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@Jyron:

Because that gives them another reason to call Twilicorn a bad idea. And because we have as much proof either way, really. I've pointed out time and again that I don't think Cadence is on the same level as Celestia and Luna for various reasons, and I don't think she's immortal because of that. I'd imagine the same applies to Twilight, but we don't really know.

Coincidentally, this is in the gallery…

Hate the shit out of this Conspiracy Lyra thing, but it's applicable.

It'd be possible to see it go either way in the future. Personally, I hope that if the alicorn deal is permanent, they try to keep the normalcy and have Twilight remain in Ponyville or whatever. I think the show becoming more epic or whatever might detract from what I found entertaining about it in the first place. That's not to say that it can't be epic sometimes, like with Dragonshy or whatever, but making it nothing but Canterlot Wedding episodes over and over again would quickly ruin the novelty of seeing the ponies be badass. Hell, it's already worn thin, in my opinion, so I'd prefer they keep the slice-of-life motif and not stray into action-y things, especially when other shows do it better.

Really, I didn't like today's episode as much as a lot of people seem to, but I didn't hate it as much as a lot of people thought we would. I think it's just… average. I'm kinda wary of how it will impact the future of the show, but I'm trying to remain positive because I think there's a good chance the show could roll with it well, or something will change in season 4 to make it work well.

One thing I disliked about the episode, as an unrelated note, is that Twilight seemed to master flying immediately with no trouble. I had hoped they would have her start with no flying skill, and have Rainbow Dash slowly teach her from being a clumsy mess with it, to being a bit more like Fluttershy. I think that could have made for a good episode, really, but there's always the chance that Twilight won't keep her wings long enough to master flying, I guess.

Maybe have Shining help her a bit.

I'm really, REALLY going to miss "Dear Princess Celestia".

Like, I'm gonna miss it SO MUCH.

@Those Who Enjoyed the Episode

Seriously though, whatever your opinions (feel free to share them openly) but I already have friends that are forming factions and getting ready to do battle. And that makes me very sad.

… HAH… HAH… HAH… (frothing at the mouth) …

Okay… Let's try this again…

I feel like I'm back at the opener of Season 2 again where we've been left hanging for the next episode after something huge has happened in a really short amount of time in a really poor presentation.

When Discord "won" after the 2/1 episode, I really had problems digesting it all considering the pacing and all of the content they tried to cram into it. Even after the second parter released and everything goes back to normal, I still protested on the forum that I frequented back then that the course of events was hammered out in such a short time. I used the celebratory ceremony as an example, where Celestia just said a "Congratulate blah blah blah" line and suddenly the credits began to roll. That just made me shiver when I thought about the future of the show without Lauren Faust controlling the action anymore.

"Everything's going to be just fine!" doesn't cut it for me this time, Mr. Larson! You can end this season on as much of an optimistic note as you want, but as an aspiring novelist, I always aim for clear-cut endings, especially when you're trying to make millions of dedicated fans satsified!!

I hope that this all goes back to normal at the start of Season 4, which I expect will happen, but this better leave as small of an impact as possible on the characters themselves, because we have just dropped off the deep end from here. There's going to be wedges between bronies everywhere from this one little plot development, and I'm scared to see all of the rifts that open up.

One positive thing I can still remark on for this finale is the music. Sure, the songs were thrown in one after the other, but they at least made the pacing just a little more controlled.

Also, the feels I received watching the snippets of Twilight Sparkle's memories scroll by while Celestia sings her own song really made me think. We've really been through a lot, haven't we?When this show eventually comes to a conclusion, and we all look back at how far this show went, the feels will be too much to handle, and this fandom will all be holding hands again.

That's why I've arrived at the conclusion that this show really needs to stop making episodes. I know it's a grim statement coming from me, and I'm not saying I'll be abandoning the show, but no matter how much profits Hasbro tries to milk in the end, having a story that continues to build on itself just makes the halting point that much more sharper to impale us on. I don't really know where I'm going with this; hopefully you don't all hate me for it.

Brace yourselves, everypony. This median between the seasons will seem like the longest with all of the divisions we're going to have among us. I won't be too terribly upset by it all, but I'm not looking forward for having to deal with it all.

Love and tolerate, bronies.

-Talking Bee Guy (I don't understand why people say that name's canon for me.)

EDIT: How do I get rid of this small text within the spoilers? I was never good with Textile…

I experienced a heartfelt chuckle.

I find it strange that I still see Pictures being posted that say Twilight will outlive her friends. When the fact is, that even if she IS immortal or long lived. She's no doubt going to end up powerful enough to cast enough age spells to keep her friends around for quite some time.

And the fact that at the moment, they are all quite young, and Twilight has an entire pony lifespan to get an age spell right… I doubt they are going to outlive her.

