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My Little Pony FiM Community |OT2| I just don't know what went wrong!

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Also, Trixie and the Flim Flam brothers aren't villains.

Thank you. Antagonist? yes. Villains? no!

Speaking of villains, Mules are NOT fucking ugly, Rarity! (I just re-watched the Diamond Dog episode.)

I would place the Diamond Dogs as greedy dogs and pony-nappers, but they DID let Rarity go at the end. Not really villains, but certainly not good either.
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
Trixie tried to take over the town, that moved her into villain territory. Granted she was "redeemed" and is now the Pathetic and Powerless Trixie.

Flim and Flam were run out of town by a family of hillbillies afraid of new technology.
 
Flim and Flam were run out of town by a family of hillbillies afraid of new technology.

Despite the bullshit contest, they STILL didn't have enough cider to sell to Rainbow Dash. Yeah, Those hillbillies SURE didn't learn shit! (I am sorry AJ fans, but the Apple family in Ponyville have no business sense whatsoever. Honorary Apple Family Members, my ass... ;p)
 

brian577

Banned
Trixie tried to take over the town, that moved her into villain territory. Granted she was "redeemed" and is now the Pathetic and Powerless Trixie.

Flim and Flam were run out of town by a family of hillbillies afraid of new technology.

The problem was that they were being greedy, they wanted a split of the profits 75/25, something the Apple's couldn't afford to do. They should've negotiated for a better deal.
 

Cheerilee

Member
"Lead ponies and wing ponies must fly together. If any pair splits apart, they will be immediately disqualified." - Spitfire

If RD did not accelerate she would have risked being disqualified.

It was a flag-hunt. Splitting up would let a team cover 2x the ground and gain an unfair advantage. Spitfire didn't say they needed to be joined at the hip.

RD interpreted that "fly together" order literally and broke one of the basic rules of synchronized travel, which is that you're supposed to keep __ seconds worth of distance between yourself and the person next to you, not any fixed distance. The distance required for your response time increases as your speed increases.

And this game doubled as a learning exercise in synchronized flying.

The problem was that they were being greedy, they wanted a split of the profits 75/25, something the Apple's couldn't afford to do. They should've negotiated for a better deal.
The brothers were going to take on 100% of the cider workload though, freeing the Apples up for other more profitable endeavors. And since the brothers were going to increase production, the Apples would have received more than 25% of their usual cider money, for nothing more than owning the apples. And the Apples could have continued making a smaller amount of their own homemade cider as a more-expensive (and more profitable) premium product, and had free time to spare (which they could spend on more profitable ventures).

Edit: And if the Apples were so confident that their product was superior and nobody would want the brothers' product, then nothing would change for the Apples. They would continue to serve half the town, while the brothers would come in and serve the bottom half. This would give the brothers a job and a chance to earn some money, the bottom half of town (long neglected by the Apples) would be satisfied, and the Apples would (for the same amount of effort) earn 25% more than they usually earn.
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
The problem was that they were being greedy, they wanted a split of the profits 75/25, something the Apple's couldn't afford to do. They should've negotiated for a better deal.

Negotiation would have been one thing, but the Apples blew them off entirely, despite them making a great product.
 

akira28

Member
Thank you. Antagonist? yes. Villains? no!

Speaking of villains, Mules are NOT fucking ugly, Rarity! (I just re-watched the Diamond Dog episode.)

I would place the Diamond Dogs as greedy dogs and pony-nappers, but they DID let Rarity go at the end. Not really villains, but certainly not good either.

nah dog, the Diamond Dogs are pony-nappers and slavers. That's total villain territory.

Trixie was a bit arrogant, and that's basically it. Other than that she was an entertainer putting on a show. Like wrestling, or theater. The Glenda just had a couple of personality flaws. That's antagonistic, but not villainous.

Also, Forester, don't forget she was under the influence of that cursed jewel. Her bruised ego was real, but the anger and cruelty was not. Not a villainess. (Unless she's wearing Zecora's new doorstop) Still bess pone, doe.
 
