One thing I really liked about this episode was that unlike other series that use this kinda premise, it never portrayed the machine or the technology as being bad or wrong. And they never quite showed hard work to be inherently inferior to the machine, either. The Apple Family was close to accepting a partnership and increasing their harvesting ability with the machine until the brothers revealed the horribly lopsided split, and they were able to compete handily with the machine simply by upping the number of workers from 4 to 8. I imagine that a family reunion would have left the machine in the dust.

I think I really liked that the real "moment of truth", so to speak, for both teams, was when they were each tempted to cut out quality control for the sake of speed. That turned it from being a question of "which method is better" to a question of integrity and pride in the quality of your work. And if there's anything Applejack is supposed to have in abundance, it's integrity and honor.

I honestly don't get the dislike some people get for certain ponies. I can understand not liking them, and even getting annoyed at times, but dislike? Hate? That's just crazy.

Why does everyone hate Rainbow? Rainbow is best pony...

@Ginger: See, I always though Suzaku should be the one without a cutie mark (possibly the weirdest sentence I've ever typed). It's not until the end of the series he actually decides what he wants to do.

Also Nunnaly would be a blank flank. Yes I have actually thought about this before.

I liked that too.

@ Crowfall: Agreed, I don't hate or even really dislike any of the characters. Back when I first started watching I disliked Pinkie and Rarity but I grew to at least sorta like them eventually (and now Rarity is one of my faves).

edited 29th Jan '12 7:22:23 PM by Bluespade

I hate her because she is self absorbed, arrogant, cruel, narcastic and cassualy callous to good pepole.

Rainbow's too flawed for me. Her design's cool and I admire her loyalty but aside from that she doesn't have much going for me. Maybe hate is too strong of a word but dislike fits, I suppose.

edited 29th Jan '12 7:22:19 PM by Chariot

Yes, all ponies should be loved.....frequ*THUMP*

@Crowfall: I'm with you. At worst, the ponies come across as kinda jerkish, but I think all of them are good when it comes down to it. I couldn't really hate any of them.

I think it's hilarious that some people think Rainbow is a big enough jerk to actually warrant disliking. In any other series she'd be considered a pretty nice character. It's only in comparison to all the super sweet niceness of MLP that makes her look "bad."

Off topic, has anyone seen AHR around tonight?

edited 29th Jan '12 7:24:14 PM by Bluespade

I've been trying to edit something on the Super Speedy... recap page for hours now, but the page is always checked out. Guess I'll try again tomorrow.

Perfect clip for winning an argument.

Rainbow may be the most flawed of the cast, but she's still pretty similar to people I actually know and is in some ways less jerkish than people I'm actually friends with. Like Bluespade said, it's only due to Equestria's generally sugaryness that she seems even remotely bad.

Off topic, has anyone seen AHR around tonight?

She was on briefly, this afternoon.

@JT same here

I simply love them all.They are so awesome in their own ways I simply couldn't decide

...I like Dash.

Can't really say much else, except that I'm perplexed by the amount of hatred that surrounds her

edited 29th Jan '12 7:28:49 PM by gingerninja666

It's not really hate, but Rainbow's my least favorite mostly because I'm not a fan of athletic characters and she's kind of loud/rude in comparison to others.

Truth be told, I don't like Dash because she reminds of a lot of arrogant jerk bastards I know or have known...and especially one in particular...

He got his though...oh he got his.

The simple act of being rude doesn't annoy me. It's when you're rude in a ver obnoxious way is when it starts to grate. To me at least, RD never gets like that

The thing that confuses me is that I would peg Rarity as the most flawed, especially since she shares most of Dash's flaws plus her own! But I don't think I've ever heard anyone dislike her. Oh well, I don't really care, I like them all.

EDIT: Also, RD is usually rude towards those who are being sneaky, dishonest, or rude themselves.

edited 29th Jan '12 7:33:08 PM by Bluespade

Probably because Rainbow is louder, so her flaws stand out more. Rarity just quietly deceives everypony.

I just realized that the singer in "A Dog And Pony Show" has no CM. This is...interesting.

Most flawed? Twilight. Then Pinkie.

I..don't really see Rarity as sharing any of RD flaws.She has her own flaws that set her apart.

Nah, RD is most flawed. Fluttershy is least flawed though.

edited 29th Jan '12 7:36:30 PM by Chariot

A Take That about the pop industry involving no talent could be made there

edited 29th Jan '12 7:36:00 PM by gingerninja666

That was just a result of the animators changing her dress at the last minute. They hadn't bothered to give her one because it had been covered up previously.

Although I am partial to this explanation.

edited 29th Jan '12 7:37:25 PM by Crowfall