However, one thing about pilots is how unpolished they tend to be. When looking back, the flaws look much more glaring because later seasons are usually more sophisticated. This is exactly the case here:

1. Unlike the other seasons, season one was under the microscope of two ratings: the one required by their specific governments (in America, TV-Y) and E/I (Educational/Informational, which you can read about here). Beyond Hasbro’s mandates, FIM really shows how much the pilot hindered its potential in a big way.
    
   Although there are great stakes on the line, it doesn’t feel that way. Each trial was so tame, it could’ve been anything. With mild tweaking, they would’ve fit every other character. If Faust and DHX pushed the line even more, then it risked violating the strict E/I guidelines, and who knows how Hasbro would’ve reacted. I’ll dissect their executions later.
2. One of season one’s biggest problems that’s been popping up among recent marathons is lackluster aging. The pilot is no exception.
    
   a. When listening to The Laughter Song the first time, Pinkie’s joy is abundant in not only her voice, but also the visuals and animation like hopping, appearing out of nowhere on screen (forcing you to wonder where she’ll be next), and the teary laughter. It started slowly and then crescendoed into the chorus, ending NMM’s Snow White-esque horror scene.
    
   But then listen to it again while watching the animations. There’s a distinct lack of polish in the meter’s execution. To extend the length, Pinkie had to shout and extend her first set of lines, and that becomes rather tacky. And for a song intending to be very cheery, the visuals are quite conservative. Of course, this was a brand-new medium DHX was using, and it was a pilot, but they’re plain and don’t get interesting until Pinkie laughs at the tree in between song. Two-minutes or not, the hook arrives way too late.
    
   b. Some of the animation itself is pretty lackluster. In one scene, Apple ponies were handing off various items to Twilight. They didn’t show proper physics in its inertia, making the scene rather stilted. Secondly, the churning in the river is very repetitive and doesn’t offer variety to make it inherently interesting.
    
   c. Applejack’s voice back then is a pain in the eardrums to listen to. For most of its running, her voice is deeper, more mature, wise, and rather aggressive. Here, it’s way too high-pitched, which makes her appear very immature and, thus, doesn’t fit her character. Well, at least not anymore.
3. In especially the second part, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony are as subtle and being smashed by an anvil, and it’s this where Part 2’s quality plummets. By the time Act 1 is halfway done, the audience immediately knows not just who the Bearers are, but also the specific Elements each of them bore.
   
   Take the passage Twilight read while in the library (emphasis mine):
    

   Quote

   
   Twilight Sparkle: Oh. There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters.

   As Twilight recited the elements, the animation scaled back, revealing the characters in order: Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, AJ, and Dash. The order and corresponding animation are no accidents. The story knew who they are and wanted you to know it. In the midst of rushing the script, the fundamentals of foreshadowing were thrown out the window, which is a shame because they did a great job building up Nightmare Moon's revival in Part 1. By blatantly revealing who bore the Elements of Harmony, the rest of the conflicts and resulting climax become pointless.
4. Despite good vocabulary and a variety of characterization, the dialogue is often very forced. So little of the Mane Six's dialogue sounded organic and relied on specific jargon to separate them. When it didn’t, each of them hammered in their respective elements to the audience and relied on naivety from Twilight and the others to force the plot along. Nightmare Moon had a great backstory, but her lines were extremely clichéd and amounted to the manufactured “I’m evil” bullshit in thousands of media.
    
   However, the moment where the corn really became burnt beyond edibility was Twilight’s speech of friendship to Nightmare Moon as the Elements were finally revealed. None of the trials were that effective, and Twilight treated them as such. It was way too preachy and hammered in the main moral of the entire series.
    
   One of the few characters to actually have an organic voice was Spike. Whatever he said and thought felt natural, and his deadpan comedy really balanced out his kid side.
5. Speaking of the trials…
    
   a. They don’t effectively prove the stakes and urgency of NMM’s terror. When you think about it, the EoH’s purpose is to prove they can bear them in case there’s a very big evil out there. But with so much on the line, how do they get it? Through very simple trials that don’t put them in any grave danger except the first.
    
   Speaking of the first trial…
    
   b. Applejack was unnecessarily stupid. Telling Twilight to “let go” and fall down the cliff is possibly the dumbest thing AJ’s done throughout the series because it makes no sense. Even if AJ apparently knew Dash and Fluttershy were waiting to catch her, it was an extremely risky idea. Celestia forbid Fluttershy or Dash lost grip; Twilight would’ve been dead, and Applejack would forever live in guilt. The odds were stacked against the cowmare, and she can’t rely on it all the time. It would’ve been much better if Applejack pulled Twilight back on the cliff and wait for Dash and Fluttershy to help them down. Then again, doing that would’ve caused the trial to fall apart.
    
   c. The Elements are really hammered in and, like I wrote earlier, had to rely on the characters acting naïve to fully realize it.
    
   i. Applejack told her the “honest truth.”
    
   ii. Fluttershy told Twilight (after pulling the thorn out), “Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness.”
    