So, I personally believe that flash forward a thousand years, and all the others will still be hanging around Twilight; without any of them needing to become Alicorns.

The only thing for me to ponder about that question is how long it would take for Twilight and her friends to fall in love with each other. I mean, Friendships grow stronger over time right? And Love is one of the strongest forms of friendship, therefore, give them a thousand years or so, and all of them will be in love.

I smell fanfics!

Am I the only one waiting for ACracebeast (I think the youtube was called that) to release the Bronies React Video for this?

I mean… This seems like something they would make a react to.

…Even though they only seem to do reacts for a few episodes and not all of them, this is one of the most important episodes of the season. This they need to do.

I want to see LeoEmpire (I believe) release a reaction video. He goes to a lot of brony meetups in Houston and gets a lot of great reactions from the huge crowds there. Only thing I don't want to see about these is reactions is the fact that not everyone is fond of the Alicorn Twilight deal so you'd hear a lot of booing at the end no doubt. I think it would be nice to see those familiar faces again (maybe the kid who wouldn't stop eating fruit salad will be there again!)

Thanks to the recent Advancapocylpse, whenever I hear "A True, True Friend", when they get to "Would you try, just give it a chance" I always think the next line will be "You might find that you'll start to advance".

Oh look, Fifths and Dan didn't like this episode. Hold on a minute while I put on my surprised face.
(I love you guys, never change)

Well, anything that I wanted to say has been said already, so I'm just going to say that I really liked it. I shall also list what I liked and didn't like about the episode because bullet points make my brain hurt less

What I didn't like:

• Slightly OoC reaction from the mane 6 after Twilight became an alicorn
• (Say it with me, everyone) It was rushed
• That flying shot of Twilight before the closing credits made me want to gouge my eyes out and weep for animators everywhere (Seriously, it looked so bad)
• Twilight automatically new how to fly?
• Those recolored Fluttershys (Fluttershies?) during the coronation looked too weird. I can understand recoloring background ponies, but recoloring a main character?
• I found the part about Starswirl's unfinished spell to be rather vague and confusing (although I might understand it more upon a second viewing)
• The wings will definitely take some getting used to for me

What I did like: (because I like to end on a happy note)

• Animation was beautiful
• I really loved that this episode was a musical. I feel that it worked well in condensing the story, and that it was quite a risk on the writer's part
• I loved the songs, especially Celestia's and the Cutie Mark song
• The mane 6 during the cutie mark switch I feel were written very well
• The fact that Twilight had to actually accomplish a series of tasks to earn her title as princess, it didn't just feel like "Oh look, there's this magic thing and you're a pretty princess now for no reason"
• I can see forever
• Callbacks to past episodes (like the Cutie Pox)
• Remember how I said I didn't like Pinkie last episode? I really loved her in this one. She was just too funny!
• "I'm a princess now? I-is there a book I should be reading on this?"
• "They're not tears, they're liquid pride!"

Additional thoughts:

• I don't see a main character becoming a princess and/or wanting to be a princess a bad thing. Twilight worked hard throughout the whole series to earn her title as princess, and that encourages the younger audiences to work hard for what they want to accomplish. Whether or not Twilight is qualified enough/overqualified is a debate that should probably be left for season 4. We don't exactly know what her tasks will be yet, but I doubt it will be sitting around at tea parties
• This series will definitely be making a possibly huge change. Whether or not it will be good is something we'll have to wait and see for. I don't want to rush my opinions and speculation on next season yet.
• I feel that this season finale will have a less rushed feel once "parts 2 and 3" come out in the season 4 premier
• I think that this season was the weakest of the bunch so far, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I certainly had a lot of enjoyment from this season.
• There is no way I will agree that this season finale felt like pre gen 4 MLP. If anything, I thought the comedy, use of character, etc up until the Twilicorn reveal felt like old MLP. And I certainly don't think Twilicorn will bring this show into pre Gen 4 territory (for reasons I stated already).
• I am looking forward to the brony community staying strong for another season

Overall, thank you, M.A. Larson! You produced a wonderful season finale!

Okay, okay, my thoughts.

ahem

We all knew there was something special about Twilight. Being Celestia's protégé since day one, we all knew that she was destined for something beyond civil work.

But Having Twilight Sparkle become a princess is like Rainbow Dash becoming co-captain of the Wonderbolts. Where can she go from here?

This episode felt like an ending.

"Celestia shows Twilight what she's learned, and Twilight fulfills her destiny. And they all lived happily ever after." It would have made a great series finale. But what are Twilight's plans now? Her dreams? What more can she possibly accomplish?

I don't want to be a spoilsport, or a prophet of doom, and yes, I know the show is still going to be good. But I just can't help but think of myself as a Faustian.