It was a flag-hunt. Splitting up would let a team cover 2x the ground and gain an unfair advantage. Spitfire didn't say they needed to be joined at the hip.

RD interpreted that "fly together" order literally and broke one of the basic rules of synchronized travel, which is that you're supposed to keep __ seconds worth of distance between yourself and the person next to you, not any fixed distance. The distance required for your response time increases as your speed increases.

And this game doubled as a learning exercise in synchronized flying.
And if "fly together" was interpreted correctly, the distance is fixed. Meaning the distance required for your response time is fixed and your speed can't increase past that. Which is what LD did. Failing the wing pony and the synchronized flying.
 

Cheerilee

Member
Another bit of quick math on the Flim Flam brothers' proposed deal.

The Apples were serving about half of the town.
The FF bros offered a 75/25 split to do 100% of the work.

If the FF bros intended to double the Apples' output, then they would earn 150% of what the Apples previously earned, while the Apples would (for no effort) earn 50% of what they previously earned, and have 100% worth of freed-up Apple-family labor. If the Apples could find something else about as lucrative to do with their time, that would make the Apples and the FF bros equal partners, both of them would be earning 150% of what the Apples previously earned for this business, and the Apple family would be closely allied to a wealthy new family in the area.

And if "fly together" was interpreted correctly, the distance is fixed. Meaning the distance required for your response time is fixed and your speed can't increase past that. Which is what LD did. Failing the wing pony and the synchronized flying.

It wasn't. LD was consistently better at interpreting Spitfire's orders than RD was.

When LD brought Spitfire that first flag, RD came in wobbly and wasn't holding formation, and Spitfire didn't care about the break in formation, she only cared that they got the job done fast. Proof that there was no hard limit on the distance they were allowed to give themselves while flying in formation, and that the lesson wasn't mean to say that speed is something to be avoided.

Maybe LD could have done more to help RD understand what was going on, but they were flying by the seat of their pants, and LD expected that RD could keep up with her train of thought. LD found the right answer, RD made the mistake. RD had total control of her own flying safety, but she threw herself into a hazard she knew was coming because she didn't understand LD's plan to avoid it, and because she was clinging to the wrong interpretation of an order.
 

judhudson

Member
Speaking of villains, Mules are NOT fucking ugly, Rarity! (I just re-watched the Diamond Dog episode.)

As soon as I saw that episode, Rarity fell off my list. Hell, she's not even worth being called Worst Pony. I instantly erase her out of episodes.

And I wont forgive her until she apologizes. I'm surprised she didn't say anything to Mulia on the train.
 
It wasn't. LD was consistently better at interpreting Spitfire's orders than RD was.

When LD brought Spitfire that first flag, RD came in wobbly and wasn't holding formation, and Spitfire didn't care about the break in formation, she only cared that they got the job done fast.
RD wobbling in shows that Spitfire doesn't care about speed, too.

Proof that there was no hard limit on the distance they were allowed to give themselves while flying in formation, and that the lesson wasn't mean to say that speed is something to be avoided.
"Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash have found the first flag!"
Doesn't say that speed is something to be used, either.
Maybe LD could have done more to help RD understand what was going on, but they were flying by the seat of their pants, and LD expected that RD could keep up with her train of thought. LD found the right answer, RD made the mistake. RD had total control of her own flying safety, but she threw herself into a hazard she knew was coming because she didn't understand LD's plan to avoid it, and because she was clinging to the wrong interpretation of an order.
Ok let me change my whole argument.
RD had a great view of the obstacle, she was the one who first spotted the flag. They were diving towards it side-by-side (RD still had a perfect view), and then RD said that they should slow down because she didn't think they could both make it through at that speed, meaning they can't go through side-by-side (unless they slow down).

LD said "heh" and increased her speed. RD also increased her speed and pulled behind LD, single-file. RD couldn't see past LD flying single-file, which presumably is what caused RD to clip her wing.

LD didn't order RD to fly at an unsafe speed/distance ratio, or even one RD was uncomfortable with, she didn't give any orders. All she did was dismiss the idea of slowing down, and chose instead to speed up.

