Metatora

While I can't speak for everyone who is against the change, I can list my reasons for not liking it. 1: The execution was horrible. There was more singing than actual dialog and the whole episode was rushed. MMC should have been a two parter, but no. All we got was "bam! Twilight is now a demi-god!" (more on that in a minute) I may not be a professional writer, but I know bad writing when I see it. 2: The group dynamic is ruined. Before MMC, every one of the Mane 6 had a role to play. Each had their strengths and weakness. What one couldn't do, another could. Yes, Twilight was powerful before, but she lacked the abilities of her friends, so everything was balanced. But now? Not so much. Twilight can now do everything better (or at least has to potential to) than any of her friends. Why do we need Rainbow Dash anymore if Twilight can fly AND do magic? Also, Twilight is now royalty. They can't just give her a title of that magnitude and ignore it. Is she going to leave Ponyville? Is she going to get her own kingdom? Is she going to Princess boot-camp (that one might be fun to watch actually)? Point is, the entire premise of the show has been changed, which is always a huge risk, and the fact that it was done simply to sell a few more toys does not bode well IMO. 3: Alicorn=better then you. Alicorns are better in every way than normal ponies. They're more powerful, wise and all that jazz. This isn't my opinion, it's a canon fact. Now Twilight is one, meaning that she's now better than all of her friends in every way. While I'm happy that Twilight is getting a reward for her heroics (though why not the rest of the Mane 6? They helped save the world too) I'm more concerned for her friends than I am for her. How do you write a character based show when your main character is an informal demi-god who is also royalty? Any problem can be solved in seconds now. Dealing with a rowdy group of ponies/diamond dogs or whatever? So what? Twilight is royalty, she can just summon the royal guard and have them deal with it. Or use her new political power and do it herself. But what about her friends? What use are they now? Anything they can do, Twilight can now do better, and that scares me. 4: Hasbro apparently refuses to learn from past mistakes. Back in the 80's during the G1 Transformers cartoon, they killed off Optimus to bring in new characters to boost toy sales. What happened? The show tanked soon after. What about My Little Pony Gen 3? They went overboard with the pretty pink princess theme and that show tanked too. You'd think that Hasbro would learn to let the writers do their job and not interfere. The fact that the higher-ups are now the ones calling the shots is a bad sign all around. 5: A change this big was unnecessary and badly timed. Yes, I will concede that change is needed to keep a show fresh, I won't argue that point. But a change this big (that was badly written) when the show is at the peak of it's popularity? That's not a sound business idea. If they wanted change, they should have lead into it properly and not just dropped a bombshell like they did. Risking the future of the franchise (which is making Hasbro a TON of money as is) just to sell a few more Princess Twilight toys is not a smart move. Like I said before, I may not be a professional writer, but I'm more than able to tell if something is well-written or not. I could go into more details, but I'm sure no one wants to listen to me rant anymore than this, so I'll call it a day

Actually, Cadance IS considerably stronger than the normal pony. She was the ONLY one who was able to fend Sombra off for any amount of time. Shining Armor, who isn't a push-over himself, tried the same thing and got rolled. Plus, she was the one who gave Crissy the boot after she recovered. So yes, while they're not gods, Alicorns ARE in fact better than the other pony races. And now Twilight is one. Which makes better than all of her friends by default, which is bad because it ruins the group dynamic that made the show great. And while Cadance may or may not be immortal, two other Alicorns are, so it's not unreasonable to assume that they are at the very least, very long lived. I don't think I have to explain why that would be bad for Twilight down the road. I will concede that Twilight won't become uber-powerful overnight, that much is true. But the fact is, now that's she's the same kind of being who can play pinball with with planetary bodies, she's so far above her friends that it isn't even funny.

Considering Twilight is now a godlike being, the other five are pretty much outclassed in every way. Alicorns are (at least) several tiers above normal ponies, so the rest of the Mane Six are just sideline characters at this point. So even if they reach their full potential, they just won't be able to compete, so to speak, in any way with Princess Twilight. This is exactly what I was afraid of with this whole Alicorn thing. How do you write a solid show based on a group of friends when one of them is what amounts to a god? The other characters are either going to be tag-alongs with no real relevance or the godlike one is going to be a walking plot-device and no longer a character. I could go into more detail about my position on the matter, but this isn't the place for a several paragraph long rant

*SIgh* I was right, this was a disaster. Yes, the writers did well considering what they were forced to work with, but my fears about this whole Alicorn thing were correct. Twilight is now a Princess, meaning that the group dynamic that we've all come to love is gone. Yes, the monologue on how Twilight's friends helped her grow was touching, but the way it was presented it sounded like she doesn't need them anymore. She learned what she needed, and now is going off to do bigger and better things. Which is cool...for Twilight anyway. The rest of the main characters though? Not so much. So yeah, I think this was a horrible episode. But maybe season 4 will turns things back around.

