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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Live Reactions & Discussion)

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A thread to discuss My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the tie-in media.

All of the usual forum rules apply. In addition, please remember that the thread is discussing a kids' show, and it's primarily focused on the work itself, not the fanfic — in particular, we don't want to see lewdness creeping in.

     Original OP text 
I don't know WHAT the Hell happened (I blame shenanigans) but we're going to start from scratch. Post your feels for this awesome show again! Naow!

Edited by Mrph1 on Aug 26th 2024 at 10:24:26 AM

KiraKiwi410 Since: Jun, 2024
#207001: Jul 28th 2024 at 2:38:02 AM

[up] I mentioned this earlier, but I said how many of the writers from the first four seasons were mainly known for episodic shows. They had little to no experience in shows with overarching narratives. It's only from season 5 onwards that writers from those kinds of shows would be more commonplace. I'm not saying it's a necessity for them to have experience with story driven shows, but they were just playing into something that they didn't have much experience with. I'd say something like Polly Pocket (another merchandise driven show co-produced by DHX Media/Wildbrain) does better with mixing episodic storytelling and more overarching elements since it knows its audience is young, but that show doesn't get much attention.

Edited by KiraKiwi410 on Jul 28th 2024 at 2:38:25 AM

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#207002: Jul 28th 2024 at 2:45:44 AM

Ugh, I was so upset at "Equestria Games" being a Spike episode, and not a very good one either. They spent all season building this event up, and then we don't even get to see any of it. It just makes me feel like a show is wasting my time and pulling the rug on me when they do things like that.

It reminds me of an Alfred J. Kwak episode, where the heroes have to talk to some whales to solve some problem. No one has ever done so, and now they have invented a machine that actually can do it, so this is a pretty big deal, right? So they spend six episodes building this up, when the usual arc is just three episodes. So, y'know, this is being built up as something pretty epic.

And then the fifth episode comes and they waste it on some doofy guitar playing octopus that seems rather out of place for the show anyway and doesn't have anything to do with the actual plot of the arc. Okay, whatever, I guess they needed a filler episode... for reasons.

And then they get to the final episode, we finally get to where they go to talk to the whales... and they skip right the fuck over it. Like they didn't have the time for it. After wasting an entire episode on some nonsense distraction, they just skip the entire thing that was the whole reason for the arc existing in the first place.

I was so mad, guys... grin

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
KiraKiwi410 Since: Jun, 2024
#207003: Jul 28th 2024 at 4:00:43 AM

I don't really mind that the Equestria Games were more a backdrop in that episode. I mean, this arc was only 4 episodes long. It was definitely seen as more a tertiary priority compared to the Rainbow Power key arc from that same season as well as getting Equestria Girls off the ground. Plus, let's be totally honest. Flight To The Finish was the only other good episode in the arc. Rainbow Falls was bad while Games Ponies Play was just average. Coincidentally, Polly Pocket season 4 also had a Games arc of sorts with the Littleton Games, but they were scrunched towards the middle of the season, not spread out over the season. Those episodes were "Save The Last Roller Dance/Small Business" , "Hamster Hijinks/Flamingo Frenzy", and "Hatching A Plan/Rabbit, Foot".

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#207004: Jul 28th 2024 at 4:20:04 AM

Yeah, but this was pretty much the first time they had done such a season arc at all, and at the time it built a lot of anticipation in the fandom. Everyone wanted to see those games, and then it didn't happen. It was just disappointing, and it didn't help that it was replaced with a Spike episode, which weren't all that popular at the time either.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
KiraKiwi410 Since: Jun, 2024
#207005: Jul 28th 2024 at 7:38:40 AM

It could be because of how the show was trying to do 2 arcs at once (along with most of the original writers not having much experience with story arcs before), but the Rainbow Power key arc took up more presence. It probably would've been better to do it in a different season in order to focus on it more.

storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#207006: Jul 28th 2024 at 12:50:05 PM

Yeah, but this was pretty much the first time they had done such a season arc at all, and at the time it built a lot of anticipation in the fandom. Everyone wanted to see those games, and then it didn't happen.

To be honest, I still don't understand this reaction. What were they expecting? There's no real reason to care about any of the games that don't involve main characters, so the only part that ever could have showed up was the parts we already saw in Rainbow Falls and Flight to the Finish anyway.

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#207007: Jul 30th 2024 at 3:35:00 PM

[up]That the games would amount to more than a background for a Spike episode, which the season already did better and earlier with "Power Ponies"? But maybe the lack of an obvious alternative plot it why this proved minor and forgettable compared to other contentious episodes?

But I find few fan complaints address the logistics about how those fixes could have realistically been implemented. That might be another discussion.

