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lol yeah, I just liked the wat – ness of it. I would crop out celestia and caption "soon" above her if I felt like it right now. Also your need for context amuses me.

@dat new episode clip

I love how antagonist heavy this little season is shaping up to be.

While we're all reeling from the new episode content, let's not forget that we have a comic book coming out soon that we can spoil as well.
Looks like they just released the first six pages!
(Kind of low res, but awesome!)
<div class=spoiler title="Page 1">

Indiana Scoots is amazing!
<div class=spoiler title="Page 2">
<div class=spoiler title="Page 3">

Oh, god!
FEATHERS!
<div class=spoiler title="Page 4">

I find this page heart-breaking…
<div class=spoiler title="Page 5">

Nice Bodysnatchers reference in there!

<div class=spoiler title="Page 6">

Read the book titles for extra fun!

So, yeah, this comic is shaping up quite nicely indeed!

Trixie is a bitch.
YA HERE ME, SON OF A BITCH.
YOU'RE GOING DOWN NOW!

Look at what she did to best pony.
Who does that to a pegasus? >;V

Twilight is second best pony, by the way.
(inb4 best pony argument)

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Anyways, so far it looks pretty good. Although I now have genuine semi-hatred towards Trixie, I love how they have brought back an old antagonist!

It seems you're ready for the battle. Do you have a weapon and a heavy metal theme song?

I grab my oversized Katana. FOR THE PEGASI!

Our ninjas shall prevail!

It seems there are a lot more spoilers this season than there were in others, by a fairly large margin. Slightly irritating, as I'm trying to avoid them, and have thus far been unsuccessful, what with image galleries and such. Any input on why it's so spoiler-y now?

I think it has to do with Hasbro marketing. They are firing off a lot more commercials for the show, particularly upcoming episodes. And, of course, these contain a fair amount of info. There's also other leaked information, so it's not all to blame on marketing.

>Trying to avoid any spoilers before watching the new episode
>Everyone in the forum discussing new episode spoilers

So guys, who'd like to discuss R34?

SPOILERS! EVERYWHERE!
@Chowz I forgive you though, because you posted incredibly badass music.

@Random and his R34- well, if you really want to I guess…
I hear that AppleJack is more popular then Dash in R34. I can't get much confirmation on that though.

I'M THROWING MONEY AT MY COMPUTER SCREEN AND NOTHING IS HAPPENING!!!

In all seriousocity though, THIS COMIC LOOKS FANTASTIC! When does it launch?! Where can I pre-order it?! These questions need answers!!!

@Gigatoast

If you're familiar with reddit, you might want to give this page a look. And if you haven't done so already, you'd better install the reddit enhancement suite.

That page has most of the cover variants listed, as well as links to the various stores where they can be ordered. I favor the Double Midnight and Midtown covers myself (and any that have Fluttershy on them, duh).

Now it seems like there's some kind of spoil-a-thon going on in here, so please excuse me while I

@Giga
I decided to go looking for your answers and accidentally made myself even more excited!
I had heard that the release date had been bumped around a bit so I kinda lost track of it, but according to the place I ordered from, it launches on the 28th.
You know, this Wednesday!
Yeah, this Wednesday, this Wednesday!
Now unfortunately for you, as far as I can tell, the first run has already been claimed entirely in pre-orders so it may be difficult to jump on the pony train right now.
(Seriously, there were like 100,000 pre-orders or thereabouts. One of the fastest selling comics in recent history.)
If you have a local comic shop, try checking with them because all of the online retailers I've checked are out of stock for now.
(Unless you happen to live in the U.K./Europe area. Then you might try these guys: Legion Of Comics)
Given the popularity, I'd say a second printing is inevitable though.
You can go in and pre-order issues two and three now from multiple sources so you don't miss those, though.
Good luck!

Edit:
Oh…
Never mind that then.
Looks like Dan found a better resource.
I guess you can still pre-order the first editions now so get to it!

I've been sitting here for a while, and I've come to a conclusion…

The idea of calling them "spoilers" is a joke. And more to the point, fear of them pretty much is to treat what is being spoiled AS a joke.

You see, jokes are only good once. After you've heard it, it's no longer funny. Thus if one spoiles the joke, you waste the joke.

