: There are a lot of problems with the episode "Putting Your Hoof Down", but I'll focus on the set up. The episode starts off with Angel bunny *slapping Fluttershy* in the face because he was unhappy with the salad she gave him. Angel has impatient before and even bratty at times, but he was never a domestic abuser. Anyways, Fluttershy has to go out and get ingredients to make this insanely complex salad Angel wants. What follows is basically a cringe worthy Humiliation Conga for poor Fluttershy, as literately all the background ponies become jerkasses for no reason and push her around, cut in front of her, jack up prices for ingredients to a ridiculous extreme (10 bits for one cherry) and insult her. This results in Angel *throwing Fluttershy out of her own house* because she couldn't make the salad perfectly since she couldn't buy the overpriced cherry. This horrid scenario was probably done so that Fluttershy would be motivated to go to an assertiveness training class but honestly it seems that the writers forgot what show they were writing. Why is Angel such a violent Jerkass to Fluttershy when he has been protective of her in the past? Why does everyone hate Fluttershy all of a sudden? Fluttershy has never been the most assertive pony but she was never tormented to this extent by so many characters at once. There have been mean characters on the show but they were the exception not the rule. When did this become a Sadistic Show?

Okay, I agree with those events going too far but I tolerated them for the sake of story. What has me writing this entry is the entire scene where she's chewing out Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Not just berating them but attacking them verbally where it hurts the most: their lives. Calling their destined pursuits "frivolous?" Telling them they're wasting their lives on something so unimportant that nopony gives a flying fuc-oh right, feather about? Excuse me Ms. Flutterbrute, but that's how they make a living, compared to being shut-up in a cottage taking care of animals for no profit. I know this episode was to show off how bad it is to go overboard with being assertive and whatnot, but the whole scene just feels waayyy out of place for Fluttershy to say. (Seeing Pinkie Pie and Rarity run away with a face full of tears didn't help matters either.) Even though justified through her assertiveness training, she's not the kind of pony to belittle and mentally break her friends. Overall, not only was the scene cringe-inducing, but handled very poorly. This really put FS down on the my pony tier list for me, and the episode ultimately leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

So Applejack "didn't learn anything" from the events of The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000? That hardly sounds like something to brag about given what happened today. The entire town - including the Element of Loyalty - turned their back on the Apple Family when they didn't make enough cider (not to mention that letting Pinkie Pie buy out a good portion of their stock was terrible for customer relations, so franlkly they brought that upon themselves.) They almost lost the farm because they foolishly agreed to challenge the Flim Flam brothers on sheer volume rather than quality - we had already established they couldn't win on that. And the only reason they still own Sweet Apple Acres is because the Flim Flam brothers screwed themselves over twice, first by not realizing that their lead was probably wide enough that they could still win without sacrificing quality, and second by serving the ponies cider from one of the bad barrels. And her argument about having superior quality is moot, they never actually discredited the machine's quality-control mechanism. How can she be so smug when everything worked out by luck, and so complacent despite everypony in town hating the Apple family for not making enough cider?