069 Frenemies Talk: The Cutie Re-Mark feat. ocalhoun and Twinkletail · 12:25am Dec 1st, 2015
069 Frenemies Talk: The Cutie Re-Mark feat. ocalhoun and Twinkletail
This is the end. Hold your breath and count to... twenty-four? That's right, below the break you'll find the twenty-fourth episode review Gulheru and I did this season. We didn't miss anything, even the episodes we didn't really like, though we were sometimes a bit late while posting them. I hope you'll forgive us, because for this very special episode we've brought two really awesome people who are well-acquainted with the matters of alternate realities and general attempts at rewriting history. From the world where friendship is overpowered - ocalhoun! From the world where one mare interferes in pony history while not sugarcoating anything - Twinkletail! Please give them a warm welcome and join us as we discuss the finale!
There may be parallel worlds where spoilers to S05EP25+26 do not exist. You're not in one.
Starlight and Spike confirmed as the only real characters. The rest of them are ghosts because they don't cast shadows.
Prane: When we first met Starlight Glimmer, she turned out to be a mare with a dream. In her dream, everypony was happy, welcomed, accepted, and above all else, equal. Such an utopian vision came at a price, however—the rejection of cutie marks and all they stood for. Obviously we, the audience, are supposed to root for the protagonists by default, so poor Starlight received a less-than-noble label of a villain. Not just any villain, though! Villains across the MLP:FIM universe get vanquished or reformed on principle, yet that was not the case with the cunning unicorn from Our Town who managed to escape and swore vengeance on Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. Many believed that by her act she would become a recurring villain of the series, but unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen throughout this fifth season (cameos excluded). However, I think we can still count her as a recurring character, even if the many great episodes didn’t leave enough space for her backstage machinations. Why?
Because in the end, her reoccurrences weren’t the matter of space, but time.
That must’ve been the smartest review opening I’ve ever written, which is only fitting since today we’re saying goodbye—or rather, “see y’all later”—to our little ponies. The season’s ultimate timey-wimey adventure brought two of the most magical ponies for their final confrontation revolving around the mysterious map, undone deeds, and of course the importance of friendship in Equestria—all while showing us the plethora of possible realities borrowed from all those AU stories we’ve been writing for Celestia knows how long!
Let’s have a chitchat about the finale! Was it good, did you enjoy it, would you rather see something different instead? Feel free to share your overall thoughts and tell which of the “presents” Twilight visited did you like the most!
ocalhoun: Do I feel sorry for Starlight Glimmer? Still nope. I’m sure I’ll bring a flamewar down somewhere by saying it, but she really overreacted to that. And where’d she get all that magic? Dayum! She’s holding her own quite nicely against the Princess of Friendship (and friendship is magic, remember?) who is an alicorn no less! (Also, Twilight should work on figuring out how to trigger that Rainbow Power goodness. Would have come in real handy this episode. Or does it only work when all six friends are together?)
And as for recurring characters, I’m just happy to see the mane 4 from Our Town again. And bat ponies! And Chrysalis! (What? You think I should be excited about Sombra? Pfft. I would have been excited if he said anything other than ‘crystals’.) But you know who I’m surprised did not come back? Oh my Trixie, where art thou? Why hast thou forsaken thine alicorn amulet?
Which of the ‘presents’ did I like the most? I’d have to go with the first, Sombra’s. That’s such an interesting world, two kingdoms (okay, a kingdom and an empire) in all-out war, industrializing themselves to try and win. (Where is Luna in that one? Because Celestia and Luna beat him on their own once before…) Then again, the one that caught my imagination the most was Nightmare Moon’s present. If only because I was really wishing to see Nightmare successfully travel back in time. Then Starlight Glimmer would be all “Aha! Twili… NIGHTMARE MOON!?” And then Nightmare would mop the floor with her. It would be glorious.
Gulheru: Let me start by saying something general. I avoid time alterations. As a principle. When one does not consider all of the repercussions of causing temporal anomalies, one should not even attempt at causing them. But, here we had Starlight Glimmer. Showing us that somepony keen on their goal can go great lengths to achieve their dreams. And, while Prane seems to be using the term a less-than-noble label of a villain, which I find most insulting, I, for once, find inspiration in Starlight Glimmer.
Even if, in the end, the entire scenario felt blown out of proportions and had some… disputable choices of narration along the way.
