2.23: "Ponyville Confidential", *Spoilers*Spoilers*GABBY GUMS GOSSIP*Spoilers*Spoilers* Options

[MyLittleEmpath]

I can't believe it hasn't been said.

Diamond Tiara wants PICTURES! Pictures of SPIDER MARE!

Actually, I did mention it in the chat.

[Rezo]

Okay, longer version of my previous praise.

Hee. I only now notice how the Foals' Free Press appears to suffer from rapidly declining sales, judging by the very much downward pointing arrow @ 32 seconds in.

And I definitely suffered from horrible audio during the stream. Much better now.

Anyway. Someone needs to run the globe in Cheerilee's school against the maps we've seen in the past and see how they match up~

And lol at Fez Pony's nervous looks when Diamond Tiara suggests that nobody takes the newspaper seriously.

I notice that Rarity's hot new hat should fit perfectly in Diamond Tiara's business model~

"You really shouldn't be snooping, Rarity..." "..." "Oh, but it's so much fun Rarity!" This is soooo Rarity~ How can one pony be so awesome?

... Her dressing up Sweetie Belle was adorable, too~

Horn smack! And nicely sets up how the CMCs get ever deeper into it. If big, adorable sister likes to snoop, too~ (The episode does a nice job showing off the hypocrisy of people, really. It's fun and laughter until they're the object snooped about)

BonBon & Lyra grabbing newspaper right after each other~

'Mare in a mane dyeing scandal'... No, seriously, I just about died <_<

Diamond Tiara's ultra-large chair vs. her small statue really gets some points across, doesn't it?

And again... In the end, the CMCs do what the public wants~ Poor, adorable little fillies (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-screamer.gif) Applejack & co are hypocrites :<

'A well-placed, scaly source close to the prissy pony says...' Way to keep your informants a secret, CMCs :<

Fluttershy's reaction to the tail extension deal is hilarious. That one probably isn't a lie <_<

Bored, you're-all-exaggerating-calm-down-Rarity to I'LLDESTROYHER Rarity in under two seconds~ That expression's to die for, btw. The former one, I mean.

Still best pone~

Kungfurity returns~ And she has a classical education to boot :V

Getting the point across, re: Hypocrisy, too, I see~

Staggering hypocrisy at that.

Diamond Tiara is a lovely villain, btw~

Rainbow Dash miiiiiiiiight be a little annoyed. Brilliant use of clouds, btw~ Most appropriate reaction there, really.

Btw, I haven't mentioned it before, but Fluttershy's cottage is incredibly beautiful.

Rainbow Dash is really pissed. I like the resolution a lot, btw. Much better than the alternatives (I.e. photos are published, CMCs humiliated, Diamond Tiara now in the open villain spot). Ultimately, it was the CMCs responsibility, and they owed up to it. Diamond Tiara was poor at her job, and was consequently removed from it. Exactly as it should be, nothing exaggerated.

So yeah. Clear top tier episode is clearly top tier.

[Pocket]

Well, the ending surprised me. I was predicting that they would decide to cop it on the chin and run those embarrassing photos of themselves because it's only fair, but as a typical Gabby Gums column. Suddenly Diamond Tiara is denied her revenge and she still has to come up with an excuse for why Gabby Gums is missing from the paper the next issue, and nopony besides Rarity and her friends ever have to know who Gabby Gums really was. Which brings up the question of who's the big hypocrite who blabbed Gabby Gums' identity to the rest of the town anyway?

Oh hey look what I found.

(IMG:http://i.imgur.com/brdrn.jpg)

Suddenly everything was bigger and eight!

[Cabooceratops]

This episode sure was Hypocrisy Central, wasn't it?

Also, awesome to have Big Macintosh actually speak.

