Showing results for tags 'Season 1'.

The entire time I have watched MLP, I have considered Season 4 to be the best season. However, I have also always thought that Season 1 and 2 also had clear advantages. They were more charming, more funny, and came off as more unique compared to other cartoons. They were what built the show and made so many people fell in love with it. However, I find Season 4 to have more creative ideas, more great songs, better animation, better writing, a fantastic conclusion to Twilight's arc, and a great season long arc developing the characters. These qualities for me were enough to make it my favorite season in spite of it sacrificing some of MLP's magic. From my experience in the fandom, everyone's favorite Season seems to be 1, 2, 4, 5, and sometimes 7. I have rarely ever seen it argued that seasons 3, 6, 8, or 9 are the best. In the case of 6, 8, and 9, this is because each of these seasons came after the show's peak in quality for most people and have clear issues. Even those who prefer the newer seasons usually agree that Season 7 is superior to those three. However, Season 3 is a different story, since it came right in the middle of MLP's golden era, the show's peak in popularity. However, Season 3 had one glaring issue that for most people made it the worse than the others: It only has 13 episodes. Many people like Season 1 the best for it being the show at it's most simple, earnest and charming, as well as introducing us to the world and characters which we love. Many like Season 2 the best for doubling down on the humor and charm of Season 1 with improved writing and animation. Many (including me up until very recently) like Season 4 for its fantastic conclusion to Twilight's arc, it's creative concepts, its constant songs, and its great character development. Season 3 on the other hand, lacks the clear indentity that these other seasons all have due to its short length and rushed nature. Season 3 certainly had many things to enjoy for people of course. It continued the great qualities of Season 2 while also being more ambitious. However, those who preferred the more simple and charming side of MLP generally preferred the full length season 1 or 2, while those like me who preferred the more creative and ambitious side of MLP generally preferred the full length Season 4. For all the great quality Season 3 had, there was no reason for anyone to consider it their favorite when longer seasons did the things that it did as well. I have always found Season 3 to be underrated due to its short length. I personally have always considered it to be the 2nd best season of the show (behind Season 4). My previous reasoning for this was simple: I consider 7 of the 13 episodes to be among my favorites of the entire show. About 54% of the Season is top tier MLP content for me. On top of that there are 3 more episodes that I really like, and 2 I find okay, and only 1 I actually dislike. No other season of the show provides quality this consistent for me, even Season 4. Season 3 has episode quality better and more consistent than Seasons 1 and 2, as well as more creative and substantive plots and the same charm as those seasons. So I have always considered Season 3 the best of the first 3 seasons .While Season 4 has about the same proportion of episodes I really like as S3, I would only rank 11 of its episodes among my favorites, which is only about 42%. And I find the best episodes in Season 3 (Sleepless in Ponyville, Too Many Pinkie Pies, Crystal Empire, etc)) to basically be equivalent in quality to the best episodes in Season 4 (Twilight's Kingdom, Pinkie Pride, Rarity Takes Manehatten, etc). However, in spite of Season 3 having the best episode quality of the whole show, it also has clear disadvantages compared to Season 4. Season 4 has much more content, has a great season long arc, a superior premiere and finale, and a satisfying payoff to Twilight's arc that is not rushed like it is in Season 3. Season 4's clear structural advantages and more content has always been enough to outweigh Season 3's advantage in episode quality, as Season 4 is still close enough in that department. In the past I made a topic describing how I would split up the show into 5 different eras, based on its quality and focus. (https://mlpforums.com/topic/196366-rank-the-5-eras-of-friendship-is-magic/). I recently came across a similar topic by @Them's Seeing Poniessplitting the show up into 3 eras (https://mlpforums.com/topic/182379-which-era-of-the-show-do-you-consider-the-best/) in a similar fashion. I split up the first 5 seasons into the Faust Era (Season 1, first 24 eps of Season 2), The McCarthy Era (Canterlot Wedding, Seasons 3-4) and I put Season 5 into its own category. TSP on the other hand, called Seasons 1-3 the Faust Era and Seasons 4 and 5 the McCarthy Era. I thought about it, and I actually find this way of splitting it to be just as valid. I considered Canterlot Wedding (which was written by McCarthy and directly preceded Faust leaving) the start of the McCarthy era because the introduction of Candace and Shining Armor represented a big addition to the lore of the show and a shift in focus into more worldbuilding, action, and more substantive and serious stories. Canterlot Wedding and Crystal Empire together show Twilight's character shifting away from mainly just being a student learning about friendship. Season 3 had only a couple of friendship lessons at the end compared to Seasons 1 and 2 having them in nearly every episode. At this point Twilight had a good understanding of friendship and it was clear that Celestia had greater plans for her. The focus at this point was more on her developing her magic, abilities, and character. Season 3 also generally had episodes with more ambitious concepts than before (Too Many Pinkie Pies, Magic Duel, Sleepless in Ponyville, Keep Calm and Flutter On). That being said, splitting it after Season 3 also makes sense because while the tone of the show barely shifted between 2 and 3, there was a very noticeable shift between Seasons 3 and 4. And of course Twilight became an Alicorn. While the storytelling and focus shifted in Season 3, the show felt just as cartoony and whimsical as in Season 2. I said in my post on the eras of the show that Season 3 and 4 are less charming and cartoony than Seasons 1 and 2. I now realize that I was only partially correct; this difference only actually applies to Season 4. Season 3 is in a weird middle ground of having the superior narrative focus, storytelling, and creativity of Season 4, but the superior tone, charm, and humor of Seasons 1 and 2. Season 3 is supreme in both of these categories in