Starlight Glimmer had an intriguing idea and, to be fair, being a few steps ahead of Twilight on several occasions felt rather… incredible to me. There are not many characters that can match wits with our dearest Princess of Friendship and Starlight was holding her own quite nicely. Although I found her reasoning… lacking a certain flair. Yes, it can be rather heart-rending to be abandoned by friends, but forging this into an entire ideology contesting cutie marks? It’s peculiar. Especially considering that Starlight has shown the capability of deep and witty thinking. So… why would she react so desperately? It just… it does not add up.
When it comes to the alternate realities, I have to say I was, indeed, most intrigued by Sombra’s. I mean, being able to bend an entire nation to your will, using the dark magic of alicorns to install fear in your subjects and control them to do your bidding, even if it meant waging a terrible war? Sombra, I applaud you. You have achieved an incredible objective. You brought forth the democratization of fear.
In general, I have found the episode enjoyable. Perhaps not tossing one onto the ground in adoration of the piece of art, but satisfactory nonetheless. However, I am glad we shall find ourselves with another season, for an ending like this would feel just lacking...
Twinkletail: I can be an odd duck with things like this. Actually, I'm an odd duck in general, but that's entirely besides the point.
Perhaps I'm too sensitive. All it takes to get me all misty-eyed sometimes is a pony finding genuine happiness. When the show goes to a darker place, though, I tend to not be so keen on it. I remember most of the people I talked to raving about the season 4 finale, but I didn't quite share that opinion, at least not at first. I know it's probably silly, but I couldn't get myself to really enjoy the ultra-evil Tirek trampling all over the cute colorful ponies that I knew and loved.
And throughout the first half of the finale, I was worried that I'd end up feeling the same about this one. It was the Sombraverse that really brought that feeling up for me, as it felt like a bit too much of a grim departure from what I like about the show. Yes, I realize it was supposed to be like that, but bear with me. Mindwashing war helmets and cybernetic prosthetic wings? Liek OMG its rite out of my super dark fanfic!!1 So yeah, the episode wasn't doing it for me. At least not at first.
I think it turned around for me when we left that particular present. From the way the trailers had presented things, I was under the impression that all the previous villains were going to be working together in one bad future. Switching things up made it better in my eyes. Waiting to see how Starlight would ensure an altered future was fun, and got me interested in just what was going to change and who would be in charge. Although I do have to admit that I wish there was less of a disconnect between what was done and what new timeline we got. I mean, I don't know how the new timeline could have been related more to exactly how the Rainboom was stopped, but it did feel kind of weird that we got such vastly different timelines each time when for the most part, the same thing was done. And when a different method was used to prevent the Rainboom, the future didn’t reflect it. When Starlight convinced the bullies not to bully Fluttershy, they landed in a changeling-run timeline. It didn’t match up, and it would have been cool if it had, although I admittedly don’t know how it could have.
Speaking of Starlight, I was pretty shocked to see that she was able to be on equal footing (hoofing? #horsepuns) with Miss Princess herself. While it was slightly hard to believe, it was nice to see that Starlight was far from a pushover and that the huge magic potential in Twilight wasn't an isolated incident. I know this is a point of contention, but I personally enjoyed Starlight’s redemption. Twilight’s realization that Starlight was a problem that couldn't be bruteforced was interesting, our trip to Starlight’s past was...well, it was a thing that we’ll discuss shortly, and while it did feel like Starlight’s resolution was rushed, I've pretty much come to expect some amount of rushing from plot-heavy MLP episodes so it didn't bother me quite as much as it could have. 44 minutes ain't exactly ideal for a huge amount of story, but stretching it to a three-parter would have meant either a year-or-so-long cliffhanger or eliminating an episode from this season. While I wouldn't have minded the omission of Princess Spike or What About Discord, I think the best decision was made. Having Starlight go and apologize to the ponies back in her old town was lovely and absolutely necessary, and it meant I got to see Night Glider again so it's a plus all around.
As for which alternate present I liked the best, I might have to go with Nightmare Moon’s. I found it interesting how all anypony would talk about was how eternal night would doom everything, but things seemed to be okay–or at least as okay as they could have been with an evil princess reigning over the whole shindig. I mean, we were led to believe that there's a thriving tourist scene! That's gotta be good, right?
♫But don't forget who's takin' you home / And in whose arms you're gonna be / So darlin' save the last dance for me!♫
Twinkletail: So near the end of the episode, we had a cool little scene that I personally hadn’t been expecting, but was quite happy to see. However, it’s also been causing a bit of contention amongst a few of my fine friends. Let’s talk a bit about Starlight Glimmer’s backstory.
