My Little Pony

[Zixinus]

I fairly liked this one, even though I probably sided with more with Cranky than Pinkie.

Oh, and I like how we see a little continuity with Dash reading what looks like a Daring Doo book. As well as how they handled non-pony residents a bit (then again, maybe i1m just talking too much to evilsoup).

The song was pretty damn hyper in all sorts of way.

[lordofchange13]

I really enjoyed this episode
except for one thing this episode was put together very well: Why does it seem like Cranky aged alot more then Matilda?

[Wing Commander MAD]

I really enjoyed this episode
except for one thing this episode was put together very well: Why does it seem like Cranky aged alot more then Matilda?

He said he's spent the intervening years travelling Equestria in search of her, from the looks of it on foot. I imagine a lifetime on the road does a fair number on the human pony body.

[Zixinus]

You mean donkey?

[Rabid]

Derpy, why do we always find you in the strangest places ?

(Anyone here apart from me spotted here ?)

[open_sketchbook]

Pinkie's ability to warp reality is getting much more extensive.

[Wing Commander MAD]

You mean donkey?

See kids, this why you don't try to be clever. Fine. He said he's spent the intervening years travelling Equestria in search of her, from the looks of it on foot. I imagine a lifetime on the road does a fair number on the human pony donkey body.

Derpy, why do we always find you in the strangest places ?

(Anyone here apart from me spotted here ?)

Yes. Spoiler

Flying inside the snow globe of Manehatten.

[RogueIce]

I gotta say, while I do enjoy Pinkie Pie songs, none of them really managed to stand out for me.

That is, until today. Pinkie's "Smile" song was great. It really does drive home what we all knew: that making her friends happy really is her entire purpose for being. This is what she lives for. And the little bits with those two fillies she took for a ride on Big Mac's cart and Apple Bloom drive home that she is very much compelled to try and cheer people up if she sees them feeling down. She just can't help herself.

Which makes sense, of course, due to Cutie Mark Chronicles. A good chunk of her childhood was pretty much no fun and being dreary. That clearly had an effect on her, and she just can't let anypony else go through that. Even if it's only a temporary bit of unhappiness. Yes she can go too far and annoy those she's trying to help, but well it makes sense when you consider her history.

Yeah, this is stuff anypony would already know about her from watching the show, but well they summed it up nicely in a song today so I decided to orate upon it again. I love the writers.

[madd0ct0r]

You mean donkey?

See kids, this why you don't try to be clever. Fine. He said he's spent the intervening years travelling Equestria in search of her, from the looks of it on foot hoof. I

fixed that for you.

[Revy]

Nopony can escape the Pinkie! Seriously, she would be the most awesome bounty hunter ever. I wish we'd get the chance to see her family at some point, even one of them. Incidentally, is the filly Peachy Pie any relation? Or do they just share the same last name?

Rainbow Dash reading Daring Do was nice. I want more Daring Do!

Great episode, liked it a lot, and I loved the Smile song.

[Wing Commander MAD]

You mean donkey?

See kids, this why you don't try to be clever. Fine. He said he's spent the intervening years travelling Equestria in search of her, from the looks of it on foot hoof. I

fixed that for you.

That's it, I give up.

[madd0ct0r]

I liked the episode, manic depression has never been so caring.

Is it me, or is Pinkie Pie the only cartoon character in the setting?

[LadyTevar]

And yet Pinkie still has problems making Pumpkin and Pound Cake smile without nearly harming herself.

[lordofchange13]

And yet Pinkie still has problems making Pumpkin and Pound Cake smile without nearly harming herself.

That is because the 2 baby's are part of the new generation, they only see violence/pain as entertaining.

[Serafina]

Best Pinkie Pie episode yet. While Baby Cakes illustrated her weakness, this one definitely showed her strengths and why she is a good friend to have.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

This episode even had a song that I didn't dislike. That's rare, I don't usually like the music on this show, but I couldn't help but chuckle during this one.

My favorite part of this episode though? "I'm sorry, was that your wig? Don't worry, I'll fix it. *climbs flagpole, yells with megaphone* Does anybody have a toupee? This donkey's REALLY BALD!"
Not an exact quote, but close enough. I hadn't laughed that hard all day.

