S09:E26 - The Last Problem

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,526]

Title: The Last Problem
US Air Date: October 12th, 2019
Written by: Josh Haber
Synopsis: Years from now, Princess Twilight is visited by a student with a friendship problem. As she attempts to solve it, she looks back on the times she and the Mane Six spent together.

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This is it. The end of the line. The end of season nine. The end of Friendship is Magic (at least the moving-picture part of it - the comics have a few issues left yet; please don't riot, IDW fans). Show's over, fandom's dead, nothing to see here anymore. Everycreature, shoo and go home already; the apocalypse has come and gone.



What are you still waiting for?

...

Wait, right.

Episode 24+25's title was a lie. THIS is the End of the End of the End...... of the End?



Join our adorkable purple equine for the last time as she shows us the grand outcome of Former Sun God Celestia's decade-long personal training program to weaponize friendship in defending Equestria and infecting the entire world with her harmony propaganda.

There's just one teeeeny tiiiiny wrinkle: Equestria's last friendship problem went unsolved. Watch the glorious Twilight Sparkle find out she missed something in taking over the world commemorate a lifelong tour-de-force of unforgettable memories to fix it. Will she finally fail at something? Will we get one last round of Twilighting? Did she even survive the battle from E24+25?

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If you're looking for something fun and special to do to pay your respects to Friendship is Magic, try writing a friendship lesson letter to Princess Twilight Sparkle about what her adventures have shown you, what you learned, and how the show affected your life. She'll be pleased to read all about it now that her own world's problems are all over.

You can adapt the following template to get started!

 

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

Thank you for <something - or many somethings - positive you took away from the show>.

Before I discovered that Friendship is Magic, <a peek into your life before ponies>.

Now that it's over, <what changed in your life since your journey as a ponyfan began>.

Your faithful student,
~<NAME>

 

Maybe she'll even compile another Friendship Journal if she gets enough of them.

 

One final, personal note: All good things come to an end. Don't be sad that the show is over. Be happy that you were along for the ride!

 

[Cash In 22,214]

I would like to advise viewers on something - I'm not spoiling anything, don't worry. Now, pay very close attention to the things happening in the background during the episode, as well as the very small details and references scattered throughout. You'll understand what I mean once you watch it.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Cash In

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,594]

All I'll say is that I loved it.

[Kevin 160]

If you had told me 9 years ago that I would fall in love with a show featured multi-colored ponies, I would have laughed and thought you were crazy. Yet here I am 9 years later crying about the show ending.

This show has made a tremendous impact on me that will stick with me for the rest of my life and leave me memories that I will carry with me.

When it first started, I was a year into my current job, just started solo travelling, and still living at home. Now here I am 9 years later, in a successful career, having travelled the world, and am now living on my own.

MLP has given me the opportunity to meet new people whom I've become great friends with. It has helped gotten me through a sudden passing of a close friend of mine and getting out of a very toxic friendship. I've learned so much from i and it has gotten me through the best and worst of times.

Even though the show itself may be over, I'm not saying goodbye, but instead "see you soon!".

Finally, instead of being sad that it's over, I'm happy that it happened.

Thank you, MLP.

[YoshiAngemon 223]

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

Thank you for sharing the Magic of Friendship with me.
Before I discovered that Friendship is Magic, I used to want to work, and would never hold a job.

Now that it's over, I am a much better person, and will be playing with family a bit more often..

Your faithful student,
~YoshiAngemon

I even tweeted an appropriate response for the series ending on Twitter:

"Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them along the way, in that enchanted place called Equestria, the Little Ponies will always be waiting."

I mean, with lessons on Friendship said and done, maybe lessons on Teamwork won't be far behind, and with Mickey Mouse: Mixed-Up Adventures on the horizon, the new Hot Dog Dance seems tempting to do! While it IS a rebranding of Roadster Racers, it still seems the same.

Edited October 13, 2019 by YoshiAngemon

[Fluttershutter 2,400]

Okay, who's proud that they cried?

[Will Guide 21,360]

I will say this first and foremost. I like how the series end the way it began: with a book.

When it come to the song I had to watch it twice. Once to focus on the song itself and again to see all the characters in the background and how they aged over the years.

