My Little Pony LVI:S Has Left the Playground!

[Grif]

Oh my god.

The Gak.

It was everywhere!

(Also, I vote this to be our new future title.)

[Soras Teva Gee]

Oh my god.

The Gak.

It was everywhere!

(Also, I vote this to be our new future title.)

Sounds like a plan.

[Admiral Squish]

So, I overslept for ponies. When can I expect to see the episodes online?

[Soras Teva Gee]

Now actually, we can't link you though.

[zimmerwald1915]

III 1, III 2 [Geekery]

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Mention was made of Reverse Gravity, but this two-parter also shows, IMHO, that Twilight can cast Desecrate to turn the throne room into dark crystal and reveal the secret passage (from the animation it's clear this was an [evil] spell), Detect Secret Doors to know the throne room was the spot to do so, Dread Bolt to still the moving door at the bottom of the secret passage (another [evil] spell), and Passwall to blast that door out of the wall. Two of those aren't on the Wizard list, but we've already seen her cast Animate Objects, and that isn't on the Wizard list either.

[Dusk Eclipse]

III 1, III 2 [Geekery]

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Mention was made of Reverse Gravity, but this two-parter also shows, IMHO, that Twilight can cast Desecrate to turn the throne room into dark crystal and reveal the secret passage (from the animation it's clear this was an [evil] spell), Detect Secret Doors to know the throne room was the spot to do so, Dread Bolt to still the moving door at the bottom of the secret passage (another [evil] spell), and Passwall to blast that door out of the wall. Two of those aren't on the Wizard list, but we've already seen her cast Animate Objects, and that isn't on the Wizard list either.

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Custom spell research perhaps? I mean she loves doing research papers

[Admiral Squish]

My google-fu is failing me!

[CrnivorousMeece]

S3 premiere rant

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Pardon all my spelling and grammatical errors
All in all I enjoyed the premiere but it wasn't like I thought it would be ,. I mean it wasn't that bad but I expected more. The preview ads that I say caught my attention more than the episodes. I'd give a 8.5 out of 10 and here's why.

1) King Sombra: He was a major let down for me for several reasons, the most prominent being that he didn't do ANYTHING. I mean at least Discord corrupted the mane six turning them against each other, f-ed reality so hard in the a the laws of physics didn't exist, and was hilarious the whole time. Even Queen Chrysalis snuck into Canterlot disguised as a princess, fooled everyone except Twilight, trapped Twilight and Cadence in the Canterlot caves, defeated Celestia, then took over Canterlot with her army of Changelings. Hell even Nightmare Moon did more than he did she sent a Manticore after the mane six, nearly convinced RD to join her, then "destroyed The Elements of Harmony". Meanwhile all Sombra did was wait outside and look scary and when he finally got in, after 3/4 of the two parter went by, all he did was Twilight from giving the crystal heart to Cadence personally. And all he did before that was stop Shining Armor from using magic. Honestly, the Crystal Ponies' depression and curiosity about the Crystal Heart were more formidable opponents then he was. Heck even his traps were better at stopping them then he was.

He was really cool looking I'll have to say. Though I'd say the mural he was on was cooler than he was. Not to mention he hardly said anything he spent more time making monster noises then he did talking. And the part were his horn got severed I thought that would royal screw them over by making it so he can reconstruct himself using the horn's shadow or something but no all it did was make a dark crystal and then grow back. But unlike all the other villains he actually died. I mean HOLY [BUY SOME APPLES!]ING [BUY SOME APPLES!] HE WAS BLOW TO BITS! At least Discord was turned to stone, Chrysalis was sent flying in to who knows where, Nightmare Moon was turned back into Luna but no mercy for poor old King Sombra. Or maybe that piece of his horn that went flying off at the end means he's not completely gone. And about the Shadow thing they really could have used that more then just making him an ocean of darkness.

To summarize King Sombra was a bit of a let down for me and he should have done far more than he did.

2) TEST! I swear every fifth word that came from Twilight's mouth was test. Plus that's all she thought this while fiasco was was a test in the first place. Not OH NO! KING SOMBRA HAS RETURNED TO TAKE OVER THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE WE MUST STOP HIM! NNNope she was more focused on the fact that she had to pass the "test" for Celestia then anything else. She was so disappointed in the end when Spike had to give Cadence the Crystal Heart because that meant that he had to "pass the test" for her. I mean come on she could have at lest snapped out of it and realize oh crap this ins't a test but not she kept that same mind set the entire time. Sure it motivated her but she didn't need to think Discord was a test in order to stop him.

