Anadu Kune

Space Alicorn souring through the stars delivering the rainbows all around the world. Space Alicorn shining in the night smiles and hugs forever all around the world. Yeah as others have said I think that Luna might qualify.

1) How many can claim to have discovered the connection of the elements and friendship, and realized friendship as a form of magic? the other five have a level of understanding of friendship that is higher than normal, however their understanding is not that of Twilight's. It was she who recognized the connection of the Elements to the ponies and it is she who is the main channel of that power. Im not sure I see your logic here how many ponies ever get a full understanding of their talents and what they relate to? Not many. Twilight's talent is magic and she had a very narrow view of what that ultimately meant. She saw magic as simply magic, a thing to be studied. As she was she was a great talented pony, but had she not moved away from that she would never had guessed that her talent could relate to friendship in any way. She never knew her friendship itself was magic. However her character arch showed the progression of this understanding until it reached an ultimate state. The other ponies haven't reached that point and may never as they have different goals. That's not to say they cant I could see lets say Rainbow Dash becoming a princess of loyalty, but she may never realize that as she has a different goal in mind that being the wonderbolts. 2.) There has been much debate about destiny throughout the years. You are talking about the basic definition of destiny a predetermined event that must happen and dictates you. However there are different interpretations of destiny. Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer viewed destiny as just a manifestation of the Will to Live, which can be at the same time living fate and choice of overrunning the same fate, by means of the art, of the Morality and of the Ascesis. There are others but that's just one similar to one I mentioned. Though my interpretation is different as well. Also the episode indicates that an act of will through magic can indeed manipulate destiny. So we know that destiny is in fact flexible to a certain degree at least through magic. I don't think its too much of a stretch to think it may be changed through certain choices as well. So yeah I don't think you should be concerned with destiny all that much. I kind of used to be as at first I didn't like the idea of cutie marks but realized I had no problem with the concept of destiny in Star Wars and other fiction for the reasons mentioned. 3.) You have to think of why the Rainboom caused Twilight to go magic crazy. It was the connection shared with her friends, and Twilight has only ever demonstrated that glowing during times when she was using the magic of friendship through that connection. A connection she had not yet known about yet was expressing anyway. I cant see this being anything but intentional considering the amount of visual symbolism in the show. Seems pretty much to be an affirmation of their destiny to me. Not to mention it is the same writer of Magical Mystery Cure if Im not mistaken. Though to elaborate on the glowing yes its a kind of god mode when using an ultimate form of magic. In the case of Luna it could be she learned to use that effect at will for dramatic expression. This seems likely given how powerful she is. Also the Thrawn trilogy is awesome.

A lot of people liked it. In a pole quite a lot listed it as their favorite episode of the season. Its just that it was surrounded in controversy. To be honest I think its one of the most complex episodes if not the most complex episode we have ever had. There's so much tying into and completing themes that have ran through the essence of the show. Heck just elaborating on the relationship between the ponies and the Elements of Harmony is crazy complex and it needs to be as it is the reason for the problem and the solution. Writting a full review with planned visual components is taking a long time, because it is so densely packed with auditory and visual info which ties into and displays continuity and thematic content/symbolism. Of course like all episodes there are some or many that dislike it for various reasons.

