canon is if its in the show.

Sorry but I'm going to have to nitpick here. Fluttershy was not in charge of the animal team in Winter Wrap Up she was simply a member of the team.

I guess I'll go with this. I don't think we're really giving any indication that Rarity's business does exceptionally well financially, but we also aren't giving any indication that she doesn't do very well. We do know that her business is respected enough to where 'important' ponies will take the time to go to Ponyville so maybe that's enough. And maybe she's at her limit now with her workload. She does make custom outfits and that takes time. Maybe she just doesn't have the time to take on anymore customers. Granted I'm sure she could try to move to Canterlot for more potential clients and expand her business by hireing additional workers to deal with the work load. But that may require her to sacrifice creation time for more managerial duties, something our artistic Rarity may not be so keen on doing. So unless she chose to expand her business she might not be able to be more successful even if she did move to Canterlot. Then as everyone has mentioned there are her friends. I know I wouldn't mind moving a few hours away from my friends for a job opportunity especially if it meant following my dreams. Its not like I'd be abandoning them. I can still see them all the time. But in Rarity's case, I suppose career wise she is already living her dream. If you can live your dream and be within walking distance of your friends and family that's even better. Yes she loves the culture of Canterlot, but it's easy for her to visit it every now and then. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if she has gone to visit Fancy Pants several times since the Sweet and Elite episode. Living near your friends and periodically visiting the city you have a passion for seems better then living in the city you have a passion for and periodically visiting your friends.

So Rarity is one of my favorite characters, but there’s something about her that I just don’t get. Maybe it’s a plothole, I don’t know :/ Why does Rarity live in Ponyville? I find it hard to believe she hasn’t moved to Canterlot. She tells Twilight she’s always dreamed of living there, she loves the high life, and it would be great for her business. Most ponies in Ponyville don’t wear clothes unlike in Canterlot. I think it’s safe to assume that most of her clients are from out of town; many of them possibly from Canterlot. She would be so much more successful there. Yes, her friends and family all live in Ponyville, but it’s not like Canterlot is that far away. If I recall correctly, you can see it from Ponyville. It would be easy for her to visit Ponyville and vice versa.