RD went into single file formation on her own initiative (after LD apparently made side-by-side flying impossible), and RD was in a position to set the distance between herself and LD. I don't blame RD, and I get why she was mad at LD, but RD clipped her own wing.
I'll bring this to the basics. Someone in the group says "Ready to rock and roll?" with a reply "ready." and they fly and follow just fine.

Someone says "We should slow down. It doesn't look like both of us could make it at this speed." with a reply "Heh." and speeding up. We can interpret this as LD not listening to RD's statement. RD said they wouldn't make it at this speed. LD didn't listen. Result: they didn't make it, as seen by RD's injury. It doesn't matter why it happened. RD was flying at the wrong distance? She doesn't know the wingman distance at x speeds, she's usually a leader. Hence why she said they wouldn't make it at this speed. RD mistakenly blinded herself with the single file formation? She did say going at that speed they wouldn't make it. Maybe she always makes that mistake when following and doesn't know any better. Hence why she told LD that they wouldn't make it at that speed. Every mistake made wouldn't haven't have had an opportunity to happen if LD listened to RD. The lead pony didn't listen to the wing pony.

Lead pony shouldn't just listen and accept things they want to hear ("Oh! There's one [flag]!"), they should listen to everything the wing pony says.

There are multiple instances of RD giving LD information and suggestions that LD ignores when it's not what she wants to hear or do. RD, while in disagreement, still listened and followed all of LD's advice and information, using the correct organizational procedure of trying to resolve the conflict with the person first (not causing conflict during the mission, but after), and going up the chain of command if problems still occur.
 

Cheerilee

Member
I'll bring this to the basics. Someone in the group says "Ready to rock and roll?" with a reply "ready." and they fly and follow just fine.

Someone says "We should slow down. It doesn't look like both of us could make it at this speed." with a reply "Heh." and speeding up. We can interpret this as LD not listening to RD's statement. RD said they wouldn't make it at this speed. LD didn't listen. Result: they didn't make it, as seen by RD's injury. It doesn't matter why it happened. RD was flying at the wrong distance? She doesn't know the wingman distance at x speeds, she's usually a leader. Hence why she said they wouldn't make it at this speed. RD mistakenly blinded herself with the single file formation? She did say going at that speed they wouldn't make it. Maybe she always makes that mistake when following and doesn't know any better. Hence why she told LD that they wouldn't make it at that speed. Every mistake made wouldn't haven't have had an opportunity to happen if LD listened to RD. The lead pony didn't listen to the wing pony.

Lead pony shouldn't just listen and accept things they want to hear ("Oh! There's one [flag]!"), they should listen to everything the wing pony says.
LD heard what the wing pony said. Wing pony said that they weren't going to make it at that speed. But then the wing pony decided on a course of action that the lead pony didn't approve of (slowing down). Lead pony dismissed the wing pony's suggestion and took her own initiative to show the wing pony how it's done. She didn't order her wing pony to follow, and she certainly didn't order her wing pony to follow so closely that she couldn't see what was going on ahead of her, nor have enough response time to properly imitate the lead pony's moves.

If RD "knew" that slowing down was the only way to avoid a crash, she should have accepted that LD was going to crash and slowed down to pick up the remains of her leader. RD didn't know what LD was doing, and she followed too close to watch and learn what LD was doing. If RD was following too close to even see the obstacles she knew were coming up at alarming speeds, that should've been her first hint that it was time to back off. LD was ahead of RD and had no sightline on RD, and even if she did, she had no control over the amount of distance RD was leaving.

Ideally, yes, LD should've said something like "watch me" before her dive.

But RD "knew" that LD had thrown herself into a death spiral, and apparently said "Death, huh? Oh well, orders is orders" and threw herself into a death spiral of her own. But RD was wrong. LD wasn't trying to crash and burn. RD apparently was. Because orders. RD can't blame LD for clipping her wing (although I can understand her being mad about it), she did it to herself through her own mistake.

