My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

Favourite pony out of the main bunch?

  • Twilight Sparkle

    Votes: 25 16.6%

  • Pinkie Pie

    Votes: 29 19.2%

  • Applejack

    Votes: 13 8.6%

  • Rainbow Dash

    Votes: 31 20.5%

  • Rarity

    Votes: 18 11.9%

  • Fluttershy

    Votes: 35 23.2%
  • Total voters
    151
Your toad avatar has more colors than the spectrum bro. They clash more than the titans.
 
no they don't.

they're all siphoned off into little color bubbles, and they all follow the same pastel theme.

but off topic, I guess.
 
So as I've said before, I'm kind of on the fence about "Bats!". I don't really hate it; I liked it more then Power Ponies last week, but it still didn't do that much for me. I said that I'd be looking at some reviews to help re-evaluate my opinion on it... so here's some, in case anyone else is interested:


It's interesting what DigiBrony said, in that he loves this episode, but doesn't find much value in it other then just being a fun episode to watch. I also like his comment about each new episode seeming to try and one-up the last one in terms of the crazy *bleep* they'll reveal, because that DEFINITELY feels like it's the case, so far. DigiBrony's comment on the lesson is humorous, while also kind of true... AJ didn't seem to learn a lesson, she just did this because the other plan didn't work. Unless I'm missing something. Speaking of missing something, I find it hard to believe that people were surprised that Flutterbat would be a thing; even if he didn't see the preview clips, he seemed to assume Fluttershy's drooling was something else entirely, instead of foreshadowing what was to come... I think that's a little interesting, in the sense that a lot of people can interpret what I consider the "obvious" in many ways.

His rant on Twilight... I didn't even think about that (other then the fact that she also immediately sided with Applejack like everyone else), but it's so true! It feels like, ONCE AGAIN, we have another episode where the fact that Twilight is an alicorn princess is IGNORED, and the episode treats it like if Twilight was just her normal unicorn self. Again, this is kind of what I was afraid of, the "big change" not actually changing a whole lot. :ugh:

Also, thank GOODNESS DigiBrony thought the same exact thing I thought when it came to Twilight's plan and the trap to change Flutterbat back! THANK YOU, DIGIBRONY!!! ...Though I do think it's ironic that he calls "season 3" the "good ol' days".


Tommy Oliver/BronyCurious brings up another point I overlooked. Fluttershy ISN'T a doormat in this episode! Granted she eventually goes along with what her friends want her to do, but the fact that she stands her ground until then is definitely admirable, especially during that song sequence. Also, her "domineering over animals" thing, I hadn't really thought about, but when you look at how the writers treat "the stare", I guess it's not surprising to think that way. The comparisons to Suited For Success is also interesting, since I thought the mane 6 sans Rarity were a little... well, mean, to be so ungrateful about free dresses, not to mention the dresses weren't that bad at all, but that's just me. So yeah, the two episodes are very similar in that regard, not to mention they're also the biggest issues I take with those episodes. Granted, with Suited for Success was the ONLY issue I took with that episode, and this one definitely has more problems that's going to take some work to overlook, but... I don't know where I was going with that.

DigiBrony, BronyCurious complains about Twilight, though in this case, it's about how many times Twilight has to cast a spell before realizing her magic only created more problems. Again, it's something I didn't think about, but it only furthers DigiBrony's argument, in that AS an alicorn princess, and having learned this lesson at LEAST twice before, she should know better! I personally thought the "progression" thing was pointless, since we only see her ears change and nothing else after that, but yeah, thanks BronyCurious, for adding even MORE unanswered implications to this episode!

That last thing BronyCurious said feels like a nice counter to what DigiBrony said; instead of just using Fluttershy's plan a try since plan one didn't work, she now understands that the vampire fruit bats aren't just evil creatures needed to be dealt with, but are living creatures as well. I think I appreciate that more.

