ShadowPhoenix

I teared up a little during A True, True Friend in Magical Mystery Cure and let the tears fall freely during Tanks For The Memories.

Cute (that doesn't mean not beautiful): Fluttershy Rainbow Dash Twilight Sparkle Pinkie Pie Applejack Not Cute (but beautiful): Rarity (She's refined, dramatic and unyielding. I love it!)

A severed body part, any symbolic of the villains/evils of Equestria (Sombra, Parasprites) or anything scatological in nature.

Okay, least enjoyable episode of the season for me so far. I was a bit put off by Celestia and Luna's unexplained disappearance, Twilight for some reason shouldering all responsibility and Spike's illogical decisions before he went drunken with power. Earmuffs and a DO NOT DISTURB sign would have sufficed. On the other hand, Spike's descent into corruption was portrayed more realistically/funnily than in Secret Of My Excess (which is great), the numerous delegates and Cadance were all high points of the episode. Overall, I still go with: 1. Tanks For The Memories 2. The Cutie Map - Part 2 3. Slice Of Life 4. The Cutie Map - Part 1 5. Bloom & Gloom 6. Make New Friends But Keep Discord 7. The Lost Treasure Of Griffonstone 8. Castle Sweet Castle (as a benchmark, I consider this an excellent episode) 9. Appleloosa's Most Wanted 10. Princess Spike

I like thinking Equestria is to Earth as Krypton is to Earth, that their average citizen is above and beyond anything Earth could throw at them.

Be prepared for a vivid recollection: I vaguely remember seeing a pink horse gallivanting in some dingy caves in my young cousin's car monitor (Little did I know I was witnessing the splendour that was This Day Aria). It must have been sometime in 2012 when the Season 2 disk had hit the shelves. I was only hazily aware of My Little Pony being a girl's franchise and I dismissed it as a superficial marketing ploy and looked away. Apart from one memory of a G2 (I think) commercial, I'm glad that my first encounter with the franchise was G4. Sometime around late January 2013, I noticed a recommendation on YouTube titled "Twilighticious" but refrained from satiating my curiosity. I did one quick search and noticed a plethora of pony videos, to my confusion. I was unaware of the existence of Friendship is Magic then realized that the last cartoon I had enjoyed was Phineas and Ferb which I abandoned out of annoyance for its repetitive plotlines and increasingly annoying songs and characters. I am proud to say at that moment, I did so with no bias nor prejudice and said to myself, "This gets only ONE chance." I first viewed was the Extended Theme. To my great surprise, when listening, I deciphered the lines "Applejack of my eye", "a Rarity to come by" and "and you all make fun and laughter, as easy as Pinkie Pie" seconds before I heard them. Now I was really intrigued, as I questioned whether I had this weird affinity for My Little Pony. But I was aware at that moment that this cartoon, whatever it would prove to be, was better than the previous iterations of the franchise and instinctively felt it was of certain standard I waited until I was alone at home that I randomly clicked on an episode that turned out to be Keep Calm and Flutter On. I found myself asking, "Discord, what the hell is he?" I decided the episode was decent enough and the next two I watched was The Crystal Empire two parter (I found Cadance strangely familiar). This time, I watched it with undivided attention and found myself stunned. Refusing to believe what I was seeing, I sat down and watched the pilot episodes Friendship Is Magic all the way until Dragonshy. It was only until I clicked unconsciously on Look Before You Sleep that I realized I really liked My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The rest is a blur but I remember checking out some plot synopses for anything that could point to the origin of Discord. Unfortunately, this haphazard viewing method also caused me to watched Magical Mystery Cure and spoil Twilicorn (which I had no objection, even then, just disbelief) for myself, but there was generally an order as to which I viewed the episodes. Baby Cakes was the last, as I steered clear from the concept but after I viewed it, I realized it was a great episode. I was enthralled by the fact that even the least enjoyable episode for me (Dragon Quest) was still personally better than nearly all of Pre-Modern Spongebob and on par with Jackie Chan Adventures. Throughout this whole process, I had come across bold proclamations on the Internet saying it was the best modern animated series and the best of the decade that I had never concurred until I reflected and realized that I enjoyed everything about the show: the visually appealing animation, engaging characters and fantasy setting. It was then I gained full confidence about this investment as the show had upheld a good track record and I delved into the fandom. I discovered one creative marvel after another, fan-made content, Equestria Daily and games. By March, I had downloaded 11 of the most iconic songs to listen while holidaying. By May, I had found a favourite fandom musician that I brought overseas again. By July, the fanfic Bittersweet was the first form of entertainment that ever moved me to tears and Ponydora Prancypants' amazing novella Flight of the Alicorn was finished in a single day. By August, I was a part of MLPForums. Even in November, when I was on an exchange trip in Beijing in a dormitory with only Internet Access via LAN Cable, I stayed up until midnight, two hours after Princess Twilight Sparkle had aired (+GMT 8) and endured 240p owing to the terrible connectivity. Two years later, I feel more than ever that this investment and this place of trust of quality in MLP:FIM was well-deserved. I spent nearly a quarter of my time overseas in 2013 but the show was the year's highlight. If anything, I had nothing negative to say when Equestria Girls was announced in June that year as I had earned confidence and the movie turned out better than I expected. Season 4 only reaffirmed my love for the show and Season 5 so far is no different. No matter what lies ahead, I will always be eternally grateful to MLP:FIM for brightening up my life in so many wonderful ways and bringing so much happiness.

Cry tears of both sadness and respect for the show and I think a part of me will leave forever. I might even pull a Tanks For The Memories.

This show taught me "nonpareil" and I love how casually Twilight drops a "veritable" in Castle Mania and Rarity sometimes breaks into French.

Great ideas, but it's too early for Twilight to be an aunt and I'd rather see two of the Mane 6 hook up than date random stallions.

Very well said. The executives of Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network & Disney think that they're somehow appealing to children by dumbing down their programming and have somehow deluded themselves into thinking that they are the leading authority on what kids are interested in. Garbage such as Teen Titans GO! and Dora the Explorer often trade well-written content and characters for either banal, saccharine, consumerist-culture, random or scatological humour. Either that, or it's some clichéd and half-assed sitcom aimed for retarded teenagers that have been brainwashed by worst of society (cliques, gender stereotypes, general prepubescent angst etc.) There is absolutely no excuse for airing lousy-quality content. For example, I grew up watching The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh while others did Teletubbies or Dora. My parents banned the latter two and many others because they deemed it as intellectually deficient and overall retarded. I thank that decision till this day. There must be quality control otherwise, children will grow up to watch garbage as adults. As Walt Disney mentioned, if one only targets entertainment towards kids, they're in trouble as adults are only the young grown up.