You know after watching this episode again (it always happens during the finales….I just don't know why I feel the need to watch them a million times in the first day) I have come to this opinion…

As a man who respects other people's opinions I can only say one thing, I don't give a fuck about what people have to say about this finale. This finale made me feel and a little bit of liquid pride (from my eyes you perverts). NOTHING makes me feel or slightly drain liquid pride from my eyes, no tv show, no movie, no song, hell I didn't even cry when my childhood dog died! If you manage to make me show some emotion you damn sure did something right! Goddamn you M.A. Larson, Megan McCarthy and Daniel Ingram for Celestia's Ballad and the last chunk of that episode! clicks replay on Celestia's Ballad on Jewtube

Guys if you want a good laugh go check the comment section on the episode on youtube. Trust me.

You know, I kinda wish I didn't know anything about the finale going into this. It would have kept the whole thing surprising for me, but instead I was thinking the whole time "When does Twilight turn into an alicorn?"

A small part of me wonders if Studio B was screwing with us this whole season with not showing Derpy only to shove her in several places of the one episode finale.

If that gif isn't Studio B screwing with us I don't know what is, I don't know what's worse. The fact that Studio B has been holding out on our Derpy until now making us think she was written out or the fact that they deliberately put this clip of Derpy on screen for literally a frame and knew we'd find it shortly after the episode airs.

Looks like we have another for the list of characters that can observe the forth wall… And it turns out to be a fan favorite!

Derpy Hooves!

She takes her place among other legends who have stared us in the face as Pinkie Pie and a few others…

Stand tall Derpy, you have made us proud.

And it is with great honor that I award Derpy Hooves the Pinkie Pie Award for Best Forth Wall Breaking this Season. As Well as the Award for the Cheekiest Forth Wall Breaking.

If only she was less elusive, she could come up here and accept her prize in person.

This is roughly how I felt when I saw Derpy.

Seriously though, I wasn't exactly in tears about the lack of Derpy this season, but DAMN it's good to have her back. She was actually the reason I joined the fandom; the connection she made between the fans and the creators was a massive hook for me… not that anyone cares…

As for the rest of the episode, I liked it. I can't really say anything that hasn't already been said, so I'll just post this.

Studio B DHX Media. It hasn't been Studio B since before My Little Pony.

I'm actually pretty skeptical. I'm suspicious that the other background ponies are entirely static; even if they are standing still, at the very least their eyes will follow the action. It's a fundamental of animation, I think. The whole purpose of the background ponies is to draw attention to the main event; everything from their color scheme directing the eye to a focal point to their eyes pointing in the direction we're supposed to look. The sparkles are pretty convincing, but that could be fairly easily faked if you were dedicated enough. Actually, not even fairly easy; incredibly easy. Draw a few sparkles, copy/paste randomly through the cycle.

Then there's Derpy herself. Obviously, the image is a little faded so it's hard to tell, but I know my Flash builds. I know 'em damn well. I can tell you NoMoreThan9's from 2Snacks in a heartbeat, spot Double Rainboom from a mile away and certainly pick canon assets out from a crowd. The face looks realistic enough, so I might be inclined to believe that Derpy was actually there, but the winking animation is a little… lacking, and the small ring of eye white and iris around the top edge of the eyelash would imply that the animation in Flash was done and exported at a greater scale than a downsized Derpy crammed into the corner of a scene. Also, the fact that the eye simply disappears below the eyelash; generally, when DHX does these blinks, they'll have a fold of skin scrunch over the bottom part of the eye.

However, all of those arguments could just be thrown out the window, since it might just be a rushed job. So what did we learn today? Just don't take these animations at face value. There's still a good chance it's legit.

Wait what am I even doing.

Besides, I want Derpy back just as much as y'all.

I expect great things for Derpy…
And here's my reaction to the episode.
What's done is done. The songs are good, especially the cutie mark one.

So… is it a good time to speculate on a new villain and next season finale? For the season finales we got a gala, wedding, and a coronation. What's next?

Possibly a Queen's Jubilee?

@lasers disliking how twilight could fly so well right away

Oh yeah? YEAH!? Well I told everyone a couple weeks ago that she would probably have to be taught before she could fly at all and now I feel moderately silly!

MODERATELY SILLY!

But really, the last few frames of that were adorable.

@kewlnoob

I kinda think of the derpy wink as compensation for her absence just out of focus (and almost complete absence altogether) throughout the season.

@bioniclebrony

A lot of shows have those episodes where all of the antagonists come back to raise hell. I'd love to see this show get one of those, too.

Hello, all!
How goes the collapse of the fandom?
I kid, I kid.
I had to leave shortly after watching the show this morning to attend a performance by a certain troupe of entertainers that, for some inexplicable reason, have not been ponified yet.
Seriously, no love for the Harlem Globetrotters?
'Trot' is right in their name for God's sake!
Have some basketball Scootaloo instead.

