History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E13TheMean6

* NearVillainVictory: The clones successfully find the Elements, but they quickly recognize them as fake and destroy them. If the Tree didn't destroy the clones when it did, the villains would've made off with the Elements without the heroes even realizing.

* OhCrap: Chrysalis when the Tree of Harmony is destroying the Mean Six, and Twilight when the real ponies see their campsite ruined.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: While the Mane Six were wrong to assume the clones are their real friends suddenly becoming mean out of nowhere, they were right to point out what was wrong with them, such as Twilight seeing Mean Pinkie being grumpy and AJ and Rainbow seeing Mean Rarity horde. Pinkie was also right to shout against Mean Twilight for not caring about Fluttershy needing help, but she thought that was the real Twilight she was shouting at.

Meanwhile, the Mane Six and Starlight are working towards where Twilight has planned their camping experience, near the Tree of Harmony. Pinkie runs off ahead while Fluttershy falls back to help a chick fallen from its nest, resulting in the group getting separated from each other. At that moment, the various Mane Six and Mean Six ponies find each other in various incidents, but neither recognize the differences from their counterparts, instead thinking their friends are somehow acting like mean jerks out of nowhere, leading to several conflicts: Mean Rarity has horded all the supplies being carried by Mane Applejack and Mane Rainbow Dash; Mean Applejack criticizes Starlight's appearance, making her think she gave her the camping equipment for the sake of making fun of her; Mean Twilight causes Mane Fluttershy to break down in tears after she faces the wrath of the forest creatures terrorized by Mean Fluttershy, Mane Twilight starts thinking her friends don't like the trip when Mean Pinkie claims it to be a "boring, lame, no-fun retreat", and so forth. Importantly, Mane Pinkie tells Mean Twilight the history of their friendship and reveals the location of the Tree of Harmony to her.

* BigShutUp: When the Mane Six start bickering between themselves because of all the misunderstanding caused by their clones, Twilight has to yell "'''EVERYPONY, ''QUIET!'''''" to silence them before reasoning her friends.

--->'''Pinkie Pie:''' You know what, Twilight? Maybe if you weren't so worried about schedules and being a neurotic perfectionist, you'd realize you're the one ruining the retreat for your friends!\\

* KarmicDeath: After ''[[KickTheDog everything]]'' the clones did throughout the episode, the Tree of Harmony rightfully rewards them by undoing the spell that gave them life.

* GoodIsNotSoft: The Tree of Harmony takes this UpToEleven. Once the Elements quickly recognize the clones are ''not'' their true wielders, the Tree defends itself by unleashing tendrils of light which hold the clones high and [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath effectively kill them.]]

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: While the Mane Six cross paths with the Mean Six, the chances of them meeting their respective doubles are slim. Not only that, but rather than blaming some outside force, each of the Mane Six [[CharacterDevelopment takes responsibility]] for their own respective shortcomings ruining the camping trip.

Twilight and her friends wait for a photographer from the Canterlot Historical Society before they can set out for a long-overdue camping trip to spend time for themselves while taking time off from the School of Friendship. The photographer arrives, and rushes to primp up the group, secretly pulling a strand of hair from each, before snapping their picture. Pinkie points out the photographer missed Starlight Glimmer, and she reluctantly takes her photo too before leaving the mares confused. Outside the school, the photographer turns out to be a disguised ex Queen Chrysalis, who has a spell that, by using the photographs, the strands of hair, and a representation of the pony's cutie mark, is able to create a clone of that pony, which she does to create evil copies of the Mane Six from trees from the Everfree Forest. The Mean Six turn out to show opposite qualities of their counterparts -- Mean Applejack lies, Mean Rarity is a hoarder, and so forth.

Meanwhile, the Mane Six and Starlight are working towards where Twilight has planned their camping experience, near the Tree of Harmony. Pinkie runs off ahead while Fluttershy falls back to help a chick fallen from its nest, resulting in the group getting separated from each other. At that moment, the various Mane Six and Mean Six ponies find each other in various incidents, but neither recognize the differences from their counterparts, leading to several conflicts: Mean Rarity has horded all the supplies being carried by Mane Applejack and Mane Rainbow Dash; Mean Applejack criticizes Starlight's appearance, making her think she gave her the camping equipment for the sake of making fun of her; Mean Twilight causes Mane Fluttershy to break down in tears after she faces the wrath of the forest creatures terrorized by Mean Fluttershy, Mane Twilight starts thinking her friends don't like the trip when Mean Pinkie claims it to be "a boring, lame, no-fun retreat", and so forth. Importantly, Mane Pinkie tells Mean Twilight the history of their friendship and reveals the location of the Tree of Harmony to her.

