History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E2TheCutieMapPart2

* AbortedArc: The eight enchanted items of the great mage Meadowbrook wind up being a RedHerring, never mentioned since.

* BadBadActing: Fluttershy's "acceptance" and Twilight's "How could you" scene. The town still buys it.

* DebateAndSwitch: Starlight is revealed to be a ConArtist and a {{Hypocrite}}, making her arguments for equality irrelevant.

* KirkSummation: Twilight's speech to Starlight Glimmer at the end.

* MotiveRant: Starlight Glimmer delivers one to the villagers once they turn against her.

* PowerNullifier: How the equals sign "cutie marks" work. General abilities (Flying, running, etc.) are reduced so that everypony is "equal" but special talent seems actively repressed, with the marks pulsing whenever the pony tries to use said talent, like Fluttershy's SpeaksFluentAnimal abilities, Rarity's fashion sense, etc.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Naturally, though this time instead of being the big attack used to defeat Starlight, it's what Twilight cites as what makes her able to block Starlight's spell and makes her stronger.
* PretendToBeBrainwashed: Fluttershy does this so she'll be let out of the room.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Starlight Glimmer delivers one to the villagers once they turn against her.

* SequelHook: Starlight gets away still fully believing in her cause. And we never did find out what she was talking about in Part 1 that having a princess in the town would help her with.

* SupportingProtagonist: While the main conflict of the story is the protagonists finding out a way to expose Starlight Glimmer, once they do, the story switches over to Party Favor, Sugar Belle, Night Glider, and Double Diamond for the final chase with her to recover ''the Mane Six's'' cutie marks and repay the favor.

* SurferDude: Double Diamond turns out to be the alpine equivalent.

When Starlight comes the next day, the Mane Six have a plan: Fluttershy pretends she has accepted Starlight's way, and she is allowed to go free. However, Starlight insists that Fluttershy expose those who revealed the existence of the Cutie Mark Vault. Party Favor reveals himself to cover for Sugar Belle and Night Glider. He is locked up with the other Mane Six for the day, where his behavior clearly tells the others they need to rescue the entire town.

* AbortedArc: The eight enchanted items of the great mage Meadowbrook wind up being a RedHerring, never mentioned since. Likewise, Starlight Glimmer mention having a princess would help her plans, we never get a chance to see what those plans were.

* VillainHasAPoint: Starlight's crusade against Cutie Marks may seem pretty evil, especially with what we're told about them, but given all the problems caused either through pseudo-class warfare between those who have it and those who don't, entire societies screwing up because someone had the bright idea to swap Cutie Marks, or even those who have ''no'' idea how their Cutie Mark works, it's pretty easy to see why Starlight can have a beef with them.

* TemptingFate: At the end of the episode, Twilight Sparkle happily claims that their work in Our Town was done. At the time, sure, but little did the Mane Six know it was only just the beginning...

-->'''Pinkie Pie:''' (''flatly'') Laughs don't come in barrels. They come from inside you as your body's response to delight.

* BeyondTheImpossible: Party Favor's special talent is balloon modelling to ridiculous extremes. He can fashion a pair of working binoculars and a bridge strong enough to support the weight of several ponies, ''out of a single long balloon''. He's another male Pinkie Pie, matching Cheese Sandwich in ability.

** After Party Favor says, "Except for you!", Starlight's DeathGlare towards him is accompanied by [[Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3 Springtrap's Jump Scare sting]].

-->'''Starlight Glimmer:''' I... I had to, you "fools"!

* UnderestimatingBadassery: While GenreSavvy that Fluttershy might be faking converting, Starlight still underestimates the Mane Six and [[GuileHero how cunning they can be]], and as a result gets OutGambitted.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy:
** When Fluttershy "converts", Starlight Glimmer immediately demands Flutters prove it by betraying LaResistance; she puts Fluttershy in her ''own'' cottage for better watching, and even dodges Fluttershy's attempt to wash off the fake cutie mark. None of it helps her in the end.
** Ironically enough, the Mane Six show signs of this this time around. They realize what Starlight is ''expecting'' to happen, namely them getting brainwashed into joining her (like ''every'' villain that uses brainwashing seems to expect will happen), and that Fluttershy is the one she'd think would crack first... so that's exactly what they pretend happened to trick her, and later exploit her desire to get Twilight to do the same to spell her undoing. This marks the first time they've ever consciously exploited the villain's EvilCannotComprehendGood FatalFlaw to their advantage.

* KarmaHoudini: Starlight Glimmer escapes without any direct repercussions for her actions, possibly as a SequelHook.

* AbortedArc: The eight enchanted items of the great mage Meadowbrook wind up being RedHerring, never mentioned since. Likewise, Starlight Glimmer mention having a princess would help her plans, we never get a chance to see what those plans were.

!!Continued from [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E1TheCutieMapPart1 "The Cutie Map - Part 1"]].

** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 this isn't the first time Fluttershy threw a bucket of water at somepony]].

* ObstructiveZealot: A rare example where a zealot is this to ''themselves'', to the point of being a FatalFlaw. While it's the Mane Six's gambit ''is'' competent and could likely have succeeded on its own, Starlight's absolute refusal to accept any form of friendship besides her own blinds her to the idea the Mane Six's friendship isn't the fragile wreck her worldview says it is, making it easier for them to trick her.

* VerbThis: What Fluttershy says to Starlight Glimmer as she's trying to splash her with a bucket is technically "Then how do you explain THIS?!", but with her soft voice you mostly hear the emphasized end, sounding like "explain THIS!"

* SequelHook:
** Starlight gets away still fully believing in her cause. And we never did find out what she was talking about in Part 1 that having a princess in the town would help her with.
** The eight enchanted items of the great mage Meadowbrook. Will they be the objectives of a FetchQuest, or were they just a RedHerring?
*** Turns out it's the latter, because they are never brought up again the rest of the season.