my view, while Seasons 1-2 and 4 are each only supreme in one of these categories. Season 3's advantage here is something that I have previously never really thought about. I previously thought of it as a mixture between S1-2 and 4, when it is actually the best of both worlds now that I analyze this. And I think that having these qualities is the reason Season 3's episodes were so consistently great for me compared to every other season. Once I started analyzing this, I started seriously questioning myself. Is Season 4 really the best season? Season 3 has it solidly beat in episode quality. Just like Season 4, it is very creative and fun with its concepts with more substantive stories. Unlike Season 4, Season 3 fully maintains the charm and uniqueness that Season 1 and 2 had. It has the best qualities of both the Faust and McCarthy eras. Most of Season 3's episodes would have felt completely in place during Season 2, just on the more ambitious side of that season. For all of the great qualities Season 4 has for me, the fact still remains that it sacrificed a level of charm and earnestness that initially hooked me into the show, and is less memorable than Seasons 1-2 despite me finding it better. Season 3 did not have to sacrifice this magic. Yes, Season 3 is flawed. While I adore Keep Calm and Flutter On and Magical Mystery Cure, they were still very crucial episodes of the show that were sadly rushed. It was really dumb to have 2 Spike episodes and no Rarity episode. Season 4 has a superior premiere and finale, and Season 3 lacks its story arc. But for all of Season 3's structural weaknesses, I frankly find the charm and episode quality to make up for it. MLP is at its heart a comedy and feel good show. Most people enjoy it for that rather than specifically for its writing quality or structure. So I will prefer the more charming , but rushed and uneven Season 3 over a more structurally sound but less charming Season 4. I now consider Season 3 to be the best season of MLP, which is extremely impressive considering it has half the episode count of every other season. It is crazy how a simple realization and change in perspective managed to change an opinion of mine that I have firmly held for years. Is there anyone else out there who considers Season 3 the best season? I would really like to know, since I don't know if I have seen an argument before for it being the best. By the way, my season ranking is now: 3>4>2>1>5>7>9>6>8

I always want to ask this question to many bronies about their favorite character. But Since the show ended, i want to know if it change through out the 9 years of this shows. So please be honest on your choice

Does anybody else think Twilight, or at least her family was rich. I was thinking about the house she owned in Canterlot, and all her books, both of which likely costs a decent amount of money.

Wow, all the topics I make involve favorites or least favorites. Lol. But yeah, self explanitory. Least favorite episode? Mine is any episode that centers around the CMC. (Call of the cutie, Cutie Pox, etc.) I dont like the characters all that much, except Apple Bloom. It just doesn't appeal. I would rather see the main ponies. The only exception is Cutie Mark Chronicals. It involved more on the main 6. I also don't like "Suited for Sucess" and "Green isn't your color." Too much "Fashion" stuff...

Oh, you wanna do this the hard way? We’ll do this the hard way! – Rainbow Dash Pinkie Pie opens the episode with a song as she travels to each of the Mane Six and sings out an invitation to Gummy’s birthday party. As she visits each of them, her song gets slower and less energetic as she tires, and when she’s finished, she just manages to crawl up the stairs to her room before slumping to the floor. By the time of the party, though, she’s totally recovered, and the party proceedings are in full swing. RD and AJ are bobbing for apples, and find some of Pinkie’s surprises… Gummy tries to reenact a scene from Alien by face-sucking RD while AJ grabs a ball that’s tethered to the bottom of the barrel, pulling her head in for a dunking. Rarity is enjoying the punch… until she sees that Gummy swimming in it. Rarity used Water Gun on Pinkie! It’s not very effective. Pinkie’s enthusiastic dancing causes some pain for Twilight and Fluttershy when she bump-bump-sugar-lump-rumps them into opposite walls, but overall, the party guests are really enjoying themselves. As they leave, happily worn out from partying, Pinkie tries to get them to stay a bit longer. Twilight says that they need to go, but they should “do this again soon”. Early the following morning, Twilight finds that Pinkie has taken her parting words a little too literally. She gives Twilight an invitation to Gummy’s After-Birthday party that she’s throwing this afternoon… as in this afternoon this afternoon. Twilight declines, lying about having too much study to catch up on, and Pinkie accepts it. She also tries to give invites to Applejack and Rarity, but they also refuse, giving very weak reasons for why they will be busy. Pinkie gives Applejack a gimlet glance for a bit, but eventually goes on her way with a cheerful “okey dokey lokey!” When she finds Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to invite them as well, they give the flimsiest excuse yet… they are looking after the house-like cave of a bear while he vacations at the beach so he can play volleyball / collect seashells collect volleyballs / play seashells. Fu-sion-HA! Typically for Pinkie, she’s perfectly willing to believe the thing about the bear, but the rest of the reasons seem now more like excuses to her. Her suspicion grows when she sees Twilight sneaking around instead of studying. Twilight comes into Sugarcube Corner to pick up an order from Mrs. Cake. Pinkie eavesdrops on the conversation with a tin can telephone, but despite Twilight noticing it, she manages to hear enough to know that Twilight is keeping something back from her. As she follows Twilight, with more and more outlandish disguises, she sees that all of her friends are part of the conspiracy. When she confronts Rainbow Dash about it, Rainbow tries to run away, but like in Griffon the Brushoff, she can’t evade Pinkie’s cartoon powers. After being chased by a freakishly fast Pinkie Pie, she manages to escape into Applejack’s barn. Applejack manages to stonewall Pinkie enough to force her to “okey dokey lokey” again (much more threateningly) and leave, but she is determined to find out what her friends are hiding. Luckily she knows just the young dragon to interrogate… This turns out to be a really bad idea, since not only does Spike NOT know anything about what’s really