3)The song at the end not sure what i think of it actually. I mean I was totally surprised by it.

Alright I'll stop badmouthing it now that it's out of my system.

1) I like how they made Spike more important than Twilight's personal assistant. And I thought it was kinda funny how in the end he was the one to defeat Sombra though I would much rather have had Twilight figure out how to have gotten out of the trap.

2) I loved the parts with everypony trying to distract the Crystal ponies from the Cadences fading shield. The jousting scene, the parts when AppleJack was trying to keep the Crystal ponies from the fake crystal heart, Jester Pie, RARITY! ugh all of it was fantastic.

3) The Crystal ponies. I love the Crystal Ponies! Their look, their city, their traditions, all of it was just awesome. I especially love the mane style that most of the mares wore it was just sooo pretty and fancy and ugh i just want to run my fingers through it! *ahem* sorry about that. If there is anything not to like about them it's that the crystal part of them was more of a texture than a body structure.

Rarilight?

Edit: Changed my rating after re-watching

[Beacon of Chaos]

So this was brought up on another board (S3):

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Crystal ponies seem to be a fourth pony type, similar to earth ponies, but they have crystalline eyes and their appearance improves along with their mood.

But what's their schtick? Earth ponies are in tune with naute, unicorns have magic, pegasi have flight and weather control, but what place do the crystal ponies have in Equestria?

[otakuryoga]

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These are Arabian horses clearly.

A poll in the ponyverse has already mentions Saddle Arabia too.

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And I wonder about that blue halo behind his head. Luna's tail?

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i think its just his headgear..he has the bit that goes down his cheek..same on other side i presume..and that blue halo bit is a piece running up over his head


actually on looking closer i do think its just a distant background hill...you see a bit of one on the right at top of the building as well

[Dusk Eclipse]

So this was brought up on another board (S3):

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Crystal ponies seem to be a fourth pony type, similar to earth ponies, but they have crystalline eyes and their appearance improves along with their mood.

But what's their schtick? Earth ponies are in tune with naute, unicorns have magic, pegasi have flight and weather control, but what place do the crystal ponies have in Equestria?

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Well I did't catch the start of the episode so maybe the mentioned it; but from my understanding the Crystal empire is a source of magic or something in Equestria and the good spirits of the Crystal ponies maintain it.

[zimmerwald1915]

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Custom spell research perhaps? I mean she loves doing research papers

Well, yes. Also, research papers are immensely fun.

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Well I did't catch the start of the episode so maybe the mentioned it; but from my understanding the Crystal empire is a source of magic or something in Equestria and the good spirits of the Crystal ponies maintain it.

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I thought the Crystal Empire was the source of good spirits in Equestria, and that it had to be protected so that the rest of Equestria could be of good cheer. Also, "a thousand years" could just be a way of saying "a good long while", but I think it's an odd coincidence that Sombra's original defeat (heavily implied to be by Celestia and Luna) coincided, relatively speaking, with the creation of Nightmare Moon.

[Soras Teva Gee]

S3 premiere rant

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Pardon all my spelling and grammatical errors
All in all I enjoyed the premiere but it wasn't like I thought it would be ,. I mean it wasn't that bad but I expected more. The preview ads that I say caught my attention more than the episodes. I'd give a 8.5 out of 10 and here's why.

1) King Sombra: He was a major let down for me for several reasons, the most prominent being that he didn't do ANYTHING. I mean at least Discord corrupted the mane six turning them against each other, f-ed reality so hard in the a the laws of physics didn't exist, and was hilarious the whole time. Even Queen Chrysalis snuck into Canterlot disguised as a princess, fooled everyone except Twilight, trapped Twilight and Cadence in the Canterlot caves, defeated Celestia, then took over Canterlot with her army of Changelings. Hell even Nightmare Moon did more than he did she sent a Manticore after the mane six, nearly convinced RD to join her, then "destroyed The Elements of Harmony". Meanwhile all Sombra did was wait outside and look scary and when he finally got in, after 3/4 of the two parter went by, all he did was Twilight from giving the crystal heart to Cadence personally. And all he did before that was stop Shining Armor from using magic. Honestly, the Crystal Ponies' depression and curiosity about the Crystal Heart were more formidable opponents then he was. Heck even his traps were better at stopping them then he was.

