Unlikeable Pony

The EQD article lists a minutia that " Update: looks like Hasbro filed more listings for MININAUTS at the same time, probably pointing this toward something to do with that, and not pony." So take that with a grain of salt.

Agreed. Tempest was a really, REALLY solid character, and one that I'd enjoy seeing again. Good design, great voice work, an incredible song and I found her child self to be adorable. Honestly, I was pretty damned happy with the movie. the Characterization felt good, I found the animation incredibly with lots of cute faces and mannerisms, I enjoyed the plot, and I REALLY enjoyed that they managed to make it feel like it was a mane six adventure where its not just a "twilight only" plot and the others are important and contribute. Are there some problems? Sure, and I WAS dissapointed that this wasn't aimed at fans and felt toned down in action than the show (the storm beasts and storm king seem like the weakest villains so far, power wise), but Overall I was VERY happy and impressed.

Flash sentry, the impossible thief: His power? The ability to steal anything, including Conceptual ideas such as waifus and love.

Kind of curious if they'll ever explain that, or if there's just going to be a bunch of other characters at canterlot high developing magic as the series goes on.

Her having an animal sanctuary is something I approve of, but they need to try and give it some weight and gravity in future episodes so it FEELS important, not just to her but animals in general. In the episode it kind of just came off as a "oh, that happened" kind of thing.

It happens in the book. the beach is a very, VERY small part of the story. Incidental really. And since the Yearbook's not finished till the very end of the book, that means the beach happens before it.

I'm kind of wondering if the "Rainbow dash brings the blitz", "twilight sparkle's science fair sparks" books will be actual episodes too ala this.

The only reason I want garble to appear in an episode is just so he can be abused/Punked like the Dash/garble scene in Shadowplay. That was so carthatic (much like him getting repeatedly crushed/pummeled in the gauntlet of fire). Honestly, that was pretty freaking pathetic on Garbles part; he was basically outMUSCLED by a pony, with his rock being effortlessly caught and returned to him. Like, outwitted is one thing, but when you're losing physically too that's pretty sad.

To be honest I kind of feel like ALL of the mane six got shafted this season, episode wise.

That's what I mean, this one seems too well designed to be a original plot so its pretty clearly an adaption of an upcoming episode/special/whatever.

I don't see it NOT being an episode; they usually make the books as adaptions of movie or special plots after all, like the legend of everfree or the dance magic stuff. There are a couple original plots (Like the sunset time to shine one), but this seems pretty on the money as a Special/episode adaption.

from what we've seen on screen, I 100% think Sombra could easily kick the pony of shadow's emo butt all over equestria.

Do you think there's a military in Equestria besides the Royal guard? And are the wonderbolts a military organization for defending the nation, or just for show? And if the wonderbolts are a military, what do you think their ranks are? Did the EUP dissapear completely or is it still in existence? And who do you think replaced Shining armor as the head of the royal guard?

The sad thing about the pony of shadows is that he honestly comes off as an edgy teenager; He complaining about other people not respecting or getting him, spews out random and nonsensical dialogue about "darkness" and things like that, and when he loses he basically just pisses off back to his room and locks himself inside of it until the Mane six start banging on his door and drag him out. All that was missing was him Listening to linkin park Additionally, its SERIOUSLY hard to take him seriously as a threat when he gets BTFO by NORMAL ponies just shooting lasers at him till he runs away, no artifacts or deep magic involved, just twilight and starlight beaming him in the face when he first shows up. That is WEAK. Like, even the changelings Seemed VASTLY stronger than that since Starlight and twilight alone wouldn't have stood a chance. Look at the other villains like Tirek or Discord who fighting via lasers (When not powered up into a literal god) would seem utterly useless, and then compare the pony of shadows-- His power is UTTERLY an informed attribute at its worst. SHOW, don't tell. You want use to respect his threat? Don't have him lose a couple rounds of laser tag and run away like a kid with hurt feelings. If you're going to be a two parter villain, YES, you need to be a threat-- This is a TWO PARTER, its supposed to be a big pull out the stops event, the cap to a season or the start to one, that raises the stakes and pushes the envelope farther than other episodes. If you're not going to be an intimidating or threatening villain with good character and motivation then you should be a middle of the season villain, like how we had antagonists like the Tantabus or the diamond dogs. (Heck, I think the tantabus was a BETTER villain than the pony of shadows was, it had a clearly explained threat and goal, and flowed better since its purpose was to be a VILLAIN/THREAT and not a redemption pinata). Not every antagonists needs to be ultra threatening or Ultra deep, but if you're a premier or Finale villain you better bring your A game, and the pony of shadows falls flat-- Even SOMBRA is a better villain than him, and I'd daresay the pony of shadows is the worst villain the show has had yet.

The question I'd have about giants is would they be giant ponies, or giant humanoids? Since the staff have a fairly hard "no humans" policy, all humanoid monsters have to be made more beastly, like tirek looking more like an ape in his face. I think it'd actually be neat if they had some ancient steam punk machines buried underground from an ancient civilization or war somewhere. Then again, they've gone from depicting the universe as being medieval to being full on Modern (look at the S7 finale's giant electric lights and billboards for crying out loud >.<) so it wouldn't be outlandish for someone to built modern machines/robots. (not a big fan of how the tech scale in the show has shifted though)