going on, but the grilling pressures him into repeating back to Pinkie exactly what she suspects: that her friends don’t like her or her parties anymore. Hearing her suspicions “confirmed”, Pinkie goes into a depression, with her mane deflating like a popped balloon, and her colour becoming duller. She finds solace in a party with her new friends… various inanimate objects that Pinkie starts to believe can actually talk and move on their own, even though we see she’s the one moving them and making all the voices. Her madness deepens as she mulls over the way her friends have been acting, causing even Gummy to head for the exit. Into the midst of this steps Rainbow Dash. She apologizes for avoiding Pinkie earlier, and tells her she wants Pinkie to come with her to Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie refuses, wanting to remain with her “real friends” instead. Visibly weirded-out, Rainbow tries to persuade her, but Pinkie pushes pile of rocks with a party hat named Rocky into her path. “Rocky” calls Rainbow a chump, and she starts to response as if he were real. Realizing what she’s doing, she give up on words and resorts to brute force. When Pinkie's resistance causes Rainbow to fall over, she gives the page quote, and then literally drags Pinkie all the way to the barn, and shoves her inside. Surprise! Oh, wait, no. It’s only Pinkie… Inside, the Mane Six are waiting with a surprise party. Misconstruing the party as a celebration of her impending exile, Pinkie finally vents her anger at them for all lying and avoiding her during the day, but they explain they HAD to do it to keep her from finding out about this prematurely, because it’s actually a party for Pinkie’s birthday! Finally realizing that she misunderstood her friends’ intentions, and that she forgot her own birthday, Pinkie returns to normal form. At first, she feels bad that she misunderstood them to such a great degree, but Twilight assures her that it could have happened to any of them. (Not likely, but she’ s trying to comfort Pinkie, so I can let it go.) As the party gets into full swing, Twilight voice-overs the letter to Princess Celestia she will write: always expect the best and never assume the worst of your friends. Thoughts on the Episode Like the 4th Season episode “Somepony to Watch Over Me”, the episode starts out so ordinary, and yet manages to take a really creepy turn towards the end. The contrast is even greater considering that the usual Pinkie Pie antics make up most of the episode, as she tries to get to the bottom of what her friends are hiding from her. Then came the party scene with Pinkie and her “new friends”, the inanimate objects. The slow distorted circus music in the background, the tic and twinges from Pinkie, the way the objects were first being moved by Pinkie, and then started moving on their own… This expression pretty much sums it up. It manages to be both amusing and disturbing at the same time. Luckily, Rainbow Dash comes in to dispel the tension a bit. Many fans blame Spike for Pinkie’s depression, but Spike has often shown in the past that he doesn’t pick up on non-verbal clues very well. For example, he called Rarity out and applauded in Suited for Success despite the silence and Rarity’s utterly defeated body language. He also cheered for Pinkie’s song in Over a Barrel, even though the audience obviously thought it was terrible. And he did tell her that he would say whatever she wanted him to, so she really only has herself to blame. I personally don’t think of Pinkie and the so-called Pinkamena as alter-egos, so it irritates me a bit whenever fans treat them as two separate entities. Straight-haired Pinkie is just depressed Pinkie… and I actually like the way it looks when her hair is straight like that. I also have never read, and never intend to read Cupcakes. Still, I won’t let such things as I just mentioned dull my enjoyment of the episode itself. This could be just a coincidence, but the title of this episode is a possible reference to a short TV Programme that airs every New Year’s Eve (in South Africa, my home country, at least), called “Dinner for One”. Like the party scene here, it features a party with imaginary guests, with each role being played by the butler of Miss Sophie, James. Unlike here, the poor butler gets drunker as he drinks the alcohol for every one of the imaginary guests, and hilarity ensues. Highlights/Quotes After Pinkie Pie chases her all over the town, Rainbow Dash finally escapes into Applejack’s barn. Pinkie: “Mind if I take a look inside the barn?” Applejack: “No. I mean, yes! I mean, you can’t come in here.” Pinkie: “Rainbow Dash just went in there." Applejack: "Oh, well, she was just bringin’ in… supplies! Supplies for the... renovation! Yep, fixing up the whole thing, top to bottom…” Glances over her shoulder* “Uh, lots of construction goin’ on in there right now!” Twilight (off-screen): “You heard her! Construction!” Everypony starts imitating the sound of construction, poorly. Twilight (off-screen): “Safety gear! Safety gear!” And a little later: Pinkie: “Secrets and lies! It's all secrets and lies with these ponies! They're up to something, Gummy… something they don’t want me to know about. Well, I’m gonna know about it… I'm gonna know about it big time! And I know just who’s gonna tell me all about it... tell me all about it, big time!” Pinkie’s delightfully dark and disturbing descent into dementia with her new party friends. Pros: A surprising creepy look into the psyche of a pony who is supposed to be the joy and the laughter in the series, while still keeping a comedic overtone to the proceedings. Great expressions from all the Mane Six. Cons: None really worth mentioning. Final Rating 5 – Celestia Rank: A great episode. It will be re-watched frequently. 4 – Luna Rank: A good episode, but with one or two problems that prevent it from being great. 3 – Spike Rank: An average episode. Positives and negatives are balanced. 2 – Discord Rank: Worth watching once. After that, turn it to stone and put it in the garden. 1 – Nightmare Moon Rank: Send it to the moon! Stay sane, everyone! And with that, Sunny Fox Reviews Season 1 is done! It’s taken a lot of time and effort, and to be honest, I’m feeling a little burnt out. I may just take a break from blogging for a month or so, recharge the batteries, and hopefully, I can come back with some fresh content for you guys. Muchos gracias to my regular readers and commenters, it’s good to know that there are those who enjoy reading my ruminations enough to keep coming back to my little den in this corner of the interwebs. Take care and happy trails until we meet again! West Bishes, Sunny Fox

