Someone dies.

I'm the one who gave Davenport his name.

edited 17th Sep '17 8:56:11 AM by HextarVigar

since you know it'll be one of those things where we never see what Rarity or probably anypony else did all those months.

This episode takes place concurrently with all the previous episodes this season where Rarity didn't appear.

And any upcoming episodes without Rarity this season.

edited 16th Sep '17 7:18:12 PM by MetaFour

It would be pretty cool if it shows Rarity with her hair not-completely-grown in a future episode, just as a nod to this one.

Some people online believe this ep was written because someone drew Rarity with a punk hairdo and they just decided to base an episode on that. I admit, I am loooking forward to seeing all the fanart.

I've been seeing some fan art of punk Rarity go up already, and some of it is absolutely gorgeous.

When does Starlight Glimmer talk like this?

Why, in that clip.

Which, more usefully, is from Celestial Advice. It's an Imagine Spot about Glimmer leaving Ponyville to live with and study the Dragons.

Slightly longer clip with more context

I've had that imagine spot. Mine usually ends with her getting eaten, though. :P

So, back to the round robin, if I may. We have the prompt settled at last, so I believe we're still on the organizing stage now? Meta's name was floated since he usually does the organizing, but I don't think he's said anything about it himself. Is anyone taking down names of interested writers?

Didn't know you were into vore, Wryte.

The bit is fairly amusing in retrospect, considering Ember and Starlight didn't get along all that well.

Moral of today's episode, if you're ugly, you're obviously not trying hard enough.

Sure, I could keep this organized, I guess.

It Isn't the Mane Thing About You

"Looks like I'm not the only one who left Mare's Day to the last minute." I think that's supposed to be mother's day? Awkward titling. You don't have to be a parent to be a mare. That's just an adult female horse.

Also, hi, Diamond Tiara! We haven't seen you since you quit stalking the Crusaders! How've you been? Eyeroll? No dialogue? Oh. Okay. This was just a cameo. I thought we might actually get to hang out with you and see how you've developed. Guess we're just taking it on faith that your Face Turn took and you never relapsed.

"What I would do…." Oh my god, Rarity got a heavenly glow with her introduction. That is hilarious. Anyone who doesn't like Rarity and thinks she's overshilled can go choke on that.

This is especially relevant given the events of "Fame and Misfortune".

Wait, Bon Bon and Vinyl Scratch are here without their significant others. So…is this more of a Valentine's Day holiday? Because Hearts and Hooves Day is already a thing. Is Mare's Day just for generically celebrating mares? Because Equestria's already a matriarchy so I feel like every day is mare's day. I am so confused about this holiday, you guys.

"Anything for you, Rarity." Speaking of "Fame and Misfortune", it's nice to see Rarity's public image has recovered since then.

Rarity standing in all the fans makes me want to see her do the Marilyn Monroe pose. Come on, episode. You can't put Rarity of all ponies in front of fans and not do the Marilyn Monroe pose. It's obligatory.

…Rarity convinced a bunch of ponies to buy fans by showing them how pretty your mane looks when it's blown by one? This is kind of a shitty marketing point, though I am highly entertained by the fact that one of the customers drawn in by the idea of a flowing, wind-swept mane is a dude with a short mane and a sock hat.

"Pinkie! I can't have Photo Finish shoot my mane like this!" I'm surprised the string's still in her mane. I figured that was just a gag and it'd be out by the next scene.

"It'll be fine, Pinkie!" …did…did Rarity just have a generosity spasm? Like, I could feel her desire to flip out on Pinkie begin to emerge and be abruptly course-corrected by her conscience. Rarity's always been teetering precariously on the edge of complete mental breakdown, but that seemed to indicate that she's pretty close to falling in.

PINKIE! DON'T KICK BABIES!!!

"That's it! We'll pay a visit to Zecora!" She's still alive?

"It would take forever to yank all those baked goods out of the super sticky celebration string." …no, Pinkie, those can't be salvaged. That's a health code violation.

"One shouldn't have to brave the darkest part of the forest for shampoo." Apple Bloom does it all the time. And she's a filly.

Also, Pinkie clearly managed to get the string out of her own mane after the Cake twins were stuck in it. She looks immaculate right now. Why can't Rarity just do what she did?

"LISTEN, SPOOKY EYES!!! WHY DON'T YOU TAKE A PICTURE?! IT WILL LAST LONGER!!!" This is exactly what makes Rarity such a fun character. Just because she's scared out of her wits right now doesn't mean she's not going to assert herself over the creepy things that are following her. Rarity's a fighter through and through.