… Shows are something else entirely. They are designed to be great to rewatch, gain new insight, relive, remember, remix. They aren't jokes, and it's hard to argue that having seen a great movie once will stop you seeing it again.

If you're afraid of spoilers, you're afraid that the entire thing is a joke.

I highly doubt that any of the episodes of this show is likely to turn out to be a joke. And so I think we should not be afraid of spoilers.

I hope you guys enjoyed this rant.

Um… And since I feel like the only one that actively seeks out spoilers to hype myself up… I'm begining to be afraid of being called a hipster.

Interesting perspective Zero, but I'm afraid you've missed the mark. If I am avoiding spoilers, it's because I want to experience the entire program the way it was meant to be seen, in full context. To some of us, it greatly lessens the first-time experience of seeing something if we've already been given a bunch of pieces of the story.

Now, I do allow myself a teaser now and then to keep my interest piqued, but when it comes to long previews and over-done synopses, it can start to feel like you've seen all the important stuff before ever watching the episode properly.

Feel free to indulge in spoilers all you like, but as for me, I'd like to be surprised when the time is right.

Watching an episode of a tv show for the first time is a bit different than re-watching it. I go out of my way to avoid spoilers because I want the first time I see an episode to have a somewhat novel experience. I want to see a completely new and original story unfold in front of me. I don't get that with very much media, so I scrounge it wherever I can get it.

Re-watching episodes is still enjoyable, but not in the same way watching it the first time.

So avoiding spoilers helps me keep the episode fresh. If I know the entire story before I watch an episode of anything, I just don't feel as compelled to continue watching. I already know how it ends, and I know the journey to that ending, so why bother?

Edit: I was ninjad by dan.

I love to see the Twilight vs Trixie battle to be similar to the Dante vs Vergil battles.

@Dan & Blind
The thing with me, is that Often the spoilers force me to watch the parts out of order. And watching the episode is where it begins to feel like my brain is actually putting the pieces together.

It's like a mystery novel. You get most of the clues early on, (Although maybe not all of them) but it ideally should take quite some time for you to be able to figure out what happened.

For example… Say i watched the last episode's scenes without the continuity between them. I could easily come to the conclusion the events went this way:

-The CMC build a float for themselves (Building Scene)
-Babs arrives and smashes the float (Bab's Scene)
-The CMC decide to sabatage bab's personal Float she made herself (Scenes involving the Egg Timer.)
-Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle get their cutie marks. (Out of context Still of Scootaloo with oily wrench mark on flank.)

… and thus I'd come to the conclusion of "Turnabout is fairplay". As Babs is spurned by Diamond Tiara for Babs accidently causing the CMC to gain cutie marks.

Obviously, that interpretation seems stupid not that we've actually seen the episode. But Continuity is a powerful thing for me when it comes to whether I feel like I've watched it or not. In fact, for me, it is ONLY a complete viewing that can give me the feeling of a complete viewing. As if the scenes are in issolation, I'll end up not knowing what the true sequence of events is till I've seen it.

Just remember what my brain is like…

I agree with Dan. The reason I don't like spoilers is because I want the episode to be a surprise. It makes it more exciting for me if I don't know what to expect.

Although I have to say, just because you know what the plot is going to be, doesn't mean the story is ruined. I mean, let’s take Batman Arkham City for example. Before the game came out, I watched trailers and it got me really hyped up. I knew what the plot was going to be, but it didn’t ruin the experience. It still had all the charters and twists that made the story fun.

Enough about spoilers, can we talk about R34 now?

Rewatched Boast Busters right now…new episode seems to be intriguing.

MFW SPOILER BONANZA:

What evil hath I wrought by posting that link…

Enough about spoilers, can we talk about R34 now?

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Apparently, if there's one thing we hate more than R34 discussion, then it's spoilers.
 
Also, ZeroBlue, remember that not everyone shares your opinion. You can spoil if you want, but don't be surprised if you run off users to talk to (me included.)

If you want to discuss spoilers, then discuss them so that you don't have to tip-toe around information.
If not, then I'd say not discuss them at all and make it a complete surprise.
 
