bigbertha

Here we go again. More stories that I think are really great. 1. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/114900/p3-project-episode-10-the-best-smiles TwiPie friendshipping. I love their dynamic and Pinkie teaching Twilight to skate. It's adorable in all the best ways. 2. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/412911/just-two-clones-having-dinner There are tons of stories about Pinkie clones that didn't get zapped, but this one puts an interesting spin on the idea by pairing the Pinkie clone with evil Twilight. The bond between them is nice and feels like it could set up a whole series of these two's misadventures. 3. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/3270/sparkles-law This one isn't exactly underrated (it has 38K views), but I have to mention it because it's so hilarious. There are a bunch of mini plots and they're all incredible, from Rainbow's fight with birds to Applejack's food war. Besides, I still don't hear that much about this story. I hear much more about Twilight Sparkle Gets a Free Salad, a less viewed comedy from the same author. I personally prefer Sparkle's Law since Twilight Sparkle Gets a Free Salad is a bit too random for me. 4. https://www.ponyfictionarchive.net/viewstory.php?sid=33 This is a very strong and emotional story, and that's coming from someone who generally doesn't like stories focused on OCs. 5. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/14554/home-grown This is one of AbsoluteAnonymous's best stories and deserves much more attention than a dumb comedy like Pinkie Watches Paint Dry. Home Grown is a fantastic look at Applejack as a character and her coming to accept her feelings for Rarity. I love that it doesn't force in a love confession where Rarity says that she's always had a crush on Applejack too. It's just a small step towards what might grow into a romantic relationship. 6. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/9235/friends-and-lovers A series of short romantic one shots with mane six ships. Obviously, my favorites are the TwiPie ones. 7. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/448318/learning-to-love This and the sequel are some of the. better RariDash stories out there. They work off each other really well and both stories are very fun rides. 8. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/297613/chocolate-milk Another great RariDash story, though that's to be expected since it's written by Monochromatic. Her Rarity is one of the best of the entire fandom. 9. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/457015/festivus-for-the-restivus There is some TwiPie here, but I'd still recommend this to people who don't like shipping since it's more focused on general comedy that shipping. 10. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/399247/best-friends-forever I highly recommend both this and the sequel. SciTwi and Sunset work incredibly together and you know it's a great story when it can support itself solely off its character interactions. 11. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/388195/dont-want-perfection This is like Home Grown, but for Rarity. It's not quite as good as Home Grown, but it's still pretty great. 12. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/233654/au-naturel This alternate ending to Simple Ways is better than Simple Ways in literally every way. And that's not just because it's romance. 13. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/18032/sweet-nothings Adorable RainbowPie by AbsoluteAnonymous. 14. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/58583/no-recipe-for-perfection This is it. This is THE RariPie story. Everything flows so naturally which makes the ending one of the most satisfying of any shipfic. 15. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/444188/seeking-love-in-laughter This and all of the other FlutterPie stories from this author are all great. These stories are what made me a FlutterPie shipper. Fluttershy and Pinkie are so well written and adorable. 16. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/87519/between-chaos-and-creation And this is a much less happy look at FlutterPie. It shows how Fluttershy and Pinkie met long before the events of the show and even before they moved to Ponyville. If your suspension of disbelief can't go that far, you won't like this story. If you can accept that, you'll find an extremely interesting origin story with some well written FlutterPie. The ending is open ended about whether they stay together, but I like to think they do. 17. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/322327/raritys-lucky-charm Monochromatic strikes again, this time with some adorable RariPie. 18. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/469779/alls-fair-in-love-and-war-games Short and sweet RariPie. 19. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/461560/the-time-killer Another cute RariPie one shot. 20. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/440174/flowers-for-the-leading-mare More cute RariPie, this time with a fun little twist. 21. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/308675/pinkie-pie-goes-on-a-rollicking-adventure-through-time-and-plushies-almost-as-if-she-was-launched-from-a-love-trampoline-and-then-doughnuts-happen Don't let the title scare you away. This is definitely a strange premise and Pinkie's characterization is a little off, it's not a "LOL RANDEM" story. This is a great TwiPie story with some strong emotional moments and adorable filly Twilight. 22. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/199158/leave-no-trope-unturned Short and sweet TwiPie that mocks some shipping tropes. 23. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/11316/finding-your-rhythm Kinda conventional by shipping standards, but it's TwiPie so I still love it. 24. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/14177/a-selection-of-sappy-sweet-and-sometimes-somber-short-stories-and-snapshots Not all of these one shots are created equal, but you should at least read Alliteration. 25. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/113168/it-started-with-a-hoof This is unfinished, but what is here is fantastic. This is some of the best TwiPie interaction I've seen and it makes me really sad that it's incomplete. 26. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/8516/experimental-variables A rare use of second person (that's not a self insert) is used to great effect here. It builds some great tension which makes the final kiss very satisfying. 27. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/1610/causality This was the first BIG TwiPie story. Not the first ever, but the first to go really in depth with it and take it seriously. And after all these years, it still holds up. Twilight and Pinkie's relationship could've been expanded on a bit more, but what's here works well and the catalyst is extremely creative. 28. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/16647/darkly-dreaming-pinkie This is probably the cutest TwiPie story I've ever read. 29. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/420191/a-beautiful-night This is the closest TwiPie has to something like The Enchanted Library. It's a big alternate universe epic with a wonderfully written TwiPie core. This is written by the same guy who wrote Passion and Reason so of course the dialogue is top notch, but there's so much more to this one and it's all great. 30. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/259734/pinkies-proposal Pinkie proposing to Twilight sounds really boring, but some good comedy and a cute ending make this one stand out. 31. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/19594/genuine An interesting look into Pinkie as a character. Also TwiPie. 32. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/364345/passion-and-reason I'm not quite sure if I'd call this the best TwiPie story of all time, but it's up there. The dialogue is perfect and the development of the relationship is incredibly smooth. The ending kiss is completely justified, which circumvents an issue that many ship fics fall into. 33. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/286274/the-interview If you like RariLight, you have to read Monochromatic's work. And I'm not just talking about her big stuff like The Enchanted Library and Injuring Eternity. I'm talking everything from the silly one shots to the Bodyguard AU. They're all fantastic.