(Get on it, artists! Globetrotter ponies need to be a thing!)

Anyway, opinions!

Read them all and, as usual, I can't say that I completely disagree with anyone, though I likely feel less passionate about any of the points.
I didn't love it, I didn't hate it.
It could have been far worse, but it also could have been far better.
Really, this episode felt like the first significant 'fight' between Hasbro and the writers.
Hasbro came in with the biggest imposition seen so far, and the writers tried their best to make it work.
The first half/two-thirds of the episode was pretty good stuff with the cutie marks and destinies being switched and the only real problem with that story was the abrupt solution that only existed to shoehorn the alicorn thing in.
Essentially, there were two relatively interesting stories here that, for time, were cut in half and stapled together leaving a rather unsatisfying whole.
I would have rather seen the destiny plotline be allowed to play out for a full 22 minutes.
I did like that Twilight's first reaction was to ask for a book about being a princess, implying that the writers will be trying to keep her as 'Twilight' as they can.
Overall, though, just a very… inconsistent episode.

For the future, I'm actually somewhat optimistic.
It was pretty obvious that this was intended to be a series finale rather than just a simple season finale, what with all the call backs and Celestia's Clipshow Walk 'O Memories.
It could be that since Hasbro has now gotten its princess and its 65 episode minimum for syndication (and thus longer-term profits), they might just back off a little bit on the creative team and let them have a bit more control.
The fact that McCarty says that S04E01 and 02 should be thought of as continuations of this one implies that they had to make this episode, but they want to tell more.
We also got a full 26 episode renewal so they should have a lot more opportunities to tell new stories.

One thing to note, Daniel Ingram was actually given credit for music and lyrics on five of the episode's seven songs.
Considering how much of the episode was done in song, I'd say that he almost had a bigger hand in everything than Larson did.
Doesn't change much, but it was interesting to notice.

@Exudes
I don't think that Kewl was trying to imply that winking Derpy was faked, just that DHX might have been playing with us by having her only in the finale.
That winking Derpy moment is entirely legit.
Time stamp is in the picture, but it's right after Twi's big speech on the balcony.

Derpy was also on a bridge in Ponyville right at the beginning, just 22 seconds in.
She's back with a vengeance, and I'm sure her wink was a little nod to us.
Exactly what it implies, I'm not sure, but I'm guessing we'll be seeing her again next season!

This just made me laugh:

well played animators… well played.

Welp, like Crimson said, I didn't really like the episode much at all, but my attitude afterward is strangely positive. It's kind of like that feeling one gets when they're really dreading something, but are then relieved when it's finally over and done.

As for my analysis, Fifths summarized many of my complaints far better than I could have, but I'd still like to add a few thoughts of my own.

For one thing, all this destiny stuff was really bugging the heck out of me. Maybe I misunderstood the rest of the show, but I always thought Cutie Marks were symbols that appeared when ponies discovered what they were good at, and simultaneously what they loved to do. In the finale, the ponies were basically behaving as though they believed the complete opposite; that their cutie mark is the determiner of their "destiny", rather than an emblematic result of it. For some reason, that concept wasn't really countered, either. The problem wasn't an incorrect perception as far as Twilight was concerned, the problem was simply that they were a slave of destiny to the wrong mark. Re-shackle them correctly, and we're all settled.

Along similar lines, check out what may be slightly controversial comic:

As always, click it for tha source and to enlarge!

Now, obviously this is satirical and it takes some liberties, but it raises a very interesting question. Did Twilight ever have any choice about this alicorn princess stuff? Doesn't look like she even knew it was coming at all. What if, for the sake of argument, she was horrified by the idea? Shouldn't Celestia have asked first or something?

Of course not, Celestia's the blasted princess of everything the light touches, and no protege of hers can possibly have a "destiny" that's any less grand than being a ruler of the land, immortal idol of her faithful subjects, and of course, the wings and horn are most certainly required. Smells pretty funky to me.

Despite my many misgivings, I'm still in a pretty good mood, so don't let me ruin yours. ;)

A review of the MLP game I found, featured on N4G.

Very good review, even though I'm suprised he only barely mentioned how expensive it is instead of going into full detail about it.

