Which was creepier?

[ggg-2 3,555]

The brain-washed village ponies in Cutie Map and the the brain-washed mane 6 in Every Little Thing She Does. Both were rather unsettling but which did you find creepier?

[vivishy 1,032]

If have to say the brain washed village ponies. The mane 6 brain washed wasn't as unsettling

[Baykush 328]

Definitely the brain washed ponies in The Cutie Map. The brainwashed mane 5 were still pretty unsettling though, specially AJ before she started making random references and Fluttershy when she was covered in bugs.

[Vulcan 3,256]

The cookie zombies trump both of them, 

 

but among the two , I choose the mane cast getting all brain washed o-o

[Victoria Sponge 1,019]

The village ponies, just the way they smiled and spoke and all that, it was really unsettling.

[Peppermint Larry 203]

I choose the villagers. They- or rather, the situation- was more unsettling because those were ponies that were talked into moving in, talked (or even forced) into removing their cutie marks, and then they were psychologically tortured. The show did a good job conveying the village as a cult, and Starlight as their fascist dictator.

 

The mane 5 was mostly unnerving only because it was Starlight that did that to them. It mostly served as a huge reminder of what Starlight had done in the village.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 42,202]

The village ponies for sure. The mane 6 was just under a spell and it honestly pretty comedic. The village ponies were not under any kind of spell, they were just entirely brainwashed into thinking that Starlight was right and apparently would do nearly anything to uphold her vision. That is pretty spooky.

[Zachary 5,522]

I'll just say The Village Ponies without any Reason.

[Derplight Sperkle 1,017]

Village ponies were worse because they were under their own control. They had no spell cast on them to believe what they did was right. It was all brainwashing from Starlight. 

 

The spell cast on the Mane 5 was definitely more comedic than anything that happened in the village.

[NotoriousSMALL 1,984]

brain-washed village. They were brain-washed out of their own free will. Starlight tricked them into thinking that's what they really wanted. That's how real life cults get you, they play on your insecurities and make you think you're making the right decision when you're just selling yourself away.

[pnylvr 185]

brain-washed village. They were brain-washed out of their own free will. Starlight tricked them into thinking that's what they really wanted. That's how real life cults get you, they play on your insecurities and make you think you're making the right decision when you're just selling yourself away.

I second this. Part of what made villain!Starlight so unsettling was the fact that people like her, and places like her village, actually exist. It's the same reason, for instance, that HP readers hate Umbridge more than Voldemort.

[PoisonClaw 8,174]

Yeah, I'm going to have to go with the villagers. While the brainwashed Mane 5 were still creepy, Pinkie Pie was really the only one that creeped me out, her arms flailing around and grabbing ingredients while her dead, soulless eyes stared ahead. The villagers, however, where an entire group of creepy smiling ponies, the way they talked (specially during the basement scene) gave me goosebumps. 

[Megas 28,133]

Brainwashed village, it was actually meant to be unsettling. Brainwashed mane 6 was meant to be funny, and in a sense comes off as really stupid for some

[chaosprincess 1,067]

Neither of them were unsettling to me, but if I had to choose I would have to say the village ponies with their constant smiles , some of them were literally going insane and they were constantly being watched by one of their own as for the mane 6 being brainwashed it was more humerus then unsettling.

[Cleverclover 1,526]

The brainwashed ponies at least still had their free will. They still had the ability to make their own decisions, and they still managed to have desires outside of what Starlight wanted for them. 

 

The mane five, on the other hand, had their free will stolen away entirely. They had no ability to make their own decisions, they had no ability to act in any way that Starlight did not want them to act. They were, quite literally, slaves. 

 

Just to clarify, I did not find the mind-controlled mane five "funny" in any way. I found it sad, and it saddens me even more to think that they have to be forced into a friendship with a pony who would do this to them---who clearly has no respect for them whatsoever, and clearly does not care about them at all. 

[Luminance 2,187]

The village. After all, they trusted Starlight and accepted her idealism and they didn't find that her control was endangering their way of life until they couldn't take it anymore.

 

Controlling by magic is too easy.

