How would you go about fixing the season finale?

I could go on for a long time about this, but here’s a few points.

• Having Discord turn out to be Grogar is just terrible, I think. Had he been masquerading as some unknown character it would have been better, but Grogar isn’t a literally who, he’s a character with an established presence in the franchise. So either this plot point is eliminated entirely, or else the real Grogar will be making an appearance.
• What Discord did to Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis - take three mentally damaged individuals and shove them in a room together, threatening them if they don’t obey him while also reinforcing their megalomania and telling them their warped world views are correct - is arguably the most monstrous, evil thing that any character has done in the entire series. He basically orchestrated the damnation of three souls. So that has to go as well. Even if we keep Discord-as-Grogar, simply changing his motivation to trying to reach them Friendship, rather than using them as disposable minions, helps.
• The Bell is kind of boring as-is, basically just a rehash if Tirek’s extant power set. I’d change it to doing something else. First though is that it contains the trapped spirit of the real Grogar and maybe the city of Tambelon, full of monsters.
• The Legion of Doom should sort-of embrace friendship. It’s been set up by the season. They don’t have to have complete personality changes or apologize, but nor should they be petrified or returned to Tartaros.
• With regards to the epilogue, I wouldn’t set it so far in the future that the Mane-6 have notably aged, and I’d keep Twilight looking like Twilight, or at most she’d have a body type more like Cadance or Luna than Celestia. Luster Dawn, however, shouldn’t be a unicorn. Instead she should be an earth pony, if we keep her as a pony, or maybe a zebra. There was too much focus on the unicorn tribe in the last few seasons.

That’s off the top of my head as I lie in bed about to go to sleep. I could probably go on for pages and pages. There’s a story on FiMFic right now called “The Ending of the End: Love and Tolerance Edition” that’s not a too bad take.

Actually, I would have had the "The CMC get their cutie marks" as the last episode.
Failing which, you could always go all "Saint Elsewhere" on the show & have it just be "Twilight dreamed it all"
Hey, it worked for the Wizard of Oz" & "Alice In Wonderland", it could be used again
+ it would explain some SERIOUS plot holes like Fluttershy's behavior during the pilot
-the most OOC actions in the entire series & that's saying something

Also, Diamond Tiara has been a background pony a few times, but otherwise hasn't been seen since she reformed
Would have been nice to see "What happened to her?"

7112932
7112962
Here are a few ideas.

1. Don't have Discord pretend to be Grogar.

2. Include a conflict where Twilight decides she doesn't want be Equestria's next rule, leading to an argument between her and Celestia.

3. Have Twilight, Flurry Heart and Discord kidnapped by rouge Changelings Thorax mention in Triple Threat under the orders of Grogar.

4. Have Grogar lead Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis to Tambelon where he plans to rewaken some of his most loyal and dangerous monsters. Also as a reward for kidnapping Twilight, Flurry Heart and Discord, he transforms the rouge Changelings into more powerful creatures.

5. Grogar uses the combine magic of the kidnapped trio to change Cozy Glow into an Dragon/Alicorn hybird. He reveals he's dying and wants Cozy to be his new heir.

6. Celestia is horrified and disgusted by Grogar's actions where we get this dialogue.
Celestia: How could you do this to a child?!
Grogar: She should be grateful. She wanted power and now as the Queen of monsters she can.
Celestia: Did you even consider what she wanted? What gives you the right to forced this destiny onto her?!
Grogar: And that's rich coming from you! You've have always decided Twilight's destiny.
Celestia: I never...
Grogar: You've picked her friends, you made her a princess and you planning to retire and leave the duty ruling Equestria to Twilight. So when you have asked what she wanted?! Never. So tell me Celestia, what differences is there between you and I?
Celestia doesn't answer.
Grogar: Yeah, that's what I thought.

7. So while Shining Armor and Tempest are leading an army of all the friends and allies the mane Six ever made (including Lightning) against Grogar's army and Celestia and Luna are fighting Grogar, Twilight's friends are searching Tambelon to rescue Twilight, Flurry and Discord.

8. The spirit of the tree of Harmony sends help by recreating the Elements of Harmony and giving them to the Young Six who blast Grogar and his army, saving the day.