Also, "…it’s up to Twighlight Sparkle and her friends…"
"Twighlight Sparkle"

@Everyone complaining about destiny
If you think about it, there was never really any strong evidence that there was wasn't destiny. The CMC run around searching for their marks like they're predetermined, but several ponies have marks that don't match employment. Rarity's is finding gemstones but she makes dresses. So without any hard evidence that there is or isn't, there's nothing to really contradict besides slight impressions.
On the whole, this episode is feel worthy. It would've been a fitting series end rather than just the season, but I can live with extension seasons. And spin-offs. Complaints for me are kinda minor, like the fact it was too much singing (Twilight's singing voice shreds eardrums), and that Twilight followed the general rule of "don't be a dick" and got rewarded with "you're the fucking Dali Llama". I can see getting a magic boost or a promotion from student to advisor, but princess? That's a bit too much.
Meh, not like opinions matter, have a .gif:

Hmmm…

Why am I still watching the Finale?! I'm watching the rerun and this is like the 6th time.

'Cause the songs are as sweet as candy. Can't get enough of it, ya know what I mean?

Wait a minute
People are STILL complaining?
Dammit, the finale already happened. Its the past now. Stop complaining, and get on with your lives.

Hey guys, look, EqD used one of my vectors in their banner!

Though they didn't ask my permission to use it…

I was just about to tell the forum about that, Advance.

Look for yourself, guys.

And compare it to this.

I've sent Cereal Velocity and the staff an email with my thoughts:

Hey Cereal Velocity,

One of the users I know from Know Your Meme created the vector used in the banner of yours. He's saying that he received no credit.

http://advancefiction.deviantart.com/art/Alicorn-Twi-351343078

I must say that it is more than a bit shady to put your name on a banner in the most visible place for the brony community with the most easily identifiable attribute of the banner being done by someone else. As one of the premiere blog authors for the community, I am actually ashamed. I expect there to be mistakes considering that none of you are trained for Web Journalism, but that is inexcusable considering how the blog has always sourced their images in Drawfriends and comics. (I recognize that you "organized" the content of the banner, but I would like to see a source as to where you put together this vector.)

Please give him his due. It does not look good to put your name on a banner especially without acknowledging the effort put into it by a member of the community you serve. I am very disappointed, and I hope you issue an apology to Advance as soon as you can (and that it is a priority for you.) I doubt you would also do this, but I think it would be best to apologize in the same manner as you transgressed him (i.e., a public use of his material with your name on it and his not acknowledged, a public apology in a equally as visible place such as a post or at the very least as a mention in a Nightly Roundup.)


In either case, I'll be making a post for it on Know Your Meme and its small community, so they will be on the look out as well and so we can discuss EqD's caliber.


Sincerely,
Verbose

I think the thing that burns me is that Cereal Velocity put his name in the corner with no mention of Advance. I wonder how many times they've done that before.

EDIT: The response from Cereal Velocity:

His vector is credited on the episode followup post which goes up later today, because it uses a header which is a derivative of the banner. Seth just put the banner up early.

So they had plans for crediting him well after the banner went up and with Cereal Velocity's name still more visible than Advance's.

In practicality, the banner is seen by anyone who visits the site.

I don't read every Episode Folloup, and neither do many other visitors.
 
But they will see "Cereal Velocity" in the corner.
 
I don't dispute that Cereal Velocity shouldn't get some credit for organizing the banner. But the name that should appear in a banner using someone else's vector shouldn't be that organizer.
 
 
I still say it's not sufficient.

It's the day after the end of the season and I'm looking around and nopony's been punching each other's teeth out based on their views of the finale.

Huh.

That's probably because we all know that Rarity is best pony. They don't care what happens to Twilight anymore!

It's hard to rank these episodes from favorite to least favorite, but I'll give it a try.

1.Magic Duel. The perfect season three episode. I have no complaints for this. I really enjoyed it.
2.Sleepless in Ponyville. Great episode. I really liked Luna in it.
3.Too Many Pinkie Pies. Pinkie Pie is hilarious. I laugh every time I watch this.
4.One Bad Apple. It has a good message (and the best song of the season)
5.Just For Sidekicks and Games Ponies Play. I can’t put one above the other. They’re both really good.
6.Keep Calm and Flutter On. Good one. I like Discords return and I like Fluttershy in this one.
7.Magical Mystery Cure. I’m surprised with this one. It not bad, but I can’t put it any higher on the list because it was such a weak finale.
8.Apple Family Reunion. I liked seeing the apple family, but there’s nothing much I can say about this episode. It was okay.
9.Spike at Your Service I enjoyed this one, but it has some problems. Probably the worst Spike episode of the series.
10.The Crystal Empire. What I liked about this episode: good animation, good songs, characters act the way they should. What I didn’t like: everything else.
11.Wonderbolts Academy. I was going to put The Crystal Empire on this spot, but this is the only episode that gets worse every time I watch it. Not only was this the lowest point of the season, this was the lowest point of the series. At first I didn’t care for it, now it makes me angry. If this episode was a human being, I would punch it in the gut.

