[Michelle]

Season 4 facts and speculation

It's been confirmed by a number of people on the show that Twilight is going to remain in ponyville, even as a princess. Here's Tara Strong, voice of Twilight and a fuckload of other cartoon characters:
A lot of the fans were worried she is going to leave, but she's going to stay in Ponyville and have adventures with them. (Click quote for source.)
So... it's not that dark.

Also... considering at the end of the finale, Twilight flies just fine... I think there's not really a need for an episode. Though Rainbow Dash is still a faster/more experienced flyer than her, so perhaps there's still room for lessons.

Either way, I think "everything will be just fine", as Twilight said.

Too many songs complaints, I can understand. But... without the songs, the plot wouldn't move quickly enough and the episode would feel even more rushed. This episode definitely would've been better as a two parter, but I think it was great when you consider the creative limitations the writers had. This episode could've been so very much worse.

Season 3 Finale

I also think the 'seeing them as someone else' thing was great. A concern with Twilight becoming a princess was that it would send out the message 'all girls should want to be a princess'. But in this episode, we see the ponies doing jobs that are beyond their expertise. There's nothing wrong with the jobs, what's wrong is that the ponies who are doing them aren't being true to themselves. Just another way of saying 'there's many ways to be a good person, just pick the one that suits you'.