My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (season 3)

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 3

DVD cover
Country of origin United States
Canada
No. of episodes 13
Release
Original network The Hub
Original release November 10, 2012 (2012-11-10) – February 16, 2013 (2013-02-16)
Season chronology

The third season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on The Hub in the United States. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation or "G4" of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 3 of the series premiered on November 10, 2012, on The Hub, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro.

The show follows a studious unicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle as her mentor Princess Celestia guides her to learn about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight becomes close friends with five other ponies: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Each represents a different face of friendship, and Twilight discovers herself to be a key part of the magical artifacts, the "Elements of Harmony". The ponies share adventures and help out other residents of Ponyville, while working out the troublesome moments in their own friendships.

Development

Concept

Season 3 features a broad arc which shows that Twilight has demonstrated positive leadership qualities beyond Celestia's expectations, leading Twilight to be crowned as a new Princess in Equestria and to become an "alicorn" (a pony with both a horn and a pair of wings).

Production

Season 3 is the first season of the show without input from Lauren Faust, the original creative director of the show who stepped down after the first season and provided creative consulting in the second; instead, production was overseen by Jayson Thiessen, while Meghan McCarthy was the lead writer for the series, who both shared the role of executive producer from Season 4 onwards.

A sneak peek of two future songs in Season 3, "The Failure Song" and "The Ballad of the Crystal Empire" (both from the first episode), was unveiled at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con.[1] Part of a continuing plot in this season is a journey that Twilight Sparkle undertakes that ultimately leads to her to be named a Princess in the season finale, which includes becoming an alicorn. Meghan McCarthy said that the intent was to show that they were building a "unique mythology around being a princess", and to show girls that while they cannot be princesses themselves, they can live to the ideals of one by "shar[ing] the gifts that they have been given with others".[2] As of Season 3, the song titles make their appearance in the closing credits, along with the name of the composer Daniel Ingram and the name of the lyricist.

Cast

Main

Recurring

Minor

Guest stars

Episodes

The third season began on November 10, 2012 (with the two-part premiere "The Crystal Empire"), and ended on February 16, 2013 (with the episode "Magical Mystery Cure"). Unlike the first two seasons, season three consists of 13 episodes.