It's also the only good song on Yeezus

Classic Sonic. I've tried to play all three of the Genesis games and I could not get into them. Sonic feels so clunky and annoying to control.

Honestly not a great song since I'm not a fan of Jay-Z and J-Ivy here, but the hook is incredibly catchy and Kanye's verse is great.

I think it's pretty obvious at this point that I'm a big fan of romances in fanfiction. It makes up most of what I read, but it doesn't make up everything. Shipping is only a small percentage of the grand total of fanfiction so today I'm going to shed light on some non-shipping stories that I think deserve more attention. 1. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/14298/petriculture This one has such an interesting idea of Pinkie's past. It doesn't have much more than the idea, but I think the concept alone is enough for me to recommend this. 2. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/408425/tactical-espionage-fashion Here's a not romantic look at Pinkie and Rarity's chemistry. 3. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/24084/the-road-to-ponyville This is an extremely funny "road to" story, once again focusing on Pinkie and Rarity. 4. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/462267/what-is-a-pie And here's one more RariPie friendshipping story. 5. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/220529/refraction This fic hits pretty hard. It has a unique concept and uses it to examine how much Twilight's friends mean to her. 6. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/430360/brain-problem-situation This entry represents most of Tumbleweed's stories. He's a very funny writer. 7. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/49829/what-is-a-name This one has some issues, but it has an interesting concept that's played out pretty well. 8. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/386111/the-choices-we-make I think everyone should read this at least once. 9. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/339006/as-i-lay-smiling This a great look at Pinkie's sisters and how they feel about her. 10. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/351430/canterlot-cooking-calamity This is one's just really funny.

I usually have less popular ships so I'm used to my ships not being canon. -TwiPie in MLP -Sukko in Little Witch Academia -Taang in ATLA

The 400 Blows thanks to a French New Wave class. It's probably the best film we've watched so far. Very well shot and emotional. Outside of French New Wave, I rewatched Avengers: Infinity War for the first time since I saw it in theaters. At the time, I thought it was just okay. I have no idea how I thought that since this film is fantastic.