(But to be honest, you can just put things in spoilers. It's not that hard, and then we can all be happy.)

No.
All we need is this:

Oh god mods, please don't kill me for that autoplay. I thought this thread needed more awesome, even though it was already filled to the brim with it.

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MOD NOTE: Kill? Never. It's not that serious. However, we should still follow the rules. Needing more awesome is no excuse to break them. Next time, check with a moderator.

-Verbose

Horrible hybrid of Derpy and Golden Harvest confirmed for season three antagonist.

…Should I have put that in spoiler tags? Mods can edit if they think I should've.

Anyways, serious spoiler discussion serious time. I avoided spoilers like the Crusaders avoided Babs Seed prior to the season three premier, but after watching the spoilers post-premier, I realized there wasn't a whole lot they could have actually ruined for me, not revealing a whole lot more than was common knowledge: King Sombra was returning, Crystal ponies, et cetera, et cetera. I didn't watch any spoilers for Too Many Pinkie Pies because Pinkie Pie, and I didn't watch any for One Bad Seed (or whatever the title was) because, honestly, I wasn't that excited for it and wasn't expecting it to be a good episode. I've watched a couple spoilers for the Trixie return, but they haven't really ruined anything, and frankly I've stopped bothering because at the same time they don't entertain me or satiate my desire for everyone's fanon to be ruined new pony.

Check that new walk cycle. The forelegs, anyways.

@Verbose & Spoilers

Apparently, if there’s one thing we hate more than R34 discussion, then it’s spoilers.

I'd much rather discuss R34 than spoilers right now. I would have enjoyed that last episode much better if I didn't already know Babs was going to be a bully that taunts the CMC into singing about it.

Instead of wondering "how will the CMC deal with this?" I just watched it so I could see when that scene I already saw in the image gallery finally came up. Not as fun.

And now I already know that there is going to be another Trixie episode, great that would have been an excellent WTF moment for me. I would have been pleasantly surprised by that episode, as I was damn certain she would never appear again. But now that moment has already passed.

R34 is just imagery that makes kids squirm. Big deal. I can discuss that today and forget it tomorrow. But spoilers…they really do have a negative impact on me.

Now lets talk about horses in lingerie

…I kid, I kid. But seriously I know spoilers don't mean much to some of you guys and don't make any difference in how you watch the show. But I just want you to know that everyone is different and some people don't handle spoilers quite as well as others. I'm one of those people.

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@Lone K

No autoplay please

Okay, sorry about the autoplay, guys. :(
I'll ask beforehand next time. :\

Verbose, you can remove my autoplay and delete the last line I put.

Oh god, Exudes!
What have you done!
Stop fusing ponies into your unholy abominations!

Also, I ded now:

@Zero, below
Silly, Apple Bloom has always been a kitty!

@Deadparrot
The longer I watch that, the closer i am to seeing that bow as a pair of cat ears.

…And now Applebloom is cat-pony.

Edit: Wow, a lot of people seem to feel strongly about all the spoiler stuff. I often forget that not everyone has lost the ability to feel surprised.

I'm not joking. There's little you can do that will surprise me. It's like some part of me always sees something coming, but I just wasn't aware of it until that point.

That may be why I like Mystery on the MMM Express. I had a feeling of what was going on, like I knew what was going to happen. But the toying with that expectation until it unfolded and my expectations were fulfilled made it fun.

There needs to be a Scooby Doo esque episode… I would love that.

(…man…Its a lonely life when you feel like an oracle…)

@Exudes

Speaking of fusing ponies, I forgot to ask.

Any inspiration from this?

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Twilitlord wrote;

EDIT: Just saw this . Nair is gonna be so pissed that it even exists.

Not really, the ultimate Pony mod pack has been around for ages. PC Gamer just picked up on it very recently. So Nair knew about it ages ago.

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Finally caught up on all the episodes. I'll post all my thoughts soon.

Uh oh, spoilers… Well, thank goodness for spoiler tags!

You know, last season I think I watched every episode spoiler that was released and read every tidbit of information about the new episodes that I could. Now I avoid those things like the plague… I find it is a bit more fun if you have no idea what the episode is about when you watch it for the first time. As someone above already said, although re-watching episodes is enjoyable too, you can only see it for the first time once.