[mariomarc]

my only disappointment was no actually image of trixie or elaborating on her story
but i have this
http://pixelkitties.deviantart.com/art/Tri...ealed-293313335

[Nutjob R/T]

ALL THE TACOS

[Sobana]

I expected them to teach Diamond Tiara a lesson by publishing some horrible story about HER, and teaching her how it feels

I honestly thought that what was going to happen too and then everypony suddenly forgetting what happened before that event, everypony having a big laugh at Diamond Tiara, the CMC get off scotch free and then they roll the credits.

But no, it was more realistic this way, they acted mature, announced what they did was wrong and apologized, didn't seek revenge against Diamond Tiara, and actually went around to make amends to the ponies they hurt instead of just assuming they did. This right here is the life lessons we should be teaching our kids, how to act mature.

Also, welcome to the allspark (primarily MLP: FiM and not at all Transformers) forum site! =D

[Nayuki]

Also, welcome to the allspark (primarily MLP: FiM and not at all Transformers) forum site! =D

Ponies, transform and roll out!
...
...
...
Um, yeah.

[TM2-Megatron]

I really enjoyed this one; it was one of S2's best episodes, IMO. Rezo already mentioned most of the things I enjoyed most about it a few posts up. Though it was a CMC episode, Rarity was pretty good in it, as well. One of my favourite parts was when she was talking to herself about snooping. And of course the freakout when she sees her diary published, although Pinkie seemed to like it; she was still smiling and actually reading the paper while the others seemed more dismayed for Rarity (or at least pretending to be, until they could get home and read their own copies).

Poor Scoots; still no focus episode this season, and now even Ponyville's bird population seem to be laughing at her (now canon) terrible flying skills, heh. At least she gets the CMC general episodes, although even those usually tend to give slightly more attention to one than the other two; this time around it was Sweetie.

We also got a slightly derp'd Dinky.

(IMG:http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/6112a8bd5d19261cd35dd50760d73271/159053%20-%20Diamond_Tiara%20dinky_hooves%20screencap.jpg)

* For that matter, what was Applejack doing at the spa? Isn't she's supposed to reject that kind of girly stuff?

I'd say that's more Rainbow's take than AJ's. Though people seem to compare them a lot, I've always thought their personalities were only superficially similar, at best. AJ usually avoids stereotypically "girly" things because she's inclined to be more practical and would rather use her time to get more work done on the farm. She also seems to have a hard time relaxing (the photograph in the Foal Free Press notwithstanding (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-fire.gif) ) a lot of the time. Girly stuff like spa getaways and whatnot probably seem frivolous to her. But when she's in the right mood, she can probably just relax and enjoy it.

Rainbow, on the other hand, seems to have a genuine aversion to such things; and of course she wants to maintain her image of being tough. That, or she's just really ticklish, judging by her behavior in this episode. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-arcee.gif)

This post has been edited by TM2-Megatron: Mar 31 2012, 06:52 PM

[Zeel1]

I expected them to teach Diamond Tiara a lesson by publishing some horrible story about HER, and teaching her how it feels

I honestly thought that what was going to happen too and then everypony suddenly forgetting what happened before that event, everypony having a big laugh at Diamond Tiara, the CMC get off scotch free and then they roll the credits.

But no, it was more realistic this way, they acted mature, announced what they did was wrong and apologized, didn't seek revenge against Diamond Tiara, and actually went around to make amends to the ponies they hurt instead of just assuming they did. This right here is the life lessons we should be teaching our kids, how to act mature.

Also, welcome to the allspark (primarily MLP: FiM and not at all Transformers) forum site! =D

Heh, thanks. Been a bit of a lurker for a couple of weeks now, figured I'd weigh in this time around~

Yeah, as others have mentioned, I also liked how they kind of learned their lesson for themselves halfway through, realizing what they were doing was wrong without actually having to be guilted into like normal. I dunno, it seems kind of uncommon to see that in shows, especially with little kids. Makes them seem a little less oblivious and a little more empathic.

This post has been edited by Zeel1: Mar 31 2012, 08:26 PM

[DrSpengler]

I got the impression that Applejack learned to appreciate spa treatment, or at least became willing to go along with the whole "pampering" thing as a compromise to hanging out with her friends, after the events of "Looks Before You Sleep".