Every pony, whether they hero or villain, obviously has a backstory. Some building blocks from whence they came, some quirks in their history that worked to make them the pony they are today. I’m sure plenty of people were wondering just what bizarre little incident occurred in Miss Glimmer’s fillyhood to mold her into the talent-stealing, brainwashing nutjob pony that we’ve all grown to know and have mixed opinions on. I know I was one of those, and when we were taken back to her fillyhood, I’m pretty sure I made some manner of excited noise that can’t be spelled properly with our alphabet.
However, the scene we were presented with might have raised a bit of fuss amongst some in the community. How do you fine people feel about what we were given of Starlight’s backstory? Was it enough to justify what she became? Was it an overreaction? Why do so many ponies have a name that ends in -light?
Gulheru: A talent-stealing, brainwashing nutjob pony? Shame on you, Twinkletail, that’s not how one should talk about a lady! Let us retain some manners.
As I have already mentioned, this scenario with Starlight Glimmer’s past felt too artificial. Which is a great shame. We have been coming up with many different ideas for the basis of her agenda. Betrayal, low self-esteem, inferiority complex, you name it. Some of those were better, some worse, some were tear-inducing. And then we get this…
Your friend gets a cutie mark and leaves.
Dear Lord, it must have taken them centuries to come up with this one. So that Sunburst colt has a magical surge (quite common among unicorn children), finds out he is skilled in… I am not sure. Arcane discharges? Instantaneous cataloguing? Book juggling? No matter. And he just, what, goes away? He did not say anything to Starlight Glimmer? His mind got wiped? (Would add to some theories about Celestia’s undercurrent schemes and shaping ponies’ lives to her own ulterior motives… Also the naming conventions and cutie mark corresponding them…)
Anyway, this seems to be another case of things being blown out of proportion in the show. Yes, you lost a friend, but that caused you to change the flow of time? Getting a little overdramatic, aren't we, Starlight Glimmer? to quote, well, my work. Don’t judge me, no one gave you the right.
It does not change the fact that the strife between Starlight and Twilight was quite stellar!
Prane: For starters, I think it’s impossible to have only one friend. Friends are upleveled acquaintances who we more or less consciously select from our entire social network. What happens when some of those acquaintances disappoint us? We move to a different set of individuals and try our chances there, of course! So unless we’re talking about a very specific, isolated, almost artificial environment, young Starlight should have had someone else to whom she could turn after that traitor—scratch that, to be a traitor you have to be a character—after that plot device left her. Hey, isn’t that exactly what happened between Twist and Apple Bloom? These two were inseparable as well, but once Twist got interesting, she ditched AB. Watch out, Twilight! A new villain is blooming only an apple’s throw away!
While it can be argued that the Sunburst incident scarred her for life, in a somewhat realistic setting there should have been someone—parent, teacher, caretaker—who would help her get over her disappointment. It’s not like Sunburst left her, she hibernated for ten or so years, then emerged a grown-up mare with attitude. Someone had to notice something! Equestria was born from the Fire of Friendship no less, which suggest that forming lasting friendships is one of the most basic principles in their society. When a single pony doesn’t comply, others are likely to get interested.
So, to sum up: an oddly specific event that served the plot, a supposed childhood friend who apparently never talked to Starlight after getting his cutie mark, the lack of adults who could help her through that tough period, all added into Starlight’s character without any prior build-up towards such a reveal, and finally, a plain dumb assumption that one scar early on turns you into a bad guy? Yes, that’s some really truly terrible character backstory we’re brewing here!
ocalhoun: Oh yes, so much of an overreaction! I could understand some desperate action by a little filly who’d just lost her best friend, sure. But come on! Having that define her whole life? And the whole ‘I can’t get a new friend because what if they get a cutie mark and go away, too!’ What BS is that? Maybe try making a friend who already has a cutie mark, and then that can’t possibly happen. Problem solved. And no, you can’t generalize it to ‘She was just afraid of abandonment by any friend.’ It was specifically about cutie marks taking her friends away, since that had to lead to her to be so anti-cutie-mark.
And with all that magic at her disposal later, she never tried to go and find her childhood friend again? (Where was his redemption in the ‘we’re all friends now’ montage? I would have loved to see Starlight resuming her friendship with him.)