Welcome back to the Bookend Diaries. This entry will handle the second half of the pilot. The wheels seem to fall off a little bit here. First of all, Nightmare Moon, who seemed like such a badass, ends up being totally ineffectual. You can control lightning! Fry those foals who dare to stand against you! NNM flies off, and then seems to fly straight back again to spy on Twilight. How did she know to keep an eye on Twilight in any case? Sure, Twilight was the only one who knew who she was, but she never mentioned the Elements of Harmony. And even if she could find them, Nightmare Moon can fly faster than Rainbow, and turn into mist or even mimic other ponies, like she does with the Shadowbolts. She’s immortal, has apparently trapped or somehow disabled the only pony who is as powerful as herself, and had she just kept away from Twilight, it wouldn’t have mattered if she did find the Elements. All she had to do was not provide a target. Unless she subconsciously wanted to be stopped so that she could become Luna again and rejoin her sister, which I guess is possible, but it’s not made very clear. The second issue is the clumsy foreshadowing in this episode. As Twilight reads out each Element, not only is each relevant pony focused on in turn, but they each blink with an audible sound effect as the Element is named. It would have been perfectly obvious without going to such lengths. Then there’s the journey through the Everfree Forest, where each pony gets to demonstrate their personality trait. First, Applejack tells Twilight to let go of the cliff and she’ll be safe. One sentence, “The others are waiting to catch you!” would be enough to let Twilight know the situation. And I thought Applejack was meant to be one of the straight-talkers of the show. Next the Manticore. Fluttershy’s kindness is great, but where is the giant thorn earlier in the fight? Its size should have made it clearly visible when the Manticore spread its paws, or scratched at the ground, or ran on all four legs after the ponies. A much better way to handle it would be to show the Manticore favouring its one paw, or limping slightly or something. It would serve just as well to demonstrate Fluttershy's kindness for her to be the only one to notice the thorn while the others were only able to see the threat the Manticore posed, instead of a pretty saccharine line like "Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness". And it would show off her motherly traits better too. The next scene brings us the very first song in the series, delightfully lampshaded by Twilight and Rarity. ("Tell me she's not..." "She is.") It's not a great song, especially compared with some from later episodes, but not too bad either, and has a rather good message for the target demographic... how to deal with imaginary fears. I think Rainbow should have been a bit braver than that, though. She loses a lot of street cred here. I blush to admit I can't really find any fault with the generosity scene. I hope it's not just because Rarity is my favourite character, but I don't see a single thing wrong here. It was pretty generous of Rarity to cut off her tail to gift it to the River Serpent, especially since she couldn't have known it would grow back when she took up her Element. The fakeout of Rarity seemingly killing the Serpent was a little bit strange, and perhaps unnecessary, though. I am so balanced! Now a scene I really do have a problem with. It's meant to highlight Rainbow's trait of Loyalty. But if you think about it, Rainbow Dash’s loyalty isn’t really being tested. It would have been if Nightmare Moon had appeared to her as the actual Wonderbolts, and not a unconvincing knockoff. Her design for the Shadowbolts is close enough to imply that she knew what they look like, and it would have been much more of a temptation for Rainbow. Or why not tell her she could tie the bridge, but then take her away from the rest, leaving them one Element short? Rainbow had already agreed to go with them after tying the line. Or I don't know, Nightmare Moon, how about destroying the bridge with freaking lightning!? It all just seems a little bit contrived, mainly because it is. Now we come to the showdown with Nightmare Moon. The fight itself is pretty cool, and you really feel Twilight's total loss of hope when it seems Nightmare Moon has shattered the Elements. Then Twilight's friends come in, she realises they are the Elements of Harmony, lies (in some cases) about how they all showed their Element traits. This part is a little sappy, but... Well whup my withers, Full Spectrum! Isn't that just like a boy? Can't handle the least bit of sentiment! Applejack? Why are you in my blog? I just came to give ya'll a piece of my mind! What's all this talk about sappy? This is what all this excitement has bin leadin' up to! It's the heart of this entire show that ya'll been claimin' to like. Okay, okay, I'm sorry I said it was sappy. But don't worry, I'll acknowledge the really cool bits too. Case in point, the Elements being triggered! The gigantic rainbow, levitating ponies, Twilight's white-out eyes... this whole scene is perfect. So Nightmare Moon is revealed to be Luna, everyone is really surprised, except that Twilight shouldn't be, having read about the Royal sisters in the first half; Princess Celestia returns to congratulate the newly formed Mane 6 on their victory and reconnect with her little sister, and Pinkie cries with sappinesshappiness for a bit and then seemingly transports everypony back to Ponyville for a party. Twilight is of course given new instructions to stay in Ponyville, and the adventure continues. Overall, the pilot has its flaws, which keep it from being brilliant, but it is still a very passable start to a phenomenal series. The biggest minus I can point out is that the villain was shown to be a little less of a threat than they seemed to be originally, and at several points was forced to pick up the Villain Ball. And run with it. And score an own goal with it. Sadly, this is going to become a trend, as I will discuss in later entries. Pluses: Nightmare Moon's defeat looks absolutely awesome. We get more insight into the characters of our heroines. Minuses: A rather self-defeating villain. Some scenes raise too many questions. The foreshadowing is as subtle as a sledgehammer. Some rather diabeeetus-inducing parts (Gets hit with an apple on the head. Ow!) So that's my thoughts on the pilot. As before, leave sundry complaints, compliments or death threats (okay, maybe not that last one) below in the comments. Or just tiptoe quietly away, you know, whatever makes you happy. Until next time, keep chasing those rainbows!