Also, BronyCurious keeps mentioning "pop culture" references, would anyone mind explaining what those are? When I think "pop culture" references, I think of Animaniacs and the like, where they refer to stuff in the real world, and modern culture. I didn't see anything in the episode that did that, at least deliberately.


This other guy, I haven't seen his work before, so this is his first video I'm watching. He brings up another point I overlooked... This is supposed to be a CHILDREN'S cartoon... A show intended for young girls no less! Yet to it's target audience, it would scary as all Hell! I didn't find it that scary, but I'm a grown man! The imagery in this episode, as well as the concept, it feels a little... Well, I think DigiBrony and BronyCurious said it, in that this season seems to be very experimental, moreso then the last season. Writers are just throwing "out-there" concepts, probably because they now can. ...Now I know what Meghan McCarthy said, when she described this season as "ambitious"...

And again, this guy points out the fact that the vampire fruit bats would starve (same as DigiBrony), and it's exactly like Swarm of the Century (just like BronyCurious)! I'm so glad other people are catching onto what I caught onto. Again, not wanting to jump on the Merriweather Williams hate-train, but it feels like lack of thought is a consistent thing in her episodes...

I also like what this guy said that this PROBABLY isn't a "batpony", but rather, she's just slowly transforming into a vampire fruit bat. So yeah, what they're gushing on about on Equestria Daily isn't really what they think it is. Not that they'd care... Also, intriguing explanation for how Fluttershy became Flutterbat.
 
ernesth100 said:
But the ending to bats was amazing!
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I personally am conflicted, leaning more on annoying.

On the one hand, I think it's cool that Fluttershy might keep some of her vampire fruit bat traits. On the other hand, I'm getting sick of all these teases this season.
 
ernesth100 said:
Teases it what keeps it going. All teasers. I watch teasers now teases are cool.
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Problem is, with me and this show, things that are teased either usually never end up happening or are a huge let-down. For example, I was hoping Peewee would be a new addition, as it was the only thing I liked about Dragon Quest, only to have him/her be written out of the show. Another example is Sombra, we see his horn blasted off, and since he had such a lacking presence in The Crystal Empire, i was expecting a comeback... only for Meghan McCarthy to admit he's been killed off for good (in additon to saying she didn't get across what she wanted well enough in the episode, and that King Sombra is her least favorite character).

Plus continuity has always been a really fickle think in MLP:FiM, sometimes things come back, but most of the time it's either ignored or in some cases contradicted or retconned. With all THAT in mind, I can't bring myself to get excited about these teases.
 

Admittedly, he does raise a few points... but then again, those are his own personal points. What do the rest of you guys think of season 4 so far?

For me personally, I feel like it's like an extension of season 3, which... isn't that much of a good thing. What I mean by that was that not only were things in season 3 that basically set up season 4, but I also mean that it felt very... "experimental", and more importantly, it felt like the writers were doing stuff just to show that they could do it. You know, fan favorites returning, having two episodes connected to each other, setting up big things to come... Some of these are all well and good... if they were that good to begin with.

Now, I don't want to start anything, I know that PLENTY of you probably like season 3 and like the direction season 4's going, but speaking purely for myself, a lot of what the staff is doing feels like they're just doing stuff for the sake of doing it. Keep Calm and Flutter On in particular feels like a blatant fan fiction made canon, REGARDLESS of whether or not it was a good episode. Magic Duel had the excuse of being planned for season 2, but this episode just feels like deliberately bringing back a fan favorite, without really thinking about how they'd utilize Discord when he inevitably did "reform". Also, having Just for Sidekicks connected with Games Ponies Play was an interesting concept, but they didn't really do much with it other then show us what Spike was doing while the mane 6 was at the Crystal Empire... which is cool, yes, but it's kind of parallel with my problem with the show as a whole: cool ideas without much substance.