Or, for that matter, if she’s going to go to the trouble of time travel to change the past, why not instead choose to go back to her own past? She could go back and save herself from that pile of books, so the colt would never get the chance. Then the colt would have had to find his cutie mark at a later date … maybe at the same time Starlight did.
"No! For the last time, I'm not going to help you bring eternal night to other realities. You're not my partner, you're a gun for hire!"
ocalhoun: Welcome back from Finale 5: The What-if-enning! I’ve got to say, one thing that caught my attention was during the song at the end (while Starlight’s making surprisingly fast friends with the mane 6 – or not surprising, given Sunset Shimmer). Did you catch that little montage?
Yep, that’s right. Starlight gets the ‘every self insert story ever’ treatment, complete with getting new clothes made by Rarity. Furry friends with Fluttershy: check. Fly with Rainbow even though you don’t have wings: check. Working at Sweet Apple Acres (please tell me she stayed there!): check. Baking with Pinkie: check. And, of course, the books. (And whatever you do, don’t forget the obligatory ‘dark past’!)
I expect that any time now, Princess Celestia will unjustly develop animosity toward her, she’ll be shipped with one or all of the mane 6, and of course, that coveted 7th Element spot is just over the horizon. All this and more in the sequel, My Awesome OC Starlight Glimmer Goes to Equestria. She’ll be sprouting red-and-black wings any moment now.
Well, not really, but still. The parallels are uncanny. Or have I just been editing for newbie fanfic writers too much?
Prane: I think you’re onto something, but you should really try harder to do her character justice! As the 7th Element of Harmony she’d be an excellent Wonderbolt, and given that her name is Star-light she should totally start taking care of the fireflies on the night sky, and for that matter, the sun itself. This is obvious and much expected from a pony who is also secretly a unicorn-crystal pony hybrid and rightful, long-lost heir to the throne of the Crystal Empire. Alright, I’m done.
There’s been a poll on Equestria Daily recently in which people were asked whether they would want to have Starlight Glimmer reformed. Nearly half of the respondents (47%) wanted her to remain a villain, and almost one in three (29%) saw her joining the ranks of the good guys, and while I’m all in for giving everyone a second chance, I really didn’t like the conclusion to her arc. A friend of mine pointed out that in the season opener Starlight firmly believed in her ideology of equality, and that’s what made her character great—as a charismatic leader, she was opposing the establishment by building something else without going all anarchistic.In the finale, her actual motivations turned out rather unimpressive, especially since her actions back in Our Town suggested much greater depth to her character.
The only thing I really liked about her portrayal was that whenever Twilight came back in time, Starlight was ready to stop her from interfering with her plans. That’s the level of smarts I’d expect from an antagonist, as it evokes the feeling of dread in the viewer much needed in a setting where the forces of good win by default. Here’s hoping the next season’s opener will end on a bittersweet note!
Twinkletail: You know, now that it's put this way to me, she really does come off as a self-insert OC, huh? She's even named in a manner that one might name an OC like this. We should have known from the beginning! The signs were there!
As I said earlier, I'm glad that she ended up being reformed. I do have to agree with Prane, though, that her intents seemed a bit watered down from when we saw her in the season opener. The Starlight we got in Cutie Map was one who had flawed ideals, but seemed to truly believe in her heart that what she was doing was right for all of ponykind. It's often said that the sign of a good villain is that they need to be convinced that they're doing the right thing, and our Equalist overlord seemed to have that down pat way back when. This time around, though, she's simply on a quest for revenge against those who wronged her. It seems like a bit of an oversimplification for a pony who really seemed to think she was making the world a better place through butt picture theft.
This doesn't mean that my overall opinion on Starlight has changed for the worse. If anything, it's improved. We already knew she had a fair amount of power, considering that she could basically remove any glimpse of talent from a pony. Now we see her traveling through time, self-levitating (has Twilight done that? I have this little headcanon that such a thing is ridiculously difficult and can't remember if that's been actively contradicted in the show before), and firing off lasers like nopony’s business. Not only that, but she's modified Starswirl’s spell. When is she getting a song from Celestia and a pretty set of wings? To compound on all of this, I have to agree with Prane once more that she showed herself to be very intelligent, varying her tactics up in clever fashion. You done good, Equalhorse.
Gulheru: Well, the way I see it, there are two possible futures for Starlight. Either she becomes a recurring character, one to shape Equestria with and alongside our heroines… which would be quite intriguing. Twilight having her own apprentice? Oh, the repercussions! The two of them, working together, putting that remarkable intelligences to work. Of course, as long as Twilight disposes of Celestia. Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody power, the other to crave it. What? Nobody remembers the Rule of Two anymore? Curses!
