Yeah, that scene was just PERFECT as the climax of not just the episode/finale but also Seasons 1-3.

It was so good that even though the denouement was also quite well done (imho), it feels flat because the climax was just so effing perfect! Again, just my opinion, lol.

If I have to find something to be critical about (about Celestia's Ballad) is that it makes me fucking wonder how S4 is going to come up with anything anywhere close to it.

edited 18th Feb '13 11:51:08 PM by probablyinsane

I think that MMC was written with the slight possibility of that being the end of the show all together in mind. It's definitely the end of an arc that started in the pilot, but now we can look to another arc, whatever it might be.

I'm assuming that this is the end of the friendship reports for twilight. I mean, she's learnt now what friendship is all about. The others though...

Because I still hope we can have pony all decade.

edited 18th Feb '13 11:56:06 PM by ApplelightLimited

PO-NIES! PO-NIES! PO-NIES!

If that had been the last episode, it would be a damn good ending. To me, it would be like how Calvin and Hobbes ended. I don't want it to end, but if it has to end, I'm happy that it ends beautifully.

Also, considering the sheer ratio of unsatisfactory endings to satisfactory endings, it just speaks QUALITY when so much care was given to provide a very good ending.

Alright, I've been abstaining from this thread until I can watch it. Which is now.

LEZ DO DIS

Okay that's a weird face right out of the gate >_>

Music is good, and OH GOD ADORABLE TAPDANCING TWI

Aaaaand musicockblocked.

Applejack appears to be making a rather fetching set of costumes for Les Miserables and Waiting For Godot.

That poor mailpony just can't catch a break, can he?

Rainbow Dash: "And then they made me their chief."

The mental health of Ponyville rests squarely on Pinkie Pie. This is incomprehensibly terrifying.

And Starswirl's Cantrip of Fuck Up Everything is adjusted into whatever he was actually trying to do by changing the incantation to not be something cryptic yet vaguely threatening.

Firing our lazors...oh shit, we vaporized her. The end!

edited 19th Feb '13 12:26:00 AM by Pykrete

Yup, pack it up. We burned her.

And I'm thinking it was an Alicorn-maker spell.

edited 19th Feb '13 12:26:14 AM by edvedd

...We have entered...THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

The first word we hear is "congratulations." This can't possibly end well.

HOLY SHIT CELESTIA IS SINGING

edited 19th Feb '13 12:27:18 AM by Pykrete

"I arranged a new body for you after you totaled the last one. I took the opportunity to include a few add-ons."

lol Shining Armor.

LIQUID PRIDE, BROTHA

edited 19th Feb '13 12:39:04 AM by Pykrete

Thinking about it now, the two stories in this episode - The Cutie Mark problem and the Alicornication, are pretty simple to understand. The issue is that the spell that links both stories together wasn't that clearly defined.

You like it I take it?

Can we talk about Twilight's tests?

I take it the first one was her CM story. It showed that she was probably the pony Celestia was looking for.

The second one was the pilot. It showed that she had the spark needed to wield the element.

The third one was Discord, although that part was unexpected. It showed that they could repair any damage done to their friendship.

The fourth was the Crystal Empire.

And this was number five.

edited 19th Feb '13 12:38:35 AM by ApplelightLimited

3-part story, 3-part story. All shall be revealed in the proper time.

I think there was way more tests than just five.

edited 19th Feb '13 12:39:35 AM by probablyinsane

Oh crap...what if number six is Twilight taking over Celestia's role as she ascends to something higher, and that's at the end if season 4, and then that's it!

Oh no.

We should totally call the astral-plane bit the Twilight Zone from now on.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It felt tacked on because Hasbro demands princesses, instead of having built up to anything, which made both plotlines suffer because it was basically two episodes crammed into the time of one without having developed either properly. That, and it just kind of cut off before you could realize that this is basically the end of the premise of the series. I mean obviously it's not because season 4 and all, but they're either gonna have to do some squirming to let a regent keep dicking around in Ponyville or pull a Scrubs Zombie and reduce the main character to a cameo.

Which kind of defeats the point of the series either way. "Your friendship gives you the strength to do amazing things. Now choose between friends or amazing things because they can't just pack up and move to Canterlot with you on a whim."

And on a more petty note, the princesses' outfits were unusually GAUDY, even for regalia. It looked like cotton candy exploded on a bowl of Froot Loops. It doesn't take that much color to go a long way on figures like that. Use some subtlety, or if you absolutely MUST go wild, at least coherent and complementary color schemes that don't clash with the manes.

Dash's musketeer number was cool though.

edited 19th Feb '13 12:52:37 AM by Pykrete

Yeah, that's pretty much my problem with the episode as well. The individual plots could have been good on their own, but together they just make the episode seem directionless.

The fact that we didn't get a full episode out of a great idea like cutie mark swapping is very disappointing. I've wanted a body swap episode for ages.

GOOD MORNING PONYVILLE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f70cgcpbSZw&sns=em&noredirect=1

I dunno, I'm just looking at that hall of memories scene and thinking "this would've been incredibly powerful if it wasn't dropped on our heads out of goddamn nowhere and had the time to linger on the impact for a bit".

This season's been a real mixed bag for sure.

edited 19th Feb '13 12:59:30 AM by Pykrete

Personally, I can't stand body swap stories in things, so I was really worried it would go down that route. I'm really glad that it didn't and the cutie mark swap ended up how it did.

edit: Also, what exactly was wrong with the clothes the princesses were wearing? I see people complain a lot, but I've never gotten a straight answer. I didn't think they were bad.

edited 19th Feb '13 1:01:10 AM by Swasfews

Note that even with that qualification, I still liked the episode. But I can see the issues.

Season 4 will definitely be interesting.

I'm of the opinion that it wasn't "this is the pony I have been searching for" so much as "this filly will do great things someday, I should keep an eye on her".

Mariachi band!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3fFldhsJDw&noredirect=1 I watched this video posted earlier.

So Twilight destiny is just like Lauren Faust planned.

@ Kyler

Yeah that sounds like a better summary.