| 1 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[folder: The Cutie Map]] |
| 4 | * Starlight Glimmer says her special talent is the spell to remove Cutie Marks. A) HOW did she discover this. B) WHY did she discover this? and C) With that being her talent, and knowing that talents are what make you unique, did she feel forced into becoming a villain? It requires some creative thinking to imagine single situation where that talent even MIGHT BE a GOOD thing. |
| 5 | ** Possibly, she developed her philosophy first. Then, since she dedicated her life to removing Cutie Marks, she gained her mark and learned the spell. |
| 6 | ** Perhaps she was a late bloomer, picked on for being a blank, until she created her philosophy out of bitterness and her mark followed - which would be cruel irony considering her power level indicates a magic cutie mark, one of the rarest and most valuable ones. |
| 7 | ** Negative side to Cutie Marks, maybe? It's a fan thing, but "cutie mark failure insanity syndrome" would basically mean Starlight is screwed either way. She has a a negative talent but has no choice but to apply it. She has a hissy fit when Twilight tries to tell her there's another way and everything. |
| 8 | ** Where exactly did she say that removing cutie marks was her special talent? All I heard was that it was her magic, not the staff, that was actually removing the marks. |
| 9 | ** It's possible that Starlight's special talent is Magic in general, just like Twilight (explaining how she knew such a powerful spell)...which is fridge horror in its own right, [[BewareTheSuperman since Starlight is essentially an evil Twilight.]] |
| 10 | ** It's also possible that Starlight is ''lying'' about that specific spell being her special talent. A good chunk of the second episode revolves around her constantly trying to justify her decision to equalize everyone else without submitting to it herself, so it only makes sense that she'd fall back on that as an excuse. More likely it ''isn't'' her special talent and she's just claiming it as an excuse. |
| 11 | *** Or she could believe every word of what she's saying. That wouldn't make it true. In this light, the "hissy fit" mentioned above is inevitable; Starlight is a fanatic, and she thinks Twilight is attacking her beliefs. |
| 12 | ** There's also the fact that Twilight herself is unable to alter a pony's Cutie Mark without extraordinary circumstances (i.e. Starswirl's destiny spell combining with the Elements of Harmony). Remember that Twilight tried to grant Apple Bloom a Cutie Mark, only for Applebloom's body to reject any changes. Starlight is able, with her own magic, to perform a trick even Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, can't pull off. |
| 13 | *** Keep in mind that it's always easier to destroy than to create. Draining a cutie mark might be simpler than granting somepony a whole new cutie mark. It's like a weaker version of Tirek's ManaDrain. |
| 14 | ** And now for the cases where it might actually be a useful spell/talent: VERY severe cases of C.M.F.I.S. (on the level of an emotionally fragile Wonderbolt losing their wings in their prime or something), and ponies whose talents are very hard to turn to good use (MAYBE the mooks that Daring Do fights, MAYBE Flim and Flam). Of course, this would be a very last resort unless the spell could be toned down to ONLY target the special talent (rather than anything that is "above average"), and perhaps leave the skills while removing the psychological focus. |
| 15 | * Starlight's worldview, actions, and [[VillainousBreakdown explosive rage when things stop going her way]] have some disturbing implications in and of herself. Here's a mare whose worldview is so skewed that she considers mentally torturing somepony to think her way is right, who frequently flashes unsettling, disturbed smirks, is paranoid enough about others to keep them [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou under close supervision]] and fears that anyone being different means her relationship with them will fall apart, and ultimately goes completely and utterly berserk when things stop going her way. While not outright stated, if one reads Starlight right, it's not hard to assume the mare is [[TheMentallyDisturbed quite literally insane]]. |
| 16 | ** Made more disturbing when you realize that her motivation may have been fueled by petty revenge for an all too relate-able problem: discrimination. Perhaps, just like Apple Bloom, she was picked on for being a blank flank, but she took it on a much, '''much''' more personal level. She ignored the kind and helpful words of her teachers, family, and guidance councilors, convinced that the whole world was against her. So she dedicated her life to studying magic as hard as she could, waiting for the day that she could create a spell so strong that it takes away the talents of those ponies that picked on her as a filly, as well as anypony else that might try to stop her. That level of vitriol is ''extremely'' disturbing, but sadly, believable; the sheer way that she screamed '''''"QUIET!!!"''''' at Twilight justifies this theory, as if Starlight's underlying statement was "I've been pushed around for far too long! Now it's ''MY'' turn!!" |
| 17 | * Since Starlight Glimmer is gone, who's gonna run what was once her town? |
| 18 | ** This probably isn't the first time a mayor has been forced out of office due to a corruption scandal, in the real world or Equestria. The ponies will most likely simply elect a new mayor... Or install a princess in there like the previous land they freed from a tyrant. |
| 19 | * While Twilight hopes that Starlight might realize the error of her ways, she's run into the mountain caves...the same ones that were said to 'go on forever'. While Starlight herself is in a panic, running for her life. What if Starlight got lost and might never make her way out? While she's not a good pony by any stretch, that would be an extremely cruel fate. |
| 20 | * When ponies have their cutie marks taken, it leaves them unable to do many of the things that come natural to them, like Twilight's magic, Rainbow Dash's high speed flying, and Applejack's natural strength. This implies that cutie marks make up a lot of a pony's magic, as when we saw when Tirek steal a pony's magic, their cutie mark disappeared as well. Just imagine if Starlight Glimmer and Tirek teamed up. She could go around stealing ponies cutie marks - which she's able to do simply with her magic - and then present them to Tirek all at once. He could literally go from powerless to all-powerful instantly. |
| 21 | * Starlight Glimmer may have escaped, but remember how Trixie's life was ruined by her mistake? Trixie did something ''much'' less horrible than Starlight ever did. It's likely Starlight, even if she didn't get lost in the caves, is now going to be a pariah for what she did. That's in addition to the high likelihood she's now a wanted criminal and will be arrested on sight, ''especially'' after kidnapping and torturing a ''princess''. Starlight may have escaped, but it's unlikely she got off unscathed. |
| 22 | ** Then again, this is a world where people are EasilyForgiven. In the grand scheme of things, Discord has done worse. |
| 23 | *** Of course, the condition to get EasilyForgiven is to show genuine remorse on past crimes and honest intentions of reformation. Discord, eventually, showed both, while Starlight Glimmer doesn't even consider these options, and she actually thinks she was doing the right thing. |
| 24 | * What would Starlight have done to Spike? Or any non-Pony who doesn't get a Cutie Mark, for that matter? |
| 25 | * Also a TearJerker; as Starlight herself pointed out, most (if not all) of the villagers used to be lonely ponies without close friends or family, that were relatively easy to capture and, once having their cutie marks removed, indoctrinate into accepting her philosophy; this is particularly sad in the case of ponies who had cool or very practical abilities, as the only reason they'd be lonely is because other ponies got genuinely jealous of them, or their families didn't like those talents; this kind of background would also make them particularly susceptible to Starlight's teachings. One good example is Double Diamond, her second in command, who proved himself a BadassNormal when getting back his cutie mark plus having good leadership skills; she found him practicing skiing alone, something even experienced skiers usually avoid. |
| 26 | ** On that note, we only have Starlight's word on that, and, well, she's far from trustworthy. If she was willing to kidnap the Mane 6 and force them to become members of the town, who's to say some of the residents just happened to be passing through the area, and had family back home, and were indoctrinated to the point they forgot them? To their families, they would have just left home one day and never come back. |
| 27 | *** Most surely, both theories apply; most of the villagers must have been lonely ponies that Starlight could abduct and indoctrinate with relative ease, while also having the occasional unlucky pony that was kidnapped after finding the village by accident. |
| 28 | * What if Starlight Glimmer had succeeded with her plans and Equalized Equestria? Remember, her spell works by making everypony only as good as the lowest common denominator. So what happens when, say, she uses it on farmers providing the food for Equestria? Why, they'd only be as good as the worst farmers, which means that they would not be able to feed the nation. |
