S02E05: Sisterhooves Social

[Perpetual]

Man did you guys forget they are basically working on episodes twice as fast as the usual hectic production schedule for cartoons. There is only so much time you can spend on a scene before your bosses start threatening to fire you.

I'm just saying, there's only 4 adult ponies in the race (plus AJ/Rarity) and all four of them appear prominently in the stands with reaction shots (Carrot Top or whatever her actual name is is right in the foreground in the last crowd shot before the end). They are not big crowds and it would have been just as easy to put in a different pony in those spots. It seems possible to me they were having a little fun with it

[PhoolCatKeep on Trottin']

If I won the pools I would invest a few mil. in giving them more time, people and resources, whatever they needed - can you imagine what Poni would become??

Also I'd double episode lengths.

[Whitenoise PosterI am going to eat this entire oak tree because I am a powerful wizard!]

It seems possible to me they were having a little fun with it

Well actually yeah thinking about it they could just be trying to make it difficult for the people who care too much about background ponies.

[Opposing FarceDon't you smile at my faceSpit on my backDo you kiss your mother with a mouth like that?]

TWO SECONDS LATER, Berry Punch is in the crowd, reacting to herself passing Sweetie Belle and Rarity

Earlier in the thread, Henry Plainview suggested that the one running with Ruby is actually a different background pony called Pina Colada and that her colors are slightly different. That struck me as really implausible, though, so I thought to open up GIMP and check, and as far as I can tell they're the same.

[tdkgunghoulI'm still spinnin'!YEAH YEAHYEAH]

Speaking of Rarity's perceived theatrics , I've been wondering what a certain scene means,
the part between looking at Sweetie Belle's drawing and going to the floor, she looks for a second at the
table plant/flower.

What could it mean?

[Gruekinda magical]

Earlier in the thread, Henry Plainview suggested that the one running with Ruby is actually a different background pony called Pina Colada and that her colors are slightly different. That struck me as really implausible, though, so I thought to open up GIMP and check, and as far as I can tell they're the same.

He probably meant the filly is Pina Colada, not Ruby. Berry Punch does indeed have a double in the stands.

[Opposing FarceDon't you smile at my faceSpit on my backDo you kiss your mother with a mouth like that?]

He probably meant the filly is Pina Colada, not Ruby. Berry Punch does indeed have a double in the stands.

Suddenly everything makes sense. I was too lazy to copy+paste the improperly formatted link before and jumped to the wrong conclusion

[Super Karoru]

Speaking of Rarity's perceived theatrics, I've been wondering what a certain scene means,
the part between looking at Sweetie Belle's drawing and going to the floor, she looks for a second at the
table plant/flower.

This confused me for a bit too, until I realized that Sweetie put the same plant on the table with the breakfast she made for Rarity. It's pretty subtle.

He probably meant the filly is Pina Colada, not Ruby. Berry Punch does indeed have a double in the stands.

How appropriate that the town drunk has Pina Colada for a little sister. #statingtheobvious

[Headless Horse]

This confused me for a bit too, until I realized that Sweetie put the same plant on the table with the breakfast she made for Rarity. It's pretty subtle.

OH FOR FFFFFFF

This show.

[Throbulatorhello.jpg]

To be honest I didn't realize it was Rarity until the hat came off.

[Pony Factory Factory]

Right as Rarity and Applejack were rounding the corner, I said out loud "I bet that's Rarity." But I don't think I had noticed the eyes, except maybe subconsciously. I was just thinking from a writing perspective and how it wasn't immediately implausible.

And then I was right It was pretty suspicious that Applejack would trip and fall at the very first mud puddle, which even Sweetie Belle crossed without issue, though.

I was kinda shocked just how good Rarity was at all of the events. Where did she learn precision apple flinging or bulk grape chucking? And Sweetie Belle - she's got a lot of Rarity in her, what with the dainty hopping across obstacles.

[MordjaLYRA is the cool pony who likes to hang out. You can find most of the cool ponies with her. LYRA can just chill and do whatever and totally relax. "Take it easy" is the LYRA motto, for example, that's how laid back she is.]

Missing: an extended training montage.
But really it was just dedication and the need to make up with Sweetie Belle, though they still didn't actually win, which was a nice touch. And I always thought SB's hopping reminded me more of Pinkie's default method of travel.

[Headless Horse]

Every little segment of the race has just unspeakably wonderful animation. The leg-stretchy tire-hopping, the pie-slamming, the egg-carrying, the grape-launching and stomping, and especially the apple-catching bit with Sweetie doing the hop-assist (and the other little filly in the background with the baseball cap and the apple bouncing off her head into the bucket). Even the bale-pushing was awesome somehow. God, every single piece of it is just so

I'm really glad I was focusing more on "Uh, there's like four minutes left in the episode, Rarity's gonna have to make a hell of an entrance at the awards ceremony or whatever if she wants to get her sister back after this" than any clues that might have tipped me off, though.

[IronHeart]

To be honest I didn't realize it was Rarity until the hat came off.

I almost didn't, but as it was getting close to over I was like "Wait a minute..."

