Amending Fences reminds me of A Friend in Deed.

[Dark Qiviut 22,444]

Back on July 6, I posted a status about Amending Fences being similar to the episode that brought about The Smile Song:

 

Amending Fences is A Friend in Deed done right. While AFID showed the consequences of harassment, the objective writing quality suffered thanks to Act 3 being a Looney Tunes chase. AF gave Twilight a solid alibi, and they weren't shy in showing the consequences of Twilight's decision to not attend Moondancer's party.

 

I bring this up because this was compared by some corners of the fandom, including Equestria Daily. (I'm unsure about here, however.) There are quite a few valid comparisons and differences.

1. Both protagonists wound up bugging the protagonists. When Cranky arrived in Ponyville, Pinkie refused to leave him alone because he sounded grumpy and refused to smile. Once Twilight realized that when she declined Moondancer's invitation to her party, she wanted to make up to her, and part of it was bugging her in the library.
2. Their foil acted introverted. Cranky wanted to be left alone and in peace. Moondancer wanted to study in peace. The big difference between them, however, is Cranky simply wanted to retire and be kept alone in his own thoughts. This is true introversion; the want to keep to himself while being happy about it. On the other hand, Moondancer's "introversion" is out of bitterness as a result of Twilight skipping the party in order to study, never saying goodbye, and leaving her past in Canterlot behind. MD kept to herself and stopped making friends because the moment really hurt her, and she didn't want to suffer from the same experience again.
3. Pinkie harassed Cranky simply because she wanted him to smile and be his friend; the more they didn't work, the more she bugged him. However, Twilight had a really solid alibi. She felt really bad about skipping the party and wanted to make it up to her. That's why she bugged her, got her to talk with Twilight, and bribed her into having dinner with Lemon Drops, Minuette, and Twinkleshine. Twilight wanted MD to try to make friends, but MD refused because it didn't work.
4. In A Friend in Deed, Pinkie's constant bugging cost Cranky his scrapbook and support. While it made plenty of sense for Pinkie to wanting to apologize, its quality was severely sacrificed by stalking Cranky in the form of a Looney Tunes-esque chase. It was funny in LT because the antagonists were trying to hurt or kill Bugs Bunny, so they got some karma. Cranky simply wanted to be left alone, and Pinkie wouldn't. The lesson she learned was incredibly half-assed; despite writing and enunciating it, she never genuinely learned it.
   
   On the other hand, Twilight helped build Moon Dancer a party and coaxed her through the trail of books (ala the trail of candy in Luna Eclipsed). But at the party, Twilight had to learn a really harsh lesson for her actions. What happened in the pilot genuinely hurt hurt, and MD unleashed all that anguish in front of her. Rejection via not bothering to show up happens a lot in real life, and the consequences can be really terrible, such as not creating parties again. Moon Dancer put herself at a really vulnerable position because she was asocial and needed to be prodded to make it. So for Twilight to decline the invitation and forget about her life in Canterlot makes this consequence even more devastating. MD's verbal wrath was a long time coming, and Twilight had to confront it head on. But because she grew after all this time, she's capable of learning this terrible mistake.

Does Amending Fences remind you of A Friend in Deed, as well?

[Cwanky 17,600]

Its Friend In Deed done right. And pun notwithstanding, Pinkie was the real ass in IFD.

[Dark Qiviut 22,444]

Its Friend In Deed done right. And pun notwithstanding, Pinkie was the real ass in IFD.

There's no argument here. Both Pinkie and Twilight bugged their foils, but the biggest difference between both Pinkie and Twilight in their respective episodes was the motive. Pinkie bugged him to make him smile. Twilight bugged her because she became a recluse out of Twilight's selfishness, and Twilight wanted to make amends.

[Cwanky 17,600]

There's no argument here. Both Pinkie and Twilight bugged their foils, but the biggest difference between both Pinkie and Twilight in their respective episodes was the motive. Pinkie bugged him to make him smile. Twilight bugged her because she became a recluse out of Twilight's selfishness, and Twilight wanted to make amends.

A large part of it also is how the fandom tends to react, or often overreact to a character's behavior.

