S03:E13 - Magical Mystery Cure

[Commander Frost 731]

I Loved the episode and I think twilight sparkle will be a great princess. although I never would of guessed shed become a princess.

and by the way at the end of the crystal empire episode did ANYPONY else see the book luna held up? it wasw the same book celestia sent her!!! This proves she Princess Trollestia

[Misty Shadow 7,901]

You know, I used to think this was just an okay episode. Not so much anymore. I really like it now, and in fact, it's even become one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. I'm also one of the few who actually thought the pacing of this one was near perfect (granted you count that they only had twenty minutes to cover it all).

 

I'm totally looking forward to Twilight's adventures in season 4 as an alicorn.

[CodeNameTwilicorn 3]

I personally really enjoyed this episode on my first watch. Although, it took me a bit to get used to Princess Twilight, but I warmed up to the idea. I thought the pacing was fine, but I still wish it was a two-parter. The pony antics that usually fill the epsiodes are something I look forward to in episodes of MLP. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the episode, and it it really got me excited for season 4. The wait is just too long!

[Emperor Posh 360]

This has to be my favorite episode so far, the emotion in this episode was very strong and well done in my opinion. Though it could have been a two parter, but I am not complaining.

Edited September 30, 2013 by Xelphos

[Marthy 15]

Even though half the episode was songs, none of them could match "This Day Aria" from S2 finale in terms of quality.

 

All the songs seemed so weak in comparison. Only like three of them were pretty good, but still didn't cause an impact as big as the previously mentioned song.

Edited September 30, 2013 by Marth

[Iridescent Star 5]

I wonder. If twilight's going to be a 'princess', is she going to rule equestria someday? I hope twilight doesn't want to be a princess anyway so that mlp can have different changes of the season 4 plans.

[Lunetiz 4]

When the episode came out, I was so eager to get it that I ended up getting it in my I-POD on iTunes (I know that wasn't good idea, but my computer was in the fritz at that time). 

The only thing is that I was hoping they would have made this into a two part episode (seeing as those episodes tend to be better (or at least to my opinion). It just felt too rushed considering the good story writing that they had. I mean that over half the show was made up of songs, which isn't bad songs (I enjoyed at least two songs of them), but being 22 minutes and having the known episode of MLP: FiM with the most songs crammed into an episode. That just gave it a "musical" atmospheric scenery *don't know if that was the right use of words*, but don't get me wrong; I enjoy a good tune from here and there (but seriously, this felt like a "High School Musical" only ponies rather than humans, and Ponyville rather than a high school)  

I guess that the only thing left to mention is that they left some questions for the show (eg. What is the true origins of an alicorn? Did Celestia truly try to help Twilight so that she would make her princess from the very beginning? Is it really only unicorns that can become alicorn? Was Cadence always an alicorn, or was she a unicorn before? What was that whole deal with magic unable to effect the cutie mark, when this episode just states the opposite? Also, how was Twilight able to fly so well in the end when the movie tells another story?

Sorry,  I know that there are people (and ponies) out there that enjoy a lot of musical and singing, but I guess that just me that don't enjoy it as much.

[Strong Copper 126]

I honestly don't understand why people freaked out some much about this episode. From the way they made it sound as if the show was canceled and the fandom was falling about. Neither of which happened. I've seen more stories, fan art and music videos created in the past view months then for any other series in it's down time and everyone is just gearing up for season 4 to get started. Let us hope it lives up to expectations. 

[Xenopone 6]

A lot of bronies lost it even before this episode aired. I was not warm to the idea of Twilight becoming a princess back then, but like many others, I've grown to accept it. I'm actually also curious as to whether there will be a season 4 episode focused on adjusting to her wings.

 

I appreciated the episode back then for what it was worth though, especially the segment with "Celestia's Ballad". I'm looking forward to the episode where Twilight represents Equestria as an ambassador in foreign nations (e.x. the Griffon Kingdom, the Crystal Empire, zebra-land, etc.).

[~Tian_Disharmony~ 48]

I have been waiting all morning for this episode. I'm happy yet sad that she is becoming an Alicorn. Only one more episode till it happens.

 

I know a lot of people don't want this to happen, and a lot are fine with it, but I'm kinda ok with it. I know that Hasbro will make it work some how, they have done it before, they can do it again hopefully. I'm worried a bit, but not to much. 

Agreed, I like it because  if her brother is a Prince now what is she? Maybe a princess of an element , but season 4 can solve this mystery.

[firestream 15]

was one of my fav episode's i enjoyed it a lot.

bit 1 thing it needed to be longer then the 22 minuts witch 13.55 minuts ws just music :/

[Glaci 119]

I loved all the emotion in that episode. It's easily my favorite in the season, now that I really think about it. There were a couple of scenes in particular that drove a lot of emotion out of me.

 

The first scene was when twilight was sitting on her bed in the window crying and asking what she did wrong.

 

The second was when Pinkie came back to being herself and immideately cheered all of the ponies up, and they all shouted her name. If you want me to be honest, I'm a softie, and I teared up a bit at that.