| 29 | ** With everything at the lowest common denominator, farmers would be unable to feed everyone, builders could at best make shoddy buildings prone to collapse, and weather management ponies would be unable to effectively control the weather leading to the current weather system breaking down. All that alone would mean the utter collapse of Equestrian civilization, without getting into the rest. With the Princesses also equalized, no pony could raise the sun or moon, leading to either an eternal day, night, or twilight. We all know how that would end up, especially as with all the unicorns equalized, they would be at the lowest common talent in magic. Of course, that's without mentioning how enemy nations around Equestria, most of whom are majority populated by non-ponies who don't use Cutie Marks and would be immune to her magic, could then sweep in and start picking at the carcass of the nation though some of the allied nations would do the same, for 'Our own good'." With how her magic would work, Equestria couldn't defend itself as the Guard would only be as good as what the lowest denominator would be, they'd be better off defenseless. |
| 30 | ** With all the communism parallels, this is even more worrying because it actually happened. Mao's Great Leap Forward anyone? |
| 31 | * What would happen if any of the Equalized ponies got sick or injured? Even if one of them was a doctor, he/she wouldn't have his/her medical talents. You can only imagine how many villagers would die or get lasting physical damage without anypony to provide adequate attention. |
| 32 | ** They made the pony who used to have a talent in baking the village baker, and she could only bake muffins that made ''[[ExtremeOmnivore Pinkie Pie]]'' sick. Odds are if somepony with a talent in medicine got equalized, they'd still be made the village doctor. If having your talent removed with that spell makes you not just mediocre but an outright EpicFail at that talent like what happened with Sugar Belle(even if the equalizing spell made her start at those disgusting muffins, anypony baking for long enough, talent or not, could come up with something edible just by trial and error unless that spell was preventing them from improving), said doctor's help might literally be worse than nothing. |
| 33 | * As mentioned in MMC, a Cutie Mark more or less foretells one's destiny. Starlight Glimmer's Cutie Mark says her destiny is to be the villain, since her ability brings nothing but destruction of other destinies. |
| 34 | ** It looks like she just has a generic "magically gifted" cutie mark, like Twilight and Trixie and Sunset. There's no indication "Stealing Cutie Marks" is the specific meaning of her mark, especially considering her sudden envy of Twilight's talent for mimicking spells. |
| 35 | * When the equalized Mane 6 attempt to use their special skill, their equal marks briefly glows, and they are suddenly unable to do that skill. There's nothing to suggest that the Mane 6's equal marks behave any differently than the other townsponies, but we also never see any of them attempting to use their special skills. But one can begin to wonder when, say, baker Sugar Belle was tasked to start baking for the town, her mark forcing her to not use any special baking skills, and by this point, coming to know she shouldn't even try to use her skills. |
| 36 | * There are foals in the village, with the same = cutie marks. Considering that the village seems a recently new thing, they probably had their cutie marks taken away just like anypony else, perhaps just after they manifested. But what if it lasted longer? What if a foal was brought up there, indoctrinated in the ideology from the beginning? He or she might end up with = as her legitimate cutie mark, crippling the pony for life. |
| 37 | ** That actually seems super unlikely... After all, being brought up with a certain ideology doesn't change what makes you special- Pinkie Pie has nothing to do with rock farming for her talent, and Rarity's talent is so unique in Ponyville she's the only seamstress (going off "Slice of Life"), nor could Hayseed Turniptruck, a country bumpkin that I believe lives in stuffy and rich Canterlot. Cutie Marks seem to be hereditary (like the Apples and Pies), and when they're different, they also don't match with the environment they live in (again, Pinkie Pie is a good example). So it seems very unlikely any foal could be born into that community and have a special talent in sameness, since their parents' true cutie marks weren't the equal signs. |
| 38 | * Starlight Glimmer uses many real-life brainwashing strategies, in particular: sensory deprivation & overload (more overload in this case); isolation; and just wearing them down. |
| 39 | ** How long did she keep ponies locked up in that house? Until they broke? What if it took weeks? Months? |
| 40 | *** Considering that she doesn't appear to feed or water anypony in there(which would make sense as it would further weaken their resolve), who's to say that nopony's died in there because they were too stubborn to even try to fake it? |
| 41 | * Twilight's special talent is magic, and she has repeatedly demonstrated being able to copy spells she has seen others cast (Rarity's gem finding spell, Celestia's dark spell she used on the crystal). There's a good chance that Twilight now knows Starlight's Talent Stripping Spell. |
| 42 | * If it was that easy for one magically-talented unicorn to form a cult of personality around themselves, then what if there are other unicorns in the far reaches of Equestria who've effectively done the same thing, and we just haven't heard about them yet? All it took was one single unicorn to bring the lives and livelihoods of hundreds to ruin. It could happen again. Anywhere, at any time. What if the Mane 6 aren't there to stop it? |
| 43 | * With Pinkie's diet, her [[RealityWarper party pony powers]] are the ''only'' thing keeping her from developing a massive case of colic. With those powers removed... |
| 44 | * Something not mentioned yet. While the village looks calm and peaceful, it's almost completely lifeless. Remember, with earth ponies equalized, they're unable to grow plants and till the land. With the pegasi equalized, they're unable to manage weather, preventing the land from getting the sunlight it needed to grow plants in the first place. So if Starlight hadn't been stopped when she was, the entire community would have eventually starved anyway. |
| 45 | * The fact the town seems to not really question the Mane Six essentially being ''kidnapped'' and tortured by Starlight. It either means most of them were so caught up in what Starlight was saying that they didn't think about others, or they were simply too ''afraid'' of Starlight's wrath to say anything. |
| 46 | ** Related is the whole idea of a PrisonersDilemma that all the townponies seem to be stuck in. Excluding Double Diamond as Starlight's right-hand pony, the others wanted to get back their marks, but if any of them could not be trusted and spoke to Starlight or Double Diamond about their secrecy, those discovered were likely to be punished by spending a day in Starlight's {{Room101}}. |
| 47 | * While it's never been explored in-depth in the series, think about who might find Starlight Glimmer's philosophy appealing. A pony whose special talent [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway isn't in demand]] [[UselessUsefulNonCombatAbilities or considered useful]], or having their best talent being mediocre-grade compared to other ponies with the same gifts might not be able to find gainful employment or useful work, but the egalitarian village where their lack of an outstanding talent isn't a hindrance to their ability to contribute might be appealing. |
| 48 | ** People seem to have this misconception that ponies are unhappy with their cutie marks because they have a talent that can be seen as useless or not in demand, but forget that all ponies are born to do ''the very thing'' they love most to do. So even if nobody appreciates what they do, they love to do it. So even if there isn't much of a demand for, say, a pony whose special talent is something like punctuality or being rich, that pony still loves to do whatever it is and can find uses for it in the grand scheme of things by being a scheduling manager or donating money to places that need it. In fact, over half the Mane 6 have "useless" talents that are only useful in certain situations and not really in the highest demand, either- Rainbow's talent is being super fast (and there's plenty of fast fliers so they're not really in demand), Fluttershy's talent is communicating with animals (but the animals don't seem to run rampant when she's not there), Pinkie's is party throwing (what she does between throwing parties is what caused problems in "Magical Mystery Cure", not a lack of parties, and since she doesn't roam, her talents aren't in high demand), and Rarity's is putting gemstones onto rather fancy clothing (in a town where clothing is not in high demand and a world where clothing is optional). On the other hoof, AJ's talent relates to her running one of the top food suppliers in the area, and Twilight's is magic, which means she can learn a number of very useful spells for any situation. Yet, they're all firmly against Starlight's plans despite four of them having relatively useless talents. |
| 49 | ** We saw a case of a pony with a "bad luck" talent (Troubleshoes) who saw his Cutie Mark as a curse, so we know it can happen. While Troubleshoes [[spoiler: ended up having to go to jail, ''then'' found a place a a rodeo clown]], he could have just as easily found his way to Our Town, where he would be the ''perfect'' candidate to embrace the town's philosophy and have no desire to have a "curse" like that back. |
| 50 | * Good thing the Mane Six stumbled into that place instead of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. An experienced manipulator like Starlight Glimmer probably would have exploited them very easily. |
| 51 | [[/folder]] |
| 52 | |
| 53 | [[folder: Castle Sweet Castle]] |
