By hour 3 of the marathon, I give up on any pretense of detailed episode reviews. It’s all beginning to blur together into one big mass of colorful equine awesomeness. But I can make it! As I write this I’m already…er, a sixth of the way through! *gulp* And so full of pizza...getting kind of sleepy.

*Griffon the Brush-Off, still one of my favs. Gotta love Pinkie + Dash, and Gilda is a more interesting character than I remembered.

*By Episode 6, this show is beginning to solidify in a way that many shows don’t in their first season. The main characters are secure enough that we can bring in an outsider like Trixie to bounce off of them. And yes, that magician is still as supremely unlikeable as before. Kathleen Barr really nailed a good voice for her though.

*From 7 on we’re getting into many episodes that I’ve only seen once before. First display of Angel’s meanness plus the cloud of black smoke. I know which one this is! The DVD is working fine so far. Not one skip, and each episode is separated into several segments just as it should be.

*I love the montages and still shots of the five ponies getting ready to leave for the mountain. Fluttershy’s fearfulness is frustrating for a while, but it pays off and makes the ending totally unexpected. First of many great Fluttershy moments!

*AJ and Rarity are SO CUTE when they argue. Which is good because that’s pretty much all of Episode 8. AJ has to get a makeover, poor thing. Twi tells a scary story about the headless horse, a legend we see much later in “Sleepless in Ponyville.” Nice continuity.

*Look Before You Sleep still isn’t one of my favorites, but it gets the job done with developing two of the ponies a little more. I’m much more excited about Bridal Gossip, because it features my favorite filly in her first important role. She’s the only one besides Twilight who doesn’t think Zecora is evil, plus she follows her. Cool.

*The “curses” the Mane 6 experience never fail to be hilarious. I wonder who did the voice for Flutterguy.

*You can’t look at the Parasprites and not think “evil.” I knew it the moment I saw one. I love how Pinkie’s lines are ambiguous enough that we think she’s just being random, when she’s trying to get rid of the Parasprites the whole time. AJ and Rainbow both have great ideas for getting rid of them (“time to take out the adorable trash”), but it’s the Pied Pinkie who saves things. Ponyville’s still a wreck of course, but it’s fixed in time for the next show. No wonder, since most of winter has passed by the time it starts. Time for another beer! My dog's falling asleep, but I'm still going...

*Twilight in boots. THIS IS WHERE IT ALL STARTED PEOPLE!

*Seriously though, she’s adorable. Here’s Winter Wrap-Up with the first big musical number of the series and it was perfect. So many background ponies in one episode! Ponyville seemed to have about 100 ponies at first, but now we can speculate there are many more.

*”Maybe the birds can use it as a…a…”

“An outhouse?” xD To be fair, Twilight’s attempt did look like a natural bird’s next.

*Pinkie Pie as ice skater is so awesome! And this is the only time we saw her do it. I want more skating Pinkie in Season 3! I think I developed a new respect for Twilight after she finally used her organization skills productively here. She even put Mayor Mare to work hauling apples. Sweet.

*Wow, it’s already Call of the Cutie. My Little Pony: Fillies Are Adorable! “Look at her hair!” Silver Spoon’s first line, about Cheerilee’s picture. Funny how they managed to make a pony look so…80’s.

*From the sound of it, Spoon got her mark before Diamond. That’s interesting, I would have guessed the other way around. Was Diamond always mean or just after she got her mark? When did Silver fall in with her? A filly with Diamond's ego must have been intimidated by Spoony having her mark first. Moving on: I don’t have to restate how awesome Apple Bloom is here, and naturally Applejack is best big sister. And Twist is so cute! Why doesn’t anyone else like her?

*Dash really tries to help Bloom, but alas it’s not her time yet. At least we get a happy ending with Bloom founding the CMC.

*Fall Weather Friends! Two episodes ago it was winter, but never mind. This means it’s time for Dash vs. AJ! They kick footballs! That’s it, hoofball is officially canon on the show. Amazing nobody’s done anything with that idea yet. Sorry AJ, you didn't rule out the use of wings in the competition. You use what you’ve got, so Rainbow Dash is Iron Pony.

*I love Spike and Pinkie’s announcing during the race. Another lesson, and now another disc…I am officially halfway through the marathon! Three beers down, who knows how many more to go. I should reheat that pizza too. And open another beer! Did I say that yet? Oooo, pretty colors on screen. Ha ha ha...