dashie, you did right

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@Background Pony  
BP2: Wow that’s an entirely new subtle lesson that the writers have wrote or if they didn’t plan it that way, that’s pretty much an accidental Aesop for them. I think it would be better if they moral here is about pranking than the “good friend and bad friend” thing by doing what you suggested and having Rainbow and Pinkie try to show Gilda another way to prank people and if Gilda didn’t want to change her ways at least the episode will end with her being as antagonistic as the writers hope she’ll be instead of sympathetic.
 
Now that you put things into another perspective that Gilda seems even more sympathetic than ever to me. I just think Gilda can still be Rainbow’s friends but among the jerk versions.

@Background Pony  
personally I think the episode had the wrong focus. it shouldnt have been about “good friends and bad friends” it should have been about “good pranks and bad pranks”. the episode starts off with playing pranks(well, actually it was rainbowdash not wanting to interact with pinkie(which also should have been a lesson for pinkie that people DONT have to play with her if they dont want to, and she should respect that)), and its all generally light-hearted because the people the pranks are being played on can handle them. especially so since directly after the prank is pulled it is explained to the ‘victim’ that it is a prank. pinkie comes out laughing and and directly tells spike its a prank. Sneezing powder on rarity, but they get her attention with laughter and are in plain sight holding the powder, invisible ink with twilight, again grab attention with laughter and are in plain sight holding the ink, applejack with painted apples, once again, get her attention and holding the paint brushes. before the ‘victim’ takes it negatively they diffuse the situation.
 
Then it comes to fluttershy with rainbow dash trying to use a fake turtle to squirt fluttershy. Before the prank can even happen Pinkie stops it saying fluttershy is too sensitive. Pinkie knows that pranks arent for everyone. that some people dont handle them well.
 
Fast forward and Gilda shows up. Rainbow dash wants to devote time to Gilda and Gilda doesnt exactly want to interact with pinkie pie. Pinkie should have accepted that and left them alone, but nooooo. she needs attention. But I’m getting side tracked.
 
Gilda’s first prank is on Granny smith, using her tail to play as a snake. she gets a reaction but no one exactly found it amusing, so she in turn didnt exactly find it as amusing either. her error being that she chose the wrong target and used the wrong prank, on top of her not defusing the situation before it could be interpreted negatively. Pinkie even explains how granny smith didnt know it was a joke and because of that it was ‘mean’.
 
her second “prank”(i wouldnt call it that) she roars at fluttershy. again the situation would be wrong target, wrong prank. again Gilda doenst get the reaction she was aiming for and, again, in turn doesnt find it amusing either. she excuses herself(though not with the best choice of words) and leaves.  
and pinkie gets offended for someone else.
 
And then pinkie fucks up. instead of calling gilda out on her actions, instead of going to dash and telling her about gilda(even if it may not have done any good), instead of trying to work things out, she decides she is going to fight fire with more fire. fluttershy even thinks it’s a bad idea(since we know that most all attendees minus gilda were aware of what the party was) but Pinkie being obnoxious, thinking she knows best, dismisses fluttershy’s concerns.
 
Right off the bat it is obvious gilda doesnt trust pinkie. Pinkie offers a hand(hoof)(A ritual to display trust and respect) which Gilda reluctantly accepts. And then Prank number one. the joy buzzer. it is painfully obvious that gilda did not enjoy that prank. not only did it cause her pain, but her immediate reaction is anger. Luckily rainbow dash is quick to act and diffuses the situation and calms gilda down.
 
Prank numbers 2 and 3. hot sauce lemon drops and a dribble cup. the first prank involves physical pain and when she is desperately seeking relief/aid the second prank is in poor taste for withholding it. and after she finally gets something to relieve her, her response to their reactions OOZES sarcasm.
 
Prank 4. the snakes in a can. probably the least offensive prank out of the lot. but that is by itself. considering that Gilda has been on the receiving end of 4 consecutive pranks, three of those causing harm. at that point its no longer pranking as it is harassment and bullying.
 
Prank 5. At this point the party has been going on for a while. which is where the prank party event for everyone statement falls apart. if it truly had been a prank party that is for everyone, gilda wouldnt be the only target, heck when we are panning over to the next scene we should see something exploding in someone else’s face. not only that, the entire time either pinkie or dash have been instigating her interaction with sabotaged items.  
cake is rolled out and she gets to blowing out the candles, and they reignite. again, harmless enough but she has been the target the entire time. There needs to be a line in the sand.  
Everyone shows the best of table manners at this point as well.
 
Rainbow dash makes a casual comment asking if gilda is still cool which gilda has to lie about because her pride and image is at stake. dash should have had a serious talk and more than likely things would have turned out better. but dash’s dismissal of the entire set of events forces a dishonest response out of Gilda.
 
Pin the tail on the pony. Gilda is obviously in a sour mood. so when the person she trusts the least starts setting things in motion she finds it safe to assume that this is another prank even though it isnt. She cant trust Pinkie. so she turns the other way. an oh so well kempt floor causes her to slip and crash into the kitchen and when she emerges everyone starts laughing at her.
 
So her lashing out and yelling are perfectly reasonable. so far she has been the only one being pranked on, and she is frustrated. When she calls out Pinkie Pie, the orchestrator of the event, the one who’s responsibility is to make sure everyone is having a good time, but is too thick headed(or just doesnt care) to see that the one this party is in honor of is having the opposite experience, The one who the griffin in question CAN’T TRUST, then the one person she can trust goes and reveals that she has been the one behind the pranks(THE ELEMENT OF LOYALTY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN). Gilda cant believe that the one person she trusts the most has been the one causing her so much torment this entire time. she cant believe that her friend betrayed her.
 