 

Sure when someone like Twilight makes the "right" agreeable decision, we justifiably applaud her for it, even if the character is a background or just character of the day. Likewise we also tend to condemn, again justifiably so, a character's decisions especially when they hurt others. Unfortunately if the character being hurt is unpopular or seemingly unimportant, like Cranky in A Friend in Deed,  much fewer people seem to care and even just brush it off. Here its just, "well everything worked out fine in the end" or "Pinkie was just being Pinkie." 

 

But if the character happens to be very popular, notably Rainbow and Fluttershy, then heaven forbid that they get slightly slighted or hurt. You'll notice that no one seems to give much of a rat's ass when Spike is consistently thrown under the bus, Discord is neglected by everyone including Fluttershy, or even when Applejack is treated as a joke by the fandom, 

 

I really wish we had more reviews like this that aren't afraid to criticize bad writing and when characters act out of line. Otherwise people are too often just satisfied with ignoring the morals and only feigning outrage when it affects their someponies.

[manic 121]

One thing to note is that in Friend in Deed, Pinkie WAS learning a lesson. It's not like she was "hah, it turned out alright so I'm going to keep on doing what I've been doing regardless of other people's feelings". She even wrote it in the letter: "There are many different kinds of friends, and many ways to express friendship. Some friends like to run and laugh and play together. But others just like to be left alone, and that's fine too."

 

So did she make a mistake? Sure, but she learned a valuable friendship lesson, and I feel that makes the episode all the better. Nopony is perfect, and everyone has something to learn.

[Cleverclover 1,526]

To add something else the the similarities between these episodes, it's possible to still feel a lot of sorrow for both Cranky and Moondancer even after the episode ends. 

 

Though Cranky was finally reunited with Matilda at the end, the notion that he spent most of his life searching for her when he could have instead spent his most of his life in a happy marriage, possibly even with children, is pretty damn sad. 

 

As for Moondancer, she seemed to have come frighteningly close to spending the rest of her life in complete solitude, with no apparent goals or aspirations to speak of (since she admitted that she didn't want to become a professor or otherwise do anything with all the knowledge she had gained through studying), forever harboring resentment towards Twilight for making her feel that friendship was not worth anything. 

[manic 121]

To add something else the the similarities between these episodes, it's possible to still feel a lot of sorrow for both Cranky and Moondancer even after the episode ends. 

 

Though Cranky was finally reunited with Matilda at the end, the notion that he spent most of his life searching for her when he could have instead spent his most of his life in a happy marriage, possibly even with children, is pretty damn sad. 

 

As for Moondancer, she seemed to have come frighteningly close to spending the rest of her life in complete solitude, with no apparent goals or aspirations to speak of (since she admitted that she didn't want to become a professor or otherwise do anything with all the knowledge she had gained through studying), forever harboring resentment towards Twilight for making her feel that friendship was not worth anything. 

 

I dunno, while the Mane 6 learned lessons in these episodes, I feel there's even more underneath. In Cranky's case, there's the message to persevere and follow your dream no matter what; in the end, he WAS happy, and together with his love, and that's all that mattered. In Moondancer's case, to learn to let go of past hurts, forgive, and live your life in the best way possible.

 

I think there are great lessons to be learned on both sides of the story.

[Dark Qiviut 22,444]

One thing to note is that in Friend in Deed, Pinkie WAS learning a lesson. It's not like she was "hah, it turned out alright so I'm going to keep on doing what I've been doing regardless of other people's feelings". She even wrote it in the letter: "There are many different kinds of friends, and many ways to express friendship. Some friends like to run and laugh and play together. But others just like to be left alone, and that's fine too."

 

So did she make a mistake? Sure, but she learned a valuable friendship lesson, and I feel that makes the episode all the better. Nopony is perfect, and everyone has something to learn.

There's a really huge difference between writing the lesson and actually learning the lesson along with it. Yes, Pinkie wrote about how it's fine to leave others alone if they want to, but Pinkie never comprehended this. Even after her constant bugging cost him a very invaluable scrapbook, she went back out there and chased him around in hopes of accepting her apology. This makes Pinkie's intentions, while valiant, creepy in hindsight.

