Galen

Alright well, I'm not gonna claim a waifu, but what I want to allude to in particular are which of the mane 6's personality types attracts me the most, and the answer should be rather obvious actually. Rainbow Dash is the one and only <3 The reason I love her character and her personality type is because she puts on a tough front, acts brash, sometimes even arrogant, but it's clear as day those are all fronts because she wants to prove to everyone how great she is at everything she does. For that reason, whenever she endeavors to do anything, she'll pour her soul into doing that to the best of her ability. While she puts on the tough act that those amazing feats she accomplishes are no big deal, they actually are to her and she does them to be acknowledged by others, and when they do, she returns the favor tenfold. Anyone with half a brain should understand what that would mean if you sought a romantic relationship with (someone like) her. And I'm definitely wanting in on that <3

It would make sense. Considering she has wings, the ability to swim would be redundant to her. However, as Chaotic Discord pointed out, we've never actually seen anypony swim other than Pinkie Pie, so we can't be sure any of the mane 6 other than her know how to swim. There hasn't been a need to show that they can either so far. I imagine there would be if the writers ever decide to introduce the sea ponies but no plan to that effect has ever been mentioned.

But Otherwise, you do realize that the "feel good" factor is literally the reason 99% of people who follow any series, be it anime, cartoon, live TV show, movie series, even music, theater, art, any kind of entertainment you can think of, right? Why does our fondness for MLP necessarily have to go beyond "it makes me feel good" to satisfy your curiosity? I love MLP because in addition to what I said, it makes me feel good. I love Avatar: The Last Airbender because it makes me feel good. I love Shingeki no Kyojin because it makes me feel F***ING good. Does one need that much more of a reason to like something? I honestly don't think so. I may disagree with someone's taste, but that doesn't make another person's taste any less valid than mine or yours. I disagree. There are plenty of instances throughout the series where the characters' morals are put to the test. The fact you're saying this isn't the case shows to me that you haven't watched enough of the show to actually know this. I do recommend, once more, that you go through more of the series to formulate a proper opinion.

Am I really the only one who'd be HYPED to see Starswirl the Bearded reveal himself to have been alive all along and had bid his time to gain power through magic and had discovered the secret of immortality? Considering Sombra managed to live for so long, I don't see why Starswirl wouldn't be able to do it either. I think he would make for a great villain because he used to be the one Celestia pinned her hopes on just as she had with Twilight, expcept unlike Twilight, he could not discover the magic of friendship. Two of Celestia's former students pinned on opposing sides would be pretty amazing, I daresay.

Correct me if I'm wrong but OP seems to have come here claiming he's curious about why we like the show only to illustrate that our reasoning makes no sense despite the fact anyone likes any form of entertainment for any particular reason, be it rather superficial or having a deeper meaning behind said fondness. Personally, I'm not sure if I feel obliged to answer why I personally like the show given the apparent motives behind the creation of this thread since I find the OP's here to be a contrarian despite liking anime for very similar reasons as we like MLP (and as you can prolly tell from my avatar, I like anime as well). I could be wrong but I sense some counterproductive intentions behind the OP. But what the heck, I'll answer the question anyways. What initially attracted to me about MLP and what still attracts me is the fact that each episode presents new wisdom in the form of morals which are directly appliccable to real life. Within the context of this being a kids' show, what it appears to strive to achieve is teaching children that love and tolerance for other people is the greatest strength anyone could have as a person. That's what I really appreciate about the show, and the best part is even adults can learn things from watching MLP: FiM. At first glance, one might think this show is very fru fru and girly, which is partially true only because its main characters are female. But to me, that is only secondary to what seems to be the purpose behind the show. I also like it because of the ideal society it presents, which in itself suggests what we should all strive for is a society founded on the basic principles of tolerance and love, tho sometimes I think the fandom itself needs to recap that particular lesson. It's very similar to Star Trek, in a sense, because MLP presents a society were morals, ethics and the pursuit of self-identity are considered very important as opposed to the pursuit of self-interest which people irl often do mistake with self-identity. That is also something I really appreciate.

I don't think there's a gender imbalance in the show tbh. It's a matter of female characters, both main, side and to a lesser extent background characters, getting more exposure due to the face the main characters, in particular the mane 6, are females. It's logical that they would be more involved with the female spectrum of Equestrian society and as a result, we see a lot more of that than the male side. If the mane 6 were actually stallions, the case would be different. One should also consider the type of roles stallions fulfill. We often see them doing hands-on work a lot more, causing them to be out on the field than in the towns, especially in Ponyville which is an Earth Pony town. You'll prolly notice there's a lot more balance between mares and stallions in places like Canterlot (watch Sweet and Elite and you'll see what I mean). One bit of evidence to support this is the fact that virtually every member of the royal guard is a stallion. Aside from fanfiction, I've never seen a mare among the royal guards once. This implies how stallions take care of the more physical things, so it makes sense that we wouldn't see them in the setting we see in the show typically. With that said, I find it very likely male alicorns can exist, just that we haven't seen them yet. This may have to do with various things. I, for one, don't think Alicorns are born, but rather exist as higher beings. Given that both Cadence and Twilight were known to be a Pegasus and a Unicorn respectively at first, it was only after they discovered new magic that they became enlightened, in a sense, and became Alicorns. In other words, Alicorns are enlightened beings. I don't see why stallions can't become enlightened. I imagine they'd reproduce like any other pony (I doubt that's the case for Celestia and Luna tho) but their offspring would be one of the three traditional pony types rather than an Alicorn.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight are tied as my favorite it seems. I can see why people would dislike RD, but while she might come off as bitchy or arrogant, I think it's mainly because she has a constant need to prove herself to others as being the best, and she loves being acknowledged by others so much that it can easily get to her. It is a flaw of hers that she does recognize when it hits her, but I don't think that's her being insensitive. The very core of her being is to be acknowledged by others and loves when that takes place. I believe that is why she is the element of loyalty. She is brash and arrogant outwardly, but when you acknowledge her, she repays your recognition tenfold, and that more than makes up for any of her flaws and it is the reason why I like her so much. EDIT: Scratch that, RD > Twilight

That is exactly why I have a headcanon that Starswirl the Bearded is still alive but in hiding and could solo Equestria, Discord and the Alicorns and all, without even breaking a sweat.

When I was in high school, MLP: FiM didn't even exist. However, I don't think I'd be embarrassed at all. Back then, I had a reputation for being an absolute star wars fanboy and I was proud of it. Nothing people said to really make fun of that brought me down. I'd still fangasm over star wars, going online to play text-based RPGs and so forth. I doubt it would've been much different if it had been MLP instead, tho I do wonder if I would be as avid about it as I was for star wars back then (buying posters, magazines and whatnot). Where I work, a few of my workmates do know I'm a brony but they don't make a fuss about it. They teased me about it once or twice perhaps but I laughed with them. I mentioned in another thread too that I even have an MLP-based desktop wallpaper which I'm sure someone would've noticed. So nay, even now, I'm not embarrassed about it ^.^

Dash definitely looks incredible. I'd say her and Rarity, by virtue of looking the most natural while biting her lips, are pretty even on this one.

Gonna go for Twilight on this one. The different shades of purple in her mane really do it for me, and it definitely looks like a pose she would do more than anyone other than perhaps Rarity. Ok yeah. I change my vote to Rainbow Dash after seeing these

Fancy Pants. Like OP said, he broke the stereotype of what Canterlot ponies are like which is something that both really surprised me and pleased me. Because of that, I also really appreciated how he seems to be able to form an opinion of his own when up until that point, Canterlot ponies appeared to just go with the flow of things and only adopt popular opinion over anything else.