It's times like this that I wish Lauren Faust remained the showrunner; while not meaning to disrespect the work and love the current staff are doing, they're mostly just doing whatever for the sake of whatever. Lauren had a clear vision, she knew what she wanted to do with the show, she had ideas and plans for the characters. It's clear that Hasbro has given the staff a LOT of freedom, freedom which was denied for Lauren, and may or may not have been one of the reasons she left the show. Speaking from my personal perspective, it feels like the staff now have the power that Lauren Faust probably would have liked to get her ideas across, but now don't see to have anything to do with this new power other then see what they can do and get away with. It kind of breaks my heart, in a way.

Like BronyCurious said, it MIGHT be a bit too early to really judge the season, after all, it's not even halfway over, but from the looks of things, while there are hints at a broader story narrative, there's just so much that they're doing, it almost lacks a bit of focus. That sort of thing might work better with a show like Adventure Time, where it's all about random adventures and not having a lot of focus sometimes, and I'm definitely not saying this season isn't that good. On the contrary, I think I'm already liking it more then season 3. There's just... something about it. It's different, but not different in the way we were expecting... and certainly not different in the way we were meant to believe (again, Twilight's new status doesn't seem to factor in a lot of episodes, even in cases where it would be useful, i.e. Daring Don't).

Now I know what Meghan McCarthy meant when she called season 4 "Ambitious"...

But that's just me. Still a little shaky, but IMO okay with all this. What do the rest of you think?
 
Is it like they're running out of ideas? I mean, by season 4 for a kids show means that you're going to have to dig deep to think of new ideas. Especially for a show that generally has a set universe, and thus, is less likely to get away with just random characters or plot elements just being introduced for that episode "just because". A show like Adventure Time can get away with stuff easily, because we still don't know everything about their universe, they can just make stuff up. But in MLP they can't.

Also, yeah, I noticed how pandering some of season 3 was. I think that's the problem with listening to fans: while some fans have great ideas, not all of them are particularly great writers, and even if they watch all the episodes, they won't know as much about the characters as the writers do. Look at Double Rainboom.
 
New episode!

This episode really captured Rarity an so many ways. I definitely think it was one of the best Rarity episodes so far, if not the best. It definitely showed who Rarity is, at her best, and at her worse.
 
So this was an interesting situation. Because I was tired, and since my family was watching a game for most of the day, it was awkward trying to find a time to watch this episode... But I did! Eventually. I ended up watching while my mom was preparing something in the next room over. She also happened to watch part of the episode when it aired, and she really liked it.

And I do, too! Like, seriously, Rarity Takes Manehatten might just be my new favorite episode of season 4, to the point where I felt it topped Sweet and Elite! Maybe it's too soon to judge, but I can't help it, I just adored this episode! What's even more shocking is that Dave Polsky wrote this episode! But you know what, I don't even care! I'm just too overwhelmed by how much I love this episode to even think about how this compares to Polsky's previous episodes! Hell, it might be the best episode he's ever written, but even that doesn't quite describe it! Even with his better episodes, there have always big niggling problems I had with it, some minor, some REALLY affect how much I like an episode, but here there's none of that! Yeah, there were a few brief moments here and there, but seriously, it all just felt so good, so positive, so awesome, I can't even begin to describe it! Like where to I even start?

...Well, I guess the beginning is a good place to start. I'd say this episode started out right, Spike tries to carry Rarity's bags (we'll get to what I think of this later) while Rarity and everypony is all happy about going to Manehatten, made even happier when Rarity reveals several tickets! I don't know about the rest of you, but I found it OH-SO SATISFYING when Pinkie was going on one of her (frankly, pretty annoying) spiels about what it is, and Rarity just interrupts her and says they're tickets to this musical, some kind of parody of The Sound or Music or whatever. Like, thank goodness. If I didn't say this before, I'll say it here: Pinkie being annoying isn't funny. It's annoying. In fact, most of the writers attempts at humor with her usually fall flat with me. So I got a lot of joy (maybe even a giggle) when Rarity just cut her off like that. Though I have to admit, when everypony else is celebrating, Pinkie, who doesn't seem to realize what's going on, joins in because everypony else is happy and jumping! THAT was funny, and cute!

