Twilight Sparkle: We've contained Discord's influence to Ponyville... If we just go in without using the Elements, we get sent to some random alternate-dimension Ponyville. Which lets us deal with his power without directly confronting him... Weird as it sounds, that might be the perfect place for me and my friends to find the power within ourselves before confronting Discord.
Princess Celestia: That is... an exceedingly dangerous plan. Do you believe it is worth the risk?
Twilight Sparkle: Yes. Because Discord's not gonna make it easy. He'll do anything and everything to win, and we need to be prepared for that. Do we have your blessing?
DM: Celestia thinks for a long, silent moment. And then she says–
Princess Celestia (Applejack): "Y'all are crazy, Ah'm outta here."
Rainbow Dash: Heh heh heh!
DM: Aha, no, no, c'mon... Well... I'd be lying if I said she'd never occasionally thought something like that.
"So what's happening with Sombra and the Crystal Empire arc if we're skipping forward to Magical Mystery Cure?" I see you asking. Perfectly reasonable question. I'm usually loathe to lock down canon outside the contents of the pages, but in this case it'll be a while before it comes up, so here's my thought process.
We're not doing Sombra's first appearance because 1) it'd be weird to have Shining and Cadance guest twice in a row when it was meant to be a one-time opportunity; 2) the lessons they gained from Shining and Cadance directly helped the group gear up for Discord, and I don't want to lose that momentum; 3) Shining and Cadance have their own pony game group, so the discovery and salvation of the Crystal Empire will happen for them "off-screen" (in a way where they get to do the action and save the day and not just be supporting characters twice in a row); and 4) there's another opportunity down the line for the Mane Six and Sombra to face off that fits with all this.
If Shining and Cadence can't be guests, maybe Twilight and the others could be the guests instead? Just like they said, "If the mountain don't go to Mahoma, Mahoma will go to the mountain" (Don't confuse Mahoma with Majora)
With the skip-over of Crystal Empire... I have this weird thought that the next appearance of "Shining Armor" and "Cadance" will be a guest appearance with real-life baby in tow... And the baby's behavior will result in NPC Flurry Heart in game...
Actually, what I'm asking is where can I get saddlebags of holding like in the first panel? Because wow I would pay real money for one of those when I go on holiday trips. I'll never pay the luggage check-in fees again on a flight! :D
I've reduced my needs during travel for just this purpose, after hearing an interview on Rick Steves with a man who circled the world with one set of clothes. I bring two days worth of fishing gear (the kind that folds small and dries rapidly), wash one in the hotel shower, and wear the other for the day while it dries. My entire trip load becomes a school-sized backpack that can go under the seat. I haven't put anything under the plane in around a decade.
Just ask in the nearest magic store, it should be near the scrolls of Fireball but before the magical staffs, if you see walking armors or monster eggs then you had gone too far
Nooo, I'm caught up! Now I'm going to have to find something else to binge! 😭
That aside though, I genuinely admire your dedication to telling this story and sticking with the admittedly very niche subject matter for an entire decade!
We're not doing Sombra's first appearance because 1) it'd be weird to have Shining and Cadance guest twice in a row when it was meant to be a one-time opportunity; 2) the lessons they gained from Shining and Cadance directly helped the group gear up for Discord, and I don't want to lose that momentum; 3) Shining and Cadance have their own pony game group, so the discovery and salvation of the Crystal Empire will happen for them "off-screen" (in a way where they get to do the action and save the day and not just be supporting characters twice in a row); and 4) there's another opportunity down the line for the Mane Six and Sombra to face off that fits with all this.
Hope that clears things up!