Also, the way her voice broke when she screamed that showed that she is legitimately frightened. She's just tired of being scared. If they're going to eat her, they should go ahead and do it already. Otherwise, they can kindly f*ck off. Time to shit or get off the pot, scary predators in the mysterious woods.

"I'll have those cupcakes cleaned off in no time!" "You really should bake new ones." …remind me never to eat at Sugarcube Corner.

Rarity grabbed the wrong bottle and it's all Zecora's fault. She clearly said she wanted to leave now and go take care of her mane, and Zecora lured her back in with frightful mane tales. THANKS FOR THAT.

Wow, Pinkie is in full Eldritch Horror mode today. Corkscrewing her neck and using her hair as a prehensile appendage to grab "her" bottle. Never mind why Rarity couldn't do what she did; Pinkie probably shed her skin like a snake or something to get the string out.

"It's important that you know that I am not pointing hooves…." Seriously, for as much as ponies talk about Honesty being compulsive for AJ when it's totally not, Generosity actually is compulsive for Rarity. With her limited knowledge of what just happened, she has every right to be steaming mad, but she just can't do it. She's too nice. She is biologically incapable of being mean to Zecora's face.

"Well, if you could just whip up a cure, I'll be on my way." Rarity. Hey. Hey, Rarity. That's a potted fern, not a chair. You're sitting on Zecora's houseplant. Maybe don't be.

"One wrong ingredient spells utter disaster." JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS THAT. That…okay, that thing that Zecora just pulled powder out of? It's an actual plant organ with holes in it that she just spritzed some mystery spores from. That thing is creepy as shit. On the botanophobia scale, I give it a solid 8. F*ck that thing. It wants to eat Rarity's face and she needs to leave now before it succeeds in doing so.

Rarity's mane being so hideous that it actually makes a filly cry is the funniest thing I've seen in a long while.

Rarity's biological compulsion towards generosity kept her from getting flowers. That scene of her stammering hopelessly seems oddly familiar. Maybe she should consider taking assertiveness lessons….

"I can't believe how differently ponies treat you when you can't command their attention." Oh, hey, it's Twilight and Spikelight. Good to see you two. I assume by this point that Spike is probably buried out behind Trixie's wagon as the final step in Glimglam's master plan to take his place for herself.

"I can't simply wait to see if my mane grows back!" "I'm sorry, Rarity." Rarity is in Sweater Town right now, Twilight. She does not wish to be disturbed.

"Fixing manes with magic is—" "TRICKY! I know! I don't care! Make with the tricks!" I mean, we have two Twilights in the room right now so if anypony can pull it off, it's probably them. That said, I don't think letting Trixie anywhere near Rarity's mane is at all a good idea, so maybe you want to rephrase that, Rares?

"This won't do! I need an actual mane!" …Rarity, I appreciate what you're going through but what I’m more concerned about right now is the fact that this chunk of the door is apparently a block of wood. Those doors are made of wood?! I always figured they were glass or crystal. That is a weird color if we're supposed to believe it's wood.

Oh, hey, there's Spike. So he's been downgraded to janitor now that Starlight is Twilight's assistant. Honestly, Spike deserves better. I would say he should flip Twilight the bird and go join the Legion of Doom but they already have a dragon now: Ember. Besides, quitting your job to go work for the person who took your job is awkward at best.

Spike should just go work for Rarity. She appreciates him.

"Unless you went back in time to undo it." "Nuh-uh." Starlight's Never Live It Down moment used to be brainwashing ponies but now it feels like it's time travel. This isn't the first joke they've made about how time travel's a bad idea and Starlight knows that intimately.

Rarity flipping her dress to hide in Sweater Town is just…I can't even…

I want to make a crack about how indecent that is but ponies regularly walk around naked so…I don't know.

"This is really quite fetching! …just not portable." I'm more concerned with how you managed to flip your cloud mane. Only pegasi can touch clouds like that.

"I'll just have to call Photo Finish and cancel." Probably, yes. Even if these wig ideas worked, Photo Finish isn't looking for a pretty wig. It would be disingenuous for Rarity to present a fake mane as her own.

Also, she should consider shaving off the rest. The only reason she looks so hideous is because of those tufts of mane still sticking out. If she shaved it and let it grow back evenly, it wouldn't look nearly as terrible.

"Would you mind closing the door? I'm more comfortable in the dark." I'm impressed that she's managed to stave off her inevitable breakdown. Seriously, even this is more composed than she usually gets whenever something goes awry.

"A friend who started a fashion empire." Do three stores count as an empire? Mmm…well, they are in different cities. Rarity's business is expansive, seeking to claim new territories under its wing. That's definitely imperial behavior so…yeah. I'll let Twilight have this. Rarity's business is an empire. A small empire, but certainly more imperial than anything Cadance and Shining Armor have ever done.