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code		U.S. viewers
(millions)
531"The Crystal Empire" (Part 1)James WoottonMeghan McCarthyNovember 10, 2012 (2012-11-10)3010.58[3]
Princess Celestia learns of the reappearance of the Crystal Empire, which had disappeared over a thousand years ago as the last act of the evil King Sombra prior to his banishment; Celestia fears Sombra will return and use the power of the Empire to take over Equestria. She summons Twilight Sparkle and directs her to join her friends, Princess Cadance, and Shining Armor at the Empire to help protect it as a test of her abilities. At the Empire, Cadance attempts to maintain a spell to prevent the shadowy form of King Sombra from entering. Twilight and her friends talk with the residents of the Empire, and learn of a Crystal Fair which used to enlighten the hearts of the Empire and protect it from the king. Only too late does Twilight realize that the missing Crystal Heart is the centerpiece of the fair and a necessary artifact to protect the city.
542"The Crystal Empire" (Part 2)James WoottonMeghan McCarthyNovember 10, 2012 (2012-11-10)3020.58[3]
With Cadance's magic weakening, Twilight instructs her friends to continue the fair to raise the spirits of the crystal ponies while she goes to look for the Crystal Heart by herself, assured this is the test Princess Celestia alluded to; however, she allows Spike to come long. The pair pass several traps King Sombra had placed in the castle and eventually come to the Crystal Heart, just as Cadance's magic gives out and King Sombra races to reclaim the Empire. Twilight tries to get the Heart but becomes trapped; believing this would fail Celestia's test, she tells Spike to take the Heart. On his way down, Spike falls, but he and the Heart are saved at the last moment by Cadance and Shining Armor. The crystal ponies pour their emotions into the Heart, recreating the protective spell on the Empire and obliterating King Sombra. Twilight is reluctant to return to Celestia, but the Princess tells her that she has passed, knowing when to give up her personal goals for the greater good.
553"Too Many Pinkie Pies"James WoottonDave PolskyNovember 17, 2012 (2012-11-17)303
N/A
Pinkie Pie is torn between spending fun time with all her friends, leading her to locate the Mirror Pond, which allows her to make a clone of herself. When she finds herself further conflicted over which friends to spend time with, she and her clone return to the pond and reiterate the process, but the clones begin to clone themselves further. The mass number of Pinkies, intent on only having fun, overwhelm Ponyville, and Pinkie becomes depressed that her friends cannot figure out who the real Pinkie is. Twilight Sparkle puts the clones to a test of watching paint dry, zapping away those that lose attention, and assuring that the last remaining Pinkie is the real one.
564"One Bad Apple"James WoottonCindy MorrowNovember 24, 2012 (2012-11-24)304
N/A
Apple Bloom's cousin Babs Seed visits Ponyville. Though Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo try to welcome her into the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Babs instead joins with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in teasing and hounding the Crusaders. The Crusaders try to get back at her by booby-trapping a parade float that they trick Babs into driving, but learn from Applejack after the deed that the reason Babs is visiting is that she herself was bullied by others back in Manehattan. The Crusaders save Babs, and together apologize for their actions. Babs joins the Crusaders and defends her new friends from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon at the train station before returning home.
575"Magic Duel"James WoottonM.A. LarsonDecember 1, 2012 (2012-12-01)305
N/A
Looking for revenge from being shown up during her last visit to Ponyville, the "Great and Powerful" Trixie acquires the magical Alicorn Amulet that gives her great power, and subsequently outdoes Twilight Sparkle, evicting her from town. Twilight's friends discover that the amulet also corrupts its user and that only the user can remove it, and send word to Twilight. Twilight secretly arranges with Zecora and her friends to perform simple illusions disguised as more powerful magic with a fake charm, making Trixie take off the amulet willingly to try the charm, breaking its spell on her. Once it is secured, Trixie apologizes for her behavior.
586"Sleepless in Ponyville"James WoottonCorey PowellDecember 8, 2012 (2012-12-08)306
N/A
Scootaloo joins her friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle and their sisters Applejack and Rarity on a camping trip, hoping to show off her skills to her idol, Rainbow Dash. After a night of telling scary tales by a campfire, Scootaloo has nightmares, but refuses to let anyone else know, worried this will ruin her image with Rainbow Dash. During another nightmare, she encounters Princess Luna, who tells her that her fears are not that of the scary stories but of disappointing Rainbow Dash, and she should face that fear. After Rainbow Dash saves her from falling over a waterfall, Scootaloo tells Rainbow Dash that she was scared and did not want to disappoint Rainbow. To her surprise, Rainbow Dash admits that she used to be scared as a young filly, and offers to take Scootaloo under her wing.
597"Wonderbolts Academy"James WoottonMerriwether WilliamsDecember 15, 2012 (2012-12-15)307
N/A
Rainbow Dash is accepted into the Wonderbolt Academy, led by Spitfire, and quickly becomes friends with Lightning Dust, another pegasus who is as fast and skilled as her, but is more reckless. Rainbow Dash is surprised to find she is assigned as "wingpony" to Lightning Dust and becomes concerned when her aggressive approach endangers the other cadets. When Lightning Dust decides to create a tornado during a cloud-clearing exercise, the tornado threatens to harm Rainbow's friends, who have come by to give her a care package. Though everyone is safe in the end, Rainbow decides to quit the Wonderbolts, disgusted by the organization's apparent approval of such reckless behavior. However, Spitfire reveals that she agrees with her and persuades Rainbow to withdraw her resignation with a promotion to cadet team leader, stripping Lightning Dust of her rank.
608"Apple Family Reunion"James WoottonCindy MorrowDecember 22, 2012 (2012-12-22)309
N/A
The Apple family reunion is approaching, and Applejack offers to take over the event's organization from Granny Smith after going through photos of past reunions. Though Applejack's planned activities are in the spirit of the reunion, the events are long and rigorous, leaving all the guests exhausted. When a wild hay ride destroys a barn, Applejack realizes that she has focused too hard on the event planning and not on the real purpose of the reunion: to be with friends and family. She gets an idea and has everyone join in to help rebuild the barn, which everyone is happy to help contribute to, thus making the reconstruction a memorable event of the reunion.
619"Spike at Your Service"James WoottonDave Polsky (story)
Merriwether Williams (teleplay)		December 29, 2012 (2012-12-29)310
N/A
When Applejack saves Spike from a timberwolf attack in the Everfree Forest, he insists on helping her around the farm in order to repay the life debt he feels he owes her. His efforts only make trouble for her and the other ponies, and they set up a fake timberwolf attack for Spike so that he can save Applejack from, thus making him feel satisfied with his debt. Their ruse draws a pack of real timberwolves, which Applejack easily crushes, but the pieces form into a single giant beast and she gets caught in a rockslide. Spike causes the timberwolf to fall apart by throwing a rock down its throat, and frees Applejack. The two decide not to worry about repaying favors done for each other in the future.
6210"Keep Calm and Flutter On"James WoottonTeddy Antonio (story)
Dave Polsky (teleplay)		January 19, 2013 (2013-01-19)311
N/A
Princess Celestia tasks the ponies with reforming the mischievous spirit Discord, believing Fluttershy will know how to do it best. While her friends are incredulous that Discord can be reformed, Fluttershy remains steadfast and tries to be Discord's friend. When the others find that Discord has created mischief behind their backs, they demand Fluttershy use her Element of Harmony to return him to stone, but Fluttershy stands firm, and promises not to use her Element against him as a sign of their newfound friendship. But when Discord's actions get out of hand, she angrily walks away, still refusing to use her Element against him, but also ending her friendship with him. Never having had a friend before in his life, Discord is stricken by genuine sorrow as he realizes that he truly does value Fluttershy's friendship and does not want to lose it. With this revelation, Discord reverts his chaos and voluntarily offers to use his magic mostly for good.
6311"Just for Sidekicks"James WoottonCorey PowellJanuary 26, 2013 (2013-01-26)308
N/A
Occurring in the same storyline as "Games Ponies Play", Spike runs out of gems to use for baking a cake, and comes up with the idea to offer to pet-sit for Twilight and her friends while they are off to the Crystal Empire in exchange for gems. Spike finds the task much more daunting than expected and has no time to make the gems into a cake, and ends up spending his gems to try to restrain the pets. Ultimately, he, the pets, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders end up on a train to the Crystal Empire, and Spike fears being shown a fraud when he admits to the pets that he put himself over their needs. The pets cooperate, and stay quiet until the train returns to Ponyville, where Spike happily returns the pets to their owners. However, he absentmindedly eats the last gem before using it for his cake.
6412"Games Ponies Play"James WoottonDave PolskyFebruary 9, 2013 (2013-02-09)312
N/A
Occurring in the same storyline as "Just for Sidekicks", Princess Cadance asks Twilight Sparkle and her friends to help prepare the Crystal Empire for the arrival of the games inspector Ms. Harshwhinny, hoping to have the city host the next Equestria Games. With the inspector due to arrive earlier than expected, Cadance must spend time preparing herself styling her ceremonial headdress with Rarity's help, and asks the other five to greet and give a tour to the inspector. Twilight and her friends mistake a tourist as the inspector and give her a grand tour, while the real Harshwhinny finds herself subject to a number of accidental missteps. By the time Twilight realizes their error, Harshwhinny has met with the tourist and learns of how great a time she had, and despite her own misfortunes, she announces the Crystal Empire as the next host city.
6513"Magical Mystery Cure"James WoottonM.A. LarsonFebruary 16, 2013 (2013-02-16)313
N/A
Princess Celestia gives Twilight Sparkle the notebook of Star Swirl the Bearded, which contains a final, unfinished spell that she thinks Twilight can complete. When Twilight evokes it, it causes her friends—through the Elements of Harmony—to have their cutie marks and respective destinies switched, resulting in disasters around Ponyville. Twilight finds a means to convince each of her friends of their proper place with the aid of the Elements, restoring her friends to normal, and is able to complete Star Swirl's spell, accounting for her friendships. When she does so, Twilight is teleported by the Elements to an ethereal place, where Princess Celestia congratulates her on completing her journey, and helps her transform into an alicorn and crowns her as a new princess. Twilight's ascension is celebrated by her friends and across Equestria.

