It's that time again! Next episode is coming up, and it's called "Growing Up Is Hard To Do".

Looks like it's by Ed Valentine, who did Flight to the Finish, Three's A Crowd, The Cart Before the Ponies, and The Fault in Our Cutie Marks. Several Cutie Mark Crusader episodes there, which is appropriate, as the name just makes me think this would be a CMC episode, probably the last one.

This could be about school ending, and the CMC making plans for the future, plans that don't necessarily involve being in the same places, or Ponyville. Or maybe they all get transformed into giants and go rampaging across Ponyville!

Or this could be a school of friendship episode. You never know! This is the place to speculate about it beforehand or discuss it afterwards, though!

--Sweetie Belle

Huh - already this far? Won't be long until the finale at this rate.

7006806

I just hope this isn't lackluster and forgettable like so many CMC episodes are....especially since they got their marks.

Would have been SO much better if the writers had gone with "They get transformed into giants and go rampaging across Ponyville".

It's a pretty lackluster CMC episode. And I had such high hopes after reading the summary for it . This was the last CMC episode ever, and it was quite forgettable. The Crusaders deserved better.

7006898
And adult Sweetie Belle is HAWT!

7006862 Well I'm afraid it was.

I liked the episode but the CMC should know how trains work enough to know they don't just take them to where they want to go. Also they could have done a bit more then just given a line to adults don't know everything; Gilda and Trixie are adults and wouldn't have done much better except made it far more clear they are not taking them seriously, hell Flim and Flam would have tried to make some bits of the pet as an attraction.

7006922
That's your opinion.

7006890
I vehemently disagree. I thought it was pretty good.

7006929
Yes. It was his opinion. Obviously. Thanks for making that clear to everyone.

7006930
I disagree with your disagreement. I thought it was underwhelming. My opinion, as I unnecessarily state.

7006927
Yeah, You'd think they would know how trains work. Also, it felt kind of weird that adults would assume they can't handle anything on their own.

Eh, when you're caught up in the moment, you don't always think things through. I'd argue you'd be even less likely to think clearly after magically being turned into an adult.

7006935
It would have made sense if they got on the wrong train (How Simpsons did it with Lisa getting on bus 22A instead of 22) or if the train did a short turn around for track maintenance (like in MTV's Downtown episode where they went to Coney Island) but not them assuming all trains go to Appaloosa.

7006937
I watched that Simpsons episode yesterday. Freaky.

7006922

To be honest, I loved this episode. It wasn't them simply dealing with somepony trying to find their purpose or reconnect with their CM, it was a funny episode filled with old fashioned CMC antics. This one was very memorable for me and I'm glad the final CMC episode was a good one.

7006806
Who spotted the cameo of Valley Glamour during the scene of the Stadium? X3

I liked the episode. The grown-up CMCs looked and sounded great (the VAs are all adults now, BTW), and I thought they acted much how a kid-turned-adult would act.

It was a missed opportunity, much like the previous CMC episode. Maybe they could've stayed adults and learned, too late, that being a kid has perks as well, and once your childhood's gone, it's gone forever. We're down to the final four episodes EVER of this generation of pony, and I'm pretty sure (I'm avoiding spoilers like the plague) there will never be another CMC episode. Future MLP generations may have ponies named Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, but odds are they won't be like G4's AB, Scoots and Belle.

Also, an adult AB could take over Sweet Apple Acres when AJ goes to Canterlot to help rule Equestria. Adult Sweetie could assume command of Rarity's fashion empire while she's off co-ruling the world. Adult Scoots could join the Wonderbolts in Dashie's stead while she's taking charge of the planet.

7007561
Is Sweetie even good at fashion? Scoots certainly doesn't pass muster as a Wonderbolt - you kind of need to fly.

7007562
Eh. Sweetie doesn't have to be good at fashion. She just has to be good at managing a business. Scoots could be the Wonderbolts' mascot, I guess.

7007587
Oooor they could live their own lives and follow their own paths?

7007587 I think by the time Scootaloo could even consider being a Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash would be leading them, and would move mountains to create a position for Scootaloo if possible. But I don't think Scootaloo ever necessarily dreamt of being a Wonderbolt.