There are a couple that I've been really into recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXhTHyIgQ_U. Circles by Post Malone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcyFfcJbyeM. XO Tour Llif3 by Lil Uzi Vert. Mostly just for the nostalgia, but I still really like this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho4kCABuEVI. Homecoming by Kanye West. I've been listening to a ton of Kanye recently. This is just one of my favorites.

I've been playing a ton of Hades recently. It's a fantastic game that expertly blends gameplay with story. I used to think that games don't need stories, but recently I've come to realize that all of my favorite games have at least some kind of interesting story. That's not to say a game has to have a story to be good (I love Smash Bros Ultimate), but but those kinds of games aren't some of my favorites.

This is just going to be a casual thing where I recommend some fanfics that I think deserve more attention. And yes, they're all ship fics. 1. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/488838/sukidakara-because-i-like-you This fic kinda makes me want to die because it's really sad. But it's also pretty great so read it if you don't mind the sadness. 2. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/169705/dont-be-too-hasty A nice FlutterPie story that's short, sweet, and to the point. 3. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/341496/the-compromise I think i talked about this way back when I first reviewed The End in Friend. I stand by what I said. Rainbow and Rarity have great chemistry. 4. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/131375/putting-our-heads-together Ah yes. Polyamory. This combines three of my favorite ships into a weird yet also very funny one shot. 5. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/132375/oh-spoony More funny polyamory. 6. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/21814/candy-apple Believe it or not, not all of the ship fics I like are gay. Most of them are, but this one is pretty great. PinkieMac works surprisingly well. 7. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/167615/injuring-eternity You have not lived until you've read this. I'd say this is Monochromatic's magnum opus, even more so than The Enchanted Library. That said, I'm probably not going to reread this anytime soon because I don't feel like crying like a baby. 8. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/104616/truly-irreplaceable This fic is incredibly tightly written. It's almost 5K words, but it feels so much shorter since there's no filler. 9. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/348743/kawka-supay Pinkie and Twilight fighting lovecraftian monsters is such a genius idea. 10. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/132115/just-being-pinkie-pie I'm not a huge fan of RainbowPie, but I still like it, mostly for stories like this.