Then we go to Manehatten! My mom really liked hot it looked just like New York, and I KIND of appreciated that, I was a little distracted so I didn't QUITE take it all in. In fact, a lot of this episode kind of when over my head, since I was a bit distracted with my family being there (my dad was asleep next to me, my younger sister was watching something, with earplugs, on her computer, and my mom, as I said, was cooking something). Still, seeing the various characters and places, it's all really nice.

What else was nice was the song, I think. The build-up, with Rainbow Dash (who's actually looking forward to the musical) complains about ponies singing spontaneously out of nowhere only for Rarity to spontaneously sing out of nowhere was... kind of funny, I guess. I never had a problem with musicals, I only have a problem with the music IN musicals. But as to this song, SO many references in this song, most of which I probably won't get. I HAVE been to New York before so I recognize all the sights, but I feel like there are references to TV shows or something that I'm also missing... Think the show might be going overboard with the references? Eh, that's a topic for another time. One reference in particular I'll bring up later. But the song itself... gosh, I need to hear it again, but I'm sure it was good! Not great, not as catchy as Hearts as Strong as Horses, not as interesting (to me) as the song in Bats!, but still good.

So Rarity's personality in this episode. This seems to be in response to all of Rarity's haters, who are thoroughly convinced that Rarity is selfish, vain, and petty. This episode does a good job at reminding us just what element Rarity is, as her generosity is rewarded in various ways. Hell, most of the time, she doesn't expect anything in return, she just does it out of her good nature. In fact... it's a bit like Suited for Success, where she selflessly makes dresses for her friends, except here she's doing it to complete strangers, and here, it's shown that these same strangers do good things in return to Rarity for her kindness! Hey... I feel like this is familiar, somehow... OF COURSE! It's the same thing as the main theme for Wander Over Yonder! In the show, Wander always does good deeds, and more often then not, it's shown that Wander's good deed are always the right thing to do, and a few episodes showcase that doing a good deed results in something good for you in return. That's not the case in ever episode, in face in one episode, it shows almost all of Wander's good deeds backfiring, but the show as a whole is about one thing: you can be nice like Wander or you can be a Hater. I THINK the show wants you to choose to be nice, but then again, while Lord Hater loses a lot, he still gets his way a few times (when Wander's not involved); after all, he didn't become leader of a huge empire for nothing!

Anyway, back to this episode, I like the moral it presents, to basically be good while being wary of people who will exploit your good nature. That rival of Rarity's, she's a neat character. I can't really describe that much about her, but I like that she's super nice at first only to reveal her true colors. What else I like about her is that she's just enough of a bitch to make you know she's a bitch, but not TOO bitchy that it gets obnoxious, like with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon (who, incidentally, don't feel that obnoxious this season, personally). I also like her assistant, she's really sweet, but just working with the wrong people.

I also really like the scene where Rarity's working the rest of the mane 6 hard. I THINK we're supposed to hate her in this scene, but honestly, I can't find myself doing so. After all, her actions feel justified; her kindness was just exploited and used against her. Plus, this isn't like Sweet & Elite, where she's neglecting the kindness of Twilight, who's the whole reason she's in Canterlot in the first place; here, the mane 6 are here because of her. And yeah, it may seem mean to not let them go to the musical, which is the whole reason why they're here, but come on, try to look at this from Rarity's point of view! She's under a lot of stress, she just saw her element used against her, and now she thinks that her friends are about to abuse her kindness just like the rival pony did. Of course, they don't, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for her here.

Best of all, though, she immediately learns her lesson. During her part in the fashion show (the dress with the key necklace felt like a bit of a stretch, the other dresses were great though! Plus, Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores, and Photo Finish in the audience! :D ), Rarity realizes she abused her friend's faith, trust, and loyalty, immediately runs out to say she's sorry. That part where she thinks her friends left, and the song that followed, that was a pretty sad moment... It wasn't a emotional punch to the gut like the reprise of BBBFF in A Canterlot Wedding, but it's still quite sad and I definitely felt it. Which makes it all the more satisfying to see the mane 6 turn up, admitting that they... overslept? I'll get to that, too. Anyway, they apologize, but Rarity apologizes more, thinking she didn't win but doesn't care, and realizing that her friends are far more important, especially going through what they did for her sake.

