Many fan's tears were shed when this episode aired.

Honestly, I don’t think they could have done the CMC getting their cutie marks better than this. Making it so the are sill CMCs but helping OTHERS crusade for their purpose, having helping Diamond Tiara be the catalyst for them to get them, just like she was the catalyst for the three meeting in the first place. It just made everything come full circle so well. I know Lauren Faust had a different plan for them, and I totally respect her, but I think this was perfect.

Well here we are! For me, this is likely the pinnacle of the show; a payoff 5 years in the making; and just a remarkable 22 minutes of television. Congrats on sticking with this Fanning Out! series to reach this point!

In retrospect, this episode made "Appleoosa's Most Wanted", the one in which the CMC helped Troubleshoes see another way to look at his cutie mark, much more important. It turns out that wasn't a filler episode. It was a building block.

More often than not, when an episode starts on a song, something big is going to happen.

14:01 Kyle: "Is Diamond Tiara now, in any way, a villain to them? 'Cause I don't think so. I think they've kind of neutralized that threat." As one of the Power Rangers once said in an end-of-episode PSA, the highest form of martial arts is turning an enemy into a friend.

17:10 Kyle: "It's amazing how *strong* this episode is, without even slightly focusing on, you know, our core characters." I know, I can't believe it either. To this day, this is my favorite episode of the entire series, even though none of the mane six has a single speaking line, and barely even appear. Perhaps it's because this episode closed the two longest running story arcs of the series (CMCs' quest for cutie marks, and the Diamond Tiara villain saga).

14:26 Mackenzie: "I'm not a music major. I could not tell you all the different cadences of everything..." I could tell you about one Cadence. She's a princess in the Crystal Empire. ;)

The most musically-inclined episode of the season that also became the pivotal moment for the CMC. Glad you two felt something after watching all of this.

This episode is one of my favorites of season 5 and all of MLP: FIM. It's an episode that serves as both a closure of the CMC's arc of finding their Cutie Marks and the beginning of their new arc of helping ponies get their Cutie Marks or discover their meaning. The episode that comes next is also very precious... and funny.

For me, Applejack's line about "IF Mom and Dad were here...." was especially interesting as an indicator that the Apple parents are dead and gone. The show won't mention death directly, but AJ and Apple Bloom (and Big Mac) have only a Granny, not parents. And that, in turn, got me thinking about how Sweetie Belle has a sister AND parents (seldom seen), but Scootaloo seems to have no family at all. Just an adopted big sister.

Fun fact, this episode was almost massively spoiled when a later episode was leaked first. fortunately it just happened to be an episode where the CMCs flanks were covered up.

Mackenzie totally knows the weight of Applejack’s message to Applebloom.

I like that her voice had a barely deceptible wobble during the post episode discussion, don't blame her. Such a satisfying conclusion

I read the title, haven't even watched this reaction yet but I'm ALREADY GONNA CRYYY

When AppleJack confirmed that their mom and dad are dead it made everyone in the fandom cry all at once.

5:18 Honestly, the entire fandom's reaction when this came out. 9:16 I was worried that when they got their Cutie Marks they would get different ones and have to be apart most of the time. But due to their friendship, their dedtinies were altered. They had their baseline talents of Singing/music for Sweetie Belle, Scootering with wings and overall being a daredevil in Scootaloo, and for Applebloom she had her given knack for apple farming. But due to being friends, they discovered that together they all had the talent to see what others are good at, even when that pony didn't. I doubt they could've done any better for the CMCs. They even got to keep the group name Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Like others, I shed a few tears watching this. I think the use of music is probably an important factor - we tend to form strong emotional associations between music and experiences, and hearing that music brings the emotions back even if you've seen the episode a million times. Speaking of music, obligatory callback to an earlier comment I made about fan-made cmc music (specifically Are We There Yet): Here we are! To make a long comment even longer, the discussion of where we go from here plus the high of this episode is making me want to keep watching. They changed showrunners at the start of season 7 and the first four or five episodes didn't convince me to stick with it, but I hear there is good stuff in the remaining seasons, plus I wouldn't mind staying ahead of Fanning Out. Imma make use of that motivation and binge some ponies today. Although it will be weird seeing new episodes without the simultaneous fandom response. Last time I did that was end of season 1.