For anyone who doesn't know, The Combinatorics Project is a story that ships every possible combination of the mane six in one story. I really like the story, but not all ships are created equal. So I thought it'd be fun to rank all of the ships to see what is the OTP. Or at least the OTP in this story. If you haven't read The Combinatorics Project, I highly recommend it, but you don't have to before reading this. 15. TwiDash (the angster and her secret admirer) I really don’t like how this was portrayed. Chapter 3 in general is easily the weakest in the series and TwiDash is a big reason why. The chapter is told from Rainbow’s perspective so her ship is the most important to get right. The chapter is about Dash looking for love as a straight mare in a world where being gay is the norm. That’s actually a clever idea since a story like this would lead you to expect that everyone is gay. But that also leads to an issue when Dash has to get together with Twilight at the end. So how is this problem resolved? Does it end with the relationship simply not working since Dash is straight? Nope! Twilight turns herself into a stallion and Dash is just completely fine with it. It’s not like Dash shows interest in Twilight emotionally throughout the chapter and her feelings don’t fully click until Twilight turns herself into a stallion. Dash shows no romantic interest in Twilight and seems to only get with her for surface level reasons. Dash is touched that Twilight put so much time into doing something for her, but that thing that Twilight put so much time into was changing herself to fit what Dash wants. That’s not healthy and the ending makes it seem like the relationship is going to fall apart later on. 14. RariJack (the industrial mavens) This is the other big reason why chapter 3 is the worst one. The problem here is simple. Applejack and Rarity outright state that they’re too different to live together. It makes me wonder how they even got together if they think they’re so incompatible. 13. PinkieDash (the multiversal adventurers) There’s a whole 36K word appendix showing Pinkie and Dash’s adventure to find a cure for Rarity yet I still don’t believe their relationship. That is sad. I guess it’s because the chapter is more focused on the adventure and Pinkie musing on the various dimensions they go to. But there still could’ve been some development. All that’s there is Pinkie thinking they’re destined to be together because of weird forth wall stuff that chapter 5 goes into more detail on. That morphs into actual love way too quickly and then eventually Pinkie and Dash get together. The appendix as a whole is a fun read, but not for the PinkieDash. 12. FlutterDash (the weather aficionados) There’s nothing inherently wrong with this relationship, but it just feels so disconnected from every other ship. Maybe that’s because it’s like a detour in its chapter. The relationship ties into the overall story in the sense that they refuse to take Celestia’s offer to see if their relationship is real or fabricated by the elements, but they just appear in the middle, make their decision, and leave. It’s even worse because the chapter has to actively switch perspectives to force a more in depth look at FlutterDash in. Chapter 4 is mostly told from Pinkie’s perspective, but it switches to Fluttershy’s in the middle. This is the only time a perspective change happens mid-chapter so it’s very jarring and makes the ship stand out in a bad way. 11. RariShy (the curse victim and caretaker) Chapter 5 is much more story driven than the other chapters so it makes sense that it doesn’t go that deep into RariShy. Rarity suffers from a curse for most of the chapter; she can’t exactly do much. But from what is shown, it seems to work. It builds as Fluttershy takes care of Rarity and they get together before Rarity gets too bad. I like Fluttershy getting really protective over Rarity. 10. AppleShy (the commune farmers) I don’t have much to say about them. They’re cute together. 9. RariDash (the celebrity marriage) This is a very believable way to show Rarity and Rainbow’s relationship. It uses their big personalities and big plans for the future to bring them together. The main issue is that we barely see the couple. Chapter 1 is about Rarity visiting the other two couples and Rarity sets off to Ponyville pretty quickly. But from what we see, the interaction between them feels natural. I especially like those last lines before Rarity leaves. It’s a great way to show off their dynamic. 