Near the end of the Song, the Mane 6 jump across the screen as images of the characters appear in the usual forms we see them as and I like how when it comes to the pets, the Pillars, and the Student 6, they're evenly spread out so one pony gets a pet, a Pillar and a Student. While not a perfect match like the right student gets grouped to the right Mane 6 as most speculated. But in the end, it finishes on an uplifting song, which the show's main tone was about.

More to say later

[YoshiAngemon 223]

8 minutes ago, Wolf Guide said:

I will say this first and foremost. I like how the series end the way it began: with a book.

When it come to the song I had to watch it twice. Once to focus on the song itself and again to see all the characters in the background and how they aged over the years.

Near the end of the Song, the Mane 6 jump across the screen as images of the characters appear in the usual forms we see them as and I like how when it comes to the pets, the Pillars, and the Student 6, they're evenly spread out so one pony gets a pet, a Pillar and a Student. While not a perfect match like the right student gets grouped to the right Mane 6 as most speculated. But in the end, it finishes on an uplifting song, which the show's main tone was about.

More to say later

Yeah, Twilight got a Pillar, but also Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry as part of HER Background. But that doesn't mean he marries Twilight.

[Misty Shadow 7,842]

This final episode is...curious. Unlike The Ending of the End, which was an adrenaline-pumping action thriller, this episode feels more like a...poetic finale. And I must be honest, it is a very good poetic finale. I love how it shows that Spike really did finally get some respect getting to sit as Twilight’s right-hand man, stays true to the promise of Twilight not outliving her friends, and stays consistent with the final two-parter’s showcasing of all the characters, giving us the feeling that all of Equestria’s story ended on a good note. It’s probably just a matter of taste that I wasn’t as into it as the last two-parter, even as the only real stake of the conflict is the question of whether or not friendship really does last forever. It is the best challenge for the show to tackle before it wraps up though, and I like the way it faces it through showing us a great moral about how the pursuit of perfection is futile. You’re only a failure if you have no one to laugh about your failings with...it really is the perfect follow-up to The Ending of the End’s moral of how there would always be darkness in the world, but from that darkness comes the light. It really shows what made this show so great, and that’s why I still love this finale.

[Jonny Music 3,400]

A great way to end an animated TV series that lasted for almost a decade.

This show has changed my life in so many ways that I'd never imagine. I will always be grateful for what the staff at Hasbro and DHX did for this show.

I am aware that Season 10 is going to be in comic book form, so we can expect the Brony Animation community to animate them anyway.

Though I am cautiously optimistic for G5 and the movie coming next year. Though I have my busy lifestyle to keep me occupied while I am awaiting them.

Just because the show ends, doesn't mean the fandom has to.

I'll still be here sharing the magic of friendship with all of you (albeit not very actively, though I may not leave the forums here, as this site was a part of me becoming a Brony, and being proud of it).

See you on the flip-side.

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,594]

5 minutes ago, CloudMistDragon said:

This final episode is...curious. Unlike The Ending of the End, which was an adrenaline-pumping action thriller, this episode feels more like a...poetic finale. And I must be honest, it is a very good poetic finale. I love how it shows that Spike really did finally get some respect getting to sit as Twilight’s right-hand man, stays true to the promise of Twilight not outliving her friends, and stays consistent with the final two-parter’s showcasing of all the characters, giving us the feeling that all of Equestria’s story ended on a good note. It’s probably just a matter of taste that I wasn’t as into it as the last two-parter, even as the only real stake of the conflict is the question of whether or not friendship really does last forever. It is the best challenge for the show to tackle before it wraps up though, and I like the way it faces it through showing us a great moral about how the pursuit of perfection is futile. You’re only a failure if you have no one to laugh about your failings with...it really is the perfect follow-up to The Ending of the End’s moral of how there would always be darkness in the world, but from that darkness comes the light. It really shows what made this show so great, and that’s why I still love this finale.

This feels like a good summation of what made the show so appealing, it's focus on characters and slice-of-life storytelling.

[Twilight Luna 31,340]

Well, it ended like I thought it would. The series began with the opening of a book and it ended with the closing of a book. Are we to assume that Rainbow and Applejack are a couple?

