The Second Opinion

Ironically, these later seasons seem to have incorperated Spike into the group more, not less. Season 1 mostly treated him like the slightly annoying little brother who mostly just helped Twilight. Season 2 treated him like the black sheep/odd man out who looked up to the rest of the group, needing them more than they needed him. It wasn't until Just For Sidekicks that his episodes started exploring his own unique dynamic as an actual member of the group. He's the only guy, he's a little bit younger, and his job is usually a little different, which sometimes seems to make the others want to play supportive roles and other times seems to make them more at ease talking to him (namely Rarity and Twilight). His record 3 episodes in Season 4 all explored how he supports them as much as vice-versa. Personally, I think there's a lot of potential for him to continue down that route and maybe also serve as a bridge between the main group and some of the side characters. (The fact that he doesn't seem much older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders has allowed him to fit in well enough with them so far.) In fact, if the "next generation" team that some people keep suggesting ever becomes a thing (which it won't), I wouldn't mind him beeing on it, as the veteran who also had adventures with the original one.

What a gross miscarriage of justice that was. The fastest pony in Equestria by far dragged into last place by a farm pony insisting she handicap herself, then duking it out with her the whole race? Just accept when you're second place, sister. I tell ya... Wait a minute! If you're supposed to be such a scholar, how come you keep talking to me in the past tense? (Sorry. I couldn't resist ) Sunset Shimmer hits Rainbow Dash with the Sunset flip. Referee Granny Smith finishes ushering Daring Do back into her corner and jumps on the count. No hesitancy in those old bones... 1, 2, no, Rainbow kicks out! Like I keep saying, don't underestimate the courage or the toughness of Rainbow Dash! She knows she's at a disadvantage with no magic but continues to battle on with everything in her arsenal! Sunset Shimmer sticks her horn in Rainbow's face for another blinding flash... I can't see very well, but Rainbow appears to be... putting on her sunglasses! Sunset Shimmer looks up, shocked to find Rainbow's eyes totally intact! And with a smug smirk, Rainbow strikes back with the double-hoofed eye poke! ...I think it's fair. Rainbow jumps off the ropes and takes to the air, giving Sunset Shimmer a flying thrust kick Sunset Shimmer flies into the corner, and Celestia makes the tag, ooh, catching Rainbow off gaurd with with a shot of magic, just as she was charging in for the followup. Celestia springs over the ropes and - oh no - wasting no time, hits Rainbow Dash with a Pheonix Splash! I hope she makes the tag soon, because watching Rainbow press on through this might be painful... I thought Spike might be able to handle Pinkie Pie, after burning all of her cake batter and frosting to a crisp, but she locked in that sugar hold pretty well. He barely managed to reach the ropes with that long tongue of his. So now it indeed looks like it's coming down to Pinkie and Twilight, who successfully made the tag there. And sure enough, Pinke doesn't seem to have much left in the tank without her confectionery weapons. She's using those supernatural dodging powers pretty well to avoid Twilight's magic assualt, trying to frustrate the purple princess, but if I know Twilight, she'll find a way to tie down that elastic frame... "Pinkie, look! Spike cooked this cake batter you threw at him to perfection!" Twilight tosses the sweet to Pinkie a little too hard, and Pinkie Pie willingly catches it in the face! She seems to be in a blissful daze on her back there, and Twilight takes to the air for a Shooting Star Elbow Drop! I don't think I can watch this either...

Ah, you're one of those all-studying-and-no-action types, huh? Well, we all saw what happened when your hero tried to run a race just by reading about how to run. Didn't work. She only got 5th. Now our Pageturners, on the other hand, can and will do both, as we'll see, just as soon as Celestia stops tickling them... What kind of fight does she think this is, anyway? This kind of stuff is probably why she's always landing herself in problems she can't solve. What kind of monarch always uses these goody-two-shoes "gentle" solutions to solve her country's problems? What's she gonna do if Tirek ever makes that comeback he was going on about before? Tickle him too? Spike and Maud sharing what appears to be a meaningful stare... Spike holding up the rock... no, he holds out his other hand... and Maud takes it! Maud and Spike, hoof in claw, agreeing to let bygones be bygones! Now isn't that what it's all about? Spike hands her the rock, and Maud is clearly happy to have back, holding it close and looking at it with what definitely passes as a loving gaze for her. I think I actually saw her eyebrows move! Spike now seems unsure of how to remind her that they're in a match... he taps her on the shoulder, and she just sort of distantly nods there. Now he appears to be asking her if she's ready, but she's just sort of distantly nodding again... Spike shrugs at Twilight... and puts Maud in another dragon suplex! Maud rolls back towards the ring, and Pinkie Pie, smiling sheepishly, makes the tag!

(*Prepares know-it-all announcer face) Ah, but can they keep it up? As we all know, Celestia and Sunset Shimmer have a history of not getting along. And facing them are Rainbow Dash and Daring Do, who will get along, through this match and forever after. What are you, a book-hater? Everyone who reads Daring Do knows that comebacks from the brink are practically her trademark! Look at them gearing up to hit Sunset Shimmer with their signature flying elbow smash times two! This might just fulfill Rainbow's vow to make these hotheads 20% cooler!