And then they celebrated by a special performance of that musical they missed! Amazing how Rarity managed to pull the strings that much to make such an arrangement! Though one has to wonder what it's like to perform in front of only 6 ponies and a dragon. Regardless, we get a joke about Rainbow Dash loving this musical or whatever, then the assistant reveals that Rarity won, and she decides to work for Rarity now, filling in the order Rarity promised. One COULD say Rarity was shifting the work onto someone else, but honestly, compared to her other boss, I feel like this is a good arrangement. I mean, this pony already lives in Manehatten, plus Rarity's guaranteed to be a nicer, more generous boss then the other girl (yeah, as you can tell, I haven't exactly memorized all the new pony names). As a thank you, the pony gives Rarity a small gift (was she going to give that gift regardless of whether or not Rarity hired her?), and it turns out to be a spool of rainbow thread, that shimmers like that thing in front of where the mane 6 were going to sit for the fashion show (yeah, I forget what that's called, sorry).

So yeah, that's all the great things I had to say about the episode! I could probably go on, but I don't want to at the moment... Besides, it's time to get onto the more ugly part of my post: the "bad" stuff. Really, though, since this episode is awesome and I love it, these really are just nitpicks, as well as some of my overthinking from what I got out of the episode.

First off, Spike. Some would say Rarity's still somehow a bad pony for making Spike carry all of that, but since Spike has a crush on Rarity, I feel like it's more his own doing then Rarity's. Instead, I'm just going to comment on how tired of how the writers keep making Spike their personal "butt monkey", and doing terrible things to make him suffer just because. Granted, what they do is nowhere near the lengths of what, say, Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants or Meg from Family Guy goes through, but it still isn't that funny. Especially when Rarity give shim a hot carrot dog or whatever and a bird immediately grabs it before Spike could eat it. Seriously, what the Hell?!

Second, Grumpy Cat. Yeah, there was a teaser image of Facebook about a guy with a Grumpy Cat cutie mark. The reference isn't that distracting, though I still have to admit, seeing an Internet meme in a show like this... it feels like a new low. I wasn't all that bothered by references before, but after seeing these two videos:



I've become a bit more sensitive to them. Still, I kind of get what they were going for here; they wanted to have a grumpy guy for Rarity to cheer up with her generosity and kind nature (again, a lot like Wander Over Yonder), and I guess they wanted a cutie mark to help represent how grumpy he is... Well, first off, couldn't you have just done a storm cloud, or a frowning face or something? Second of all, what's his special talent with a cutie mark like that? Third, you DO realize that "Grumpy Cat" isn't really grumpy, that's just how her face naturally looks, right? Ah, whatever, this really is a nitpick to end all nitpicks, since it doesn't distract from the episode at hand and isn't important in the slightest.

Third, if there's one MAJOR issue this episode has, and if there is a truly glaring flaw that might hinder the episode, it's the timing of everything. I'm literally confused about when certain things happen and the timeframe of this change of events... So Rarity realizes she's almost late for this meeting with the head designer or whatever, and she makes it on time with seconds to spare, she gives her fabric to the rival pony, then... it's later? Was it the next day? Maybe I didn't pay attention to what the head designer pony said, but some amount of time happened between Rarity arriving just in time and this new meeting where she apparently arrived a half-hour early, because the rival pony had enough time to redo her outfits to look like Rarity's... But that was only a little confusing. The MOST confusing thing is the next day, where Rarity makes it to the fashion show with her new dresses, and her friends didn't show up... She thinks they left, but apparently they overslept... Uh, no they didn't, they were clearly awake when Rarity left for the fashion show! What, did they just decide to take a quick nap before going? Granted, that would be justified, except the episode makes it sound like they legitimately slept through the night, since it didn't look like there was that much time between Rarity leaving for the fashion show and the fashion show starting. This is probably the only moment where I peg this on Dave Polsky, his episodes do have problems with pacing. Again, it didn't do much to hinder MY enjoyment, but it's still a legitimate flaw.