I bought a digital copy, I haven't gotten around to watching it yet, but hey, I did my part. But yes, the people who ponied up (pun not intended) the money to back the project gave the crew way more then they needed. So what the hell did they waste it on? They had $300,000 dollars and a small crew. They should have created a thing called...a budget. Just because you have all that money, it didn't mean they had to spend ALL of it on themselves. They could have used some of the money to promote the project or to help pay for the distribution costs. Y'know, like a normal production team would have done. I am proud of the fandom for supporting the documentary, don't get me wrong. But maybe next time we need to think it out a bit more before jumping the gun on a project this big, perhaps? And maybe putting someone in charge that actually knows how to handle a budget, that never hurts.

1: You missed my point. Celestia and Luna have both proven to be far beyond any other pony seen in the series. The only conclusion is that, yes, they are both far more powerful than any normal pony could ever hope to be. Twilight becoming one means that her potential is going to skyrocket, as you said. The problem is, we've seen that Alicorns can do things no other pony can (at least on their own) but add that power to Twilight's already immense magical skill and you've just made all of her friends borderline useless. Why rely on a group of normal ponies to solve a problem when you've got an Alicorn as the main character? 2-4: Since both Celestia and Luna are several tiers in power above the main cast, their presence alone would have enough to stop the majority of the problems faced by Twilight and her friends. But the show isn't about them, so they didn't get to appear. And to be honest, if Celestia hadn't lost the ability to control the Elements of Harmony, Twilight wouldn't even be needed. And all of the major threats were beaten with either a magical artifact or the power of an Alicorn (Candace using her and Shining love as an example) That's right, no normal pony, including Twilight, ever overcame a major threat on their own. They needed help. But now Twilight is going be either at the same level as the other Alicorns, or have the potential to to be at that level. But the other five main characters? Nope, they're going to be out of their weight class. 3: Only Candace was able to hold Sombra off. How she did it is not the point, because she (an Alicorn) was the only one with the means to repel him. No other pony had that power, only she did. So again, Alicorn > normal pony. And Sombra was anything but normal. He may have started as an normal unicorn, but he became something else entirely when that dark magic gave him his powers. And remember, Shining DID try to fight Sombra...and he failed, because he wasn't strong enough. So yes, Alicorns are in fact better than the other pony races at just about everything. But like you said, Twilight being so much more powerful than her friends isn't the real problem, as fighting monsters isn't the point of the series. I'm not worried that she's going to be what amounts to a demi-god. It's her friends I'm worried for. Think about. One of your best friends just become the same type of being that your entire race virtually worships as a god. That's cool right? And you're happy for her, but what about you? You're still going to be hanging around her since she's your friend, but now she's so much better than she was before...so much better than YOU. Each member of your group of friends had a role to play, and they did it well. But now that Twilight can do everything you can do and so much more, where does that leave you? Or any member of the group for that matter? That's my entire point. Not that Twilight is moving up in life, but that the other main characters are about to become unnecessary. Sure, the writers will try and not change the group that much I'm sure. But it won't matter, the Mane six as we've come to love is gone. The show's message has changed from "My friends help me grow into a better person!" to "All my friends are special, but none of them are as special as me!" HOWEVER! As I don't want to come across as completely negative, I'm gonna switch gears and comment on how this could be the best move ever. If done right, this Alicorn thing could open up a CRAP ton of world-building possibilities, as Twilight and her friends might need to go out into the world and help Twilight with this development. I love world-building, so this possibility appeals to me, and it'd be cool to see more of the pony world. Also, this whole event could mean that the characters are maturing. Which is also awesome. Change is needed to keep any series fresh, so we might be seeing the start of the show taking an overall turn for the better. Season 3 has been, for the most part, pure awesomeness And season 4 might be even better, assuming they don't botch this Alicorn thing that is. Expansion. I'm pretty sure that Hasbro is not going to let the series go anytime soon. We're constantly getting more and more merchandise, we have an ongoing comic series and so much more. You wouldn't pour that many resources into a series if you planned to can it in the near future. Generation 4 is here to stay for the long run. If more big changes to the series come, we might very well see generation 4 get bigger than it already is. Considering how popular the show is now, the possibilities for the future are limitless. So...much...typing. I think I gave myself a small migraine putting this wall-o-text together

I didn't mean the becoming Goku comment to sound that negative, it's just that all the other main characters are going to "fall behind" as it were. Twilight has worked hard and proven that she is indeed very talented, and she deserves to be rewarded for everything she's accomplished, you'll never see me argue otherwise. But It's not Twilight I'm worried about, it's the fate of the remaining Mane six that concerns me. Yes, it's awesome to see Twilight move on to the next level, but what about the others? The show is about Twilight and her friends, not about Twilight becoming a Princess and leaving them in the dust. I know twilight won't just leave them behind, but as an Alicorn, she's just gong to be so much better then them, which would destroy the group dynamic that we've all come to love. And your Saiyan analogy is dead on, that's what the Alicorns are. But the regular ponies? They're the humans, which have no chance to ever be important in comparison. At best, they get to run distraction duty while Twilight does all of the heavy lifting. Just like every character in DBZ that wasn't a Saiyan past the Namek saga. So yes, she's going to become a pony Goku, which is awesome. But everyone else? They're all Krillen now, which is not awesome.