Destiny and free will can exist in tandem in a complex way. It is complex in a way but then so are some of the concepts presented. A ultimate end goal may be there and various factors may pull you towards that end goal, but in the act of choosing you may actively negate ever reaching it. In Star Wars there is destiny, the Jedi make predictions that are often accurate however it is mentioned that the future is ever flowing and moving and hard too see at times, meaning some perceived end goals may never come to pass. So you can have a ultimate end goal that has been foreseen and you are being pulled towards, but negate it with choice and end on a different path. Twilight almost did this were not for Celestias guidance she may never have reached the intended end goal. Though even through that guidance she was offered a choice and chose that path. Had she not she could have been like Star Swirl a great amazing pony indeed, but he could have been much more. Whilst the true nature of Destiny is ambiguous what can be inferred is that it is not one end goal in mlp. It is the entire course your life takes as when the destinies of the ponies were switched they held the memories and occupations of the other. Though destiny has been a part of mlp since season one. Cutie Mark Chronicles in particular indicated as such, with there being a connection between the main six before most of them had met. Twilight's glowing eyes indicate it even stronger as its the same glowing that takes place through the elements of harmony activated by the connection of friendship a connection which was being established before they even met. Not to mention the fact that ponies names correlate to their talents and traits which intern correlate to their cutie marks. Unless you posit ponies have a different naming system which is possible (though we did see ponies are named at birth) then it seems cutie marks are tied to a destiny of sorts. The whole point of her transformation was reaching an heightened or ultimate understanding of friendship. The spell was just the/an application of that understanding. This was the fulfillment of her character arch. In the pilot she realized that friendship was important to her and in doing so activated the elements of harmony. In return of Harmony she had to be reminded, but then she ended up reminding her friends who had woke her up to friendships importance to begin with this was a major progression. Finally in Magical Mystery Cure she reached a point where she didnt need to learn anymore, she realized to power of friendship and enacted the plan where together as friends they could help each other reconnect the elements to the pony's and the ponies to the elements. Twilight realized that the harmony of friendship was needed to re-establish the connection to the elements a connection that she discovered to begin with and now fully comprehended. Its like a spiritual awakening that allows one to ascend. The fandom from the start compared alicorns to gods, but it seems now they are more akin to a buddah. Its not about doing something new, its about obtaining an ultimate understanding of something that usually pertains directly to the pony's talent. In Twilight's case she strived to study and understand magic putting off friendship. She came to understand it was important and in itself a form of magic and dedicated herself to the study of it.Until finally she understood it as the most important thing to her and an ultimate form of magic. Yes you could interpret the foreshadowing in different ways perhaps. Does that make it horrible? I don't think so. Twilight's crown, her being the apprentice to Celestia, Her development in learning the ultimate magic of friendship, and all he season three hints. All taken together can easily lead on to the princess conclusion, and it did, the most favored and mentioned theory I saw after season three premier was alicorn Twilight. Heck it a theory I saw many calling all the way back in 2011. There is the type of foreshadowing that mentions the outcome outright, Luke will become a Jedi, Goku a Super Saiyian, and Ang a fully realized avatar. Then there is the more subtle forshadowing that throws out visual and audio ques. The former has you constantly anticipating an event you know will happen. The latter leaves room for guessing but can easily lead you to the correct conlusion. Is either one bad? I dont think so, its a matter of preference. The whole purpose of mentioning Laurens intent was to point out that the intent was there from the begining to make her a princess(originally queen) so those elements are most likely intented to be elements foreshadowing that. Also how were Han and Leia useless? They didnt have the force, but they can hardly be called useless. Luke didnt just bust in and rescue everyone single handed they were all involved. Luke didnt destroy the empire alone all the characters had their part to play. This is even more clear as you get into some of the expanded universe. All I can say is that before the rumor discussion on the possibility was far less heated and more reasonable. At least on all the places I went on .

Well it the point is I think it was well presented but with subtlety the signs are there and when you look its like oh yeah. The whole point of mentioning Lauren's intent was to demonstrate that the signs mentioned were intended and a very similar end goal was always there. Twilight being the apprentice of Celestia, her element being a crown, and her developing character arch. It couldn't have been that poorly presented considering Ive been hearing the prediction since I got involved with the community and it did make sense that it could happen. Heck the very first thing everyone was saying after Crystal Empire was alicorn Twilight. I guess they could have gone the Jedi or Super Saiyian route and mentioned it consstantly or all the freaking time, but I see no problem with the subtle approach. As for suspending disbelief over plot holes as with any show the fandom has forgiven some pretty big ones. Though one should if the overall presentation is great. Here is a few examples is why in the world was Rarity allowed to enter the young fliers competition? Heck the whole wing spell is kind of a contrivance. Why is nightmare moon so incompetent? I mean seriously scary trees? Hatching a dragon egg as an entrance exam? That's just to mention a few off the top of my head. Those are overlooked because on the whole as with most episodes the overall presentation is great. I think the same ring true for Alicorn Twilight, but many people cant get over the alicorn bit and the negative bias surrounding it since December.