7006806

"Growing Up is Hard to Do" Review: Growing up's hard..... and losing somepony is, too.

7006927 7006932

Trains, usually, are supposed to bring you where you want to go. You know, because you buy a train ticket to your chosen destination and then you expect that the train rides to that destination, too.
Scoots was merely pointing out how the train took them to the wrong place. You've seen at the beginning of the episode that they have bought tickets for a trainride to Appleloosa, so do you really think they don't know that trains have schedules and specific, pre-planned routes?
Please, think about their words first instead of assuming they are idiots like Twilight and her friends and their big sisters did. Of course they know how trains work. It's not their fault that the train driver screwed it up somehow.

7008124
Well didn't seem to know you don't hand over your tickets when boarding a train, you only surrender them at the other end (if you surrender them and they are not just checked in route). This is because with large rail networks you have routes that can be days long for the train to complete its run (especially in the era of steam) with many stops with different prices. The fact the ticket pony in the swamp just suggested them waiting for the next train points that the Equestrian railway doesn't work by giving the ticket at boarding (as he assumed they still have them).

Also Scootaloo saying she thought trains just took you where you want to go was in response to Sweetie Belle asking if they got on the wrong train. Thus the ticket pony observation that they must not travel much makes sense given Scootaloo's line.

7008337

"Do you think we got on the wrong train?"

That sentence implies a knowledge of train routes, schedules, boarding times and general knowledge about how boarding and riding a train to get to your desired destination works. If Sweetie Belle wouldn't have all that knowledge and if she would not understand how that works, she wouldn't have been able to explain their situation with accidentally having taken a train that rides a different route than the one they intended to ride on.
But she was able to do that, so Sweetie Belle knows that one train rides to Appleloosa, another rides to Hayseed Junction, another into the Crystal Empire, ect. and that it's necessary to get on the right train at the right time to get where you want.

"Uh, I thought trains just took you were you wanted to go."

You heard that sentence as Scoots saying: "But there aren't any wrong trains, right? Trains always take you where you want to go, so there is no such thing as a 'wrong train'."
But that's only one way to interpret it and you really would have to see her for the very first time and not know anything about her at all, instead of knowing her for years and knowing that she is smart and clever, to assume that she is illiterate and infantile and that she doesn't know how trains work because of that. So it's a mystery to me how you take that away from her sentence without even questioning it.
What Scoots said was sarcasm. I have a hard time believing that I even have to explain that, given what we know about her and all three of them and about this specific situation they were in.
Scoots has been seen being sarcastic before, that's not the first time. She was seen being sarcastic in this episode prior to this moment when she said how they are apparently too young to go alone. You know all three of them for years, you have seen them in similar situations that require similar knowledge and understanding and you therefore know them well enough to properly estimate their level of intelligence. That alone should be enough for you to realize that, of course, they know how trains work and what Scoots really meant with that sentence.
Then there's the fact that they had the train tickets ready. That means they actively had to go and buy train tickets to Appleloosa. Fillies who can do that and understand how buying train tickets works also understand how riding a train works. Which implies that not only Sweetie Belle knows how riding trains works, but that Applebloom and Scootaloo know it, too.
Train tickets usually have not only their destination printed on them, but also the name/type or number of the train you have to take and the time the train leaves the station. There isn't any reason why that would be different in Equestria and there never was a hint that it could be different, so it's safe to assume that Equestrian Railway tickets have all of that printed on them. Which is something that all three of them saw when they bought them, so they know how it works for that reason alone. Even if you would think on a stretch and assume they didn't know how trains work prior to buying the tickets, they definitely knew after they bought the tickets. And even that is really just a stretch, their general intelligence that you know they have after watching them for years makes already clear that they grasp the concept of something so simple as riding a train to Appleloosa.
And it's actually you who unintentionally made a point for it that they understand how it works. You said they would have kept the tickets, instead of giving them to the conductor, if they had to change trains to get to Appleloosa. But the fact that they have given him the tickets implies otherwise. That means the train was supposed to ride straight from Ponyville to Appleloosa, maybe with some stops along the way, but not with the requirement to leave it and to get on another train. And we know the train was supposed to ride straight to Appleloosa, because of that sentence:

"This doesn't look like Appleloosa."

