Aelius

Wow, Season 4 is off to a great start!

The flashbacks were a really neat element and the action was great, especially Nightmare Moon's confrontation with Princess Celestia. I also love how Discord was still... well, Discord, in spite of his reformation (old habits die hard, eh? ). Princess Twilight's initial uneasiness and her stepping up to her role was done nicely. Lastly, after learning about all these events surrounding the Elements of Harmony in the past, only to have them used one final time and then returned to the Tree to save Equestria, I realized how bold the creators of the show have been. I'm glad they kept permanent changes like making Twilight an alicorn princess. It gives the series continuity and really shows how the characters are growing together and changing as they learn. No longer having the Elements of Harmony was a good call, too. Not only did it prevent them from constantly being deus ex machinas, but it also saved them from a common trope where one episode's "ultimate weapon" becomes useless two episodes later. Now the Mane Six are developed enough and have been through enough to figure things out on their own without having to rely on the Elements to solve everything if the situation is too dire. As for the situation these episodes involved? Well, the Elements were directly involved so it worked great ^_^

Read the first post, I won't take character requests if you don't play the character ^^; since "Bubbles" Isn't a calling or destiny

Whoops! My apologies, I guess I missed that part.

In that case, I'll stick with my OC.

Cutie Mark: Blue lightning bolt

What it means: He's a weather pony with a fascination over lightning. And blue is his favorite colour.

Heh, these are pretty neat! Alrighty, I'd like to request one for Derpy and her cutie mark of bubbles

Also, how about my OC, Zap?

Cutie Mark: Blue lightning bolt

What it means: He's a weather pony with a fascination over lightning. And blue is his favorite colour.

Since I got snowed in today and had to stay home, I got to watch this episode again. After it was over, I began to wonder. This episode seemed to me like it was originally meant to be the SERIES finale rather than the S3 finale. It sort of ends the long story arc of Twilight being sent to Ponyville to learn about friendship. You have to wonder if that wasn't the Hasbro corporate 'gameplan' all along in the beginning, to end the series at 65 episodes, UNTIL they discovered how popular the show was with adults and realized they had ratings GOLD. I have to wonder if Season 4 was truly 'meant to be' or is it the result of Hasbro wanting to 'ride this pony' for all its worth?

With that in mind, and everyone wondering how this might change Twilight's role, I'm almost dreading the possibility of the show pulling a "maintain the status quo" move and have Twilight lose her wings during Season 4's opening two-parter to keep things the way they were. Then again, they reformed Discord and went the rest of the season without reversing it, so hopefully this is just between season jitters.

What if.. The first two episode of season four is about Twilight being corrupted by some nefarious force and fighting that corruption.

Why? Because a piece of Sombra was left behind in her when she used his magical techniques to open the hidden passage way.

It would be epic and you know it!

Yes... it would! :!: Y'know, I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Sombra. Given the prevalence of his magic in Season 3's opening and Twilight's overcoming of it (with Spike's help), her first true test as a Princess may be facing him again.

How would this be determined? Is it based on your other OC's other friends?

Completely up to you You can base it on your OC, real life self, anything you think would be interesting.

(Inspired by the events of today's episode...)

So someone accidentally activated Starswirl the Bearded's unfinished spell before Twilight Sparkle had a chance to complete it. What opposite destiny and "wrong" cutie mark did you get stuck with before she fixed it?

I would go so far as to guess that one of two major things are going to be occurring (likely in a 2-part season 4 opener): either Twilight is going leaving Ponyville to fill her role as a Canterlot Princess, or... And this would be EXTREMELY cool and/or brilliant, Celestia has been gaining allies to fight some titanic threat. Her sister Luna, Discord, now Twilight. These are all extremely powerful characters who have turned to good/evolved/etc. Perhaps it's my paranoia creeping, but I would assume that Celestia is preparing for SOMETHING. (Hey, maybe even CELESTIA is going away, I dunno.)

Celestia reigns the day, Luna rules the night, Twilight, by her very name, is the midpoint between the two. Hmm.

Pondering this greatly....

Oh, and thanks Diego Havoc for posting the Derpy screencaps. I was looking for her all through the episode XD Neat to see Vinyl Scratch again, too!

Wow... I was completely blown away by the climax. The thought of Twilight becoming an Alicorn did cross my mind (y'know... princess...), but I didn't know if the Hasbro would go the "sitcom" route and refuse to do something to completely change canon and continuity. Happily, they went ahead with it and gave her wings! Awesome! This definitely opens up a ton of future opportunities for the new princess, and I'd love to see what she does with her new talents (and wings!). It was really neat to hear Princess Celestia sing, and great to see Princess Twilight take her first flight.