[Herr Generalfabulous]

I wouldn't have noticed if the asses in the stream hadn't spoiled it in the chat.

[LemonAIDSLemonAIDS' Live Webcam]

I absolutely LOVE how good the animators are getting with the more detailed facial expressions. It was such a leap from the last episode

[NisslMarching bravely into a bold new pony future]

Is the background pony duplication a new thing this season or was it the case in the first season as well? I never noticed it when I ran through the first season episodes, but then I wasn't on this forum being exposed to frame by frame analysis. Like I said after the Discord episodes with duplicated Lyra and Derpy all over the Star Wars scene, I totally understand the time constraints, but if they're also doing deliberate background pony jokes like regularly putting Lyra and Bon-Bon together (and I think it's pretty clear they are), I really wish they would choose some of the other stock ponies to duplicate for the backgrounds rather than constantly using the top ~10 fan favorites all over the place.

Reading this thread, hopefully this doesn't come off as bragging but did anyone else actually catch on that it was Rarity almost immediately? I can see how people would miss it, I miss a lot of things (totally missed the plant thing, oh my God), but I assumed Rarity would try to participate somehow, there wasn't really a joke with AJ falling in the mud, this is the kind of show here the mud would disappear when they cut back to her unless it was needed for the plot, and then the horn is really visible in the third or fourth shot (at work, can't check right now) not to mention there was a shot lingering on the blue eyes. I was actually wishing they would have been more subtle while I was watching it but I seem pretty alone in that.

[AngoraNot obsessed, a connoisseur]

Missing: an extended training montage.

Montages rule. But there wasn't anything at stake or rivalry, it was just a fun run

[Headless Horse]

Plus it woulda kinda given away the game.

I really kinda love how much more mutual respect Rarity and AJ have these days, too. If not before now, this would really cement how much they have in common.

It'd be one thing to just have written all these characters as having gotten along well from the start. But this way, they've earned their friendship.

[Liskaclop clop clop clop clop clop clop clop clop clop clop clop clop clop clop clop]

Is the background pony duplication a new thing this season or was it the case in the first season as well? I never noticed it when I ran through the first season episodes, but then I wasn't on this forum being exposed to frame by frame analysis. Like I said after the Discord episodes with duplicated Lyra and Derpy all over the Star Wars scene, I totally understand the time constraints, but if they're also doing deliberate background pony jokes like regularly putting Lyra and Bon-Bon together (and I think it's pretty clear they are), I really wish they would choose some of the other stock ponies to duplicate for the backgrounds rather than constantly using the top ~10 fan favorites all over the place.

It was pretty common in the first season to have pony clones everywhere. Big Macintosh's pony-pile scene in Lesson Zero was notable in the fact that there were over 15 unique ponies in that one shot without any clones. I think most of us were hoping that the team had refined their process to the point that clones would be a thing of the past, but that kinda went out the window with Luna Eclipsed.

Reading this thread, hopefully this doesn't come off as bragging but did anyone else actually catch on that it was Rarity almost immediately? I can see how people would miss it, I miss a lot of things (totally missed the plant thing, oh my God), but I assumed Rarity would try to participate somehow, there wasn't really a joke with AJ falling in the mud, this is the kind of show here the mud would disappear when they cut back to her unless it was needed for the plot, and then the horn is really visible in the third or fourth shot (at work, can't check right now) not to mention there was a shot lingering on the blue eyes. I was actually wishing they would have been more subtle while I was watching it but I seem pretty alone in that.

I didn't catch it at all. Only towards the very end right before Sweetie Belle hugged Rarity's hat off did I suspect that something might be amiss. I'm glad I didn't catch it, though. It made the impact of the reveal all the sweeter.

I get so into these episodes, that I miss a ton of minor stuff on my first viewing. i really need to give things a 2nd and 3rd watch just to appreciate all the small things that go on.

[Perpetual]

Is the background pony duplication a new thing this season or was it the case in the first season as well? I never noticed it when I ran through the first season episodes, but then I wasn't on this forum being exposed to frame by frame analysis. Like I said after the Discord episodes with duplicated Lyra and Derpy all over the Star Wars scene, I totally understand the time constraints, but if they're also doing deliberate background pony jokes like regularly putting Lyra and Bon-Bon together (and I think it's pretty clear they are), I really wish they would choose some of the other stock ponies to duplicate for the backgrounds rather than constantly using the top ~10 fan favorites all over the place.

It was really common in the first season too. If I remember what the people involved have said correctly, crowds are added in really late in production and it just doesn't make sense to sweat the details as long as it looks alright for however long the shot is up for (usually not very long). I don't think the Lyra / Bon-Bon connection is any more prominent this season than it was last season so far. I remember one of the artists mentioning that they get a lot of leeway with laying out background ponies, and Lyra / Bon-Bon were just two designs that looked good together so they ended up being next to each other a lot.

[Killing Vector]

I think Nayuki has said that Flash will crash if there are too many unique elements in a scene, too, so for big crowd shots duplication is unavoidable. (The crowd in Luna Eclipsed wasn't that big, though, so that was probably laziness, time constraints, and/or not having enough costumed background ponies to use.)