[Kuja]

Is it me, or is Pinkie Pie the only cartoon character in the setting?

It's one of the reasons I don't particularly care for the character.

And I didn't especially like the episode's conclusion.

[Zixinus]

Oh, I sort of agree. I was hoping that the conclusion would be that some people ponies just take time and patience to warm up to someone.

Instead, we got this romance-thing pulled out. Of course, Matilda was shown quite early so we can't say that it's out of the blue.

But I don't really mind. It's a kid show about colorful ponies after all.

[Kuja]

But I don't really mind. It's a kid show about colorful ponies after all.

Warning: incoming ramble

The point that MLP is a kid's show is fair enough, it's true that the writers are trying to make plats to draw in a very young audience, so you're not going to get the kind of deep, nuanced stories you'd get in a more adult work of fiction. But frankly, that hasn't stopped the show from producing episodes like "Suited for Success" or "The Best Night Ever" both of which were pretty mature in their content and messages, and didn't sink down to the level of mindless entertainment. Hell, the whole point of Best Night Ever might as well have been quoted from the Stones: "you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you'll get what you need."

The conclusion of this episode, though, is pretty much the opposite. It's clear that the moral from Cranky's point of view (and the one the writers want us to walk away with) is along the lines of "don't shut other people out - open up and maybe something good will happen."

But what's the moral from Pinkie (the star character's) point of view?

"If someone doesn't want to be your friend, hound them. Keep on them, day and night. If they get mad, just keep badgering them. Break their will! They won't be your friend? There must be something wrong with them! Everyone wants to have friends! Snoop around in their personal stuff! Find their deep, dark secret! They will be your friend! You're the god, YOU'RE THE INFALLIBLE GOD OF FRIENDSHIP! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

ahem

I often take issue with the way the MLP writes handle Pinkie. This isn't the first episode where I feel they've mishandled the chracter, but I do think this is the most egregious it's gotten since "Party of One."

I mean, I get it. They want Pinkie to be the happy, bubbly, cheery, friendly valley girl. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, but there's a difference between bubbly and vapid, and I really think that too often the MLP writers handle Pinkie in a fashion that makes her fall firmly on the latter side, and she ends up just feeling weird compared to the rest of the cast, like she's supposed to be in a wholly different series.

Episodes like the babysitting and the one with Glenda the gryphon handled Pinkie right, I felt. She has her limits. She's not brainless. She'll step in and say "maybe pranking Fluttershy isn't a good idea." In this case, though, the writers pretty much pulled a deus ex machina out of their asses to justify her behavior, and that's just not necessary. Why can't Pinkie be taught the lesson that sometimes to make friends you need to throttle it down a bit? That Cranky might deal warm up to her a bit better if she relaxed the overtures a bit? Cranky's not a bad guy, after all, just a bit of a cantankerous loner, and there's nothing wrong with that. Instead we've got this bizarre "all or nothing" scenario in which Pinkie MUST have him as a friend NOW or else she's going to suffer some kind of emotional breakdown because there's one guy in Ponyville she's not on good terms with. That's what I'm taking about when I say she crosses the line from bubbly and cheerful into vapid.

Too often, Pinkie just comes across as (for want of a better term) a cartoon character. And when the show really puts time and effort into developing rounded, realistic, down-to-earth characters (Rarity, Twilight and Luna are three I think they've done well) it just feels bizarre. I think Pinkie's character would go a lot farther if the writers pulled back a bit and gave her more depth instead of the way they've been handling her.

[Revy]

Why can't Pinkie be taught the lesson that sometimes to make friends you need to throttle it down a bit? That Cranky might deal warm up to her a bit better if she relaxed the overtures a bit? Cranky's not a bad guy, after all, just a bit of a cantankerous loner, and there's nothing wrong with that.

I get the feeling that was the lesson they were either trying or supposed to convey, as the Friendship report says:

Dear Princess Celestia, there are many different kinds of friends, and many ways to express friendship. Some friends like to run and laugh and play together. But others just like to be left alone, and that's fine too. But the best thing about friendship is being able to make your friends smile.