8. RariTwi (the burlesque showmares) This is a very strange place to take RariTwi. I never thought I’d see Twilight in a burlesque act, but now I have and it kinda works. Mostly because it’s made clear later on that Twilight only did the burlesque act for Rarity. Rarity and Twilight work well on stage, and the fact that we don’t see much of them outside of the stage works to the chapter’s favor. Chapter 4 is all about the idea that all of the mane six ending up with each other was caused by the elements. Celestia offers to remove the connection between the mane six and the elements. As I said before, Fluttershy and Rainbow refuse, but the rest go through with it. And as it turns out, Rarity and Twilight don’t have real feelings for each other. Or at least, Rarity doesn’t have feelings for Twilight. Twilight is pretty sad at supposedly being dumped by Rarity. It’s an interesting twist for the story and it’s definitely more realistic than I was expecting. Sometimes relationships just don’t work out that perfectly. This is contradicted by TwiDash and PinkieDash somehow working out, but that doesn’t take away from the RariTwi story. 7. TwiShy (the hopeless homebodies) These two act as the main driving force of chapter 2. The chapter is about Celestia worrying that Twilight and Fluttershy’s marriage is too stale, so Twilight sees the other two couples to see how they keep their relationships fresh. Since the story is from Twilight’s perspective, we get a pretty good idea of how Twilight and Fluttershy’s relationship works and it’s cute. They’re overly sweet, talk about pet names, and generally live a very peaceful life. It’s not much, but it’s a nice respite from how weird some of the other relationships are. 6. FlutterPie (the model train overlords) Speaking of weird relationships, this might just be the weirdest one. So Fluttershy and Pinkie have a giant miniature town set up in Fluttershy’s cottage. They treat the mini-figures like they’re alive and apparently don’t go out much anymore. Fluttershy spends less time taking care of animals and Pinkie doesn’t plan parties anymore. It’s so strange, and yet I kinda like it. I think they’re supposed to be creepy on some level, so that makes the strangeness work. Also Pinkie destroying the mini town is pretty funny, especially since this apparently happens often. And at least I can tell that this is supposed to feel wrong, unlike TwiDash which I have no idea if I was supposed to take seriously or not. 5. TwiJack (the orchard grafters) This is a very cute and fun relationship. A lot of that has to do with chapter 5 being from Applejack’s perspective, so the relationship gets more depth than a lot of other ones. There’s nothing amazing here, but it’s very well done and believable. 4. AppleDash (the rivals in love) This one is just funny. It plays up the competitiveness of the two of them, but in a good way. This is easily the funniest relationship in the series. There’s no focus on believability or strong emotional beats. It’s only focused on being fun, and not in a creepy way like FlutterPie. 3. ApplePie (the dessert caterers) ApplePie may be my least favorite of the mane six ships, but I can’t deny that it’s very well executed here. It’s not super in depth, but it’s easily the most believable ApplePie that I’ve read. There’s one big scene dedicated to showing off the relationship and it works. Pinkie is able to just be herself around Applejack and Applejack likes listening to Pinkie talk. I really like Applejack’s line at the end of the scene. And then there’s the ending of the chapter (this relationship is in chapter 4) which is a very strong emotional moment. It’s a good callback to the beginning of the chapter and it’s nice to see that their love still shines through, even without the influence of the elements. There’s also a cute little scene in chapter 5 showing a little more of their relationship. 2. TwiPie (the mad scientists) This is a very funny and unique take on TwiPie. Twilight and Pinkie innovating science in such disturbing ways is a great way to fit Twilight’s love for research with Pinkie’s craziness. The stuff they talk about in their section is really funny and gives a great sense of what their usual dynamic is like. It helps that the way they got together makes actual sense and helps to ground their relationship instead of it being completely absurd. The creativity on display with their section is truly a sight to behold and Rarity’s reaction to them is just the cherry on top. 1. RariPie (the masquerade hosts) This is the perfect balance of believability and fun. Rarity and Pinkie throwing masquerade parties makes complete sense and brings their passions together perfectly. Their dynamic is funny and natural. It’s not the most emotional or the funniest, but Rarity and Pinkie work together so effortlessly without exaggerating their characters that I have to put them at number 1. Also I have a RariPie bias. So those are my thoughts on the ships in The Combinatorics Project. If anyone disagrees I’d love to hear why.