[Pony Factory Factory]

I was looking at the huge spergy animation bloopers video linked elsewhere/earlier, and Season 1 is occasionally completely nuts about background ponies.

For example, watch Episode 3 at 16:40 and see if you can spot anything amiss.

Done? Watch the sperg video at 5:40.

[Poor Yorick]

So much talk about off-screen training montages with AJ and Rarity, you guys seem to be missing one very important detail. Rarity wearing Applejack's hat for the entirety of the competition.

You know, the artifact that grants AJ her powers, the one filled with essences of every previous owner of Sweet Apple Acres.

Eh? EH?

[Momar]

I was kinda shocked just how good Rarity was at all of the events. Where did she learn precision apple flinging or bulk grape chucking? And Sweetie Belle - she's got a lot of Rarity in her, what with the dainty hopping across obstacles.

Two words.
Magic hat.

[PhoolCatKeep on Trottin']

"Oh no, you have beaten me in a Sisterhood Race thingy, and I don't have any apples, is there anything else..."

"GIVE ME YOUR HAT"

"What?"

[Abby NormalGIFT TANK]

So has anyone brought up before how uncultured Rarity’s parents are? Because I love the fact that they’re just these regular folks from the Midwest while Rarity acts like she is naturally from some high society blue blooded family. She is totally nouveau riche trying to pass herself off as classic gentry, being able to buy/gather the rarest of blue sapphires in a matter of hours. What sort of sophisticated lady sullies herself with the indignity of hard work?

[Headless Horse]

I've been thinking of her that way for a while now. Her most fundamental aspiration throughout S1 is to be treated "like a lady", after all; I think that's really all she wants, and she wants it so damn bad.

It was really pretty gratifying to see her parents show up looking exactly like they did. It was pretty much a perfect fit for my headcanon.

[Super Karoru]

Yeah, Rarity's parents are awesome. Judging by their attire, which I'm not sure are their regular clothes or just vacation wear, they sure do look... well, um, I'm not quite sure how to describe them. I bet they show up at Rarity's fashion shows dressed completely inappropriately and she just hides her shame behind an awkward smile. It adds some unspoken depth to Rarity: she puts on this posh, fake accent to keep up her fabulous and high-class persona, but her folks are just regular Midwestern-like ponies. I'm sure they must embarrass Rarity all the time and they don't even realize it, but Rarity still loves them anyway, of course.

[Throbulatorhello.jpg]

I think this is the second time that the word quiche has been used in an episode.

[kefkafloyd]

Rarity, being cultured, knows how to pronounce it correctly.

[SlateSlabrock]

Two words.
Magic hat.

Hocus Pocus Alamagokus!

I've been thinking of her that way for a while now. Her most fundamental aspiration throughout S1 is to be treated "like a lady", after all; I think that's really all she wants, and she wants it so damn bad.

"The raaaayyn in Spaaaayn wreaks havoc on my maaayn."

[brakelessA pegasus will fly long and hard for a bit of gilded brass.]

She is totally nouveau riche trying to pass herself off as classic gentry, ...

A Rarity in Canterlot episode should totally be this, just with ponies:

[GlaziusHe finds himself through the martial arts discipline of Nokando, which he says hardens the body and turns the mind inward.]

I wouldn't say she was trying to pass herself off as gentry necessarily. She just wants to be famous, and do the things that famous people do.

[Super Karoru]

A Rarity in Canterlot episode should totally be this, just with ponies:

As long as she doesn't start calling everypony "old sport"...

[Herr Generalfabulous]

As long as she doesn't start calling everypony "old sport"...

Bah. I hated The Great Gatsby. It'd be neat if they referenced classic literature like that though.

[Lazy]

A Rarity in Canterlot episode should totally be this, just with ponies:

I suddenly want to see Kate Beaton draw MLP art, but this is probably as close as we'll ever get.

[Flippity FlopSecretly a sponge]

Whoah, I haven't posted here in awhile.* Not much that I can say that hasn't been said already, but, like others, I teared up at the scene where Rarity found the picture. Also, Rarity is probably around my 2rd favorite pony so I knew it was going to rock, no matter what happened. I have a feeling that my little sister will, one day, turn on me for whatever reason and declare that we're no longer related, so I'm sure that when that day comes I will look back at this episode and sigh with a smidgen of newfound understanding.
I was watching the episode on Youtube and had to rewind it to the very beginning when I was 2/3s through it because I hadn't been paying attention the first time, so I noticed that it was Rarity in the race. The eye color tipped me off.

*I just noticed the new smilies. They're so awesome!

[DavyinatogaEw, will you please just stop posting already so I can stop having to look at it?]

"Sooo whut team you gunna be rootin' fore in da Sugar Bowl?"

"Daaaaaaa Bucks."

[DurandalLiberate yourself from my viselike grip.]

"Sooo whut team you gunna be rootin' fore in da Sugar Bowl?"

"Daaaaaaa Bucks."

mod edit: don't link to furaffinity, thanks.