The thing is, at no point does Pinkie ever really demonstrate that. She doesn't make friends with Cranky by toning it down and giving him space (as you suggest, and as the report itself suggests). Instead, she makes friends with him by reuniting him with his lost love. That isn't the lesson at all. In this case she figured out what was bothering him and fixed it, and if his lost love wasn't conveniently around, Cranky would have gone right on hating Pinkie and would not be friends with her by the end of the episode. There's no indication I can see that Pinkie figured out her approach was OTT and wrong, not until the last five seconds when she had to give her report, and even then she's still invading his privacy and annoying him.

I did enjoy the episode, but yeah, the resolution bugs me a little. They could have wrapped things up better than that.

[Zixinus]

Yes, I often get the impression that the writers mess up the friendship report and what actually happened in the episode. This was especially the case with Mare Do Well.

[Irbis]

Yeah, I agree. I love Pinkie when she has problems. When she isn't at the top, so to say, coming as some sort of cartoonish Deus Ex Machina. When she tried to deal with the children, for example, and had to rely on her wits, not random acts of gods, to succeed. That is, when there is any tension, not tensionless fiat literally bending the plot her way.

I liked this episode. It was too bubbly at times, but overall, had a lot of good moments. But, the one thing it didn't have (and the only thing it needed badly) was comeuppance coming to Pinkie. Some sort of realization that her acts have consequences, and that she was making matters worse. Something to make her stop and rethink what she was doing. She almost did that talking to Twilight, but... Immediately, she just forgets the lesson and charges again.

I mean, what would happen if Matilda wasn't living in village? Pinkie would have ruined the only good memory Cranky had forever. Pinkie also humiliated him in front of the whole village (ok, this one was more due to her lack of socialization, but still...) - and, what's worst, never offered any sort of reparation for it. Hounding him with "apology"? That only made things worse, if anything. Sorry, you'd need to do a lot better that that, Pinkie. Cranky had every reason possible to hate you... And yet, in the end, it's all undone by another fiat act of god that lets Pinkie find his love. But, that wasn't reparation. Not really. Cranky would meet her eventually, and while it was enough to mend relations somewhat, he should have went to neutral again, not sudden BFF, IMHO. That part felt awkward, and gave Pinkie little to no opportunity for character growth.

Also, moment of fridge logic - we see mules living in Ponyville. Matilda seems to be the only donkey here. Maybe Cranky is due to a pretty big shock?

[Rossum]

Also, moment of fridge logic - we see mules living in Ponyville. Matilda seems to be the only donkey here. Maybe Cranky is due to a pretty big shock?

I only know of the mule in Applebuck Season and he seemed to be at least Twilights age. Though... considering that Raritys parents didn't seem to have grey hair and Matildas appearance... eh, trying to judge the relative age of cartoon equines doesn't seem likely to work.

Anyway, it seems more probable that the mule from Applebuck Season was from out of town and was just looking for work or something (probably works with one of the other farms now since Sweet Apple Acres is mainly family owned and operated).

On the other hoof, It seems kind of unrealistic to assume Matilda spent her whole life waiting for Cranky. She could have had a brief relationship with a pony, had a child, had the relashionship end, and kept thinking about Cranky till she found him again.

I like to think that if such a situation came up in a fanfic then Cranky would be understanding of the situation, Matilda would be happy she had Cranky, and the mule would be happy that his mom was happy.

[Irbis]

I only know of the mule in Applebuck Season and he seemed to be at least Twilights age. Though... considering that Raritys parents didn't seem to have grey hair and Matildas appearance... eh, trying to judge the relative age of cartoon equines doesn't seem likely to work.

Well, Cranky mentions wasting his entire life to look for her (which in hindsight, makes ending much less 'good'). So, she has to be pretty old.

On the other hoof, It seems kind of unrealistic to assume Matilda spent her whole life waiting for Cranky. She could have had a brief relationship with a pony, had a child, had the relashionship end, and kept thinking about Cranky till she found him again.

I like to think that if such a situation came up in a fanfic then Cranky would be understanding of the situation, Matilda would be happy she had Cranky, and the mule would be happy that his mom was happy.

Eh, probably. Though, seeing as this fandom produced Cupcakes...

[Crazedwraith]

Apparently, According to Equestria Daily Hasbro has changed Derby's voice and removed her name entirely from the iTunes version of 'The Last Roundup'



Not sure how I feel, didn't much like the old voice don't much like the new.