There are multiple instances of RD giving LD information and suggestions that LD ignores when it's not what she wants to hear or do. RD, while in disagreement, still listened and followed all of LD's advice and information, using the correct organizational procedure of trying to resolve the conflict with the person first (not causing conflict during the mission, but after), and going up the chain of command if problems still occur.
RD went to her commanding officer to complain about being made subordinate to LD as soon as she heard of it. Not exactly proper conduct. Spitfire told RD that she needed to learn from LD and her willingness to push boundaries.

RD agreed to participate with the tornado, because she agreed that such behavior was part of Spitfire's orders. She wasn't withholding her complaints. She blew up at LD after the fact because she was upset by the scare her friends went through, and offended that LD thought it was cool. She went up the chain of command because LD argued (rightly) that her actions were supported by Spitfire. And when Spitfire endorsed a reality that RD found unpleasant, RD quit.
 

ThomasLight

Neo Member
Another bit of quick math on the Flim Flam brothers' proposed deal.

The Apples were serving about half of the town.
The FF bros offered a 75/25 split to do 100% of the work.

If the FF bros intended to double the Apples' output, then they would earn 150% of what the Apples previously earned, while the Apples would (for no effort) earn 50% of what they previously earned, and have 100% worth of freed-up Apple-family labor. If the Apples could find something else about as lucrative to do with their time, that would make the Apples and the FF bros equal partners, both of them would be earning 150% of what the Apples previously earned for this business, and the Apple family would be closely allied to a wealthy new family in the area.

Actually, the apple family would still be tending the orchard, which by all rights is the difficult bit, especially since the actual cider making would have been taken over by a machine. Flim and Flam had little business sense, too. They Could have went into business made more than one SSCS6000 and made a killing one a much fairer split of the profit. The Ponyville Apples can't be the only ones making cider.

Even after selling it, it seems like Equestria has no patent laws, so keeping the schematics under wraps, and producing replacement parts and charging a fee to repair the SSCS6000s would keep the gears of capitalism oiled, as it were.


Also have a picture:
 
LD heard what the wing pony said. Wing pony said that they weren't going to make it at that speed. But then the wing pony decided on a course of action that the lead pony didn't approve of (slowing down). Lead pony dismissed the wing pony's suggestion and took her own initiative to show the wing pony how it's done. She didn't order her wing pony to follow, and she certainly didn't order her wing pony to follow so closely that she couldn't see what was going on ahead of her, nor have enough response time to properly imitate the lead pony's moves.

If RD "knew" that slowing down was the only way to avoid a crash, she should have accepted that LD was going to crash and slowed down to pick up the remains of her leader. RD didn't know what LD was doing, and she followed too close to watch and learn what LD was doing. If RD was following too close to even see the obstacles she knew were coming up at alarming speeds, that should've been her first hint that it was time to back off. LD was ahead of RD and had no sightline on RD, and even if she did, she had no control over the amount of distance RD was leaving.

Ideally, yes, LD should've said something like "watch me" before her dive.

But RD "knew" that LD had thrown herself into a death spiral, and apparently said "Death, huh? Oh well, orders is orders" and threw herself into a death spiral of her own. But RD was wrong. LD wasn't trying to crash and burn. RD apparently was. Because orders. RD can't blame LD for clipping her wing (although I can understand her being mad about it), she did it to herself through her own mistake.
Wing pony, in the end, follow's the lead pony's decisions. Again, all these things happened because lead pony ignore wing pony's information and made a bad decision.


RD went to her commanding officer to complain about being made subordinate to LD as soon as she heard of it. Not exactly proper conduct.
Trying to solve the conflict at a base level is proper conduct. Spitfire made the assignment, thus she was the cause of the issue.

Also, solving the issue at the base level is proper, but also, if you're uncomfortable with dealing with it at that level, it's proper to also skip that and go one up in the chain. So 'going straight to Spitfire" is still proper conduct in any case.
Spitfire told RD that she needed to learn from LD and her willingness to push boundaries.

RD agreed to participate with the tornado, because she agreed that such behavior was part of Spitfire's orders. She wasn't withholding her complaints. She blew up at LD after the fact because she was upset by the scare her friends went through, and offended that LD thought it was cool. She went up the chain of command because LD argued (rightly) that her actions were supported by Spitfire. And when Spitfire endorsed a reality that RD found unpleasant, RD quit.
And Spitfire realized that she [Spitfire] was wrong. Spitfire being wrong doesn't make LD's decision right.

