@Zombie: Check in daily, you get loyalty bonuses of bits and XP and sometimes gems, also there's the balloon pop minigame.

@Enlong: I'm sure we're all familiar with me drawing a similarity to part of the Sons Of the Patriots System

Pagetopper: Pinkie got her Flugelhorn :3

Quick spam PSY at Sombra!

Rarity and Pinkie Cosplayers with great smiles :D

edited 13th Nov '12 7:48:04 AM by AceOfScarabs

@ Irish Zombie That's adorable :3

Dey wuv wooooooo~

edited 13th Nov '12 7:50:40 AM by theLibrarian

@Osias: The problem the episode had is that if you ignore the historical atrocities committed against real life native groups and go solely by the events that are actually shown in the episode, the Appleoosans really weren't that bad. All they did was settle a patch of land that, as far as they knew, was uninhabited, and they were apparently there for quite some time before the buffalo showed up and demanded (without explanation) that they uproot everything and leave. It wasn't like real life where settlers were actively displacing the natives or driving them out; they honestly didn't know that anyone claimed ownership of the land. The other thing is that the buffalo never explained why; they just said "get the hell out" without giving any reasons why the ponies should leave. If they would have said "Guys, you put your crap in the middle of our land" and the ponies were like "GTFO" then yeah, there'd be a problem on both sides, but as is, they never give the ponies a reason why they should leave.

Don't get me wrong, the real life stuff that happened with the settlers and Native Americans was utterly despicable, but none of that stuff actually happened in the episode. In the context of the show itself, the ponies are only guilty of accidentally settling land that they didn't know was pre-owned, and then being reluctant to move when they aren't given a real reason to leave. Braeburn outright says at one point that he has no idea why the buffalo want them gone; the conflict of the episode is more Poor Communication Kills than anything else.

The long version of my issues with the episode is here.

Not that it didn't have it's good points, but on the whole I consider it one of the weaker ones.

edited 13th Nov '12 7:55:14 AM by JapaneseTeeth

Nice cosplayers!

And that horn suits Pinkie.

EDIT:

Agree with JT.

edited 13th Nov '12 7:51:55 AM by ApplelightLimited

Let me confess something: to me, that episode was not about American history while I was watching. I didn't see it as a commentary about native Americans or land. I saw a problem specific from Equestria barely inspired by western movies. Only after, reading the reviews, I realized the deeper Unfortunate Implications.

Maybe because I'm slow, not because I'm not American.

While I was seeing it as a "western episode", none of this mattered, and it was my favorite episode until then.

edited 13th Nov '12 7:57:56 AM by osias

Oh by the way, Lmage's first post was 57164

JT is absolutely right. The Appleloosians didn't do anything wrong! At all! As far as they were concerned, they were being evicted and forced to starve! Even the buffulloes explanation of why they needed the land was stupid. "It is our traditional stampeding ground!"

"So... you need to run there. Not for any life preserving purpose. And you can't stampede anywhere else because...?"

"Tradition!"

Don't get me wrong, I like tradition, as long as it isn't causing harm or hindering progress.

JT nails it as usual.

I agree that part is stupid, I just thought the rest was enough to make up for it.

> JT nails it as usual.

Yep, posts need a "like" button :)

Plus Braeburn and Little Strongheart were perfectly willing to talk it out, but both of them had made such a big deal of the orchard and the stampeding that the mane cast would only accept a "take it or leave it" solution.

We need some NEW controversies.

Obligatory

...The Dark side of the fandom has started making r34 of the torments Sombra inflicted upon his enslaved subjects :P

Controversy: Diamon Tiara is actually an upstanding filly.

No one thinks the Appleossans did anything wrong. The thing is, the buffalo didn't do anything wrong, either. Land that they essentially owned had been settled by outsiders while they were away, and they wanted it back. Nothing wrong with that. What was wrong was the neither side would compromise, which was the whole point of the episode.

edited 13th Nov '12 8:13:48 AM by PerpetualLurker

Detailed pony body armor, all in old-school platemail style.

(Funny thing is that armor I personally design tends towards a 21st-century styling, with modern curvatures and integrated hardware Go figure.)

My solution for Appleloosa? Stampede Freeway :P

edited 13th Nov '12 8:14:05 AM by AceOfScarabs

Lurker says what I was going to, but with more clarity.

The real reason he loves stairs

I predict the up and coming Trixie episode will cause some levels of controversy.

Stryke and Striker J5 weren't too happy with potentially-canon villain!Trixie.

Anyways, I fully expect Sombra to be Bach.

@Apple I don't know, people thought the same thing with Luna ecliped, and yet it was well receved.

All my feels ;_;

But if the Apploosians had done what the buffulo wanted, they would have died horribly, whereas if the buffulo had done what the Apploosians wanted, they would have had a slightly longer run.

Um... yeah.

As I recall, that was exactly what they did at the end.

The buffalo get to do their traditional stampede, the ponies harness some of the stampede energy to knock some of the apples down, and everyone gets warm pie for dessert. Everyone wins!

edited 13th Nov '12 8:22:23 AM by KylerThatch