ZeroBlue:

There needs to be a Scooby Doo esque episode… I would love that.

Mane Six Mystery Gang!

"Let's see who Princess Cadance really is!" GASP! "Queen Chrysalis???"

"…And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling ponies!"

@Spoilers: I didn't actually get to see an episode the day it first aired until Crystal Empire. Because of that, I was already familiar with what happened in the major and/or popular episodes, and they'd already been spoiled for me. Plus, my first half-dozen episodes were Hub reruns in no particular order, so I knew about the CMC before their first episode, for example.

When it came to Crystal Empire, I made a point to try to avoid most spoilers. I would look at stills, and I read synopses and such in here, but I made a point to not watch a single video. I think it turned out rather well. I was about as familiar with it as I would have been had I been at home and looked at the synopsis in the guide, which I usually do anyways. I've kept a similar policy in the month since.

The thing is, it's near impossible to avoid spoilers – if I was going to actively avoid every single one, I would have to only come in here on Saturday, but only after I'd watched the episode. The same goes for EQD. Let's just say that would be a difficult task. Therefore, I don't really mind if I see a minor spoiler, but major plot/music/video spoilers are no-gos for me.

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@Scooby-Doo-style episode:

That needs to be done, but a stray spell from Twilight has to hit Spike so that he talks like Scooby. I would pay to see Spike say "Oh ro! A roast!" and run away.

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EDIT: SHUT UP BRUNO THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS.

Well it's still fanon, but still, it could be true. I don't want to know till Saturday.

Quick! Use this to drown out all of the spoilers!

TOTALLY NOT TALKING ABOUT POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN HERE, ARE WE GUYS?!?!?
NOPE!

…

HEY, LOOK AT THIS DISTRACTING THING!
Click for bigger version

(For those who don't recognize this, it is based on a fan comic from a month or two ago HERE. Isn't it fun when fans and show staff interact like this?)

NOT DISTRACTED ENOUGH YET?!
FINE!
HAVE SOME PUDGY DASH!

OH LORD, WHAT IS THIS?!

(Okay, I'm done…)

A spoiler tag would have been nice. We have been talking about avoiding spoilers and/or spoiler tagging everything for the last page or so, and you just outright posted what is probably the big twist of the next episode without any warning or any spoiler tag.

Okay, as a topic less likely to get everyone… Stabby… than some of the previous topics this page…

What do you think the precise talents the CMC get will be?

We've been given a fair idea, with the hints and all. But from the looks of it, some of those talents could be something that are only related to their Special talent. (You know, spill over talent or something)

So, I'll start with a short list:

Applebloom:
Architect
Artist
Blacksmith
Carpenter
Construction
Fashion
Graphic Design
Mechanic

Scootaloo:
Athlete
Dance
Driver
Knight
Ninja
Messenger
Stuntmare

Sweetie Belle:
Actor
Bard
Lyricist
Musician
Politician
Singer
Songwriter
Sound Effect Artist (Technical term is usually "Foley)

Anyone got more to add?

I was thinking Scootaloo's talent would have something to do with her scooter, so she might go after some form of pony BMX or something

@ZeroBlue4, If her cutie mark is being a good ninja, will she ever find her cutie mark?

I agree with Crimson Locks, knowing Hasbro,(and naming conventions relating to their marks) I think her talent might have something to do with her scooter. On a related note, some one needs to make a good version of BMX Ninja with Scootaloo. As awesome as the game's name is, its really not that good. A remake with Scootaloo I think could be fun.

What do you think the precise talents the CMC get will be?

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Apple Bloom: Fashion

• This is preferable in my own headcanon (I believe most people say that her talent will be something along the lines of carpentry of construction), but I think there's enough evidence to support her having a similar talent to Rarity (albeit more practical and less "frou-frou-ey")
  • In Call of the Cutie, Apple Bloom quickly makes a "dress" out of a tablecloth. I think since that's her first episode, it would be a nice callback to this first instance in this episode where she was able to successfully pull something off without messing it up.
    • Related to that, I also think her talent might be versatility or general aptitude. There really isn't any reason for the camera to show her pulling the tablecloth without spilling the drink. I think that there's something to that shot. She's also been able to do other things rather well throughout the CMC episodes.
  • Also, I don't think it's carpentry or anything like that, because in Stare Master, the three completely failed at making a…"table." If her talent was carpentry, then I'd think the show writers would have avoided that altogether.