It should be noted rainbow is a more aggressive character especially when the stakes are important. We have seen this before in the pilot when Rainbow accused Twilight of being a spy, she didn't do that just to be mean she knew something horrible was going on and wanted answers to why. Same with the crystal ponies. It seems she may be unaware of the rashness of her own behavior in such instances. Though it has been shown that she can catch herself or be shown as such as she did in Hurricane Fluttershy when telling Fluttershy to suck it up she quickly realized what she was saying. It does seem obvious to me that she does indeed care for the emotions of the other ponies she has demonstrated consern for Fluttershy in particular. However she can sometimes be blind to how her action affect the emotions of others.

It was confirmed by Lauren Faust in the Brony doc that that was the intention. That twilight would assume the thrown or achieve princess hood. It is unknown whether Faust would have made her an alicorn or not, we only know that at the time of Cadence's reveal that she had only intended on the previously established two. So it would seem all of that evidence does add up in the intended direction of princess hood, as for alicorn we have confirmation from the staff that the idea was being discussed in 2011 so yeah. I'm sorry i cant resist.... ah hem....the heir of Celestia shall sit the thrown and drown in flame the mountains of mare.

Oh its hard and there may be a lingering feeling for a while. Its not quite about forcing yourself to have an opinion but trying to take a different approach to looking at what is bothering you. Here is an example.The fact that the episode was structured as a musical has seemed to throw people off. It seems there is a tendency to enjoy the songs as songs but not quite recognize them as plot points that contain vital audio and visual info essential to the story. When you start looking at songs for that relevant info youll notice new things just in that episode but in all of them. Thinking about the technical reasons for musicals would also give a much different perspective. Ill give you an example of something I really felt off about when watching the show early on, cutie marks. The very idea of them struck me as wrong and the name was just way too cute. I didnt like how the ponies seemed to be bound by this mark that they seemed tie to do a certain one thing. The suggestion of destiny itself seemed off. However when I rewatched the episode I caught the theme of growth and self discovery. After that I began re-examining of of the main 6 cutie marks. Then I noticed something Twilights cutie mark had five stars this represented her friends, it was confirmed somewhere and then it all clicked. The connection to the elements how they shared the shape of the cutie mark which I overlooked. I recognized it as an very smart incorporation yes it involved destiny but I found that many other things I liked did as well. The original Star Wars movies are filled with references to destiny and I loved that. Soon all the reasons I had for disliking curie marks fell away and I realized I had missed their dept and point to begin with. This wont always happen but it never really hurts.

