Author's Note: This is in response to IDW Comics confirming to have the Twilicorn, starting with the pirate comic arc.

———

Conceptually, I was fine with Twilight being an alicorn if given more than enough time for her to develop into one. However, her becoming an alicorn in season three was and will always be a factually bad idea for the reasons I outlined a while back here. In order for the Twilicorn to genuinely work, Magical Mystery Cure had to be written very well enough at the least and fantastically at its best: While it "made sense" from Hasbro's perspective, it didn't make sense from a timing perspective.

And what did Magical Mystery Cure do? While I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, it doesn't change how it's a bad episode, although nowhere close to being the worst that season. (Just for Sidekicks, Spike at Your Service, and Games Ponies Play are all easily worse.) Still, with the other bad episodes, since they were self-contained, you can always skip them over. The Twilicorn is the exception, because whatever happened in that episode will follow over to season four, meaning Magical Mystery Cure had to be written RIGHT. It wasn't. MMC was rushed and sloppy; the Twilicorn appeared tacked on. From an objective quality perspective, Twilight's transformation wasn't handled well; five minutes is MORE than enough time to deliver a solid first impression to your audience. If MMC and the Twilicorn's first impression were genuinely handled as well as it should've, then we wouldn't still discuss and debate over the Twilicorn long after its airing.

With the Twilicorn following into the comics, despite my vocal criticisms (especially in the Twilicorn section in the MLP Forums, where I debated there quite a bit for a three- to four-month stretch), I'm still as indifferent about her being an alicorn now as I was back then. If she's written well, I'll support it. If it's not, I won't. It doesn't matter if the medium is in the show (where the writers have much more restrictions than the fans themselves, not just because they're working under a first party's demands, but also due to content guidelines in Canada, U.S., and throughout the West) or the IDW comics. If they show me that the writers can write the Twilicorn well, follow through, and actually develop her to the point where her being an alicorn princess is worth it, I welcome it with open arms.

That said, Twilicorn can't be the mere "adorkable Twilight" we're normally accustomed to. In FIM, an alicorn princess means more than just a title. It indicates a sense of responsibilities and management in not just what they say, but do, too. Cadance, Celestia, and Luna are all heralded in current Equestrian society, and Twilight will be, too. Her being the same character "with merely wings" devolves her character and all her growth from the pilot to MMC, and I hope the comics, like the show, don't toss that aside.

I'm also glad the comic writers and season four are there to hopefully experiment it. MMC gave the Twilicorn a horrendous first impression. If the series was over after MMC, then Twilight's reputation is soiled. IDW and season four give the Twilicorn a chance to work, and I hope their efforts pays off.

P.S.: Despite being a vocal critic, I DON'T want her reverted back to a unicorn. It's a big mea culpa and tells me as a brony that the team doesn't wish to make it work, and that's insulting to the entire franchise.