History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E20VivaLasPegasus

* TheResenter: When it's revealed that Flim and Flam are the friendship problem, Applejack outright refuses to help them out of her personal hatered for the two. So only concedes to help them after Fluttershy points out that they need their help to take down Gladmane.

TheResenter: When it's revealed that Flim and Flam are the friendship problem, Applejack outright refuses to help them out of her personal hatered for the two. So only concedes to help them after Fluttershy points out that they need their help to take down Gladmane.

* NoSympathyFromGrudgeHolders: When it's revealed that Flim and Flam are the friendship problem, Applejack outright refuses to help them out of her personal hatered for the two. So only concedes to help them after Fluttershy points out that they need their help to take down Gladmane.

* SeriesContinuityError: Applejack claims she must be telling the absolute truth which Flim and Flam respond with "because you never lie!" However, Applejack has actually lied before on multiple occasions such as in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E25PartyOfOne Party of One]]" where she claimed that there was "lots of construction" going on in the barn to keep Pinkie from discovering her surprise party and more importantly, in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E21LeapOfFaith Leap of Faith]]", where the Flim-Flam brothers ''themselves'' coerced her into lying about their [[PlaceboEffect snake oil]].

** Gladmane seems to be a CompositeCharacter combining the hairstyle and {{catchphrase}}s of Elvis Presley, the dress sense of Liberace, and the voice and personality of Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis's manager who ruthlessly pursued financial gain even at his client's expense.)

* GrumpyBear: The juice vendor from "Stranger Than Fan Fiction" makes a brief appearance running the arcade prize stand, and she still has the same sour expression as before.

* EngineeredPublicConfession: Double subverted. Gladmane knows that the Flim-Flam brothers' first attempt was a set-up, so he "confesses" that they key to his success is friendship. Later on, though, Fluttershy and Applejack get him to actually confess using the intercom in his office.

* {{Gaslighting}}: Gladmane's tactics involve setting pairs of ponies against each other by making them believe their partner is the one responsible for problems in their relationship, keeping them from taking their acts on the road. He has the trapeze star believing her manager is looking for new talent and the manager believing his star is looking for new management, and the prairie dog trainers so confused about their own routine that one slips into an accidental DuckSeasonRabbitSeason, which drives his partner to scream in anguish.

* PoisonousFriend: Gladmane paints himself as a friend to everypony, but he's secretly manipulating them to keep himself at the top.

* BeneathNotice: Gladmane doesn't even attempt to hide his manipulations from the animals in his Poneys Fantastique troupe. This ultimately leads to Applejack and Fluttershy uncovering him as a ManipulativeBastard, since Fluttershy SpeaksFluentAnimal and the animals tell her about how Gladmane manipulates the performers into staying and working for him.

* FalseFriend: Gladmane claims to be a believer in friendship, and the ponies who work for him all laud him as kind, genuine and compassionate. However, it's later revealed that he only pretends to be his employees' friend and willing sows discord between them so they're too busy arguing with each other to leave his resort.

* BeneathNotice: Gladmane doesn't even attempt to hide his manipulations from the animals in his Poneys Fantastique troupe. This ultimately leads to Applejack and Fluttershy uncovering him as a ManipulativeBastard, since Fluttershy SpeaksFluentAnimal.

** The pair of ponies with the pink prairie dogs act are obviously based on Siegfried and Roy. One of them even has a white tiger's head for a cutie mark.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Gladmane values hard work and friendship and gives generous deals to his customers to encourage them to visit and spend more. However, the reason he can afford to be generous to his customers like this is at the cost of his employees by secretly undermining their friendships which forces them to stay and work to bring in more customers.