@CronoM Now 3!

@Background Pony #E91F  
That CEO is only obeying the money and dont give a damn about the plants

Wisdom has always been Twilight’s dump stat. This discussion just confirms it.

@Psyga315  
That isn’t a bad headcanon. At the very least, there would be a ton of very disturbed and worried citizens. But how exactly do you incite a rebellion against people who literally raise the sun and the moon? And for a thousand years?
 
More or less, Celestia can basically get away with anything. I can think of only one of the main 6 who isn’t afraid of standing up to Celestia, two if we include Sunset, but beyond that, most ponies are stopped by humility.

@CronoM  
My headcanon is that they never found out about Twilight’s priorities or how Celestia valued them and if they or Cadance ever found out, there’d be war.

@Background Human  
Anyway, I think I’ve said all I wanted to say on this thread, so there’s no point in me extending it further. (Way too tired also.) See ya!

@Background Human  
Twilight WAS vindicated in Crystal Empire; simply on the basis that she came to the right decision only at the last second, seconds before it would of been too late, Twilight was praised to high heaven for this. She wasn’t even slightly reprimanded for the length of time it took her to make the most obvious solution in the world: lives>homework. Her friends vindicated her after the fact as well, praising on how awesome she is.
 
A realistic and moral ending would of been Twilight apologizing to her friends for risking their lives and swearing to learn from that, not them singing how amazing she is after she declared she passed her test. Am I wrong on that?
 
Also, Twilight was hardly vindicated in the Wild West comic, the others merely tolerated her idiocy and played along with her logic so they other 5 could do what comes naturally to protagonists: help people. They DID give her grief. A lot. And like I said before, the mandate that prevented Twilight from getting a reality check at the end of the Wild West comics was the same mandate that prevented Twilight from getting a reality check during Trade Ya! (where her ‘morality lesson’ was completely nonsensical and out of left field to her experiences that episode)…she wasn’t supposed to get a reality check until Sunset helped her in Rainbow Rocks.
 
Also, exactly what on earth are you trying to say? That seeing problems of royalty using magic on normal criminals is MORE dysfunctional then seeing problems of risking homework to save thousands of lives? Exactly who are you trying to kid? If the latter is an 8 out of 10 in terms of dysfuntionality, the former isn’t even enough to get a 1. And in the comics, she was criticized multiple times for that less-then-1.
 
At least the former is slightly grounded in reality…Twilight was afraid to represent the monarchy, known for god-like abilities, to stop normal criminals. It was still stupid cause, among many other reasons, Twilight does not have a millennia-long reputation to uphold, but common sense fails are nothing new to Twilight even before S3. Total moralities fails of when to save thousands of lives as a secondary priority is on an entirely different level.

@dynamicv  
Its only natural that Reflections occured before S4 time-line wise, that’s when they started writing for it.
 
Loosely, not strictly. Either way it doesn’t make much difference, they established in PTS that unlike Blueblood, Twilight has succession-level authority even before Twilight’s kingdom, and with the princesses currently trapped, she has all the authority she needs. It really doesn’t matter if it takes place before or after Twilight’s Kingdom authority-wise.

@CronoM  
The problem with that reading is that, unlike in “The Crystal Empire” or Rainbow Rocks, Twilight’s foolishness in the Wicky Wicky Wild Wild West arc is ultimately vindicated. Instead of being made to accept that some people just need to be magic-missiled in the name of public safety, she exploits legal loopholes to create a situation where her use of magic can be seen as protecting government property, and somehow this is presented as a reasonable solution to her dilemma. As a result, the Equestria of the comics manages to look even more dysfunctional than that of the show.

@CronoM
 
Reflections came out during season 4, but takes place before season 4 and the previous two arcs (Pirates and Bookworm, which referenced Power Ponies).
 
Plus, the castle only appeared in Friends Forever, not the main book.
 
So unless there is something in the comic itself that confirms it, you can’t strictly place the time based on what happens in other books.

@dynamicv  
Pretty much, and unlike the comic, Crystal Empire wasn’t even allowed to be even slightly self-aware. (the most we got was a few seconds of Luna with doubt)
 
Actually I think comics earlier then that one featured her new castle, establishing when the comics take place after that point. Let me check…
 
Yeah, the comic that featured her castle was released on Oct 22. The comic in question was first released on Nov 19th.

@CronoM
 
Huh, I never realized The Crystal Empire had a similar moral dissonance to that comic.
 
I’d also like to add that Twilight didn’t get her official princess title (which presumably is what will grant her the authority to do more than “smile and wave”) until the end of season 4, and the comic probably takes place before that happens.

The same comparison could be done for the last comic story in comparison to the show.
 
Crystal Empire the episodes  
>Twilight gets some stupid concept in her head that her test is more important then lives until the very last second  
>Before and even AFTER this mindset she establishes to everyone nearly gets everybody killed, not a single person calls her out on it. In fact they even encourage Twilight worrying about her test, as if it was important in comparison to the lives they saved.
 
