I think Princess Twilight was the writers' decision, not the Hasbro execs'

[Commander_PonyShep 349]

Lauren Faust was being vague about Twilight being Celestia's "successor" on purpose, just so that she could allow Meghan McCarthy and the other writers to build upon it from there, on their own, and in their own unique ways.  The writers eventually came up with Princess Twilight to match Lauren's vision with her, but merely planned it for the series finale, before the writers saw this and pushed them to introduce her as early as the S3 finale to sell more toys.

 

So technically, it was the writers' decision to create Princess Twilight, namely as a reflection of her evolution as a character.  It's just that Hasbro made them hasten Princess Twilight's intro to sell more toys.

Edited May 31, 2013 by Commander_PonyShep

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

This topic and post serve an an exact answer to the question you posed in this earlier topic, which serves as a central hub for sharing our opinions or feelings on the issue, so it has been locked.