Unpopular opinion time

@asdtroi  
Yep, it’s kind of akin to someone saying “you people” to a group.

@The Equestrian Zodiac  
It leaves a connotation of “otherness” to the group being addressed. “Us versus them,” and all that. She meant it ideologically but given how fragile the peace between the pony races has been and a clear level of inequality, it does come off as something else. Would have been a fun twist if it had turned out to be Chrysalis in disguise. Not to mention the DIO stylr memes it would spawn.

@asdtroi
 
@The Equestrian Zodiac
 
Really? Then I’m sorry, I guess I just never really realized it. Do you mind giving me examples? Just because I’m curious now.

@Background Pony #7CFD  
That was because Fluttershy genuinely cared about Discord and saw him as a friend and treated him with kindness, which Discord eventually realized and changed. If Flittershy would’ve done the same to the three of them, they would’ve rejected her or flat out tried to kill her.

@Myoozik  

 
I think the point there was that Discord was the only one for whom a serious attempt was made. Tirek and Chrysalis might have been too powerful to take the risk, but Cozy Glow could easily have been kept under control (even with the others, Discord could have been standing by to re-petrify if needed).
 
Though for what it’s worth, the fact that Discord never had any interest in actually ruling over anyone (if anything, “ruling” in the traditional sense of the word would go against what he stands for) may have been a substantial factor in why he was more amenable to rehabilitation than the other three.

Hmm… how do people feel about AJ’s role as a “straight mare”? I just talked to someone who’d prefer the cast to not have such a thing, and I have heard before she’s not that popular. But I’m not sure how widespread that feeling is.

@Latecomer  
Humor comes from juxtaposition. When you don’t have a character to act as a straight man then the juxtaposition has to come from the setting. Compare Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch to their Four Yorkshiremen sketch. The humor of the former comes from a straight man confronted with an absurd one while the latter has four men making absurd claims. One sketch is more realistic but both are genuinely funny. Dropping Applejack would mean the world would have to be more realistic and less magical and everyone but the main cast having less personality. That’s not to say Applejack has no personality but that her personality contrasts well with the other five. That’s why Applejack appears in so many episodes.

@Brass Beau  
So because AJ is kind of plain, the world around her can be crazy?

@Latecomer  
That’s the gist of it. There’s more nuance to it but for a quick and dirty explanation, yes, Applejack is “boring”^{I disagree and she’s one of my favorites} so the rest of the world can be a little less like reality.

@Brass Beau  
Hmm… do you have any examples of that? I don’t mind nuance…

@Latecomer  
The show in general has more depth than it has any right to be and the characters within it do as well. Applejack isn’t always the straight man (Twilight was in Applebucking Season) and she’s had opportunity to be funny (_Simple Ways), make stupid mistakes (Where the Apple Lies) and have heart warming moments (The Perfect Pear). She’s not just the straight man. She’s only unremarkable on a surface level. Looking at her as a one dimensional character is the same reason some fans say she’s acting out of character when she tells a half truth or lies.

@Brass Beau  
I concur - I’m currently considering her for favourite pony. (And the other thing is based on a misunderstanding of the Elements, anyway.) But that doesn’t explain the whole thing where she enables a crazier world?

@Latecomer  
She’s a point of reference. It’s a general rule of fiction that, unless stated otherwise, it functions the same as our world. As such, her reaction to the world signals to us, the audience, what is normal and what is unusual. If aliens come down and she bakes them a pie we know that’s a normal thing. So long as she behaves like something is normal, the world can be as different as the writers want to make it.

@Brass Beau  
A quite interesting take on it. (Although of course being quite rooted in her own traditions, she can only really give us the Ponyville normal.)

@Latecomer  
That may actually work to her advantage. Most of the show takes place in and around Ponyville, but place her in a city like Manehattan and she can be very funny. Those are also the episodes starring Rarity I enjoy the most.

@Brass Beau  
True enough. I do like AJ a lot - but then I like most of the Manes a lot, so it’s hard to pick a favourite. I guess that makes for a successful cast?

@Latecomer  
Definitely a good sign. I think I enjoyed them most from seasons four through seven.

@Myoozik  
We don’t know because no attempt was ever made and it doesn’t neccesarely havd to be Fluttershy.
 
 
@DoctorWTF  
It was said that he ruled Equestria in a state of chaos. Upon his escape he turned Ponyville into his chaos capitol. He was certainly there to stay.

@Background Pony #7CFD  
This discussion is beginning to loop so I think it’s time to agree to disagree. You’ve expressed that the cast did not take enough responsibility to reform the trio and I’ve expressed that the trio did not take enough responsibility to avoid their fate. I’m unsure if we’ll be able to find a compromise beyond recognizing each other’s stance.

Let’s change the subject,so I said a couple pages back I prefer Snips and Snails over Rumble but I didn’t really say why and my reason is I remember in one episode with the Cmc Rumble was a jerk to the Cmc for some reason in the episode I think it was called marks and recreation but does anyone else remember Rumble was a jerk in it?

@Sadrai  
Yea, but he learned his lesson there and his reasoning did make for an interesting conflict for the CMC.

I’ve always preferred Limestone Pie over Marble Pie, I don’t hate either character however.

@DoctorWTF  
I don’t necessarily think that same serious attempt would’ve worked on all three. I wouldn’t have minded if they tried though, even if it would be unsuccessful. As for Cozy Glow, that’s a maybe given that she is still an impressionable child.
 
@Latecomer  
I like it, it balances the wacky dynamic of the other five and give people in the audience to relate to.
 
@Background Pony #7CFD  
Why would they? It would’ve likely failed seeing how far down the rabbit hole all three went into. But like Brass said, this is going for far too long so let’s just leave it at that.
 
@ShadowBolt Platinum  
Hot take, I find Limestone to be pretty overrated. She’s not a bad character to me, but I think she gets propped up too much in comparison to the other three.

@Latecomer
 
Well, AJ is obviously best pony, so…
 
Seriously though, as Brass Beau says, Twilight tends to play the straight mare quite often as well, but AJ is at least the only one who can play the team mom. That alone makes her irreplaceable as far as I’m concerned.
 
@ShadowBolt Platinum
 
I don’t like either of them, nor Maud. All of Pinkie’s sisters are overrated, imo.

@ShadowBolt Platinum  
Someone that gets me!
 
@Spinny  
Funny enough, Pinkie is the one I find over rated, in my opinion. Overall, I think they work better together than separately. They bounce off one another very well.