Wh-what?!

I- bid thee fair well, Molly and Luna. Good times have been had.

I will see you on the other side, my friends.

Did they just do that? I think they did it.

AHIUOWEFHWOEHFEWFEKFWLEKFJWEJF;WJ;FJLJLK :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D All of you are talking about "pandas" and what not, but they really /do/ care about us! <3

So far, it's looking to be competing with S2 for the title of my favorite season, and it may very well beat it out. This season seems a little darker than the others, but in a good way, while still managing to have all the humor we know and love about the show.

All things considered, we've already run into FlutterBat, Power Ponies, one of the best songs of the show (IMHO, Bats), the best scene of the show (IMHO, Celestia vs Luna), and Flightless! Scootaloo, not to mention FandomNerd! Rainbow Dash.

Bats! is not my favorite episode by any means, but it has one of my favorite songs, rivalling even This Day Aria for sheer, interesting music, in terms of how it's composed.

My favorite background music is the music from the Celestia vs Luna scene that Twilight watches. It is composed beautifully, and it blends in perfectly with the scene.

They seem to be tackling some deeper issues, considering they've ended up with a non-flying Scootaloo and all that good stuff. So far, it seems to be a great season, but...

I can't help but feel like I'm still waiting for that "WOW!" episode that came in the package of A Canterlot Wedding, despite all of its plot holes. I'd kill for something that made me freak out as much as Wonderbolts Academy did, too, considering all the character development that took place there. I'm looking for something very specific – something that fits certain criteria.

I want something that
–induces feels
–feels in-character the entire time
–has a song or four
–has a vast amount of character development
–has a genuinely great lesson

Strangely enough, so far, the only episode that has come close to fulfilling all of those criteria would be Magical Mystery Cure, but it had some simple problems that were just in the form of pacing. Many episodes fulfill some of those criteria, but the vast majority do not fill all of them. The S4 opener fulfilled the feels, but felt terribly out of character for a bit while the rest of the Mane6 thought it was a /good/ idea to send Twi back home. That kind of broke the episode for me, though I still really like it. The feels came in the form of the Celestia vs Luna scene, and goodness gracious, the tears running down her face sold that scene to me.

There weren't any songs, though that's the least important out of all of my criteria.
The mane6 were out of character for an important plot point.
There is a fine amount of character development in Twi's part, so that's okay.
FEELS x 4000000000000^6785! So many feels.
And, there was a fine lesson.

I can't help but feel like I'm just waiting for something. I think what I'm waiting for is Pinkie Apple Pie. It looks like it will have everything I look for in my perfect episode. I certainly hope that it doesn't disappoint me, but the song is already feel-inducing. Dat key change, Pinkie's voice... It looks great. I'm excited. Very excited.

FINALLY! CADENCE! :D ALL OF MY YES! I love Cadence. I really hope we get to see a fair bit of Cadence. We need more Cadence.

We also need Cadence to sing again.

Oh my gosh. I love Melodic Pony so much. This song is just amazing <3

HECK YES. I've been waiting for this for ages! I love this game so much! ^_^

Even though on the Zecora vs Iron Will rap battle, you literally can't get any points, because there are no notes. So, you know, you always lose, but it's still fun XD

If you're going to break down the CMC episodes like that, then it's only fair to mention that most of the Mane6 episodes have a very similar breakdown as well. The CMC have actually grown and changed quite a bit, more than I think people expect.

For instance:

Near the beginning, when Dash was trying to withhold her enthusiasm, I was worried this would actually discourage Scootaloo, and make her think she hadn't impressed Dash. That would have been very expected for the CMC, but they actually realized, for once, what her intent was. That's kind of new.

Aside from that even kind of thing, though, the CMC are still not one-dimensional characters. If we look at, say, Applebloom, we see that she is a filly who is constantly teased and belittled because of something out of control, but still has the motivation to try and fix it. Her entire family is in one field of profession, but she's not scared to go against the grain (hay?) and get a cutie mark in pretty much anything, even though it would define her life's work. She has a certain amount of fearlessness, but is crippled (not like Scootaloo [oh gosh I'm so sorry]) by what other ponies think of her. This is the character we start with, but when we look at the stuff she's learned, she's really learned a lot, and she's grown as a character.

Notice that they weren't phased AT ALL when DT and SS started calling them Blank Flanks. This is a very important thing to note, because they're finally learning that DT and SS are full of BS. That in and of itself is something that is incredibly important.

I'll admit that your formula is fairly accurate, but I have a feeling it will be changing soon. If "Blank Flank" isn't messing with them anymore, then what can, now that Scootaloo's wing thing is out of the way? Sweetie Belle's magic? Doubt it. I think this episode was a set up for even more interesting things to come.

This episode dealt with a lot of things that were preventing them from really doing something new with the CMC, so I can't wait to see where they're going with all of it.

HAH! That's the day I'm retaking the SAT, just for kicks. I can melt my brain, and then come home, and melt my brain some more.

*ACTIVATE BRAGGING HAT*

I have to get this out there: I'm 15. I took the SAT when I was thirteen, and passed just fine, but I'm starting college full time next semester, and I wanted to see where I'm at, so I'm retaking the test. I've been taking college classes since I was 13, too, just for high school credit, so yeah.

*DEACTIVATE BRAGGING HAT*

Sorry ;_; I'm just really excited, because now I have something else to look forward to.

Hey everyone, here's my first impression of the episodes. WARNING: SPOILERS. http://mathematicpony.tumblr.com/post/67856155455...

THIS LOOKS SO AWESOME. I, for one, am incredibly excited for this! Well done ^_^