Saddle Row & Rec/The Saddle Row Review, various thoughts · 9:57pm May 21st, 2016
All right, this is a bit of an interesting episode. Obviously, this marks another milestone for Rarity, having been able to expand her business twice with success, gradually rising in renown. She's achieving her ambition! Only, one thing, at least her friends fear, might stand in the way of this. So, an opportunity to watch Rarity's friendships, and their bonds with each other, with usual sentimentality.
I enjoyed it. Nothing too particular, just a good episode to fill space and fulfill my weekly quota of pony. Well then, unto the thoughts!
—I think the moral of this episode was; "don't become somepony else to gratify those you care about. If they care, they know you, and understand how you will act and appreciate that." I'm not entirely sure if that's the case. That being said, if there is one thing I'm a little iffy about, it's indulging the landlord's spoiled child. (Isn't there a law against the landlord's threat?) They're not really the best ponies whastoever. Speaking of savviness, I think indirectly this is the first time Rarity's aptitude for social chess is displayed in a while. Now, if only there will be a moment where she gets to play a true chess master...
—Twilight's OCD is as adorable as always.
—I like the way the story takes place in three separate points in time, and the way it comes together to form the moments before Rarity finishes reading the article in the present. It really didn't feel too out of place to me. Such comfy pacing~
—Vinyl is still only referred to by her stage name. I wonder if it's for her protection, or just because she likes it that way. And if so, I figure that means her relationship with Pinkie and Twilight are more casual. Although, she did let Pinkie in and did play her quiet-record, so I figure she's got at least some respect for Pinkie as a sort-of colleague in entertainment?
—This is a very little thing, and might not mean much, but how the raccoons proceeded to attack Fluttershy after she asked them to leave I find very, very interesting because it suggests something about her talent. We know at this point that cutie marks are not just symbols representing a special skill, they're expressions of a pony's self. The "special talent", a single skill among others that speaks of their character is magical of nature, if season 5 is any indication. Especially regarding Party Favour. That stallion proves talents are not just something a pony is good at, it's a disposition (a potential that may or may not be met in their life-time, but Destiny's hold on that potential seems pretty firm given the alternate timelines having Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity still obtain their cutie marks in some fashion in spite of the event that would cause them never happening) that can be almost anything, and may affect the world in different ways. I think they might be like the talents in the Xanth series, magical abilities with a plethora of effects and functions, some specific and mundane, others with limitless potential. Imagine a pony whose special talent is picking up any skill, or a pony that happens to be good at blocking the sun specifically under any circumstances.
Unlike when she learnt to be assertive for the right reasons by kicking the Breezies out in order for them to return home safely, when Fluttershy tried to evict the raccoons, she may not have been "true" to her nature. Evicting the raccoons would only cause them trouble. They didn't really need to move, for the most part, even if having such furry lodgers/workers in a boutique is a tad unorthodox. This problem could have caused her ability to pacify animals to backfire, and so they stopped harmonising with her, because it was something her mark recognised as a selfish act. Though, this is just a theory~
—Somehow, one of Pinkie's mirror images survived. How. Why? I'm intrigued. I guess a certain writer's story isn't that unlikely after all. I known it's probably a one-off joke but I'll be so happy if this is expanded onnnnnnn (And this is most likely not a changeling, as disguising yourself as a national hero who hasn't been abducted is a monumentally idiotic move, so we can assume it isn't isn't a disguise, but her real form. This means at least one image evolved into becoming her own pony, and suddenly the moral implications of "killing" the images by sending them back into the Pool surface. 
This is very interesting.)
—It strikes me as rather short-sighted to wait until the day of the opening to do clean up and renovate the new boutique, but I'm chalking that up to being busy, for now. Rarity is not a corporation, so she's most likely significantly undermanned. That makes me wonder, who's managing her boutiques? She has Sassy managing the Canterlot boutique, and now she'll have those ponies Rainbow hired to at least handling the sales in Manehattan, but I don't think it has ever been mentioned who in the world is responsible for Carousel Boutique. Apropos, why is Rarity not consistent with the name of her boutiques? I'd figure having a common title would make it easier to be recognisable.
—Sneezing in somepony's face is apparently common. I'm assuming that's a result of being quadrupedal, as sneezing while your neck is in an awkward position could be rather dangerous. Which would mean contagious diseases tend to be caught easily, especially given all appendages constantly touch the ground. It would be awkward to have a cold and be a horse. As such, why is Coco even out? Couldn't she get anypony to relay the message?
I really liked this one, I am putting it behind Gift of Maud Pie which I still have ranked the highest this season.
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My list looks something like this;
Followed by the rest in no particular order. (I've never really been good at picking favourites.) I rather liked this one as well, and I agree about which episode should be ranked highest. The way three separate character dynamics were handled that episode was phenomenal, making for an incredibly sweet and lovely time.
As for this one? Pretty all right and enjoyable. I like episodes that future less from the mane cast interacting more intimately than this, but seeing them all in good spirits is wonderful too.
Why Starlight wasn't part of it this time I'm curious about, though.
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Less Starlight, more Sunset.
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The issue is that Sunset's firmly rooted in the human world, and no link has yet been established to the main series, but Starlight is a close member of their circle of friends and has no reason not to be a part of the main cast when it's all of them together.
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Make Equestria Girls series, moooarrrr Sunset.
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Well that would be lovely, yeah~
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As usual, the BGM is great!
She'll become a real Titan of Industry in no time, I feel.
Landlords should be abolished in Equestria, in my opinion. The thing with the kid just tells me that they have too much power and are allowed to do whatever.
Yes. And also she didn't fall forwards while grinding her teeth and a "SNAP" noise rang out, like in "Lesson Zero", so that's cool too.
It is a fun reference to a famous Akira Kurosaway film, but you knew that.
Could be that she's like The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, as mentioned elsepost. and experimenting with what she should be named in an offical sense? Just an idea. Perhaps she's eccentric. I haven' written anythng about Vinyl, unlike yourself, so I'll difer to your fining.
Than
Raccoons are evil little bastards, sis. We had an infestation of them in the attic at my house and now they're my sworn enemies.
That aside, I quite like your theory. Don't mind me.
This is a storyline straight out of the Philip K. Dick books. Did you also notice how the clone seemed deeply frightened and was wearing disguises and whatnot?
Canonically, there are ponies that resemble each other, so maybe she just passes herself off as LOOKING like Pinkie but being totally different personalitywise.
This bugged me a lot. I still can't believe she did the renovations at the eleventh hour, but I've become used to the ponies doing dumb things for humorous purposes and to drive the plot.
Don't worry, the Equestrian Single-Payer Universal Health Care legislation covers that. Also, there are probably strong unions and worker advocate groups that protect you from losing your job if you get sick.
As I mentioned when we were watching Flutter Brutter, ponies don't need to go down to the Chicken Guts Processesing plant and work in hazardous conditions and then die of pneumonia.