Discord's a reall work of art - Ending of the end. · 11:59pm Oct 18th, 2019
You've been setting up challenges this whole time...
If you haven't seen the final MLP-FIM episodes this rant is going to be kind of spoilery.
[begin rant]
Discord confessed to bringing back King Sombra, Tirek, and Cozy glow, and teaming them up with Chrysalis. Now let's face it, Chrysalis by herself wasn't exactly a horrible villain. Barely a B rated villain at best when she was by herself. The ponies of Equestria weren't even actively looking for her because they knew that the most she could do by herself was to maybe cause a little disturbance now and then aimed at Twilight who we all know can take care of herself.
When Twilight accuses Discord of "setting up challenges this whole time" he doesn't deny it. Not one bit. And she's not asking about recent events, she's asking about everything she and the other element bearers have accomplished over the last nine seasons. Twilight further states that none of their successes are actually real. Does Discord refute Twilight? No, he doesn't. He's admitted to setting up the present situation to "boost Twilight's confidence" and when he is essentially accused of setting up everything the main six had to do to defend Equestria, not only does he not deny it, his only defense is that Twilight has had "an extremely good looking safety net" and equates his actions to giving Twilight a final exam. He is completely unapologetic. Narcissism, thy name is Discord. Of course, he falls back on "I intended to orchestrate an epic attack on Twilight's coronation."
How exactly is this a defense?
You know, doing something along those lines in most real-world nations is going to land a person in a world of hurt.
Heck, he made Fluttershy cry! 
[Gets the brass knuckles.]
In that one brief exchange, Twilight isn't talking about the recent attacks, she's talking about all the attacks, and Discord is just the sort of sociopath/psychopath to set up King Sombra, followed by Nightmare Moon via some contingency plan in much the same way as he set up the Plunderseeds. Once he is released from being imprisoned in stone it is not hard to imagine that Discord could have had some part in every major event to plagued Equestria. Why did the Changelings attack Canterlot short of they'd acquired a taste for fear and panic? You don't get much love out of a pony that is in fight or flight mode. How exactly did Tirek get out of Tartarus in the first place? Was Discord actually manipulating the Tree of Harmony? Though it does appear the tree itself became sentient and took steps to see to it that ponies would no longer be dependent on Starswirls stones. This is assuming Discord hadn't set it up so that Sombra would be able to destroy the tree. How was Cozyglow able to be pen pals with Tirek who was in Tartarus and who gave her the plans for that machine that sucked all the magic out of Equestria? Was it Starlight Glimmer once again looking for a way to eliminate cutie marks once and for all? Was Starlight Glimmer just another of Discord's contingency plans to create havoc and chaos? After all, Discord isn't the Lord of discord, he's the lord of Chaos. And when he gets schooled he pleads "but I did it for you". He's lost his powers and that's all he really cares about.
Discord's machinations nearly ended Equestria. The least they could have done was to make sure he doesn't get his powers back and make him live as a mortal pony. But no, after everything he's done, all he gets is a good scolding and all's well because you helped us save the day - which incidentally led to him getting his powers back and he's just as likely to go right back to his usual MO of setting up events that will lead to more chaos.
Gen five will undoubtedly see the return of Chrysalis, Cozyglow, Tirek, and Sombra.
[end rant]
The way the show ended kind of left an unpleasant feeling deep in the pit of my gut.
Not only are they strongly suggesting that Twilight outlives her friends they've left her on that throne alone. And no, Spike doesn't count. Spike is the dutiful son figure. He can be there for Twilight, act as an advisor, secretary, and even a caretaker of sorts. But in the end, he's never going to be Twilight's special somepony. She hatched him, she raised him, she sees him as her son. Making him anything more than that would just be really weird.
Many of us wanted her paired up with one or more of the main six, or Luna, or Sunset Shimmer, or maybe even Sunburst, anything other than the way they ended the show. It looks like she doesn't have anyone. Twilight has become the lone monarch of Equestria. We can only hope they will fix that sometime in the future and give her a love interest. I'd hate to think that being the leader of Equestria means being a paragon of virtue that must never be seen as having mortal needs.
As for who will live the longest among Twilight's friends I see that role falling on Fluttershy. They've made it obvious that Fluttershy and Discord are a couple now, and I can see Discord prolonging Fluttershy's life long past her natural life span. Given the way the season finale went, Discord is still just as selfish as he ever was, and we were given no reason to believe he'd changed.
What will Generation 5 be like? To be honest it could just as easily be set in an alternate dimension where we get the same characters with their roles jumbled. Though I wouldn't mind having a continuation of the gen 4 world where the adventures of the main six have become a legend. We can only hope they fix the continuity problems that have plagued the show.
You are absolutely right!