Songs

No. in
series		 Episode Song[lower-alpha 1] Lyrics by[4] Sung by
53 "The Crystal Empire" (Part 1) "The Failure Song" Meghan McCarthy Twilight Sparkle and Spike
"The Ballad of the Crystal Empire" Mane Six and Spike
54 "The Crystal Empire" (Part 2) "The Success Song"
56 "One Bad Apple" "Babs Seed"[lower-alpha 2] Cindy Morrow & Daniel Ingram Cutie Mark Crusaders
61 "Apple Family Reunion" "Raise This Barn" Cindy Morrow Applejack, Apple Bloom, and the rest of their family
65 "Magical Mystery Cure" "Morning in Ponyville" M.A. Larson Twilight Sparkle
"What My Cutie Mark Is Telling Me" M.A. Larson & Daniel Ingram Mane Six sans Twilight Sparkle
"I've Got to Find a Way"[lower-alpha 2] Daniel Ingram Twilight Sparkle
"A True, True Friend" Mane Six and crowd
"Celestia's Ballad" Princess Celestia
"Behold, Princess Twilight Sparkle" Royal Unicorn Guards and Earth Pony Servants
"Life in Equestria" M.A. Larson Twilight Sparkle and chorus

Song notes

  1. ↑ Unless noted otherwise, all songs are composed by Daniel Ingram and orchestrated by Steffan Andrews.
  2. 1 2 Song not orchestrated by Steffan Andrews.

DVD release

Shout! Factory, who own the DVD publishing rights for the series within Region 1, released multiple DVDs. Adventures in the Crystal Empire,[5] Pinkie Pie Party,[6] Princess Twilight Sparkle,[7] and A Pony For Every Season[8] were released for Region 1 markets containing episodes from the third season, bundled with episodes from previous seasons. The complete season was released on February 4, 2014.[9]

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Season Three
Set details[9] Special features[9]
  • 13 episodes
  • 2-disc set
  • 16:9 aspect ratio
  • Subtitles: English
  • 2013 San Diego Comic Con Panel
  • Sing-Alongs ("The Ballad of the Crystal Empire" and "A True, True Friend")
Release dates
Region 1
February 4, 2014[9]

References

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