The other possibility is that Starlight appears around the place from time to time, on the verge of oblivion, nopony remembering what was the deal with her. Which, let us face it, is also a possibility. One that I would find quite lazy and misbegotten, but still within the realm of probability. Do you recall the first season? Luna came back and then vanished completely. Just like that. They are capable of doing so with Starlight Glimmer. It also grants intriguing prospects. Luna’s absence gave us the Lunar Republic, which incited a peculiar strife within the fanbase at the time. And, as many great thinkers would tell you, conflict makes you develop. Challenge grants you strength.
Whatever happens, nobody shall forget about Starlight. Even if the show overlooks her, we can expect a tonne of works about her.
A conflict between Starlight and Celestia…? Oh, that gives me ideas.
Don't you recognize your old stomping grounds? This is your town about a thousand years from now. Smells awful, doesn't it?
Gulheru: Alright, we have covered Starlight quite well. So let us talk about Twilight for a second, hmmm? I have an observation that made me absolutely cringe while watching the finale, one that is showcasing the only reason why Twilight is not my favorite pony of the show.
So, we are tossed back in time, after we have just given a lecture about how the Sonic Rainboom caused our friends to get their cutie marks and, ultimately, brought us all together. Then we witness the past being changed via some skillful utilization of Starswirl the Bearded’s idea, we return to the “present”...
… and we are befuddled that it has changed so much. And we go the Sweet Apple Acres and face Applejack with a blasé “My friend!”.
Come, the Tartarus, on. Twilight Sparkle, a magical mastermind, a pony whose studies allowed her to reach alicornhood, overlooking the fact that she witnessed, she actually witnessed the timeline changing and simply approaching somepony believing that their friendship survived temporal inconsistency?! Needing Zecora, a zebra shaman, to tell her (in the second version of the Present, no less), that time can shift like this? I mean, really? Fine, Twilight is not a chronomancer, but I want to believe she is smart enough to figure this out… I really want to. Yet my faith is put to the test so often…
What do you think? Is Twilight often portrayed dumber than she is only so that there is a scene or two when other characters can tell her something she is not aware of? Spike caught onto their time travel in the same time she did and he is more often than not but a comic relief! Does those moments of naivete and absent-mindedness believable for you, fleshing out Twilight’s character, or do you find them unreasonable?
Twinkletail: Twilight, I love you, but you really caught the idiot ball hard as far as that bit went. I mean, even if we give her the benefit of the doubt and give her the first time as a freebie, allowing her to maybe think that events had changed but her friendship had stayed intact, then what’s the excuse for still being confused the next time?
As much as I love the show, the idiot ball seems to be a very consistent thing in it (as it is in...well, lots and lots and lots of shows), and the super-booksmart Twilight seems to catch it straight to the face fairly often. The thing is, though, that the idiot ball tends to be a necessary evil in my opinion. Yes, it can be overdone (I’m looking at you, Spike At Your Service), but if our characters were constantly at their top form, the episodes would likely be much shorter.
Plus, it makes the chapters of my Sugarcoat Interferes in Pony History (HELLO SHAMELESS PLUG) story easier to write 
But yes. in this case, it seems a bit ridiculous that Twilight wouldn’t catch right onto it immediately. We just heard in What About Discord that she knows about the dangers of time travel, not to mention the time that she time travelled herself (although she created a stable time loop there instead of ruining everything somehow). So then she goes back in time, watches Starlight stop a pivotal event in the lives of her and others, and is shocked when Sombra!Applejack doesn’t remember her? C’mon, Sparklebutt. Step your game up.
ocalhoun: I’ve just got to give her credit for remaining an alicorn princess throughout the process. Messing with the past is messy, after all. Twilight’s past – and Starlight’s as well for that matter – should have changed as well. After the first time-twisting, Twilight would no longer have become Celestia’s private student, and how then would she have become an alicorn princess? (I’ll give it the benefit of a doubt here, I suppose. Maybe filly Twilight was very dedicated and talented, and once she had a bit more practice, she managed to get Celestia’s attention. Or maybe some other startling event triggered a magical meltdown, and the events of Twilight’s cutie mark played themselves out in a different time and place.)
But Starlight, though. Why, after the first switch, wasn’t she still running Our Town, having forgotten about Twilight and her friends because she never met them in the first place?