| 54 | * Twilight's mourning of the loss of the Golden Oaks Library is even more heartbreaking when you consider that she's spent all of her adult life, and probably a good chunk of her adolescence as Princess Celestia's apprentice. The library likely represents the first time Twilight has truly had a place to call her own. |
| 55 | [[/folder]] |
| 56 | |
| 57 | [[folder: Bloom and Gloom]] |
| 58 | * Luna explains that Applebloom's nightmares are the result of her fearing her own potential Cutie Mark, basically meaning she's ''fearing herself''. If that's the case... could that be one of the reasons for why Starlight Glimmer went with her village plans? |
| 59 | * Luna's definition of a cutie mark also adds to the horror to what Starlight did. She wasn't just taking somepony's powers away; [[IndividualityIsIllegal she was taking away what made them]] ''[[IndividualityIsIllegal them]]''. After all, "You can't have a nightmare if you never dream." |
| 60 | ** This would also explain why the Princesses didn't notice Starlight's activities beforehand; being ponies that never dream, they went under Luna's radar, and, without any noticeable mishaps, the village was unnoticed by Celestia as well. |
| 61 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hVj2HC2PiI As pointed out by a guy on the internet long after the episode aired,]] it could be likely that during her planning of vengeance against the Mane 6, Starlight took the opportunity to manipulate Apple Bloom in her subconscious to both get answers on her sister and brainwash her into having an Anti-Cutie Mark mentality. |
| 62 | [[/folder]] |
| 63 | |
| 64 | [[folder: Tanks for the Memories]] |
| 65 | * That flock of geese is presumably still heading back north, where they'll freeze to death. |
| 66 | ** Presumably, somepony else spotted them and redirected them back south. Everypony else's efficiency is shown to be the main obstacle for Rainbow's plan, so it's possible. |
| 67 | * If Rainbow Dash was willing to go to such lengths just because Tank was hibernating (technically brumating), take a moment to imagine what she would have done if Tank was ''actually'' dying. Or worse, what she would do if ''any'' of her friends were dying. |
| 68 | * Suppose Rainbow Dash's efforts to sabotage the Weather Factory did not end in a freak accident. She would have succeeded in stopping winter for Equestria and caused a permanent imbalance of seasons for another year at least. |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder: Appleoosa's Most Wanted]] |
| 72 | * Troubleshoes Clyde shows that it's canonical that some ponies can and do misinterpret their Cutie Marks, sometimes to the point of outright hating them. Even though it's emphasized that the klutziness brought about the Mark rather than the other way around, it's still quite unnerving to realise that there are ponies who hate their lives because they think their own destiny is to be something that only brings them misery. |
| 73 | * What if the Crusaders ''hadn't'' rescued Troubleshoes from that prison? Would they have hanged him? |
| 74 | ** I seriously doubt they would have '''hanged''' him. This is still a kid's show about a nation run by naive little ponies. |
| 75 | ** The most likely punishment might have been exile. At worst, he'd be banished and then thrown in a dungeon in the place he was banished to. |
| 76 | * The Crusaders' helping Troubleshoes find his lot in life only happened because of a short, fortunate series of coincidences; namely, the trio sneaking out against Applejack and Braeburn's orders and then happening upon his home after getting lost in the woods. If Braeburn had prevented the girls from sneaking out, or had they not happened to end up at Troubleshoes's wagon,the poor stallion may have lived the rest of his life without ever discovering his true calling in life. He also may never have had his name cleared or his reputation restored. |
| 77 | * Starlight Glimmer is still at large at the time of this episode. What if she'd got to Troubleshoes before the Crusaders did? He'd probably take up her ideology without a second thought, he's pretty much an ideal victim for her. |
| 78 | * Sure, Troubleshoes was a MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold, but just think: What could have happened to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo if he ''had'' been a rotter, or [[ThenLetMeBeEvil had decided at some point that he might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb]]. |
| 79 | ** What if Troubleshoes was a ''dangerous criminal'' like the town said? Remember, they did have reason to worry so what could he have done to the [[WouldHurtAChild Cutie Mark Crusaders]] [[DisproportionateRetribution for breaking into his home]]? |
| 80 | *** He wouldn't even ''need'' bad intentions. He comes home to find his door forced open and hears hoofsteps in his darkened home. It'd be no surprise if he mistakenly assumed it was a break-in, with potentially tragic consequences |
| 81 | * Some comical fridge horror: Where exactly did that [[PlayingWithFire torch]] go when that one pony tossed it away? |
| 82 | [[/folder]] |
| 83 | |
| 84 | [[folder: Make Friends But Keep Discord]] |
| 85 | * Twilight says at one point that she took over some of the planning the Gala from Celestia. So... does that mean the whole reason the Grand Galloping Gala is a dreadfully boring affair is because Celestia has been planning them like that? And instead of changing it to be more to her liking, which she can probably do since she is the most powerful and beloved public authority, and she's the one actually planning the stupid things, she instead invites people she knows will ruin it for everyone else? Passive-aggressive much? We've seen what the likes of Fancy Pants could do in Sweet And Elite, getting the Mane Cast off despite crashing and trashing and nearly clobbering the attendees of the second biggest fancy party in Canterlot, and he probably only has a fraction of the influence Celestia would have. |
| 86 | ** Note that the general organization of the gala isn't all that much different when Twilight organized it than when Celestia did. There's still fancy food, formal music, heck, even the seating's the same. The problem with the first gala was how snobbish and boorish Canterlot's elite tend to be. Celestia decided to give them a shock while maintaining plausible deniability. |
| 87 | *** If she wanted to teach them a lesson, why would she try to maintain plausible deniability? Wouldn't it work better if she was up front about it? Given their reverence for her, it's doubtful they would ignore her. This just feeds back into the notion that Celestia is being passive-aggressive. |
| 88 | ** When you think about it, Celestia is the reason that poor mailpony is stuck in Discord's pocket dimension where there's things such as flying badgers, bottomless pits, possibly no gravity, and who knows what else? Celestia would have known where Discord lived, and possibly the dangers of getting there, so one would think the princess would have asked either Twilight, who was helping with planning, or Fluttershy, the one pony who actually likes spending time with him, to give Discord his ticket in person. But no, Celestia chooses to let a poor mailpony get lost in an EldritchLocation. |
| 89 | *** That's assuming Celestia didn't delegate. She could have had a list of guests written up by someone else and then they decided to have the mailpony go give Discord a ticket like everyone else. Or assumed that any ticket would be given over to one of the mane six so they could give it to him. If nothing else, someone will realize that pony is missing and then he'll be found (since the last anyone heard of him was probably about going to deliver the tickets). |
| 90 | * This episode establishes Discord can teleport anywhere, even inside your bed while you're sleeping. It isn't much of an issue now that he's reformed... but imagine just how horrifying his reign of Equestria must have been when he was villainous. ''Nopony'' was safe from him, there'd be nowhere to run or hide. |
| 91 | [[/folder]] |
| 92 | |
| 93 | [[folder: The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone]] |
| 94 | * What exactly ''was'' in those treats Gilda fed to Pinkie Pie? Keep in mind that in ancient legends, griffons ate [[IAmAHumanitarian horses]]. |
| 95 | ** Even if those treats ''aren't'' made of pony, griffons are still presumably carnivores. Ponies are herbivores. |
| 96 | *** Equines ''can'' digest meat if the situation calls for it, and Gilda eating an apple in ''Griffon the Brush Off'' indicates that griffons in this show are at least partially omnivorous. Those scones don't necessarily have to contain meat, but Pinkie won't die if they do. |
| 97 | * This episode reveals that Gilda was bullied as a cub/chick, and Rainbow Dash was the only one willing to stick up for her. Now, rewatch Griffon the Brush-Off, and watch the scene where Rainbow Dash, her only friend and the only one willing to stick up for her, drives her off. Then imagine how Gilda felt afterwards. |
| 98 | * For most griffins, {{Greed}} is a FatalFlaw almost to literal levels; we see that, if not receiving a payment, the griffins won't help anyone, even in life or death situations. |
| 99 | ** Which also explains, at least partially, why all the griffins demand a payment for everything they do; besides their own natural greed, the griffins know that they'll be left to die by their own species if they can't pay for their assistance in emergency cases. Carrying at least a few bits at all times can be a literal life saver. |
| 100 | * We see the skull of the monster that stole the Griffon's treasure on a ledge and not at the bottom of the cavern. This means that when it fell, at some point it got stuck and either died by it's neck breaking, or was wedged in there and couldn't get out and starved to death. Neither way is a particularly pleasant way to go. |