The first half was good, too. Rather interesting to see the other Mane Six trying out the roles of everyone else. I guess their cutie mark derived destinies are truly what they are to be.

I'm curious about whether there might be a new unicorn character added to the main cast to keep that "two of each" ratio in addition to a new alicorn. I'm doubtful (and kind of hoping they don't, because it seems like a jump-the-shark move), but pondering about it nonetheless.

Anyways... great episode!

I have a few...

First of all, Derpy!! I also like Sea Swirl (I love the sea and dolphins, her cutie mark), the spa ponies Lotus and Aloe, Lyra, and Brolly (because he has similar colours to my ponysona), and the beautiful Fleur de Lis.

This was a neat episode. I never imagined anyone could be as competitive as Rainbow Dash, but Lightning Dust really made an impression. Then again, this episode showed just how much Rainbow Dash embodies the loyalty element. I think, had she never have befriended the rest of the Mane Six, she may very well have been no different than Lightning Dust. I think having close friends helped Rainbow Dash realize that being the best doesn't come at the cost of everyone else around you. I was absolutely shocked that she would be willing to quit because of that, but it really shows she's come a long way since episode one.

I must say I'm curious as to what Lightning Dust will do after this, though...

It was also interesting to see a different side of Spitfire in this episode, and actually fit the setting very well. We've all seen her being so mellow and friendly at the Gala, then turning drill sergent here. It's actually not that surprising. I remember reading a similar statement from an actual military drill sergant, saying that at work, he had to be tough and demanding, but when he got home, his family did not need to see "big, tought, and harsh" They needed to see a husband and father. I have a feeling Spitfire acts similarly when she's off-the-clock.

As for this new character Lightning looks a lot like someone's OC which is suspicious and seems to be an "upgraded" (Read: Mary Sue) version of RD (i.e. huge ego, thinks she's the best of the best, able to catch up with RD at top speed (she even has a electrically-coloured contrail to boot) but reflects a slightly darker version as she seems to do whatever it takes to be the best even screw over her wing-men and putting civilians in harms way just to complete her mission and that's something you should never do if you want to accomplish objectives while flying but she'd probably do better as a Shadowbolt I'd wager she'll be Dash's rival in the near future like what Trixie is to Twilight.

At first I was thinking the same thing about Lightning Dust, and worried we'd have an official, "canonized" Rainbow Dash 2.0, but as the episode went on the differences became apparent. You make a really good point about her being a fitting Shadowbolt and rival... This could be ripe for a continuation.

This was a great episode, and quite a debut for the new writer ^_^ Scootaloo is my favorite of the CMCs and I'm happy that she finally has an episode of her own. Very cool to see Luna taking on an active role here; I never expected her to be able to dream dive but it fits her so well, and she even had a chance to be a mentor just like her big sister. And the end was really sweet. I liked how Rainbow accepted the opportunity to take Scoots under her wing and even had no problem with her inability to fly (even gave her a chance to feel like she was).

Heh, and I get the feeling that SweetieBell sad face is going to end up as sooooo many user icons...

That... was... amazing

I've no doubt that part two goes in the top tier of episodes, there's just so much I liked.

Wow, Cadence is an alicorn.

Princess Celestia on the floor, defeated. Whoa, this just got serious. I never thought I'd ever see that.

Epic Pony Battle!! ... something else I never expected to see, especially considering the show's target audience. It was radically awesome, though Rainbow Dash was ready to throw down as always, and I admire Fluttershy's cleverness in avoiding the fight (no Flutter-rage this time...), and Pinkie Pie, of course, takes it up to eleven with her unconventional methods (Twilight as a magic machine gun and the party cannon as a real cannon, heh heh).

A rather touching deus ex that doesn't seem all that gimmicy, too. I actually liked how that worked out in the end ^_^

All in all, the stakes and intensity were greatly raised in these two episodes, giving this a feature-film sort of vibe, which was quite fun.

The really sad part of all this is, because of all the 'Derpy' contraversy, she'll probably never 'talk' again in the series.

Yeah, that's what I fear, too. Alas... At least it was amazing to hear her talk that once. Derpy spoke, and the fandom let out a collective squee! I'm sure she knows we all love 'er.