Oh, and by the way, I like to think that the alternate present where there was nothing but dust and wind, the wasteland, was the one where Starlight Glimmer had never been stopped. To be honest, I thought that was how the episode was going to reach its conclusion. Starlight would be going on about how great everything was before Twilight came and messed up Our Town… and then they’d come across some evidence (probably a group of equal-mark ponies) that this was Starlight’s future, the one where she gained control of all Equestria. And then Starlight would be all, “I did this…?” And she would see the error in her ways.
Prane: The Time Machine. Back to the Future. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. While Twilight Sparkle might not have read, seen, or played any of these, I would like to believe that someone in Equestria has already talked about how time travel works. There’s good chance she investigated the heck out of the topic after the events of It’s About Time, so the only explanation for her behavior is, unfortunately, the need of introducing the audience to how the alternate realities work. Sorry, non-target demographic! The fact that you’re well-versed with the concept thanks to comic books and video games isn’t enough to leave the narrative shorthand explaining how and why the worlds are different out of the plot.
That said, Twilight will remain as incompetent as the story demands her to be. Why? Because she’s someone who has already reached her potential. She started off as an awkward student with no friends and no hope for non-academic greatness. Right now she’s discovered the magic of friendship, become an alicorn, fought terrible foes, and taken on her royal duties with relative ease. The list of things defining her character that haven’t been tackled already is pretty much nonexistent, as proven by her minimal involvement in Season 5, which means she’s become a mentor-level character. Those, as we know, are rarely the focal point in stories, but they remain there to make sure that other characters can become heroes instead. Perhaps it’s time for a new protagonist to take the reins.
Will the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic franchise find enough space to show Twilight Sparkle’s further growth in an interesting way, or will she be making the same mistakes, facing the same insecurities, and failing to see the most obvious clues put before her? The answer is, as you might have expected: only time will tell.
Your panelists for today (drop by their profiles/stories/blogs and say hello!):
- ocalhoun
- Twinkletail
- Gulheru
- and yours truly.
That's a wrap! We've successfully produced and posted reviews of all the episodes throughout Season 5. It's been a great experience, working with so many wonderful people who were willing to take a chunk of their life and devote it to making those joint review. Is it over, or perhaps we'll be doing something to sum up the season together? Hmm... let's work on a master post first to have linkies to those reviews in one place.
Also, I think I'm writing a How It Should Have Ended type of fic for that season's finale.
Signing out!
~Prane
10/10 best finale in my opinion and no, I don't think her backstory was 'stupid' or 'overreacting'. I don't know why everyone is harping on this. It's not exactly easy for everyone to make friends and sometimes the loss of a loved one can be incredibly scarring. Better than 'I'm evil, more power please' like we usually get. There's literally nothing I can say against this finale and I don't think that redemption was rushed. In fact, I thought it was great because she didn't know what was going to happen in the future. She got caught up in her own anger and despair, so when she did see it, it shook her up enough to let Twilight in.
I like to think that wasteland looking alt future was the Trixie future. I think the biggest kicker of all these alt futures should be that none of them lead to an Equalist future.
3583129
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! Myself, I think I was expecting something different. A Canterlot Wedding remains my favorite finale still.
3583163
In other words, there was no scenario in which Starlight would come on top, ever. That's kind of sad!
And yes, Trixie would totally destroy all life if she had a chance and power to do so.
3584012
A happier way of seeing it would be that canon Equestria is Starlight's best possible future. It is not an Equalist future, but it is still a happy-Starlight future.
3584012 ...Oh, I should probably say A Canterlot Wedding was my least favorite finale. Not to say it's bad, far from it. It had some great moments and music and the fight scenes were excellent and left on a lovely note. It just frustrated me a bit too much and I don't enjoy it as much as the other finales, but eh. Everyone has their own opinion.
3584301
I guess it's good there's a variety of writers and story designers involved in the show, or else one of us would be severely disappointed after each episode, and the other super-happy all the time. I'm willing to go 50-50 with you on this one! Them ponies are still one of the funniest thing that happened to me.
Hehe, what are the odds?
3584318 Oh most definitely.
Nothing puts a smile on my face quite like ponies, honestly. Variety is the spice of life and we all can't enjoy everything. I wish you the best and stay strong through the hiatus.
3584344
Thank you, and have a great day as well!
Ah, right, it's the time we hibernate again. Well, more space for creating original content not based on the most recent episodes!