That sentence implies that they expected the train brings them straight to Appleloosa. If it would have been necessary for them to switch trains at another station, they wouldn't have been surprised about getting off of it somewhere else.
And since the train was supposed to ride to Appleloosa straight, they could give the conductor the tickets when boarding the train, because they didn't need them anymore.
All of these factors combined; Sweetie Belle clearly implying that she understands how train schedules work, their general intelligence that we know for years and have seen in many different situations, the fact that they were able to buy their tickets themselves and that the train was supposed to directly ride to Appleloosa so that it was correct of them to give the tickets to the conductor when boarding, make clear that they definitely know how to correctly ride a train to a chosen destination and how Scoots' actually meant her remark.
But, really, the fact that you know them for years should be enough to see that. You know enough about them, that one sentence really shouldn't throw you off the rails (no pun intended) like that.

In the end, there are only two possibilities for how that could happen; either the train driver screwed it up and took them to the wrong place (new to the job?) or they were so enthusiastic and hyped for the Appleloosa Fair that they thought they're already there when they arrived in Hayseed Junction and therefore got off too early by accident. Hype can do that. That doesn't make them stupid or idiots.

Edit: Also, thinking about it now, you clearly haven't paid attention to "The Last Crusade" either. They were taking the train to wherever Scootaloo's aunts lived prior to their move to Ponyville, alone, and they did just fine. They took the right train and reached the right place. That is further proof for it that they understand how trainrides work.

Edit 2: And then we've seen them riding the train to Canterlot, alone, in "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" in Season 4. They did everything right there, too. Yes, you really should know better, just like their big sisters should.

7008589
For most railways they would have kept the tickets regardless of it the train changed or not since railways in the 19th century ran into two problems. First trains makes multiple stops so if the passenger surrendered their ticket on boarding then they can pay for the next stop yet keep riding till the end. Second trains got long quickly thus it simply became easier for the conductor to walk from one end of the train to the other punching tickets while the train was in motion (thus why this has been common in stories).

There is a third possibility that the CMC didn't realize railways can have different trains leaving on the same platforms minutes apart.

7008606

That's not even remotely a possibility. Stop treating them like idiots. It's bad enough that their big sisters do that. And you still ignore the successful trainrides they did all alone in the past, which prove without a chance for doubt that they understand how trainrides work. Quit belittling them and stick to the facts.

7008607
It is the most likely possibility, they were running in hopes to still catch the train but their train already left and the next train was pointing in the same direction. The conductor never asked them for tickets and was more shocked by getting tickets then ponies running in (which makes sense since like I said since the 19th century railways haven't taken tickets upon boarding as it slows down the boarding process plus the whole different fares for different stops, thus why modern stations has fare adjustment machines if you got off at the wrong station while riding with a ticket).

7006927
This would've made more sense as a flashback, "hey remember when we were too young to know how trains worked?" episode.

7008781
Indeed. Really, if not for the Starswirl reference it's very easily backdated.

(Ed Valentine last wrote the CMC in Season 6, where this would have fit much better - replacing Cart Before the Ponies maybe.)

7008783
Replacing Cart Before the Ponies would be a grand idea.

7008678

I've reached the point where I'm just going to ignore you from now on. You only think of them as dumb foals that don't understand how trainrides work because that's what you want to think. I've even given you two examples of when they travelled with a train all alone and got to their planned destination as intended without any hiccups along the way and yet you still insist on them not understanding it, so you clearly ignore all the facts here.

7008829
To be fair, them being dumb foals even though they've been shown as more mature previously was sort of the point here.

7008781 7008783

All three of them know perfectly how trainrides work. Have you forgotten that we've seen them riding trains completely alone in the past? We've seen them travel to Canterlot by train all alone in "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils". And just very recently, we've seen them taking the train, again all alone, to whatever place Scootaloo's aunts lived in before they moved to Ponyville, in "The Last Crusade".
And both of these times, they arrived exactly where they wanted to be; no missed train, no leaving at the wrong station. They understand how riding a train works. Scootaloo's sentence was mere sarcasm as reaction to Sweetie Belle's question.

