• Comic: Lessons Learned / Baby Growth


    Just a one pager above, pretty deep though! That poor OC pony...

    And some Pinkie Pie being an awesome baby sitter below.  

    Click for Full!

    88 comments:

    1. I don't get the connection between the picture and the text in #1, and that makes me feel like a horrible, unfeeling person...

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    2. Wait, CR's (From TGWTG.com) comic appeared NOW?
      He made it a long time ago. If I remembr correctly, because of his disgust for the Mare-do-well episode.

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    3. 1. Now all it needs is someone to turn it into a heart-wrenching fanfiction.

      2. How in the world did she get them to do that?

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    4. man the first one is good.... but sad.. and disappointing...

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    5. Wait, the OC is sad because mare-do-well doesn't actually exist? Hmm...you know what they say about creating villains...

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    6. The #1 was deep bro. Didn't they think about the impact a real super-hero would have on the youth? I mean, Scootaloo loved Rainbow. How come the think other foals wont do the same with Mare-Do-Well?

      FellsSadBro.jpg

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    7. I read number 1 on my phone and didn't understand what was happening.

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    8. I'll come back when I'm done crying

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    9. @martolun
      Yeah, I was like "...What this is showing up in here now? That comic came out like over a month ago when the Mare-Do-Well episode aired" xD

      It's nice that it's here now though, it's a nice comic.

      Here's a Deviantart link for the first one in case someone want's to go fav it or watch the artist or something: http://chadrocco.deviantart.com/art/My-Little-Pony-Lessons-Learned-271885281

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    10. #1 isn't an OC, It's the first filly RD saves.

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    11. For everyone who doesn't quite understand he first comic:

      The pony here looked up to Mare-Do-Well as a role model! As seen from her essay on the subject (now in the wastebasket), she seems to have poured her heart and soul into her dream of one day becoming the next Mare-Do-Well! Unfortunately, Mare-Do-Well was simply 5 of the Mane 6 trying to teach Rainbow Dash a lesson in humility. Extra irony and drama comes from the fact that Rarity said that "nopony got hurt" as a result...this comic shows just how false that statement is...

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    12. #1 was really nice. For the record though it's not an OC but rather the filly that Rainbow Dash pulled out of the well.

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    13. @the invincible
      Nononono, if that happens, is somepony dose make this topic a fan fic, and dose it well. My eyes will have to be replaced and I will have to be hooked up to a hydrater for how much water I am loosing.

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    14. Actually, I wondered if the Mane 6 instead decided to keep the Mare-do-Well bit going, letting RD play the role as well. Good comics, though.

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    15. #1 Looks like plenty of us got what was going on here. I think if any of use were in the same situation, we'd also be horribly crushed as well. Especially for someone that's young, it's pretty tough to see your idol wind up being...well, a phony.

      #2 Got a chuckle out of this one, as well as a flood of memories from the past few years with my little sister. I'm surprised Pinkie would have the patience for that. But then again, after that first time, I'm sure Pinkie's got all the patience in the world for those two.

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    16. The first one doesn't work for me. They still did all the heroic things, she can still be inspired. It's forced saddness.

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    17. @Natzo
      Have to agree here. If anything, it proves anyone can be a hero if they really want to. Childhood fantasies don't really... you know, mean a lot.

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    18. I don't really look into episode discussions...but what was so wrong about the Mare-do-well episode, anyways? I keep hearing all this hate and dislike about this episode and I'm not really seeing it. It wasn't a particularly strong episode but it definitely wasn't...bad.

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    19. the Mare-Do-Well comic is done by CR from thatguywiththeglasses.com he did an amazing retroperspective on my little pony from g1 to g4

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    20. Oh God, why?! That's the most heartbreaking thing I've seen on EqD in MONTHS. I feel so bad for a pony that doesn't even exist! What has happened to me?!

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    21. @PlanckEpoch

      Because RD had to learn a lesson the hard way; through someone supplanting her as a hero.

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    22. Awh, poor 'lil fangirl. She was so happy, and then so sad. :(

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    23. @Municipal Engines

      Exactly. The problem was the lesson was learned in the sort of ham-fisted way that other episodes tend to avoid. Imagine if you will: "A Christmas Carol" in which Scrooge learns about the magic of Christmas after he gets robbed, the bank takes his house, and being beaten up on the street.

