Line #27 YMMV/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E8TheMysteriousMareDoWell


1	----
2	* AccidentalInnuendo: When Rainbow Dash pulls in Applejack for a photo opportunity, the positioning of the mouths and Applejack's reaction afterwards suggests something a bit more than being pulled into shot, which the fandom has noticed.
3	* BrokenBase: Even to this day, fans are bitterly divided over loving this episode or hating it, and all of it revolving around [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation how the actions of Rainbow Dash and the Mane Six are interpreted.]]
4	** Mare-Do-Well (who is secretly five of the Mane Six) was either showing Rainbow Dash what a real hero was supposed to be like in the hopes of making her change her ways and saving ponies that Rainbow Dash would have been unable to save on her own, with the disguise as a way of showing her humility, '''or''' made a piss poor attempt at teaching Dash anything, instead presenting her with an unbeatable rival and egging her on to dangerous and embarrassing actions, with the disguise as a cowardly and dishonest way of hiding from Dash.
5	** Rainbow Dash was either doing good deeds all over Ponyville, acting as a real hero, and basking in much-deserved praise from the citizens, then driven to despair and abandoned by even her most loyal fans because she came across as looking pathetic compared to Mare-Do-Well, '''or''' was bragging way too much to the point that it was endangering other ponies, embarrassed herself and ruined her own reputation through nopony's fault except her own, and was too stupid to pick up on the lesson that Mare-Do-Well was trying to teach her until she had it spelled out at the end of the episode.
6	** Dash's friends were either having some good-natured fun among themselves and dropping hints to Dash that she would be happier and more successful if she just improved her attitude and acted more like Mare-Do-Well (i.e. humbly and without showboating), '''or''' were cruelly mocking Dash and her misfortunes while hypocritically praising Mare-Do-Well (i.e. themselves), fully aware that attacking Dash's ego this way would only cause her more grief. Still a third group takes it as them dropping hints and wanting her to put two and two together.
7	** When Dash confronted Mare Do Well, she ran off into a series of back alleys. Either Mare Do Well was luring Dash away from the crowd so that the Mane Six could talk to Dash in private and spare her any further humiliation, '''or''' Mare Do Well was genuinely trying to get away from any confrontation so that she would not be humiliated herself.
8	* FanficFuel:
9	** Has spawned several {{Deconstruction Fic}}s:
10	*** ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7598776/1/No_Hard_Feelings No Hard Feelings]]''[[note]]although the ending is absolutely adorable, and includes the line "This hug needs more ponies! Stat!" from Pinkie Pie.[[/note]]
11	*** ''[[http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/12/story-whats-eating-rainbow-dash.html What's Eating Rainbow Dash]]''
12	*** ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/255458/can-they-work-it-out Can They Work It Out?]]'' is quite popular for exploring both sides of the arguments concerning the mane six's actions, placing both them and Rainbow Dash in the wrong for logical reasons.
13	** And now an attempt at a {{Reconstruction}} [[http://alexwarlorn.deviantart.com/art/TRUE-Harmony-of-Rainbow-Dash-262756035 here]].
14	** If it isn't [[AccusationFic accusation fics]], [[RevengeFic revenge fics]], or [[DeconstructionFic deconstruction fics]], it's stories involving the title character having her own adventures, even in instances where she's played by a different pony. Sometimes [[{{Irony}} even Rainbow Dash herself.]]
15	* FanonDiscontinuity: Due to this episode rubbing off fans the wrong way with Dash's friends coming off as unsympathetic, many fans pretend that this episode never happened.
16	* HilariousInHindsight: Pinkie Pie says that "the only thing that should be rubbed in anypony's face is chocolate cake". Guess what happens three episodes later during the birthday party.
17	* IKnewIt: Anyone who guessed the Mare Do Well was one of the other mane cast. Unless it was Rarity. She only made the costumes. Even then most would guess that.
18	* InformedWrongness:
19	** Rainbow Dash's bragging has been made this episode's conflict, as it tries to deliver an aesop about humility. However, Rainbow Dash's bragging, especially in this episode is pretty harmless, especially since she can back up what she claims and it never really goes too far outside of being annoying. In terms of Dash's bragging, upstaging her as the town hero to teach heavy-handed aesop about humility when she doesn't really take it that far easily comes as DisproportionateRetribution, especially since in later episodes like "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E16ATrivialPursuit Trivial Pursuit]]" shows characters like Applejack and Sunburst doing harmless bragging with nopony having a problem with that.
20	** While it's mostly because of jealousy, Rainbow’s comment about Mare Do Well somehow being able to know things before they happen and implying that the latter is intentionally setting up these accidents to pretend to save others, isn’t completely unreasonable. Mare Do Well is an unknown masked vigilante who only recently showed up in Ponyville. She always has the skills or knows exactly what to do to fix the problem at hand, never says a word to anyone and is always quick to leave the scene.
21	* JerkassWoobie: Rainbow Dash upon savoring her popularity becomes an egotistical ass and vents a lot of spite towards Mare Do-Well for taking it away. As her attempts to gain credibility get more and more pathetic however, you can't help but feel even a little bit sorry for her. After all, [[ChronicHeroSyndrome she's just trying to be a hero]].
22	* LesYay: There's a possible Rainbow Dash and Applejack shipping here.
23	* MisBlamed: This was Merriwether Williams' first episode, and after it premiered, she was singled out for online hatred because of this episode, never mind the fact that there’s a whole bunch of writers, editors, and producers (including then executive producer Lauren Faust) that worked on the episode too.
24	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Dash's friends are supposed to be viewed sympathetically for saving lives and making Dash get over her ego, however, aside from the InformedWrongness of her ego, Dash's friends don't really bother with simply telling her about it, and instead use a needlessly complex scheme to upstage her as the greatest hero in Ponyville. Furthermore, they outright tease Dash about her being jealous of Mare do Well, and bring up how unlike Dash, Mare do Well is humble (a hypocritical statement given they ''are'' Mare do Well and they repeatedly talk about how great she is) while Dash is [[ImStandingRightHere standing right next to them]]. The humility is also called into question when Mare Do Well shows up at a press event, complete with dynamic entry, apparently just to get attention.
25	* {{Woolseyism}}: In the Japanese dub, Mare Do Well is renamed Dark Mare, which fits better as a homage to Batman, the Dark Knight.

Context YMMV / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E8TheMysteriousMareDoWell