7008833
Well yes. I've also seen them acting far more grown-up than they did here.

Also, taking the train to a known, nearby location is not necessarily the same as a long-distance trip. (I do the former regularly, but would be quite intimidated by the prospect of the latter.)

7008832

Except that they weren't. I feel deeply disturbed by it that seemingly everyone who watched the episode is just filing them as dumb fillies because of one sarcastic remark by Scootaloo and ignores the fact that they know how to ride trains, a fact that has been firmly established by plenty of evidence in the past.
I've seen bronies insisting on their opinion about a certain episode no matter how much one explained why the episode they don't like isn't bad, but outright rejecting clear facts like that in favor of their opinion is new even to me.
How some here are replacing reality with what they want to believe right now is downright creepy.
There are many in this fandom who need to learn to let go of their opinion when presented with a fact that contradicts and deconstructs it.

7008838

Well yes. I've also seen them acting far more grown-up than they did here.

Then why is your mind doing a 180° because of one line that was clearly spoken in sarcasm? And why do you ignore the other line by Sweetie Belle that makes clear by implication that they do know how to ride trains?

Do you think we got on the wrong train?

That's not a question a filly who believes that trains will just magically take them wherever they want to be would ask. One can only talk about taking the wrong train if they know there are wrong trains to take, which they will only know if they understand that trains have specific schedules, routes and boarding times. And Sweetie Belle did talk about this, so she understands that. And since she understands it, Applebloom and Scootaloo do, too.
There is evidence for it that they understand how trainrides work even in this episode.

7008846
I'm not really basing anything on one line - more just they're general portrayal as ignorant kinds, which I don't really agree with. But even I, an adult, worry about making that sort of mistake.

7008847

Ignorant kids? No, we did not watch the same episode. There must be another one with the title "Growing Up is Hard to Do". Link, pls. I can't miss an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

What could possibly be ignorant about riding a train against the overprotective words of their big sisters and their big sisters' friends because they knew they are perfectly capable of riding a train since they did so in the past? This is not ignorant, this is standing your ground against adults who belittle you and proving them wrong.

And, yes, there are certain individuals here who take that sarcastic remark by Scoots out of context and use it as a convenient excuse to think of them as idiots, because that's evidently what they want to see them as. Like they just waited for them to make one mistake, such as getting off a train a few stations too early out of enthusiasm and hype for what awaits them at their intended destination, so they could justify treating them like idiots.
That's the entire reason why I argue here and clarify that the episode nowhere implied that they aren't able to grasp the easy concept of boarding the right train at the right time and that it actually implied the contrary instead.
I wouldn't be so passionate about this if there weren't a reason for it.

7008855
It's pretty clear they made a mistake of some sort - otherwise they wouldn't have been stuck in the middle of nowhere. Although seeing how the place doesn't particularly look like Appleoosa, i'm not sure why exactly they got off in the first place.

And Scootaloo's delivery doesn't sound sarcastic to me - just naive.

7008859

It's obvious that it was sarcasm if you take the rest of the presented facts into account alongside her remark:

1. We know them for years and have seen how intelligent and clever they are.

2. We've seen them riding trains to destinations without messing it up in the past, which is as obvious as it gets to make clear that they know that trains don't magically take you wherever you'd like to go, but that they have fixed schedules and routes that they need to pay attention to if they want to arrive at the right place.

3. Scoots has been sarcastic in the past. It's a well-known trait of hers.

4. Sweetie Belle implied knowledge of how trainrides work when she asked "Do you think we got on the wrong train?".

5. All three of them bought their train tickets for the trip, train tickets that have train name/number, destination and boarding time printed on them. They've seen these things, read them on their tickets after buying them, and it's for that reason alone that they definitely know how trainrides work.

If you don't consider these five facts, then you are just taking Scoots' remark completely out of context and read something into it that isn't implied by it. Usually, you got to pay attention to everything in an episode, not just one line.

Although seeing how the place doesn't particularly look like Appleoosa, i'm not sure why exactly they got off in the first place.

They couldn't await arriving at the Appleloosa Fair and were so hyped for it that they didn't pay proper attention and confused Hayseed Junction for Appleloosa because of that.
That one mistake doesn't mean that they don't understand trainrides, either.