* BittersweetEnding: Chrysalis gets away once again, and the Mane Six plus Starlight never know about the Mean Six being the cause of their camping trip disaster. But what matters is, they are still friends through thick and thin, and the Tree of Harmony has seen to it that the Mean Six never hurt anypony ever again.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Pinkie sees Fluttershy breaking down, she immediately drops all trace of {{Cloudcuckoolander}} tenancies and attains to her, and absolutely refuses to do anything else, especially when Mean Twilight wants to get on with it, prompting Pinkie to shout at her in defense saying the schedule can wait and Fluttershy needs help.

--->'''Rarity:''' I'm going to make sure that she doesn't break a hoof out there, and then you and I are going to have a serious talk.

* DoNotTauntCthulhu: The Mean Six attacking the Tree of Harmony and Chrysalis's plan to steal the Elements with knockoffs ultimately angers the Tree enough that it sends out tendrils of magic whigh grab the clones and lift them off the ground before destroying them in an instant. This is the most dramatic yet of the few times we've seen it take action itself, and shows enraging it is a ''bad idea''.

Ultimately the Mean Six regroup under Chrysalis's watch and Mean Twilight directs her to the Tree, stopping only to ravage the campsite that Mane Twilight had already set up. At the Tree, she tells the others to prepare to use the Tree's power to overtake Chrysalis, who hears this; at the same time, the Elements begin to react to the doppelgängers' presence. Chrysalis and Mean Twilight end up in a magic battle while the others attack the Tree. The Tree reacts by grabbing all of the Mean Six and reversing the spell, reducing them to dead wood. Chrysalis realizes her plan has failed, then once again swears revenge on Starlight and flees. Meanwhile, the Mane Six have also finally regrouped, but their various encounters with the Mean Six have left them bitter at each other. Twilight reminds them all they are friends and friends sometimes get upset over their various quirks, but they know how to overcome them. The seven quickly rebond and continue onto the campsite, surprised to find it in ruins. They laugh it off and set about to fix it up as to enjoy the rest of the camping trip as Chrysalis flies off into the night sky.

* DoNotTauntCthulhu: The Mean Six attacking the Tree of Harmony and Chrysalis's plan to steal the Elements with knockoffs ultimately angers the Tree enough that it sends out tendrils of magic and grabs them before destroying them in an instant. This is the most dramatic yet of the few times we've seen it take action itself, and shows enraging it is a ''bad idea''.
* DoubleMeaningTitle: The episode title refers to the mean doppelgangers of the Mane Six, and the Mane Six thinking they're acting mean out of nowhere.

* ThePsychoRangers: The Mean Six created by Chrysalis, who all act inversely to their good counterpart's Element of Harmony: Mean Applejack always lies, Mean Fluttershy is needlessly cruel, Mean Rarity is greedy, Mean Rainbow Dash is disloyal, Mean Pinkie Pie is constantly bored, and Mean Twilight Sparkle is a conniving schemer.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Mean Rainbow is the least mean of the clones. While the others are big jerks by heart, she's merely lazy and only follows the group on her own accord, playing no truly jerky part whatsoever. She's also the only one not to spend an extended time with the real Mane Six or mess with them either way, and the only one who does not partake in attacking the Tree of Harmony. She's also the clone who has the least dialogue. Since Rainbow Dash is often the TokenEvilTeammate of the Mane Six, it makes sense.

* FailedASpotCheck: ''None'' of the Mane Six (or Starlight) catch on to the Mean Six's physical oddities -- muted colors, disheveled manes, flat eye colors, altered cutie marks, etc. -- and don't really question their out-of-character behavior, except to get angry with them. It's downplayed with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who discuss whether (Mean) Rarity has been exposed to poison joke or a curse, and with Rarity, who notices that (Mean) Applejack looks "peaky", though they never suspect that she is a different pony entirely. Notably, the Mean Six likewise confuse members of the Mane Six for their own "team", despite being well-aware that they are copies of already-existing ponies. The only one who averts this is the Tree of Harmony.

** The Mean Six have noticeably dull colored coats and manes, as well as flat eye colors, with Twilight's being more reddish than purple. However, the real Mane Six never realize even one difference and this does not stop them from thinking they're the real ponies acting horrible out of nowhere.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Given that this is focused mostly on the villains, not to mention the real ponies getting into an argument which almost ruins their friendship, and especially the way the clones die.

