Thread: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Thoughts on Wonderbolt Academy

Ah, man. Season 3 was on such a good roll, but this episode was pretty darn dull. (rhyme unintentional)

Watching the Wonderbolt Academy cadets go through their tasks took up way too much time and weren't particularly interesting to see, and Lightning Dust was basically just a more-flawed clone of Rainbow Dash. (Though I did feel bad for her at the end. Hope she gets a chance to redeem herself in a later episode, like Trixie did) Pinkie Pie anxiously waiting for a reply from Rainbow was very amusing, though, and things did pick up somewhat near the last six minutes, but it's not nearly enough to lift the episode into my favourites. Oh, well.

I liked this episode. RD sure came through.

newest episode was good i think. loved rainbow dash's little speech at the end.

Watched the new episode. Wasn't a fan of that ending at all.

Given that Spiftfire had actually encouraged Lightning's reckless behaviour throughout the episode, and never shown any indication that she disapproved of any of the consequences, I thought that it was rather harsh for her to expel her from the academy in the end. Simply demoting her to Wing Pony would have been a much more appropriate comeuppence in my view.

Originally Posted by garrison-san

Watched the new episode. Wasn't a fan of that ending at all.

Given that Spiftfire had actually encouraged Lightning's reckless behaviour throughout the episode, and never shown any indication that she disapproved of any of the consequences, I thought that it was rather harsh for her to expel her from the academy in the end. Simply demoting her to Wing Pony would have been a much more appropriate comeuppence in my view.

To be fair:

Why is Lightning Dust punished severely while Rainbow is promoted to leader despite both having made the tornado? Rainbow instantly rushed to her friend's aid and was willing to outright quit if becoming that reckless is what it takes to be a Wonderbolt while Lightning Dust has a pronounced Lack of Empathy and didn't care one bit about it. The Wonderbolts, as mentioned above, do rescue work, Rainbow Dash may have made a mistake, but her gut instinct was still to rescue those in danger while Lightning Dust only cared about winning. It wasn't just about the tornado, it was Rainbow Dash showing exactly the kind of personality trait the Wonderbolts need to have while Lightning Dust completely lacked it.

And:

As a stunt-flying organization, the Wonderbolts also have to value safety above all else during their performances, because one minor miscalculation can get a lot of innocent ponies killed. Lightning Dust did not, and came very close to killing herself and everypony around her, including five civilians.

Potential kills doesn't sound good to me if I were to recruit Lightening Dust. And yes, it's straight from TV Tropes.

I prefer to give TV Tropes a very wide berth. Call it a lifestyle choice. :p

My point is that Spitfire came off as every bit as callous and irresponsible as Lightning Dust, so I feel that she should have taken some share of the blame for running such a lousy boot camp in the first place. She encouraged Lightning to behave recklessly by constantly praising and rewarding her for putting being first above teamwork, whilst showing minimal concern for anything else that was happening until the very end. That icy glare she gave Rainbow Dash when she was reluctant to fly after having visibly hurt her wing reveals a lot about her own "Lack of Empathy", I think.

^Wasn't she just playing the role of a Drill Sergent? And I don't think Spitfire meant that when she said that Lightening Dust like to push herself harder before it became apparent that she could endanger others. Plus, she was praised mostly during individual testing. Then there's this possibility from you-know-where:

It initially seems rather odd that Rainbow Dash would end up being made a wingpony, when she's easily one of the best, if not the best in the class. It might be because Lightning Dust pushed herself harder, like Spitfire said, but when you remember that the setup is a test there's another underlying reason: Spitfire already knows that Rainbow Dash can be a capable leader because she oversaw the cyclone in Hurricane Fluttershy. Since she knows that Rainbow Dash has leadership abilities, Spitfire deliberately puts her in a secondary role to test Rainbow's ability to be a team player when not in the lead.

On a more positive note, check this tumblr page I found out: http://mlp-alternate-scenario-series.tumblr.com/

Meghan McCarthy ‏@MMeghanMcCarthy
I switched to a cable company that carries @HubTVNetwork Just in time to hear a certain #MLPFIM character sing this Saturday. Yee-haw!

It's funny: Sombra's just like Michael Myers from Halloween only the former is ill-received for the reason the latter is well-received. They're living forces of destruction and strike fear in the heart who know his dark legacy.

Thoughts on Apple Family Reunion

Decent enough episode, nothing amazing at all, but then I'm not a huge fan of the Apple family, an entire episode focused on them was never going to be my favourite. It was nice to see Applejack more flawed than she usually is and actually having to learn a new lesson this time round, but she's still got a long way to go before she can intrigue me as much as the likes of Rarity, Rainbow Dash, etc. do. She was certainly an adorable baby, though, I'll give her that.

Why the heck weren't the rest of the Mane cast at the reunion anyway? I thought they were "extended" members of the family, as said in The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000? Oh, never mind.

Originally Posted by Stantler Herdier

Why the heck weren't the rest of the Mane cast at the reunion anyway? I thought they were "extended" members of the family, as said in The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000? Oh, never mind.

Well, they have their own jobs and lives to attend to.

Okay okay okay...this may not retain to the newest episode coming up, but it retains to Ep. 10.

I was looking around to see what episode was next, but I saw this under the newest episode coming up.

62 10[4] "Keep Calm and Flutter On" TBA Dave Polsky January 19, 2013 S03E11

Princess Celestia tasks the ponies with reforming Discord, a mischievous spirit of disharmony, but Fluttershy is the only one who is willing to give him a chance.[14]
Note: Meghan McCarthy stated via Twitter that this episode had a "much longer and plot revealing title".[15]

Okay, now focus on what im gonna bold here- Princess Celestia tasks the ponies with reforming Discord, DISCORD. FFFFFFFFFFFFFF SO MANY IDEAS AND CONSPIRACIES ARE GOING THROUGH MY HEAD RIGHT NOW!!!!!

ReshiramDragonofTruth and I watch this show when we're afraid of something.

Originally Posted by Miles Prower

Okay okay okay...this may not retain to the newest episode coming up, but it retains to Ep. 10.

I was looking around to see what episode was next, but I saw this under the newest episode coming up.

62 10[4] "Keep Calm and Flutter On" TBA Dave Polsky January 19, 2013 S03E11

Princess Celestia tasks the ponies with reforming Discord, a mischievous spirit of disharmony, but Fluttershy is the only one who is willing to give him a chance.[14]
Note: Meghan McCarthy stated via Twitter that this episode had a "much longer and plot revealing title".[15]

Okay, now focus on what im gonna bold here- Princess Celestia tasks the ponies with reforming Discord, DISCORD. FFFFFFFFFFFFFF SO MANY IDEAS AND CONSPIRACIES ARE GOING THROUGH MY HEAD RIGHT NOW!!!!!

Lordy.

We seem to be getting the Discord episode we all hoped for AND the classic 'You saved my life, from now on I'm your slave' style episode. Spike at your Service is the next episode, I think.

Thoughts on Spike at Your Service.

A rather mixed bag of an episode. It's nice to see Spike in another starring role, but the first half got repetitive fast, though things did pick up once the rest of the Mane Six got involved. I loved Pinkie's moustache, Rainbow Dash's rock challenge and Spike's brohoof near the end.

The 11th episode of the season certainly sounds interesting. I can't even picture what happens in it at the moment, I mean, geez.