OK, "Three's a Crowd" was a hoot and a holler, no denying that. I'd say it was probably the silliest episode we've had this season since "Castle Mane-ia", or maybe "Power Ponies", and maybe the funniest episode out of those three. Despite having a giant action sequence between two alicorns and a giant worm, the episode somehow turned out to be a lovely little slice of life episode far sillier than most, and very unique from most in that we got a combination of main characters that we usually don't see in the show. So, let's get this review going proper. Oh, and seeing as there wasn't so much plot until the last third of the episode and mostly just silliness being wreaked by Discord, like last week I'll focus this review as well once again on the characters, rather than the story.

So let's start by talking about Twilight and Cadance. Besides "Games Ponies Play", until today we'd never seen these two alicorn sisters-in-law getting to spend time together in a casual capacity, and even in the aforementioned episode the visit was semi-formal seeing as Twilight was trying to help the Crystal Empire secure hosting the Equestria Games. I will say that the one thing that continues to bug me about Cadance, or rather, her VA, is that she always delivers her lines like she's trying to be a Mary Sue. I'm not saying she is, because Cadance is hardly what I'd call a Mary Sue, but gosh dang it if she doesn't sound like one with her constantly-cheery voice (and no, it's not the same as Celestia's gentle and benevolent regal demeanor or Luna's delightfully cute and hilarious social awkwardness mixed in with genuine formality). But whatever, she still had a good episode, mostly because the writers have always written her very well (no small feat considering if anypony could easily be a Mary Sue, it's her; I mean, that's always been the case since her inception back in Season 2 and the writers have still managed to make her a well rounded character).

Anyways, Twilight and Cadance, it was a lot of fun to watch them spending the day as sisters. Even when Discord started trying to ruin their plans, you could still tell that they were spending time with each other in an unofficial capacity, and it especially brought Cadance down to earth in a way we've never seen her before. Twilight for her part had one of her silliest roles this season (as well as probably her first starring role since the season opener), and Tara as usual did an outstanding job with the voice work, delivering each line to perfection. I really liked that her distrust of Discord was justified at the end and that she'd been right all along; I mean, yeah, she didn't ever predict that he was faking his illness, but she knew from the start that Discord was just trying to screw with her and Cadance the whole time. I get the feeling that Cadance knew it as well, but I really enjoyed how she handled it differently. Being the Princess of Love, she's really shown herself to be possibly the most patient out of all the princesses, maybe even all of the main characters, and I think that has a lot to do with her loving nature. After all, as 1 Corinthians 13:4 states, "Love is patient, love is kind". Cadance doesn't let things phase her (except for really, really big things like, IDK, being abducted on her wedding day), and I think it's really quite astute of the writers to understand that, yeah, a princess who embodies love more than anyone else probably would be really, really patient with anyone, even someone as frustrating as Discord. All in all, the sisters-in-law duo of Princess Twilight and Princess Cadance were a lot of fun to watch this episode. They were cute, they were funny, they had a really cool alicorn action sequence together where they really worked well and in-sync with one another (and I am LOVING how much alicorn action we're seeing this season... no, NOT THAT KIND OF ACTION!!! ), it was nice seeing them together without Shining Armor around (though I wouldn't mind seeing more of him soon as well), and overall they had a great slice of life episode together in which Cadance proved, even though she's not that much older than Twilight, that she can still teach her a lesson or two about friendship.

OK, now onto Discord. This guy, of course, stole the show. His Season 4 appearances are really kicking the snot out of his lone Season 3 appearance so far, aren't they? I mean, heck, he might've been funnier here than he even was in the season opener! So of course John De Lancie did a delightful job, I mean, c'mon, he's John De Lancie, he was born to play trolls! Every time Discord shows up now, I swear, the writers not only do a fantastic job with his character, but with those around him. The second he shows up, everyone gets a little sillier, whether or not they mean to, especially the Mane 6; we don't usually see them so on edge and distrustful, so it's always kinda silly seeing that whenever our loveable Lord of Chaos comes to town. You can see it in their faces, they're all measuring every single word of his, trying to find out how he's trying to trick them (there was seriously hilarious visual comedy from Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight today in particular, at least in the facial expression department). As for his trick itself, the payoff was great, mostly because the viewer was as uncertain the whole time as to whether or not he really was sick as Twilight and her friends were. I mean, he got two ponies sick for crying out loud, but at the same time you just knew, you JUST knew, he was screwing with them somehow, but you couldn't put your finger on it. I just loved that I was second guessing myself right up until the very end when we learned the truth. Discord thankfully got some just desserts (something he really should've gotten in the season 4 opener, so it was satisfying seeing that there were actual consequences for his actions this time), and interestingly enough it remains ambiguous as to whether or not he will ever turn into a villain again. His trollish nature is the same as ever, and it's kind of terrifying that the only thing holding him back from turning into an all out villain now is a cute little butter pony.