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

Just to clarify, I did not find the mind-controlled mane five "funny" in any way. I found it sad, and it saddens me even more to think that they have to be forced into a friendship with a pony who would do this to them---who clearly has no respect for them whatsoever, and clearly does not care about them at all. 

 

Yeah, what a bitch. It's a good thing they don't go around getting themselves captured because she totally would not bother to go on a rescue mission for them in enemy controlled territory with some YOLO plan.

 

I get why everyone dislikes her and that episode and gets all uncomfortable about the thought of it... but face it, she took control of them to get out of doing her homework not to slave away in dank mines somewhere for the next century. It was pretty selfish and poorly thought out on her part.. but people do that kind of stuff all the time, and I would imagine by default that would extend to ponies as well. She was a horrible person in that moment, not the antichrist.

 

And the village was way creepier.

 

Just saying.

Edited October 11, 2016 by GrimGrimoire

[pnylvr 185]

 

 

She was a horrible person in that moment, not the antichrist.

Seconded. I thought the message of ELTSD was "Old habits die hard", not "Starlight is secretly still evil". If anything, that episode helps humanize Starlight by showing that she still has things to work on.

[Cleverclover 1,526]

 

 

It's a good thing they don't go around getting themselves captured because she totally would not bother to go on a rescue mission for them in enemy controlled territory with some YOLO plan.

 

If I'm not mistaken, Twilight was captured as well, right?

 

Well, there you go. There's one friend whom she actually does care about that makes the rescue mission worth the effort. 

 

 

 

I get why everyone dislikes her and that episode and gets all uncomfortable about the thought of it... but face it, she took control of them to get out of doing her homework not to slave away in dank mines somewhere for the next century.

 

I fully understand why she did it. I'm just saying that if the mane five were ponies whom she actually respected or cared about, she would not have allowed the spell to stand. I do not believe in any way that she would have cast the same spell on Twilight, Trixie, or Sunburst for any reason.   

 

Why should they want to be friends with her after that? They had all gathered for the sake of spending time with her, and she decided that it was more convenient for her if she simply made them her slaves. 

[Thrond 3,271]

Ultimately I'll have to go for the village ponies, though they're both similarly unnerving for very different reasons. "The Cutie Map" was clearly supposed to be creepy, with a false appearance of cheer and PG-rated depictions of outright psychological torture. It's distressing because it's so detailed and realistic, and it's probably the darkest this show's ever gone. What if Starlight had excused her cutie mark? What if they'd never exposed her? It's disturbing to think about. 

 

While I don't find the mind-control of the mane six quite as creepy on its face, exactly how that episode played out makes me a little bit uncomfortable. Starlight... ostensibly has difficulties considering how her actions will affect others, and the episode calls her out on her actions, but that situation increasingly bothers me because she just got off so easily for it. It's not that I think she should be punished, and having her learn from her mistakes is the best way to go about this, but the main lesson of the episode isn't about considering how your actions affect others, and as a result I'm... really not convinced that she's learned anything. The result a really kinda disturbing elephant in the room which sort of makes it harder to sympathise with Starlight. I don't think what she did to the mane six is strictly worse than what she did to the village ponies - it's probably painless, and it's implied it will be temporary - but that's some really dark territory the show seems unwilling to address, and... that bothers me a lot. 

[Heavenly Inexplicit 310]

The village ponies and their circumstances were much more realistic, so I say that they are scarier.

 

Not the ponies themselves, just their situation. The ponies were cute, as always.

 

Edited October 11, 2016 by Heavenly Sun

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

If I'm not mistaken, Twilight was captured as well, right?

 

Well, there you go. There's one friend whom she actually does care about that makes the rescue mission worth the effort. 

 

I fully understand why she did it. I'm just saying that if the mane five were ponies whom she actually respected or cared about, she would not have allowed the spell to stand. I do not believe in any way that she would have cast the same spell on Twilight, Trixie, or Sunburst for any reason.   

 

Why should they want to be friends with her after that? They had all gathered for the sake of spending time with her, and she decided that it was more convenient for her if she simply made them her slaves. 

 

So what? She still went with the intent to rescue all of them. (including the other Princesses), who she was most interested in saving really has no relevance. Discord went for Fluttershy, Trixie for Starlight, etc... the fact is, she went to rescue all of them and never once implied she was only doing it for Twilight.