When Dash called her Derpy in the original Last Roundup episode, to me that was all the canonization I needed, regardless of the later alteration. She's Derpy in my book

Witness today's (4-14-12) re-airing of "The Last Roundup", the FIRST re-airing since the 'Derpy' contraversy. And guess what? They edited the part with Derpy in it. Rainbow dash doesn't call her by name and Derpy's voice was changed.

Oh well, at least the 'true' version of that scene's still available on YouTube and on the "Friendship Express" DVD

I was wondering which version the might use. i think that fact was one of the main reasons I finally broke down and got the Friendship Express DVD. At least she's still hilariously cross-eyed in later episodes!

Ooh, good one. There are so many to choose from! Let's see...

I think Dragonshy is probably my top favorite. I love Fluttershy, I can relate to her so easily (and she's absolutely adorable), and seeing her grow during the course of this episode really kept me glued to the screen. Plus the episode had a good adventure aspect to it, and at the time I was still new to the show and getting used to the fact I was watching a program whose target audience was children. I'm a sucker for a good adventure. The character interactions among the Mane 6 were excellently performed, too. I also enjoyed how Applejack saved Twilight from a falling boulder (just one of many aspects to a fun episode).

Party of One was great, as well. It was the first episode to help me see Pinkie Pie in a different light. At the time, she was my least favorite character, but she actually showed realistic emotion here, and her descent into creepiness even proved that nopony is immune to negative feelings.

I also enjoyed Over the Barrel, for reasons similar to Dragonshy. The ponies were forced into a very real situation, and again the character interaction was top notch. The bedtime dialogue in the train in the first act just cracks me up. I also admire how the writers really showed the intensity of the final stand-off between the buffalo and Appleoosians before the stampede began. I wouldn't have expected that from a little girls' show.

Season Two episodes... Hurricane Fluttershy was a terrific one. For one, being Fluttershy-centric, and once again showing her growing as a character. I like how the writers bypassed the trope of "training montage solves all problems" and gave Fluttershy a chance to save the day when she felt least capable.

Lesson Zero.... heh, again with the creepiness factor, and proving that even the normally calm and collected Twilight Sparkle can break down if pushed (her faces seriously freaked me out ). Yet another episode when I applaud the writers for introducing some rather mature elements without losing the kids' show aspect.

I think the show, particularly in Season 2, has been pretty good about not pulling its punches when it comes to challenging emotional material. We've had Twilight go into a severe nervous breakdown over her schoolwork, Rarity's career estranging her from her little sister, Rarity's ambition almost making her turn her back on her best friends, peer pressure making Apple Bloom ashamed of her grandmother, Pinkie Pie almost losing the foals she was babysitting, Applejack having a breakdown under the pressure of her community's expectations of her, Applejack's family almost losing their home and livelihood, and a decent portrayal of three nations on the brink of war. I personally found "Sisterhooves Social" and "Baby Cakes" to be surprisingly hard-hitting and poignant, and if they keep up that sort of intensity, I don't think the show will be lacking at all for darkness or seriousness.

Very good points! And let's not forget the scene in Over the Barrel when the buffalo and Appleloosans are staring each other down, ready to fight for something they all believe is theirs (and with the planning montage before it the viewers know something big can happen). Sure, they'd fight with pies and such, making it more "Loony Tunes" rather than "300", but both sides had something important to them they knew they could lose, and I couldn't help but think how tense that felt for a kid's show. Heh, one of the reasons I liked that particular episode, I'll admit.

Heh, such a fitting filler image considering the subject matter, Blackberry And I gotta say, a compass has gotta be THE most fitting cutie mark for an adventurer.

Much agreed! This was a terrific episode. I loved that Applejack got her spotlight here (though Pinkie did steal the show a bit, as she if oft to do ).

Pinkie Pie proves herself once again to be a frighteningly-good interrogator...

Wow, Derpy's canonized name AND voice? Bonus!

Aye, thanks to the both of you ^_^ I think I'm getting the hang of things around here, and hope to check out IRC, too.

Welcome to Canterlot, Aelius. I am new to Canterlot too, and my favorite character is Fluttershy too.

Sweet, high-hoof!

*clop*

'ey, two more welcomes, thanks! Nice to meet you both.

Thanks, Armony ^_^ I definitely hope to.

Oh, and Tales, I forgot to answer your question! It was Brian Blackberry who first told me about the site.

How can you not love her, really? She's cute and really likeable.

Allllll too true!