Fourth, those freaking gems are back. This was a problem I had in Just for Sidekicks, how can gems that are easily found underground just about anywhere and can be freely eaten by dragons like Spike with no one caring have ANY KIND OF VALUE WHATSOEVER?! What was wrong with giving these people bits?! No, seriously, why didn't Rarity give the bellboy bits, there is no reason for this at all! Is it because Rarity's all about gems? Again, it feels like there was little thought put into this at all, and that really saddens me. I would have thought they learned that lesson from Just for Sidekicks. Oy...

Fifth, Applejack's blunt honest. Now, I sympathize a lot with Rarity, but I do admit she pushed her friends a bit too hard. I DIDN'T think she was rotten, though, I feel like that's going a bit overboard. Regardless of that, Applejack's bluntness comes right the Hell out of nowhere! I mean, yeah, Applejack's the element of honesty, but she was never THIS blunt or brutally honest. In fact, she's usually a lot more considerate with her honesty. The fact that she just straight up says this without any sugar-coating or any kind of remorse for saying this, it just really took me off guard. But, I suppose it's all good, Rarity DID feel incredibly guilty about herself, and probably saw herself as that... still, I don't think we needed that re-enforced...

Seeing the bus go across that bridge reminded me of the Super Nintendo game, EarthBound. I suppose that makes sense, seeing as EarthBound is all about satirizing American culture.

...I THINK that's just about everything! Yeah, I think that's it, there isn't really anything else in the episode I wanted to comment on-OH WAIT! I just realized something... the episode ended... with Rarity opening the present from that assistant pony... and the episode fades out on that rainbow thread spool... ANOTHER FLIPPING TEASE! This didn't make me as angry as last week, though... that might have to do with the fact that I 100% love this episode, but I think there's something else to this...

Yeah... all these teases? They're leading up to something. I mean, this string of teases, this doesn't feel like a coincidence. At first I was annoyed, but the fact that every episode so far teased at something, it really does lead me to believe that it's all going to come back. I mean, maybe not all of it, maybe the Pony of Shadows, that disappearing comic book, and Fluttershy's fang aren't leading up to anything, but the locked chest, the Equestria Games, and now this rainbow thread? They DEFINITELY are! I'm actually a little curious about where that assistant got that thread, or it's significance... It feels like it'll be important, the way it shines... Still, while last week I was annoyed and highly doubted that any of these will be addressed later on, I feel like now, they really are leading us up to something...

And that's about it! PHEW, that was fun! The most fun I've had this season! Like seriously, this might just be my favorite episode so far this season, and one of my new overall favorites of the show! The fact that it reminded me a lot of Wander Over Yonder's positive tone might have something to do with it! Anyway, here's to next week's episode, Pinkie and Apple Family bonding, and newbie writer Natasha Levinger! This episode will be hard to top, but still, no pressure!
 
Well, ponies clap sometimes, when they don't stomp to substitute applause.

BTW, DigiBrony's "review" of the episode:


And Tommy Oliver/BronyCurious's review:


...Also, something I REALLY want to bring up. According to this video:


Apparently, Josh Haber admitted in an AMA that the "Pony of Shadows" was just an ending gag. So it was pretty much what I originally thought, and that's lame. BEYOND lame, actually. Like, I hated how cliche that episode felt, and just throwing that out there, for the sake of paying homage to Scooby-Doo, it just frustrated me so much. Also, like Tommy suggested, this may lead me to believe that ALL the ending gags we've been getting aren't leading to anything, and like Tommy said, that's really stupid and pointless, as well as annoying, ESPECIALLY since we've been promised better continuity this season! It's like the writers are deliberately trying to mess with our heads with this shit!

Well, at least Meghan McCarthy teased that the rainbow thread will be important.
 
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