- Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Luna worried about Twilight and more serious than Celestia about the situation, did she envy those chosen to go to the Crystal Empire, or was she worried that she might succeed at this test, but fail the next one?
- Aluminum Christmas Trees: The double-belled flugelhorn is easy to dismiss as something from a Dr. Seuss book, but double-belled brass instruments saw some popularity in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
- Awesome Music: "The Ballad Of The Crystal Ponies." Not only do each of the Mane Six get a line which perfectly matches their personalities, but just listen to those mandolin licks throughout! There's a reason it was the first footage of season 3 released.
- Broken Base:
- Some people are split on whether or not Twilight should have regarded the Crystal Empire to the best of her ability. Some think she's thinking rationally, others think she's disregarding thousands of lives as a simple test.
- Others tend to put Celestia into question rather than Twilight. Was she right in her Secret Test of Character, or was she callous and hypocritical, gambling the lives of Crystal Ponies to teach Twilight about the needs of the many?
- Harsher in Hindsight: Twilight's Angst Nuke on the library isn't so funny after its damage in the season 4 finale is Played for Drama.
- Narm: Spike joining in on Twilight's song. For some reason, it feels very unnatural, and comes off as awkward as it would be in real life in people spontaneously broke out into song.
- Can also count as a sort of Funny Background Event (even if a very noticeable one) as Twilight is obviously so worried about her test she doesn't even notice him joining in.
- Suspiciously Similar Song: When the musical score kicks in during "The Failure Song", it sounds very similar to the main theme of Young Sherlock Holmes.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The episode is less about clashing with King Sombra's rule over the Crystal Empire and more about Twilight passing a test and learning an important lesson. Then Sombra invades!
- Visual Effects of Awesome: That... beautiful flowing mane
! - The Woobie: The Crystal Ponies in their initial depressed state, especially Crystal Pony #1 (Autumn Gem). Don't you just want to give her a hug and tell her everything's going to be okay?
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