Eggy0

I'm actually both a Starlight fan and a Mane 6 fan. Never doubted that they would get character development That being said, I really liked this episode! I think it nails the aesop dealing with being very embarrassing without involving flat annoying characters (not that I've dealt with that myself, anyway); Rainbow's parents are clearly very happy for her and really just wanted to support their daughter, while to others and especially Rainbow Dash they went overboard. I agreed with Rainbow yelling at first though, but very quickly afterwards I realized she could've probably simply told them they're embarrassing instead of yelling and the episode did not hesitate to nod to that remark (as the reactions of Scootaloo and her parents attest to). Now I'm not saying that she shouldn't have actually yelled; the yelling came naturally as I believe it would in real life and showed that it wasn't the right way to solve it, which means I think that they handled this scene very well. I also like how the Wonderbolts didn't automatically blame Rainbow Dash for what her parents did, that element is something I've seen too many times in cartoons and I'm honestly tired of seeing characters being punished for what others did (it's just a cheap way to try to grab laughs I believe) so I'm glad they didn't do this. I also really like the jokes about the "installed sound effect" and the sandwich. The former was a good parody of those "majestic fanfare moments" (or whatever they're called) and the latter goes to show that they didn't just go for making a single-scene gag that would be forgotten quickly and went out of the way to actually keep it throughout the whole episode, ending it on a conclusive "There was a moldy sandwich" remark by Cheerilee. I love well-placed jokes.

I kinda expected what would this episode offer. I don't mean it in a bad way though! From my point of view, people expected this to be a rehash of Baby Cakes but I strongly doubted it would be. And after watching the episode, I must say I knew it! It's pretty different from Baby Cakes (well, the core plot of babysitting is the same but that's all there is to it), and I thought it was fun to watch. I also see that Flurry Heart has developed a bit of a personality showing that she has grown; yeah, she's playful and gets upset when she doesn't have her way just like any other baby, but from what I saw her do with the Baby Cake twins I think she's gonna grow up to be a pony (princess) who will seek peace between two or more warring parties (and may get assaulted by them in the process). And woot, Grogar has a mention. Not that I honestly care about G1 though, but if Grogar in this incarnation is part of a fairy tale, then he may or may not be an actual villain that may appear in the series. All in all, I loved the episode!

So in the second episode the whole table did disappear... I'm eating my hat. I thought it would only be the top part. But that being said... It was actually Trixie who lost it and because she tried to teleport the apple but missed and hit the table instead, as opposed to what the synopsis said. And the table was actually just that: a table, not connected to the rest of the infrastructure. And from what I saw previously, people left and right were going "How can Starlight lose an entire table that's part of the floor"! Anyhow, both episodes were... enjoyable. Not quite energetic or interesting as a premiere, but I think that's a nice change of pace as we've always been getting two-part adventure-filled episodes as premieres. Seeing how Celestia had the same fears as Twilight really adds to her character as well; it shows that even a wise old ruler like her is not perfect and can be just as clueless as a normal pony sometimes. And after watching the second episode, now I know that ponies (and maybe other creatures but I'm not sure) can see and acknowledge the magic aura that appears whenever somepony uses magic. Not certain on color visibility though, but they can see the aura itself. Also I really liked the part where the Mane 6 missed the record by 2 seconds because they sung a song.

Given the fact MMDW is a season 2 episode while 28 Pranks Later is a season 6 episode with an entirely different writer, chances are that the rehash may or may not have actually been intentional (unless said writer did take a look at the episode and attempted to make a better version of it). After all, there's quite a lot of episodes already (about 143 if I calculated correctly!) and fresh writers and I feel like they aren't always able to take a look at every single episode just so they could avoid rehashes, though I don't actually know the situation at hand so I might as well be wrong. As for the "cons" of MLP getting more seasons... I think it all depends on how the show is handled. A lot of seasons doesn't necessarily guarantee seasonal rot; if I'm not mistaken, it's possible for a show to go on for a very long time without going bad, as long as the show staff keeps the show fresh and enjoyable (which is easier said than done, especially with long-running shows like Spongebob Squarepants). And writers do cycle in and out over time, which can always affect a show either positively or negatively depending on how skillful the new writers are and how much they understand the source material (both of those traits are very important in my opinion). That being said, I'll eagerly watch season 7 and future seasons whenever possible until I start feeling bored of it, as I think this show still has at least some kick left. That's just my two cents though.