Eh, if I must. Twilight looking pretty smug right now as Pinkie Pie pulls out the part cannon. She's firing up the magic! Look at the confidence draining away from the face of Pinkie Pie. This light show's got her thinking that she should have brought some bigger artillery. Might wanna go back to the party cannon store there, Pinkie. Twilight fires and... NO! Pinkie Pie caught it IN the party cannon! Twilight has set off an explosion of cake frosting and confetti in the ring, and as the dust settles... yep, she's trapped! Pinkie Pie loving it! Just listen to her laugh! "Hehehe, looks good on ya, Twilight " Wait, was that a...? Yes! Twilight has just teleported out of the icing and magically seized Pinkie by the tail! She always has a backup plan! "Funny, I was just thinking the same about you >:D" Twilight, lifting Pinkie up, and there it is! With her variation on the Angle Slam, that I believe she dubbed the "Pythagorean Slam," Twilight slams Pinkie Pie into her own cake frosting! I tell you, Twilight's been going on all tournament about how she's studied the "Three 'I's" guide to wrestling, "intensity, integrity, and intelligence," and I think I believe it coming from her more than I ever did from Kurt Angle! Twilight ready to go to work now. She charges Pinkie... and there's the Shining Wizard! Lands it across her face, and Pinkie is still helpless! Twilight now flying into the air... and there's the Shooting Star Press! Pinkie now trying to lick her way out of her confectionery prison, but Twilight, wasting no time, teleports back into the air for a Shooting Star Leg Drop! Pinkie's tongue shoots out of her mouth, and Maud tags it! Maud flies across the ring like a bullet, and if you want to see how mad Twilight just made her, don't look at her face; look at the way she's going to work on Twilight now! Maud pummeling Twilight with jackhammer-like blows, and she ads a discus elbow smash there, knocking Twilight into the corner. Spike clearly wants in to rescue her, but no! Maud hits Twilight with the body avalanche before she can make the tag! Twilight didn't quite go down there, but now she stumbles into Maud's waiting hooves, and Maud Rock Bottom's Twilight! Maud going for the pin now... 1... 2... no! Twilight kicks out and teleports away, and referee Ms. Peachbottom signals no pin. (Is she the real referee? I'm not sure.) Twilight managed to teleport into the corner there, and she's just able to tag Spike. Spike slides into the ring and charges... only to be met with a mule kick that sends him flying right back out! Spike soars out of the ring and nearly crashes into the announcer's booth right next to me! Maud following right behind him now, and I can hear her reciting some of her infamous poetry as she closes in: "Crushed. You will be crushed. By a rock. Which I am." Maud thrusts her forearm into Spike's neck, apparently going for a pressure point. Maud's been masterful at finding just the right point to crack ponies all through this tournament, but it doesn't appear to be working on the little dragon, who's meeting her stare now and trying to say some something: "Thick... scales..." Ooh! Spike rakes Maud with his claws, and he's bought himself some breathing space! In fact, he seems ready to go, probably looking for some payback for what Maud did to Twilight a minute ago. Maud catches his kick and throws it away... but he spins around and executes the dragon whip! And that's not all! Now he gets her in a full nelson, and there's the dragon suplex! But Maud rolls up to her feet, still not looking all that fazed... she's moving in to retaliate, but Spike... holds up a pebble? Wait, yes! It would appear the crafty dragon managed to pickpocket Maud's pet rock! Now he's holding it up to his mouth... "One more move, and I'll bite through Boulder like a piece of rock candy! " It seems Spike has found Maud's soft spot! The gray pony's left eye appears to be watering, ever so slightly. She's not making a move! Pinkie and Twilight both watching now with rapt attention, seemingly in shock at how personal this whole thing has become...

Well, they already have sun hats and glasses for the occasion

Still trying to see it with Burning Love. Was it something Braeburn said? My only guess is an "opposites" appeal because Braeburn is nice and Chrsalis isn't, but he's not the first character I would have pictured to fill that role. Or was it a fanfic I've never heard of?

I'm guessing Iron Will and Dash had quite the clash of narcissism.

Well, Season 4 was definitely where the team (new members and old) started to experiment again, trying different approaches and new storylines to see if they could bring anything fresh to the table. I didn't think it was as inspired as the first two seasons. They didn't seem to have quite as strong a sense of what they wanted to bring to the table, neither with the characters nor the messages. But I also thought they were getting more into it as they went along, and it worked its way up to at least the same league. And that said, I don't know how anyone could consider that worse than season 3. If 4 was where it started recovering its inspiration, 3 was where it lost it in the first place. Instead of just the Applejack episodes, now over half the episodes in the season were at a loss on how to tell a story that really explored and progressed its characters. More often than not, it just thought up stories that "fit the bill" as something that would happen to them and filled them up with enough hijinks and obligatory plotting so the characters themselves only had to do the obvious stuff to get us from A to B.

Well, I think I've got Zecora and Iron Will's right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1-1Yizv26Q I figure right after that is when Fluttershy bailed him out with a steel chair.

Shame Tirek and Diamond Tiara are probably out in the first round. This thing could use a couple good heels to villainously knock out a few beloved background characters before going down in dramatic fashion to the perfect vanquishers. (The thought of Applejack getting to piledrive Diamond Tiara is hard not to like, while Big Mac vs. Tirek would be a great clash of the strength titans.)