After I failed Fake It 'Til You Make It, I decided to put all 28 failed episodes in order from worst F- minus to least worst F+. That list eventually expanded into a complete list of episodes I graded, from the best letter-plus episode to the worst letter-minus, . The statuses can be found here: A episodes, B episodes, C episodes, D episodes, and F episodes. With each list compiled, I'm taking every episode in the show and arranged it in order from the best to the worst. The list is always subject to change; episodes could be upgraded or downgraded at anytime. S9 episodes are in bold underline. Those aired early are under "spoiler" tags. To see every piece of FIM media I graded (and how I graded each episode for each season), click here. That gets updated during each season and possibly in between or during the offseason, if I changed one. And for readability purposes, I sectioned each list with "— — —" in between. Let's begin! The Perfect Pear: A+ The Best Night Ever: A+ Crusaders of the Lost Mark: A+ Amending Fences: A+ Shadow Play: A+ The Big Mac Question: A+ The Last Crusade: A+ Sparkle's Seven: A+ Sisterhooves Social: A+ The Cutie Map: A+ A Rockhoof and a Hard Place: A+ Parental Glideance: A+ The Break Up Break Down: A+ Party of One: A+ — — — The Last Problem: A Testing Testing 1, 2, 3: A Pinkie Pride: A The Hearth's Warming Club: A Slice of Life: A Dragon Dropped: A Suited for Success: A Road to Friendship: A The Summer Sun Setback: A The Washouts: A Lesson Zero: A Sleepless in Ponyville: A Hurricane Fluttershy: A Between Dark and Dawn: A The Times They Are A Changeling: A Flight to the Finish: A The Mean 6: A Common Ground: A Frenemies: A A Hearth's Warming Tail: A The Saddle Row Review: A Surf and/or Turf: A Marks and Recreation: A Grannies Gone Wild: A Cutie Re-Mark: A — — — Castle Sweet Castle: A- The Cutie Mark Chronicles: A- Once Upon a Zeppelin: A- The Fault in Our Cutie Marks: A- Sounds of Silence: A- Discordant Harmony: A- Wonderbolts Academy: A- She's All Yak: A- The Mane Attraction: A- Uncommon Bond: A- The Return of Harmony: A- Horse Play: A- For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils: A- Gauntlet of Fire: A- Bloom & Gloom: A- Molt Down: A- What Lies Beneath: A- The Last Laugh: A- It Isn't the Mane Thing About You: A- All Bottled Up: A- The Point of No Return: A- Winter Wrap Up: A- — — — A Flurry of Emotions: B+ The Beginning of the End: B+ Rarity Takes Manehattan: B+ She Talks to Angel: B+ Luna Eclipsed: B+ Scare Master: B+ Friendship University: B+ A Horse Shoe-In: B+ Call of the Cutie: B+ Student Counsel: B+ Marks for Effort: B+ Magic Duel: B+ Pinkie Apple Pie: B+ Viva Las Pegasus: B+ The Parent Map: B+ Uprooted: B+ To Change a Changeling: B+ On Your Marks: B+ — — — Daring Doubt: B Apple Family Reunion: B Family Appreciation Day: B The Crystalling: B Green Isn't Your Color: B Hearth's Warming Eve: B Secret of My Excess: B Top Bolt: B Rainbow Roadtrip: B The Last Roundup: B The End in Friend: B Inspiration Manifestation: B A Health of Information: B Sweet and Smoky: B Fall Weather Friends: B School Raze: B Look Before You Sleep: B Twilight Time: B Rarity Investigates!: B The Maud Couple: B Dungeons & Discords: B Sonic Rainboom: B A Friend in Deed: B — — — Sweet and Elite: B- Triple Threat: B- School Daze: B- Applebuck Season: B- Read It and Weep: B- It's About Time: B- Castle Mane-ia: B- Celestial Advice: B- Going to Seed: B- Canterlot Boutique: B- Stranger Than Fan Fiction: B- Hearthbreakers: B- Twilight's Kingdom: B- A Trivial Pursuit: B- Dragonshy: B- Swarm of the Century: B- Not Asking for Trouble: B- Father Knows Beast: B- Where the Apple Lies: B- — — — Forever Filly: C+ Campfire Tales: C+ Rock Solid Friendship: C+ Maud Pie: C+ Made in Manehattan: C+ Too Many Pinkie Pies: C+ The Best Gift Ever: C+ Make New Friends but Keep Discord: C+ Daring Done?: C+ The Gift of Maud Pie: C+ Three's a Crowd: C+ Baby Cakes: C+ — — — Power Ponies: C A Dog and Pony Show: C The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone: C Friendship Is Magic: C Leap of Faith: C Applejack's "Day" Off: C The One Where Pinkie Knows: C The Cutie Pox: C The Ending of the End: C Fluttershy Leans In: C — — — Buckball Season: C- Magical Mystery Cure: C- Princess Twilight Sparkle: C- Simple Ways: C- Stare Master: C- Party Pooped: C- A Canterlot Wedding: C- Spice Up Your Life: C- Growing Up Is Hard to Do: C- The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000: C- A Royal Problem: C- The Ticket Master: C- A