As for his comedy, I can't point to specific examples, I just can't. EVERY SINGLE THING about Discord is comedy, I'm serious, he is the living embodiment of comedy, even more so than when he first showed up since he's no longer a villain (for the time being). His lines put me in stitches, the visual humor he was responsible for, whether in his own body language or the way he affects the world around him, was delightful, his trolling in general as well as the ultimate troll plan he put together for this episode were a riot, and that musical number! Oh my goodness, that was pretty much exactly what you'd figure a Discord musical number would turn out to be, and boy oh boy was it funny. Not the best song we've had this season, but it wasn't trying to be, it was trying to be the funniest we've had this season, and it most DEFINITELY was, maybe even the funniest song we've ever had on the show. Discord, you are comedy. Comedy, you are Discord. Ergo, any time you show up, fun times will be had by all watching your antics. Funny, funny, FUNNY episode, and that will always be the first word that comes to mind whenever I look back on it.

Next let's briefly cover the Mane 6. Fluttershy had quite the nice set up for a future episode of hers (at least, assuming that the Breezies episode down the road covers her little trip, which will be quite interesting to watch seeing as she usually never does anything without her friends whenever she's in a starring role). I'm pretty sure after this episode that Pinkie Pie has ADHD; I know that probably should've been apparent by now, but my gosh she was getting so easily distracted by those red balloons, it just seemed like the writers were screaming, "YES, SHE HAS ADHD, NO, WE'RE NOT JOKING, SHE REALLY DOES!" Rainbow irked me earlier with how quickly she abandoned the group (given that she is the Element of Loyalty and all), but Radiance64 astutely pointed out that while she is loyal to friends, she's not loyal to Discord in the slightest, so I can give her a pass for dashing off (heh, see what I did there?) so fast. It was really fun seeing some good ol' Rarijack in the episode; I've said it before and I'll say it again, those two are my favorite duo of friends among the Mane 6, and it was just a delight seeing them both automatically stick together and working in tandem to keep Discord away from Twilight (even if it didn't work). Plus, Rarity had a few funny lines and AJ had a few funny faces. Makes me quite excited to see Rarijack even more so later in the season when "Simple Ways" debuts.

OK, what else to cover. Animation was spot on as usual. The Crystal train was seriously awesome and, in a weird way, kind of metal. IDK, it just looked like something you'd expect KISS to show up in or something. The giant worm at the end was just plain terrifying, but it made for quite an awesome action sequence, complete with alicorn aerial action and magic to boot. And of course Discord's animations were fluid and simply unpredictable, as they should be. The music, as I said earlier, was a blast and Daniel Ingram continues to prove himself to be one of the finest composers for children's television in the modern era. We got one of the most random references I've ever seen in this show (at least I'm pretty sure it was a reference) in the form of Discord's chariot, which I swear was a "300" reference! Finally, the lesson was pretty sweet, even if it wasn't that important for the episode's purposes seeing as this was just a pretty silly episode all in all.

There's only one bad thing at all that I can say about this episode: THIS GUY... :okiedokielokie:

I don't care if he only showed up for 10 seconds and didn't say a word, IT WAS STILL 10 SECONDS TOO LONG!!! But, other than that little bit of unpleasantness, nothing bad at all that I can say about this episode thankfully. All in all, it was a fun, fun, fun episode, and I can't wait to rewatch it. Should be very interesting to see if next week's episode can surpass it in the fun department. Brace yourselves everypony... Weird Al is coming to town.