Yeah, King Sombra was a big disappointment. A generic Evil Overlord(TM) with no real motivation or character beyond being Pointlessly Evil whose role could have been filled in by any of the prior villains with far more candor. In addition, the Crystal Heart was a rather hackneyed MacGuffin we could have done without (or better yet...have the real thing be destroyed by King Sombra but then the "fake" one made by Twilight Sparkle becomes the real thing because the Mane 6 did such a good job of raising the spirits of the Crystal Ponies; it's only a symbol of the real thing). And the temporary crystallization of the Mane 6 was an obvious push to sell Crystal Empire(TM) Mane 6 merchandise.
Overall, a not bad, but not great, season opener. I think the writers are more adept at writing slice-of-life episodes than adventure ones unless they're given full creative freedom.
I loved the fact Twilight Sparkle can use dark magic now, though! Yesssss.....
The previews, however, look REALLY good - confirmation of the "Too Many Pinkie Pies" episode, a Trixie episode, a "little rascals" episode, Scootaloo flies, Sweetie Bell finally uses magic, appearance of actual horses(?)...
Also, loved the cheap shot at G3 MLP - yes Pinkie Pie, that is a crazy face
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... p5vazXWgec