Upon the Precipice · 3:08pm Feb 16th, 2013
Most of the writers and artists out there won't read this, but I feel it needs to be said, as we approach what will likely be a literary moment (or series thereof) of either supreme triumph or monumental disaster.
No matter what happens, none of us are obligated to portray Twilight as anything other than a unicorn, or to suddenly incorporate her transformation into unfinished works. In fact, I would go as far as to say that doing so is unnecessary if her being anything else in no way serves the story--and I will admit an unintended implication here that her ascension won't be so awesome it makes our souls melt out of our ears in rivulets of rainbow happy juice, but even if that turns out to be the case it still wouldn't become inherently necessary to a story.
For those who fear the (apparently loathed) Alternate Universe designation, I would argue that doing so does not qualify. Alternate Universe is based on extreme "What if" deviations from canon: "What if Celestia was evil?"; "What if Discord wasn't defeated in the ancient past and continued to rule?"; "What if the mane six were never born and six other ponies defeated Nightmare Moon?"; "What if a victorious Chrysalis captured all the ponies and put them into a magical equivalent of The Matrix?"; and so on.
What if Twi doesn't ascend? She's still the lovable librarian researching friendship in Ponyville and secretly pining after Celestia. She's still the pony we know and love. That's the difference between deviation and AU.
This probably sounds like I'm merely advocating for my own stance of canon revisionism, but my intended point--and the philosophy behind my revisionism--is that this show doesn't control us as creative individuals. We needn't follow every single thing it introduces to the letter. There are many stories out there that introduce literary elements and devices not even hinted at in the show. There are stories out there that have nothing to do with FIM beyond taking place in the same world. There are (unfortunately) stories out there that have nothing to do with FIM beyond a single character appearing in another world, or the real world. Then there are stories that simply alter minor factors, like gender-switching. Even if your work doesn't alter or add anything it remains unquestionably non-canon; if it were canon it would have been an episode.
Lauren Faust said at a con in 2012 that in her eyes the show is no longer hers or the writers' or Hasbro's, but the fans'. I believe this to be true, at least in the creative scenes. Canon is a set of building blocks, not shackles and chains.
With that said, I'll see all of you on the other side.
... and? Conclusion?
Well, I knew it would happen. It was next to impossible to dodge any spoilers.
I have to say I wasn't looking forward to this moment at all, but after mid S2 it was kinda obvious that this is just the way the show is going to take. I am not sure if the exact conclusion, how she turned alicorn, was either clever or just plain lazy (being lazy and getting away with it could be called clever), but I am amazed by how little this actually added to her character (or the universe for that matter).
Despite being dead bent on keeping stuff canon and from that base add my own stuff to it, I Most likely won't use alicorn Twilight ever. Simply because it doesn't add anything to her (at least not in the way the episode did it), but detracts so much from already existing concepts. I will, however, look forward to the moment in S4 when she will get a sparkly mane and grow double size.
Because we all know, we need more Twilight plastic figures.
Personally, I have no problem with Twilight's transformation since I can simply set my fanfics to take place prior to Magical Mystery Cure if I need her to be Classic Twilight, or after if I want to use the alicorn thing. (Which does provide some interesting storytelling possibilities.) Really, I think it's all good.
I'm actually a lot more concerned about Discord being reformed, not because I'd miss him as a villain (I found him kinda annoying) but because he is a near-omnipotent chaos god and now he's one of the good guys. I just don't see how they're going to be able to work in any kind of believable conflict with him around:
King Sombra: Aaahhh! After ten thousand years I'm free! It's time to conquer Eque...
Discord: Hi.
King Sombra: Oh SHIT! oO
Discord: Let me tell you about friendship!
King Sombra: Fffffffffuuuuuuuuuuu....
Yeah, maybe not the best move. They'e going to have to either nerf him like crazy or try to forget he exists.
Twilight Sparkle? Meh. She gained an inch in height, a pair of wings and a royal title. I don't see how that's the end of the world.