1: Celestia is FAR more powerful than any single pony in the show. She negated Twilight's magic, who is quite arguably the most powerful Unicorn in the show, more than once with minimal effort. Luna should be equal if not right behind her in terms of power. Plus, can you name any other ponies that can move the sun and moon by themselves? Nope, only Celestia and Luna can do it, because their power far outclasses every other pony in the show. 2: Nightmare Moon was Luna + dark powers. So her defeating Celestia makes makes sense. 3: Chrysalis had a massive power boost when she beat Celestia. and even then, she had to strain to win, her look of surprise when she won says it all. Chrysalis is also the most powerful member of her race, so she's not exactly a push over. She was able to capture Candace after all. 4: Discord is the most powerful being in the show, so losing to him does not mean you're weak. He's literally a cartoon version of Q from Star Trek, they even have the same actor. 5: Also, who was the only pony that was able to hold Sombra off long enough for Twilight to get the crystal hart? Candace...who is an Alicorn. So yes, Alicorns ARE far better than the other pony races. Twilight becoming one is going to put her so far above her friends that it's not even funny. The other five are about to become "those guys" because Twilight is about to become a pony version of Goku, which is the exact reason I'm apprehensive about this whole thing.

You have a point. People are always changing, so having the status quo shaken up a bit could very well be a good thing. But since it's Hasbro calling the shots and not the creative team...I still have my doubts. But the thing is, Alicorns ARE better then the other pony races by far. No one pony could ever hope to match Celestia or Luna. Hell, even Cadance is more powerful than the average pony. So turning Twilight into one would completely negate the rest of the main characters as she would become better than them in every way. How many of the episodes would have been over in seconds if Celestia or Luna had been present to deal with the problem? The answer is most of them. And there's nothing to prove that Alicorns AREN'T immortal. Celestia is at least 1000 years old, and Luna seems to share the same longevity. So unless there are different types of Alicorns, Twilight is going to watch all of her friends and grow old and die. But your first point still stands. Change is good if handled well, and it adds a nice touch of realism...in a show about candy colored ponies The writers have proven that they are more than competent. But until we see the episode, there's no point in getting too worked up about it. At least until this goes one way or the other, I can totally see the fandom exploding (more so than usual) the second the episode is over.

It's not the writers I'm worried about. They've proven time after time that they know damn well what they're doing. It's Hasbro that concerns me. They've been meddling more and more with the show and it, well...shows. Granted, the FiM writers have done an amazing job at working around whatever Hasbro throws at them, but with this Alicorn thing...I just don't see any good way to pull it off while not alienating a sizable portion of the fanbase. But the writers have yet to let us down, so there is still hope they can pull this off (or at least minimize the damage) and I wish them the best of luck. *takes a breath* Okay, moving on to another semi-related issue. Yes, I am also fully aware and admit that we (the Bronies) are NOT the target audience for the show. But you can't deny that we played a large part in the show becoming the success it is today. Now, this doesn't mean that we're "owed" anything, because we're not. But it does explain the outrage. The fans who are angry feel like they've been betrayed, even if it is or isn't justified. They supported and loved the show for what it was about, the magic of friendship. But now Twilight is better than her friends in every way, you can't deny it. Because Alicorn > every other pony race. It's (in the angry fan's mind) no longer about friendship, it's about, and I quote, "Becoming a Princess! Just like every girl wants!" In their minds, it's a complete destruction of everything the show stands for. I'm not siding with them, not yet anyway, but I understand why they're so upset. *takes another breath* Anyway, while I'm nervous about all of this, there's nothing any of us can do until the episode airs. Here's hoping that all of this drama is just us blowing it out of proportion.

Sorry, but I feel the need to jump in here. The extended cut, while it did make the ending better, didn't "fix everything" it just made the abysmal ending acceptable. Not great, not good, just acceptable. It took away that...numbness, for lack of a better word, I had when I first beat the game. But while we're on the subject of crappy endings. I would like to point out that no matter how bad (or not, anything is possible) this whole Twilight Alicorn thing turns out to be, there will be more pony, as season 4 is on the way. So while we might not like the direction the show takes, this isn't the end of the line. The future, no matter how scary, is not set in stone.

After mulling it over for a bit, I think I've reversed by previous position of "wait and see how it turns out." A quote from another forum got me thinking about it some more, and you know what? They're right on the money. Twilight becoming an Alicorn is anything BUT good. Twilight is now a demi-god, which puts her several leagues above the rest of the Mane Six. The other five are now "the other guys" who exist only as second-tier characters. Twilight is now better than the rest of the group combined. So the group dynamic (AKA: the thing that made the show great) is gone forever with the addition of Super-Twilight. I can't see this ending in anything but disaster. However, if it turns out that I'm wrong was and over-thinking this, please feel free to point and laugh at me for jumping the gun