He was really cool looking I'll have to say. Though I'd say the mural he was on was cooler than he was. Not to mention he hardly said anything he spent more time making monster noises then he did talking. And the part were his horn got severed I thought that would royal screw them over by making it so he can reconstruct himself using the horn's shadow or something but no all it did was make a dark crystal and then grow back. But unlike all the other villains he actually died. I mean HOLY [BUY SOME APPLES!]ING [BUY SOME APPLES!] HE WAS BLOW TO BITS! At least Discord was turned to stone, Chrysalis was sent flying in to who knows where, Nightmare Moon was turned back into Luna but no mercy for poor old King Sombra. Or maybe that piece of his horn that went flying off at the end means he's not completely gone. And about the Shadow thing they really could have used that more then just making him an ocean of darkness.

To summarize King Sombra was a bit of a let down for me and he should have done far more than he did.

2) TEST! I swear every fifth word that came from Twilight's mouth was test. Plus that's all she thought this while fiasco was was a test in the first place. Not OH NO! KING SOMBRA HAS RETURNED TO TAKE OVER THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE WE MUST STOP HIM! NNNope she was more focused on the fact that she had to pass the "test" for Celestia then anything else. She was so disappointed in the end when Spike had to give Cadence the Crystal Heart because that meant that he had to "pass the test" for her. I mean come on she could have at lest snapped out of it and realize oh crap this ins't a test but not she kept that same mind set the entire time. Sure it motivated her but she didn't need to think Discord was a test in order to stop him.

3)The song at the end not sure what i think of it actually. I mean I was totally surprised by it.

Alright I'll stop badmouthing it now that it's out of my system.

1) I like how they made Spike more important than Twilight's personal assistant. And I thought it was kinda funny how in the end he was the one to defeat Sombra though I would much rather have had Twilight figure out how to have gotten out of the trap.

2) I loved the parts with everypony trying to distract the Crystal ponies from the Cadences fading shield. The jousting scene, the parts when AppleJack was trying to keep the Crystal ponies from the fake crystal heart, Jester Pie, RARITY! ugh all of it was fantastic.

3) The Crystal ponies. I love the Crystal Ponies! Their look, their city, their traditions, all of it was just awesome. I especially love the mane style that most of the mares wore it was just sooo pretty and fancy and ugh i just want to run my fingers through it! *ahem* sorry about that. If there is anything not to like about them it's that the crystal part of them was more of a texture than a body structure.

Rarilight?

Edit: Changed my rating after re-watching

I think that's a pretty fair...

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I always try to keep my expectations blank on matters like this so I didn't feel let down persay. However King Sombra is good evidence of how the show isn't quite being written for us I think. He's a frightening and menancing, but a single scene for him to be a give a villainous speech or whatever would have vastly improved him. Or maybe less, just being an complete force of darkness. However I'm also sure that wasn't quite the priority we might make it.

I still commend the staff for shoe-horning in a merch item so deftly. Its not the best episode but it is completely serviceable.

So this was brought up on another board (S3):

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Crystal ponies seem to be a fourth pony type, similar to earth ponies, but they have crystalline eyes and their appearance improves along with their mood.

But what's their schtick? Earth ponies are in tune with naute, unicorns have magic, pegasi have flight and weather control, but what place do the crystal ponies have in Equestria?

I'd say go in a go for a bit of a special category, Equestria obvious got on well enough without...

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Though the ending light show could suggest they are tied to light.

[Pendulous]

Apparently everyone wants the gak.

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[Deadly]

So this was brought up on another board (S3):

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Crystal ponies seem to be a fourth pony type, similar to earth ponies, but they have crystalline eyes and their appearance improves along with their mood.

But what's their schtick? Earth ponies are in tune with naute, unicorns have magic, pegasi have flight and weather control, but what place do the crystal ponies have in Equestria?

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Gems. Like earth ponies grow organic things, Crystal Ponies grow and culture inorganic things like gems and crystals, since gems seem to grow like other things in Equestria and there are rock farms and stuff (if Pinkie is to be believed). Maybe Pinkie's family descends from Crystal Ponies, way back.

[Dusk Eclipse]

....wait is there a King Sombra toy? That is so badass, he is definitely my favourite villain, appearance-wise, if there is a toy I must have it!