| 101 | [[/folder]] |
| 102 | |
| 103 | [[folder: Slice of Life]] |
| 104 | * The bugbear is yet another monster, like Lord Tirek, that escaped from Tartarus most likely when Cerberus was not on duty. Now imagine if those two weren't the only ones that broke out in that timeframe. |
| 105 | ** Except Bon Bon -- sorry, Secret Agent Sweetie Drops -- mentions that its escape date a few years back, before she was living in Ponyville, thus it can't be the same incident. Which isn't reassuring at all: how many times in the past did Cerberus fail to secure the Tartarus prisoners? |
| 106 | * Dr Whooves decided to study time travel after a "traumatic event" in his past. Think about that for a moment: clearly whatever happened was bad enough that he started studying time travel in an attempt to prevent it from having happened. And considering the kind of trauma [[Series/DoctorWho the character he's based on]] has gone through... |
| 107 | ** It gets worse: his voice actor [[http://www.equestriadaily.com/2016/01/pony-spotlight-4-dr-hooves-with-peter.html?m=1 revealed]] that he played the role with the view that Dr. Whooves isn't based on the Doctor, he ''is'' the Doctor as a pony. Which means that through a sort of TimeyWimeyBall (and spacey-wacey), we have two Doctors—Whoniverse!Doctor and Pony!Doctor. All those things that Whoniverse!Doctor did and faced ([[WildMassGuessing probably up to some point in Tennant's era]])? Daleks, Cybermen, the Time War? Think of all those and realize that, assuming Peter New's words are canon, ''Pony!Doc went through all of it''. |
| 108 | * The revelation of what goes on inside Gummy's mind. Makes you wonder what kind of depressing philosophical speeches he's had during the other times he appeared in the show. |
| 109 | ** It might explain why he hangs out with Pinkie. Keeping up with her antics would be a welcome distraction. |
| 110 | * The Dude and Walter are present at the wedding, but Donny's nowhere to be found despite being with them at the bowling alley. Then you see that Walter is carrying a coffee tin... |
| 111 | ** MisplacedRetribution by the bugbear? |
| 112 | *** Furthermore, there's not been time for a cremation, which means ''the bugbear can incinerate victims''! |
| 113 | * Sort of a Fridge Tearjerker: Shining Armor crying at the wedding seems like a cute, funny quirk, and it is. But then you remember what happened the last time he was at a wedding onscreen. (His own, in fact.) He may have a form of PTSD from that day. |
| 114 | ** It gets worse when you notice that Cadance states that he cries during ''every'' wedding. It might just be that weddings are his [[TraumaButton trigger]]. Seeing how much angst it could have caused him, like his sister almost dying because of his indirect actions or nearly dooming Equestria, it's sensible. |
| 115 | *** Being reduced to a helpless, brainwashed puppet can't be a fun memory either. There's also the disturbing possibility that [[spoiler:Chrysalis raped him while posing as Cadance]], as discussed on [[FridgeHorror/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicSeason2 the Season 2 page]], just in case the rest of it wasn't traumatic enough. |
| 116 | ** One of the other wedding guests is a changeling. Not even disguised, just sitting there. |
| 117 | * So Doctor Hooves is canon. Well, remember [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E6TheSeedsOfDoom the Krynoid]]? TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, anypony? Also, imagine what zap apples under Krynoid control [[HighVoltageDeath would do]]. |
| 118 | ** Heck, ''any one'' of the Doctor's enemies from his home universe would spell trouble for Equestria if they showed up. How would the Elements of Harmony fare against something like the Daleks, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary Vashta]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E9ForestOfTheDead Nerada]], or [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Weeping Angels]]? And regarding the latter, ''how can we be sure they aren't already there'' through the same way the Doctor got to Equestria? After all, there are plenty of statues in Canterlot Gardens, and as implied all the way from the end of Blink ''any statue'' could be one. Sweet dreams, Canterlot... |
| 119 | * Bon Bon (a.k.a. Special Agent Sweetie Drops) was the one who first captured the bugbear, said that it was in Ponyville to find her, and ran out on Lyra to keep her safe from harm after explaining the situation. Was she spilling her secrets now because she thought the bugbear might kill her, and wanted to make sure that if the worst should happen, Lyra knew why? |
| 120 | [[/folder]] |
| 121 | |
| 122 | [[folder:Princess Spike]] |
| 123 | * As cool as Cadance capping the water main looks, you have to wonder if it actually solved the problem. That water is still pushing just as hard, and it has to go somewhere... |
| 124 | ** I assumed that was just a temporary solution, considering the other messes Spike accidentally caused. They probably went back and fixed it after everything else was handled. |
| 125 | * Canterlot has trees that dragons are highly allergic to. When you consider Spike grew up with Twilight in Canterlot, it's a miracle how he was able to survive being outdoors without coming down with a severe reaction. |
| 126 | ** And if the trees are a new addition, whoever decided to put them in better have gotten fired, because that implies either carelessness or outright malice. |
| 127 | ** If ''any'' of the Spike slapstick gags are to be taken seriously or, you know, Cadance abandoning Spike on a floating table ''in that episode'' when she could have retrieved him in about 2 seconds, the ponies are largely negligent of Spike to begin with. It's quite possible they just didn't give a damn and planted them because they're pretty. |
| 128 | * Spike is lucky that him blowing off his bodyguard duties didn't result in anything bad happening to Twilight in a physical sense. Since Starlight was planning revenge and Twilight was left unguarded while in a deep sleep, Starlight could have had the perfect opportunity to take her revenge on Twilight in a matter of ways; kidnap her, deprive her of her cutie mark again, mind-control her, the list goes on. |
| 129 | [[/folder]] |
| 130 | |
| 131 | [[folder:Party Pooped]] |
| 132 | * The yaks' overreactions may be funny, but it also brings some disturbing implications as to what their society is like. Imagine a young calf (similar to the one Pinkie encountered) getting beaten to death by its [[AbusiveParents parents]] [[DisproportionateRetribution just for dirtying the rug]]. And thanks to in-universe ValuesDissonance, this kind of behavior is probably seen as ''acceptable''. |
| 133 | ** The one calf Pinkie encounters doesn't seem traumatized or scared and is totally willing to help her in her quest. This may lead some credence to the theory that Rutherford's just being a RoyalBrat. |
| 134 | ** The yaks seem to focus on shouting and property destruction rather than direct physical attacks against anypony. While it's a small comfort, the most likely reaction of yak parents to their children's misbehavior would be to yell at them and smash some of their toys or other possessions. So... ''emotional'' abuse rather than physical. |
| 135 | ** Then again, if yak children learns that this is normal accepted and expected behavior for yaks in general, it's possible that yak children also break their parent's things when they don't get their way as well (which leads to a society who [[WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings may not be able to have nice things]]). |
| 136 | * Cherry Jubilee and her workers fall asleep on their journey to the Crystal Empire since they were up all night counting cherries. Thanks to Pinkie Pie waking them, they just about manage to avoid falling into a ravine. If Pinkie hadn't been there, they could very well have ''died''. |
| 137 | ** Maybe not. The Wonderbolts would have still been there. |
| 138 | [[/folder]] |
| 139 | |
| 140 | [[folder:Amending Fences]] |
| 141 | * Starlight Glimmer, though hiding behind a menu, is there in the dinner scene. What in the world is she doing there? Spying on Twilight? Spying on Celestia? [[ParanoiaFuel Or is she just conveniently there in the same place as Twilight]] [[DramaticIrony and she's none the wiser?]] |
| 142 | * From the very beginning of ''Friendship is Magic'', we see that Twilight Sparkle is very much an awkward and introverted, but still lovable, bookworm. But upon seeing how one of her old Canterlot friends (Moondancer) turned out, she gets a look on her face that seems to be saying "Could ''I'' have ended up like this if I'd stayed in Canterlot and never had gotten that assignment from Princess Celestia?" This revelation hits even harder when she realizes that '''''she''''' was the reason why Moondancer became an even more extreme introvert than her! Her HeroicBSOD at the cafe seals it; who's to say that she wouldn't have followed the same path as Moondancer if Celestia had never sent her to Ponyville? |
| 143 | * Take another listen to Moondancer's rant: At one point she says that before Twilight left town, her other friends had "finally convinced her that she had value and that others would want to be her friends". ''"Finally"?'' Just how friendless and alone was Moondancer up until that point!? |
| 144 | * One game that Twilight sets up for Moondancer's party is a donkey-shaped piñata. This is an universe where donkeys can talk, live in houses, and, as we saw a few episodes before, can get married - they are people just like ponies. Now imagine Cranky or Matilda walking in on a party where the ponies beat a donkey figure with a stick... |