* ForgotAboutHisPowers: Twilight and Rarity don't bother to at least try to teleport themselves to Pinkie and Fluttershy which would've probably allowed them to regroup easier.

** The behavior of the "Mean Six" minus Twilight (Applejack being a compulsive liar, Rarity being greedy, etc.) is reminiscent of the "Discorded" versions of the real Mane Six from "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 The Return]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 of Harmony]]", with the exception of Twilight, who's more of a jerk rather than being depressed all the time. Their color schemes are also virtually identical to when the Mane Six were "Cutie Unmarked" in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E1TheCutieMapPart1 The Cutie]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E2TheCutieMapPart2 Map]]".

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Pinkie sees Fluttershy breaking down, she immediately drops all trace of {{Cloudcuckoolander}} tenancies and tends to her, and absolutely refuses to do anything else, especially when Mean Twilight wants to get on with it, prompting Pinkie to shout at her saying the schedule can wait and Fluttershy needs help.

* RealityEnsues: While the Mane Six cross paths with the Mean Six, the chances of them meeting their respective doubles are slim. Not only that, but rather than blaming some outside force, each of the Mane Six [[CharacterDevelopment takes responsibility]] for their own respective shortcomings ruining the camping trip.

Twilight and her friends wait for a photographer from the Canterlot Historical Society before they can set out for a long-overdue camping trip to spend time for themselves. The photographer arrives, and rushes to primp up the group, secretly pulling a strand of hair from each, before snapping their picture. Pinkie points out the photographer missed Starlight Glimmer, and she reluctantly takes her photo too before leaving the mares confused. Outside the school, the photographer turns out to be a disguised ex Queen Chrysalis, who has a spell that, by using the photographs, the strands of hair, and a representation of the pony's cutie mark, is able to create a clone of that pony, which she does to create evil copies of the Mane Six from trees from the Everfree Forest. The Mean Six turn out to show opposite qualities of their counterparts -- Mean Applejack lies, Mean Rarity is a hoarder, and so forth.

Meanwhile, the Mane Six and Starlight are working towards where Twilight has planned their camping experience, near the Tree of Harmony. Pinkie runs off ahead while Fluttershy falls back to help a chick fallen from its nest, resulting in the group getting separated from each other. The various Mane Six and Mean Six ponies find each other in various incidents, but neither recognize the differences from their counterparts, leading to several conflicts: Mean Rarity has horded all the supplies being carried by Mane Applejack and Mane Rainbow Dash; Mean Applejack criticizes Starlight's appearance, making her think she gave her the camping equipment for the sake of making fun of her; Mean Twilight causes Mane Fluttershy to break down in tears after she faces the wrath of the forest creatures terrorized by Mean Fluttershy, Mane Twilight starts thinking her friends don't like the trip when Mean Pinkie claims it to be "a boring, lame, no-fun retreat", and so forth. Importantly, Mane Pinkie tells Mean Twilight the history of their friendship and reveals the location of the Tree of Harmony to her.

* {{Farce}}: Mistaken identities abound as the ponies of the Mane Six and the Mean Six keep crossing paths. The Mane Six have a falling-out and reconcile, without ever realizing they had mistaken the villains for each other. And the Mean Six's plan falls apart without the heroes doing anything to stop it (or even being aware of it, for that matter).

** The Mean Six have noticably dull colored coats and manes, as well as flat eye colors, with Twilight's being more reddish than purple. However, the real Mane Six never realize even one difference and this does not stop them from thinking they're the real ponies acting horrible out of nowhere.

* NotHimself: The real ponies are bluntly disturbed by the way their clones are acting, believing they have gone bad out of nowhere which results in a heated feud.

** The comical Spike is completely absent from the episode, given the serious nature of the episode and to make the clones' and Chrysalis' main roles more foreboding. Spike is also the only main character the disguised Chrysalis does not take a photo of. We also get no appearance of Derpy nor any background or supporting character.

* SpottingTheThread: Rainbow is the only one to do this, showing her intelligence and hyper observance. While she doesn't realize they are dealing with imposters due to not seeing them for long enough, she knows SOMETHING is wrong, and not only tries to tell everyone else, but even offers suggestions as to what they might be dealing with (poison joke, curse, etc). Unfortunately there isn't time for anyone (even her) to investigate further, as the doubles all leave and end up getting themselves killed.

* FamousLastWords: As she's being withered by the Tree of Harmony, Mean Twilight cries out "Imbeciles! You ruined everything!"

* OutOfFocus: The real Mane Six don't get as much screentime as their doppelgangers.

