SidewinderX

Not my favorite, but not bad either. At least we finally got a Spike episode where he wasn't totally useless and/or a jerk. Also, he got a song! Unrelated, but it's also nice to see a halfway-competent guard force for once. Not saying the Crystal guards are effective—not even close—but they at least try to do their jobs, and seem to be very thorough with a lot of drive. They act like what the Royal Guards should be. Like I said, still not great, but the bar is low in Equestria.

Whoops, forgot that. Here!

Ooh, this looks fun. Never done it before, but I might as well try. Sign me (and Starry Point) up!

Exactly. I actually like Dash, but she can be very, very obnoxious, and she's rarely called out for it. I wanted to scream at my computer when Dash said, "You're lucky I don't [work alone]." I wanted to say, 'What? NO! No, she's not! Respect her privacy and go away! This is your fault anyway!'

I have absolutely no issues with the show itself; why should I? I do struggle with the fandom and its creations, of course, because those can get problematic, but as long as I stay aware and avoid bad content (which is usually pretty easy, thank goodness) I don't mind very much.

Rainbow Dash's behavior in this episode was very grating. Sure, she saved Daring Do—but apparently she didn't need saving (since she supposedly planned all this to get in, which I doubt since the M6 had no issue), or at least the save wouldn't have been needed if Dash hadn't been in the way at every turn. However, Daring herself is awesome, even if she slipped up once or twice, and her banter with Ahuizotl was the best part of the episode. I'm pretty sure they're crushing on each other and both are too prideful to admit it. ...Come on, you know I have to ship it. It's the law, or something.

Agreed. Pinkie has her moments, but they are more often one-offs than consistent quality. Most of the time, she is grating, loud, and can't keep her mouth shut even when the safety of others is on the line.

Best pony is not pleased. /j

This episode is the top one for the season in my opinion, and pretty high on my list of all MLP episodes. Not because of the story—the Scrooge/Christmas Carol angle has been done to death, even though I must say that the cast and crew did a respectable job. No, what makes this episode a banger is the songs. Luna's Future and Say Goodbye to the Holiday are excellent. This will be one to watch when Christmas comes around.

I have not seen this episode and cannot agree or disagree. If your breaking point is a single friend leaving you, then you have a problem. I acknowledge that people have breaking points, but Starlight deciding 'all cutie marks are evil, I'm going to go start a cult and hold ponies against their will!" is a severe overreaction, as I stated in my original post. Not to mention that Starlight continues to manipulate ponies after her 'reformation' and suffers zero consequences. If a man holds up a bank, you ban him from having a gun. If a magic-user commits a crime with magic, especially a severe crime like literal brainwashing, they should be prevented from using magic or at least be kept under some kind of probation where they are supervised and blocked from practicing advanced/dangerous magic. Starlight Glimmer is highly manipulative; she started a cult. Furthermore, just because there might be more evil people out there doesn't lessen her crimes or the damage they caused. Returning to the bank robbery example, if a different man robbed the same bank one day and beat up a security guard, this does not make the first criminal's offense less of a crime. Justice operates independently of others' actions: one person's crime does not determine the severity of the other's. I'm not going to debate you over this, especially not here. I have stated my case, and I stand by it.

I'd rather take my chances with a bear that I can avoid by making some noise/playing dead as opposed to a manticore or bugbear. And, unlike sharks, which kill fewer people per year than toilets do, monsters seem to be naturally aggressive to some degree. I mean, they attack Ponyville all the time.

I took 'where would you live' to mean 'if I moved there from Earth.' Ponyville is frankly too dangerous (Everfree), and I don't want to handle the chaos that comes with it. Crystal ponies look cool and would be interesting to interact with, and I live in the suburbs in real life, so Equestria's version shouldn't be too different.

This two-parter was brilliant and very fun to watch right up until it flopped dramatically at the end. For the first three-quarters, it was great. The AUs were cool (Sombraverse was awesome), the plot was interesting and dramatic, the tension was building, Twilight couldn't seem to win...and then Starlight reveals that this entire thing—her entire life, her becoming an evil cultist, all of that—was because her friend got his cutie mark before she did. Seriously? This doesn't make me feel pity for Starlight. It makes me feel like she is a brat who needs to be taught that the world does not revolve around her. Losing a friend, even a (supposedly) best friend—and considering how Sunburst barely looked at Starlight after he got his mark, I have a feeling this friendship was very one-sided—is not justification to brainwash ponies, hold them prisoner against their will, commit acts of violence, attack royalty, or try to change time just to stop a few ponies from being friends. Starlight isn't traumatized; she's petty and self-centered. Even if she truly is sorry, she shouldn't just get let off the hook like that. She needs to pay reparations for all the damage, mental and physical, that she has caused, in addition to being put under some kind of magic probation for several years or even decades. This is not a small quarrel between friends. This is not a slight misdemeanor. Starlight's actions were a capital crime. Even if she is truly sorry and wants to change (and based on her future behavior, i.e., brainwashing the M6, she doesn't), she shouldn't be allowed to suffer zero consequences. I am not looking forward to her appearance in later episodes. Honestly, this art piece below encapsulates my feelings about Starlight pretty well: TL;DR part 2 encapsulates everything wrong with the Equestrian justice system, and makes Starlight look like a childish jerk.