• Member Since 23rd Oct, 2015
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Godslittleprincess


I think Twilight's best pony because I relate to her the best.

More Blog Posts81

May
1st
2016

Thoughts on “No Second Prances” · 5:58am May 1st, 2016

Okay, I went into this episode with an open mind. Sure, I was a little apprehensive because of Trixie. I know she has a ton of fans, but I’m not really one of them. According to something that I read on the internet, a number of fans were worried that this episode was going to be a rehash of “What About Discord?,” which was infamous for making Twilight look like a terrible friend. I, on the other hand, thought that this episode was going to be about being careful about choosing friends because people/ponies can pick up bad habits from bad friends. (Hey, It’s not a comfortable friendship lesson, but it is something people need to learn.)
Well, I watched the episode, and, sigh, I hated it. I’ve never felt such a high level of dislike for a MLP:FiM episode before. It’s probably the first episode that I can honestly say that I hate. (Yeah, it shows how easy to please I am, doesn’t it?) I mean, no matter how much my head tells me that this episode probably isn’t as hateful as I feel it is, my gut is having a really hard time stomaching it. (Pun intended.)
The first major irritation that I am going to address is the fact that this episode made Twilight look REALLY bad. Okay, I admit. I am biased regarding this fact because I’m a HUGE Twilight fan, but I’ve seen plenty of other episodes that have highlighted Twilight’s flaws before, but for some reason, none of them have generated the same amount of hate that this episode has. Why? Well, I guess my biggest problem was how these flaws were brought out. I mean, Twilight hasn’t allowed her control freak tendencies to get the worst of her in a major way since “It’s About Time” (or arguably, since “The Crystal Empire-Part 1” when she uprooted the library during a freak out). It’s a little weird and unsettling seeing those tendencies drive the main conflict all the way in season 6.
Granted, the whole scenario wasn’t implausible. The possibility of disappointing Princess Celestia was involved, and as most fans know, Twilight tends to overstress the most in situations involving her favorite teacher and mentor. Additionally, her concerns about Trixie being a bad influence were somewhat legitimate. Sure, Trixie isn’t evil or overtly antagonistic anymore, but she’s bitter, cynical, and tends to expect the worst in other ponies. Admittedly, given the flack that I’m assuming she’s gotten from other ponies, she had reasons for being that way, but keep in mind, that Starlight had a very negative worldview back in season 5 that kept her from making genuine friendships. Hanging around Trixie could possibly reinforce that worldview, which Twilight had slowly been getting her to unlearn. On top of that, Trixie kind of manipulated Starlight into blowing off a commitment. Okay, the whole situation wasn’t entirely Trixie’s fault but still.
Furthermore, it wasn’t just Twilight’s flaws that bothered me. Watching this episode, I felt like Twilight, Trixie, and Starlight’s flaws all somehow flared up at the same time and crashed together in the worst, most inconvenient way possible. Seriously, couldn’t there have been a less cringe-y way to create conflict for this episode?
More importantly, WHERE IN THE WORLD WAS SPIKE?! If there’s anything fans know about Spike, it is that he is very good at helping Twilight and, as of season 6, Starlight curb their flaws. If he had been present, this whole situation could have possibly been avoided. He could have been like “Twilight, remember. You need to give Starlight room to make her own choices.” or “You know, Twilight, if Starlight being friends with Trixie bothers you, I’m always here to talk.” or “Starlight, maybe you should try to put yourself in Twilight’s place. She’s probably worried that Trixie will end up turning you against her and the friends that you already have.” At the very least, Twilight could have allowed herself to vent her concerns to one of her other friends. Didn’t she already learn not to keep her feelings bottled up? (I know old habits die hard, but Twilight doesn’t strike me as the kind of pony who habitually bottles up her feelings.) I’m starting to think that the writer purposefully limited Spike and the others’ roles in this episode just to drive the conflict.
Additionally, I really did not like the reason why Starlight ended up with Trixie as her first new friend of season 6. She basically met two ponies and decided that she did not have enough in common with them the moment she had a minor conflict with them. I mean, really? What? Is the writer trying to imply that the best friendships a person can have are ones that are easy to make? Come on. The Mane 6 minus Pinkie had that same problem with Maud and found a way to get past it. Furthermore, the Mane 6 actually made attempts to accommodate Maud while Starlight just expected Mrs. Cake and Big Mac to accommodate her. What bugs me the most about this situation is that Pinkie Pie and Applejack were actually there and could have helped her learn to be more accommodating, and they did nothing. (Admittedly, Applejack was probably too incredibly annoyed with Starlight for messing with her brother like that.)
Before I forget, I would also like to point out that if Starlight was going to blow off a commitment to make sure her new friend didn’t get eaten by manticore, she could have, oh, I don’t know, TOLD TWILIGHT WHAT SHE WAS DOING AND WHY! Twilight had every right to be angry about that. I mean, when someone breaks a commitment without giving a friend a heads up, that friend is going to think that either something bad happened or that his/her friend just didn’t care, and who wouldn’t get mad over something like that? I mean, sure, Twilight doesn’t trust or particularly like Trixie, but I know she has enough compassion and selflessness to not want Trixie to die (This is the same mare who risked disappointing Princess Celestia in order to save an entire city-state from re-enslavement. I know what I’m talking about.).
Lastly, why was Fluttershy afraid of the manticore? She tamed one back in season 1 IN THE PREMIERE. I guess if I’m generous, I could always reinterpret the situation as her being scared that Trixie was going to do something dangerous. I mean, she did kind of have a mini panic attack when Twilight borrowed her animals for a magic trick.

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