[Roaming Logic 6]

I felt indifferent about the ending of this episode, but I can agree with Marth that each song lacked in quality in the face of S2's "This Day Aria".  I would dare say that the songs nearly ruined the episode for me.  As for the feels...

 

*May or may not be a dramatization.

 

I'll admit I had some liquid pride (it's cool Shining), but I can't help but feel some ominous turn is in the works.  (If it's not cool for me to post gifs and images as frequently as I do, please let me know.  Ditto with the below.)

 

Signs I can see:

• Sombra's horn was intact at the beginning of S3.
• Discord's reform seemed a tad dubious
• Chrysalis still lives (?)

 

Bah, once more I prove my name is Roaming Logic.

Edited October 16, 2013 by Roaming Logic

[Deathmark1999 7]

After finishing the topic I was actually weirded out. 

Twilight became a alicorn, YAY! But the whole episode was just... I dunno, the process... XD It lacks a lil bit of something that I can't express it to words :/ 

[Charming Shadow 2]

I didn't really like this episode that much. I felt like I took a kick in the heart when Discord got reformed, and now this? This main character of the whole season becomes nearly equal to the most powerful being in Equestria... that just seemed idiotic to me. If you wanted to ruin the show, why don't you just make Pinkie Pie the ruler of the world. Then all of the water supplies in Equestria would become chocolate milk. Just saying. 

[standard 9]

It's a really good episode I have no idea why you guys keep whining because the purple pony got wings

and here you guys are with your red and black maned alicorn ocs.

[CultOfTheNorth 32]

It's a really good episode I have no idea why you guys keep whining because the purple pony got wings

and here you guys are with your red and black maned alicorn ocs.

Looking at the profile pictures of the people who previously left a message on this page I see earth ponies, unicorns, and pegisi. I'm sure that if I went back even further alicorns would be a rare occurrence, another bit of info (Gathered from their profile pages) is that only one of the people on this page say that alicorns are the best race, and four who say luna is best pony. There is some good news for you though, there is one other person who thinks that twilight is best pony and that is CodeNameTwilicorn.

[SkyStorm 334]

Anyone else notice in the cutie mark song they sing, when it's RD's bit, her real cutie mark shows at one point? hahahaha when she scoots past, side on, chasing animals, rather then butterflies there is that familiar rainbow lightning bolt

[GreyScholar 1,584]

I guess that the only thing left to mention is that they left some questions for the show (eg. What is the true origins of an alicorn? Did Celestia truly try to help Twilight so that she would make her princess from the very beginning? Is it really only unicorns that can become alicorn? Was Cadence always an alicorn, or was she a unicorn before? What was that whole deal with magic unable to effect the cutie mark, when this episode just states the opposite? Also, how was Twilight able to fly so well in the end when the movie tells another story?

Question 1: Well Lauren Faust has it established that Celestia and Luna are born alicorns, having actually said that they lived with their parents in the old castle found in the Everfree Forest before moving to Canterlot (either before or after the events of Princess Luna becoming Nightmare Moon). It has also been said by Meghan McCarthy that Twilight will NOT outlive her friends, thus suggesting that Twilight and Cadance are different then the royal sisters. Hasbro and the writers may give something different of the origins of the royal sisters, perhaps in the episode where it 'seems' Twilight goes back in time to see for herself what happened one thousand years ago.

 

Question 2: Even if Princess Celestia took Twilight in as her student for her own reasons I feel that it wouldn't make that a bad thing. The princess knew she would need to find a pony that could reactivate the Elements of Harmony since she could no longer do so and because she knew they would be needed to save her sister from Nightmare Moon. One can perhaps even offer the fact that each of the potential ponies that could bear the Elements lived in Ponyville, something that perhaps Princess Celestia had a hoof in.

 

It was also established by Lauren Faust she had always intended for Princess Celestia to have Twilight be her successor, though not in  way Hasbro and the other writers decided to do it, with Twilight becoming an alicorn and princess. Though I question the last point as what would you call one that becomes a successor to a Princess and highest authority in the land but by the same title?

 

Questions 3 and 4: Nope and yes Princess Cadance was not always an alicorn. In the book Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart spell it shows Princess Cadance had been an orphan pegasus taken in and raised by earth ponies. As well as show that she became an alicorn herself after defeating a certain foe and being sent to the 'astral plane' (though it has no official name I believe) and she was found their by Princess Celestia... which also shows that such a transformation does come from within and confirming Princess Celestia did not turn Twilight into an alicorn.

 

Question 5: I believe that episode only showed that you couldn't force a cutiemark to appear with magic, though it also shows a potion could, and that there was no known way to effect a pony's cutiemark. Starswirl's spell was unfinished and perhaps had no effect when he used it, as it has been established that perhaps he didn't have friends and likely lived alone for the most part though at one time he did have Clover as an apprentice. The spell seemed to directly effect the Elements of Harmony and thus those that wielded these Elements apart from the caster of the spell.