[zimmerwald1915]

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Gems. Like earth ponies grow organic things, Crystal Ponies grow and culture inorganic things like gems and crystals, since gems seem to grow like other things in Equestria and there are rock farms and stuff (if Pinkie is to be believed). Maybe Pinkie's family descends from Crystal Ponies, way back.

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Unicorns are too associated with gems, going back to the pre-Equestria days if Hearths Warming Eve is to be believed, for me to believe that. The episode says that their positive emotions, amplified and projected by the Crystal Heart, are the source of all positive emotions in Equestria. Why is that not enough of a niche?

[Kd7sov]

....wait is there a King Sombra toy? That is so badass, he is definitely my favourite villain, appearance-wise, if there is a toy I must have it!

I think what was meant was the "crystal empire" toyline in general. Though it's possible such a toy exists and I just haven't seen it; I'm not much for merch searches.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Apparently everyone wants the gak.

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Ask Gak

hours old, two pictures, hundreds of followers.

[Deadly]

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Unicorns are too associated with gems, going back to the pre-Equestria days if Hearths Warming Eve is to be believed, for me to believe that. The episode says that their positive emotions, amplified and projected by the Crystal Heart, are the source of all positive emotions in Equestria. Why is that not enough of a niche?

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Unicorns like gems, sure, but that doesn't mean they have any particular bond or anything with gems and crystals. Consider however that Earth Ponies are "of the earth", it's literally in their name, so why not Crystal Ponies being about crystals?

And the episode actually says that? All I heard was that if they lost it would be bad for Equestria, not that the Empire was actually the source of all positive feelings or anything like that. That seems rather excessive and stupid, actually. I could have missed it, though, haven't rewatched it yet.

Also, why do they have to have such a huge, massive, enormous niche, when other ponies are sort of more down to earth? I mean, being the source of all positive feeling, that's way more than just having magic, wings or a green hoof sort of thing.

[Ravian]

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That one scene where Twilight turns dissidents into fillies at orders of Overlord Trixie?

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My guess is that Twilight turned them into fillies to pose as adoring fangirls of Trixie so they can infiltrate into her organization.

Although it might have been a better plan to use Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie considering that Trixie's never met them before.

[Balmas]

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Nah, I'd say ranking now is Chrysalis > Nightmare Moon > Sombra >>> Discord. The decision to drop his episodes as S2 opening abroad in favour for Canterlot Wedding is pretty telling, he is nothing to anyone who doesn't know who De Lancie is.

Also, this episode did as much to sink Fs/RD ship to me as Hurricane Fluttershy did. RD is once again inconsiderate jerk who doesn't care about Fs feelings, she treats Fs like some rough jock friend at best, hurting her every time

Only about a dozen times so far?

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For me, my rating of villains would be Discord > Chrysalis > Nightmare Moon > King Sombra. As you've noted, DeLancie does a lot to sell the character, and he could have been much less entertaining. However, I have to disagree with you on some points; for example, if Discord had been a simple bit of chaos magic, he wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining; he couldn't have corrupted the mane six; he'd have been defeated in short order.

Something else that bumps Discord to the top of this list for me: he won. He took out Celestia's crack squad, turned them against each other, and so thoroughly broke their leader that she no longer cared. Arguably, he was more powerful than Celestia and Luna, since they needed the elements of harmony to beat him before, and they did nothing as he raged across the country. Only through sending letters to her student could Celestia do anything at all.

Sure, he let himself get cocky, and paid the price. However, he deserves more credit than you give him. He is arguably the most successful and threatening villain this fandom has seen.

Just because Rainbow is a jerk sometimes doesn't mean that she's incapable of tenderness; for example, Hurricane Fluttershy. She holds herself back, is gentler than normal, and respects Fluttershy's wishes.

Episode related comic:

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This saddens me.

Why Am I feeling that the first two episodes are

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just the beginning for last two episodes. Maybe King Sombra grew from the horn and began to wreck havoc on Equestria (See Desolated Apple Acres and Carousel Boutique Screenshots might be either his rule or nightmare and fear of Applejack and Rarity).