Call me crazy/in the minority/individual thinker/whatever, but if I could add one character to the series, it would be a literally big, mighty, mean and fairly threatening Changeling emperor. As in the absolute ruler of all Changelings that exist, including the rulers of each hive (like Queen Chrysalis), that holds a lot of power from capturing other (and quite possibly undiscovered) nations. And as for the reason behind him not appearing up until this point, it would be because he lives in a far-away land and had to send a colony of Changelings in Equestria's direction to capture it for him, only to decide to come to Equestria with his own underlings when Chrysalis asks him for help after failing to take over Equestria twice. Whether this actually happens or not is up to the show makers, but perhaps I can always resort to a comic/fanfic and do my own canon...

I'm thinking that Chrysalis will return to Equestria with a very formidable foe, but probably not Tirek. After all, Tirek is held in Tartarus and is guarded by Cerberus, who I presume may be a challenge for Chrysalis to get past (unless she manages to do so using her shapeshifting powers). And even if Tirek gets out of Tartarus with the help of Chrysalis, I assume that either the ponies will be more ready for him this time and dispatch him as soon as possible, or a plot similar to (or same as) that of Twilight's Kingdom will take place (Tirek escapes, steals magic from ponies and grows strong, gets defeated by Rainbow Power or Starlight's magic or whatever). But then again, those are my only assumptions. I personally assume that there's in fact a very powerful force out there that Chrysalis knows of and is going to ally with in a desperate attempt to defeat the ponies and get back at Starlight as horribly as she can. When she swore revenge, to me she sounded like she was going to get a literally distant relative (as in like a much stronger Changeling ruler from a faraway land) or something to make Starlight wish she never crossed paths with Chrysalis. Only time will tell what she'll come up with, though.

Ah, good. Knew it sounded a little fishy but I just wasn't quite sure. I've decided to look it up some more and now I've got my confirmation that it's indeed fake. Bummer. It looked sort of legit. Man, I should really start paying attention to stuff too, only now I notice what the numbers in the corner say (alluding to an "animatic" for S6, apparently).

For favorites, I have "Times They Are A Changeling" and "To Where And Back Again". For least favorites... Yeah, I don't really have episodes that I truly dislike, though "The Cart Before The Ponies" and "P.P.O.V." are my least liked S6 episodes.

So... I've been spying on Google for any new season 7 stuff, and I ended up finding this video: It looks like an animatic for one of the episodes (maybe for the premiere?), though there appears to be no sound and I can't confirm the actual source so I can't tell if this is a real animatic or a fabrication/hoax. Is there anyone who knows more about this?

I think that's a pretty nice theory! I have my own, too. I like to think that the idol was given to them by another, now long gone ruler/race that saw the selfish nature of the griffon majority and secretly led them to ruin. Basically, my theory is that when King Grover came to rule, he wanted the griffons to live a prosperous life that would allow them to feel better about themselves and have other races think fondly of them, but didn't know how to do that. He was then approached by said ruler/race in secret (i.e. no other griffon knew of this meeting), who offered the Idol of Boreas promising that it would give his people the kind of life King Grover wished for and, due to his about-to-awaken inner greed and his desire to give his people a better life, the griffon ruler immediately took the offer without giving a second thought and brought it back to the kingdom. While the idol did bring prosperity as the mysterious ruler/race told, little did the griffons know that it was a ploy to destroy them; it was in fact stolen from Arimaspi, a giant goat-like cyclops creature from a faraway land, and the giant went after the stolen idol. It took a long time for it to find the idol, but thanks to the griffon kings talking about the idol's "magnificence" in an attempt to make other races envious, Arimaspi eventually found Griffonstone and caused the events as described in the show (it took the idol and the griffons fought back but it fell into the abyss yadda yadda). The griffons were devastated by the loss of the idol and their society quickly fell apart because of that, becoming absolutely miserable and much more selfish than they were before the arrival of the idol. Not quite what their "ally" hoped for, but close enough. Worse yet, the griffons may never get to know that the "ally" only King Grover ever knew of is the one who did this to them

Judging from the news article about AJ's parents, there's no doubt that it'll probably be a flashback (though the way one of the sentences is constructed does seem to make some people misread, as I've seen on an offsite rant telling about how AJ's parents are actually alive even though the article mentions that it's just a flashback). If they do turn out to be alive though... Yeah, I'm not sure if I'd be mad, or disappointed, or any negative emotion, really. I never really cared for AJ's parents to be honest. I'd only be pissed if they gave a half-baked explanation for their absence; if they, for example, tell that AJ's parents ended up unexpectedly getting into a serious pickle that resulted in their long-term absence and the Apple family presuming them dead, I'd buy it as long as it's executed well. Or better yet - wait for it - reveal them to actually be Changelings (maybe Chrysalis', maybe someone else's) that managed to grasp a picture of the real and truly dead parents who tricked ponies (and by extension us viewers) so they could get close and eat away at their enemies from within without anypony knowing.

