S06:E01+02 - The Crystalling

[Crusaders Forever 88]

Great another mystery for them to try and explain during the season. We already have the CMC getting their Cutie Marks at the same time. Now they need to explain Shining Armor's and Princess Cadence's baby being an Alicorn. I would also like to know if Celesta and Luna were born Alicorns, or did they get it from doing something magical?

[Aurora Storm 83]

Great another mystery for them to try and explain during the season. We already have the CMC getting their Cutie Marks at the same time. Now they need to explain Shining Armor's and Princess Cadence's baby being an Alicorn. I would also like to know if Celesta and Luna were born Alicorns, or did they get it from doing something magical?

It would seem Celestia and Luna were not born alicorns. They acted just as confused/surprised as everyone else by this baby. If this was something that happened even on a  rare occasion they also would probably have a better suggestion as for how to control FH's powers. The whole thing baffled them in the beginning.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Aurora Storm

[Heart Beat 34]

I thought the first episode was a bit muddy. Like, it felt as if the writers should have split it into 2 entirely different episodes: one on starlight's lesson and the other entirely on the baby. But the ending was so sweet T.T and spike had a lot of character development yay

It wasn't the best episode in my opinion, but it's up there

[weesh 690]

I thought the first episode was a bit muddy. Like, it felt as if the writers should have split it into 2 entirely different episodes: one on starlight's lesson and the other entirely on the baby.

 

Sure, they could have been separate, but they blended together pretty nicely.  For instance, without the baby, Starlight wouldn't have impressed the level of crisis on sunburst.  Their breakthrough came when they couldn't hide behind their masks anymore.  there needed to be SOME crisis, or else a completely different mechanism for their honesty.  

[snowflame 189]

so I was completely ignored in my last thread, so Im going to move it here.

so you guys already know how the crystalling works. I have one question tho, flurry hearts parents are both unicorn ponies. When she was being crystallize they used their magic, if not, their horns glowed like they're casting magic. So does that mean that you should have a unicorn parent to make the crystalling work? also the crystaller, sunburst, also is a unicorn pony.. so the crystaller should also be a unicorn? any pony wants to theorize how the crystalling actually works?

I assume non-unicorn parents would have something equilevent of godparents or the crystaler would do that.

[n00bUltima 58]

The same ponies that can raise the sun and the moon and are considereded godesses can barely hold off a storm.

ok

[heavens-champion 1,893]

My one critique is that in part one, the crystal heart shattering should have been the end of the second act, and the spellbook getting destroyed should have been the end of the third act.

[Tarnation 142]

GlimGlim (Starlight Glimmer) was awesome in this episode! I especially liked sunburst's character.      

[snowflame 189]

The same ponies that can raise the sun and the moon and are considereded godesses can barely hold off a storm.

ok

The fandom considers them godesses, that does not mean ponies in-universe does. They treat them like royalty to me, saying sweet Celestia does not elevate her to a godess level. Nor does their age since ordinary ponies could live hundreds of years anyway, and even if they do not people do not think their ages that remarkable since ponies do not comment it and there are other creatures that live as long anyway like Discord and Tirek. Sun and Moon clearly just needs someone to move them but it is not extraordinarry in a world where everyone has magic.

[glitterbomb 162]

Certainly not as epic as the season 5 premier but I still really liked it and flurry heart is super adorable!

[Brony Lounge 102]

Certainly good, hopefully this will carry on through season 6

[Sonic5421 423]

I have to admit, this premiere made a lot of changes to the status quo and left plenty of things open to be discussed further in this season in accordance with the theme of "Explore Equestria" that they are doing.