Okay, well the episode ranks as my second least favorite. The quick pacing was leaving nothing of interest to actually happen because they had to push the story quickly. The only thing that was interesting was the scene with Twilight and Celestia but other than that there was nothing else that caught my eye or struck me as interesting. I know everyone that worked on it had to work with the time constraints but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt the episode in any way. The pacing was just awkward and because of that the episode was dull to me. Also I'm not one for a stream of songs again and again. I wont judge the songs themselves though.

For me, it's not that good. I'll go to say it's a bit bad in my opinion. I'm not obligated to assume everything from the show is good. I know I'm just complaining about it like I know I didn't want to, but again it's nothing I that will make me assume anything from here on out is bad.

I'm sorry if what I am saying is very contradictory to your own opinions and I know people want to believe this episode is good. For some it is, that's fine. And I know that everyone is tired of hearing complaints about it, especially when people were before it even aired, but it's aired now and only hope people don't hate me if I said otherwise. So again: In my opinion.

As for my list of favorite to least favorite.
1. Keep Calm and Flutter On (Discord just took the cake. I know this might be common for peoples favorite just because of Discord but… I just really think Discord really made this episode a fantastic one)
2. Magic Duel (Can't help but pick the ones with the villains)
3. Wonderbolts Acedemy (I can't stress enough how happy I was that they didn't go for the whole "Rainbow Dash finds somepony else possibly better than her and then they compete, blah blah blah." They actually made them friends instead which I just loved)
4. One Bad Apple
5. Sleepless in Ponyville
6. Just For Sidekicks
7. Games Ponies Play
8. Too Many Pinkie Pies
9. Spike at Your Service
12. Crystal Empire Part 2
11. Apple Family Reunion
12. Crystal Empire Part 1
13. Magical Mystery Cure (Again, I sincerely apologize if you don't like my opinion)

@Cereal Velocity
I'll say this really simply:
What a dick.

@Pony Rankings
Uhg. That's a hard one to do. Generally I dislike Spike episodes, with Pinkie Pie episodes being just above them. Still hated Spike's this season, but I enjoyed Too Many Pinkie Pies. I'll change it up a bit by saying which episodes I'm most likely to intentionally rewatch.

01 – Too Many Pinkie Pies
02 – Magic Duel
03 – One Bad Apple
04 – Sleepless in Ponyville
05 – Games Ponies Play
06 – The Crystal Empire
07 – Wonderbolts Academy
08 – Magical Mystery Cure
09 – Keep Calm and Flutter On
10 – Apple Family Reunion
11 – Spike at Your Service
12 – Just for Sidekicks

@Episode Disappointment
It was weak, but we knew it would be. I wouldn't call it a low-point of the season, much less a "worst episode ever" kind of thing. I said several pages ago that the musical-structure of the episode would speed things up and help them out with the time limit. I think the problem is we compare it to last season's amazing finale, and this didn't have the same kind of situation around it.
It's like comparing The Crystal Empire to The Return of Harmony: Both are good on their own, but one can seem lacking when compared to the other.

McCarthy said this was more-so a first part of a three-parter, so expect some more work done on Alicorn Twilight come next season.

@Vector:

Here's a screenshot of EQD (the banner is higher up, my res isn't high enough to reach it):

Cereal's name is prominently displayed, not in the corner, but smack-dab at the bottom in 36pt. The 12pt "Vector Credit" links to the vector, but is significantly smaller and took me a while to even see, since it's similar in color to the background that they added. The banner isn't sourced at all, and is so huge (which is something that annoys the heck out of me anyways, huge banners just throw off whole designs) that you can't see the link even though the follow-up is the first article as of 1:20 CST. And, as hard as it is to see it, Cereal's name is in the bottom right, with no credit to Advance.

I'm sorry, but that's just poor sourcing. I've never really thought of it, but the source is never prominent and only easy to reach right at the start of the week, when it's first put up. When it's a shop and not the original, then it's even harder to reach. Sure, it's under fair use, but I thought that this community was better than that and asked permission. Even I'm new to the art scene for pony, my canon-twilicorn blog only being two weeks old, and I only blog pictures that either say "go ahead and spread it" or don't specify, and I always give title, author, and source. I haven't had to yet, but if they said to ask permission and I wanted to blog it, I would certainly ask first.

Long story short: Advance, have you considered adding a "use with permission" type of disclaimer to your art?