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    24. I don't get the first one. Why is she upset that Mare Do Well is also the Elements of Harmony? That's like being upset That your favorite hero is secretly the Justice League.

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    25. @Flutterweired

      Use of the word "girl" is canon.

      "I'll be the toast of the town, the girl on the go"
      -Rarity, s2e9

      "Oh girls, don't you see?"
      -P. Pie, s1e2

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    26. Oh yes, good ol' CR. The man responsible for making me become a brony (and, indirectly, Pen Stroke as well). A very sad comic but very meaningful.

      Oh and I just verified; that is indeed not an OC but was the filly Dash first saved in Mare Do Well. I just checked the FIM wiki and everything checks out.

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    27. That's not an OC...it's that background pony that Dash saved from the well. :I

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    28. Oh wow #1, pretty deep.
      #2 hahaha oh pinkie

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    29. High Hopes is aptly named. High hopes are often crushed.

      That comic hurt like heck. I never thought about that.

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    30. @Manny

      she's not upset that they are. She's upset that her hero is basically no more. Her role model got torn down, spit on, cast aside and left for the wolves.

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    31. Also, #1 on deviantArt: http://chadrocco.deviantart.com/art/My-Little-Pony-Lessons-Learned-271885281

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    32. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L7WLWadc0M&feature=youtu.be

      my first video : D

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    33. I have to say, I do not understand people's problems with Mare Do Well at all. I don't think the mane six did anything bad to Dash, and I don't see how they somehow destroyed the dreams of some little filly either.

      Yes, they aimed to teach Dash a lesson, not by humiliating her (which I don't see them ever doing) but by leading by example. Dash wouldn't have thought twice about it had AJ stopped the runaway carriage or Pinkie saved those construction workers or Twilight fixed the dam and then stayed humble... she takes their heroics for granted. But a mysterious masked stranger made her take notice. That she made it into a competition and was eaten by jealousy was her own failings at work, not the goal of the others. They weren't trying to steal her appluase, they were trying to show her how she could accept it gracefully, again by example.

      How exactly is revealing the identity of Mare-Do-Well crushing the dreams of the little pony? (Even assuming it happened, and they told everyone who was behind the mask. I don't see why they would have had to... if everyone was fine with them concealing their identity while active, why should they need to reveal it to become inactive?) *Some* pony had to be behind the mask. Why is the revelation that it was the mane six who performed all those heroic acts supposed to be so devastating?

      Honestly, I just don't understand the whole thing at all.

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    34. Dang, it took you THIS long to post CR!'s Mysterious Mare-Do-Well fanart? I thought I already submitted that months ago...

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    35. I can't wrap my head around the idea of being angry about any episode.

      I certainly have least-favorites, as defined by likelihood to watch again (owl's well, griffon), but I just don't grok the idea that an episode could damage the show.

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    36. @wackyponyOh. I hadn't considered that they just ceaced the Mare do well thing without explaining it everyone.

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    37. @Harwick

      go read Somber's "What's Eating Rainbow Dash"

      to understand how the way they handled the situation was the worst possible way.


      As for the filly, her hero was torn down, told she was useless, spat on, and left for the wolves.

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    38. #1: she's a smart filly with an active imagination. Her whole life is ahead of her. Some childhood disappointment, especially about a hero who was only tangentially a part of her life and even then only for a short time, won't do any lasting harm. She'll have herself a nice, good cry and then she'll move on. Kids are resilient.

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    39. @wackypony

      I actually did try reading that, but I didn't get very far because I felt it was a very straw-man argument at the heart of the story, reframing the events as an attempt to belittle Dash to deflate her ego... which, again, I don't think they ever did in the episode.

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    40. What's Eating Rainbow Dash was as melodramatic and emo as everything else Somber puts out. It's a kids' show. Everything turns out alright eventually.

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    41. @Harwick

      It felt a little bit ham-fisted in delivery, much like the disaster Mare Do Well was.

      personally, I'd be glad to just erase the episode off the planet and never do it, or redo it but under heavy revision.

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    42. @wackypony

      And was the whole "her hero was torn down, told she was useless, spat on, and left for the wolves" part of the fan fiction? Because that certainly didn't happen in the episode.

      Honestly, if this is all based on some alternate version of events in a fan story, then it would make some sense to me.