   iii. Pinkie guffawed at the trees and ended the song with “laugh.” Hell, the song is titled The Laughter Song.
    
   iv. Rarity never mentioned the word “generosity,” but showed it very bluntly by slicing most of her tail off.
    
   v. After Rainbow Dash declined to join the Shadowbolts, the future Bearer of Loyalty exclaimed, “See? I'd never leave my friends hangin'.”
    
   vi. Finally, Twilight repeated the word “spark” to revive the Elements of Harmony. (The fact that the ReMane-ing Five left Twilight all alone was unbelievably dumb. Firstly, they admitted the Everfree Forest was treacherous, and Nightmare Moon stalked them throughout the journey. Secondly, it was designed to be a plot device so Twilight can battle on her own until her friends showed up.)
    
   If none of them were that oblivious, then they would’ve realized it the second Dash passed her “test” at the most.
6. Like what I wrote before, Nightmare Moon’s backstory was fantastic, and her desire to be beloved was believable. But aside from that, she’s a very bland villain. Yes, she’s very active, constantly on the prowl, manipulative, and murderous; but it was poorly represented and realized from how her personality was identical to that of a classic fairytale.
    
   Instead of the typical archetype, why not change her character? Luna became Nightmare Moon as a result of unadulterated jealousy, so anger's clouding her mind. Instead of having her personality be predictably evil, how about making her evil, yet angry and think she’s doing the right thing. That in her jealousy and resentment over her older sister, she feels she’s doing such an evil deed for the greater good of Equestria. By having Equestria summoned into eternal night, she’s giving her moon and those she watches justice. Give her convincing delusions, and the only way for the Mane Six to defeat her isn’t by blasting the Elements of Harmony against her will, but the foundation that just because ponies sleep before the moon doesn’t mean they don’t love or respect her. Gradually build it up to make her become good again. You don’t demand respect. You earn it.
7. PaleoSteno described Part 1 as “rapid fire” and Part 2 as even more so. Well, he couldn’t be any more correct. Despite Part 1 being somewhat fast, it didn’t feel fast, and it set the stage of the second half. Unfortunately, Part 2 really dropped the ball by only spending a small amount of time juggling between the tests. Just as one character faced a test, it was over. The only one where the character spent the most amount of time on her test was Twilight’s Element of Magic.
    
   Originally, Faust intended to have the Mane Six be rewarded for their Elements over a season through an adventure arc. That would’ve been a really good idea, because it retains the stakes, explores the characters, and proves their worth more organically. On the other hand, the arc would’ve robbed season one of the well-done slice-of-life episodes Friendship Is Magic is renowned for. So you win some, you lose some.
8. If Nightmare Moon was to be a formidable foe, she wouldn’t just stand in one spot as Twilight recited her speech. She would’ve acted and tried to stop it. By standing there and doing nothing, she looked very, very weak. Stationary villains as they downed the Skittles have been a very common problem throughout the series (the only one making some sense being Discord due to his pride and ego), and it started here.
9. The pilot only gives the audience clues of Celestia’s whereabouts. Through Mayor Mare’s Sleeping Beauty reference, NMM’s threats of never seeing Celestia again, and Celestia reappearing once the sun rose, you’re clued that she was locked in the sun like her sister when locked in the moon. However, these are only clues. Her role (or lack thereof) as far as her location was never given a ton of clarity, leaving the audience to rely on headcanon to fill in the plot holes.

Overall, though, there is an obvious, gigantic, intangible strength in this pilot, something the audience was able to conclude through its nuances.

It has a lot of heart.

The vocabulary, variety of characters, graphics, elegant storytelling simplicity, musical score, and humor proved that Faust, Renzetti, and the rest of the crew cared a ton for its audience. Albeit a severe lack of refinement, they obviously tried and succeeded to capture the hearts of many and made plenty consider trying. After over a decade of crappy TV from the franchise, the pilot was a breath of fresh air, resulting in the possibility of improving their craft and delivering great stories in the future. By its track record, they obviously succeeded, but it wouldn’t have happened without the success of the pilot.

One generation ago, My Little Pony was a laughingstock. A franchise with a great original concept became heavily operated under Hasbro’s microscope simply to pander to young girls’ guardians. But on October 10, 2010, under Faust’s leadership, Friendship Is Magic, Part 1 was released, followed by Part 2 on October 22. The pilot commenced the fourth generation of My Little Pony, leading to wonders over what the franchise will reveal to what is later the brony fandom.

Subjectively, this is my most nostalgic FIM episode because these episodes led me to the show and becoming a brony altogether. (Winter Wrap Up, on the other hand, is where I proclaimed it really took off.) But through an objective eye, FIM1/2 is not that good at all. Part 1 was decent, but Part 2 is easily the worse half because of its obvious storytelling shortcomings. Overall, it’s the weakest two-parter of the entire show. Nevertheless, the heart the pilot displayed allowed the show to stick around and eventually improve into the pop culture conglomerate today.

Source: S01:E01+E02 - Friendship is Magic