 

Here was the two stories that the premiere followed:

1. Starlight and Sunburst: Starlight's first friendship lesson from Princess Twilight is to rekindle her old friendship with Sunburst, which was the main reason for her descent into villainy in the events of The Cutie Map and The Cutie Re-mark. However, like Starlight, Sunburst was also hesitant to rekindle his friendship with her due to how he had struggled with casting spells in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and was forced to drop out and find solace in the Crystal Empire to continue his studies in private. However, when both former friends open up on how without the other one, they fell apart in different ways, they are able to rekindle their friendship, and are able to help with the other story.
2. Flurry Heart: With Celestia and Luna having been the last Alicorns born sometime before Equestria was founded, per the information in The Journal of the Two Sisters, they were just as surprised as the Mane Six and the rest of the Royal Family as having another Alicorn naturally born was, by this point, thought impossible by the Royal Sisters. Then, when Flurry Heart shatters the Crystal Heart with her crying, despite the artifact being around for millennia and having gone through so much previously with the likes of King Sombra and the dragon who took it, claiming it was his property, during Princess Amore's reign in the Crystal Empire, it put the future of not just the Crystal Empire, but Equestria itself in danger as Equestria's primary means of protection: The Royal Family and the Mane Six (a.k.a the bearers of the Elements of Harmony/Rainbow Power), were in danger of perishing with the Empire if they could not restore the Crystal Heart, or evacuate in time to safer havens. It was thanks to Sunburst and Starlight that the situation was resolved and everyone was saved.

Compared to all the previous threats against Equestria, this one allowed for several other characters to have their moment in the spotlight.

 

Celestia and Luna put their own necks on the line to prolong the Frozen North's advance for as long as they could, knowing full well their Alicorn magic could only do so much before they were overwhelmed and had to flee to avoid leaving Equestria leaderless. When Sunburst reveals he knows how to fix everything, Celestia is willing to go with his plan due to recognizing him as a former student from her School for Gifted Unicorns, and the vast amount of knowledge he had gained during his time there. While Cadance and Shining Armor had Sunburst assist with the Crystalling ceremony, Celestia and Luna support Twilight and Starlight with holding the Crystal Heart together until Sunburst can add the piece from the Crystalling ceremony to restore and strengthen the Heart.

 

Compared to previous season premieres or finales where they ended up being bested in combat or being made the damsels in distress, Celestia and Luna did a lot more here to help protect the Empire and restore the Crystal Heart, not to mention being rewarded for their efforts with what they missed out on back in The Crystal Empire when they remained in Canterlot in the event that King Sombra did return to power: Being granted, albeit temporary, Crystal Pony forms of their own, which looked absolutely beautiful since the Crystal Pony designs have improved a lot since The Crystal Empire.

 

 

I know that there is still some improvement that can be done as we can still see some background through parts of Celestia and Luna, but what we got was truly something to see after Celestia and Luna missed out on being crystallized three seasons ago. And with Celestia and Luna not having much info on naturally-born Alicorns after so many centuries or millennia since their births, it will be interesting to see if we delve more into it this season.

 

 

Also, loved Cadance's new Crystal Pony form as she looked very pretty while Shining Armor looked very handsome with his new Crystal Pony appearance. I do hope we see them, Flurry Heart, and the Royal Sisters again this season before the finale, especially since we never saw the Royal Sisters return to their normal appearance like the others once they left the Empire's borders to go home to Canterlot.

 

Despite a few complaints on my part with some nitpicks, I give the premiere a 10/10 and hope to see more of the Royal Family this season, especially if we delve deeper into Celestia and Luna's history that is not provided in The Journal of the Two Sisters.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Sonic5421

[DiscordS9 11]

And I'm ready for a Flurry plush toy. Oooooooo so cute! So is Flurry a girl pony??

 

So sweet Shining Armor thinking of Cadances lack of sleep. What a good husband!

 

Darn-was wishing to see a pregnant Princess Cadence!

[weesh 690]

So is Flurry a girl pony??

 

um.

good question.

do they ever use pronouns?

 

or do we just assume that only gals can be alicorns?

[SaraEH 398]

I loved the innocence in flurry heart even tho she was a total trouble maker 

[Sonic5421 423]

I loved the innocence in flurry heart even tho she was a total trouble maker 

Yeah, but now that Cadance and Shining Armor have Sunburst keeping an eye on her and helping control her magic better, I think she will be a great addition to the Royal Family after Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight as an Alicorn Princess.

