That makes sense, but is there any formal, academic reason for Twilight to be doing this?

If not, and it's all a ruse, then when does Twilight graduate from Celestia's class? Is the princess gonna keep misleading Twilight like this forever?

edited 11th Oct '11 12:02:23 PM by gingerninja666

^^That makes a lot of sense, actually - and yeah, I really doubt Celestia really needs the reports. It's a transparent excuse for everyone but Twilight, who, as you said, is rather cloistered and neurotic.

^She's already graduated from Celestia's magic school, and Celestia's acting as her personal graduate mentor, I think.

edited 11th Oct '11 12:03:01 PM by RedSavant

@Ginger: On the Vetinari Principle of quia ego sic dico - she graduates when Celestia thinks she's ready.

Celestia probably stages a final exam for her or something, but that's because she's, well, Twilight.

Really? I always thought she was still in education?

edited 11th Oct '11 12:04:13 PM by gingerninja666

Now I feel kinda sorry for Twilight. She's going to go through all this, and in the end Celestia's probably gonna say something like: "You were ready a long time ago, "

That kinda shit would piss ME off

But It would be very cool if twilight could overpower Celestia

edited 11th Oct '11 12:19:49 PM by FallenLegend

Wouldn't it be great if Celestia somehow KNEW that she was going to become evil at some point in the future, and she's training Twilight up to stop her when it happens?

Never gonna happen though.

Episode 1 had Spike tell Twilight "But we're on a break!" So it seems they normally do/did something.

edited 11th Oct '11 12:30:15 PM by Whatshisgame

Given that Twilight is now basically pursuing her own self-directed study course, I would equate her education to that of a graduate student.

I imagine the process goes something like this:

From entrance to graduation (at high school level, probably), students at the School for Gifted Unicorns are taught mandatory core curriculi, including history, mathematics, reading, and the basics of magic. Twilight is a special case in that her talent is magic, so she might have received special lessons from Celestia herself - who would otherwise just serve as a headmistress and not usually teach at the School - on theory and applications. Twilight has obviously graduated (because she's not at the School anymore), but she was still being taught by Celestia while she was living in Canterlot, and now that she's in Ponyville, she's doing her own research.

edited 11th Oct '11 12:32:38 PM by RedSavant

but what happens at the "Research" stage? Can she technically quit being Celestia's student at any time? Does Celestia still have to award her with something?

I'm not entirely sure how it works in our world either

I was kinda hoping for something more like Netflix or Hulu. I'm no good at remembering to watch scheduled shows.

PVR?

Speaking from Australia, I just use Youtube. It's not *strictly* legal, but they kind of turn a blind eye and most of the deletions and bans are the work of trolls.

As far as I know, a graduate student would be researching a degree of some kind, like a bachelor's degree or a master's degree. Of course, there may very well not be a 'graduate student' branch of the School for Gifted Unicorns; Twilight could just be Celestia's apprentice, basically. Long story short, Twilight is still Celestia's student (in magic theory and application, probably).

Maybe Twilight is a researcher now.

Now I'm imagining Twilight writing a Dissertation on Friendship

I was about to ask how Friendship is at all related to magic... then I remembered the show's title

edited 11th Oct '11 1:03:04 PM by gingerninja666

Well for one thing, they censor out every instance of the word "loser" (which has the side effect of actually making the dialog sound worse then it is). I'm not sure about what else they did.

Anyway, the best way to watch the series is Youtube. All the episodes are there in high definition. It's not technically legal, but Hasbro turns a blind eye to it.

edited 11th Oct '11 1:05:49 PM by storyyeller

Well, given that friendship is magic, literally, it kinda makes sense that Twilight would "study" it. And she's been shown studying non-friendship related magic, so she might still be doing other stuff. Maybe the reports to Celestia are Equestria's equivalent of an online class; do the reading, do the assignments and send them to the prof so they can make sure you aren't slacking and that you're on the right track. The friendship reports are probably for either reference purposes, and a way of making sure that Twilight isn't just holing herself up in the library 24/7.

@RS: Graduate studies vary depending on what the degree is, and what the subject matter is. The one I'm in now consists of 4 semesters of classes and a thesis; so it's not like grad students fend for themselves. Although I'm sure there are programs that do allow for that; especially online degrees. And in America at least, a bachelor's degree would be considered collegiate level, not graduate level, as far as I know.

edited 11th Oct '11 1:16:06 PM by JapaneseTeeth

But Habsro does not.

Hulu isn't currently available in Canada and Netflix only shows stuff that is out on DVD.

And Griffon the Brushoff has been effectively banned from Treehouse.

I can't wait to see how they fuck up Return of Harmony, especially the second part.

Good thing I've already seen it on Youtube.

edited 11th Oct '11 1:23:19 PM by RichReeders

...And now I have this mental image of Discord the copyright troll.

Celestia gets him banned because there can be only one troll in Equestria.

edited 11th Oct '11 1:21:34 PM by CountDorku

Not all instances are censored. Sonic Rainboom was on last week and they didn't censor it there, but probably because RD was saying it so fast that they didn't notice.

As for a list of the censored scenes thus far:

Griffon The Brush-Off: skipped entirely.

Boast Busters: an entire line by Trixie muted.

Party of One: During Pinkie Pie's mental breakdown, 4 instances of "loser" are muted.

Haven't seen Applebuck Season, Call of The Cutie, Green Isn't Your Colour yet, but Call of the Cutie is likely to have a muted part. Also, if the Season 2 gets picked up by Treehouse, Return of Harmony Part 2 is also likely to have a muted instance.

edited 11th Oct '11 1:25:13 PM by x86x

It's hard, because Twilight is far more than just a student to Celestia. She's one of Equestria's defenders, and part of what basically amounts to a special taskforce.

We don't know for certain what's education, and what's gambits on the part of Celestia.

Is Celestia considered one of Twilight's friends? Or is their relationship a bit too formal for that?

We must stop madness this Hasbro evil twin.

More of a surrogate parent than a friend.