Matter of Principals: C- — — — Over a Barrel: D+ Equestria Games: D+ Griffon the Brush Off: D+ Brotherhooves Social: D+ Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?: D+ Tanks for the Memories: D+ The Hooffields and McColts: D+ Keep Calm and Flutter On: D+ — — — Filly Vanilli: D A Bird in the Hoof: D Hearts and Hooves Day: D 2, 4, 6, Greaaat: D Just for Sidekicks: D Every Little Thing She Does: D Daring Don't: D Secrets and Pies: D Yakity-Sax: D — — — Feeling Pinkie Keen: D- Spike at Your Service: D- Ponyville Confidential: D- MMMystery on the Friendship Express: D- Non-Compete Clause: D- It Ain't Easy Being Breezies: D- — — — Flutter Brutter: F+ Games Ponies Play: F+ Bats!: F+ The Crystal Empire: F+ — — — No Second Prances: F Honest Apple: F May the Best Pet Win!: F What About Discord?: F Fake It 'Til You Make It: F To Where and Back Again: F Hard to Say Anything: F The Cart Before the Ponies: F Trade Ya!: F Appleoosa's Most Wanted: F The Show Stoppers: F Putting Your Hoof Down: F Somepony to Watch Over Me: F Boast Busters: F P.P.O.V.: F The Mysterious Mare Do Well: F Owl's Well That Ends Well: F Princess Spike: F — — — 28 Pranks Later: F- Rainbow Falls: F- Dragon Quest: F- Bridle Gossip: F- Fame and Misfortune: F- Newbie Dash: F- One Bad Apple: F-

One of my biggest peeves in reviewing is giving something a calculated score, because it's very difficult if not impossible to reduce the quality to such a mark. Plus, whenever many people see a score, they tend to not read the review at all and rely on the score/grade itself as proof for purchase. Nonetheless, if I were to grade the following based on the following items below, they would be the followings below the first rule. The grades are respective and separated to the following categories: Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7 Season 8 Season 9 MLP: The Movie & Specials Equestria Girls series, RR animated shorts, specials, and IDW comic/annual Main Comic Series* Micro-Series Friends Forever If you want to see my order of every FIM episode from best to worst (with grades), click here. Be warned: There are no reasons given for any of the grades, and they're all subject to change. Let's begin! Season 1: Friendship Is Magic: C The Ticket Master: C- Applebuck Season: B- Griffon the Brush Off: D+ Boast Busters: F Dragonshy: B- Look Before You Sleep: B Bridle Gossip: F- Swarm of the Century: B- Winter Wrap Up: A- Call of the Cutie: B+ Fall Weather Friends: B Suited for Success: A Feeling Pinkie Keen: D- Sonic Rainboom: B Stare Master: C- The Show Stoppers: F A Dog and Pony Show: C Green Isn't Your Color: B Over a Barrel: D+ A Bird in the Hoof: D The Cutie Mark Chronicles: A- Owl's Well that Ends Well: F Party of One: A+ The Best Night Ever: A+ ——— Season 2: The Return of Harmony: A- Lesson Zero: A Luna Eclipsed: B+ Sisterhooves Social: A+ The Cutie Pox: C May the Best Pet Win!: F The Mysterious Mare Do Well: F Sweet and Elite: B- Secret of My Excess: B Hearth's Warming Eve: B Family Appreciation Day: B Baby Cakes: C+ The Last Roundup: B The Last Roundup (edited): F The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000: C- Read It and Weep: B- Hearts and Hooves Day: D A Friend in Deed: B Putting Your Hoof Down: F It's About Time: B- Dragon Quest: F- Hurricane Fluttershy: A Ponyville Confidential: D- MMMystery on the Friendship Express: D- A Canterlot Wedding: C- ——— Season 3: The Crystal Empire: F+ Too Many Pinkie Pies: C+ One Bad Apple: F- Magic Duel: B+ Sleepless in Ponyville: A Wonderbolts Academy: A- Apple Family Reunion: B Spike at Your Service: D- Keep Calm and Flutter On: D+ Just for Sidekicks: D Games Ponies Play: F+ Magical Mystery Cure: C- ——— Season 4: Princess Twilight Sparkle: C- Castle Mane-ia: B- Daring Don't: D Flight to the Finish: A Power Ponies: C Bats!: F+ Rarity Takes Manehattan: B+ Pinkie Apple Pie: B+ Rainbow Falls: F- Three's a Crowd: C+ Pinkie Pride: A Simple Ways: C- Filli Vanilli: D Twilight Time: B It Ain't Easy Being Breezies: D- Somepony to Watch Over Me: F Maud Pie: C+ For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils: A- Leap of Faith: C Testing Testing 1, 2, 3: A Trade Ya!: F Inspiration Manifestation: B Equestria Games: D+ Twilight's Kingdom: B- ——— Season 5: The Cutie Map: A+ Castle Sweet Castle: A- Bloom & Gloom: A- Tanks for the Memories: D+ Appleoosa's Most Wanted: F Make Friends but Keep Discord: C+ The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone: C Slice of Life: A Princess Spike: F Party