My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has gone under some fascinating changes and developments both in the show and the community. While I'm no expert in the community factor of the fandom, having only been a brony for about eleven months, I do what I can to stay active and know when Hasbro gives the herd a hit (eg. video takedowns, Derpy, etc.) I may do my next plog post on Hasbro and Bronies, but this time I'm going to focus on the pros and cons of the seasons.

Season 1

Focus: Season 1 focused on establishing Ponyville and introducing important characters. It's top priority was teaching lessons on friendship. The Elements of Harmony are embodiment of what it takes to form a friendship. Every episode ended with a letter to Celestia summing up what lessons were to be taken away from the episode to make sure the point came across.

Twilight's Magic:

Let's face it. The show is about Twilight. It's not all about her, but she's the actual star. *cough* Applejack is better *cough* This point is interesting. Magic in this season actually went under revision, going from just sparkles to a shimmering aura. I'll show you what I mean.

Friendship is Magic: Part 2

Winter Wrap Up

And everypony levitated their tickets to the Gala. That irritates me.

With that out of the way, Twilight was still somewhat dependent on her books magic. She wasn't sure what she could do for Winter Wrap Up without magic, she had used it from such an early age. Twilight's magic is definitely more powerful than most unicorns, but it takes her a lot of effort to teleport from one place to another. A definite non-athlete, she uses what she learns in books and applies it shortly after reading it. She can do 28 spells in Boast Busters, but probably learns more as the season progresses.

World Building:

There was a lot of emphasis on Ponyville and how it is run. There is an award for best overall citizen, seasons don't change magically, instead they are earth pony powered. In Season 2 it is revealed that Applejack's ancestors founded the city, so it would make sense that the place is earth pony centric. The season was pretty local really.

The characters lived in a relatively perfect world, with only an occasional danger that had been brewing for the usual 1000 year prescription. Naturally they had forgotten. Then there's parasprites and the occasional dragon, but no actually huge, large-scale disasters.

Characters:

Not many new characters were really featured with the exception of Braeburn, Chief Thunderhooves, and Little Strongheart. Nightmare Moon was not a stunning villain in my opinion (though I love Luna). She's just your average, run-of-the-mill arrogant, evil villain. Season 2 is brilliant in that aspect.

Episode Quality:

I'm going to be a radical here: I'm not a big fan of Lauren Faust's writing. Please don't misunderstand, when it comes to inventing characters she's an absolute genius! But I had trouble sitting through the pilot. I'm sure that if she'd had a better episode to write she could have done better, because it was an "Meet Everypony" episode. I just didn't like those episodes.

The other episodes were fine, but none are my absolute favorites. Because the season focused on establishing a home setting and the characters' personalities, the writers spent the rest of their energy on humor. And the comic relief was great. ("You've got to walk to the zoo? Well who's stopping you?) I just prefer a slightly more serious episode like Hurricane Fluttershy. Plenty of comic relief, but actually evoked actual feels.