Cheerilee wrote: ↑Fri Nov 29, 2019 7:40 am
Regarding Mare-Do-Well, I think it strains credulity to believe that RD's friends always had the right pony in costume at the right time and place to save ponies better in that situation than RD could, and that tells me that RD's "friends" were manufacturing the "accidents" in order to teach RD a lesson. So "helping ponies" wasn't even #2 on their priority list. They were actively putting ponies in harm's way (or at least scaring them half to death) to solve what they probably could've solved using a couple of words (if they weren't all jerks in this episode).
Regarding the Iron Pony competition, I propose that RD blew the initial horseshoe competition because she wasn't taking it seriously. RD's first shot was good, and AJ couldn't match it. Then AJ playfully put RD's second horseshoe on RD's nose, and (since RD was winning and didn't feel the need to continue trying) RD chose to shoot from that position. Which is why RD couldn't hit the side of a barn (unless she was shooting for anything else). But RD was confident that her superior first shot would stand as the mark to beat. It didn't. Playing or not, a loss is a loss, which (combined with AJ's gloating) set off RD's need to win and her need to prove her superiority.
In the first half of the competition, RD gave herself a handicap and fought on level terms with AJ, and managed to tie AJ, with 5 points apiece (which is no small feat, considering AJ has a huge strength advantage, and RD doesn't normally stick to the ground). In the second half of the competition, RD flipped a switch regarding the terms of her handicap, pushing things to the limit of her non-wing ability, and then engaging her wings to tip herself over the edge (without hiding it at all). And the result in the second half was a 10-0 landslide in RD's favor. The results basically showed that RD is competitive without her wings, but if she uses them even just a little bit, then it's no contest.
AJ accused RD of cheating because there are two ponies with personality problems in this episode. AJ has a subtle streak of envy regarding wings and horns, and a need to constantly prove herself that rival's RD's need to constantly prove herself. AJ feels like she is owed a handicap, and to even suggest a no-handicap contest is an insult. The Iron Pony contest began with Rainbow Dash, and her bloated ego, but it ended with Applejack, and her sensitivity over her inferiority complex.
Regarding the tug-of-war portion of the Iron Pony contest, I've gotta disagree with Chuck. RD clearly lost her footing and would have lost the tug-of-war without her wings, but then she engaged her wings. Now, it would have been a dick move for RD to simply put her wings in reverse and add jet power to her leg strength. It would also have been a dick move to take to the sky and then abuse the power of flight to dunk AJ into the mud. But what RD did was, use her wings to flip the stage from horizontal to vertical. Now it's no longer a contest of leg strength and footing, it's a contest of grip strength. And... RD is burning energy trying to maintain this new stage she has come up with. And then RD won by tricking AJ into opening her mouth.
Yes, it is true that, win or lose, there was no way for RD to fall in the mud anymore (and similarly, win or lose, AJ had no choice but to fall in the mud), but victory in a tug-of-war is not necessarily determined by one side falling in the mud. You can also lose by letting go of the rope. (Technically, what matters is the position of the center flag, but effectively, that only happens after someone loses their grip).
RD won that one by using her wings in the least impactful way. Her wings didn't even clinch the victory, her trickery did. I would give RD a Commendation for Original Thinking on that one.
