it hurts, it does, i'm a fucking messA quick discussion about today's episode · 6:06pm Nov 28th, 2015
OMMN
Spoilers below the break!
So, this season finale definitely raised some questions that couldn't be answered in a 44 minute space:
↣ How was Nightmare Moon defeated in the first two timelines? Was there a different set of Element Bearers?
↣ Is Cadence still a thing in the first two timelines?
↣ Why didn't they have an AU with Tirek from the most recent time?
↣ How did the Mane 6 not being friends affect events before their time? (Unless the Discord and Tirek moments were out of order, though I seriously doubt it.)
↣ Was the last AU because of nuclear fallout, or was Equestria never created, somehow? (If the latter, see previous point.)
For want of a nail, my friends. And/or butterfly effect. Also, Equestria is like the ecosystem; you remove one creature, all the others are affected.
I am so in love with this season finale, and I'm rather content with how Starlight was reformed. It's amazing how, sometimes, changing the timeline in almost the exact same way can cause drastically different effects (which is why ALL the AU fics are still canon, in a way! 
).
This episode, despite all the magic involved, seemed kinda more down-to-earth, in a different way. I loved the alternate designs for the AUs, I loved the AUs... *sigh* Best season finale yet. Also, (and this is important), I cried when none of the M6 fillies saw or were affected by the Sonic Rainboom, and I just got so sad. I know why, but I don't know why. I didn't expect feels! 
Y u do dis 2 me?!
And this season finale also opens up the doors for fanfiction much more easily than other episodes; after all, they gave us many AUs on a silver platter! Prime fanfiction material, my friends. Makes me wonder how next season is going to go down, considering the M6 may have just become the M7 (or M8, if you count Spike. Which you should). Kinda parallels EqG.
Also, writers, this wasn't really a "time loop." Silly writers. 
EDIT: Veeeeeery clever not showing us the Alt. Mane 5's cutie marks. Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery clever.
I just wanted doctor whooves to come out and explain this time line stuff the entire time
Definitely awesome. Also, wouldn't it be the mane 9, because of Sunset?
3574296
In the human world, yeah, but I was talking about in the pony world.
3574311 I guess the pony 'verse, since Sunset is a pony.
3574320 Good point, my bad.
3574321
Well, technically, no, because the rest of the M7 don't really consider Sunset their friend that I know of, because it doesn't seem like Twilight told them much about her time in the human world.
3574332 That would make sense. Thanks.
3574339
You're welcome. Also, sorry for messing you up by deleting my comment.
3574349 No worries. Do you think I should delete that comment I made, since you deleted yours and it'd throw some people off?
3574364
Nah, because I responded to that comment, and then you responded to it, then I responded to your response, and then you responded to that response, and here I am now. We'd have to delete a bunch of comments.
3574372 Okie doke.
Warning: Multiple Paradoxes Detected.
Deploy Reality Bomb.
What a total waste of a finale. Not for having tried, but for having cut the end into something sub-par to the rest of the episode resulting in contradiction of cannon.
Biggest Grumps:
1.) Starlight, a unicorn, being more powerful than Twilight, an alicorn, in light of Season 4's finale establishing Alicorn Magic greatly surpasses common Unicorn Magic.
2.) Starlight's character takes a big hit on revelation of motive and backstory. She devolves into a hollow, petty, and ultimately nigh-self destructive, 2-D villain. A better solution would have been to have Starlight become trapped in the consequences of her own alternate reality(ies) and needing the M-6 to restore the error, before abandoning the process of repeating the same error and expecting a different result, allowing for genuine progress.
Only relief: Twilight did not become involved in a predestination paradox by having to secretly aide Rainbow Dash in the create the first Sonic Rainboom.
What a waste.
Soooo... why don't we see any alt-Twilights in the AU's? It's not like she wouldn't have existed. Why didn't she run into herself?
3586777
Well, Main Timeline Twilight never went to Canterlot. She always ended up in Ponyville. She, in those timelines, more than likely never moved from Canterlot. And/or she died, or something else happened to her.
3586847 Ahh, good point. Wouldn't have been Celestia's personal student either.