I myself actually really like Starlight, as I can pretty much relate to her. True, her backstory seemed a bit rushed, but it sort of reminds me of my life as well; I, like Starlight, did have at least one friend before but for several reasons I became isolated for a while, and only after a few years ago or so I ended up finding company again (and to this day forward I'm still not keen on hanging out with others). I didn't take the path of making others my friends like Starlight did though lol. And gone back in time to prevent an important event from happening which unintentionally caused horrific changes to the present time... My own explanation for her magical prowess is that she probably practiced a lot in her life and done a lot of research (which, according to an earlier post here, was also shown in the show), not to mention that her genetics (or whatever) may also allow for better magic manipulation which as a result makes her a natural. I'd like to take Sunburst (an untalented spellcaster) and Twilight (a unicorn with magic potential), two unrelated ponies, as a comparison example here; if I'm not mistaken, both of them studied magic as much as they could, yet they operate different levels of magic, and since they're not related I assume it's because of their different genetics.

Yeah... While I have been absent from the forums pretty much ever since the S6 finale, I've tuned myself in to any and all news about S7. I'm just so awfully hyped! Not to mention that we've already got a couple of (possible) episode titles, and god knows what the others will be. I hope they do the season well though, and by that I mean doing more good and original episodes (i.e. no rehashes of previous plots for example). I also wonder what the premiere and finale will be like; I'm really hoping for something that involves revealing more about the changelings than what we currently know (are there any other changeling rulers like Chrysalis? Are there other types of changelings besides the pony-like ones?), a bigger evil that Chrysalis is or plans to be allied with (I'm hoping for a new villain that has something to do with the changelings!) and, if possible, an explanation as to how Chrysalis managed to replace several members of royalty in what seems to be a short time frame. While I myself picture that it was an organized stealth attack that was probably already in motion long before the finale even started, others seem to dismiss the lack of explanation as a plot hole even though there appears to be nothing (on-screen at least) that would cause a logical conflict and make it a plot hole to begin with (that's just how I see it, anyway).

I dunno. Maybe something with Alicorn lore, perhaps also foreshadowing the events of the season finale and/or the (new) villain that will in some way have something to do with Queen Chrysalis (as part of her revenge; to me she looked like she went off to get an ally's help to get revenge on Starlight but I could be wrong). ...Yeah, I've got nothing in particular, at least not plot-wise. I basically don't care much as long as the plot doesn't turn out badly done.

I'm personally indifferent towards whether they should have a cliffhanger or not, although I'm slightly leaning towards "no" and am about to explain why in my own words. A cliffhanger at the end of the season can be definitely an interesting thing, but in all cases it should be used with care. Basically, if not done right, a cliffhanger may incite feelings such as frustration and disappointment instead of excitement, hype etc. among the many people that watch the show, especially if the next season starts months later or doesn't even exist. Speaking of which, another thing to consider is that there's always a possibility said season may end up being the last season, and as a result, a cliffhanger at the very end of the series will leave the plot and quite possibly other things unresolved, which I believe most people wouldn't want as they'd never truly find out what happens next and all. Sure, there are fanfics and such for that, but they're not official and I'm certain there are people out there who prefer official material (including myself). On the other hand though, if the season finale cliffhanger is handled very well - and with absolute certainty the next season will come to be not too long after - it could be a good and refreshing thing that will get the audience cheering. So in my opinion, doing a cliffhanger at the end of the season would be an interesting, yet risky move that could have not-so-great consequences if not done properly and/or at the right time, and that's why I'm mostly indifferent while also leaning towards "no".

What the others said. The finale wasn't leaked, it just aired outside of the US and earlier than the planned US date. To be fair though, I'm honestly sick and tired of people calling the UK airing of the finale a "leak". I've gone to several places on the internet and more often than not I've seen someone claim it's a leak even if it legitimately aired on TV. It seems that either these people don't actually know what a "leak" is (Google defines it as "an intentional disclosure of secret information" and airing on TinyPop doesn't seem like it fits that definition) or they believe the whole world revolves around America. And in my country, MLP didn't even begin to air until the end of two thousand freaking fourteen. That's slightly more than 4 years since the first episode originally premiered, and that's definitely longer than what you mentioned in your example. And even after what should've been years of work (even though dubbing really shouldn't take that long IMO), the quality of the dub is downright horrendous, so it's essentially like the show doesn't even exist in my country to begin with. And in my case, this so called "leak" was actually a good thing. Why? Because I, as a person who just enrolled college, was given a chance to wrap up my watching of season 6 so I wouldn't have to worry about missing an episode because of the possibility that I might not have had the time to watch it (although I came back for the US release to see other people's reactions) due to college responsibilities.