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    43. @YetAnotherBrony

      That's not Rarity. That's Twilight speaking in cursive...

      Unfortunately, since someone decided to use Star Trek: The Next Generation font for Rainbow Dash, I keep reading her lines in Patrick Stewart's voice.

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    44. @Harwick

      eh... it's what would happen in the real world. it's a logical follow-up, especially if you're following a filly being devastated by her hero being taken down a notch, even.

      in Somber's fic, the entire town is against Dash after the events of Mare Do Well, upset with how she was acting and treating anybody who was seeking attention as someone just being a "Rainbow Dash".

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    45. 1. A filly is crying. How did the mane cast not see this happen.

      2. Pinkie has the Cake Babies potty trained XD

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    46. #1 was surprisingly deep, but moderately depressing.

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    47. I think the lesson here is that expectations will burn you every time, and your heroes can't always be who you want them to be. Now that I think on it at length, I see a bit of a parallel to 'The Incredibles.'
      I'm not saying High Hopes will turn out to be a supervillian, but maybe a little follow-through from the main cast is in order here.

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    48. @wackypony

      I guess that's my main objection... I don't mind that people dislike the episode, and I can certainly see where people would find it clunky. I just don't see the need for fans to repaint the whole event in order to make the mane characters worse people (ponies) than they were.

      I mean, Spike literally trashed Ponyville... as did the parasprites after Twilight's spell. I don't see the point in a story about how Spike crushed some filly's mother in his rampage or how some pony's most prized, cherished possession, handed down from their deceased mother, was devoured by the Parasprites. It quite clearly would not be within the intended spirit of the events of the original episodes.

      But it may just be that I have yet to run across the episode that rubs me the wrong way to the point where I would want to explore something like that, if for no other reason than to work it out of my system.

      In any event, thanks for trying to help me see where this comic is coming from.

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    49. To put things into perspective... #1 is basically like learning that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy don't exist, all at once. Seems trivial to us, but in the eyes of a child... There is nothing more soul-crushing.

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    50. #1 Just another reason "mare do Well" is a... hrmmm... Less than perfect episode, shall we say.

      I feel like a fanfic should be written about that picture.

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    51. I saw #1 and I thought...

      "oohh...oh man...that...ain't good."

      It gives another perspective yes of what could possibly happen. SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THAT COULD HAPPEN, there's just so many.

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    52. @Impious

      Wouldn't it be more like finding out that Santa Claus really does every magical thing he's attributed with, but that in actuality there are 3 guys who wear the suit instead of just one?

      Mare-Do-Well did save everyone she was applauded for saving... it wasn't some elaborate ruse of fake events set up by the filly's parents.

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    53. That's true too Harwick. Doesn't make it any less traumatizing, though.

      And I still think some of those situations were started by Dash's friends. Unless of course we're going by cartoon logic, but them being in the right place at the right time EVERY time was just plain fishy. And don't get me started on the flawed moral lesson. I think what really crushes this filly is the fact that not only is Mare Do Well a phony, but the very reason for her existence is questionable. Rainbow Dash has a big ego, regardless of the fact that it might actually be justified? Ha, don't confront her about it! Real friends would go behind her back and undermine her reputation to "teach her a lesson"!

      Yeesh, I'd be upset too knowing my idol was just a bunch of people with flawed morals. Guess that last part doesn't matter though, Dash didn't seem to have an issue.

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    54. "Her role model got torn down, spit on, cast aside and left for the wolves."

      Uh...huh...
      I really, really don't see that. I did read that one fanfiction, and it basically seemed completely wrong. Even given the premise, it just didn't make a lot of sense. I consider it about as canonical as "Cupcakes", tbh.

      The episode was basically "Don't get too full of yourself or you might make a fool of yourself." All the rest of the mane six did was remind Rainbow by saving that day a few times before she could. And that is all they did. It doesn't make sense to criticize them for saving some ponies.

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    55. @Impious

      Well, the in-episode explanation for them being in the right place at the right time was Pinkie sense... they were forewarned that something was going to go down.

      And again, from the episode I saw, none of them undermined Dash at all. In most cases, they backed Dash up, stepping in after she had failed or was in trouble, saving the day, and then leaving without hogging the glory... Again, all to lead by example. The only time they cut her off from a heroic act was when she left someone screaming in fear while plummeting to death from a balloon for an extra 10 seconds so she could sign some more autographs, and I don't really blame them for that one.