On the speculation:

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What is the beginning of Crystal Ponies?
- Earth Ponies who were mutated from Crystal Hearts.
- Product of Extensive Unicorn- Earth Pony interracial romance, ala Bretons from Elderscrolls.
- Magic Shampoo that shines when they are happy.
Scootaloo is
- an orphan?
- a pegasus raised by earth pony parents, thus her inability to fly (Maybe she fell from the clouds as a baby and fell into a cabbage patch).

Common fandom is that Scootaloo is an orphan. I personally just see her as being a slow learner.

Oh my god.

The Gak.

It was everywhere!

(Also, I vote this to be our new future title.)

Thus has it been spoken; so let it be.

[t209]

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Unicorns like gems, sure, but that doesn't mean they have any particular bond or anything with gems and crystals. Consider however that Earth Ponies are "of the earth", it's literally in their name, so why not Crystal Ponies being about crystals?

And the episode actually says that? All I heard was that if they lost it would be bad for Equestria, not that the Empire was actually the source of all positive feelings or anything like that. That seems rather excessive and stupid, actually. I could have missed it, though, haven't rewatched it yet.

Also, why do they have to have such a huge, massive, enormous niche, when other ponies are sort of more down to earth? I mean, being the source of all positive feeling, that's way more than just having magic, wings or a green hoof sort of thing.

I think

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Crystal Ponies are earth pony subraces. We didn't see pegasus or unicorns among them.

[Deadly]

I think

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Crystal Ponies are earth pony subraces. We didn't see pegasus or unicorns among them.

Indeed, supporting my theory further, I feel

[Soras Teva Gee]

So some awesome Episode related content

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Awesome Gravity.

[Eakin]

Episode reaction

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Pretty good! Second half was stronger than the first.

Sombra was not a very good villain. He was just kind of there to give the episode urgency rather than actually do anything.

Also, Celestia and Luna took down Sombra 1000 years ago, and Luna went evil and was banished 1002 years ago... How does that work, exactly?

Gravity spell was awesome, but Celestia and Twilight channeling the dark side like that without consequences was a little crazy. "Oh yeah, my teacher showed me how to fill my heart with hatred and use that to corrupt everything around me. No biggie."

Pinkie Pie taking off the Fluttershy suit, and Fluttershy freaking out when she nearly steps on it was my favorite gag.

I'm hoping they don't do the Twilight becomes an alicorn thing but they certainly seem to be leading in that direction

Test song meh, faire song better

[Anarion]

[SPOILER]

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Dragonshy. Bridle Gossip. Swarm of the Century. Green Isn't Your Color. A Bird in the Hoof. Lesson Zero. The Cutie Pox. Secret of My Excess. It's About Time. First episodes that come to mind, every time Twilight's solution was epic fail worsening situation and someone else had to actually correct that and then solve problem for her. I could name half a dozen episodes more, but I think these are enough to prove my point.

Regarding Twilight's failures

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Okay, I admit that Rainbow Dash is speaking hyperbole when she says that Twilight never fails. However, I think you're giving Twilight an unfair portrayal by putting all those episodes together.

Dragonshy: Twilight didn't fail. She brought Fluttershy to deal with the dragon and it worked. Things just took longer than Twilight thought and her backup plan wasn't as good.

Bridle Gossip: Nobody failed. Twilight was eventually convinced of something incorrect, but they solved the problem and learned to not dismiss a book by its cover.

Swarm of the Century: Granted here. Twilight's spell failed to solve the problem and made it worse. Nobody seems to blame Twilight during the episode though, as the problem was so bad that any effort was considered justified at that point.

Green isn't your Color: Sort of a failure. She actually reveals the secret to an empty room and it's only known because of Pinkie's cheater stalker powers.

A Bird in the Hoof: They don't catch the bird, but Fluttershy and Twilight were both misinformed and Philomena is fine and recovers. The only failure is that they didn't ask Celestia about the problem, and that's Fluttershy more than Twilight.

Lesson Zero: Admitted failure, but the whole point of the episode is that it doesn't really matter, what's important is taking friends seriously when they're worried about something.

Cutie Pox: She succeeded in researching that it wasn't curable by normal means. Not sure I'd call that a failure.

Secret of My Excess: I'd count this as a failure in that she's not able to contain Spike or find a cure before he goes out of control. Similar to the parasprites, the situation was adequately bad that nopony seems to blame Twilight.

It's About Time: No failure here, stable time loop. Twilight learns the lesson, no disaster happens, she had to go back in order to avoid a paradox.