“Weren’t all ment for you specifically”  
Hmm, joy buzzer, directly for her.  
Lemon drops, OFFERED TO HER  
DRIBBLE CUP, DIRECTED TO HER  
SABOTAGED GIFTS, OFFERED TO HER  
CANDLES, FOR HER!!!!  
Werent all ment for her my fucking ass.  
Pinkie knew what was going on, and she did nothing to stop it. hell, she instigated it.  
So it is not a long stretch to make when gilda doubts it was rainbow dash’s doing.
 
It should have been about the pranks. They should have tried to show gilda the error in her ways, and perhaps set her up to show her how a good prank should be done. perhaps they should have recognized that gilda isnt one to take pranks lightly, like fluttershy. but no, SHE’S the party pooper. SHE’S the one at fault.
 
Gilda may not be the paragon of all things good and righteous, but fuck man, most everyone else isnt setting the best example this episode either.  
So fuck them.

@Background Pony  
Suddenly, a wild Wall-o-text appears!  
BigMax tries Read!  
It’s not very effective!

@BinaryPony  
BP2: Let’s see, BP1 is right about being Gilda’s fault for losing Rainbow Dash, but Gilda is pretty sympathetic or at least the situation surrounding her is. Her loss of Rainbow Dash is the result of stress and built up temper caused by Pinkie’s antics plus her own pride.  
That and I think Gilda would’ve enjoyed the party better if she was told this was a prank party since this is the first time she’s involved in one. Like this is a prank party there are pranks hidden everywhere in the party and it’s for everyone, including the guest of honor.

@Background Pony  
Mother of Celestia…  
 
Can we get a condensed version?

@Background Pony  
I guess people related to her only in the beginning part where Gilda was, well… being interrupted by Pinkie Pie a lot when she wanted to spend some alone time with Dash. While it’s a viable reason to spend time with friends separately and get upset by these interruptions a lot, it’s another reason to make a friend choose another.
 
So you’re right it is her fault this happened, I think this is how the writers wanted it to happen with her in the first place. However people ended up being sympathetic to Gilda because she, Dash, and Pinkie didn’t follow the usual “the old friend is evil” cliché where Dash would be happily trying to MAKE Gilda and Pinkie be friends with each other by making them participate in activities that require all three of them to be there and Gilda would sabotage Pinkie’s trip or laugh evilly about how she’ll make Dash forget Pinkie and she’ll be the only friend again. What happened is that Gilda threaten Pinkie to back off from butting in on activities that was originally meant for Dash and Gilda while Dash casually invites Pinkie to join if she wanted to or can.  
It’s a different take on this kind of cliché but this kind of route just made Gilda a bit more sympathetic than other characters who’s been in this cliché before. Because it’s pretty simple for someone to be in Gilda’s situation for someone wanting to hang out with their friend and just that friend for the day only for this third unfamiliar person to them constantly butt in on their bonding time with their friend. With more interruptions from this third person it’s almost no wonder why they ended up having a temper against them to the breaking point that they freaking yell out the feelings they’ve been bottling up this entire time. Which is how her rage at the end of the episode ended up becoming another sympathetic point (albeit on the light side at the time) for her which becomes a question of whether this is her true feelings or just simply rage at this point or too much pressure and pride to admit that she was afraid of losing the Dash she knew and like.
 
These are the lessons for this episode:  
Gilda and Pinkie’s problem is that they both want to hang with Dash but the differences between the two is that Gilda wants Dash all to herself and Pinkie can’t tell if a new person doesn’t really want to hang with her at first and should have give this new person some time with her friend alone.  
The second lesson that the two share is that they should respect Dash’s decision, they both were being disrespectful of Dash at the same time. Gilda lives in the past and doesn’t seem to get the idea that Dash may have change since the last time she has seen her, while Pinkie Pie doesn’t seem to know that Dash wants to spend time with Gilda more than her should have respectfully kept her distance from them for at least the entire day or half of it.
 
Now the last lesson is my personal opinion on how Pinkie handle Gilda’s party: While she left hints that this is a prank party, Pinkie may have not notice that Gilda may have NEVER been in a prank party in her entire life and therefore it is the true reason why Gilda became “Wrong Genre Savvy” and thought that Pinkie was out to get her. I think Gilda would’ve taken this party better if Pinkie told her that this is a Prank Party and there are several of them hidden in the party which are intended to be triggered by everyone including the guest of honor, which would be a nice (and only) warning that most of these pranks are not for her. If that had happened then Gilda would’ve make the same reaction that Dash did when she found out that Pinkie Pie does pranks which is earning Gilda’s respect (and her consideration of being her friend).

@Raiden Gekkou  
Well, that shouldn’t happen.  
This is a bug that the developers should take care of.  
When they have time, of course. :)

How it actually went down.
 
Rainbow Dash: “You know, this is not how I thought my old friends would treat my new friends. If being cool is all you care about, maybe you should go find some new cool friends someplace else. “
 
Gilda: “Rrgh. Yeah? Well you, you, you are such a, a flip-flop: cool one minute and lame the next. When you decide not to be lame anymore, gimme a call.”
 
Gilda was the one who could have said, “Hey, I care about being friends more than being cool, we can still be friends right?” But she didn’t.

“But I thought we were friends.”

Nice going Gilda, nice going…

@BigMax  
I clicked accept on the accept/reject thing for the dupe detection status, since the dupe had already been merged. I thought it would finalize something. I don’t use this site much.

@Raiden Gekkou  
How did you manage to do that?

Well, if you tell someone to choose between you and someone else… sometimes, they will. And they won’t appreciate being put in that situation.

I somehow derped and deleted the previous one.