"It's About Time"... so this episode's all kinds of fun! I mean how can it not be? It's time travel mixed with ponies for crying out loud, you know without a doubt after reading that premise that you're going to have a blast! So as you can tell, I certainly like this episode a lot. It's not my favorite episode of Season 2 by any means, but there's still plenty here that works and on the whole it hits all the right notes. Let's begin.

Ughhh, good job Twilight, you've created a time paradox! What do you have to say for yourself missy?

"It's About Time" is the first Twilight-centric episode since "Lesson Zero" (I would say "Luna Eclipsed" since Twilight helps solve Luna's social awkwardness, but it's still Luna's problem so technically "Lesson Zero" it is), and to be honest it has a very similar conflict as that legendary episode in that Twilight's making a mountain out of a molehill again. I guess I should start by saying that, while the two problems she's trying to resolve in her own nutty way are distinct problems (and the lessons she learns in both are also distinct from each other), the similarities of these episodes are enough that it sort of takes away from the effect of Twilight's nuttiness in this one. I mean, after "Lesson Zero", no amount of insanity on Twilight's part can really phase anyone anymore, and every time I watch this episode, even though I do enjoy it, I can't help but think to myself, "I've seen this Twilight before, and for very similar reasons". Aside from that little bit of redundancy, however, Twilight's a delight and learns a great lesson to boot.

So what's the source of Twilight's insanity this time? Well, time travel if we're being frank. Basically, she loses her head because her future self traveled back in time to warn her not to lose her head. It's really silly when you think about it, but it works here really well, especially considering one usually would see time travel in a kids program in some sort of made-for-TV movie, not a single, 22 minute episode. After all kinds of whacky shenanigans (and much bodily harm and mental fatigue on Twilight's part, though nothing in comparison to the madness that is "Lesson Zero"... I'm just saying, nothing can touch that episode as far as insanity levels go), Twilight finally realizes that she's been worrying about nothing this entire time and learns a valuable lesson. You shouldn't worry about problems in the future that you can't even foresee, otherwise you'll end up accomplishing nothing and just waste your days making mountains out of molehills again and again and again; instead, you should worry about resolving problems as they happen, keep your mind focused on the present in order to secure it and the future! This results in a great bit of character growth on Twilight's part, and ever since this episode it's been more and more noticeable that she's made great efforts to keep her cool in high pressure situations and not put more on her plate than she can handle. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this was a major step in her road to becoming a princess, whether she knew it or not, and that Princess Celestia was most certainly waiting to see if Twilight knew how to prioritize problems before choosing to elevate her to princesshood. It's also actually one of the more adult lessons that the show's had; let's be honest, little kids don't usually have the problem of worrying about the future. They live for the present and can barely plan what they're going to be doing five minutes from now, much less one week. Rather, teenagers and adults are the ones who can get so easily swept up in so many affairs and projects that before we know it, we're trying to plan months ahead for as many situations as possible and losing our sanity in the process. I applaud the writers for knowingly making an episode with a message like this tailored more for an adult audience, and for that it most certainly stands out.

Pinkie Pie's a fortune teller... because of course she is. Ya know what, at this point, I'm not even surprised anymore.

Besides the creative lesson, the episode only REALLY stands out for one other reason: it makes A LOT of interesting additions to the show's canon. In this episode alone, we learn (1) that Tartarus exists as some kind of hold for evil spirits in Equestria, (2) that it's guarded by the 3-headed dog Cerberus (who's kind of adorable here ), (3) that time travel is possible in Equestria, (4) that Twilight is capable of using time travel spells, (5) that time travel spells are kept in the Canterlot Library, (6) that there's a Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Library, (7) that there's a Horse Head Nebula in the MLP universe. THAT IS A LOT!!! There are few episodes, even in Season 2, that add SO MUCH to MLP's canon, and "It's About Time" most certainly deserves a lot of credit simply for all the cool additions that it manages to pull off.

Aside from the two big qualities of having a great lesson and some cool canon additions, there's not much else to say about this one. Twilight's nutty, and Spike and Pinkie Pie especially provide some nice supporting comedy relief, playing off of crazy Twilight hilariously. There's some nice Mane 6 interactions from all the Mane 6, some without any words even being spoken (my personal favorite being Rarity and AJ fixing the Ponyville dam together; it's just nice silently seeing those two, such polar opposites, getting along so swimmingly together at this point in the show). The MGS and Escape From New York references are absolutely hilarious, plus, as I said earlier, the writers certainly use time travel here to great effect (far better than a lot of other shows do, I can tell you that much). Overall, while certainly not one of the greatest MLP episodes, "It's About Time" is still a lovely episode with some nice character growth from Twilight, some great laughs and clever writing, a very good lesson, and some cool additions to the show's canon. Definitely a worthwhile viewing if you ask me!