@Mio The origins of the characters/setting should not matter in the slightest when determining their quality. All that matters is the end result.
@ed The South Pole's the only region worth living on.
If you stare into the abyss long enough, it stares into you.
Element of Indecision.
And of course, having the newlyweds have more screen time will definitely give them a little more development than what we have.
@Lurker: *shrug* Despite the episode's best efforts Cadance and Shiny still feel rather poorly integrated in to the world. That is why I would have preferred to not see them again, and to me it wouldn't have been that jarring since Canterlot Wedding always felt more like one of those spin off movies then an actual finale to the series, but that's just my opinion.
I think they could've put Shiny into Sweet and Elite, so he wouldn't be so jarring in the finale.
If you stare into the abyss long enough, it stares into you.
Element of Indecision.
Shining Armor: "Hi! I'm Twilight's brother, who she has never mentioned before and yet is extremely close to me! We're best buddies, with a loving sibling relationship even though nopony knew I existed until right now! Oh, also I'm captain of the Royal Guard!"
Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash Rarity: "Double-you Tee Eff..."
Don't you try anything, you baked good you.
Yeah, they did the best with what they got, and this could help a lot.
@Lurker, Because BBBFF. Twilight and Shiny were close enough that he should have been mentioned. But I like how they wrote the finale to assist with the issue.
@steve I'm good friends with my brother, but I don't go around talking about him at random unless someone asks me or it becomes relevant.