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"Magical Mystery Cure"

"Magical Mystery Cure" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third season of the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The episode premiered on February 16, 2013 on The Hub. In the episode, the destinies and cutie marks of Twilight Sparkle's friends get switched around, forcing Twilight to create a magic spell of her own in order to correct it.

An aspect of the episode focused on Twilight Sparkle's ascent to becoming a princess (an event which would also involve her transformation into a winged unicorn). The Hub heavily emphasized the event while promoting the episode in a coronation-themed advertising campaign, which included a special concert event featuring Miss America 2013 winner Mallory Hagan, and a marathon which will precede the episode's premiere.

Synopsis

Princess Celestia sends Twilight Sparkle the notebook of Star-Swirled the Bearded (seen at the end of "The Crystal Empire"), believing that Twilight has the skill to make sense of the final, incomplete spell on its last pages. However, when she reads through the notes, she is unaware that her magic inadvertently activates the nearby Elements of Harmony, causing the other five elements to switch places. Only until the next day does she finds that her friends, the bearers of the Elements, have had their cutie marks - and subsequently their duties around Ponyville - swapped as a result: Rarity controls the weather instead of Rainbow Dash; Rainbow struggles to tame Fluttershy's animals; Fluttershy is barely able to throw Pinkie Pie's parties; Pinkie has difficulties working on Sweet Apple Acres; and Applejack's dressmaking leaves much to be desired.

Twilight soon realizes that if she shows her friends their true destinies, she may be able to revert the spell. One by one, she shows each of her friends what their true calling is, each becoming aware of their original lives and regaining their original cutie marks with help of the respective Elements. Twilight realizes that her friendship with the other ponies was a factor that Star-Swirled had not accounted for, and is able to complete the spell. On doing so, the Elements worn by her friends activate on their own, zapping Twilight with magical energy and causing her to disappear.

Twilight awakens in a ethereal place, where she is greeted by Princess Celestia, congratulating her on creating her own magic spell. Celestia reveals that Twilight's journey since she was sent to Ponyville has been completed and is now ready to move onto her destiny - becoming a princess, including gaining a pair of wings to become an alicorn. Twilight is coronated in a large celebration in Canterlot, and she thanks her friends for being there to help her.

Production

On the topic of Twilight's ascension to becoming a princess (which will also see her become a winged unicorn, as with the other Equestrian princesses), writer Meghan McCarthy explained that Twilight had been embarking on a journey since the first episode of the series that would eventually lead to this outcome. McCarthy explained that the title of princess in Equestria has to be earned by sharing their gifts with others, and that "every little girl wants to be a princess, and not everybody can get to be a princess—but you can live up to the ideals that should come along with being a princess." McCarthy noted that despite Twilight's new role and the new challenges she will face, her personality will remain the same.

The episode is primarily a musical; the show's composer Daniel Ingram created seven songs with lyrics provided by the episode's writer, M.A. Larson.

Promotion

To promote the episode, The Hub preceded its airing with a marathon of past episodes. On February 9, 2013, The Hub held a "Coronation Concert" in Los Angeles, hosted by Miss America winner Mallory Hagan. Despite stating that she was more of a Strawberry Shortcake fan growing up, Hagan felt honored to participate in the event since she supported the series' aim to teach lessons about friendship and acceptance, considering it "a great way to show little girls that they can be empowered by trying to reach their goals." Hasbro will also release new toys later in 2013 featuring Twilight Sparkle's new princess form.

Reception

The revelation that Twilight Sparkle would become a winged unicorn (sometimes referred to as an "alicorn") was announced several weeks before the episode's premiere, though this had been rumored months before based on photos of upcoming toy lines from Hasbro. The "brony" fanbase—adult men and women that have come to appreciate the show—reacted negatively to this announcement, with a significant fraction considering it a "jump the shark" moment for the show. Shaun Scotellaro of the fan site Equestria Daily considered this a normal reaction to any changes to the show by the fans, but considered that because many of the older fans connect with Twilight Sparkle as a bookish nerdy character, changes such as this would be dramatic. McCarthy and others on the production team have further countered these complaints; McCarthy stated that "What we didn’t want to do was change who is as a character, because she’s certainly someone that everyone’s proud to know and love", while Tara Strong, the voice actress for Twilight, claimed that the episode is "a birth of a new era for Twilight, but not the end of what makes the show so wonderful".