Was this the episode that got me into the series? Of course it was! Why would I not start with the first episode, am I right!? And I loved it at the time. However, after going much deeper into the show, you realize, eh, it's kind of-- dull. It's not really that much of a problem, as with the first episode (actually, the first couple), we can never truly figure out exactly what the show wanted to be. And now we know it's gonna take risks and take them well. Here, it's just a bit underdone. The first half does fine at introducing the characters, led to some pretty funny moments, and was just nice, but first the characters were slightly flanderized. It kinda needed to be that, though, in order to fit all thier main character triats into under 22 minutes, so I won't complain. Second, the rest of plot becomes predictble because of that. Twilight doesn't care about friends and just wants to complete the task, and along the way meets and get to know them, and Friendship becomes magic and all that stuff. It's still decent. But the second half falls apart and is just vague at times and stupid at others. (What does telling someone to fall to thier death represent honesty? What's with that sea serpent?) It picked up with an amazing climax, but that's really it. Overall, this episode's fine to start the series with, but is not very good to rewatch.
Final Verdict: Meh. It was ok.