9:32 And the fandom lost their ever loving marbles! 10:04 I get emotional every time! Sweetie Belle sang the line, "And our Journey here is never really done." Which is amazing because in the song she wrote in Showstoppers one of the lines was, "And we'll never stop the journey, not until we have our Cutie Marks." Implying that getting their Cutie Marks would be the end of the journey. She finally realised that earning a Cutie Mark is only the start. I also think it fitting that they realized this after helping Diamond Tiara. 10:28 Confirmation that the Apple parents are no longer with us. A big thing when it aired. It makes me so happy to hear all 3 of the older sisters sing to the CMCs. 11:22 This whole sequence of flashbacks makes me emotional, too. But none so much as the Trouble Shoes flashback. I will do my best to explain it. Trouble Shoes went his whole life being miserable and segregating himself from everyone because he thought his Cutie Mark meant he was just a klutz. A mess up. He believed that he could never do what he wanted to do, which was being in rodeos because he got his Cutie Mark wrong. Once the CMCs helped him realize it, he got to do what made him happy. Just not in the way he thought. I get emotional in that flashback shot because the CMCs, all 3 of them, jumped to defend him immediately. No second thoughts. No need to communicate to one another to jump in. They just did it. Because they knew in their hearts that Trouble Shoes was just misunderstood by all, especially himself. It was the first hint at what their destiny was. That is truly special. This episode has made me cry more than once. At least 20 times. (I've seen it upwards of 100 times now.) I hope that this "conclusion" to their journey (just beginning) is satisfactory to you, because I have yet to see a fan not happy with this episode. It's an amzing episode!

By this point the focus had shifted from little girls to little girls and grownups. And grownups can and will be sticklers for details (to be polite). In Equestria the laws of magic are as inescapable as the laws of physics (more so, even) so if you shift the focus to people who know what "canon" means you better observe it. Cutie Marks are magical. They are a visual manifestation of your life´s purpose, which means they WILL appear. There is no way around it. It is not a choice. It is simply not possible to just say "No thanks" and opt out. As we see here, the second you do that, that is your purpose. BAM, there you go. Not giving the CMC their Marks was never an option.

and i cried out for finally The CMC finally got their rewards, and man a political episode with a true leader and a rich jerk

I love this show so much. I'm so happy somebody is watching this.

the songs are good and Pipsqueek so cute and man Silver Spoon finally spoke up and i feel bad for DT and that she was raised by a spoiled rich mother with her nose up in the air, and they redeemed her!

"the Mane 9" Once again, Spike is ignored! =~..^=

God damn so many super emotional hard feel hitting episodes in a row.

Status update I watched the videoo! I started crying with you too, Mackenzie T^T I've seen this ep so many times but it makes me so emotional

Amy did draw inspiration from musicals for this episode.

And I need to say it again: Makenzie I love so hard your outfit!!!! It’s so Rarity!! 💜

Liquid Pride ALL AROUND!

The only bad aspect of that episode is that it eliminate Diamond Tiara not only as a villain but also as a character in the show. I think she gets like 10 second of screentime in entirety of S6-S9

They finally got their cutie marks. It makes me feel so happy 😀😀😀❤❤❤

MLP: The musical (season of Feels edition)😭

I'll explain why I think this should've been the season finale after he watches the actual one.

I have been so excited to get to this episode's reaction. You have no idea!

The last we hear from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They are downgraded to background ponies who don't talk after this.

All of you must suscribe to Patreon, I was waiting months for this reaction and it was so great!!!!

I cried when I first watched this episode

I like the cutie mark crusaders and I like this episode a lot too

I guess you guys missed the dead parent reference.

I'm so proud😭😭😭😭😭

Happy 5th anniversary.

Four seasons. Four fucking seasons we had to deal with Diamond Tiara being a bully twat. Does this episode erase the annoyance I experienced with Diamond Tiara? Fuck no. I don't think I'll ever forgive her or the writers for making Diamond Tiara so detestable and reforming her her to force us to love her. Great episode, but it does not erase my hatred for Diamond Tiara.

I actually thought that you guys stopped reacting

Love this episode!!!

😢

Skipping the songs, kind of makes it hard to understand what just happened. You should at least have parts of the song in it so that we can understand the story being told especially if there’s somebody that’s new to the show watching your reaction.