My own theory is that she may be a descendant of a (prior) Changeling ruler or a creation of another entity who was hateful and selfish herself/himself and taught Chrysalis to be just like them; someone who believes being friends with anyone is going to ruin them and that the only way to a good life is through hostility and power-hungry ambition. Yeah, in the comics she's shown as simply being born evil, but I don't follow the comic canon much and I personally think the Changeling Queen does have ancestors that were probably a lot like she is right now

That's a thought I have as well. As I had mentioned earlier in this thread, I'm personally convinced at least one of the target ponies may have been replaced before the finale even started, and as an answer to the question about her magic, my own thought is that not all Changelings' magic is necessarily green (as was the case with Thorax; his magic was blue) and that the Changeling that could've replaced her probably happened to have yellow-colored magic. And looking back at No Second Prances and your comment on her behavior, her acting like that does feel a bit strange and I never even noticed when I originally watched it... Hell, she doesn't even appear for most of the season after that episode until the very end (except briefly in the episode 28 Pranks Later where she gives a rather confused look after surfacing from the flood of Spike's letters), which may or may not be a sign she wasn't herself. So in my opinion, yeah, it's totally possible Celestia was replaced way before the finale even started, by a Changeling with yellow magic and a great skill in imitating her (quite possibly achieved by spying on her and learning as much about her as possible to avoid detection).

I really love the episode. The squad, the new Changelings, and Queen Chrysalis. I love it all. My favorite part is Chrysalis' creepy entrance A personal wild guess from me: season 7 reveals Chrysalis and the Changelings were created by another malevolent entity. Yeah, probably won't happen (especially with the comics' canon), but I can dream and imagine my own version right?

I have a top 3 for both categories. Top 3: To Where And Back Again The Times They Are A Changeling No Second Prances Bottom 3: The Cart Before The Ponies PPOV ...And I haven't got a third least favorite season 6 episode. I guess that's bottom 2 then...

Here's mine! Came up with these on the spot Caving In - Part 1: Chrysalis returns to exact her revenge only to be quickly foiled by Starlight and her friends who were ready for her, putting the former Queen under a trial that ends up pressuring her into telling a shocking truth about herself and the Changelings as a whole. Caving In - Part 2: Starlight and her friends, who were about to banish Chrysalis for her crimes, have come to learn of an enemy from beyond the borders of Equestria who created her to help him seize faraway lands and must put his doings to a stop. ...Yeah, I'm not too big on stories/summaries and this is all I could come up with lol.

Not for Top Bolt, but for the season finale next week, definitely. Both because I really like it, and because I want to see how people will react to it and especially one specific part (I've clicked on several reaction videos so far and winded to that specific part just see people be creeped out). Plus, it would be a "(late) birthday present" because it airs two days after my birthday, even though I've already watched the episode.

I have a few wild guesses of my own: The Changeling(s) that replaced Celestia and/or Luna may have manipulated the sun and the moon in their place (unlikely as it requires a lot of power/magic, but maybe worth a longshot...) Celestia and/or Luna may have discovered a powerful spell that makes the sun and the moon auto-move for a time without their intervention and cast it before the events of the finale The sun and the moon have begun moving on their own after Celestia and Luna manipulated them for so long at one point in the series (a.k.a. the writing staff forgot they manipulated them in the first place) A wizard did it. Yep. And... that's all I can think of.

I'd take on the offer unless I'm super attached to the OC they want and/or the pay is too low (and a hundred bucks for a normal OC I'm not deeply in love with sounds about right at this time). It's because that, while it would no longer belong to me, at the very least I would be proud to have a company like Hasbro want something I've created and I'd also get some extra cash for it, giving me the feeling of accomplishment. After all, as an aspiring graphic designer/animator, having someone want something I made (or wants something made for them) who is willing to pay nicely for it is a good thing, not to mention I'm an official artist on another site and it actually works almost exactly the same way the OP describes (people know I drew the image and everything, but it is ultimately the property of the site).