From the Storm King's folder Characters.My Little Pony The Movie 2017:

  • Pragmatic Villainy: Subverted on both fronts.
    • The Storm King's actions seem to be driven by practicality and self-interest before other considerations, with little in the way of either genuine compassion or needless cruelty. He's very generous towards his soldiers and treats them extremely well, but this is simply to make sure they remain loyal to him as shown in The Movie where he discards and betrays his underlings once he thinks they're no longer needed. '''Seem like straight PV as he acted nice to them as long as it was beneficial.
    • He also doesn't bother to enforce his rule on the nations he overruns, since he doesn't want to get saddled with the minutiae of ruling and administrating, simply sacking them for all they're worth before moving on. Seems like straight PV as he's not oppressive beyond what's needed to achieve his goals.

The issue is it's only a single moment, backstabbing Tempest, that might count as a subversion (might because it's unknown if he actually could restore her horn, which would make preemptively backstabbing her the smart evildoing). Thoughts about revising accordingly?

Edited by Ferot_Dreadnaught on Jul 30th 2024 at 3:35:23 AM

SpongeGuy11 Since: Jun, 2018
#207008: Jul 30th 2024 at 5:43:01 PM

Weren't people more divisive with Power Ponies than Equestria Games as far as Spike episodes went?

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#207009: Jul 30th 2024 at 6:26:50 PM

Probably, yeah. The Equestria Games one was not so much divisive as just not liked that much.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#207010: Jul 31st 2024 at 9:19:47 AM

[up]"Equestria Games" might have not been liked, but compared to other disliked episodes which fans pretend it didn't happen or make fix fics over, they just ignore it as meh.

But what else could the episode had been about under the circumstances? (Just one episode to work with given how full Season 4 was, practically every other main character having had focus that Season.) Just having the games doesn't seem interesting/a fit for the series without any character story for it to serve.

Thoughts about the [up][up][up] Storm King's Pragmatic Villainy entry? Or is there someplace better to ask? (The pony cleanup thread has been inactive, which is why I ask here.)

Edited by Ferot_Dreadnaught on Jul 31st 2024 at 9:20:17 AM

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#207011: Jul 31st 2024 at 11:41:14 AM

I mean, we've had other episodes about ponies competing before, mainly between Applejack and Dash, it could work.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
KiraKiwi410 Since: Jun, 2024
#207012: Jul 31st 2024 at 12:40:32 PM

I only really remember Applejack and Rainbow Dash taking part in anything competition based during seasons 1-4, and that's mainly from "Fall Weather Friends" and "Castle Mania". Twilight took part in the former, but never did anything else competition based until, I think "Trivial Pursuit" in season 9. I'd say "Sonic Rainboom " for Rarity, but she didn't really do anything else competition based after that.

DoctorWTF Since: Jul, 2020
#207013: Jul 31st 2024 at 1:52:53 PM

[up]There's also "Non-Compete Clause" from Season 8, which was widely criticized for having Applejack and Rainbow Dash be so obsessed with competing (this time to win Teacher of the Month) as to put their students in danger. The fact that there were only two other episodes where they were actually competing with one another makes that one look even worse.

Edited by DoctorWTF on Jul 31st 2024 at 1:53:14 AM

SpongeGuy11 Since: Jun, 2018
#207014: Aug 2nd 2024 at 11:54:04 AM

Who would you all say is the dumbest and least intelligent among the Mane 6 and why? Is it Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, or Pinkie?

Afrovenator Since: May, 2021 Relationship Status: LET'S HAVE A ZILLION BABIES
#207015: Aug 2nd 2024 at 1:21:11 PM

In my eyes, they're all pretty smart. Ranking the girls based on how intelligent they are would depend on what standard you're using.

"You see, I had to trap Sonic in the hell dimension cause he disrespected gamers."
Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#207016: Aug 2nd 2024 at 1:29:13 PM

Well, dumb is probably too mean a word, but I think it would probably be Rainbow Dash. She canonically has difficulty learning in a school setting, doesn't like to read, and has a general disdain for "eggheads", which suggests she has a very low education level. Being a high school dropout would not be an unrealistic backstory for her.

Fluttershy is probably not very highly educated as well. I can see her finishing high school, but she probably went straight into animal care after that.

The next two are probably Pinkie and Applejack, both being farmers who probably only had a basic high school education and whatever specialized farm knowledge they could be taught at home. Applejack especially seems to fall into the street smarts (or is that country smarts) category. Applejack wouldn't really need any higher education, since anything she would need to learn for her profession she can learn on the job (there doesn't seem to be any agricultural schools), and Pinkie is the sort of party girl who wouldn't really be interested in any further education.

Rarity probably had the best education of the village, being a unicorn and likely having access to some prestigious Canterlot school, rather than what was available in the village. She certainly seems to have absorbed a lot of high culture from somewhere, and that would definitely not be Cherilee's classroom. She's also the one most likely to actually have had an apprenticeship of sorts to hone her fashion skills. She also seems to be the most studious pony after Twilight.