7008855
The ticket pony also took her delivery as being seriously thus why he laughed and commented they must not travel much. Also like I said trains don't take tickets on boarding and it is not just something the storyboarders could overlook since films and TV don't make this mistake given just trying to have everyone board through one set of doors on a passenger train looks silly.

7008873

1. We know them for years and have seen how intelligent and clever they are.

Their maturity has been reduced this episode to make the premise work.

And i'm not sure if failing to notice they were in the wrong place entirely is less dumb than misunderstanding trains. I'm nearly 30 and I still don't completely understand trains. But I can at least tell if I'm in the desert or a swamp. Mind you, Appleoosa did have a swamp last time they were there - but probably not with a train station in.

7008876

Yeah, sorry, but that's complete nonsense. They weren't less mature than they were in the past. They got asked by two foals for advice when they were fighting about what to do with their pet. What did they tell them as advice? That the pet belongs to both of them and that they have to be nice and share it because of that.
One of these foals acted completely selfish and made clear that she doesn't want to share the pet with her brother/friend. What did they tell her in response to that? That it is probably better for her if she leaves for a while and cools off, if she doesn't want to share their pet with her brother/friend.
These are both very mature advices and exactly how a responsible adult would handle such a situation.
And before you hold it against them that Floofy was getting out of control and nearly destroyed the fair after it was them who encouraged Biscuit to let Floofy participate in the animal showcase, because I've already seen people doing that, it wasn't their fault what happened with Floofy because nopony told them that he could do this.
You can't hold this against them either, because they had no idea something like this could happen. If they had known that, they would have given them a different advice, but they didn't know it, so what happened wasn't their fault.

Overall, it is ludicrous to interpret this episode in such a way that they don't grasp the concept of riding a train in a way so that it gets you where you want to be. Literally everything from the past and from this episode points against it if you actually bother to look at it.
Suggesting that they don't understand such a simple concept is insulting to them and nothing more, because it's so obvious that they grasp that concept.

7008885
And yet, they did not arrive successfully at their destination, and for the moral structure of the episode to make sense it must be due to a lack of adult experience. They clearly understand trains some - more than I did at their age - but not enough.

7008889

Getting off at the wrong train station does not mean one doesn't understand the concept of trainrides. And getting off at the wrong train station especially doesn't mean that they believe they only have to get into any available train and will then automatically be brought to their desired destination. Getting off at the wrong train station can happen for all sorts of reasons. Including overexcitement. Acting overly excited and letting your emotions take hold of you and guide you does not make you stupid. It does not make them stupid.
All that you prove by taking this silly remark by Scoots at face value is that, in nearly nine years and almost nine complete seasons, you never managed to understand them as persons.
A thing you should really learn is that children aren't dumb because they are children, cause having such a view of children is fundamentally insulting and condescending.

7008892

A thing you should really learn is that children aren't dumb because they are children, cause having such a view of children is fundamentally insulting and condescending.

Rather than me, shouldn't you be saying that to Ed Valentine?

And I'm sure they do understand trains, as far as local travel goes. But a little knowledge can be more dangerous than total ignorance sometimes.

7008885
The song about being adults has an immature view of being an adult and they are disturbing the other passengers (and the engineer) along the trip. As for Floofy, they didn't seem to realize they didn't have to get involved, they seemed to have gotten involved in their idea of what adults do.

7008893

Rather than me, shouldn't you be saying that to Ed Valentine?

Nothing in the episode indicates that they don't understand trainrides. He did not write anything into the script that implies they don't grasp that concept. No, it's not something he needs to get told.
But I see the pattern of you not paying proper attention to episodes and rather skimming over them continued with your superficial argumentation here. Considering that, it's also silly how you imply here that you understand this episode better than the writer of it. You overestimate yourself quite a bit here.

And I'm sure they do understand trains, as far as local travel goes.

Not just local travel. They understand the entire concept of riding trains in the right way. Again, nothing implies otherwise. It's you who assumes that they are too stupid to grasp that easy concept based on a silly, sarcastic remark.
No, you clearly don't understand them. Not even one bit.