@Background Pony #2A09  
Didn’t Maleficent also have a pair of horns on her head?
 

 
Just asking.

Gandalf?  
He shot Derpy!
 
Robin, no stealing from poor farmers!
 
Tarzan is still crazy, but he’s an ape pony so that doesn’t matter.
 
Voldemort? VOLDEMORT?!

@RIG  
Honestly? Being forced to remain canon with the cartoon restricts storytelling possibilities.
 
I’d rather they go wild.

@kassarc16
 
@Background Pony #2A09
 
@Starlight Storm
 
I agree that the pop cultural references throughout these comics have been obnoxious and gratuitous. But do take note that the bulk of these references have been from Andy Price and Katie Cook’s comics. Most of the other writers and artists have done a decent job at keeping the references down to a minimum.
 
And I fully embrace the pop cultural references in this issue because it actually has a good reason/excuse to exist. This isn’t like Andy Price’s tendency to insert ponyfied versions of his favorite tv/movie characters just for the hell of it. This is a story about famous fictional characters being plucked out of their fictional worlds and into Equestria.

@Background Pony #2A09  
When you put it that way… The show is like ten or more times better. At least they’ve gone with more originality than what some of the comics have done. Heck, even the comics did a high school setting arc, and BOY it made Equestria Girls more creative.

@kassarc16  
Kinda sad, but I have to agree. I mean, look at the mythos they have to work with. The MLP world is just full of untapped potential. They could make a beautifully unique or entertaining villain for this arc. But instead, here is a Voldemort, Maleficent, and Loki Pony. Have fun kids. :(

@kassarc16  
In Andy Price’s case, that’s so true. In Amy Mebberson’s defense all this cameos and ponifications exist as fiction in Equestria, but something brought them out of the paper into the real world. So… yeah, at least this “pop culture” has a reason, is actually a big part of the plot and it’s freaking amazing.

Glad I don’t pay for these…. this is getting worse than the show. They’ve run out of ideas, and now they’re just throwing in all the pop culture they can.

@DoomPony  
I never say there was anything was wrong with pandering.

@RainbowDashie41  
( °Д°)

@RIG  
Actually, just look above Derpy, you will see some purple horned thing (I know, Balrogs are fire red but I’ll let it pass).

@Cyborg_pony  
maybe this the movie one  

@RainbowDashie41  
Better alterative. Summon Mjölna!  

@Tailsic  
At the same time, Luna works great for the episode. The nightmares plot is right up her alley, she’s already been established as a caring figure, and, from a writing standpoint, she’s a supposedly important character who hadn’t done much of anything (less than Celestia even). Is that wrong to think that the writers and fans were on the same wavelength regarding underused characters?
 
That’s the problem I have with cries of “pandering”, they can (and have been) directed at anything some element of the fandom likes regardless of it’s significance and without consideration for the show’s staff. Why can’t they include little jokes for themselves? Why presume it’s intended for you?

@DoomPony  
Well the Luna make a little more sense, we haven’t had a Celestia episode yet.

@Tailsic  
It didn’t make any sense to me, but his “argument” was that since it was a writer’s first episode, the writer somehow knew that bronies would love an episode about Scootaloo. He also accused Luna being in the episode as pandering as well, because she’s Luna.

@DoomPony  
how is that fan pandering, when AppleBloom and Sweetie Belle had an focus episode? doesn’t it make sense for her to get an episode too?

@Skullsix  
@Skullsix Not really, no. She’s missing horns for one thing. She seems closer to the Evil Queen from Snow White to be honest.

now we need Thor

@PonyPon  
Of course, one can lead into the other. And eventually, using a word incorrectly can make that usage correct. The word “soon” used to mean “now.” But people kept saying, “I’ll do it soon,” and over time, the definition shifted.
 
In time, the denotation of “pander” may become “to perform an action the speaker disapproves of.”

Wait. Yeah the tag is there.

Anyone else getting a maleficent vibe from this villain?

@PonyPon  
And people using it wrong is how a word or phrase loses meaning. When’s the last time you heard someone use “Jump the Shark” accurately?

@DoomPony  
There’s losing meaning and there’s using it wrong.
 
I leave you to figure out which instance you experienced in hindsight.

@PonyPon  
I swear that someone accused “Sleepless in Ponyville” of being pandering because it was a Scootaloo episode. That was the moment I stopped considering “pandering” a meaningful word.