Misterian

You make a very interesting point with this. Rainbow Dash and Rarity having their Cutie Marks replaced with an '=' sign? no doubt at this same story line, we'll be seeing the rest of the Mane 6 facing the same problem. Assuming this isn't done by accident like in the Season 3 finale, it's quite likely whoever is behind this has something against the very concept of Cutie Marks. I saw the animatic, where the Mane 6 find a town of ponies with that same '=' sign Cutie Mark, there's clearly something sinister going on, I'm almost getting a Ba Sing Se from Avatar: The Last Airbender vibe out of what I'm seeing in this town, if you know I mean.

Yeah, it's like Banul said, we don't know enough about how long Equestrian Ponies live to really draw any conclusions on who will outlive who. Another thing is that the show never explicitly said Alicorns were immortal, we fans just came to the conclusion because Celestia has been around for 1000 years, and living that long doesn't automatically make her immortal, it just means she's lived longer than Yoda. As for Luna, she spent that same 1000 years trapped into being a force of darkness on the moon, and we don't even know if there's any food or water on the moon and if not, she didn't seem to need any of it to survive as Nightmare Moon for a millennia. Also, since Ponies in Equestria have access to magic, or even magical items, far was we know, there could be plenty of spells that help with needed medical procedures or even enhance longevity. So with the lack any solid info on how long ponies live, i find myself less and less worried about how Twilight won't outlive her friends the more I think about it, maybe Twilight and her friends will actually all become immortal, maybe Twilight will eventually pass away before any of her friends do. Either way, I'm not really worried.

Impressive! I imagine Pinkie herself would be proud of such an achievement.

Part of me still respectfully disagrees with the idea of Scootaloo staying strictly disabled. I won't hold the show against it if they officially go that route, but that's just it; they haven't! Despite the fact the 'Flight To The Finish' did address Scootaloo's apparent inability to fly, the episode left it ambiguous and whether or not she'll eventually be able to one day. Also, even after this episode, we still get scenes of Scootaloo hovering, why? if we're supposed to acknowledge that Scoots might never be able to fly, why is the show still showing us these brief scenes? Please tell me this; what sense would it make to say a character can't do something, yet keep giving hints that it might change?

Okay, I think this episode is really good and all, and I'm glad they gave an actual purpose behind for Twilight being a princess. but at the risk of sounding nitpicky, you know the whole thing about Twilight deciding to be Princess of Friendship and the whole thing about how she and her friends deciding they're gonna 'spread the magic of friendship to all of Equestria'? Here's my question, doesn't anyone else here think that's the sort of thing they've already been kinda doing since the start of the show? they've spent most of the show learning lessons about friendship and have interacted with several characters who either learned the lesson along with them, or helped the Mane 6 with learning the lesson in question. So does anyone else here think that the Mane 6 are actually deciding to do what they've essentially already been doing from the get-go?

Yeah, I can safely say I like Celestia, especially the Momlestia meme, which I think needs more love. Seriously, have you seen the thousands of fanart with just filly Twilight being with Celestia? my heart melted when I particularly came across this pic from Bri-sta; Why she removed it from her tumblr is beyond me, this is one her best pics!

Perhaps, but it doesn't explain how Twilight's friends would be at risk if they know what's going on.

Uh, excuse me, Celestia, I don't mean to nitpick, but how exactly will allowing Twilight's friend know she's essentially been super-charged would be 'putting them at risk'? You surely know they're be suspicous of Twilight (as they somewhat prove to be in the preview before this one), and because of this they'll just keep following Twilight as long as they think something is up, so what exactly is the point? Oh well, maybe it will make more sense when the episode proper comes up.

Well, I can say this much. Notice how the clip showed the Ponyville Library seemingly getting blown up? yet in the same clip, we get a look at what looks like a crystalized version of the Golden Oaks library, and it looks like it's still in Ponyville. So if nothing else, I think we've got evidence at least that Twilight will still live in Ponyville during Season 5, possibly even the rest of the series depending on where they're going from here. Also, I personally hope to see the show provide further justification for what need there is for Twilight to remain a princess beyond the title being her reward for what she's learned about friendship. To be fair though, if they didn't, I probably won't mind too much as long as Twilight will still live in Ponyville with her friends. I do hope this finale turns out well, given the reception Magical Mystery Cure got from giving us Alicorn Twilight, I think DHX will be alright as long as they don't make too many drastic changes beyond giving the Mane 6 the Rainbow Power thing and Twilight's newly renovated library (or castle if you want to go there). But again, as long as Twilight gets to remain in Ponyville, I'll probably be fine with however this turns out, after all, there's only so much you change about MLP:FiM before it stops being MLP:FiM, and I think if nothing else, DHX knows this, so I'm willing hope for the best.

