According to Lauren Faust, this episode was supposed to be a deliberately saddening one about losing a beloved pet. As we know, it ended up being a lot more light-hearted than that as a whole, but I think we can all agree that parts of that ending scene were pretty touching. Admit it, you cried a little. Unless you knew that Philomena was a phoenix, in which case, wow, that bird was kind of a jerk.
As far as fandom impact goes, this seems to be the episode where Celestia (and Philomena) earned (rightfully) their status as a pair of tricksters. Would you prefer the word 'trolls'? We also were given healthy doses of Twilight being the wonderful checklist-oriented control freak that she is, some much-appreciated throwbacks- quite a few actually, including a Benny Hills Yakety Sax scene, an Alice in Wonderland reference with Angel, and an assortment of classic Looney Tunes allusions- and even a glimpse at Fluttershy's Gala dress from Suited for Success. Hey, we thought. Maybe that Gala thing will actually happen this season.
Be sure to catch Fluttershy's Adventures in Killing Priceless Animals after the break.
If I didn't have to leave for work, I'd caption Twilight's hilarious expression in the preview image.