      From *Dash's* perspective, they were stealing her glory, but her perspective was all screwed up.

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    56. @Harwick Agreed. I have difficulty understanding what was apparently wrong with the morality in that episode. Then again, I had difficulty understanding the apparent need for karmic vengeance in Sweet and Elite.

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    57. @Harwick

      in the end, though, the entire episode was off.

      they were bragging about it to Dash, while concealing the identity from her, only pissing her off. They were being utter dicks to her.

      still, MDW was the only episode i didn't even want to finish and i've been renowned on some boards for what I want done to the writer and half the team for approving such a bad episode. so, forgive me if my feelings and thoughts about it are irrational.

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    58. Hell yeah for the CR aka ChadRocco. He made an awesome pony retrospective of all generation of MLP a while back and thanks to that video that some of my friends are bronies :D

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    59. @wackypony

      Yeah, they were going on about Mare-Do-Well, but it all led into them prodding her to notice how she didn't stick around to milk the attention, and wasn't that great? It was ham-handed, but I do think the intent of her friends was to suggest to Dash that she could actually get more admiration by being less insufferably egotistical.

      In the end though, I totally understand people not liking the episode, especially if they are Rainbow Dash fans and feel like the episode went overboard in making Dash in the wrong so she could learn a lesson... that would be my biggest problem with it as well.

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    60. 1. I'm not going to muddy the controversy more by stating a real opinion.

      2. Now see, this was funny, and perfectly in character for Pinkie.

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    61. #1 Inafter not OC a million times. lol But awww, that's sad. :(

      #2 Dang, they're already using the bathroom by themselves now.

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    62. That top one - fanon can really add a different perspective. I wasn't a big fan of the episode, but I think I'm over that now. Very poignant.

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    63. Well, it's not so much that the other five were wrong in what they were trying to do. My question is this: Why the hell didn't they just tell here she was being a jerk? If Rainbow Dash brushed them off after that, THEN their little plan would be perfectly justified. But they didn't even try to talk to her. Just... The whole episode was completely meaningless when you realize they could have just said "Dash, everypony is really, really tired of your ego. Stop acting like Trixie." And boom, problem solved.

      It's the only episode I have problems with, because it just leaves me scratching my head. After all this time, are we to believe that Rainbow Dash, element of Loyalty, can't be trusted? Ridiculous.

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    64. @Draconaes

      Yeah, I didn't really get why so many people wanted Rarity to suffer for her transgressions when she had obviously learned her lesson anyway (which is supposed to be the point, not punishment for one's sins.)

      I do think that poor Rarity takes a lot of flak because people have usually met someone pretty awful that shares some of her traits, and therefor project the extra negatives of those real life examples onto her comparatively innocent self. I always go back to the fact that she was never rude or dismissive of Hayseed Turniptruck as evidence that, whatever her flaws may be, she's not some kind of elitist bitch that some may think she is.

      It is very interesting to me that Rarity and Dash are given the most obvious character flaws out of the mane six. Dash usually gets to offset them with actual heroics, whereas Rarity mostly doesn't. However, it's worth noting that the writers of this season have allowed Rarity to learn her lesson and make things right herself in both of her episodes, whereas they made Dash have to be humbled entirely before it could get through to him... So I think poor Dash has been getting the shorter end of the stick so far.


      @Impious

      Yeah, the fact that the episode dodges a more straightforward resolution is a definite weakness, I'd have to agree. While I didn't hate the episode as some did, I definitely recognize problems with it. Still, I enjoyed the nods to super-heroes and the Mare-Do-Well costume itself.

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    65. @Harwick

      Gah... I called Dash "him". What was it, the Brazilian dub that had a more manly voice? Whatever, my apologies to the lovely lady pegasis.

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    66. @Harwick

      Rarity DID suffer for her transgressions, she ran herself ragged trying to appease both parties at once. She eventually found the happy medium and everything turned out fine, and nopony was the wiser. She got away with it, sure, but she certainly learned her lesson and it likely won't happen again. That's half the reason I like Rarity so much, more often than not she handles her own shit.

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    67. @wackyponyWhat they did was far from the worst possible way to handle the situation. Attempting to teach Rainbow a lesson in humility by beating Scootaloo with sticks would have been worse, for example.