I really like this resolution. It's exactly the way this should go, with Rarity's friends helping to make her feel loved and accepted and to realize where she's been going wrong. This is a solo episode, but it's the kind of solo episode that the series used to have, where even though they aren't the focus, the other characters are still present inasmuch as they can be and help Rarity out of the kindness of their hearts. This is good.

"The only pony behaving differently today was me!" Well, no. A child literally broke down crying at the sight of you. That doesn't stop being a thing that happened just because you realized that you've been acting silly.

"I'm preparing to shine from the inside out." …uh, no, episode. That's a narrative cheat. Rarity did not have nearly enough hair left in her mane for this mohawk.

"While you were shining from the inside out, Photo Finish took a few pictures." That's creepy, Photo Finish.

So this was a really sweet episode and I liked it a lot. I've been complaining about solo episodes a lot this season, but this is the right way to do solo episodes. I mean, episodes where one character just does her own thing aren't necessarily bad but I'd rather they came sparingly. I much prefer this kind, where it's Rarity's story but the other ponies are still there for her and help her find her way. The spirit of friendship and camaradarie was in full force in this episode, making it one of the season's best in my opinion.

Post of the Day #1942

"Those doors are made of wood?! I always figured they were glass or crystal. That is a weird color if we're supposed to believe it's wood."

I figured the color was probably just a coat of paint or varnish or something like.

Me and JT, primarily the latter since he actually wrote it and thought up most of the jokes {Only like 3 of them and the premise were my ideas}, went and made a rewrite fic of Vinyl and Octavia's scene from Slice Of Life featuring the Fanon versions of them.

edited 17th Sep '17 10:51:41 AM by marston

Post of the Day #1943

So I've been binging fast. Just watched the story of the Apple parents. It was Troperiffic, but still touching and adorable. This show is awesome.

The upcoming movie, I just have a hard time seeing the villain as somehow harder to defeat than the likes of Nightmare Moon, Discord or Tirek.

They don't need to be. The Elements of Harmony aren't around anymore and the Bullshit Chest of Spontaneous Plot Resolution was single-use. Right now, the Tree of Harmony's influence on the plot is limited to the Cutie Map which, bullshitty though it may be, does not appear to have any offensive capabilities for repelling high-powered magical forces.

Like, Discord's been beaten twice, but if he were to go off the leash right now, everyone's options would consist of "Get f*cked" or "Get f*cked harder". Without the Elements or Chest, Twilight and her crew can be challenged by far less threatening foes than what they've overcome in the past.

For instance, that time when the Changelings anticlimactically captured them all offscreen.

edited 18th Sep '17 1:14:26 PM by TobiasDrake

Discord let them win because it's all the game to him anyway

After stuff like Tirek, I'm pretty glad we're not in a constantly-escalating arms race of magical superpowers anymore.

Tirek was exactly the wrong way to do conflicts on this show in my opinion. My Little Pony isn't well-suited to big action pieces. Its villains typically have a narrative glass jaw. They're invulnerable forces of unstoppable power right up until the protagonists learn whatever it is they're supposed to be learning about friendship, at which point the villain goes down in one punch.

Tirek has a lot in common with Nightmare Moon in that he was brought down not by one lesson, but by each individual pony having a lesson. And they were set up in advance, which allowed more time to be dedicated to them. This seems good on paper, but the problem is that it left very little to actually fill his two-parter with.

So instead of Character Development and explorations of the show's Friendship theme, that space has to be filled by Twilight having a Dragon Ball Z violence-match with Tirek that feels horribly out of place in this show. Meanwhile, Twilight's own lesson that was saved for the episode doesn't really make sense.

In order to open the Chest, Twilight needs to get the key from Discord. She can only get it by surrendering her magic for the sake of his friendship. He who is literally betraying her and her friends as we speak, mind you. Discord stabs her in the back in this very episode, he even betrays Fluttershy, and Twilight's supposed to be like, "Meh. Water under the bridge. We're still buddies and I'll sacrifice everything for you."

Why? Because the Chest needs her too. That's the entire rationale. She's not actually learning a lesson here. There's no lesson to be learned. She's just doing what she's realized needs to be done in order to open the Chest and save the day. She has no other reason to help Discord because there is no other reason to help Discord. It's just the thing she has to do to win.

And that's the problem with Tirek. From start to finish, there's no emphasis on friendship, no lessons to be had, there's just a bad guy who's good at violence and a hero who must figure out what arcane procedure she needs to do in order to gain the violence necessary to break his face. Tirek is MLP's shittiest villain.

edited 18th Sep '17 7:04:05 PM by TobiasDrake