* SequelHook: After the Mean Six get destroyed and Chrysalis's plans are ruined, she once again swears revenge on Starlight and leaves the Everfree Forest, hinting she'll be coming back again soon. (She does return at the beginning of the following season)

* SequelHook: After the Mean Six get destroyed and Chrysalis's plans are ruined, she once again swears revenge on Starlight and leaves the Everfree Forest, hinting she'll be coming back again soon.

** The Mean 6 have noticably dull colored coats and manes, as well as flat eye colors, with Twilight's being more reddish than purple. However, the real Mane 6 never realize even one difference and this does not stop them from thinking they're the real ponies acting horrible out of nowhere.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Mean Rainbow is the least mean of the clones. While the others are big jerks by heart, she's merely lazy and only follows the group on her own accord, playing no truly jerky part whatsoever. She's also the only one not to spend an extended time with the real Mane 6 or mess with them either way, and the only one who does not partake in attacking the Tree of Harmony. She's also the clone who has the least dialogue. Since Rainbow Dash is often the TokenEvilTeammate of the Mane 6, it makes sense.

* VillainOpeningScene: The episode begins with Chrysalis infiltrating the School of Friendship in disguise to take pictures of the Mane 6 and steal bits of their manes to make their mean clones.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Mean Rainbow is the least mean of the clones. While the others are big jerks by heart, she's merely lazy and only follows the group on her own accord, playing no truly jerky part whatsoever. She's also the only one not to spend an extended time with the real Mane 6 or mess with them either way, and the only one who does not partake in attacking the Tree of Harmony. She's also the clone who has the least dialogue.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Chrysalis's plan to steal the Elements of Harmony is [[MissingStepsPlan rather thin on details.]] Firstly, she has no idea where the Elements are specifically being kept -- she knows they're ''somewhere'' in the Everfree Forest, but as Mean Twilight points out, "it's a big forest." Only a stroke of blind luck solves this issue. Secondly, Chrysalis doesn't know how to ''use'' the Elements, she just knows they are attuned to the Mane Six somehow, and assumes her knockoffs will be able to wield them. As it turns out, they aren't, as the Tree sees right though the facade and destroys them. Finally, she believes the Mean Six will be as obedient to her as her hive once was, but finds she can barely control them, with the group ultimately rebelling against her.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Chrysalis's plan to steal the Elements of Harmony is [[MissingStepsPlan rather thin on details.]] Firstly, she has no idea where the Elements are specifically being kept -- she knows they're ''somewhere'' in the Everfree Forest, but as Mean Twilight points out, "it's a big forest." Only a stroke of blind luck solves this issue. Secondly, Chrysalis doesn't know how to ''use'' the Elements, she just knows they are attuned to the Mane Six somehow, and assumes her knockoffs will be able to wield them. As it turns out, they aren't. Finally, she believes the Mean Six will be as obedient to her as her hive once was, but finds she can barely control them, with the group ultimately rebelling against her.

** The comical Spike and Derpy are completely absent from the episode, given the serious nature of the episode and to make the clones' and Chrysalis' main roles more foreboding. Spike is also the only main character the disguised Chrysalis does not take a photo of.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Mean Rainbow is the least mean of the clones. While the others are big jerks by heart, she's merely lazy and only follows the group on her own accord, playing no truly jerky part whatsoever. She's also the only one not to spend an extended time with the real Mane 6 or mess with them either way, and the only one who does not partake in attacking the Tree of Harmony.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Mean Twilight says she and the Mean Six should split up to find the source of the Elements, as she claims they'll find it faster that way; at the same time, the real Mane Six got separated as well. This causes the clones to interfere with the real Mane Six with a series of misunderstandings, making them hate each other for the episode.

* VillainEpisode: This episode mostly focuses on Chrysalis and the artificial clones she conjures up. Although the actual Mane Six play pivotal parts as well, they only get 15-16 minutes of the total screentime, and half of that is shared with their clones.

* ShooOutTheClowns: The comical Spike and Derpy are completely absent from the episode, given the serious nature of the episode and to make the clones' and Chrysalis' main roles more foreboding. Spike is also the only main character the disguised Chrysalis does not take a photo of.

* TwoLinesNoWaiting: The two plots are the Mane Six going on a camping trip (the B-story), and Queen Chrysalis creating the Mean Six to find the Elements of Harmony (the main one). The two plotlines intersect when the Mane Six and Mean Six mistake one counterpart for the other, but the Mane Six never even learn that Chrysalis was involved or that they had evil counterparts.

* VolumetricMouth: Mean Pinkie and Chrysalis both do this several times, groaning out of boredom and frustration respectively.