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    68. @Harwick

      I agree with pretty much everything you've said so far. I think we should all not extrapolate too much from such an episode. Besides, Rainbow needs a little conk on the head now and then.

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    69. "Rainbow Dash learned HIS lesson..."???

      Er.....

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    70. @Impious

      One could make the argument that RD's friends know that she is too stubborn to listen. Not that it is the best reasoning, but is probably true. And even if they acted imperfectly, perhaps that just shows that they aren't perfect either?

      And I really don't get the dislike, mainly for reasons that have been said already. I mean, all the 5 did was create a hero that could be safely propped up independently of any person's ego. It is an assumption believe that they would have later told RD if not prompted, and it is further assumption to assume that they stopped the whole mare-do-well act. I mean, we haven't seen it since, but we haven't seen RD save anyone since either, so both are equally reasonable.

      And someone already said this, but heck, all of the mane 6 have been personally recognized by Celestia as heroes already. If a hero reveals that they are actually a bigger hero, why would dreams be crushed?

      All in all, I can kinda see why people are annoyed, but if they are, it only means that they take it too superficially. THe moral is hardly any more evident then in Griffon or in several of the other episodes, and only by making unfair assumptions can one even conclude the problems that people keep bringing up

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    71. #1 Sniffle...that's incredibly sad.
      #2 Wait what?

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    72. I think the simplest explanation for #1 is that finding out your hero isn't who you thought they were almost always hurts like hell (unless of course that person is even better than who you thought they were). It's basically like having a role model who you view as a super hero die the very next day.

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    73. It's just the principle of the thing, Dustdrake. Canon-wise, they've all known each other for what, two years now? You'd think they'd have a little more faith in a pony who embodies loyalty itself, but they didn't even try. That's my entire point- Not once did they bring it up with Rainbow Dash. It's just a sloppy episode. Doesn't ruin the show for me or anything like that by a long shot, but it's still irritating. I mean damn, just one or two snippets of dialogue along the lines of "Hey Dash, can you tone the ego down a bit?" "Ego? Pfft, nah!" would have solved everything and this would never have become an issue. The fact that they apparently don't think of her much better than Trixie just doesn't sit well with me.

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    74. 1. I couldn't stop my self form laughing, the Mane Six saved all of Equestria not once but twice, they were heroes with or without costumes. What a silly filly.

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    75. @Impious


      well, time they've known each other is nearly impossible to determine given the order of the episodes.

      And while it's not perfect, they tried to deal with Trixie by out-performing her. Hardly the same as what happened here. I mean, they didn't even reveal the identity 'till forced to, and never tried to out do RD. I mean, she wasn't fixing that dam, and wouldn't have been able to do many of the other things. All the others did was try to help people while shrugging off the fame, and thus leading by example.

      and even to the extent one reads into the morals of what happened enough to argue that what the others did was wrong, that only makes me like their response more, in that it underscores that they too are not perfect. I would rather have a flawed response then a have the other, obviously flawed and occasionally ego prone, ponies have a perfect response.

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    76. @nemryn Although beating Scootaloo with sticks prolly woulda been more fun! We used to beat each other with sticks all the time as kids! What can I say, we didn't have many toys.

      Anyway, the poor OC goes nuts and becomes Equestria's version of the Joker. ;P

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    77. rewatched the episode. Yeah, they coulda done better. But I don't think that talking to her would have particularly helped. They certainly left enough hints.

      And the being a hero idea probably wasn't a bad one either. They saved a number of people, but they did it with an alter-ego.

      Overall, I think the episode is fine. You have to read into it and make a bunch of assumptions to pull negative things out of it, and at that point you can make different, positive assumptions

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    78. Never did understand all the hate MDW got, I could get the dislike but not the sheer hate it seemed to generate. I always thought it was a good if predictable episode with a mysteryman theme.
      1)Wow, way to crush the little eilly's hopes and dreams. I could totally see that as a premise for a fic.
      2)Adorable and funny(not to mention a cheer up).

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    79. That's not a "poor OC pony", that's the filly Rainbow Dash saved from a well!

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    80. Silly ponies, there's no need to despair; dreams aren't so easily dashed! For when this filly grow up, she shall become 'the Mare'!

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