9. Celestia and Twilight have a heart to heart talk where Celestia apologizes for controlling most of her life and tells her Twilight she doesn't have rule Equestria if she doesn't want to.

So what do you all think?

7112932
My god, what have you done?!?

If you only knew the Pandora's Box you've opened...

7113228
Number six would be great.

7113389
Thank you.

7112932
This is more a "would have been cool" rather than a fix, but I would have liked to see Pinkie's absorption of the chaos magic as part of the key to defeating the bad guys, rather than just a joke added on after they were already defeated. Pinkie was the only one on the field who could have done it, and doing so leaves the alicorn magic now free to be released from the bell (something that the episode established early on but which never became relevant). That suddenly makes the bell the most valuable object on the field for whoever gets it first, instantly changing the stakes of the battle.

7113228
Many of those points kinda wrong. If Celestia didn't "control" Twilight's destiny - Equestria would have follen dozen times over. Not to mention it's not Celestia that does the most destiny railroading, it's Harmony itself. Do you remember how Tree MANAGED to MANIFEST the TABLE in the world, where the Elements have NOT been RECLAIMED?

I also find it completely retared how in the first seasons it's said that you can never destroy the elements, and how Harmony transcends the fate itself, but then those pretty gems are destroyed by a hoof stomp by a power hungry stupid shadow?

Or how show creators couldn't stick to one version, where "Twilight would NOT OUTLIVE her friends", how about that?

6)
Celestia: At least my control of destiny is about creation and peace, unlike yours, of destruction, war and strife.

7112962
Tirek might have been reasoned with. Probably. With how they made Cozy and Chrysalis? They would NEVER had talks, about anything. All they wanted is domination of those, that wronged them.

Bug Queen whole story line COULD have been salvaged, if she was humble, and maybe had some real danger, and just wanted to SURVIVE, and not to conquer. As it stands, both the filly and the bug are to far down to turn back, and Glow is too stupid to listen to those, who KNOW. You know, the expert on friendship, on everyones approval, by both public and rulers? Twilight, who studied friendship for a LONG time. She should know a thing or two. But no.
"Laughter, Loyalty, Generosity? Pfff, blah, blah, blah, I can make friends without them."

Despite, you know... You would never be able to have friends if you were not interesting to them, couldn't tell or take a joke. If you would not help friends, who face hard times, or just some difficulty. If you weren't willing to give some things unconditionaly. Time, money, things...

I can go on, really.

7113400
While I do see your point, I still think Celestia should have ask Twilight if she would want to take her place as the ruler of Equestria instead of saying, "I'm going to retire and leave the job of ruling Equestria to you Twilight."

7113420
Well, I think Celestia earned it, after more than a thousand years of rule, exact thousand of which she was completely alone. Not even her sister at her side.

7113421
While I do see your point, I still think Celestia should have asked.

7113590
Do you think Twilight would have declined? With her mentor worship tendencies? X) Twily constantly strives to impress Celestia, her worst fear is to be discarded by Celly. I think Celestia knows it, and would not have done anything, that would not be agreeable with Twilight. You might argue that she done some things, for example ignored her warnings of Nighmare Moon, and telling to make friends, but in the end, Twilight herself saves Celestia's little sister(sees the threat of eternal night defeated, through her own actions no less), and gains something she didn't think she needed before, but would be dissapointed if she were taken AWAY from her friends now. And Celestia, despite likely wanting to return Sparkle to her parents and everything else, declares that Twilight is to study an obscure field of friendship in Ponyville. Away from likely rich hub of liberaries, or schools/universities and the hubs of books and knowledge those give.

7114040
Again, I kinda see your point but I can't agree with it. But I can respect your reasons, so let's agree to disagree.

7113228
Celestia didn’t force her friends on Twilight. Twilight made these herself remember she encouraged to make but Twilight was having none of it. She said to check on decorations. She little to no way to make sure Twilight would make friends with Them.

7114235
That...is true.

For a second there, I thought you were referring to the Lunaverse Season 1 finale. That thing had some interesting controversies back in the day.

7114307
In fairness it wasn’t even the story I had originally wanted to write, and I wrote it to deal with some meta problems in the Lunaverse.

I no longer hate it like I used to, though.