I've long held the idea of "old pony good" and "new pony bad", but the thing is that I haven't seen some of those seasons (4-6) in over two years. So now I'm on a journey to see if my old opinions still hold up. I'm gonna speed through 1-3 since that isn't really what I want to focus on. SEASON 1: OKAY SEASON Pretty solid for the first outing. The thing about season 1 is that it relies a lot on its charm and cuteness factor. A lot of episodes are very laid back, though that can also be to their detriments. There's a lot of filler in a lot of episodes and it can get pretty boring at times. Still, the charm comes through in enough episodes for me to like the season overall. TOP 5: 5. Suited For Success 4. Dragonshy 3. The Best Night Ever 2. The Cutie Mark Chronicles 1. Party of One BOTTOM 5: 5. Boast Busters 4. The Show Stoppers 3. Look Before You Sleep 2. Stare Master 1. Owl's Well That Ends Well SEASON 2: GOOD SEASON This is a big improvement in pretty much every way. The plots are tighter, the comedy is stronger, and the characters are much more interesting. There are a lot of episodes where the mane six are forced to deal with one of their main character flaws head on. That doesn't always lead to good episodes, but I still respect what those episodes are trying to do. Also, Pinkie really shines here. Aside from Luna Eclipsed, she nails all of her appearances, and she's not even that bad in Luna Eclipsed. TOP 5: 5. Hearth's Warming Eve 4. Lesson Zero 3. It's About Time 2. Sisterhooves Social 1. The Last Roundup BOTTOM 5: 5. May the Best Pet Win 4. Putting Your Hoof Down 3. The Cutie Pox 2. Dragon Quest 1. The Mysterious Mare Do Well SEASON 3: MEH SEASON Welp. This a huge step down. Most of these episodes aren't very good, but I can be more lenient since the production was messy. That doesn't excuse some absolute disasters (including one of the only episodes that I outright hate), but I can't get that mad about the rest of the episodes. Besides, there's still one of the best episodes of the show. TOP 3: 3. Just For Sidekicks 2. Too Many Pinkie Pies 1. Magic Duel BOTTOM 3: 3. Magical Mystery Cure 2. Spike At Your Service 1. Keep Calm and Flutter On SEASON 4: MEH SEASON Well that's unfortunate. I didn't set out to dislike this season, but I just didn't enjoy that many episodes here. There's nothing that I hate as much as Keep Calm and Flutter On (though Three's a Crowd comes close), but so many episodes are so flat and boring. I guess I'll start with the positives. For one, the visuals looks great. The bouncy and charming artstyle of the early years may be gone, but this isn't a bad replacement. There is some fantastic atmosphere is a lot of these episodes and the cinematography specifically got a huge upgrade. I never really appreciated specific shots before, but some of these shots are extremely pretty, especially in Castle Mane-ia. I also like a lot of the ideas that this season brings to the show. I like a lot of the new creatures introduced and how they're introduced fairly naturally and some of the lore is also well implemented, specifically, again, in Castle Mane-ia. The whole Equestria Games arc is well paced and I think the games themselves are well handled in their big culminating episode. We get payoff from the set up in Rainbow Falls as well a look at ice archery which looks like a cool sport, all while keeping the episode character focused, which is the appeal of the show to me. I'm also not inherently against the gimmick episodes. Having one of the characters turned into a bat, going on an adventure with Daring Do, and the mane six becoming superheroes are all cool ideas. I also like a lot of the new characters introduced. Trenderhoof is funny, Suri Polomare is a good antagonist for Rarity, Maud is so good that she became a regular side character later into the show, and the Mane-iac is a great cheesy supervillain. And a lot of the other episode ideas are great. Rarity's generosity being turned against her in a unique way compared to Suited For Success, a followup to Sisterhooves Social with an older Sweetie Belle, Pinkie maybe kinda sorta being related to the Apples, a look at Granny Smith without relying on flashbacks, and a couple others. These are all episode ideas that could've made for great stories. Plus I have to mention Testing Testing 1, 2, 3. Easily the best episode of the season. Everyone is in character, there's no wasted time, the ending is clever and well foreshadowed, the comedy is consistently funny, and the moral is really good. This is like the Magic Duel of season 4. The episode that's miles above the rest in quality and makes everything else worth it. But notice how most of these positives don't mention the meat of the episodes. That's because so many episodes miss their potential. Starting with the gimmick episodes, I dislike all three of the ones I mentioned. Daring Don't makes Rainbow so unlikeable that it overshadows any fun that could come from the Daring Do adventure, Power Ponies has no fun with the mane six being superheroes, instead focusing on just playing out a generic superhero story with way too much exposition and a boring Spike plot, and Bats puts forth an argument between Applejack and Fluttershy that then gets ignored once Fluttershy becomes a bat. What's even the point of the argument when it goes nowhere and completely brushes off Applejack's side? The Flutterbat stuff isn't even fun since it's so bland and Flutterbat just acts like a normal vampire fruit bat instead of her personality mixing in with the fruit bat. And while the Equestria Games arc itself is well paced and elements of it are well done, the cores of the episodes themselves are flawed. I like Flight to the Finish and Equestria Games, but both episodes suffer from significant pacing issues; especially Equestria Games. And the less said about Rainbow Falls the better. Now I'm going to talk about those episode I ideas that I thought could make for good