A Nd of course there is Twilight herself, who probably had the highest education this semi-medieval setting could provide: a prestigious unicorn high school, followed by a personal apprenticeship at court, no doubt surrounded by the country's best and brightest teachers and students. Twilight is a true intellectual, and has the education to match it. She could likely be a professor at any school she wanted to. I think only the likes of Starlight, sunburst and Moondancer are a match for her in her generation.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Chariot King of Anime Since: Jul, 2014
King of Anime
#207017: Aug 2nd 2024 at 9:05:11 PM

Personally I think the three smartest members of the Mane Six are probably Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Fluttershy in that order. Then Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Possibly switching Applejack and Pinkie pie around. Same with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Reason being that Twilight Sparkle was taught by the princess herself, Rarity seems to come from a high class family, and Fluttershy's job probably requires some degree of specialized education. That and those three just seem smart in their own right even with their flaws taken into acount.

And honestly Rainbow Dash's job seems like the kind of job that would require their world's equivalent of a college education to me (Winter Wrap Up notwithstanding.) while I could see Applejack not having more than an elementary or middle school level of education. Though I guess with her potentially being set up to take over the business it's possible she might have some degree of college education. Maybe something like an Associate's Degree in Business at the very least. Depending on how realistic you want to take things.

I think Pinkie Pie is an apprentice for the Cakes so I guess you could argue she's the only one that's actively going through some sort of schooling (Twilight Sparkle is basically a college dropout after the first episode though it doesn't matter given the circumstances behind her dropping out and that she ends up basically taking over at least one country if not an entire continent or more in the end.) during the course of the series.

Edited by Chariot on Aug 2nd 2024 at 12:06:25 PM

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#207018: Aug 3rd 2024 at 1:59:58 AM

Twilight doesn't drop out so much as she gets an impromptu internship. Which was the plan all along, apparently.

The whole three first seasons of the show is basically a mystery internship where you don't get told what job you're interning for until you finish the internship and graduate. And then you suddenly get crowned a princess.

[up] You make good points, but I don't think Dash got any college education, she basically learned on the job.

Also, there don't seem to be any colleges. Anything higher than elementary or thereabouts seems to run on the apprenticeship model.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#207019: Aug 3rd 2024 at 10:28:00 AM

Post of the Week #3618

Heh, I know about those, read the trilogy as a kid.

Dess was always my favorite character, she made being a polymath sound like the most awesome thing ever. Melissa was also cool, could relate to her most.

Feels like a wasted premise, would have loved to see other groups. The idea of an extra hour in the day where time stops and you get full use of a psychic talent is pretty awesome.

And it all ends on a pretty bittersweet ending, which left me unsatisfyed. But, still the journey's better than the destination.

Posted by darkabomination on Sun, 14th Sep '14 6:52:39 PM - Post #89523 in the new thread

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
DoctorWTF Since: Jul, 2020
#207020: Aug 3rd 2024 at 8:41:07 PM

[up][up] Plus the episode "Amending Fences" had a flashback to Twilight at a standard classroom at the School for Gifted Unicorns. So the whole "Celestia's personal student" thing probably amounted to private lessons on top of a standard education in the ways of magic.

And as an engineer, I've sometimes wondered if engineering schools are a thing in Equestria. Their tech level looks like they'd at least be in the process of transitioning from a pure apprenticeship-based system to more formal education. Plus there's the statement from one of the staff to the effect that their more advanced technology runs on magic - perhaps Celestia's school offers a Magitek specialization?

Afrovenator Since: May, 2021 Relationship Status: LET'S HAVE A ZILLION BABIES
#207021: Aug 3rd 2024 at 9:30:50 PM

People seem to forget that Pinkie's organization and memory skills are on par with Twilight. I can't really give a proper ranking since there's alot more to how intelligent someone than just using education as a baseline. Like yeah, RD sucks in a school environment but has insane memory and perception skills.

"You see, I had to trap Sonic in the hell dimension cause he disrespected gamers."
Chariot King of Anime Since: Jul, 2014
King of Anime
#207022: Aug 3rd 2024 at 11:31:22 PM

The setting is vague but given that we know schools exist and that the Mane Six are supposed to be adults, I can only assume colleges also exist and that we just don't see them because they're not really relevant during the timeframe of the show. Though it is up to interpretation either way.

NitroIndigo ♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves from West Midlands region, England Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
#207023: Aug 4th 2024 at 12:47:55 AM

Flim and Flam start a university in a season 8 episode.

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#207024: Aug 4th 2024 at 12:49:41 AM

We were talking about education levels, not intelligence. And that reasoning goes both ways. You can be naturally very intelligent, but if you have a low education, that is not going to count for much.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Afrovenator Since: May, 2021 Relationship Status: LET'S HAVE A ZILLION BABIES
#207025: Aug 4th 2024 at 2:43:29 PM

I was speaking in regards to the original question.

"You see, I had to trap Sonic in the hell dimension cause he disrespected gamers."

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