[Toastypk 923]

My god guys. I can't even...

Foreward first off... I'm iffy about time skips. I know how they make sense and everything but there's something inherently a bit sad about them. I don't want to jump into the future with those I'm so attached to. I'm a gigantic "in the present" guy. A big OCD of mine is thinking about futures and what happens. And it's always in the sad and negative... and the old-related. When I saw the description of the episode indicating that that would be happening... I got a smidge tense. But this episode... holy crap. It was something.

And it seemed to address that in its own way.

I'll be honest, because of my personal things, it's hard for me to see the mane 6 in their 40s or whatever. I feel a bit of sadness about it. But the episode was far from that!

I mean, I know it's basically my choice whether to see this episode as "presesnt" or "future". I choose future, because that doesn't make it seem like things are going to be missed with the mane 6, but that was almost sort of what the episode was about in a a roundabout way. I know the comics are going to be picking up the mantle, and it will probably be with the non-future perspective, so there's that.

I have almost no friends, and especially not ones that I do things on a regular basis with, which is a big irony for such a big fan of this show. It's hard for me, Aspergers will do that to you. Never really figuring out how to 100% come out of your own and be yourself with others. But this episode made me tell the one friend online that I talk to often enough how grateful I am that I do. All I have left to do is, as the lyric in the song said, let down your wall.

And Little Cheese oh my god.

But yeah, beautiful. With a hint of sadness on my part, but amazing nonetheless. I need to really take this episode's themes to heart.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Toastypk

[Sonic5421 423]

I'm...*sniffs*...I'm not sure I can hold myself together long enough to say this...

The final episode of the series, and it ends like how the series began. The series began with the book opening up on the story of how Celestia and Luna ruled together before Luna fell to darkness and became Nightmare Moon, and ends with the book closing on that final image of an older Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends seeing off her own protege as she leaves to continue spreading the Magic of Friendship, bringing the series, and Generation 4, to a heartbreaking end.

I'm not sure a lot of Bronies and Pegasisters got through the end of the episode without breaking down at the end of the final song as it symbolically ended the series and left us looking forward to Generation 5. I know I turned on the waterworks big time when the song ended and I saw the book close to end the series.

At least we got to see what became of many of our favorite characters since then. We got to see older versions of the Student Six, Starlight, Sunburst, the Crusaders, Big Mac, Sugar Belle, and many more. Not to mention seeing so many various creatures now mingling among the ponies, especially enrolled in the School of Friendship.

This episode has definitely earned a perfect 10, if not 10,000/10, from me.

To Lauren, Meghan, Daniel, and everyone who brought us Twilight and her friends for the past decade, thank you. God Bless Your Huge Hearts For Giving Us This Series That Will Live In Our Hearts Forever.

All that is left for me to add is this link to remind us that this is not truly the end of Friendship Is Magic as long as the Brony Community lives on and keeps it alive from here on out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh85vJ_Utyc

(Sorry, don't know how to post videos here like I've seen with other users.)

Thank You My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic. You truly have changed a lot of lives for the better.

[AlbaTross 1,586]

*Sniff*  I'm sad it's over, but the end of the era, much like the end of a chapter of my life, is not the end of everything.  I'm thankful I came across this series, and it taught me so much about friendship.  Truth be told it's hard to say if I would have ended up where I am now if I hadn't come across this series.  Things are different for me now, and are continuing to change, but here's hoping this is just the start of a more awesome era.  I am hoping there will be an Elements of Harmony Volume III too for the lessons from the last three seasons.  Heck, I would legit buy a "Friendship Tome" that's literally just a book of the lessons printed in the Elements of Harmony Guidebooks that span every episode from all 9 seasons.  Hopefully the comics keep coming for a while (that Season 10 announcement has me stoked), and although the books seem to be slowing down I hope that's not the last we've seen of them either.  I'll see you all around and hopefully the future is bright (and G5 doesn't suck).

[Toastypk 923]

25 minutes ago, CloudMistDragon said:

The Ending of the End’s moral of how there would always be darkness in the world, but from that darkness comes the light.

