>>12428
>but then deducing the reason or cause for that 'offness' can get way into the weeds and overcomplicated, as Pinkie finds out.
100% agree.

>Real pony disguises would either be the province of Unicorn magic, or painting over cutie marks and perhaps gluing cosmetic horns onto the forehead.
Depending on how one takes Call of the Cutie:>>11188 Maybe glue is completely required and no magic can do? A potential avenue for camouflage is something like the Don't-Notice-Me-Field one of the concepts I really liked from the comics. Now I've jumped too far in the past and ahead, lol.

> I think it makes pony villains particularly interesting in the show, since they're both equals for the abilities of our main cast and are inherently interesting in terms of exploring how villains can emerge even from a utopian society like Equestria.
An interesting lens that some characters fit comically perfect in (to the point of somewhat stupid, sorry Dolores our bridge of the board.) Nightmare Moon too, some don't fit as well but that is... bleh, a half formed point exists in my head, I want to get back to this later.

>>12429
>positive affirmations rather than advice that can sound like rulegiving: don't assume the worst of your friends and overthink things!
I think in some cases that is taken too far. Overcompensation for shows talking down to us.

>However, it does helpfully clarify things by stating that a *good* friend will always have your best interests at heart, which I think can be true, when there's a particularly strong basis of mutual trust.
This is why I am not sure it's just me, looking at this wrong, as an adult. When push comes to shove I don't think this would've even a minor negative impact on anyone even if taken slightly wrong. It wouldn't be solely at fault for a child in a situation being hurt if a friend was bullying/abusive to them. And if taken like you describe here, it has just as high a chance to help. (A real friend wouldn't treat me like this).