My Dad knows, he found it a little bizarre, but didn't seem bothered by it. I tried showing him the first two episodes to get him interested, I even made him promise to watch episodes of the show (on Netflix) with me on my birthday last year. I had.. somewhat mixed results, though he cheated somewhat when he pulled out his laptop and started playing Solitaire (I think) during the first fourth of the first episode, he kept saying he was watching the episode, but thanks to the fact he had that laptop around, I couldn't tell for certain. He did sort of make up for it by putting his laptop away when we got to the second episode, and made it clear he was genuinely watching the episode, he even chuckled at most of the scenes with Pinkie Pie. Unfortunately, the first two episodes weren't enough and my attempt at getting him interested failed, but then, my dear ol' Dad is the sort of person who's interests range from sitcoms (ala Two and a Half Men and Modern Family), Crime shows (ala Heat of the Night and Law and Order), or certain movies (Scorpion King, Armageddon, Taken, and the Iron Man movies to name afew). As for the rest of my family, my second-youngest sister (age 20) got interested in the show I think around the same time I did, but decided to more or less leave the fandom because she caught the.... more unpleasent side to us. She still likes the show to some extent and is cool with talking about show with me, but she isn't really a major in the fandom anymore. My youngest sister (age 8) loves the show and has quite a good amount of MLP toys, I even got her some of those said toys (like a certain talking Princess Cadance, for example). She knows about the Periphery Demographic and even knows I'm a brony. I even showed her a good chuck of some MLP fan works, I read her some one-shot fanfics, showed her some pics from Beavernator (which she found strange, but also cute), I even showed her some fan videos, like Snowdrop, Double Rainboom, and even Adventures of Button Mash (along with the Don't Mine At Night Parody). She even has some friends that know I'm a brony, but they don't think bad of me for it, my youngest sister did tell me one of her friends thought I was weird, but that's it. But then, I made no effort to hide that I was a brony, when I borrowed some MLP comics from my public library, I balantly admitted to the librarians that I was a brony, they only reacted by saying 'there's nothing wrong with that', heck I admitted to a cashier at Fred Meyer that I was a Brony when I came here to buy a birthday present for my youngest sister (which happened to be an MLP toy, that miniset with figures of Applebloom, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon to be exact), the cashier looked surprised, but didn't seem bothered either. Seems the city of Spokane, Washington might be somewhat brony and pegasister friendly, but I don't know, I don't get out often enough know for certain. Does anyone else live in this city that know for certain?

I know I brought this up already already, but the writers never addressed the idea of of Spike waiting until he's an adult himself before trying to date Rarity. Heck, I asked McCarthy about that idea on her Twitter afew days ago and she hasn't replied yet. So unless the writers give out an official reason for why the idea of the adult Spike and Rarity pairing won't be possible, I'm still gonna consider this pairing alive and kicking, regardless of what some of you here might say. It might seem that Dragons age slowly, but no canon sources have really given us any clear info on how slowly. Also, we don't have any info on how Equestrian ponies age and how long they live.

I keep hearing the age gap as the reason the Sparity pairing shouldn't be pulled off. yet I'm still hearing no counter-arguments against the idea of Spike waiting until he is of legal age before pursuing a relationship with Sparity. Seriously, some of us here have already brought up the 'Adult Spike/Still-Adult Rarity' pairing idea, yet for some reason, no ones responding in support of the idea, nor railing against it.

Personally, I'm gonna respectfully disagree with the two main reasons for striking down the Sparity pairing. First off, the Age Gap? that can easily cease to be a problem by simply having Spike wait until he's of legal age, some of us have already brought that up, yet no one here has made any counter-argument against the idea, and DHX wouldn't even have to confirm or deny going that route, they could just hint that it might be possible and leave it at that, that way they don't have to address the pairing further and they don't upset any shippers of the pairing, win-win! Heck, the writers of Phineas and Ferb suggest that Ferb (age being around 10, maybe older) could be shipped with Vanessa (age 16) as long as Ferb waits until he's old enough. Second off, Some of you claim the pairing can't or shouldn't work based on the fact that Spike and Rarity are two different species, but inter-species romance has been done before in fantasy and science fiction, even in children's entertainment. Far as most media is concerned, as long as two species are both sentient there's nothing inherently wrong with it. Again, I know even if the writers chose to say nothing about Sparity or leave the possibility ambiguous (which I think logically would've been the smarter move), that likely we'll never see any real update on it in the show. But am I the only one that thinks skirting around it would've been better by virtue of being the option that's less likely to anger anyone?

Wow, thanks, that at least makes sense. Still, I find it a little baffling that the show never gave any clarification that the Wonderbolts were military, granted, you could argue I should've seen that coming based on how, as you said, they're based on the Blue Angels and the like, but still, I think some clarification from the show early on would've been nice.