I had tried imagining and wondering lots of different ways the show would end, but RPG stories would always keep coming into mind any time. For some reason I kept glomming onto Final Fantasy 4, whose ending basically has the same message.

Darkness cannot be destroyed, but as long as there is that darkness so is there the light to fight against it. When I heard that line in the show, I was amazed. It's the perfect line for it.

And speaking of FF, listen to the end song again while listening to the credits songs from Final Fantasy 9. It works absurd levels of well.The wonderfulness of the song, the Final Fantasy feel, and even the lyrics.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Toastypk

[Lucky Bolt 35,062]

Okay, so the fact that Pinkie Pie is a mother now is still sinking in...just going to say that.  Also I'd like to point out why her kid looks so much like Fluttershy (color scheme wise). I mean, yellow body and pink mane? Come on now. Still though, I couldn't be more happy because Pinkie Pie x Cheese Sandwich (MY FAVORITE PINKIE PIE SHIP EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!) is a CANON thing now and their kid is downright adorable (even though she looks too similar to Fluttershy). 

Ahem, it also seems as though FlutterCord is a thing now (possibly...or at least, Discord and Fluttershy live together now?) and Rainbow Dash is now Captain of the Wonderbolts. HA HA good riddance Spitfire! Applejack seems the same. No love life or kids for her, except now she wears what looks like Granny Smith's scarf. :') We also got to see Big Mac and Sugar Belle's child and I about cried at that scene. :'')

Pound and Pumpkin Cake are all grown up (and cute as can be), and it looks like...Yona runs the Carousel Boutique with her....possible boyfriend/husband Sandbar??? While Rarity lives in Yakyakistan apparently. Still trying to wrap my head around all that. I am a bit disappointed we didn't see grown up Flurry Heart. Maybe she rules the Crystal Empire now? 

Anywho, all in all, that was an amazing  (and bittersweet) finale. P.S. Spike and Twilight's new look is badass and I'm loving the design of that new pony (Luster Dawn).

13 minutes ago, Twilight Luna said:

Are we to assume that Rainbow and Applejack are a couple?

YES

[Js250476 1,367]

43 minutes ago, Fluttershutter said:

Okay, who's proud that they cried?

I cried twice watching this finale and have no regrets 

[Moonlight 7,286]

All I'll say is that the song and the closing of the book made me cry like a child...

I've been watching the show for such a long time and even though new episodes may be over I'm happy I was along for the ride ❤️

[MangoFoalix 24,944]

I'm in love with the finale song. One of my favorite songs from the show.

[Twilight Luna 31,340]

4 minutes ago, TheTaZe said:

I'm in love with the finale song. One of my favorite songs from the show.

I've added it to my playlist. I'll be listening to it at work tomorrow.

[jorge123esp 912]

This was by far the best possible way to end MLP. Still hoping to know more about the G5 and the S10 comics.

Let's continue this ride everypony! 

[Cash In 22,214]

Well, here we have it. I don't know what to say. The time skip definitely answered some questions and we can now see the fate of the characters years later. I mostly liked how things turned out, but I'm kinda thrown off the fact that Twilight will outlive her friends. I can only imagine how much fanwork will thrive of this episode. I guess I'd end things here, but, I'll be honest - I shed a tear. I rarely cry, so for this to make shed a single tear says a lot. I guess you know what they say - When a book closes, another opens.

Edited November 29, 2021 by Cash_In

[Steve Piranha 29,419]

Well, I don’t think I have anything to write that I haven’t written before. Time to say goodbye to our ponies 

Also, I took this picture shortly after I saw the leaked finale. Pretty fitting and timely 

[Jeric 46,850]

This episode. 
 

Nothing can top Perfect Pear, but this may come close to its emotional punch. As each character ran through their respective influences and characters they influenced, it was like a memory download of my fandom journey. I instantly thought who would be in my personal background, and I teared up again. 
 

I’ve met so many friends over the years and I’ve lost some too. I’ve had people who have tested me, people I was able to help, and people who have helped me. 
 

Stupid pony show! Why u do dis to me? 
 

I am proud to be a part of this group. No bans for 24 hours cause I’m in a good mood! 
 

(j/k bans you all cause show’s over go home)