| 145 | * Imagine if Moondancer had met the Mane 5 while still in her reclusive state. Would she have blamed them for making Twilight leave? |
| 146 | [[/folder]] |
| 147 | |
| 148 | [[folder:Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?]] |
| 149 | * Unlike the nightmares the other girls were having, Applejack's nightmare can actually happen to her. Specifically, the losing your livelihood aspect of the corrupted dream. |
| 150 | ** It's also worth noting that Applejack's work, both on Sweet Apple Acres and during Winter Wrap-Up, contributes to a pretty significant portion of Ponyville's food supply. |
| 151 | *** In fact, while it's a bit more abstract, the basic premise is about the same as the nightmare Applejack had in the second arc of the comics: all her crops wither and die. Just how badly does this fear prey on her? |
| 152 | * Looking at Dashie's nightmare, one wonders what nightmares Scootaloo caused her with that ultra-sappy campfire story in ''Sleepless in Ponyville" |
| 153 | * The Tantabus didn't disappear when Luna forgave herself. It just went back inside the Princess. It's entirely possible that the Tantabus still exists inside Luna but is currently hibernating, awaiting Luna's next guilt trip to grow strong enough to leave. |
| 154 | * Luna mentions that Celestia has no power in the realm of dreams. Does that mean while Luna was banished to the moon, there was no one to help ponies deal with nightmares for 1000 years? Bloom and Gloom shows just how bad nightmares can get and without Luna's help, some ponies might have been suffering recurring nightmares their whole life. |
| 155 | * Luna never mentioned when she created the Tantabus, but it is implied that it was some time before the events of this episode. Considering how much time she spends walking in and out of other ponies' dreams, it's a wonder the Tantabus never followed her out before now. |
| 156 | * Pinkie dreamt of a dragon, and Rainbow Dash of Changelings. What if the Tantabus had decided to flee into them, where Luna was less likely capable of following it? |
| 157 | * Luna was surprised that her nightmare ended in happiness, which implies that this is the first time it happened since she created the Tantabus. This means that all her dreams ended in horrifying nightmares since it's creation. Considering that between the beginning of the series and this episode that at least two Apple Family reunions have happened, this is one hell of a long time. |
| 158 | * The fact that Luna created the Tantabus in the first place. |
| 159 | ** First of all, for somepony to inflict such a degree of suffering on herself, especially in a misguided act of atonement, is a strong indicator that that pony has some ''serious'' lingering mental health issues. Consider that the pony in question is an immortal [[PhysicalGod Physical Goddess]], and it's very easy to see why this is a major cause for concern. |
| 160 | ** Secondly, that self-inflicted punishment nearly accomplished exactly what it was supposed to prevent - the horror of Nightmare Moon plunging Equestria into a second round of eternal night. By becoming so powerful that it nearly escaped into the real world, the Tantabus came close to making Luna's fears a SelfFulfillingProphecy, only this horror would have been motivated by guilt rather than jealousy and hatred. The very fact that it was causing pain to the residents of Equestria would have caused Luna to feel even ''more'' guilt, causing the Tantabus to become more powerful and inflict more suffering, leading to even greater guilt. Thus the Tantabus' power would have been locked into a positive feedback loop, and nopony would have been able to stop it. TL;DR - Princess Luna's feelings of guilt [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt nearly launched an apocalypse on Equestria]]. |
| 161 | * I'm pretty sure a foal molester like Jesús Pezuña was some parent's worst fear. Imagine if in the shared dream, the Tantabus sent a copy of him after their foal(s). |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | [[folder:Canterlot Boutique]] |
| 165 | * That enormous fat pony at the end confirms that morbid obesity exists in the MLP-verse. Who knows what kind of heart conditions that pony might have? |
| 166 | ** Forget heart condition, she has yellow sclera, which isn't a healthy color for eyes to have as they're a symptom of liver disease. |
| 167 | ** Her cutie mark is also slightly disconcerting. [[{{Narcissist}} What does it imply that it depicts her own face surrounded by stars?]] |
| 168 | *** Most have interpreted it to mean that she's comfortable with her appearance despite her morbid obesity. |
| 169 | *** It could also signify a talent for recursive art. |
| 170 | [[/folder]] |
| 171 | |
| 172 | [[folder:Scare Master]] |
| 173 | * One of Fluttershy's pranks against the others is the use of dummy made to look like Granny Smith with her head swapped out for a skull. In fact, when Applejack approaches it, the skull falls completely ''off''! Now this could just be BlackComedy, but imagine it: You're already unsettled by creepy things going on around you. In the dark, you see what you think is a member of your family whom you dearly love. Relieved, you run up to them to get some reassurance...only to find that they're dead and their flesh is already rotting away! To make matters even ''worse'', remember that WordOfGod has implied several times that Applejack's parents died when she was younger. ''Now'' she's led to believe that yet ''another'' loved one had died tragically! Thank goodness she heard the real Granny Smith's voice a few seconds later, or she might have been seriously traumatized. |
| 174 | * The presence of a Rei Ayanami pony in Fluttershy's [[EpicFail "haunted house"]] implies that ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' exists in Equestria. The mere idea is terrifying enough...but the fact that Fluttershy apparently ''likes it'' is even worse. |
| 175 | * Although the scene with the tea party is supposed to be NightmareRetardant , "Party of One" shows that Pinkie Pie actually fears guests not showing up to her parties. |
| 176 | ** Could double as heartwarming FridgeBrilliance, since Pinkie's reaction suggests that she's [[CharacterDevelopment not as bothered by this as she used to be]]. |
| 177 | * When they encounter a lizard monster in the caves, Pinkie's first reaction is not one of utter terror like the rest of the mane six; instead, she inquires, "how did that get down here?" This implies that Pinkie recognizes the monster from somewhere else, as the lizard would probably seem right at home in the caves to most other ponies. Perhaps this has something to do with the secret basement Pinkie was revealed to have in a previous episode? |
| 178 | ** It was actually a [[spoiler:bear dressd as a]] Gill-Man style fish monster. Still, the fact that ''nopony'' wondered what it was could indeed imply familiarity. |
| 179 | * Spike dresses up as a two-headed dragon for Nightmare Night with the fake head having the same color scheme as his real one. When we're reintroduced to Flutterbat, she snatches the fake head but could have been in a position to have [[OffWithHisHead taken the wrong one]]... |
| 180 | ** Seems unlikely, as the fake head was made out of fabric and held together with loose stitching while Spike's ''real'' head is made out of flesh and held to his body with bone, muscle and tendons. It seems more likely that we'd have a KidnappingBirdOfPrey scenario on our hands, which would still be horror worthy, at least to the Mane Six. |
| 181 | ** Another reason this is unlikely is because even though she looks like Flutterbat, she is still 100% Fluttershy, meaning she'd never do anything that would actually hurt her friends. Not to mention, Twilight, and possibly Rarity, would go absolutely feral if Spike got hurt, and the rest of the Mane Six would probably be equally as unhappy. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Rarity Investigates]] |
| 185 | * Could the reason nopony had broken Wind Rider's record yet be that he kept framing any new recruits who had the potential to beat him and getting them kicked off the team before they had the chance to? How many other ponies has he done this to? |
| 186 | ** For that matter, given his "Sometimes you have to play dirty to win" line... what if this was how he "earned" the record in the first place? |
| 187 | %%* [[Series/{{Sherlock}} Morarity]] apparently exists in this world. |
| 188 | * The palace guards can get distracted by a good cake. Just how easy would be for a dangerous criminal to sneak in the castle and kill a sleeping guest? |
| 189 | ** I don't know about Canterlot, but in the Crystal Empire, it's pretty darn easy. [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls Ask Sunset Shimmer about it sometime.]] |
| 190 | ** Probably as easy as [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 staging an invasion by poorly disguising yourself as a princess]]. |
| 191 | ** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E22ABirdInTheHoof Or how easily they're fooled by wearing a trenchcoat and fedora]]. Despite being a ''bird''. How laughably appallingly terrible the guards are at their job is in and of ''itself'' pretty scary. |
| 192 | * Wind Rider cut off a chunk of Rainbow Dash's mane to plant at the scene of the crime. The only way he could have done that is when she was sleeping. |
| 193 | ** And if him creeping into her room and cutting off her hair didn't wake her up, she's lucky he didn't decide to do something more drastic. Anyone remember Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan? |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:Crusaders Of The Lost Mark]] |
| 197 | * Spoiled Rich's appearance might have mitigated Babs Seed's threat about telling her about Diamond Tiara's bad attitude considering [[BitchInSheepsClothing the apple didn't fall far from the tree]]. |