 

Also, just because the character makes a mistake doesn't mean it's okay. This universe is about making the characters likeable and inviting. If the character makes an egregious mistake, make sure the narrative treats her as the character in the wrong and keeps him or her accountable. This is what happened in Amending Fences: Twilight made a terrible error and tried to fix it, but it only made things worse. She had to learn a tough moral, and she really learned it front and center.

 

A large part of it also is how the fandom tends to react, or often overreact to a character's behavior.

 

Sure when someone like Twilight makes the "right" agreeable decision, we justifiably applaud her for it, even if the character is a background or just character of the day. Likewise we also tend to condemn, again justifiably so, a character's decisions especially when they hurt others. Unfortunately if the character being hurt is unpopular or seemingly unimportant, like Cranky in A Friend in Deed,  much fewer people seem to care and even just brush it off. Here its just, "well everything worked out fine in the end" or "Pinkie was just being Pinkie." 

 

But if the character happens to be very popular, notably Rainbow and Fluttershy, then heaven forbid that they get slightly slighted or hurt. You'll notice that no one seems to give much of a rat's ass when Spike is consistently thrown under the bus, Discord is neglected by everyone including Fluttershy, or even when Applejack is treated as a joke by the fandom, 

 

I really wish we had more reviews like this that aren't afraid to criticize bad writing and when characters act out of line. Otherwise people are too often just satisfied with ignoring the morals and only feigning outrage when it affects their someponies.

I think you're taking the fandom too much for granted. In Party of One, the biggest reason Pinkie became depressed is because she suspected none of her friends wanted to be around her anymore. Pinkie wants to make others happy because she's dependent on it. It's not a want for happiness and smiles; it's a need. If someone isn't happy or smiling, it really bugs her at least and hurts her at most. When you plug the continuity of Party of One in mind, despite being a jerk on the surface, you can kind of understand her motivations in A Friend in Deed. Despite her behavior, it's obvious she wants to help, but doesn't do it correctly. One of the problems is how the third retroactively condemns the quality of not just the first two, but The Smile Song, too. If Pinkie's character and moral weren't sacrificed for out-of-place Looney Tunes-esque comedy, it would've been much, much better. Secondly, the continuity is completely absent to first-time watchers; if this was their first episode, you can guess the non-bronies' reactions will be mixed. In the first two seasons, continuity was much looser compared to today.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Dark Qiviut

[manic 121]

There's a really huge difference between writing the lesson and actually learning the lesson along with it. Yes, Pinkie wrote about how it's fine to leave others alone if they want to, but Pinkie never comprehended this. Even after her constant bugging cost him a very invaluable scrapbook, she went back out there and chased him around in hopes of accepting her apology. This makes Pinkie's intentions, while valiant, creepy in hindsight.

 

Also, just because the character makes a mistake doesn't mean it's okay. This universe is about making the characters likeable and inviting. If the character makes an egregious mistake, make sure the narrative treats her as the character in the wrong and keeps him or her accountable. This is what happened in Amending Fences: Twilight made a terrible error and tried to fix it, but it only made things worse. She had to learn a tough moral, and she really learned it front and center.

 

 

 

She kinda learned the lesson at the end of it. And I think she's managed to be slightly less abrasive in subsequent stories, so she apparently did learn something. She's turned out to be a better character for it.

 

And what Pinkie did (being over-friendly) was hardly as egregious as Twilight abandoning a friend for 4 seasons (however long it was). I don't think Pinkie is missing some horrible karmic punishment for being true to herself.

See, the difference here is that Twilight wasn't thinking of her friends when she left. Pinkie, even though overdoing somewhat, WAS thinking of Cranky. Some might say that she just wanted to 'selfishly' be friends with him, but I'd disagree there. She can't bear to see folks not having friends, so she makes it a point to make sure everyone in town has her as a friend.

Edited July 16, 2015 by manic

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

I dont compare A friend in deed with Amending Fences cuz AFID is more comedic-driven and AF is more serious tone. It like comparing drama genre with comedy genre. So AF is not a " better" version of AFID, they just difference.

[colt .45 259]

Maybe in another fifty-six episodes Moondancer will get married. And Twilight will be her mare of honor, but then ends up fighting a monster, and not be able to show up.