Okay Applejack did not tie her rope on one of the princesses in the movie

@Ardashir  
Yeah, that makes a lot more sense in context. Tempest takes out the Princesses to prepare them for the ritual to transfer their magic to the Staff of Sacanas, while the Mane Six escape to go seek out Queen Novo to help restore the Princesses and stop Tempest and Storm King.

@SuperSonic15  
If they didn’t ‘stone’ her, what would they do with Cadance in the movie? Like it or not, she’s not a main character. The most I can see is having her run off to try and keep the Storm King’s forces busy.
 
This way it’s more obviously all set on the shoulders of the Mane Six. They either save the day or fail.

@Ardashir  
True, but we only know of Celestia, Luna, and Twilight having some connection to the Tree of Harmony. We don’t know if Cadance has any connection to it herself.
 
As far as we know, Celestia and Luna found the Tree, borrowed the Elements to deal with Discord, then when his Plunder Vines made their move about a millennium later, Twilight and the Mane Six returned the Elements, which allowed the Tree to reward Twilight with the Harmony Chest that was then used to take out Lord Tirek by infusing the Mane Six with Rainbow Power, before the Chest then became Twilight’s new castle.
 
Cadance had never encountered, nor had any connection to the Tree herself. As far as the movie sees it, Tempest took her out first because she was the closest Princess to target before going after the Royal Sisters. If their magic can work with the Staff of Sacanas because of the Royal Sisters’ tie to the Tree of Harmony, then it is certain that Twilight will be able to use it as well once she acquires the Staff herself, if the trailer is any indication of that.

@Background Pony #43EC  

 
Please no.
 
This is the ending to EVERY SINGLE EQUESTRIA GIRLS MOVIE, AND HALF THE MAIN SERIES TWO PARTERS.
 
Please Meghan, originality. It is a thing.

@Background Pony #43EC  
Strangely, I think this setup makes for an excellent change of pace for the climax. The danger of getting sucked into a raging tornado while clinging to each other for dear life makes the ponies more vulnerable and the tension more palpable. I’m looking forward to the animation of this scene most of all.

Well this is an utterly anti-climatic ending. Especially annoying considering the art book says they were originally going to have the mane six power up into super forms with the staff and have a massive fight.

@SuperSonic15  
That sounds odd. Though it could explain why this staff works as well as it does versus the Princesses. They have some relationship with the Tree, and so does the Staff.

@Ardashir  
Actually, no. According to “The Art of My Little Pony The Movie”, the Staff of Sacanas is related to the Tree of Harmony.

@SuperSonic15  
“Transfer their magic to the Staff of Sacanas” – Hmm, I wonder if the staff comes from the same place as Tirek originally did?

The junior novel confirms how Celestia, Luna, and Cadance end up petrified. It was Tempest’s doing to make it easier to capture them to transfer their magic to the Staff of Sacanas. Though in this picture, I do wonder if Queen Novo has already shown up to free Twilight to retrieve the Staff after Tempest petrified her as well, or Tempest never petrified Twilight and Queen Novo is still on her way to help out and restore the Princesses to flesh and blood with the magic in her pearl?
 
A good theory from all the leaked information gathered so far, right?

Their closed eyes look so weird in this style. They are so poofy

And also, if you all don’t like getting spoiled, than you should try your best to avoid them. Try to avoid something book related like this one, and try to avoid so many spoilers from the movie. Honestly, I feel bad about everyone getting major spoilers from books like this one, and that’s just not fair. Anyways, I think we all need to settle down and take a break for a while, so we should all just stay away from any spoilers until we see the movie in theaters. Please be patient. There’s only two months left. Let’s take a break, and let’s wait for the movie to come out, okay?

@RogerMaxson  
Ooooooohhhhh. Sarcasm. My bad. I almost thought you were sounding serious. I’m sorry.

Hey everyone, we all know how this movie will end. We don’t need to see it anymore! /s

@Background Pony #726E  
they are forever cursed to be unable to defeat the big bads that apprea on screen, and thus their glory can only exist off screen or in fanfictions!  
it is definitely a flaw on the riters part than the part o the princesses. we know they have power but the show, by nature, means they have to be removed in some way.
 
….. Actually to be fair to the movie, while this could take place at any point of time, it WAS written long before we had that episode where there is indications they will be better utilized.

I really hope Spike plays a big part in this.

Well, looks like that’s the end of the movie here.  
We already got a spoiler of the other six hugging a tired twilight while she’s holding the staff in the original trailer, so its pretty obvious she gets the staff, god modes and destroys the storm king with the staff, and that’s it.  

 
 
Pretty letdown honestly, this looks like a very anti-climatic ending.

@Joshua  
The Princesses get jobbed out more often than WWE ‘enhancement talent’.

>they defeat the storm king by chucking the other stone princesses at him  
>he is totally ready for any magical blast or spell that might come his way; but several hundred pounds of stone in the face? Man, he’s not God here, ain’t nobody ready for that.

@Joshua  
Being used as an anchor isn’t exactly what I had in mind.

And you were all worried the princesses would be useless. XD

@Background Pony #6D6F  
Storm king Stole their magic, and it turned them to stone. He’s after the alicorn’s magic, and apparently that turns them to stone in his manner of stealing it (he seems to steal magic differently than tirek did)

Why has Cadance been turn to stone?

The storm started to get rough, the tiny ponies were tossed…