Im not sure myself, most of the reasons given are I think just assumptions of things that they think a princess needs to do or just seem silly on the grand scale of things. Twilights gonna need to leave her friends! Why? Really why? Shes the princess of magic and friendship the one of the points of the episode was how important they were to her, why would she need to leave them behind? Shes super powerfull and not equal to her friends anymore the rest of the ponies have become less important! Um no they haven't the episode made a whole point to show how important they are. They are the elements of freaking harmony without one of them the others are useless. In order to wield the magic of friendship she needs the support of the others and its that same support that allowed her to ascend in the first place. Let me ask you this did Luke being a jedi mak Han Solo or Leia less important? It was a blatant marketing attempt by hasbro! Yes and so is the entire show. The entire inclusion of now loved characters was directly Hasbros doing. You like Cheerilie, Scootaloo, and Sweetiebelle? How about Rarity getting wings which actually does bring up a few problems in the episode? But that's entirely ignored. There was no foreshadowing that this could happen at all! Yes there was. Lauren had planned on Twilight taking the thrown since the beggining as she says in the Brony Doc. Notice how her Element is a crown whilst all the others are necklaces. The very fact that Twilight was Celestia's apprentice and remained as such. The progression of her character suggested she was building up to something. In the pilot ep she realized that friendship was important in that realization she discovered the elements of harmony. In Return of Harmony Twilight had to be reminded of its importance but in turn then reminded all of her friends, this was brilliant as it showed progression in the first ep it was her friends that showed her the importance of friendship now she needed to show them. Then of course there was the mysterious book and "shell be ready" bit from crystal empire. It seems everyone has forgotten that a lot and I mean a lot of people were saying "she gonna be an alicorn" it was pretty much the first speculation everyone was thinking. So how bad could the set up had been if everybody saw it coming, heck people were predicting it back in season one and two. Whilst the exact physical transformation was not shown to be possible beforehand it seemed clear to me they were building up to something big Twilicorn was among some possibilities I thought of. Funny enough I dismissed Twilicorn on the basis that I didnt think the show staff or Hasbro would make such an obvious physical change to a main character. I was wrong and to be honest Im glad I was. Really I think a lot of it spawned from that fake reddit rumor. You'll notice if you go back that the discussion of the possibility of alicorn Twilight was far more calm and well reasoned. Then a rumor comes out puts a negative spin on it for the very purpose of getting people riled up and unfortunately it worked. I think this has led to an extreme negative confirmation bias. Of all the negative reviews I have seen almost none of them go into any dept on the meaning of the songs or the way they are visually conveyed. Most of the time they are skipped over either saying "well the songs are good" or displaying distaste of them briefly. In a musical you've just skipped over most of the episode. Many miss the word destiny and don't take that into account. All I can say is that I feel bad for the staff, they put in a ton of work to get that episode to where it was and it was spoiled in more ways than one. That's not to say I haven't seen reasons I don't understand. Some just dont like the change or the feeling of such a change.

Well I cant really see any indicated explanation in any episode. My geuss is its a case of the production team needing something in Fluttershy's closet and just using already made pieces. Any theory that can be offered is almost pure speculation on my part. We know Rarity trusts Fluttershy so maybe she let her keep the dresses? Though that brings up the question of why? Unless Im missing something.

Yes there is a very loud distasteful vocal minority to be had in the Brony fandom, but that applies to all fandoms every one of them. To be honest those people you describe sound just as bad if not worse. They admit to liking a show yet give it a negative review because of it's fanbase? What kind of reasoning is that? How do the quality of the show and its fanbase relate other than if somethings good people will watch it. It seems to be very intellectually dishonest to write a review of a show that is negative then instead talk about its fanbase. In essence broadcasting that the show is of poor quality when in reality you haven't really talked about it. Did they give The Avengers 1 star because there are overly obsessed fans who want nothing short of total accuracy from the comic? Are the types of Bronies mentioned a problem? Perhaps, but those writing those reviews if they could be called that are far worse in my opinion.

Well the gown was probably just for the coronation, Celestia and Luna never wear anything with the exception of their grieves, necklaces, and crowns, yet there the were at the coronation with gowns.

I don't know if I like that idea. It would undermine the very theme of the show. Essentially all the ultimate magic of friendship did was postpone Luna for a bit. Not to mention it just makes the plot holes in the pilot worse. If she were truely evil why use such pathetic attempts to thwart the ponies? It can only be justified if she were not evil and really didn't want them hurt. Though even then its a problem. You control the movement of celestial bodies but cant think of anything better than scary trees and flamboyant sea serpents? Why not teleport them away or create a big shield? Why not bring the trees to life? Its one of the reasons I dont get why people call Sombra not threatening. Even in defeat he banishes an entire civilization from reality, wipes thier memories, is shown enslaving them, and demonstrates the ability reveal your deepest fear. Yet somehow creating scary trees, ripping the mustache off a sea serpent, and posing as a thorn in a manticors paw is more threatening?

