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>>/12129/ > promises are something that shouldn't be taken lightly AND it does replicate true scenarios where one person gets stuck between two friends and something this stupid is something I could see happening with younger children, the show's target demo. I definitely remember stuff at school that was almost exactly this kind of situation, later than fairly young kids. I remember shenanigans of this sort continuing even up into tweenage sort of years. > I would argue that Photo Finish fits the bill stronger than her. Photo Finish doesn't bother me so much in that Photo Finish is clearly bananas and ponies recognize that she's completely off her rocker - plus, Photo Finish seems to talk a lot more about 'capturing the magics' than about how awesome she is, whereas Sapphire Shore's "I guess I do have that effect on ponies" made me so instantly mad at her because of the sheer vanity of the statement, not even so much lack of awareness for Rarity's struggles. > With Photo Finish, at the very least, she is blind to Fluttershy's interests and is far more obsessed with making her into a star at the expense of her personal well being. A common thread with both of them and I think even with the theme of fashion in general is that this is really the first I feel I'm seeing of the idea that pony society isn't all good - this sort of high-society and culture of fashion isn't anything quite approaching evil per se, but I think you'd have to struggle to view it as anything better than neutral if not outright a negative aspect of this society - and to be clear I think it is ultimately coming across as a failing of Equestrian society. But it isn't explored all that deeply - similar to seasons later when we get to Chancellor Neighsay, where he too represents at least what is intended to be a negative aspect of Equestrian society and that aspect too is somewhat under-explored. >>/12130/ > Twilight Sparkle causing Fluttershy to do stupid things is further evidence of the idea the magical auras can't be seen Very well spotted! I'd missed that completely. > Though now I see it less as a moral failing and almost can rationalize it as something natural to a species in a herd. Maybe not always, sometimes the writing is stupid, but I don't find myself disliking this so strong all the time and here it does arguably satirize how modern culture can be. What would feel more natural to us as humans would be to stick to what we were already predisposed to - so to have opinion flip on a dime like that feels weird because we get somewhat invested into the opinion we've formed even if that opinion was just as much formed by herd mentality as it is for ponies. I don't think humans are actually any less herd-minded than this, it's just that humans are more long-term herd-minded, in terms of how humans are socialized and gaining a sort of crystallized herd mentality. I could see certain advantages to ponies being more willing to change their minds, even if it can make them appear fickle at times - for one, it makes it much easier for ponies to learn the moral lessons of these episodes, and also to remain in harmony with one another by reconciling differences peacefully. I think we see throughout the show that other species really quite struggle with this, and a lot are markedly more set in their ways even relative to one another than ponies. An interesting aspect of ponies because generally conformity is felt to be bad in modern society, but I think we see ponies being both quite conformist and quite individualistic at the same time, and I even get the impression that the ponies sort of see these things as intrinsically linked - that being friends with one another and living in harmony under Celestia and generally conforming in those ways is what enables them to then express themselves as individuals, that is the subjective impression I get of the pony 'view' on the matter. And all of what I just said is highly interpretive and subjective and I can't really think of examples of what I'm talking about either, so I totally understand if people disagree here