It does look like this pairing was on purpose. LD was made lead to push boundaries, but RD was also made wing to make sure that, while pushing boundaries, they don't get pushed too far. In the flag competition, they pushed boundaries by going faster. When RD saw they were going too much faster, she was to limit LD. Which LD ignored.

In the sych flight things went well. RD made suggestions. LD was pissed she couldn't go faster, wing pony supported and limited LD. Then at the end when LD sped up, the wing pony followed. Sure they knocked people over, but that was discovered in hindsight. So the wing pony brought it up after it was over.

In cloud breaking, RD did use what Spitfire said to make her decision. RD made a mistake. LD was made Lead because it's the Wing's job to keep that stuff in check. RD didn't get the whole message.
 
Actually, the apple family would still be tending the orchard, which by all rights is the difficult bit, especially since the actual cider making would have been taken over by a machine. Flim and Flam had little business sense, too. They Could have went into business made more than one SSCS6000 and made a killing one a much fairer split of the profit. The Ponyville Apples can't be the only ones making cider.

Even after selling it, it seems like Equestria has no patent laws, so keeping the schematics under wraps, and producing replacement parts and charging a fee to repair the SSCS6000s would keep the gears of capitalism oiled, as it were.
I think the same thing, but then I believe the brother's magic is specialized. In the same way Rarity has a gem finding spell, only the brothers can power the machine. So aside from Twilight (and possibly Trixie), I don't know who else would have the magic to power it.
 

Gotchaye

Member
Another bit of quick math on the Flim Flam brothers' proposed deal.

The Apples were serving about half of the town.
The FF bros offered a 75/25 split to do 100% of the work.

If the FF bros intended to double the Apples' output, then they would earn 150% of what the Apples previously earned, while the Apples would (for no effort) earn 50% of what they previously earned, and have 100% worth of freed-up Apple-family labor. If the Apples could find something else about as lucrative to do with their time, that would make the Apples and the FF bros equal partners, both of them would be earning 150% of what the Apples previously earned for this business, and the Apple family would be closely allied to a wealthy new family in the area.
Like ThomasLight says, it's important to consider the labor that goes into growing the apples that get turned into cider, since that ends up taking a lot longer than actually making the cider. It's also important to consider the opportunity cost of using apples for cider and the opportunity cost of making cider. Finally, because the Apples enjoy a monopoly (seriously, they could have shut Flim and Flam down simply by withholding permission to use their apples) and because the cider market is in a perpetual state of shortage, they can also make more money than they are shown making by raising cider prices until demand falls to meet supply. Or, to avoid bad PR, maybe just charge higher and higher prices for every additional mug purchased by one individual per season.

But I want to talk about that second one. The worry with something like a 75/25 split is that that 25 isn't free money. It's only worth doing on additional cider if whole apples (or other Apple products) sell for less than 1/4 of what cider does on a per-apple basis. That's a pretty big mark-up. Although I don't recall what the price of cider was, the number of apples in a barrel of cider, or the price raw apples have been seen going for, so maybe it works out. Still, it seems unlikely that the Apples can find something just as profitable to do. If there was something they could do to generate cider-type revenues (which we are told are very large), then why wouldn't they be doing it already during some of the times when they aren't making cider? The show implies that there are only so many opportunities like cider season or zap apple jam season that can be taken advantage of.
 
Lots of debate goin' on here! I shan't jump in the middle of any one right now, but I do wish to point out, that the cider IS almost pure profit, compared to the selling rate of apples. I only know that rate of apples being sold per basket based upon"Call of the Cutie" is around (but not set at) 4 bits for the entire thing.

Compare that, to the one or two bits per cup of cider. Granted, this isn't a fair straight across calculation. One has to consider the average apple per cup, the labor of organizing the good from bad apples, and of course, Big Macs actual work involve in the processing of apples into cider. Still from my very rough estimates, it could be proven they make a bunch more for cider. (I'll show my work eventually, got to run some tests... yum!)