 

No she would not have cast the same spell on Twilight, Trixie or Sunburst.. why would she? They are already friends and she is quite comfortable around all 3 of them. The whole point was to build that relationship with the rest of the mane 5. They were not "friends"... they were acquaintances... friends of a friend. I don't count song montages as team building or deep emotional breakthroughs. I think it was pretty cut and dry and not really open to any mystery or deeper meaning. She was given an assignment, and instead of doing said assignment, she flaked out and bungled it horribly. I did not see her rubbing her hooves together afterwards and cackling maniacally over it... in fact she was just as uncomfortable, frustrated and disturbed by it all as most of the viewers. I don't think anyone has every debated the whole way she went about it as wrong, in fact it was made pretty clear how wrong she was.

 

Well if we want to go that route, why the hell would they want to be friends with Discord. He outright stabbed them in the back and came close to dooming all of Equestria and even to this day can't seem to do anything with them usually except try to get on their nerves or play with their feelings as if they were puppets without any. I dunno, maybe they are all stupid or incredibly gullible or maybe just so sickeningly forgiving that it defies all attempts at common sense? Or maybe they see something else in her that no one else does. Maybe they see someone who is trying, and failing... but trying all the same. If she had no cares and no respect at all for them, she would just leave or at best be indifferent to their plight... Twilight is her teacher, not her jailer, going with the record of the show so far, I don't think anyone would stop her if she wanted to leave.

 

For the record I did not like the episode. And I am not a huge fan of Starlight. I thought the mind control stint was a weak attempt at handling her feelings, and would have gone better if instead she had half-assedly tried the lessons, failed miserably and spent the episode dodging them and making a mess of things that way. They still could have gotten the same message across without the bizarre set up and the rushed ending. I don't see her as the devil incarnate in this episode, just horribly written and used as an excuse to use magic in a pretty pointless way to get a few laughs.

 

And that is all I will say about that topic anymore in this thread.

 

And since I have horribly derailed this thread with this post, I'll end it by saying I did not find the Mane 5 being controlled creepy at all, because the episode would not let me... it kept making them do outrageous goofy things, and say pretty equally goofy comments. The atmosphere for anything creepy just was not there... it all really felt like some weak prank older brothers and sister would play on their younger siblings if they could force them to do things against their will. However the village had some of the atmosphere... it was a strange place with even stranger acting ponies. There was nothing natural about the way they looked at the Mane 6 and their incessant smiling made me think if one of the ponies had fallen over lame, the village would have descended upon them and consumed their still living flesh. The very fact they still had desires made it just as bad, because they were still choosing this existence, despite claiming they were free to leave it at anytime. (Obviously they most likely could not, but they did not seem to know that, or at the very least did not seem to fully understand it). They had that Children of the Corn look... and it was just plain eerie.

[KatonRyu 1,036]

The village was far creepier because they were brainwashed in a way that is used in real life as well, through constant propaganda and monitoring. When the Mane 6 were brainwashed it was just played for laughs as Starlight completely missing the point of a friendship lesson and aside from leaving a nasty hangover it didn't have many consequences. I don't know what happened in the village after Starlight left, but I can imagine the more complete mind rape they underwent there will have left some marks on them, even if they got over it.

[Ganondorf8 11,709]

Definitely the brain washed ponies in The Cutie Map. The brainwashed mane 5 were still pretty unsettling though, specially AJ before she started making random references and Fluttershy when she was covered in bugs.

 

Don't forget about Pinkie baking everything imaginable.

 

Oh, and my response to the question is the village of ponies from the Cutie Map.

[cider float 2,539]

Neither were that unsettling but the equality ponies were just a slight more unsettling. The zombie acting is something I already predicted and wasn't really impressed.

 

Another thing is well we all know there wasn't going to be any real terrible physical harm on the ponies like how zombies act in other shows. But there has been some actions to cause a mental breakdown or to attack the mind on the show most of the time.

 

I think how Chrysalis mind bucks and shatters Twilight's heart with all that manipulation was possibly the greatest smackdown a MLP villain ever did.

Edited October 14, 2016 by cider float