| 198 | ** Or could have made it worse...[[spoiler: given how verbally abusive she is, one wouldn't take out [[WouldHurtAChild physical abuse]] if this wasn't a kids show]] |
| 199 | *** Even worse, Spoiled Rich is shown to be such a dominant figure that even Cherilee (who genuinely cares about her students) and Filthy Rich (who wants his daughter to be a better pony) hadn't dared to stand up to her on how she's miseducating Diamond Tiara, so she could get away with all her verbal and psychological abuse on her own daughter. |
| 200 | *** Similarly, the fact that Spoiled Rich is apparently on the school board (and seems to have some serious clout) puts all the times that Cheerilee turns a blind eye to Diamond Tiara's bullying in a different light: she may be well aware of the bullying, but feels powerless to stop it from happening. Spoiled Rich certainly seems like the type to use her influence to make sure nopony gives her daughter a hard time. [[note]]Bonus fridge horror: If this last part is indeed the case, what are the odds that it won't be the case for much longer unless Diamond falls back in line?[[/note]] |
| 201 | *** There is plenty of room to speculate on just how bad Spoiled Rich's emotional abuse could be at times, judging by Diamond Tiara's assertion during her song that the CMC don't understand what it means for her to fail at "anything." It even makes one wonder just what may have happened to her in previous episodes where she was shown up or lost at something. |
| 202 | *** Before admitting to her mother that she lost the election, Diamond Tiara looks positively frightened in anticipation of what's about to happen. The resulting reprimand is bad enough on it's own, but keep in mind they were out in public. How much worse is the abuse behind closed doors and offscreen for Diamond Tiara to be that scared? |
| 203 | * Seeing how much her mother looks down on "blank flanks", how badly did she treat Diamond Tiara before she got her cutie mark, and how much stress did she put her under to get it? |
| 204 | ** Also she says that she doesn't want Diamond hanging out with the Crusaders because they're blank flanks first and foremost, not because they're not wealthy or anything like that. Which suggests that this might be normal among elitist ponies to see having a cutie mark as a social status and as something that makes them "better" than others. |
| 205 | ** It could be common among elitist ponies to try and get their cutie marks as quickly as possible when they're young, where they could easily end up in a situation like Diamond Tiara where they were focused so much on just having the mark they don't understand what it actually means or how to use their talent in a positive way to get where they want to be. |
| 206 | * [[spoiler: The Crusaders have finally earned their cutie marks. What are the chances something will happen to them or their marks in the SeasonFinale once Starlight Glimmer has her revenge on the Mane Six?]] |
| 207 | ** Imagine Starlight's reaction to seeing [[spoiler: the Crusader's extremely similar Cutie Marks. She might believe that she finally found proof that her ideology is correct, that ponies cannot be friends if they aren't the same, but then realize that despite being very similar, the Crusader's Cutie Marks are still different from each other. She might make the Crusaders her primary targets since they prove that ponies can have the same talents but still be individuals and best friends]] |
| 208 | * Because of the wording, while it ''could'' mean that [[spoiler: Mama and Papa Apple are dead, it could ''also'' mean that they left the kids]]. |
| 209 | ** Except Applejack's words that they would be so proud of Apple Bloom earning her cutie mark. That doesn't really imply they just left the family. |
| 210 | *** It doesn't rule out them simply being ''missing'', though. |
| 211 | ** Then again, WordOfGod did say that a more kid-friendly alternative to [[spoiler:the Apple parents not being around is that they're WalkingTheEarth selling apples and [[WhenYouComingHomeDad don't come home all that often]]]]. Not exactly horrific, but it works with the wording. |
| 212 | * Given how much Spoiled Rich abuses her daughter, [[DomesticAbuse what are the chances that she treats her husband any better?]] |
| 213 | ** And that could pull Filthy Rich's demonizing portrayal in this episode into a new light. What if he's only doing it because his wife thinks he should and he's only able to be the pony we've seen him as when she's not around [[DomesticAbuse because she hurls verbal abuse or worse on him the instant they're out of the public eye if she catches him treating their "inferiors" well]]. |
| 214 | * Spoiled Rich's cutie mark is a diamond ring, which people have taken to mean that her "talent" revolves entirely around her marrying a rich husband. |
| 215 | * Exactly how is Spoiled Rich going to react if Diamond Tiara decides her change of heart should be permanent? For that matter, did she let Diamond go unpunished for standing up to her ''this time'', or did things get ugly once Diamond got home from school? |
| 216 | * What was Spoiled Rich's fillyhood like? Was her abusive nature instilled by ''her'' parents when she was growing up? |
| 217 | * Suddenly Diamond Tiara's KickTheDog action of mocking Scootaloo for being flightless makes a disturbing amount of sense. Spoiled Rich probably knows at least a few noble ponies who are Pegasi so Scootaloo isn't being demonized for her race/species. But all of the Pegasi Spoiled Rich knows are capable of flight (in fact, Scootaloo is the only Pegasus who's had any degree of focus who can't do more than hover; even Fluttershy can fly ''extremely'' well if needed). So combine Scootaloo's lack of Cutie Mark with her inability to do the one thing ''every'' known member of her race can do and you get someone that Spoiled Rich not only would want her daughter to look down on and belittle but someone Spoiled Rich ''might not even think deserves to be alive''. Yikes... |
| 218 | ** And how would Spoiled Rich react to Diamond Tiara ''losing'' a prestigious position to Scootaloo? Or Diamond losing her position as head of the "Foal Free Press"? ? Or anything else? KarmaHoudiniWarranty much? |
| 219 | * Diamond Tiara only had a few non-speaking cameos after this episode. Is her mother keeping a tighter rein on her now? |
| 220 | [[/folder]] |
| 221 | |
| 222 | [[folder: The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows]] |
| 223 | * We should be grateful Shining Armor saved Pinkie when he did. If he didn't, then Pinkie Pie would have broken a Pinkie Promise, something she takes very seriously. Would Pinkie be unable to deal with the guilt and go back to being Pinkamena Diane Pie, telling her friends they can no longer trust her? |
| 224 | ** No. She explicitly said after the opening that even though she didn't Pinkie Promise not to reveal the secret, she'd still feel bad about spilling the surprise and wasn't going to try and RulesLawyer her way into justifying doing so. So no Pinkie promise issues with that. |
| 225 | * A brief gag in the episode is Spike accidentally burning one of Shining Armor's mint-condition comics. The [[https://derpibooru.org/1004226 cover of said comic]] is [[https://derpibooru.org/1004774 a clear allusion]] to the cover of ''ComicBook/ActionComics #1''. If we assume that the comic has roughly the same status in Equestria as it does in ours, this means that Spike has accidentally destroyed ''the most valuable comic of all time''. |
| 226 | [[/folder]] |
| 227 | |
| 228 | [[folder: What About Discord?]] |
| 229 | * Starlight Glimmer clearly watching the Mane 6, Spike, and Discord through a pair of binoculars from inside some bushes as they discuss time travel. This means A) She found a possible way to finally defeat Twilight Sparkle, and B) she now knows about Discord and has a chance to become CrazyPrepared against Ponyville's most powerful non-Element/Rainbow citizen in case he decides to step in during her impending return and revenge. |
| 230 | [[/folder]] |
| 231 | |
| 232 | [[folder: The Hooffields and the Mccolts]] |
| 233 | * Ma Hooffield sent the Mccolts a cake merely as a TrojanHorse. But could've happened if she had chosen a ''different'' way of using that cake? Say, maybe poisoned it? |
| 234 | ** If she had gone through with that plan, then the Mccolts would've been dead, the feud would've been permanently unresolved, and the Hooffields would've been left wondering [[AndThenWhat what to do next]] now that their life-long enemies have been defeated. |
| 235 | * It doesn't take a geneticist to tell you that the Hooffields and Mccolts have a long history of intermarriage in their families which results in a very unpleasant status for their genetic stability. But now that the war is over and they're mingling with each other, what guarantees are there even to say that their lack of genetic diversity won't cause their future offspring to inherit a litany of genetic disorders which will then turn them into living time-bombs that will develop physical and mental defects and suffer from constant pain and other kinds of health complications for their whole lives... just like poor old [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Spain Charles II of Spain]]? |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:The Cutie Remark]] |
| 239 | * The BadFuture scenarios Starlight creates are horrific enough to begin with, but keep this in mind: had Spike not been displaced from time with Twilight, the event that caused him to be ''born'' [[RetGone no longer happened.]] |
| 240 | * Nowhere in *any* of the BadFuture timelines do we see a native version of Twilight Sparkle. Just how much did that entrance exam mean to her? |
