YMMV / Mass Effect The Equestrian Equation

• Crazy Is Cool: Pinkie Pie. What else do you call a pony who tricks a squad of Royal Guard programs into behaving like a random encounter in a JRPG? And invent a thought controlled omni-tool, something every other species has failed to do, on a coffee binge? Deconstructed in that her methods wasted lots of resources and put her wellbeing at risk, which Twilight warns her they can no longer afford.
• Fridge Brilliance: Equestria's Sugar Bowl nature makes perfect sense when you consider that is a combination of both Celestia's over protectiveness of her charges, and a hold over of its original purpose as a combination luxury resort/propaganda showpiece for Epona Systems to allow various sentient species to experience an ideal Equine society.
  • It also explains a lot of the Fridge Logic of the show, like the Royal Guards being so visually alike (they're defensive programs), any examples of Chaos Architecture, the monsters and foes the Mane Six have faced turn out to be challenges by Discord or disguised errors in the system, any OOC moments (the systems messing with their heads), and the animation errors and multiple instances of background ponies in the same scene (errors in the simulation and changeling programs filling out the scene, respectively).
• Fridge Horror: Celestia and Luna being Alicorns is due to alterations to their Digital Avatars, this would explain Twilight Sparkle becoming an Alicorn in Magical Mystery Cure, which is also consistent with Celestia having important plans for her. That Equestrian Equation is still so potentially constant with FIM canon post Season 2 (Programs that observe humanity that Lyra was subliminally aware of. Equestria Girls?), with Shepard's arrival being the difference that freed them from a world that was on the brink of failing... Guess what going to happen when FIM ends?
  • Pinkie Pie mentions she had her changeling detecting program turned off, why have something so useful off? Was it on during A Canterlot Wedding, letting her see Cadance was an imposter, if not the imminent invasion? Was she forced to act against Twilight, knowing she was right, and/or had any attempts to be on her side erased from everyones memories? How many other time was she forced to hurt her friends knowing it was due to the simulations intervention while hapless to act against it? That she gave up facing the Awful Truth...
• Informed Wrongness: Applejack's questioning of Twilight apointing her Head of the Equestrian Board of Directors and Acting Vice President, despite her recent scandal, is shut down when Twilight insists that it proves she can be counted on to whatever it take for the good of the Herd. This overlooks that the scandal was done not out of conviction, but ignorance of the severity of the legal consequences, with Applejack second-guessing her actions upon realizing this. Compare Rarity, who's political play has caused nothing but good, while Applejack's qualifications are only mentioned in the Codex, but never shown in-story. Add it happening minutes after Rainbow Dash was gravely injured and such a big decision is normally left up to readers, it supports Applejack's concern as Twilight seems to be acting when emotionally compromised, which 42 of 50 had previously warned her about.
• Moral Event Horizon: Milligan crosses it when he tries to convince Shepard to download the Equestrian servers, which would have killed all the ponies, despite knowing that they're sentient beings, condemning a species older that human sentience to extinction. Played with in that how much of this is due to Discord's brainwashing him (thus discord's MEH) as opposed to his choice is ambiguous.
• Stoic Woobie: 42 of 50 is the Sole Survivor of the Equis civilization, with the last memories of all that was lost, which would be tough enough. He's now a vital Living Emotional Crutch to Twilight, the one pony keeping what remains of them going, blames himself for every minor mistake, and know his being an AI would damn them if discovered. He cannot afford to show much emotions, and envies non-sapiant changeling drones for being genuinely emotionless.
• Strawman Has a Point: As in canon, Sparatus. The Turian Councilor votes against granting endangered species status to The Herd to show he's a Jerkass, but makes sense to avoid creating a precedent for this since the next species in line for this request might be "Krogan", who would be liable to abuse it.
• The Woobie: The Equestrians are a Woobie Species, living the happy life from the show, then suddenly forced out of their world, finding that it, their material worth, and many of their friends and family were nothing more then simulations that are now lost forever. Their now trying to make it in a galaxy that would discriminate against and seek to exploit them, with little more then each other and some basic galactic knowledge going for them. There's still some stand out individual examples.
  • Fluttershy is revealed to have been Mind Raped into her present personality, and all that came with it, after she abused her power over the system as a filly. This would make her a Jerkass Woobie (indeed, she gets compared with Jack, the clearest JW from ME canon), but she is utterly horrified at what she was and seems to think she deserved it. That she's one one of the few ponies to replace her cutie marks, rejecting both her old lives, says something.
  • Pinkie Pie has known about the Equestrian simulation her entire life, but had every attempt to warn others or find out more dismissed or thwarted. She adoped her present personality so she could at least make other happy all while knowing there was an Awful Truth threatening everypony yet she was still powerless to act against.