Seemed like character progression to me, not discontinuity.

[Nutjob R/T]

Applejack does hard labour for a living. I can see her learning to appreciate such treatment.

Lemme put it this way. One of the bonuses on my company's medical plan is 100% coverage for massage therapy and chiropractic sessions. (Long distance trucking, BTW.)

I semi-scoffed at it in the driver's room one day. (Semi-scoffed because of the coverage of massage therapy and chiropractic, but only $75 a year for vision care...)

The reaction was surprising. Most of the guys there swore by the treatment, and the one oldschooler who scoffed at it rattled to his feet and hobbled out leaning on his cane.

So yeah, I can see the Apples having a family account at the spa.

[Sobana]

I expected them to teach Diamond Tiara a lesson by publishing some horrible story about HER, and teaching her how it feels

I honestly thought that what was going to happen too and then everypony suddenly forgetting what happened before that event, everypony having a big laugh at Diamond Tiara, the CMC get off scotch free and then they roll the credits.

But no, it was more realistic this way, they acted mature, announced what they did was wrong and apologized, didn't seek revenge against Diamond Tiara, and actually went around to make amends to the ponies they hurt instead of just assuming they did. This right here is the life lessons we should be teaching our kids, how to act mature.

Also, welcome to the allspark (primarily MLP: FiM and not at all Transformers) forum site! =D

Heh, thanks. Been a bit of a lurker for a couple of weeks now, figured I'd weigh in this time around~

I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all like "hello" and I was all like -gasp- remember? That is because I never saw you before and if I never saw you before that means your new. Because I know everypony and I mean everypony in this forum. That means you haven't met anyone yet and if you haven't met anyone yet that means you don't have any friends yet and if you don't have any friends you must be so lonely and that made me so sad and I had an idea and that is why I went -gasp- I would throw a super duper welcome party and invite everypony in the forums to meet you! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends! =D

Also, welcome to the allspark (primarily MLP: FiM and not at all Transformers) forum site! =D

Ponies, transform and roll out!

Ponies plus any thing sounds like a great idea to me.

We also got a slightly derp'd Dinky.

(IMG:http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/6112a8bd5d19261cd35dd50760d73271/159053%20-%20Diamond_Tiara%20dinky_hooves%20screencap.jpg)

They called it was heresy in the chat when I said I saw Dinky Hooves, but TM2-Megatron proved me right again! >=D

*Whispers to Nayuki* A nod to fans?

Yeah, as others have mentioned, I also liked how they kind of learned their lesson for themselves halfway through, realizing what they were doing was wrong without actually having to be guilted into like normal. I dunno, it seems kind of uncommon to see that in shows, especially with little kids. Makes them seem a little less oblivious and a little more empathic.

It is nice to see the show can be original with old concepts. It was like when it was first done it was expected every cartoon do it that way, but once again, ponies broke the mold.

Seemed like character progression to me, not discontinuity.

I like to imagine none of the characters have cookie cutout or redundant personalities, doing uncharacteristic things at times is more realistic when perpetually having the same attitude or outlook all the time.

[pao]

We also got a slightly derp'd Dinky.
<pic elided>

They called it was heresy in the chat when I said I saw Dinky Hooves, but TM2-Megatron proved me right again! >=D

*Whispers to Nayuki* A nod to fans?

Dinky's getting knocked over by DT here. We've seen everypony get woobly eyes under those kinds of circumstances as a part of the physical comedy.

[TM2-Megatron]

Yeah, I doubt it was a nod to fans since anypony can have eyes like that if they get hit hard enough. I just thought it was cute.

Not sure about the heresy thing, lol. We really don't know how old Derpy is, so while I can see why some people might take issue with her being a single mother (though Disney & Pixar seem to get away with it) there's no reason to think she was a victim of teen pregnancy. In the wedding episode previews, Twilight's mom looks exactly as she did in the 'Cutie Mark Chronicles' flashback; basically no older than Twi herself looks presently. And apparently the Mayor's grey hair isn't even natural, LOL. How on earth do we tell how old ponies are? It's only clear cut for babies, foals, and seniors.