| 241 | ** WordOfGod is that that dragon egg test isn't the usual entrance exam--Celestia gave that to Twilight because she suspected Twilight was meant to bear the element of magic. If Twilight failed because there was no Rainboom to spook her into tapping into all that magic, Celestia would just take that to mean her assumption was wrong and give her the real entrance exam. That still begs the question as to where she was in each timeline, but it's probably not what you're thinking. |
| 242 | * In the Nightmare Moon future, Rarity has developed FantasticRacism. Not only that, she says ''no pony'' should talk to dragons, implying this is a commonly-held belief. Was Nightmare Moon drilling racist philosophy into everyone in that timeline? |
| 243 | * The implication the 'barren wasteland' future ''wasn't the worst it could get''. |
| 244 | ** Especially since it could have happened so easily had Starlight not been talked down. |
| 245 | ** It's very possible that a future where the Tantabus escaped could've been next. An Equestria turned into a land of nightmares would definitely be worse than a barren wasteland. |
| 246 | ** If every possible future is worse than the last, how long would it take for Equestria to turn into a DeathWorld? |
| 247 | ** Even ''worse'' a timeline where an ''EarthShatteringKaboom'' took place. |
| 248 | ** Think about what Midnight Sparkle did in Friendship Games. She ''gained'' that ability, meaning another freak magical accident could theoretically do that to a pony too. This would cause a future where ''the fabric of reality itself'' has been ripped to Swiss cheese. Yikes. |
| 249 | ** It could have been a barren wasteland [[FanFic/FalloutEquestria full of radiation and murderous psychos]] as referenced in [[https://derpibooru.org/1032552 various]] [[https://www.deviantart.com/vector-brony/art/How-it-should-have-ended-575213990 fan]][[https://derpibooru.org/1038197 art]] |
| 250 | * Double whammy in the Changeling Future. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity enter the resistance village and [[spoiler: report they barely escaped a changeling attack with their lives. True, it is revealed they are Chrysalis and her lieutenants but they wouldn't have lied like that if they didn't expect it to be believed, meaning the changelings are KILLING ponies! The second whammy: where are the *real* AJ, Dash and Rarity? Third whammy: If Chrysalis is impersonating other ponies now, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness what happened to Cadence and Shining Armor?]]]] |
| 251 | ** To make it worse: [[spoiler:when disguised as Applejack, Chrysalis is wearing [[IconicOutfit Applejack's hat]], which gets destroyed during her TransformationSequence.]] I really, really hope that was just a spare [[spoiler:hat (they did have a closet full of them on the farm)]], but I wouldn't put money on it. |
| 252 | ** During the invasion, the Changelings materialize her hat when they transform into her. |
| 253 | *** Wouldn't that mean the hat should be part of them, or at least dematerialize on its own when they change? Plus, it seems awfully symbolic. |
| 254 | ** To make it even worse: [[spoiler:What if they're not dead? What if instead, they're [[AndIMustScream enslaved by the Changelings as permanent love suppliers]]]]? |
| 255 | ** Another nasty moment added by the initial double whammy, in the shadowy fight scene, after defeating Zecora, Chrysalis' posture becomes disturbingly casual as she approaches the downed zebra. The time loop may have acted as a GoryDiscretionShot, and that's the arguably the best ending the Zecora of that timeline could hope for. |
| 256 | * The Sombra Future is bad enough for the poor crystal ponies - not only are they re-enslaved, but put under mind control helmets that turn them into his brainwashed soldiers - but it's even worse when you stop to consider that under those helmets their minds may still be intact. [[AndIMustScream Which means that they'd be completely aware of the horrors they're forced to commit, but are helpless to do anything about it]]. |
| 257 | ** Even worse: when the crystal ponies have the brainwashing helmets forced onto their heads, the eyes start glowing green. Remember back in "The Crystal Empire Part 2" when Sombra's spell caused whoever was hit by it to experience their worst fears, and caused both Twilight and Spike's eyes to turn green when they were affected by it? What if under those helmets, they're constantly being bombarded by their worst fears the entire time? |
| 258 | ** Look closely when they try to kill Dash - the camera angle hides it, but she's clearly trampling on a downed opponent. The brainwashed crystal ponies were about to crush her along with one of their own. |
| 259 | * If we consider the Chrysalis timeline from Fluttershy's perspective, it comes off as a horrible YankTheDogsChain. The timeline starts with the bullies being nice to her and becoming her friends. It leads to the Changelings taking over and replacing ponies to the point where Fluttershy has become paranoid enough to take a Shoot First Ask Questions Later approach to any new ponies she meets. [[BreakTheCutie Poor girl.]] |
| 260 | * In her timeline, how did Nightmare Moon convince Rainbow Dash and Rarity to work for her? On a related note, the event that stopped the Rainboom in this timeline was Rainbow Dash stopping to watch Twilight and Starlight Glimmer's fight. Here, she's one of Nightmare Moon's personal guards. It's possible she grew up to be a full-fledged BloodKnight in this timeline... [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice job Twilight.]] |
| 261 | * What about the Equestria Girls universe? Even though their universe wasn't affected much by Starlight's revenge, it's very possible there could have been timelines where the Equestria Girls' villains won and took over Equestria. A timeline where Demon Sunset, The Dazzlings, and especially Midnight Sparkle succeeded in their plans would have been horrifying, to say the least. |
| 262 | ** Also, in all the timelines, Twilight and very possibly Sunset, never had access to the portal to the human world. Meaning that Sunset is still in Equestria during every possible timeline where a villain won, the Dazzlings are still loose in the human world, and Human Twilight is still friendless while being bullied at Crystal Prep. |
| 263 | ** None of the Equestria Girls villains would have won, since they all arose from the Element of Magic Sunset Shimmer stole. Without the Mane 6 becoming friends and rediscovering the Elements of Harmony, Sunset wouldn't have been able to steal it, meaning no demon Sunset, no awakening of friendship magic in the other world, which means no magic for the Dazzlings to drain or for Human Twilight to start experimenting with. |
| 264 | *** They may have things happen even though they shouldn't, see InSpiteOfANail for the general idea of that. |
| 265 | *** Actually there would be Equestrian magic for the Dazzlings to drain: Sunset Shimmer. She's actually a unicorn from Equestria, a rather talented and powerful one in fact, and without the element of magic and Twilight to cause her to realise what she'd become she'd be leaking negative energy for the Dazzlings to feed on the whole time. |
| 266 | * Had Spike not gone to the past with Twilight, the event that caused his birth would've never happened. So what [[RetGone would have happened to Spike?]] |
| 267 | ** He'd still be in the egg, I'd guess. |
| 268 | ** Or he'd either hatch naturally or be hatched by another potential student. |
| 269 | * When [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong the timeline went back to normal]], seven other timelines were erased from existence. They were all {{Bad Future}}s, but ''still''. |
| 270 | ** Emphasized by Zecora from the Chrysalis-verse: she quickly comes to understand that she exists in a timeline that should not exist. What must it feel like to know that the universe ''you'' live in is one of the alternate ones, and that you must cease to exist in order to set the timeline right? |
| 271 | ** Worse yet, if the other timelines were erased, what about the main one when Starlight decided to MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight? Sure, it got restored in the end, but Starlight unknowingly erased her own universe if that's the case! |
| 272 | ** Worst still, [[ExpendableAlternateUniverse what if the alternate timelines weren't deleted, but kept existing?]] All those hopeless, horrible futures where evil won are ''still there'', Twilight and Spike simply vanished from them. |
| 273 | ** For that matter, how do we know the supposedly "normal" timeline is in fact that? Considering the thing Zecora said about time being affected by the ''smallest'' change, it's quite the stretch for this universe to be exactly the same as the original. [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Ponies might eat with reptilian-like tongues there, for all we know.]] |
| 274 | ** Remember too that although the timelines were corrected, those people still lived, ''suffered'', and '''''died''''' for however long it took from the missed Sonic Rainboom to whenever Twilight rolled up to the "present." Saying "the timeline was fixed so it's okay now" is like murdering someone after torturing them and saying "they're not alive to suffer anymore". This is also assuming the timeline was ''fixed'' and there isn't some alternate multiple realities thing going on where all these horrific futures are still going. It's hard not to think of Starlight as Equestrian history's greatest monster with this in mind, no matter how "unintended" it was, and it's no small wonder her reformation was so contested. |
| 275 | *** The horrifying part is that Twilight is willing to ''overlook'' this and thinks of it as a minor offense at best. It's no small wonder that her treatment of Trixie was [[BrokenBase also contested]]... |