Pooped: C- Amending Fences: A+ Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?: D+ Canterlot Boutique: B- Rarity Investigates!: B Made in Manehattan: C+ Brotherhooves Social: D+ Crusaders of the Lost Mark: A+ The One Where Pinkie Knows: C Hearthbreakers: B- Scare Master: B+ What About Discord: F The Hooffields and McColts: D+ The Mane Attraction: A- The Cutie Re-Mark: A ——— Season 6: The Crystalling: B The Gift of Maud Pie: C+ On Your Marks: B+ Gauntlet of Fire: A- No Second Prances: F Newbie Dash: F- A Hearth's Warming Tail: A The Saddle Row Review: A Applejack's "Day" Off: C Flutter Brutter: F+ Spice Up Your Life: C- Stranger Than Fan Fiction: B- The Cart Before the Ponies: F 28 Pranks Later: F- The Times They Are a Changeling: A Dungeons & Discords: B Buckball Season: C- The Fault in Our Cutie Marks: A- Viva Las Pegasus: B+ Every Little Thing She Does: D P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View): F Where the Apple Lies: B- Top Bolt: B To Where and Back Again: F ——— Season 7: Celestial Advice: B- All Bottled Up: A- A Flurry of Emotions: B+ Rock Solid Friendship: C+ Fluttershy Leans In: C Forever Filly: C+ Parental Glideance: A+ Hard to Say Anything: F Honest Apple: F A Royal Problem: C- Not Asking for Trouble: B- Discordant Harmony: A- The Perfect Pear: A+ Fame and Misfortune: F- Triple Threat: B- Campfire Tales: C+ To Change a Changeling: B+ Daring Done: C+ It Isn't the Mane Thing About You: A- A Health of Information: B Marks and Recreation: A Once Upon a Zeppelin: A- Secrets and Pies: D Uncommon Bond: A- Shadow Play: A+ ——— Season 8: School Daze: B- The Maud Couple: B Fake It 'Til You Make It: F Grannies Gone Wild: A Surf and/or Turf: A Horse Play: A- The Parent Map: B+ Non-Compete Clause: D- The Break Up Break Down: A+ Molt Down: A- Marks for Effort: B+ The Mean 6: A A Matter of Principals: C- The Hearth's Warming Club: A Friendship University: B+ The End in Friend: B Yakity-Sax: D On the Road to Friendship: A The Washouts: A A Rockhoof and a Hard Place: A+ What Lies Beneath: A- Sounds of Silence: A- Father Knows Beast: B- School Raze: B ——— Season 9: The Beginning of the End: B+ Uprooted: B+ Sparkle's Seven: A+ The Point of No Return: A- Common Ground: A She's All Yak: A- Frenemies: A Sweet and Smoky: B Going to Seed: B- Student Counsel: B+ The Last Crusade: A+ Between Dark and Dawn: A The Last Laugh: A- 2, 4, 6, Greaaat: D A Trivial Pursuit: B- The Summer Sun Setback: A She Talks to Angel: B+ Dragon Dropped: A A Horse Shoe-In: B+ Daring Doubt: B Growing Up is Hard to Do: C- The Big Mac Question: A+ The Ending of the End: C The Last Problem: A ——— Specials/Movies: My Little Pony: The Movie: C Best Gift Ever: C+ Rainbow Roadtrip: B Equestria Girls: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: F- The Fall of Sunset Shimmer: A- MLP Annual #1: C- My Little Pony: Equestria Girls — Rainbow Rocks: D Equestria Girls Holiday Special: F- My Little Pony: Equestria Girls — Friendship Games: F+ My Little Pony: Equestria Girls — Legend of Everfree: C- Dance Magic: C Movie Magic: C- Mirror Magic: D- Forgotten Friendship: C ——— Rainbow Rocks Shorts: Music to My Ears: A Guitar Centered: C Hamstocalypse Now: C Pinkie on the One: D+ Player Piano: C- A Case for the Bass: B- Shake Your Tail!: C- Perfect Day for Fun: D Life Is a Runway: A My Past Is Not Today: A Friendship Through the Ages: A Main Comic Series: (Individual issues and overall arc are graded separately.) The Return of Queen Chrysalis: B a. Part 1: B+ b. Part 2: C- c. Part 3: B d. Part 4: B Nightmare Rarity: F a. Part 1: D- b. Part 2: D c. Part 3: D- d. Part 4: F Zen and the Art of Gazebo Repair: B+ a. Part 1: B+ b. Part 2: A- Neigh Anything: B a. Part 1: B- b. Part 2: B My Little Pirate: Friendship Ahoy: D a. Part 1: C b. Part 2: D+ The Bookworm: C- a. Part 1: D b. Part 2: C Reflections: F a. Part 1: D+ b. Part 2: D- c. Part 3: F d. Part 4: F Manehattan Mysteries: A- a. Part 1: A- b. Part 2: A- The Good, the Bad, and the Ponies: F- a. Part 1: F- b. Part 2: F- Siege of The Crystal Empire: F- a. Part 1: D b. Part 2: F c. Part 3: F- d. Part 4: F- *The main comics have been so bad, until they clean up, I refuse to read them again. ——— Micro-Series: Twilight Sparkle: F+ Rainbow Dash: F- Rarity: B+ Fluttershy: F- Pinkie Pie: A Applejack: D+ Cutie Mark Crusaders: A- Princess Celestia: B- Spike: C- Princess Luna: C ——— Friends Forever: Pinkie Pie & Applejack: F Cutie Mark Crusaders & Discord: B Spike & Princess Celestia: C- Twilight Sparkle & Shining Armor: B Fluttershy & Zecora: A Rainbow Dash & Trixie: C+ Pinkie Pie & Princess Luna: A- Rarity & Applejack: D+ Rarity & Babs Seed: B Rainbow Dash & Soarin': A I wound up growing uninterested in reading Friends Forever, hence the short list.

