Senko

S Sadly this seems like all we get of her. Which is the point I made earlier unless she's living with her friends she'll miss out on so much and she'll never get another chance for it.

Which is actually what happens when she does in fact shoot Starlight in the back. Very temporarily if they had been alone I don't think they'd have won.

Hmm I missed that more reason to dislike and ignore it. I share my rant from Discord on the subject. I cant see Celestia just handing rulership over like that Twilight's readiness aside it denies her years of memories with her friends prior to their death, years she'll never have a chance at again. All the experiences she missed out on having to rule e.g. Pinkie giving birth - No she was attending a conference in Maretonia. Starlight and Trixies wedding - No there was an emergency with that years swanifying Ceremony. Granny Smith's funeral - No she was negotiating a new trade agreement with the Griffons. Not to mention all the pet play picnics, weekends hanging out, camping trips or just plain everyday life moments where you need to be there to share them because you can't reproduce them after the fact. I cant see Celestia even considering stepping down on a long term basis till they're gone. Not just to ensure Twilight can deal with ponies who'll be born, grow up and die before her eyes without closing herself off emotionally but to give Twilight that chance with Ponies her own age to share experiences and form memories to comfort her in the long millenia ahead because this is something she will never be able to replicate. Even if she makes new friends there will always be that subtle barrier because she'll have seen what they're going through before possibly many times. Just look at her interactions with her friends vs Luster Dawn. She cares for Luster but she'll never have the same relationship with her she does with Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack or Fluttershy. Even without the teacher/princess barrier Luster wont understand what its like to grow up in a world where an entire town can cower in fear before a friendly Zebra looking to do some shopping. It's not necessarily a bad thing that Luster lacks that experience but its just one example of the difference between an immortal and a mortal and its a difference that only grows more pronounced with time. Twilight needs this chance to be as normal a pony as she can for as long as she can because once it's gone it's gone for good. Not to mention how removing her from the dynamic affects her friends relationships as well. Take this fanmade animation by Agrol (I also recommend their other animations) . . . Now remove Twilight from Ponyville and it just doesn't happen. Dash doesn't find another reading material, Twilight doesn't get a nice little insight into her friend and this is something which simply can not be recreated or even occur as naturally when they are seperated by both her duties and her distance from them. It doesn't even have to be major events just a simple matter like a new Daring Do book coming out is no longer something she can chat with Dash about as they read it or while attending a Daring Do convention together. This has all been permanently taken away from her and them. Twilight gets just one chance to experience life with Ponies who have the same experiences she had growing up or who view her as a pony first and a princess second to deny her that is not just cruel but it diminishes all of them as a pony. However she'll have centuries to rule or help rule after the ponies she grew up with are gone. I can now add to this speculation on whether if she hadn't had to move to Canterlot would Rarity be living in Yakyakistan afterall she opened stores in Canterlot and Manehattan without leaving the Boutique perhaps now she has a reason to avoid Ponyville because of sad memories ir perhaps she just wasn't as close to the others any more?

When did it say she lives there?

The Rainbow/Applejack bit wasn't even hinted at before unlike Applejack and Rarity.

The question is did this change come about because Twilight was ruler or inspite of it? That is I think we see the foundations of this new society in the school of friendship's student 6 and the change in Neighsay's attitude. So I think this would have happened anyway as a result of the new friendship for all view that yes Twilight did start. However I question whether it might not be happening quicker and more extensively if rather than putting her in charge of Equestria she was allowed to continue acting solely as the princess of friendship reaching out to other societies and species rather than being bogged down with the day to day running of a country.

Hmmm that reminds me I should back up my copies of the show.

I think they only needed the elements back then because they were attempting it on an embodiment of chaos (to the point if he acts orderly he ltierally fades away). Here its a normal pegasus filly, an old and weak centaur and Chryssalis who was probably the most powerful at this time but has presumably been without large amounts of drained love energy for a long time and the one's turning them to stone are 2 Alicorns and said embodiment of chaos. Very different circumstance.

The thing is the forest was shown from the very begininig to be frightening not because of the creatures living in there but because it functions by itself without pony involvement. Their fears were because the plants grow, animals and weather take care of themselves and the like not because there were manticores, seaseerpents and other dangerous creatures in there. It was frightrening because it was outside their control.