That's called negative confirmation bias, and yes it can destroy the show for you if you let it. All you'll be doing is unconsciously looking for bad qualities whilst looking over the good ones. Heck if you have that mind set you could convince yourself to hate pretty much any episode, here ill try. Sonic Rainboom is a pretty poor episode, Rarity goes from supportive to self absorbed jerk in like two seconds, by way of a contrived magical spell that was clearly a ploy to sell toys. Seriously why did Twilight look for a wing granting spell first rather than a cloud walking one, why not look more thoroughly through the book first? She clearly did so afterward. Also how in the world does Rarity just automatically know how to use her wings? Magic I suppose, seems like lazy writting to me. Lets return to Rarity, she is the one to propose going to cloudsdale in the first place to support rainbow dash, yet in a ridiculously short amount of time absolutely forgets about it getting absorbed by her own magically bestowed beautey, even going as far to enter the contest herself which actually nearly results in the deaths of three ponies including herself. The worst part? She is not even scolded for it, she isnt punished for putting those ponies lives in danger, or for basically entering the contest under false pretenses. I mean come on it has to be against the rules for a unicorn to enter with fake wings and if not then that makes no sense. Rarity doesn't usually have the ability of flight it was granted to her via a magic spell that she didn't even perform. Also why does no one notice her horn? No one thinks its weird she has butterfly wings and a horn. Despite this shes allowed to enter? What kind of competition is this? Man this was poorly handled Im first going to point out that I love that episode. However if I try to look for negatives I can find little things and expand them and interpret many aspects of the episode as negative until I build up a huge pile whilst ignoring the good. That's the danger of negative confirmation bias. Its not usually that blatant either. I have caught myself in the act now and then on certain episodes. Friendship is Magic(pilot), Look Before you Sleep,Call of the Cutie, and One Bad Apple are all episodes that for various reasons I kind of wanted not to like. However in watching them again I realized I wasn't catching the good stuff or was missing the point of the episode. How do you counter act this? Look at why you don't like it or are having this negative feeling and put it in the back of your mind consciously I imagine a black void. Its essentially putting it aside. If its an episode watch carefully for themes and visual symbolism, contrary to what many seem to think MLP has a good amount of it. After that you can better put the contents in perspective with why you had an adverse reaction to it. Sometimes you'll find you actually like the episode, if not then you'll better be able to express and understand why. I usually watch an episode I dont like at least three times, though I do that with eps I like as well. That's my approach any way hope it helps. A large reason for why there is a backlash to bronies who start to not like the show is because it seems to largely be expressed in the manner above. Likewise the detractors of the detractors also have trouble expressing themselves in a more elaborate manner. Of course that leads to a bit of conflict. Heres an example. Detractor: Magical Mystery Cure completely failed in understanding the established purpose of the cutie mark. Why in the world did their memories get swapped? Why did Rarity set up the weather when Rainbow's cutiemark is about speed? Brony 1: Damn you guys are getting tiresome all you do is whine and complain. Just freaking appreciate you even have a show. Brony 2 (proper/ish response): I think you are missing a key word here, that being destiny. The cutie marks were only part of the switch the entire life paths of the ponies were switched which includes the current occupations and memories of the ponies. I see a good amount of brony 1 which is what your talking about. I think its better to discuss rather than point and say the equivalent "well you are...dumb"