[Pastel 7,627]

And I'm ready for a Flurry plush toy. Oooooooo so cute! So is Flurry a girl pony??

 

um.

good question.

do they ever use pronouns?

 

or do we just assume that only gals can be alicorns?

Yeah she is (IIRC they said "her" or "she" at one moment).

It really disappointed me, I really wanted a male alicorn...

Edited April 10, 2016 by Blobulle

[Underling 1000 11]

The changelings shall rise again and hopefully make a big appearance in the future of season 6

[Sonic5421 423]

I loved these episodes. Awkward Starlight is so adorable, especially coupled with awkward Sunburst. I said that one of the things that would have made the S5 finale even better is if Starlight was reunited with Sunburst. Looks like I'm not the only one who thought so too, and it was just sweet as I thought it would be.

 

Moving on to Flurry Heart, I don't hate the fact that she's an alicorn. I warmed up to her pretty fast after she sneezed and a FREAKING LASER-BEAM shot out her head, almost making me double over with laughter. Time will tell how much she comes into play in the future, along with how much of an impact Starlight will have on this season ()especially since they included her in the opening group photo).

 

Also points for the writers for actually having Celestia and Luna do something rather than just stand around. Granted, they couldn't defeat the oncoming storm, but they did last far longer than Dash and likely bought the others precious minutes to find a solution. Though, I noticed that when everyone is crystallized, they all have unique Crystal Pony models except for Celestia and Luna, who just have the crystal texture applied over their old model. Come on, a least put ribbons in their hair or something!   

 

If I had to find fault, it would be that you could see a lot of stuff coming way ahead of time. Like, the moment Flurry Heart was separated from Pinkie, you knew something bad was going to happen. (On that note, "Don't tell them about the Crystal Heart!", sends Applejack, Equestria's worst liar) Or when they found the SUPER IMPORTANT book that was VITAL to restoring the Crystal Heart and that they were lucky to find UNDAMAGED.

 

Murphy, that's your cue. 

 

Another minor nitpick is Cadence's line while they're in the library: "Shining Armor, I though you were watching the baby?" Not only does her delivery irk me for some reason, but has she been paying attention to what's been going on the last five minutes of Shining, Pinkie and Rarity running around while trying to corner the surprisingly nimble foal as she flies and teleports circles around them?

 

Still, despite my nitpicks, I really liked this opener. As always, let's hope that this will be a sign of good things to come for the quality of this season.

If you're upset about Celestia and Luna only getting the crystal overcoat and matching eyes compared to everypony else, check out the vectors that these two users on DA thought up of what Celestia and Luna would've looked like as Crystal Ponies before we got their canon versions in this past season premiere:

 

http://vector-brony.deviantart.com/art/Crystal-Princess-Celestia-355789787

http://vector-brony.deviantart.com/art/Crystal-Princess-Luna-355641138

 

http://theshadowstone.deviantart.com/art/Crystal-Princess-Celestia-394494809

http://theshadowstone.deviantart.com/art/Crystal-Princess-Luna-579926250

 

I hope that helps.

I liked the episode ^^

 

I guess we were lucky to have the new season so soon after S5 because we were unlucky to have so many Hiatusses in S5 They kept pushing episodes back and back during 5...

 

Wasn't so sure of Starlight at first, she seemed a bit to timid early on, but I loved how she kept her sass anyway.

Not really digging the new manestyle though, it's to similar to Rarity's and her bangs looked better on her

 

Also, Sunburst used to be Celestia's student as well? What's the story there, hope to get an ep on that too.

 

I was also surprised that Luna and Celestia weren't born Alicorns. What are the odds of 2 siblings becoming Alicorns. They should get a mini series to see that development

 

And, come on pll, why didn't Luna and Celestia get pretty Mane-Do's like the rest of them!!!