And now my reactions to the flash forward . . . 1) I found Twilight and Spikes new look to be slightly odd, Spike's match's his childhood dream dragon quite well and Twilight seems to have grown into her Alicorn hood which means Luna is smaller than her now? Plus what happened to Cadence? 2) Interesting little glimpses into where everyone wound up like Gallus the royal guard, moved away from all his old friends like Twilight it seems as the rest were in Ponyville. 3) The history repating with Twilight sending her best student to learn friendship seemed a bit odd to me as if they get together every month you'd think her student would have noticed. 4) I did like the paper reporting on Lyra and Bonbon's wedding with them riding off in a carriage with tin cans on the back. 5) It seems Derpy is now a Chef. 6) Then we have the big one of relationships sure its a time skip but they did actually put some of the mane 6 together. Pinkie and Cheese with her having a kid is interesting that of all them she was the one who wound up a mother like Twilight (I still stand by my opnion Spike is her son, your's may differ). Not so much of a fan of the Applejack/Rainbow Dash that was implied I feel Applejack and Rarity should be together like Twilight and Dash. Still the fact the show was willing to do this is impressive. Not sure if Fluttershy and Discord are friends or lovers, or for that matter Yona and Sandbar. 7) I was already crying in that last song but then we get to Sweet Apple Acres as it hits the line about passing things on to the next generation and I realize there's no Granny Smith and Applejack was wearing her scarf. At some point in the time skip Granny Smith has passed away. That really hurt. 8) Interesting to see the crusaders have taken over as teachers at the school and is it just me or are their adult looks her just a bit different to how they were when they wished to be their sisters age? 9) Holy Giant Gummy Batman! 10) I have a bad feeling about Spitfire given Dash is not only captain of the wonderbolts but apprently is copying her mane style as one might do to commenorate a fallen idol. 11) It was an interesting touch that the book Starlight gave Twilight had moving Harry Potter style photo's to commenerate events. 12) I agree with ending with the book closing on the chapter was a well made choice. And finally I believe my opinion on this final episode of the show is best expressed as we need crying emojis. I know its going on in other way's but I will miss this. At some point I'm going to have work through that walk through ponyville and see how everyones grown up (I noticed Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon talking to Perpmint Twist) but it'll be tricky and I may need to mute it to not start crying from that song.

Ok just watched all 3 episodes so my thoughts on the two parter here and the conclusion in that thread. 1) First of Oh sweet Celestia NO! Alicorn cozy glow is just wrong. Also does this mean an Alicorn transformation can be achieved by just power as she didn't really do anything to "earn" it? 2) Discord was playing the part of Grogar, I admit it I didn't see that coming. I thought he was maniuplating events but not that much. 3) I Still HATE the Celestia/Luna retirement arc though I'm now thinking it was deliberate to tie into the show ending and a new era storyline. 4) I liked the little touches like Fluttershy waving her wing to a fainted Rarity, Dash eating a Donut with one wing feather and Raritie's moment saving Twilight. 5) Twilight failed at her plan for things to stay the same out of the gate as she's already changed the summer sun festival to another festival. Yes I don't like that. 6) Cozy going "Mwhahaha now I shall rule" when she gets Discords power only for it to literally bite her on the muzzle with living pineapples was amusing. 7) The confrontation when the villains took over does add to my theory that although Starlight is weaker than Starswirl and Twilight she's actually the best of the 3 at using her powers in a fight. 8) I liked Trixie reassuring Starlight there was no one better at escaping than her. 9) Aww the princesses finally get their own moment of awesome and it's off screen. 10) We now have canon confirmation windigoes are real. 11) Spikes deadpan "haven't you learnt never to say that" when Dash makes things worse was well done. 12) I notice both Celesita and Luna apparently missed equestria falling apart as well did no one think to go to their ruler about the problems they were having? I mean even the royal guard didn't trust the representation of the element of honesty. 13) I know its mean but I can't help myself hahhhahaa Twilight considers Flurry Heart to be Equestria's last hope over Cadence. 14) Interesting reference to pinkie and the brain inverted to save rather than take over. 15) I do like the alliance of all races coming together at the end and the random ponies stepping up to bring them together rather than the main 6 reminds me of a reviewer's saying in Celestia's world there will always be a new hero able to step up even if they are just a "common pony". 16) Discord's expression was neat in the way he was initially hopeful when Twilight rescued everyone, then dissapointed when he thinks he's not one of them then happy when it turns out he is. 17) Pinkie being able to temporarily control chaos magic was a nice touch even if she did wind up wanting to coat the cosmos in frosting. We also got to see her toon powers when dodging Chrysalis. 18) So at the end on Discords advice we get statue Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and Tirek. The no redemption fans must like that even if the princesses did just turn a child into a statute for presumably all time. Overall I'm quite happy with these episodes aside from Twilight taking over now on to the final one.

From what I heard he say's "If I wanted to play games I would get out my Pinochle Deck" referring to a trick taking card game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinochle odd reference.

Yep I saw that and I personally consider that to be differnt to Equestrian geastures. Ponies in general are a lot more physically open and loving with each other than humans so I'd be a lot more likely to consider the two in that picture as boyfriends than a pony pair nuzzling each other because the later are constantly touching other ponies e.g. hoof in the mouth, biting their tail to hold them in place, hugs about the only thing they seem to reserve for their special somepony is kissing.