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Um, do you really believe Celestia would have kicked Twilight out for failing that? It just doesn't fit the character, IMHO. All the nebulous speak greatly reminded me of Lesson Zero, Celestia spoke figuratively and Twilight interpreted that as literal command. Only it really being literal command makes any sense from Celestia to acknowledge fear was valid, instead of causing sigh the Lesson Zero did not taught Twilight anything.

Regarding consequences for Twilight in S3 1+2

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I do not believe Celestia would have done that. However, I do believe the circumstances were different enough that it was understandable for Twilight to believe differently. I'm saying that subjectively, Twilight thought she was giving up her whole livelihood. And objectively, I find Twilight's position understandable, even though I don't objectively agree with it.

Ask Gak

hours old, two pictures, hundreds of followers.

Wow that's fast.

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Unicorns like gems, sure, but that doesn't mean they have any particular bond or anything with gems and crystals. Consider however that Earth Ponies are "of the earth", it's literally in their name, so why not Crystal Ponies being about crystals?

And the episode actually says that? All I heard was that if they lost it would be bad for Equestria, not that the Empire was actually the source of all positive feelings or anything like that. That seems rather excessive and stupid, actually. I could have missed it, though, haven't rewatched it yet.

Also, why do they have to have such a huge, massive, enormous niche, when other ponies are sort of more down to earth? I mean, being the source of all positive feeling, that's way more than just having magic, wings or a green hoof sort of thing.

Regarding Crystal Ponies

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I think the idea was that the kingdom was highly magical. Maybe the crystals work like magic amplifiers or it's located at a magical nexus or something? They never said that the crystal ponies were the source of all positive feelings, what they said was that good feelings from the crystal kingdom would emanate outwards over the land and evil power from Sombra would do the same thing. So I'm definitely thinking magical nexus of some sort. Perhaps crystal itself is a magically conductive substance in Equestria?

I also agree that they seem like an earth pony variant. Their association with a magical material may make them have some latent magic though, so it's not unreasonable that when they collectively channel their emotions into a crystal artifact that it has a widespread affect.

Edit in response to Eakin: 1,000 years is a rounding error.

[Beacon of Chaos]

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Unicorns like gems, sure, but that doesn't mean they have any particular bond or anything with gems and crystals. Consider however that Earth Ponies are "of the earth", it's literally in their name, so why not Crystal Ponies being about crystals?

And the episode actually says that? All I heard was that if they lost it would be bad for Equestria, not that the Empire was actually the source of all positive feelings or anything like that. That seems rather excessive and stupid, actually. I could have missed it, though, haven't rewatched it yet.

Also, why do they have to have such a huge, massive, enormous niche, when other ponies are sort of more down to earth? I mean, being the source of all positive feeling, that's way more than just having magic, wings or a green hoof sort of thing.

S3

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I don't think that they are the source of ALL positive feelings, but I got to thinking.

Remember Hearth's Warming Eve? The big heart thing that appeared when the magic of friendship was discovered? Maybe that was the creation of the crystal heart, and those six were the original crystal ponies.

It's a similar premise: good feelings keep bad things at bay. Perhaps each crystal pony has a mild aura that radiates good feelings that keep away evil creatures. When they are all together in the Crystal Empire powering the crystal heart, the effect is much greater.

Episode reaction

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Also, Celestia and Luna took down Sombra 1000 years ago, and Luna went evil and was banished 1002 years ago... How does that work, exactly?

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I guess it's all approximate. Saying 1000 years has a bit more impact than 1017 years or 981.

Pictures for the non-spoiler crowd:

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[Admiral Squish]

In an odd twist if fate, I only managed to find the episode by trying to figure out what was up with all the gak.

[zimmerwald1915]

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I guess it's all approximate. Saying 1000 years has a bit more impact than 1017 years or 981.

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The difference is in the context. The prophecy of Nightmare Moon's return was written to warn people in the future about the bad mojo that's coming their way. It had to be specific time-wise, or it would be valueless. Celestia's recounting of this history in this context doesn't need to be anywhere near that precise, because less is riding on the recipient of the knowledge knowing the exact date. That Nightmare Moon was defeated a thousand [and two, now] years ago is important. All anyone needs to know about King Sombra was that he was defeated an arbitrarily long time ago, because his return has already occurred, and the time of that return was not, apparently, predicted.