[color=#FFFF00]Season Two Finale: A Canterlot Wedding (Parts 1 & 2)
WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS. WASH EYES BEFORE AND AFTER READING.
Setup? Who needs setup?
Fig. 1: The nicest little ponies you never heard of.
"My brother, who is Captain of the Royal Guard, is my Big Brother Best Friend Forever and was always there for me no matter what, is getting married
to a princess who was my favorite foalsitter in the whole wide world and the most loving, wonderful pony I ever knew, and nopony told me about
it."
"What, I never told you about them or introduced you to them during the numerous times we've visited Canterlot over the past fifty episodes and been
guests at parties and royal ceremonies where both of them were sure to have also attended? Well, I didn't think it was all that big a deal."
"I mean, who doesn't have a brother who's Captain of the Royal Guard, or a royal princess for a foalsitter? Rather typical, really. I didn't want
to bore you with such mundane details."
Seems legit.
Actually, I can forgive them that, in light of the presumably modular nature of the episodes. The mane cast has, after all, been busy saving Equestria
and studying the magic of friendship, and Twilight has shown herself to be anything but a name-dropper or a braggart. Heck, her parents probably have
a whole wall of Twilight's academic trophies and award certificates at their house, but that doesn't mean she would bring it up.
The appearance of another royal relative (Prince Blueblood being the other so far) raises the question of just how many of them there are, and how
Celestia can have nephews and nieces. Unless they're Luna's descendants (doubtful, considering her thousand-year banishment to the moon), then that
means the regal sisters must have additional brothers or sisters somewhere.
It also brings up the question of whether Princess Cadance (yes, it's
officially spelled that
way), who is apparently an alicorn like her aunts Celestia and Luna, is as immortal as they are, and if she and her new husband will be faced
with a sorrowful Arwen/Aragorn scenario down the road.
[color=#FFFF00]Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changelings
I was a bit worried that a pair of "royal wedding" episodes hosted by Tori Spelling would be too "girly" for my tastes, and indeed there was much
more mush in this arc than usual. But sure enough, our intrepid showrunners not only took the edge off the treacle, but gave us the biggest fight
scene in the whole series.
Fig. 2: You want a piece of pony? BRING IT ON!!!
Unless I missed it, that dust-up with the Changelings was the first time our little ponies actually resolved a conflict with a flat-out,
no-hooves-barred, full-on street rumble. And indeed, much ass was roundly kicked that day.
Mark my words: it's just a matter of time before the mane cast becomes a genuine pony sentai ("Friendship Warriors... ASSEMBLE!"). Maybe they'll
all wear those ninja suits they always seem to have handy when they need to sneak around.
Fig. 3: Queen Chrysalis. She looks a lot better in makeup.
The semi-equine, semi-insectile Changelings are an interesting addition to the Equestria bestiary, and adding
shapeshifters to the ever-expanding menagerie of villains opens up a
whole range of possibilities for future episodes.
Considering Queen Chrysalis was able to smack down Princess Celestia in a magic battle and
take her prisoner, it would seem our esteemed yet
repeatedly-challenged monarch has found yet another worthy nemesis.
[color=#FFFF00]The Royal Fifteen Minutes
Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor are endearing characters, but I doubt we'll see anything more than a cameo from them, if that, in the
future.
Fig. 4: Marriage: Royal or not, it's all downhill from here.
If they should prove to be more than one-offs and get some meaningful roles in Season Three, that would be a nice touch, but as Sethisto over at
Equestria Daily oft laments, they have yet to bring back The Great And Powerful Trixie, who has become quite
a popular character in her own right, and we last saw her near the beginning of Season One.
All in all, a great way to wrap up the season with a grand tale of treachery, drama, romance and ass-whoopery, with something for everypony, whatever
their tastes.