Scootaloo: Choreography/Dancing/aptitude in balance

• All throughout the show, Scootaloo has shown ability in either dancing or balanced movement. A lot of times, it's related to to her scooter (she's very attached to it, as well, seeing as she's willing to hang on to it when being faced with a dragon (see Secret of My Excess.)

Sweetie Belle: Singer

• Period. Songwriting might go into that as well or it could be a general inclination towards music, but all of her moments of raw talent involve singing or music.

---

I think the main thing to consider is that they all missed what was likely their talents in The Show Stoppers, and they missed doing what would have likely been their talents.

• Scootaloo was singing poorly and was writing poor lyrics.
  • She got advice from Sweetie Belle for lyrics and sang well on cue
    • So where Scootaloo was bad at music, Sweetie Belle was good at music.

• Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle (wanting to be a fashionista like her sister) was failing miserably at creating costumes and making a set.
  • She got advice from Apple Bloom about how to use the mannequins and in creating the set.
    • So where Sweetie Belle was bad at design, Apple Bloom was good at design.

• Apple Bloom was doing badly at coming up with choreography.
  • She got advice from Scootaloo about how to spin.
    • So where Apple Bloom was bad at being in control of her body, Scootaloo was good at it.

---

Sweetie's is pretty specific, but Scootaloo's and Apple Bloom's are sorta broad. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom has shown talent in a few specific areas (some fashion, some design, some carpentry), and Scootaloo's ability to control her body and balance isn't really a talent in itself (so it probably lends itself to something else.)
 
Also remember that not everyone's talent is directly aligned with their true love.

• Rarity's special talent is finding gems. Her love is fashion. Her talent probably lines up more with being treasure hunter than a designer.
• I expect Scootaloo to have a similar situation. Her talent is actually controlling her body and maintaining her balance, but she uses it to fly in the Wonderbolts/become a daredevil/etc.
  • I sorta doubt that her dream is to be a dancer. I mean, look at Scootaloo. Can you see her being a dancer?

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And then DeadParrot came out of nowhere and blew up Verbose's theory on Scootaloo.

@Crimson and Jacob
I'm Pretty sure the whole Scooter thing comes under either "Stuntmare" or "Driver", and possibly "Athlete".

Cause "Scooter Riding" sounds awkward, and generally a little too specific. The most specific we want to get is their job tittle; and if possible, more generalized skills would be even better.

That's how I myself see cutie marks and special talents anyways.

Why I'm using job titles above is kinda because we could cover all of them for Scootaloo with just "Physical artistry". And that would take all the fun out of it.

A similar case could be made with Applebloom as "Creative Design", and with Sweetie Belle as "Vocal Artist"

Back to Scootaloo, most of the jobs I listed for her can technically be done with a scooter, and are probably done best that way. Even ninja, if some popular depictions of ninjas are to be believed. Although dance would end up getting rolled into "stuntmare" in that case.

Cutie marks for the Crusaders?

YAY!

As for their actual talents, they all seem to be relatively obvious but here are my thoughts.

Sweetie Belle will be some kind of singer/songwriter.
Yeah, that's the easiest one after Show Stoppers.
She just needs to get over her stage fright and she'll be golden.

Get it?
Heeheehee

ahem
I've always thought of Apple Bloom being more of an engineer making her able to assist with all kinds of construction and design (though in Ponyville, that's probably mostly carpentry anyway.)
Fixing up a dilapidated tree-house all on her own is pretty definitive.

As for Scootaloo, I've always kind of seen her like this:

Just a kick-ass daredevil and performer.
Naturally, her scooter would be her primary tool, but she would expand into all sorts of extreme sports as well: skateboarding, snowboarding, bungee jumping, sky diving, etc.

Edit for Verbose:
Hey, you got a problem with ballet?!