Okay, I like the episode, I like the aesop, whole nine yards, but... There's still this really huge thing I still don't understand; I still don't understand the need for this Wonderbolt history test. I mean, I thought the Wonderbolts were only athletes, what's up with putting so much formality on an organization of stunt flyers? and since when were the Wonderbolts a military organization? they're stunt flyers! the show never gave us any indication that they were also protecting Equestria up 'till that point, so what's the point story-wise in doing this apparent retcon aside from fitting this aesop? was there any real hint that the Wonderbolts were military aside from how Spitfire was acting like a drill sergeant during the 'Wonderbolts Academy' episode? I know Twilight said this; Twilight: "Knowing their origin and being able to properly represent them for all of Equestria is just as important [as being a good flier]." but still doesn't really make sense to me. I'm no expert on this matter (or indeed, anything, aside from hooking up electronics), so I hope some of you can help me understand this, but what real need is there, exactly, to know the history of an organization (like the Wonderbolts, for example) and how that's supposed to help 'represent for them properly'?

Wow, 3 previews on one episode? DHX must be very confident about this episode. Also, Pinkie rapping..... that's the most 'what the heck' scene I've witnessed since I first saw the hayburgers in 'Twilight Time'. Speaking of the rap scene, am I the only one who thinks some parts of that scene actually look like Pinkie's been rotoscoped? can that even be done with Flash animation? Another thing I want to say is that, for a world that has yet to confirm whether it has television or not, apparently Equestrian filming technology is at least advanced enough that they can do green-screen (or Chroma Key) effects, interesting sort of technological progress you got going here, Ponies. You might argue that it's just another example of Pinkie Pie just being Pinkie Pie, but out of all the random and cartoony things she's done, this somehow strikes me as the one that's the closest to being grounded to reality she's pulled off, like something any of the ponies could theoretically pull off. It might be just me talking BS, but it's something I find interesting enough to put to my head-canon.

Pinkie Pie rapping... All I can say now is that I wonder if now we can later expect to see a PMV crossover video with MLP and Parappa the Rapper....

Wow, they're really hyping up that whole Equestria Games thing. though I suspect many of us are thinking; 'screw that noise! I wanna see what's in that mysterious box!' Also, first we hear of an upcoming episode that will finally address the Spike and Rarity pairing, now we get Spike being assigned to lighting the pony equivalent of the Olympic Torch. Anyone here get the feeling that DHX is secretly ashamed portraying Spike as a dog in Equestria Girls and this is their idea on how to apologize?

Funny, what I heard was that Fighting is Magic was dropped the C&D anvil because it was making a fighting game with characters of the MLP franchise. But even putting that aside, I'm personally not sure the whole donations thing fully justifies straight-up throwing a C&D order on it. Some of you might argue I'm being either naive or impractical for suggesting this (and maybe I am), but surely Hasbro could've given a warning first, telling makers of certain fan projects to cease in accepting donations, and then pull a C&D order if the makers of said project don't respond in agreement within 24 hours. Or offer to lift their C&D orders of the people behind certain fan projects agree to not make any 'profit' (from said donations), and if the fans agree, let them continue their project as they see fit on the sole condition that no profit is made off of it. Or heck, Hasbro could've even have the fans GIVE all donations directly to them (sort of like how Nintendo claimed all ad revenue on videos of their games, only in a more voluntary fashion) that way Hasbro gets extra profit and fans can continue their projects undeterred, a win-win solution! Again, some of you might call me naive or impractical for suggesting these things, but I can see so many several alternatives, that surely the C&D is something that should probably be a last resort.

In a way, I do sort of agree, but by the same token, Hasbro's C&D orders have been abit inconsistent. I mean, they C&D'ed Fighting Is Magic, which is abit hypocritical considering they themselves have an online game on their website that does technically involve some fighting (*cough* Adventure Ponies *cough*). They called for the removal of the Molestia blog, which at least makes sense, considering it's not only a strong case of canon defilement, but it's obvious Hasbro wouldn't want that franchise associated with one of their canon characters being portrayed as a sexual deviant. But JanAnimations videos? what sense is that supposed to make? yes, it uses canon characters, like ONE background character expanded upon and given an identity, which the same can be said with almost every background character ever drawn into the show. You could make the argument that Sweetie Belle's appearances might've prompted Hasbro's actions, but there are several other fan-made videos on Youtube that featured essential characters, long before JansAnimations started his work no less, so why did Hasbro suddenly think he of all people should have his videos removed when they could've done the same with every other fan-made video? All I'm saying is that the least Hasbro can do is provide some clarification on what they do and don't want associated with their IP.

Okay, I think we all know how Hasbro has had the tendency to occasionally put Cease and Desist orders on some parts of the fandom. Well, after what they did with JanAnimations, it seems that apparently a good chunk of Bronies thought Hasbro was going abit too far, so they presented this website; http://www.saveourfandom.com/ It's not a petition to get Hasbro to straight up stop their C&D orders per say, but rather a website to encourage Hasbro to see how the C&D orders they've been giving are not needed as they've only served to help the fandom grow and thus, them to get more profits (especially considering that most if not all fan projects have been strictly non-profit). What do you guys and gals think of this?