Just wanted to say in a world where this . . . Its quite possible the value of gems is significantly different in Ponyville especially considering Spike eats quite a lot of them and he's only one dragon. So its quite possible that Big Mac only paid a small price for the ring/jewelers experience and the gem was only picked for its apperance and doesn't have anywhere near the same value one on earth would. Then again down that path lay's the dreaded Equestrian economics where Rarity can tip a bellpony in mulitple gems each time he helps her yet the crusaders can buy an industrial hair dryer . . . for one. Then again maybe they have their own especially valuable gems.

I still say that was Rainbow Dash enjoying a pampered pony spa day which is why she was so upset at being found out by a friend's little sister.

You know I just realized Granny's talking about Mud Briar in a manner that indicates not only does she know him but she expects the fillies to do so as well I wonder when and how they met?

3 more weeks of episodes for us here in Australia if we pirate more if we don't sigh. I feel sad knowing its coming to an end.

Something just occurred to me. As romatnic as Big Mac's geasture is scattering apples around a town full of ponies seems like a good way to get part of your scavenger hunt eaten by passing inhabitants. "Oh someone lost an apple" crunch. "Mmm that's hitting the spot" nom, nom.

Hmm a lot of what I'd comment on has been mentioned by other posters so I think I'll focus instead on the ring. This brings me back to something I've pondered a few times over the show and that's the odd mix ponyisms and humanisms. Pony adapted phrases and items that link up to human counterparts like manehattan/manhattan are one thing but then you have odd little human moments in a world where they make no sense. Not just the wedding ring but the whole concpet of a ring for a species with no fingers. Where did the idea come from? Why do pony's of different tribes give rings to each other? Is this a hint at somepoint in the distant past ponies and humans interacted with each other? Is this an earth pony adapation of a unicorn custom where since they have no horn they hang it around each others neck? I wonder what a pegasus would do around the neck or on a wing? Hmmm . . . On other notes I did like the expressions in this one especially the crusaders at various moments where so expressive in this episode. Bit odd that Mrs Cake messed up the cakes so badly when we've seen her manage equally big orders before, I did like her startled "What did I do?" in response to Discord saying her name and her getting angry at Spike ruining all her hard work on the deserts by setting them on fire. Plus it seems Spike can send his letters anywhere he wants not just to a pony but to an object and apparently their hot enough to burn hmmm makes Celestia receving a lot of them have interesting implications. I also liked his constantly commenting that the desserts were messed up before he sent the letters. I found the group at the wedding a bit odd none of the mane 6 but sugar belle's old friends from our town were. Very nice symatry though. I have to admit the scene in the spa with a mare screaming and throwing a towel made me think it was Dash screaming at her friends sister catching her in the spa. Sugar Belle's lack of parents/family does make me wonder a bit about the other ponies that were drawn to Starlight's town and just why they were so interested in it. I feel like there's more and more evidence that a lot of ponies suffered mental trauma during Luna's absence as a guardian of their dreams. Completely missed the Lyra/Bonbon proposal but I do like the fact in Equestria not only is it perfectly ok for a mare to propose to a stallion but for a homosexual couple to make a proposal in the town main street and not have anypony bat an eye. Though I suppose it is possible given the princess ruling for a thousand years that in Equestria its traditional for the mare to propose and Big Mac was the one breaking tradition. The blue mare on the balcony reacting to the screams was fun. Anyway I'll close with saying I did like Applejack dressing up for her brothers wedding and wiping away a tear at the story of their proposal being such a mess thanks to their friends and family just like real life.

I actually have a pet theory since Luna has been exiled for a thousand years and there's mention pony nightmare's if left untended for too long can cause sever mental trauma every pony over a certain age has varying degree's of mental quirks ranging from the minor Dash's overconfidence to major like Pinkie's depression if she thinks her friends are abandoning her. I don't mind her being part of Equestria's power strucutre gives us a differing viewpoint that can see both commoner and noble. What bugs me is the way Celestia and Luna are suddenly trying to hand over both rulership and their cutie mark duties to her and it comes off more as they are suffering an immortal's equivilent of a mid-life crisis. I can easily see them to be buying million dollar sports cars and speeding around while dating handsome young stallions.

I could even accept the "I wish to take a break, please take over for a century or two while I bond with my sister" if it weren't for 3 other issues. First Twilight does have her own life and she's basically going to lose a lot of experiences she may never get back, second Celestia seems to have suddenly entered a mid-life crisis seeking "excitement" and fixing everything herself when she deliberately stood back and let Twilight succeed preventing Luna from helping when she wanted too and third she's trying to get Twilight to take over raising the sun and moon. That last one is the big one to me this isn't ruling the country its her cutie mark, something she's been doing since presumably before she took over and we've seen repeatedly that ponies ignoring their cutie mark suffer for it. No that really bugs me.