Rankings:

1. One Bad Apple
2. Too Many Pinkie Pies
3. Magic Duel
4. Just for Sidekicks
5. Games Ponies Play
6. Sleepless in Ponyville
7. Magical Mystery Cure
8. Spike at Your Service
9. Apple Family Reunion
10. Keep Calm and Flutter On
11. Crystal Empire 1&2
12. Wonderbolt Academy

1. Magic Duel
2. Sleepless in Ponyville
3. One Bad Apple
4. Apple Family Reunion
5. Keep Calm and Flutter On
6. Magical Mystery Cure
7. The Crystal Empire
8. Too Many Pinkie Pies
9. Spike at your Service
10. Just for Sidekicks
11. Wonderbolt Academy
12. Games Ponies Play

Welp the hiatus is here, which means i'm gonna do what i do best

Lurk Mode Engage

Rankings:
1. Why
2. Are
3. You
4. Makin
5. Me
6. Do
7. This
8. Its
9. Like
10. Picking
11. A
12. Favorite
13. Child

I kinda love em all, i have problems with em, but they all made me smile at one point or another. There was no episode that made me cringe, and those that did i simply re-watched and found my cringes were outweighed by my smiles.

The only thing that remains is a fear of the future, but i had that since the first hiatus back in 2011. It usually disappears in time and with news of the next season. So yeah anyway since the fandom didn't spontaneously detonate from the alicorn bomb i'll be around (for those of you who care).

(Before I start, I just wanna say I expect downvote hell from this. However, I honestly think Season 3 was a weak season, so I'm going to be completely honest with what I thought. Please dont murder me.)

My rankings of the episodes:
1. Crystal Empire (Tied). I'm honestly amazed at the amount of hate for this episode. Yes, Sombra was a crap villain. Everything else though? Brilliant. Just how dramatic the episode was and some genius ideas put into it (the door of fears, the crystal heart, having Spike save the day instead of Twilight, etc.) just made this such a great episode.

1. Sleepless in Ponyville (Tied). The characters had so much emotion in this episode. They felt like real characters, that you actually really care for. And by "Characters", I mean Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. I frankly dont care about Luna in this episode (cue downvote hell). Having Rainbow Dash show a softer side was brilliant, and Scootaloo was likable too. Plus, this opened up more doors to more Scootaloo/Rainbow Dash episodes, and that makes me happy.

3. One Bad Apple. This episode was good because it was a simple yet likeable episode. Many simple episodes (see my opinion on Keep Calm and Flutter On/Magic Duel) end up putting huge changes to the series. We dont want that, we want a nice. simple episode without having to deal with the fact that some huge thing resulted from it. And this episode did the right thing. It was simple, enjoyable, and we didn't have to worry about some huge change. Plus, I'm always up for a new minor character.

4. Magical Mystery Cure. Yes, I did talk about how this episode was disappointing. But they clearly worked VERY hard on this. Aside from the fact that Twilacorn happened, and the fact that the episode felt somewhat rushed, they clearly did put their all into this episode. The songs were the best songs of this season, and the visual effects, OH SWEET JESUS THE VISUAL EFFECTS… yeah, while this wasn't a great episode, the creators clearly tried their best, and I honor them for that.

5. Games Ponies Play. This episode was hilarious. Thats pretty much why I love it. It always puts a smile on my face when a kids show is able to appeal to everyone like that, especially humor wise. Thats all I really have to say about this episode. Very funny.

6. Too Many Pinkie Pies. A very creative idea, and it turned out well. While this episode wasn't incredible, it put a smile on your face. Plus, the paint wall idea was amazing. This was a creative episode that showed us how smart the writers can be with their ideas.

7. Magic Duel. This is where I start getting more harsh on the reviews. Magic Duel is, in my opinion, overrated. No, it wasn't awful. But it left me like <a href"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxK_nA2iVXw">this. Trixie was an OK character, the plot was OK, it was… OK. That's all.

8. Spike at Your Service. This plot has been done to death. The characters in this episode were also pretty boring. So, what was good about it? Well, they had CGI effects, and that was awesome. Other than that? Nothing. But the CGI is just so good it saves it from being lower down the list.

9. Wonderbolts Academy. Boring episode. Characters were boring. Plot was (surprisingly) boring. The ACTION was boring. Entire episode was boring. Next.

10. Just for Sidekicks. There was a scene I laughed at in this. However, the episode was boring, like Wonderbolts Academy. It's slightly worse than Wonderbolts Academy though, because the moral in this episode was screwed up. According to this episode, if you justify something behind someones back, it's taken care of, and nobody will ever find out. Nope.avi.

11. Keep Calm and Flutter On. Yes, this episode did have great animation, and had some funny moments. So why is it so low down the list? Simple, they ruined Discord. The fact that they reformed him doesn't even make sense. How do you reform a GOD? You don't. So, how did they reform discord? Good question, because I don't understand it either. Also, I'm going to miss Discord being evil. You don't have to make Discord GOOD in order to let him appear more in the episodes. Why not, oh I dont know…. MAKE HIM A RECURRING VILLAIN, LIKE IN EVERY OTHER SHOW!? I WANT Discord to be chaotic, not held back from his powers! The chaos is what most of us liked about him! Yeah… not a good episode.

