Well that entire episode could have been avoided had Applejack not been an idiot (aka been the regular sensible Applejack we know) and we would have been better off without it, really.
So, content: While the world would be a better place if it wasn't, this is a thing. First off, it's pretty much guaranteed that all they promise in the pitch is definitely not going to be made on $7500.
And then there's the comments!
4chan and SomethingAwful of course got wind of this. And then the people who support the project got wind of that they got wind of it.
More content: There's this guy named Chris Muir. He doesn't have anything at all to do with ponies, but he's a right-wing hack political cartoonist whose comic Day by Day is self-insert power fantasy traced porn and Google Image Search results (people have found specific images he's traced. It's not hard because they're usually the first GIS result when you search for whatever it is). It's a horrible comic that repeats talking points and unsourced "facts" from right-wing blog headlines.
And today this was published.
Pop culture references isn't anything new for the comic - they're usually of the kind "Muir saw a movie again" - but this... (also does that white Celestia in that size actually exist)
Haha yeah the fact that that fucker's garbage isn't posted all over facebook constantly by my family members is a minor miracle. Good to know it remains painful to look at!
Really great episode, love the character. That train scene almost made it seem like it's something deeper, like one of them is supposed to protect/look out for the other. Or something. Might just be me being super sleep-deprived.
Okay, someone posted another in the thread and it's pretty clearly meant to actually be in the style of Kelly. I wasn't entirely sure from just one, though.
Since both the one above and the other one that was posted in the SA thread has Twilight shedding a tear I'm starting to think she's supposed to be that. But at the same time she's a labeled party in both cartoons, so it loses a bit of the point.