Ann Lies

I'll admit, I am a closet Brony and I adore Fluttershy. Hearing you talk about how you don't want to tell anyone because the possibly negatives are worse in relation to any positives makes perfect sense to me, and I'd like to bring an additional point to play. I am a very imaginative person. I am working with another writer right now on a piece of fanfiction called Darkside Equestria: Redemption and Ressurection (shameless self-advertising, but it's on FimFiction so please critique it) and I've drawn tons of MLP art. One thing I've found about ideas is that a lot of the time the ideas you put so much work into while they are in your head tend to become less significant when you put them into the real world. Allow me to explain. I am a fan of My Little Pony, and I purchased Season 2 on iTunes recently. Now I am a huge consumer of fanmusic for the show, and had been downloading some one day when something rather exciting happened. My father was in the room at the time my computer finished downloading a song, and for some reason when it finished it uploaded the song directly into iTunes. My computer was muted, but after the song was finished playing my iTunes played the next item in the recently-added playlist: an MLP episode. I come back into the office to see Angel Bunny running towards Fluttershy on my huge desktop screen, my father merely 3 feet away, but luckily the angle of the screen was just enough so he didn't notice. Now we're he to have seen it he probably would have just laughed, but by the same token I feel like if I told him and my mother a feeling of significance would be lost. No longer would this fandom be a precious secret, then it would become a defining part of my everyday personality and I worry deep down that this might cheapen the experience for me. So on top of concern for how my parents, friends, and classmates might feel, what I'm really worried about is whether or not revealing this to them would allow them to ruin my solitary experience of the show. That and I'm also terrified that allegations of homosexuality wouldn't be far behind. I have zero interest in any romantic affairs, straight or honosexual, and the thought of anything that might further rumors towards either of these about me is deeply concerning. And yet at the end of it all I feel like I'm just running and avoiding the issue at hand (or hoof, if you prefer). Any words of wisdom my fellow maidenly pegasisters and knightly bronies? I'm in dire need of some feedback.

Well this episode certainly raises some interesting questions. First things first this is the only season I've watched while it was airing, and that definitely made a world of difference. It is truly satisfying to look forward to and anticipate these episodes as they arrive, compared to merely cycling through them after they have all aired. It was a bit annoying at times, I've never really watched a television show as it aired before so the idea of waiting a week (or months) for a 20 minute episode was a cause for consternation in the beginning, but I gradually got used to the idea. It is rather nice actually, because then I get the oppurtunity to appreciate each episode individually and seperate. Regardless of that fact, here is my opinion on this episode. I never really worried much about the Twilicornication thing. We have been with these characters for a remarkably long time and there was certainly a lot of good times and character growth to lead up to this point; the nicely done flashbacks Celestia showed us were proof enough of that. These characters have grown time and time again under our watch, and I think that Twilight turning into an Alicorn came at a rather good time. The Mane six as a whole have already shown to be adept at taking down enemies and friendship problems alike, and I think it is the appropriate time to have a different type of change in the series. I do think they could have anticipated this episode a bit better by including more episodes featuring the Mane six. This season we've had a lot of side stories, I'm looking at you Spike as well as you three Crusaders over there! Personally I think they should have moved some of the stories focusing on the side characters into season 2 and had more episodes with our girls in season 3, at least one for each of the Mane six. In season 3 we have an episode featuring Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, and I think and episode for Pinkie and Rarity would have psyched us up quite nicely for this season finale. Heck, if only to remind us why we love them all so much! The Cutie-Mark Mixup in this episode was a rather nice way of doing this, but i felt that because it was so short it could have used a bit of help. Regardless, I still think Hasbro's team made it work splendidly, although there was quite a bit of Daniel Ingram to digest in this single episode. Not too bad of a thing to suffer from, but a tiny bit overdone perhaps. This will no doubt be paid for in full when the musicians get to work. (YAY WOODENTOASTER!) I'm also quite enthusiastic for the next season, I highly doubt Twilight will be moving to Canterlot (this a BAD IDEA Hasbro, not terribly good at all), and if I had to guess (really now, what am I writing this for again?) I would say the most significant change thematically would be that the series now will focus less on Twilight descovering new aspects of friendship and more about her dealing with the advent of new responsibilities. We know the ponies, they know eachother, now it's time to give everyone some more stress and see how they react. Hopefully this will mean some more intense storylines, and even more responsibility for all of the Mane six, not just Twilight. Now I promise I'm done belly-aching, onto the speculation! Now Twilight's alicornication brings about many questions. For one thing I'm interested in how the other alicorns came into existence. Was Cadence one of the three regular types of pony before? Celestia and Luna? Now obviously these aren't new questions, but now that artificial alicornication (or perhaps Assisted Alicornication, if you prefer) is canon we have even MORE incentive to seriously consider them. The other point I want to bring up is the subtle foreshadowing that goes on between Luna and Celestia. Way back in the season'a first episode Luna made some hints that there is a big shitstorm coming, and during this episode Luna and Celestia keep passing looks that make me wonder if everything is really as jolly as Twilight believes. That look they give eachother at the end tells me that season 4 will see the arrival of something deeply concerning to the two princesses, which should be interesting. Most of the time the Big Bads of the season arrive unexpectedly, or at the very least Celestia doesn't seem terribly worried about them. To see both Celestia and Luna so genuinely concerned about some unknown thing approaching in season 4 that they know about THIS EARLY in the game is worrisome. Somehow I think Twilighticorn will need all of her new power and her old friendships to take it down with any sort of success. And that is just assuming it is an enemy, the equally concerning possibility is that the two Princesses are preparing Twilight and her friends for their absence, a bit of a wild theory with nothing to support it but it seems to fit the mood and foreshadowed hints. At any rate, I'm rambling now. Now that season 3 is over I am quite excited. The season went well, I was glad to be a front-row observer to the whole thing instead of seeing it second-hand for once, and I predict that even though I must wait for my new episodes I will have PLENTY of fan content to satisfy me until they arrive! It has been an awesome journey, the most thrilling part is knowing that it isn't over! So, what were your favorite parts of the season? Oh, and please don't forget that Ann lies.