Ok this is very dangerously close to saying that if one likes alicorn Twilight that shows a lack of intelligence. I posit one question, why? Why is liking alicorn Twilight demonstrating a lack of intelligence? At most it would show lack of analytic skill, and I really dont even think that is the case. Trying to write a full review of the episode is taking a long time simply because of how much is shown in terms of thematic content, visual symbolism, and emotional content all of which ties directly into continuity. Heck just the very relationship between the elements and the ponies is a pretty complex one. To answer the question, no. I'm in a position where I deal with kids a lot(teaching after school programs). All of them that watch mlp seem to like it a lot. That doesn't mean they are stupid or are displaying a lack of intelligence for their age, nor does it mean they are smarter than the average child. Either way the way kids express their opinion is usually very basic, its either "I love Princess Twilight" or "Twilight sucks now" neither sounds like a well expressed opinion. Though Im more quoting from above on the latter as I have not heard negative opinions expressed by children on the matter alicorn Twilight. I have heard negativity expressed toward the show, mostly from boys. Oddly enough Discord seems to be the villian they like most. Twilight and Fluttershy seem to be the favs. Also crystal ponies seem very beloved by the kids I've seen.

Ok number 4...really who does that? The main scene involving her in that episode serves to only more firmly establish her connection with her element. Many seem to overlook a key point in how Rainbow Dash received her cutiemark. Yes she found a yearning for speed and an extreme talent for flight, but look at what put her in the situation to do so. She was defending Fluttershy's honor, the whole race was to take her detractors down a notch or put them in their place. In essence the whole sequence was one of loyalty and self discovery. How in the world do you use that to justify hating a character without reaching? Though many of the arguments for demonstrating Rainbow as a bad person rely on reaching. "Oh she was scaring the fillies by telling scary stories around a camp fire" yep she sure is mean not like its a tradition or anything. "Oh did you see how she volunteered Fluttershy like that" yep demonstrating confidence in her friend which the others did as well, yep evil. Yes Rainbow can be a bit aggressive at times and gets lost in her own view of "awesome" but I think some have a tendancy to forget or simply overlook her good moments and qualities.

Many compare alicorns to gods. This I think was suitable in season one and to a certain extent two. However given Magical Mystery Cure I think a more proper comparison would a buddha, someone who has obtained an heightened level of spiritual awareness and is raised to a new level. In the case of a buddha it is ending the cycle of reincarnation. In the case of alicorns it is reaching an hightened/ultimate understanding of a major harmonious/good element relating to or being their talent. Reaching this level of understanding starts a magical transformation/process. In Twilights case she reached a higher magical plane of reality before Celestia came in to guide the rest of the process. I dont think the Elements of Harmony are required to ascend in such a manner. Though their correlation makes sense when you think about it. Turning into an alicorn requires a hightend awareness and harmonious connection with that ponies talent. The very form of an alicorn seems to be one of harmony. All of the aspects of pony races in one form working in harmony. The elements of harmony require the harmony of friendship to function. It makes sense that most of those who have weilded the element have been, had become, or had been heavily associated with alicorns.

Even the proposed sacrifice wouldn't work. Her alicorn/princess status was gained through an extremely hightened/ultimate understanding of friendship, yet she loses it by further demonstrating that understanding? A bit like eating food that makes you starve to death. Its would just be confusing. Well that is kinda the point of completing a character arch. Its a major point of progression for the character. Luke became a Jedi, Goku became a super saiyian, Data gained emotions, Micheal Westin gets his burn notice lifted ect. All of these are examples of completed story archs, after which new ones occur. A new character arch presents great new possibilities.

Well it was the end of one character arch and season 4 begins another. There is much they can do with this. From Twilights dilemma of princess hood and how to handle as such. To how her friends will undoubtedly aid her in this new phase of life. The title Princess defiantly means something different in Equestria, for one it is a title earned not one granted. We don't know specifically what she will be responsible for though it again opens great possibilities, episodes like dragon shy could become more common. She could take a more prominent role in official communications to Celestia and such. One thing that needs to be remembered is what she is a princess of that being friendship and magic, as such I'm pretty sure the other ponies will be just as important if not more so. After all Twilight had recognized them as the most important aspect of her life, her ascension would have been impossible without them which was a main point in MMM. That's not even mentioning the other characters and the numerous ways they could explore them. Rainbow Dash and the wonder bolts, the cutie mark crusaders getting their cutie marks, or Rarity dealing with the complexity of her expanding business ect. The very fact that Twilight is an alicorn gives reason to explore the past of other alicorns. Its easy to imagine Twilight inquiring about the past of Cadence, Celestia, or Luna.