[corgsopal]

The version I saw was kind of washed out. What is Featherweight's cutie mark? Pinkie's reaction to her exposé was great. "I DO have a problem!" I also loved the Namby Pamby Celestia cake and Mayor's mane jokes. And Fluttershy (as usual). I guess Rarity's folk's are on vacation again. And it is odd that Scootaloo hasn't ever had her own episode. Maybe third season. I'm also glad that the gossip moral was organic to the story. I figured the final column would just be the CMC photos but this was much better.

[BB Shockwave]

I loved Diamond Tiara doing a Jonah J. Jameson impression in this episode. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif) Otherwise, it was a solid story about tabloid press, with the expected outcome.

Many-many tidbits though... Fluttershy has tail extensions? Always suspected... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-fire.gif) And I LOL-d when it got revealed Mare the Mayor actually has a pink mane. Guess that explains her Nightmare Night costume as a clown!

[Rezo]

I loved Diamond Tiara doing a Jonah J. Jameson impression in this episode. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif) Otherwise, it was a solid story about tabloid press, with the expected outcome.

Many-many tidbits though... Fluttershy has tail extensions? Always suspected... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-fire.gif) And I LOL-d when it got revealed Mare the Mayor actually has a pink mane. Guess that explains her Nightmare Night costume as a clown!

That wasn't her costume, that's how she looks in private~

[Master Fwiffo]

I wasn't looking forward to this because, as you all know, the CMC breaches my cuteness tolerance on a regular basis.

This one was, by far, their most enjoyable episode, and easily as enjoyable as many of my favorites. High marks to the crew on this one. Rarity's rant at Sweetiebelle was hilarious.

[J4n1]

Personally, i went in with no preconceptions as i've managed to avoid any possible spoilers, teasers, hints and leaks, and hope to keep doing so.
And because of that, my first reaction was "oh great, it's those three", yet, i went on, and watched the episode.
Spa treatment was awesome, Cake's reaction was hilarious "we are?", and i absolutely loved Pinkie's reaction to the out of control party animal (first step in fixing the problem, is admitting you have a problem), Rainbow Dash was awesome (especially during the spa scene, but also otherwise), and the cucumber joke made me smile (seriously Spike, you're going to stuck that in your eye, after where it's been?), and the "i'm ruined" scene was both completely in character, and channeling Rarity, at the same time.
Tail extensions Fluttershy? Now i'm not going to judge, but i do say i was surprised by this revelation.

Now, enough of Mane6, and onto CMC, i've never really liked them, good as characters, and i like them individually, but i'd prefer the stories to focus on Mane6 instead, and i tend to be annoyed about them never really learning the basic lesson of of cutiemarks.
This episode did nothing to fix that, they were thoughtless, stupid and irresponsible (you know, kids), and while they did learn their lesson in the end, i can't help but feel that it was a lesson they should have known from get go (it's not good to spread other peoples secrets), and the fact that they were worried more about the fallout to them than what they did to others does not speak well of them.
But, i also can't help but feel sorry for them, Applebloom was told, in no uncertain terms, that she had done wrong by the two ponies she most looks up to, Sweetie Belle got an earfull from Rarity.
And most of all, i feel sorry for Scootaloo, she managed to disspoint, and anger, her personal hero and idol, and only authority figure (outside of Cheerilee) that we have ever seen her to look up to, the person that the fanclub she is president of is dedicated to, that must sting.

Also somewhat dissapointed that the mane6 apart from Twilight did not seem to understand the problem with the column before it hit them, now, on Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash i could understand it, but feels of with Fluttershy and Applejack.

Still, it was a fun episode and pleasure to watch, with good gags, solid story and sensible easop.

Now, taking a picture of your ruling god-monarch eating cake in an embarassing manner, balsy, or suicidal?