12. Apple Family Reunion. This episode felt like filler. That's bad. That's VERY bad. THIS IS
Seriously, the season was only 13 EPISODES. Filler should not be in a season that's half of the ordinary amount of episodes! We expect MUCH more thought put into an episode when the season is that short. Also, you may hate me for this, but the song wasn't good either! It was a boring, filler song! THIS ENTIRE EPISODE WAS FILLER!

Anyways, thank you for reading my wall of text. Now go away.

@VectorDrama

Since Cereal Velocity hasn't taken the initiative to apologize, I've changed the description of my vector on deviantart to inform any who go there of Cereal's heinous crime:

I'd like to thank Cereal Velocity for NOT asking permission to use this vector for an EqD banner,
and for not crediting me in said banner (though he saw fit to include his own name); I thought you were better than that, EqD.
Needless to say, if you're going to use one of my vectors, please ask permission first, I don't mind at all, but I'd like a heads up.

I suppose I'll give my rankings for the episodes in Season 3 in terms of my personal enjoyment. I'm still a little upset with Cereal Velocity though (and Equestria Daily for not intervening,) because no one's going to think to look in an Episode Followup for the source of the vector for a banner. One is particularly to an episode, and the other is specific to the site/fanart. Why would people look at an episode follow-up for the source of a vector?
 
They won't. They'll look at the name in the bottom corner.
 
But mostly, I'm still upset because people will think that Cereal Velocity is a vector artist, and Equestria Daily has no initiative to change. Regardless of what we say here or think of him here, the commenters will still hold Cereal and EqD in the highest regard. They lose no notable credibility. Artists will still be ecstatic to have their art used there. As will musicians with their music. As will animators.
 
Would Exudes, Muumi (when/if he starts doing art again,) Fifths, DeadParrot, or anyone ask to have their art removed from its own post or a Drawfriend if it got posted on Equestria Daily? Of course not.
 
Which means, EqD can occasionally slight the lesser known artist, because they aren't going to receive any meaningful backlash. Burns me a little.

Cereal Velocity is as big as they come in bronydom, which makes me wonder why he wants even more notoriety.
 
Ah, Internet…

I'll post this later. I'm mid-chat, and I may not post this otherwise in the next few hours.

Honestly, Verbose, I'm going to say people need to know about this. I don't appreciate that Cereal didn't ask for permission before using the vector, and gave no credit in the shopped picture. I don't have many followers, but if I have less than 30 and source my art better than Cereal, then that's a problem that I'm going to point out. I'm in the process of writing a post on my tumblr now, I'll post a link once it's done. I'd appreciate it if you guys reblogged it. We need to spread the word about this.

Okay, my ranking:
1)Apple Family Reunion
2)Crystal Empire (1&2)
3)Games Ponies Play
4)Wonderbolt Academy
5)Sleepless in Ponyville
6)Magic Duel
7)Just For Sidekicks
8)Spike at Your Service
9)Too many Pinkie Pies
10)One Bad Apple
11)Keep Calm and Flutter On
12) Magical Mystery Cure

I don't know about you guys, but I went home for a few weeks at Christmastime after not seeing my folks for a year. Of course all my little siblings wanted to watch the new episode of My Little Pony. Apple Family Reunion.

All I have to say about this art theft (or at least horrible sourcing of art) is that such nonchalant use of another person's work on one of the biggest mlp sites on the internet really makes me mad. As an artist myself, I take huge offense when someone takes a piece of art for commercial use such as a website banner and doesn't even have the courtesy to at least put the name of the original artist on the damn thing. I may not be quite as mad about this whole thing if CV didn't put his own name in the corner so that now people will think he made it. And he can't even find it in his heart to put Advance's name on the corner next to his? Or even send a formal apology? Does he think he is just too important to worry about the smaller artists? Equestria Daily, I never visited your site to begin with, but you have lost a lot of respect from me.

@Twili, I almost feel like making a tumblr just so that I can reblog your post. This really is something that we shouldn't let die quietly.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/203-cartoons-and-animation/65467889
im just going to leave this here
and

Why did nobody notice Lyra yet?

Well it seems like Cereal finally saw fit to credit me:

(If you squint, you may be able to make out my deviantart name in the bottom right corner.)

Still no apology, but I guess this is as good as I'm gonna get.

Tumblr post explaining the whole thing.

Please reblog. We need to get the word out.

>Tfw when KYM mod and at times forgets to source the images used in the "Notable Examples" sections.

I'm getting better, and at times (like with 4chan sources) it's impossible to give proper credit or due to the high amount of sharing there's a chance the uploader is no longer the creator. But there are cases where I just forgot.

Do note though that we have a "Claim Authorship" button on all image pages. And if the person who made it (or a friend) can link us to the original through there it will get changed.