Still a 75/25 split was ridiculous, and in the end, a term that SHOULD have been negotiated, were it not for Granny. I plan on doing a lot of math soon before I post more, however.

nah dog, the Diamond Dogs are pony-nappers and slavers. That's total villain territory.

Forgive me if I don't have any sympathy for ponies WHO DO THE EXACT SAME THING to cows and other creatures. You call it slavery, I call it balance. Not to mention treating other sapient creatures (mules/donkeys/Minotaurs/Griffons) as monsters or cruel butts of jokes. That said, that mule in Ponyville has to be the most laidback creature there... nothing offends him!

In another time, I was sooo tempted to write a fanfic about the "lesser" creatures not doing anything across Equestria for a week, in the style of Day Without a Mexican, but my friend convinced me I might get nasty emails if I do so. Still may though one day!
 

brian577

Banned
In another time, I was sooo tempted to write a fanfic about the "lesser" creatures not doing anything across Equestria for a week, in the style of Day Without a Mexican, but my friend convinced me I might get nasty emails if I do so. Still may though one day!

I'd love to read it if you do.
 

akira28

Member
In another time, I was sooo tempted to write a fanfic about the "lesser" creatures not doing anything across Equestria for a week


Well ponies aren't the most accepting creatures, though they have learned to generally get along well with each other. There still are issues with dragons and griffons and buffalo apparently. And I don't quite know if those farm animals...what do they do? I never see them milk the cows or slaughter the hogs for bacon, so what do those pigs do on the farm, exactly??
you totally should. Play it to the bloody hilt.
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
Well ponies aren't the most accepting creatures, though they have learned to generally get along well with each other. There still are issues with dragons and griffons and buffalo apparently. And I don't quite know if those farm animals...what do they do? I never see them milk the cows or slaughter the hogs for bacon, so what do those pigs do on the farm, exactly??
you totally should. Play it to the bloody hilt.

What issues have we seen with Griffons? The two we've seen have been treated perfectly fine by the ponies.
 

akira28

Member
Hrm...issues...I don't see a lot of intercultural exchan---Forester cmon. They could have issues. Those hayseed earth ponies couldn't even welcome a zebra into their community. Could you imagine if they were forced to live with a gripper?
 

$200

Banned
8d9.gif
 
Well ponies aren't the most accepting creatures, though they have learned to generally get along well with each other. There still are issues with dragons and griffons and buffalo apparently. And I don't quite know if those farm animals...what do they do? I never see them milk the cows or slaughter the hogs for bacon, so what do those pigs do on the farm, exactly??
you totally should. Play it to the bloody hilt.

I'd love to read it if you do.

I probably will sometime in January. I am editing some else's story at the moment, but after that, I'll be free to write again. Probably be on GDocs though, as my fimfic group would hate me going against the grain more than I have.

Ponies have to use milk and cheese, as they are regularly featured in recipes they eat on the show (I mean, cakes, come on!) How they obtain the milk? No idea, maybe it is in exchange for feed, may something else.

Pigs are probably used as waste disposal, and compost making factories. I don't rate them on the level of cows, with some sapience, but like a pet. Still, maybe they sell fatten pigs to Griffons/meat-eating creatures? (No idea if Iron Will would eat meat. I recall our ancient Minotaur myths stating it was a man-eater...)

What issues have we seen with Griffons? The two we've seen have been treated perfectly fine by the ponies.

I'll admit Gilda was treated very well for her asshole-shit ways, thieving. and of course, freak-out on Fluttershy. The second Griffon (the one with the mustache.. which I STILL DON'T GET) was snotty, but a seemingly nice eclair-maker.

I would imagine the inter-conflict between Griffons and Ponies would simply be to Griffons eating meat. I say this as a potential, as it has not been officially recognized as canon, but is what real Griffons supposedly ate. (I for one, find the fan fic trope of Equestria being in a conflict with Griffons ridiculous).

They are also different, but why Zecora was feared the way she was, I don't know.

*Again, what the hell potato???*

What does this MEAN???
 
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