| 276 | *** Which is why its probably best to simply go with the view the episode seems to want to take on the matter rather than going into what ifs. That is not only were the bad futures erased, they in effect never happened to begin with. Only Starlight, Spike and Twilight have any memory of them, and even then they were only possible presents/futures. Rather than saying "they're not alive to suffer anymore," a more apt comparison would be "we fixed the timeline so that suffering never happened to begin with." |
| 277 | * Pay close attention to the background ponies in the Chrysalis timeline. Bon Bon is part of Zecora's scouting party, but Lyra is nowhere to be seen, despite how inseparable the two are in the main timeline. It's hard not to assume the worst. |
| 278 | * [[spoiler:Sure, Starlight Glimmer's all sunshine and smiles after her HeelFaceTurn, but she's still powerful enough to hold her own against Twilight, and clearly has some mental instabilities, which would not go away in the space of one musical number. Is it safe keeping her around?]] |
| 279 | ** Thankfully, seasons 6-9 show that Starlight has managed to improve herself mentally and isn't as much a danger to anyone as before. |
| 280 | ** It would be worse not to keep her around. |
| 281 | ** [[spoiler:"All the ponies in town are crazy!", remember? She'll fit right in.]] |
| 282 | ** Did they ''want'' to take her in, or [[spoiler:did they just not think there was a prison that could hold her?]] If it's the former, ''why''? And if it's the latter, what happens if she finds out? |
| 283 | ** She's absolutely safe to keep around. Remember that they let Discord absolutely free before he was even reformed? You're all forgetting they have the Rainbow Power (that is, assuming they can actually use it at anytime like some believe). The only threat seems to be if they lose their cutie marks, but without followers, methinks it's going to be a lot harder for her to get all six of them at once with the spell. |
| 284 | *** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E21EveryLittleThingSheDoes Absolutely safe, huh?]] |
| 285 | ** They've just seen that a clearly mentally unstable unicorn with a talent in magic ''may'' be redeemed. In which side would you want her? Yours, or the enemy's? You'd rather want to have the powerful loose cannon trust you... |
| 286 | * Twilight says that she's seen Equestria in a bad future a ''dozen times''. We only saw the Sombra, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Tirek, Discord, Flim and Flam, and barren wasteland timelines. That's only seven. What could have happened in the other five timelines we didn't see? |
| 287 | ** It is possible at least one of them may have been one where Sunset Shimmer won and managed to take over Equestria since Sunset still would have turned against Celestia and gone through the portal to the human world without the Sonic Rainboom. Only without Twilight being in a position to stop her plans in the first Equestria Girls movie, Sunset would have remained in her "she-demon" form and succeeded, never pulling a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 288 | ** The seven futures that we saw might also be all that Twilight saw, and the "a dozen times" comment was a justified exaggeration to how dire the situation is. |
| 289 | * With the war of attrition against Sombra's forces, one can imagine how many ponies fell in battle along with those who didn't appear on screen. |
| 290 | ** Or even worse... King Sombra adding the fallen ponies to his army of mind-controlled slaves. |
| 291 | ** One of the worst bits goes by so fast, you barely notice it. [[https://derpibooru.org/1032048 One of the ponies in line for the train to either go to boot camp or the front lines is a little filly.]] The war is so bad, they have ''child soldiers''! When Applejack said keeping up the fight took "everypony in Equestria", she really meant ''everypony.'' |
| 292 | * The Barren Wasteland timeline looks like nothing but ash, as in burned. Who do we know that likely has the potential to burn the entirety of Equestria (and possibly the world)? We already saw what Equestria would be like if her sister was in charge... |
| 293 | ** The Wasteland has been blamed on all manner of things. Starlight Glimmer equalized Equestria, leaving the earth ponies unable to grow and the pegasi unable to manage weather. The dragon from "Dragonshy" was never woken, and the Equestrian sky has been clouded with smoke, preventing the land from getting the sunlight it needs to support life. The parasprites stripped the land bare. It's the Season 6 villain. It's the villain from the movie. The Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to get their marks in nuclear physics. So many theories, and practically nothing in the way of facts. The [[NothingIsScarier not knowing]] is the most unnerving part. With all the speculation that results, it starts to seem like ''[[ParanoiaFuel anything]]'' could have caused it. |
| 294 | ** What if it was an as of yet unseen enemy who hasn't shown up yet in the series? Remember there's an entire Tartarus of monsters out there and any number of them could have escaped alongside Tirek, the Pony of Shadows hasn't been accounted for yet, and even regular ponies can become world-destroying threats with things like the Alicorn Amulet or one bad day and a nasty spell up their sleeves. There's enough of a conga line of potential villains out there to practically qualify Equestria as a CrapSaccharineWorld. |
| 295 | ** Given recent evidence I think the original train of thought is the best "concrete" idea out there. If we have to pin it down and not leave it up to [[NothingIsScarier Nothing is Scarier]]; then if we consider the Season 7 Episode Royal Problems and what little we see of her, Daybreaker AKA Evil/Nightmare Celestia, I think is as good a culprit as we currently can get. In the end Fans have been thinking on the existence of Evil Celestia/Nightmare Sun|Star/Solarflare/Daybreaker for years, and yet the episode depicts her worse that we could imagine. A monstrous and fiery psychopath with the powers of the Sun itself at her command and a complete disregard for anything other than herself; she possess more than enough might and the requisite depravity to burn the world to ashes and create the barren wasteland pictured as the "worst" of the bad futures. |
| 296 | * One potential reason that Flim and Flam was depicted as the second-worst future of the ones we saw could have been a variant of TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou; corporations seeking only to use resources to further their own gain with little to no regard for who or what suffers? That's a thing that can and does happen in our world. The Nightmare Fuel of the others can at least be diminished by their unrealism, but the same can not be said for Flim and Flam's reckless deforestation. Small wonder a barren wasteland was the only thing that could top that. |
| 297 | * The Cutie Mark Crusaders never show up in any of the bad futures. Were they even born in those timelines? |
| 298 | * What future would Twilight and Spike come to if they didn't stop the bad futures at the barren wasteland? Seeing that there's no life remaining, it seems like the only worse future would be the duo emerging from the vortex in the dead of space, surrounded by [[EarthShatteringKaboom massive chunks of rock that used to be Earth.]] And who's to say it stops at just Earth? |
| 299 | * If Twilight and Spike wound up in a Plunder Seed timeline, they could have been stranded. The Plunder Seed vines were attacking the Tree of Harmony, which was what the map was connected to. With the tree dead, the map could cease to function. |
| 300 | * The Nightmare Moon timeline is one of the more pleasant to live in because [[PragmaticVillainy she wants everyone to love her which they won't do if she treats them like dirt.]] Fair enough, but considering that her taking charge involved imprisoning [[UniversallyBelovedLeader Celestia]] in the moon and presumably quashing any other attempts to stop her, and everyone's initial fear when she resurfaced in the series premiere, her initial takeover probably didn't leave Equestria with much reason to love her. While we don't see many others beyond Rarity and Rainbow Dash react to Nightmare Moon's rule, the point remains that, in the ''years'' that Celestia has been stated to be trapped on the moon for, Nightmare Moon was basically trying to invoke Equestria-wide ''Stockholm Syndrome''. |
| 301 | * In ''"A Royal Problem"'', when Celestia is stuck with Luna's nightly job (long story), she quickly begins talking to herself, indicating that she is ''very'' unaccustomed to being without anyone to talk to. And that was mere minutes before she called in Luna. We don't know how many years Celestia was trapped on the moon in the Nightmare Moon timeline, but it was probably more than sufficient for her to GoMadFromTheIsolation. |
| 302 | * [[https://derpibooru.org/1032139 This small bit]] where two ponies are kicking each other with their front hooves seems humorous at face value... but in real-life, getting kicked with a front hoof can actually [[https://camo.derpicdn.net/598d9d28611af4b6bf52c94f4343c9409badcb40?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnetworkforanimals.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F05%2FDSC_6116-copy-1024x680.jpg be dangerous enough]] [[https://camo.derpicdn.net/b83a692d2dd432332213cc9242f2a074658b51e0?url=https%3A%2F%2Fesser1.files.wordpress.com%2F2014%2F07%2Fpferdekc3a4mpfe3.jpg to cause serious injury]]! |
| 303 | [[/folder]] |
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FollowingContext FridgeHorror / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicSeason5
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