As many of you know a large portion/minority of the fanbase expressed the desire for Twilight's alicornhood to be temporary. After the finale I think the majority accepted it, some begrudgingly others neutral, some loved it. However I noticed the other day on another forum some who still expressed the desire for Twilight to turn back into a unicorn. This to me would be as terrible a decision as some thought Alicorn Twilight to be in the first place and perhaps twice as damaging as they thought that would be. To explain this I needed to also lay out the indicated nature of the transformation. Many seem to think the transformation was dictated by Celestia and Celestia alone. That Celestia was the sole reason Twilight became an alicorn. Though this seems to go against the theme of not only the transformation scene but the whole episode. Before the transformation scene Twilight performs/activates the completed spell which then transports her to the higher magical plane. It is twilight through the completion of the spell who reaches that plane, there is no indication the Celestia sent her there. Watching the transformation scene there is a theme of growth and motherly support from Celestia. That's what it seems the whole transformation is about growing up, as indicated by the lyrics "you've come such a long long way" "It's time now for a new change to come You've grown up and your new life has begun". Also if you look at the transformation itself the energy that transforms twilight comes from within her, It is also the color of Twilight's magic not Celestia's. This I think shows the process was guided not dictated by Celestia. It was a point of growth or ascension reached by Twilight through her ultimate understanding and application of the magic of friendship. It was the completion of a journey and character arch that started in the first episode. She went from just realizing friendship was important to realizing it was the most important thing to her. With that stated I think you might begin to see why turning her back would be a bad decision. It would be revoking the completion of a completed character arch. Why would she all of the sudden un-ascend or regress in growth? All of the sudden she just doesnt understand friendship anymore? Celestia shouldn't be able to just change her back as the process doesnt seem to be solely her doing any way. Though if she had such a power then why not use it on nightmare moon? To turn her back would be like revoking Luke Skywalker's Jedi status or turning Han Solo back into a smuggler. Its a big step backwards in terms of character development, a development which had been bulit towards since the very first episode. Any of the reasons I can come up with for a permanent regression result in 1.) regression of character development, or 2.) seem lazy or arbitrary.

Its something that I think people need to realize probably wont be addressed. Most animated shows with children as an audience don't address death, at least not directly. There are of course exceptions Batman TAS and Batman Beyond dealt with it in some ways. Avatar Last Air Bender and Legend of Korra did briefly. However in MLP I think what we will get is an more symbolic look(shooting stars) at it or very brief views(Heart and Hooves day). In any case the main six wont die, at least not in cannon. If ever we were to get to a point were they were to address that they would probably find a way to make them immortal too. Though it almost certainly wont happen so... However one should probably be looking at what is presented at the moment. From what was presented Twilight did not know what would happen. Nor does she immediately understand its implications asking if there is a book on the subject. She had a need to learn and understand that carried over into her acceptance of friendship hence the letters to Celestia. Her very nature lead her along this path of growth. One which the writers made sure to emphasize she earned. All she needed was a nudge here and there. This was an outcome that was always going to happen and if not alicorn we know for sure princess as Lauren Faust had said in the brony con doc interview. It doesn't matter whether she will outlive her friends right now as it probably wont be addressed and if it is it is highly unlikely to be this horrible sad Highlander like outcome. What does matter is to look at what is presented, what is there and analyze that. As to why Celestia and Luna are so long lived...that's unknown. It seems there may be another "level" of alicorn though. Celestia and Luna have...well celestial manes whilst Twilight and Cadence don't. There's probably a reason for that. Of course at that point one roams off into head cannon.