 

Question 6: I believe that was meant for effect and maybe simply a burst of enthusiasm. Also remember Pumpkin Cake was able to fly without training but will need to learn when he gets older. It has also been shown in a possible scene drawing that may be part of a future episode where it seems to show Rainbow Dash possibly teaching Twilight how to fly.

Edited October 29, 2013 by EquestrianScholar

[Jordanss10 5]

I liked this episode even though I feel like it was almost "incomplete". There was a bit more songs then usually, almost half the show! I wasn't expecting Twilight to become a princess here. For some reason I though that was going to happen in the movie. I guess it will have to be something to get used to. Although, I think is a good thing because it allowed the writers to come up with stories relating to any conflict she could have with friends now that's she a princess.

 

Next... The movie...

 

Cannot wait until Season 4 is released!

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

I was thinking... I know, I know, it's a dangerous pastime, but...

There is a lot of confusion about the cutie mark swap in Magical Mystery Cure and what it means. Are the Mane 6 defined by their destinies, their cutie marks or their jobs in Ponyville? Something I realized is that, in a certain sense, there isn't much difference.

What are the destinies of the Mane 6? To be the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, of course. When Twilight cast the incomplete spell, it acted on the Elements of Harmony. The magic started with Twilight's crown, and then spread to the rest. Since her Element was only revealed when the other five were gathered, it makes sense that it can affect the others in such a way.

Does this contradict Call of the Cutie, where it was "established" that cutie marks are not magically mutable? No, not if you accept that Starswirl's spell acted on the Elements of Harmony, the physical manifestation of their destinies (their Manifest Destiny, if you will) and that when their destinies were switched, the cutie marks naturally followed suit. This is a very different situation to what was presented in CotC. There is no contradiction. To even ask that question caters to a fallacy. The cutie marks were never affected by magic, only the Mane 6's destinies, of which the cutie marks are a visual representation.

So now the question becomes this: How do the jobs of the Mane 6 in Ponyville related to their destinies as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony? For Fluttershy, it's pretty easy to see how her caring for small animals, and even her ability to understand them, derives from her position as the Element of Kindness. Pinkie Pie as the Element of Laughter is scarcely more difficult to fathom... she lives in a sweet shop, she throws parties and cheers up everypony in town.

For Rainbow Dash, I suggest that her role as Ponyville's weather pony is tied to her Element of Loyalty. Even in the pilot, she tells Twilight "I'd never leave Ponyville hanging." Naturally, her denial of the Shadowbolts later in the episode is also an expression of her loyalty, but the second one doesn't negate the first, it only reinforces it.

Rarity is the Element of Generosity, and there too, her job can be considered an extension of her Element. She is using her talents to create things of beauty that other ponies can enjoy. The fact that she doesn't do it free of charge is im-material. (See what I did there?)

To be honest (the puns just keep on coming, folks) it's not immediately clear how Applejack fits into the framework. She also produces things for other ponies, so why is she the Element of Honesty, rather than Generosity? Firstly, she's more about working together with her family than giving up of herself to others. Secondly, she produces something that is consumable, as opposed to Rarity, where there is a potential for one of her creations to become something longer lasting than an apple pie. Even in real life, clothes are passed down the generations (think wedding dresses). Thirdly, the phrase often heard is "an honest day's work", and where else but at an apple farm (or any other kind of farm) can a phrase be so readily applied?

And finally Twilight. I think it could be said that she doesn't really have a job in Ponyville. She doesn't seem to be acting as a librarian, although she does occasionally recommend books to others or re-shelve the library. She doesn't run the place, because that's Mayor Mare's job. Her "job" is to learn and report to Princess Celestia about the magic of friendship. In Magical Mystery Cure, she reaches a certain plateau in that job, and is thus "promoted" to a higher station.

Now does this remove all the question marks raised by the events of Magical Mystery Cure? Indeed, it does not. But I think it is a different way of looking at those events, and for me, goes some way to explaining what happened.
 

Thoughts?

[Ac3xAssasin 453]

I think it was a little short for such a huge change; however, I don't understand why everyone is freaking out about Twilight becoming an Allicorn.  I for one am excited to see how it will pan out in Season 4.  

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

Am I the only one who is confused about what was actually swapped?

 

When Twilight casted the incomplete spell and switched everyone's cutie marks, everyone thought that they were suppose to be doing the other's talents which means they're memories must've got messed up.Yet, later when Spike says to just use the memory restoration spell Twilight had used during Discord's fiasco. Twilight says it wasn't their memories that were wrong, just their destiny.

 

To me; it WAS there memory because they forgot who they really were.

[Singe 2,111]

Well clearly their bodies remembered what to actually do while their minds were not. The solution was just rehabilitation.

 

Twilight overdramatized the problem.

Edited November 7, 2013 by Singe

[Renon Strike 67]

A lot of Bronies were taken back by the amount of songs from start to finish, we realized that it was going to be a musical episode, i think if  Daniel Ingram did not make MLP songs he would have likely get into Broadway musicals.