A.I. writing fanfic!
Apr
5th
2014
Historical Spoilers · 8:40pm Apr 5th, 2014
World building! Character moments! Humor! Warm fuzzies! Guest stars! It feels like this episode had something for everyone, and everything was for me!
I'll put this at my second favorite episode this season, right after Cheese Sandwich's episode. My love of Rainbow Dash has a great deal to do with that, I'm sure.
As an Audio/Visual learner myself, I think listening to Pinkie Pie's rap while watching the play (simultaneously) would have sealed it for me.
No flashcards, though. I hate flashcards. I hate the endless repetition they stand for! 
This was me during the episode:
Wonderbolts world-building; hilarious moments; a solid moral that totally resonated with me; character development for Rainbow Dash. What's not to like? There's just so much I got out of this episode that I don't even know where to start.
I'll just say this for now. Between this, Pinkie Pride and Filli Vanilli, I think Amy Keating Rodgers has become my favorite writer this season.
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I think I could watch that clip for hours. I don't know if that's a bad thing or not.
Ooh, those were great episodes, too. As a whole, I think season four has been really great. Sure, there were a couple low points, but the good far outweighs them.
Even there, I've found something I like about every single My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode ever. There's a reason this show is only the second I've ever written fan fiction for.
... Why didn't Spike show up at the end?
Seriously, he shows up early on to fail or be obnoxious, then at the end, where it would have been trivial to have him holding a poster or something, he doesn't show up. Is this a deliberate thing that he can only appear if he's cast in a crummy light? It would explain... the whole season, except for the first episode and Power Ponies.
... Otherwise it was pretty good. I could guess Twilight likes flash cards but... I think she may be the only person. Memorization of facts is the devil.
1984140 I like to think that Spike's the one who cut those Wonderbolt insignia hedges and drew some of the signs. He always struck me as a more behind-the-scenes guy.
1984140
Negotiating a decent writer for the Spike and Rarity episode coming up later this season.
Hopefully.
All in all, I've decided beforehand not to be too disappointed when he gets forgotten and/or left out of plots. There is a great amount of evidence that the writers simply don't think to give him something to do when he's not vital to the plot. In addition to that, he's not why the target audience watch the show. There's no sense of priority.
For this episode, he had (what's in my opinion) a fun scene with Rainbow Dash and then slunk around in the background being a number one assistant. Wholly in line with who he is.
I want Spikey to get the spotlight, very much so, but I understand that the writers are limited (in more ways than one).
I wouldn't go so far as to say it's the devil, but it might be his woobie at night.
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If so, then he's already got more to do this episode than poor Applejack.
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I'm pretty hopeful. Corey Powell wrote Just For Sidekicks, a solid Spikepisode, and Sleepless in Ponyville, a solid not-Spikepisode. So it's looking pretty good.
It's not quite how he's out of the plot that gets me. If he was simply out of the plot I... well I'd probably still be disappointed, but not quite to the degree I am now. The problem now is the large number of the scenes including him in season 4 feature him getting hurt or screwing up. They have a whole episode dedicated to comforting him that he's not just incompetent comic relief, only for him to be incompetent comic relief most every other episode he shows up this season. Erm... every episode after Power Ponies.
You're right that I shouldn't get frustrated though. It's not really worth it, and it's not like they're trying to make him look like a loser, it just sorta happens that way, mostly for the reasons you've mentioned.
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Then I shall remain optimistic.
Okay, I get yah. And yeah, I've noticed it very clearly myself. I have to wince every time I see it happen, because I know people that are getting disheartened about it.
This episode, though, I thought his scene with Dash and the music was fun. He was being obnoxious to Twilight, yeah, but I thought it was a good character moment between him and Rainbow. It shows they've got a bit of a rapport.
And shows how easily amused I am, heh.
This reminds me that I really, really wanna write more Spike stories.