You seem from the title to be of the position that Celestia and Celestia alone is what turned them into alicorns. However it isnt what is really indicated in the episode. It seems to be shown that becoming an alicorn is a form of ascension that occurs when a pony reaches a heightened or ultimate understanding of their special talent. Twilight did so by reaching and applying an ultimate understanding of the magic of friendship through the elements of harmony. Celestia didn't send Twilight to the higher magical plane Twilight reached it through her own actions by performing the spell. The energy that changed Twilight came from within her not from Celestia and its color was of Twilight's not Celestia's magic. That and the emotional tone and content of the song tell me that the transformation process was guided but not dictated by Celestia. Celestia is a mother figure to Twilight and she is helping her through this new stage of growth. So of course Twilight didnt have a choice at least no more than any of us have on going through puberty, or than any pony has of getting their cutie mark. This I think should be taken into consideration. It is possible and perhaps likely that Celestia still has something greater planned for her. As to why she was chosen, well Celestia saw her potential at the school when Twilight went magic crazy. Seeing that potential Celestia offered to guide Twilight to reach it. It was a choice given one which Twilight enthusiastically jumped at the chance of. Celestia perhaps saw the potential in Twilight to become a person even greater than herself or her sister. A pony who would be great enough to fix the things she couldn't. Bringing back Luna, Re defeating discord, and ultimately finding a way to defeat Sombra that didn't result in an entire race disappearing from reality.

I rewatch all of them at least twice. Though the ones ive watched the most would probably be... Winter Wrap Up Party of one Sweet and Elite Return of harmony Luna Eclipsed Hurricane Fluttershy Canterlot Wedding Crystal Empire Too Many Pinkie Pies Sleepless in Ponyville Magical Mystery Cure.

I like her design its quite eye catching. Her animations are quite expressive as well. Her voice is great too. I'm not too keen on her character though. She comes off to me as some one who does not simply pretend to be a great magician but almost believes herself to be one. She seems to have a severe superiority complex that goes far beyond a simple stage act. Claiming to be "destined to be the greatest equine who ever lived" In a world with Celestia who who is literally an ascended being who raises the freaking sun seems crazier than the Ursa Major boast. Also claiming to be able to do anything the ponies were capable of and better. When she couldn't do this she simply made a fool of the other ponies in a flashy way. She cant accept defeat, even after her illusion of superiority is broken in the most demonstrable way possible what does she do? Why revert right back into it "Huh. You may have vanquished an Ursa Minor, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!". I think that line in particular shows its a bit more than a simple stage act. Her actions in Magical Duel seem to be line with this. Of course she wouldn't normally be as...well...evil. The amulet seemed to amplify all her negative qualities ten fold, but they were qualities she already had. She had already played somewhat cruel and humiliating tricks on the ponies before, but only in the context of a stage performance. She seemed quite fine with having Snips and Snails as groveling servants before just not as extreme. She wanted to be the center of attention before as she did in Magical Duel of course as an evil overlord. She also was quite fond of saying how much better she was than everypony. Heck it even carries on after she is forgiven. Essentially pointing out how awesome she is. While she is not evil I don't think her qualities are all that...well...good.

I don't think Lauren is doing this just to spite Hasbro. It is well known she likes the Brony community, and I believe she stated her approval of the game before hand as well. The only motive I see here is kindness. Why else work with a team so closely without being paid? Out of pure spite? I seriously doubt Lauren is that petty. This whole "Lauren hates Hasbro" thing only really seemed to sprout because of Twilicorn. People who didn't like it grasped for further reasons to hate it. Good to hear a reasonable statement about Hasbro. To be honest I think Hasbro has acted far better than many other companies may have. Its fairly obvious they knew about the project for some time. Once someone has officially notified them of it they pretty much have to respond. The second the EVO thing was announced I saw this coming. The only way around it would have been a licence but that would only work if the characters were not doing things they wouldn't in the show...like beating the tar out of each other. Not only are they not dead they are probably in a far better position than they ever have been before. Working with Lauren Faust, possibly using the Skull girls engine, and far more possibility for distribution and growth now without the conflict of copyright.