 

8/10 for the double episode from me

Here, check out these artists on DA who have done vectors of Celestia and Luna as Crystal Ponies before this premiere aired to take your mind off of them not being given the mane and tail makeovers that everypony else in the Mane Cast got.

 

http://vector-brony.deviantart.com

http://theshadowstone.deviantart.com

 

Hope that helps.

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

Since i stopped watching the Show and turned over to the Dc Fandom, this were the first Mlp Episodes i watched, after a 1-2 Year old break and...their were meh.

 

I dont know...when i try to think about something that i could write here...i barely remember stuff...even though i watched the Episode today...

 

I mean, there was no fight...that a babys scream can destroy the heart...it was meh. 

I dont want to be a downer...but...i guess im used to more action and more seriousness now.

It cant really hold up, to my Dc Stuff.

And even comparing it to other Season Premieres...well, at least those had fights.

The overall Story of the Episode was kinda uninteresting...there were funny parts that made me laugh. thats for sure. 

But other than a few smiles...it wasnt really exciting.

 

The second Part got a little better, with the entire Mane 7 and Princess Group, searching for a Spell and running into chaos, when they are trying to catch Flurry Heart.

That Part was more interesting.

So, i definitely like the second part more. 

Thats all i can say about the premiere, i think. Also its great, that this time, Celestia and Luna are helping and that all the princesses are working together. 

 

The only other thing that comes to my mind is, why did...what was his name?   Uhmm..Sunburst? Why did Sunburst got his cutie mark apparently earlier than Starlight, if Starlight was presented in this Episode, to be way more powerful and better at Magic, than Sunburst?

Or maybe she already had her Cutie Mark and i just didnt saw it. 

[Phoenix Carann 6]

So, the moral of this episode:

 

Don't have alicorn babies. Just don't. It's a horrible idea and they could destroy the world!

[Quinch 1,119]

@, you're exaggerating.

 

It's only one city.

[Aurora Glimmer 494]

I think I've realized what rubbed me the wrong way about Starlight Glimmer in the premiere. Throughout the premiere, Starlight Glimmer came off not as remorseful, but self-pitying. She constantly obsessed over what'd happened to her as a foal as if it was the worst thing ever, obsessed over what Sunburst would think of her and tried to weasel her way out of meeting with Sunburst so she could avoid dealing with something unpleasant. Everything in Glimmer's life seems to revolve around her feelings of victimization at the hooves of others. It is difficult for me to feel sorry for a character that's inflicted so much suffering onto others, yet sees themselves as a victim and engages in constant self-pity. To make matters worse, it seems as though Twilight is doing nothing to combat these feelings of self-pity within Glimmer - if anything, she's coddling Glimmer like a spoiled child, effectively reinforcing these negative behaviors and preventing her from fully accepting responsibility for her actions. I really hope the writers start moving Glimmer away from constantly being mopey and feeling sorry for herself as the season progresses, otherwise her redemption is going to fall flat (or rather, continue to fall flat) for me and a whole bunch of other fans.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Silvestra Spooner

[Liam_marshall 42]

what did i think ? i thought the 2 episodes was really awesome the foal been so powerful i was not expecting at all   

[Discovery Dream 592]

I only ever seem to watch the two-parters anymore, because I find them the most engaging and fun to watch having mostly moved on to other things.

 

I still love Starlight Glimmer. I'm glad she's joined the cast, and she's very cute. I thought the overall storyline was a bit silly, but hey, talking technicolor horses aren't exactly a logical concept. The only thing I thought was weird was that I had assumed alicorn-ness was genetic; it would make sense in a hereditary principality and all, but I guess that wasn't the case. Oh well

 

My favorite, favorite part was the subplot with Starlight and Sunburst, almost entirely because I think Sunburst is an adorable delight with a great design and a relatable personality. I liked the whole "sometimes you don't grow up to be what you expected to be" thing, and his issues in school. It was a small thing that I probably shouldn't be blowing out of proportion, but I really appreciated the writers throwing that in there. It's reassuring.

 

Anyways, nice premiere overall.