I could see Scootaloo secretly liking ballet (along the lines of Bart from The Simpsons).
That would actually be a pretty good opportunity for a funny episode that would simultaneously promote the lesson that 'girly' isn't automatically 'bad' or 'embarrassing' which was kind of Faust's whole point with this show in the first place.
I think I just convinced myself that I want Scoots to like ballet while I was writing this…

In all honesty though, I somewhat hope that they hold off on giving the CMCs their marks for a while.
It's just too much fun watching the three of them bumble through their various adventures to go switching up the dynamic just yet.
Not that I'd be necessarily disappointed if they did get their marks, just that it doesn't seem like a step that the show needs to take yet.

What would the CMC episodes even be about if they one day got their cutie marks? They wouldn't be able to try random stuff anymore, they wouldn't be able to come up with half-thought-out plans to backfire horribly, they would be completely different!

And, of course, if one of them got her cutie mark before the others… well that could cause problems too.

The entire point of the CMC existing as they are now is that they have obvious talents that they refuse to acknowledge, choosing instead to have all sorts of crazy adventures trying to be something else. If they ever did find their special talents, I'm afraid the group might just fall apart…

@Commodore 64: Indeed. Ironically, if the CMC suceed in their quest for the Cutie mark, they will vanish. POOF

@DeadParrot and how long they'll go without Cutie Marks.

I get the feeling that if they ration their material they can use for ACTUAL crusading, they might get about 4 or 5 more CMC Episodes before it'll start feeling like they need to get their cutie mark.

…Which should last us another Season or two.

And considering my theory that the show is going to have a kind of "Shift" sooner or later, that may be a nice point to bring it up.

…Although that may be semi wish-full thinking. I like how the show is now, but I can't help but entertain the thought that there will eventually be a more Arc style Quest season(s). I mean, a season where the Mane 6 journey across Equestria to solve some large problem, and they help out others along the way?

I may have my head stuck in traditional fantasy stories too long, but that sounds cool.

…I think my brain switched tracks in there somewhere… Sorry about that. I need to have a word with my Brain's DJ.

Edit: Oh dear, others posted while I was typing.

@Comodore64

Okay, The CMC may not get to go Crusading at some point, but that doesn't mean they disappear.

I can Imagine that the three would probably spend time working together with their specific talents. Towards some other lofty goals they may end up with. Their skills do happen to be things that can do shows like what they first tried right?

So they may become a group of traveling performers, which would occasionally show up in places like Manehatten trying to get notoriety for a big event like "Battle of the Bands".

…And possibly, they may end up getting in a few bits of trouble. Whether it be some hair-brained scheme to get attention go wrong, or they get mixed up in something they don't belong in.

And hey, if my "Pony Adventure" wish gets granted, they may become adventures themselves; going around solving problems… in a manner that would befit Scooby Doo's Gang.

…Also, if one of them get a cutie mark, and the others don't, it will probably lead to simply more episodes as they become desperate to find the other two. The one that gets the mark first is going to simply be the one that becomes "De-facto leader" being "Thou wise one who hast come before", and will probably end up coming up with most of the plans from then on… only for most of those plans to still wind up ending horribly.

Scootaloo's cutie mark is a box.

HARHARORPHANHARHAR!

Hey everyone!
Did you hear?
Apple Bloom got her cutie mark!
She must be a carpenter just like we thought!
…
…right?

The idea that the CMCs will disband after one or more of them gets their cutie mark is rather silly to me. Who's to say they won't become a group of friends like the mane 6, who all have different and unique talents but still stay strong together? The real question to me is how are the writers going to handle the episode (or episodes) of the CMCs getting their cutie marks? My theory is that the episode will start with one of them discovering their cutie mark. Most of the episode will be about the other two freaking out about their still blank flank, but the episode will end with all three of them realizing their true talents. The audience will go "D'aaaaaaw!" and the CMCs will start their own adventures together. Yeah I know, I'm a master writer.

I kind of like the fact that there's now a Manehattan division of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. If it turns into an Equestria-wide movement, that means it has longevity beyond the original CMC's getting their Cutie Marks. I love the thought of that for some reason.

It would be awesome if the CMCs kinda became a sort of anti-bullying movement to support any filly without a cutie mark