I dunno. Spite maybe?

Well really, AJ had absolutely no reason to take them up on the challenge, but then you don't get an episode. And yes, Pinkie was a bit terrible in that episode.

edited 6th Aug '12 12:07:19 PM by Crowfall

Rainbow could ask Pinkie, but she didn't. She wanted revenge.

edited 6th Aug '12 12:06:28 PM by DeathCloud

Yeah, I know. And if Rainbow had actually gotten some cider the episode would have been a lot less funny.

But still, I think it's probably amongst the most poorly written episodes of the show.

Honestly, every possible alternate solution to that episode relies on Flim and Flam not being determined to either get a huge cut of the profits or run Sweet Apple Acres out of business.

As for Pinkie, she's naive enough to simply not know that she was causing a problem, and everyone was polite enough to not point it out to her. Even RD, who was clearly angered by the whole thing managed to keep from blowing up in Pinkie's face over it.

I really don't see the holes there that everyone else does.

edited 6th Aug '12 12:13:27 PM by PerpetualLurker

A neat touch: when Applejack tells the crowd to go ahead and drink the Flim Flam cider after they lost the bet, the camera focuses in on the Cutie Marks of Golden Harvest and Berry Punch, as the local farmers who would probably have the most empathy for the Apples plight.

Pinkie did bug me a little, but that didn't annoy me nearly as much as the fact that the way the wager was handled ended up making both sides look kinda stupid. The Apple Family got suckered into the wager way more easily than they should have, and Flim and Flam only lost because they had a solid grip on the Idiot Ball. What bugs me most is that with some minor tweaks it would have worked fine. All they had to do was 1. have the Apples reluctant to do the challenge but get pressured into it by the townsponies and 2. have Flim and Flam's cider be subpar to start with so they don't have lose a bunch of IQ points to get defeated.

Not to mention that it's kinda in Character for Pinkie to be completely oblivious to the problems she's causing; if she would have realized that she probably would have given RD a handout.

edited 6th Aug '12 12:16:56 PM by JapaneseTeeth

@Bluespade: I get the feeling that Flim and Flam really weren't interested in anything but running the Apple family out so they could have the orchard to themselves. And yes the decision by Granny Smith to engage in the competition was dumb, but misplaced pride seems to run in the Apple family (especially the mares).

It's interesting to note that despite being angry at her for most of the episode, RD is the one comforting Pinkie when she is crying about AJ leaving.

edited 6th Aug '12 12:17:55 PM by Mio

I dunno, the Flim Flams original pitch was a pretty good deal. They just went with the standard negotiating method giving oneself a big advantageous in the initial pitch (75/25 profit split) to get haggling under way. If the Apples had simply tried to talk them down to a more reasonable split it would have been good for everybody.

Also, unintentional aesop: if you never, ever have enough manpower to meet your customer's demands, hire some temporary workers, stupid.

Yeah, RD is all around really nice this episode. Puts Fluttershy in front of her in line, jumps in to help Applejack even though she's mad at her, keeps her anger in check when Pinkie rubs her bad luck in her face, etc.

edited 6th Aug '12 12:20:03 PM by Bluespade

Yeah, I have to say I did really like the way that RD was handled; I wish more episodes utilized her. Although I still think the main conflict has a lot of Fridge Logic to it that could have been avoided.

@Blue Considering how casually the brothers approached running the family out of town, I doubt that they had any intention of bargaining with them. They held all the cards, and they knew it. It was that overconfidence that cost them in the end, though.

Watching 18: THAT'S NOT HOW SNORKEL'S WORK!

They held no cards, actually. The Flim Flams had a cider making machine, but they had no apples. All the Apple Family had to do was refuse to give/sell them apples, and they would have been forced to leave town. They had no merchandise to sell!

On an unrelated note, this is precisely how I feel.

edited 6th Aug '12 12:24:34 PM by Bluespade

I never realised that about RD in SSC S6k. She was nice...we really need more of that.

@van Actually, it's quite common to dive under water with a snorkel, then surface and blow all of the water out of it. It's not like they were actually breathing underwater.

They brought that point up in the episode itself, though, and Flim and Flam said that they could get apples elsewhere easily. Could they have been bluffing? Maybe, but it would be taking a huge risk to call them on that.

edited 6th Aug '12 12:26:26 PM by PerpetualLurker

But RD also want do same thing what Pinkie accidentally doing to her. Did asked anypony for saving her place in line or buying cider for her. She also forced Flutershy to going to cider thing even if she really wanted that much.

What do you mean she wanted to do the same thing that Pinkie was doing to her? The fact that she let Fluttershy go in front of her is proof that she didn't.

@lurker: not for that long (in my experance). It they were that deep they would have to be damn good swimmers.

At begging off episode Rainbow said that she want buy all cider and rub it into Pinkie face

edited 6th Aug '12 12:28:38 PM by DeathCloud

@Death Cloud: She "forced" Fluttershy to come with her because she simply assumed she would want to. Everyone else was interested, it didn't occur to her that Fluttershy wouldn't want to go. She made an assumption without thinking of Fluttershy's wishes, yes, but it was hardly an unkind thing to do.

@Vanthebaron: Ponies can also survive practically any amount of physical trauma without injury. Is it weird to think they don't have a ton of lung capacity?

edited 6th Aug '12 12:28:35 PM by Bluespade

Given that Pinkie apparantly does this every year, I doubt she'd be that broken up over it. Not to mention that despite RD's stated intent to do that, what we actually see her doing is anything but.

fuckin toonforce.

We interrupt this argument to bring you my attempt at a Filly Twilight sketch.◊

I just pointing it out that it's not that nice thing.

Rainbow problem was she wasn't thinking much about that situation

She didn't do that because she never got cider until end of episode (and it's was from Pinkie).

edited 6th Aug '12 12:33:51 PM by DeathCloud

@Perpetual: Flim and Flam really posed no threat to the Apples. Even if they did set up their own stand, the Apple family couldn't meet all the demand anyway, so it isn't like they would be losing business to them. Since they would need to get their apples elsewhere, they would need to either charge more or cut into their profits. There is no way they could run the Apples out of business without committing to years of competition, and they don't seem the sort to spend that much time on one farm when they can try somewhere else. The whole thing was a bluff to goad the Apple family into making a bad decision.

http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/08/pony-trading-card-official-biinder.html