stories. I really do think Rarity Takes Manehattan had a lot of potential, but instead it feels like it's trying to speedrun an emotional arc. For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils is actually pretty solid, but the dream goes on for a while and I still think Sweetie Belle's voice is annoying. I don't know why I hate her voice but I'm fine with all the screaming in Castle Mane-ia. I guess it's just a personal thing. Pinkie being related to the Apples is cool, but the episode itself is really boring. Leap of Faith is both brought up and hurt by the return of Flim and Flam. They have a good song, but the episode relies on Granny Smith forgetting the last Flim and Flam episode. Like, they straight up tried to run Granny Smith out of business. And now I'm going to talk about what might just be the biggest problem with this season. The comedy sucks. Having an episode with drama isn't a bad thing, but those episodes can still be funny. Remember Luna Eclipsed and Sisterhooves Social? That issue hurts quite a few episodes. Specifically Flight to the Finish and Twilight's Kingdom. And then there are episodes that are trying to be funny, but kinda fail. Simple Ways feels like Josh Haber had a couple scenes that he really wanted to write and didn't know how to connect those scenes together. There are specific scenes that are really funny and make me like the episode overall, but there are also a lot of scenes with dead air. Maud Pie is funny for a bit, but the dry humor is pretty much the only joke for a while and it gets old. Somepony to Watch Over Me pushes Applejack's behavior so far that she's more weird and confusing than funny. I could list more, but that'd be way too many episodes and this review is already long enough. And there are some episodes that don't have much drama yet don't attempt many jokes. For example, It Ain't Easy Being Breezies, which spends a lot of time lounging around in Fluttershy's cottage not doing anything when some jokes could've kept things moving before the action gets going again. The only episodes that really capture that balance between comedy and story are Filli Vanilli, Testing Testing, Castle Mane-ia, and Pinkie Pride. In fact, Testing Testing, Castle Mane-ia, and Pinkie Pride are the only episodes that I would rewatch without wanting to skip anything. I'd include Filli Vanilli, but Pinkie's so annoying. On that note, Pinkie's annoying in most of the season. She's decent in her two focus episodes, she's funny in Testing Testing and Castle Mane-ia, and she's okay in Power Ponies and Daring Don't despite barely doing anything. That's it. In her other episodes, she's either insanely obnoxious (Filli Vanilli), a moron (Three's a Crowd), is one note (Pinkie Apple Pie), or a combination of all three (Rainbow Falls). This is also the point where Pinkie's voice gets really screechy. Season 3 started this trend, but it's even worse here. It infects all of her appearances, even the good ones. Pinkie was honestly my favorite of the mane six during the first two seasons so it's a shame how annoying she is now. Speaking of characters who used to be one of favorites but dropped down, it's time to talk about Twilicorn. Twilicorn is not the worst thing in the world and isn't even close to the worst thing about this season. Twilight being a princess only really matters in the premiere and finale. And to be fair, Twilight has a couple of strong appearances. Despite how much I hate Three's a Crowd, she's well characterized in it. She works well in Castle Mane-ia. And Testing Testing has one of her best roles in the show. But in every other episode, she's just a pile of nothing. She has no presence as a side character and completely fails as the lead in both the premiere and finale. She's just so boring and I don't care about her struggles at all. There's barely any mentions of Twilight being a princess and when it is brought up, Twilight says that it doesn't matter. So if the show doesn't care, why should I? Twilight's Kingdom is the finale, but even that episode dances (or sings in this case) around the issue of why Twilight's a princess until the ending. And even when she's given a purpose, it doesn't make sense. Just like with Magical Mystery Cure, the ending revelation is not supported by the episode. Twilight only does something in a life or death situation. How is that different from when she wasn't a princess? And Twilight doesn't spread friendship in Twilight's Kingdom. She gives up her magic for her friends, but she would've done that even if she wasn't a princess. And Twilight doesn't reach out to be Discord's friend after he and the mane six are released. She accepts his apology. And she sure doesn't try to spread friendship to Tirek. She fights him and rainbow lasers him back to Tartarus. Needless to say, I still don't understand why Twilight's a princess (aside from selling toys) and I especially don't understand why she's the Princess of Friendship. Even taking the season as a whole into account, she doesn't spread friendship. She helps Rainbow study for her test, but so does everyone else. I guess she tutors the CMC. Sometimes she gives advice to Rainbow. Is that enough to become the Princess of Friendship? But again, this isn't even close to the main problem with this season. The main problem is that it's boring. It's not funny, most of the stories aren't entertaining, and that magic from the early years is gone. This isn't the worst thing in the world, but it is a disappointment. And from what I remember, it's only going to get worse. I hope I'm wrong. TOP 5: 5. Maud Pie 4. Filli Vanilli 3. Pinkie Pride 2. Castle Mane-ia 1. Testing Testing 1, 2, 3 BOTTOM 5: 5. Twilight's Kingdom 4. Somepony to Watch Over Me 3. Daring Don't 2. Rainbow Falls 1. Three's a Crowd

Not my thing. I know Leafdoggy has Chrysalis X Twilight in the same universe as her FlutterPie, but I ignored those stories. I'm sure they're well done though.