The Good, The Bad and the Ponies the comics  
>Twilight gets some stupid concept in her head that because she’s a princess, she can’t use her alicorn enhanced magic on normal criminals unless she gets an okay from Celestia or they ‘officially’ destroy something that requires her attention; which while very dumb, is not nearly as amorally stupid as her original logic in Crystal Empire  
>The other main characters rightfully call out Twilight on how stupid this logic is at least 3 times during the comic
 
Perspective helps.
 
And if someone asks why they didn’t end with Twilight growing wiser in the comic, the same could be applied to her lesson fail in Trade Ya! Both are supposed to take place before Rainbow Rocks.

There’s some srs missed meme potential in Pinkie’s response.  
IT’S TIME TO PLAY REPLACE THAT TOOOOOOY!

@Background Human  
Heh, only by association. They are simply plot-driving characters like the Buffalo were in Over-ABarrel, their only part of the satire is their actions in making fun of one of the dumbest plots in the series, PTS. Most of the satire is focused on the main character’s reactions to -Hasbro Well-to-do. The deer are hardly Superboy-Prime, the focus is on how Twilight’s new authority has been worthless since she got it cause she doesn’t have the backbone to use it, otherwise this Ferngully plot would be over in seconds, and unlike the series, the comic isn’t afraid to show this.

@Background Human
 
I for one don’t think anything besides the Twilight merchandise (and probably Well-to-Do) is supposed to be satirical.
 
The “fucking elves” are just elves.

@CronoM  
By that interpretation, do the fucking elves represent the fans who are displeased with the show’s current direction?

@PonyPon  
“I don’t recall the story aspects you cite in RR rubbing people wrong.”
 
Sorry, I worded that slightly wrong. Rainbow Rocks and IDW are doing the same thing mocking the recent big-plot episodes, but while Rainbow Rocks is providing the well-written solution, the comics are providing the satire to the current show meta. Either way, neither should be mocked if both encourages good writing.
 
“I’m not seeing the satire in this one, though.”
 
You mean someone commericializing Twilight’s life without her input, her not having the backbone to stop it, but in this instance its so obvious, as a satire, her friends are being completely honest that she needs to actually not accept something for a change…something that practically never happens in the show.
 
That’s the satire. Its not as if Well-To-Do being Hasbro is supposed to be subtext, its supposed to be obvious satire.

@CronoM  
That cute little theory of yours hinges on me agreeing that the show sucks right now… which I don’t. I love the show just as much as I did back in Season 2, and I am excited by the prospects of Season 5.

@CronoM  
Maybe because Sadly, unlike Rainbow Rocks which definitively mocked the “use Rainbows, instant heal” mentality of many of the Big plots (although they AREN’T the idiotic messes you make them sound like, this comics don’t seem to make it clear if it’s satire, if it’s played straight (which is why many fans are pissed) or if it’s nothing but biting the hand and calling it “parody”.  
The Last arc had moments where the bad guys did TERRIBLE things, and the most they got is being put in a prison MADE OUT OF THE SAME.BUILDING THEY TEAR DOWN WITH ONE KICK! While the good guys acted like idiots because “rules & peaceful ways”, while the town suffered because of their idioticy. It’s true, I got the parody vibes from that Story (which could explain the flanderization and OOC moments), but if it wasn’t a parody…. You see the problem.with this comics.

@CronoM  
I don’t recall the story aspects you cite in RR rubbing people wrong. I thought that was one of the things people could saw as an improvement.
 
I’m not seeing the satire in this one, though. They seem to be just doing what they should be making fun of.

@Background Pony #EFBF  
@soundtea  
Only for the people who don’t understand the concept of satire.
 
With the exception of Rainbow Rocks, the big plot episodes since S3 have been horrendous in terms of writing, far worse then in the comics. And even if you disagree with that, the writing isn’t the only problem.
 
The recent comics have been  
a) dumb but not as dumb as those big plot episodes  
b) very uninfluential and undamaging to the plot of MLP  
c) completely aware of how stupid the show-established plot is, that it mocks Hasbro’s agenda with impunity, allowing the fans to want the show to be smarter then it has been.
 
While the big plot episodes for the series since S3 have been  
a) far dumber then the recent comics  
b) VERY influential and damaging to the plot of MLP  
c) almost COMPLETELY unaware of how stupid their plot, setting the standard for writing quality so incredibly low that some people actually accepted the scenario I described below concerning Discord in PTS and Twilight’s Kingdom.
 
(rereads scenario in the show)
 
WOW that’s stupid. No matter how many angles you look at it, the series big-episodes remain the most damaging.
 
What surprises me most about the complaints mostly within Derpibooru is the hypocrisy. Most people in the fandom are rightfully against Hasbro dumbing down the plot of MLP for marketing sake. Yet when DHX (with Rainbow Rocks) and IDW (with the last 4 comics or so) try to make the audience self-aware of how bad the current Hasbro-influenced meta is, so many on Derpibooru just complain.
 
Ignorance isn’t bliss when it comes to bad, commercialized writing. I’m enjoying the well placed satire in the comics, and hoping that the newer season’s big plots are as smart as Rainbow Rocks, which is what both DHX and IDW seem to want. We should all be happy if DHX is allowed to do that..why wouldn’t we be?

@441TheSecond  
There a fuck, here a fuck, I don’t give a fuck fuck, old McDonald had a farm E I E I O!

@Background Pony #285B  
Fuck you!