TailsIsNotAlone

Yes. I cried at the end of 'Sonic Rainboom'. That was such an amazing moment for Rainbow Dash. I teared up a little at 'Hurricane Fluttershy' as well.

I just watched this one again and it's still great. It's easy to get caught up in how much of a miserable bully Gilda is, but when you look past that, there are much more important things to take away from this episode. Sometimes your friends have other friends who you don't like, or vice versa. (In Pinkie and Gilda's case the dislike was mutual - the difference being that Pinkie tried to coexist peacefully and Gilda didn't.) Also, your choice of friends can change over time. Dash wasn't exactly the most popular filly at flight camp ("Rainbow Crash", etc) and when you're an outcast, you turn to other outcasts for solidarity and protection. So I can see Rainbow and Gilda being old friends. One way to avoid getting bullied is to make a friend out of the bully. But now that Dash is older, more sure of herself, and living in a place where she's been accepted, things are a little different. She's still willing to hang out, but seeing how Gilda blows her top at the party, she realizes she doesn't need that kind of friend anymore. I think Dash actually learns more from this experience than Pinkie Pie does. I really enjoyed the good clean fun in the first act, the rapport between Pinkie and Dash, and Pinkie's portrayal as an innocent and fun-loving but basically rational pony. She gets jealous, hurt, and upset without overreacting or going dark (like in 'Party of One'). I like this early version of Pinkie much better than the broad caricature she was reduced to in future seasons.

Tough one, but overall I'd pick The Best Night Ever. It was a funny and touching finale where all the main characters learned an important and realistic life lesson. Plus it had one of the best musical numbers they ever did. Sonic Rainboom, A Dog and Pony Show, Swarm of the Century, and Griffon the Brush-Off were great too.

Oh, no doubt. I was tired of that too. It just bugged me that the show hinted at real, individual talents for them in earlier seasons (Scootaloo's speed, Apple Bloom building things, Sweetie's singing), but instead of following up on those they just slapped the same cutie mark on all three fillies and called it a day.

Nah, I don't think it needs to be darker or more serious. There are oodles of shows that are already doing that. Too many, really.That trend has been chugging along since the 90s and it's kind of played out. If I want some darker MLP, there are excellent fanfics out there like 'Carousel' or 'A Night at Shadow Station'. If we're talking about ways they could develop the show and explore some new ideas, I think deeper and more character-driven plots are the way to go.

The One Where Pinkie Pie knows and the Season 6 premiere. I heard "baby alicorn" and pretty much tuned out from there.

Nah, it's much too late to get that Twilight back now. The writers made their decisions and now they have to live with 'em.

Even though I didn't like much of Season 3 besides 'Sleepless in Ponyville', and it has that still-painful finale, I really enjoyed Seasons 1 and 2. 1 was all about introducing Lauren Faust's vision of a TV show for little girls that anybody could enjoy. Season 2 was about developing that vision in ways that (mostly) made sense while staying true to the show's roots. Seasons 4-7 have some great individual episodes but overall the show doesn't have the same feel. So I'll go for 1-3.

Personally, I thought it was about time they got their marks. But I didn't like them all getting the same mark, at the same time. How in Tartarus does that work? Their special talent (or their "destiny"; don't get me started on that part) is...helping other ponies realize their special talents? So they're basically elementary school guidance counselors, except they don't get paid. That's the dream they waited five seasons to realize. It was kind of a letdown, considering how great the rest of that episode was. Basically they spent the early seasons building realistic, interesting character/plot arcs and Seasons 3-5 finishing those arcs in ways that didn't work for me. Twilicorn, CMC, Elements of Harmony getting stuck in a tree, et al.

I miss Twilight Sparkle, the adorkable and sarcastic unicorn with whom I once identified so strongly. I miss her old cozy library in that huge oak tree. I miss the Elements of Harmony and the friendship lessons from when the show really was being written for little girls. It's not that I stopped enjoying the show when those things changed. I mean, I love Starlight Glimmer and Maud Pie and the nicer Diamond Tiara. But it does feel different now. If I could only watch two seasons of the show for the rest of my life, I would choose 1 and 2.