This episode allows Fluttershy to shine, and shine she does in her timid and cute way. The start of the episode consists with the typical Angel Bunny actions and ends with the first indication of the episode's subject. Good opening to the episode. THe start of the first segment features Flutters trying to get everyone's attention and the subplot of RD bouncing the ball. Of course everyone is listening to Twilight and not fluttershy. Twilight doing Twilight things with the books. The montage that follows was a brilliant way to show how each of the mane 6 prepared for their mission. And the mandatory Spike cameo for this episode takes place. Segment two begins with the ascent of the mountain. Flutters of course is being extremely timid of course. And cue the mandatory early series Pinkie breaking into song trope as well. And of course... the quietest pony causes the avalanche. This was a good segment with RD of course being a complete and total jerk to Fluttershy following the avalanche. Segment three starts off with an assessment of what each pony needs to do to save Equestria from the dragon. The other members of the mane 6 try to convince the dragon to leave the cave, eventually ending in a complete and total failure with Rainbow Dash going in and basically ticking the dragon off to the point of him charging at the problem. This was very emplicmatic of RD's egodriven personality in the early seasons of the series. But what makes this episode great is of course Fluttershy standing up to the dragon and being selectively assertive. That made this first mane 6 centered episode (outside the series opener) great. Overall, this was a great episode that set the stage for later Fluttershy assertiveness moments. RD was very overbearingly jerky in this one, but other than that, it was a very good episode. Grade: A-

The cold open was peak early series cheese, showing off the dynamic that Spike and Twi have. The episode sees the introduction of the dunces Snips and Snails, who are buying into the lies that were pitched by Trixie. Trixie's introduction was peak Trixie, as she brags heavily throughout her introductory scene. She also introduces the Ursa Major part of her story. And of course the morons Snips and Snails eat it all up. This was absolutely peak Trixie with her insufferable and constant bragging. Segment two started with the various Mane 6 members trying to show up Trixie with what they are best at, which Trixie would just use to humiliate them with. Twi continues to be adorable throughout this episode. But, what ruins this episode for me is the complete and total morons Snips and Snails continue to show just how dumb they really are. Twi just doesn't get that she wouldn't be bragging when she's defending her friends against Trixie. The two morons end up finding an 'Ursa Major'. The final segment shows just how much of a fraud that Trixie is throughout, and that Twilight had to clean up the mess (as usual). Twi was great in this segment using her magic to get what we would find out is a Ursa Minor and it showed just how great of a character that she would be moving forward. Overall, this was a good quality episode and Twilight was great in this episode. Snips and Snails were completely idiotic as well. It's a shame that Trixie didn't get another episode until season 3. Grade: B

The cold open sets up that this is gonna be our first Pinkie/Dash centered episode. This is peak early series pinkie being pinkie and one of the episodes that made me a huge fan of her. It also led Pinkie to bond with RD over their mutual enjoyment of pranks (and of course the hiccups with Spike and Pinkie). Much of this first segment was peak RD/Pinkie pranking fun, which is what made the episode enjoyable to begin with. Gilda joins the fray and instantly I got transported into 'dweeb' land. THis part of the episode where Gilda is basically trying to pull RD away from Pinkie is one of my least favorite parts of the season. Gilda wasn't exactly a great antagonist to begin with, with her only defining variable being her 'friendship' with RD. Pinkie being persistent in her attempts to appear to Gilda als makes this episode pretty good. But... the only one worse is the part where Gilda basically screamed at Fluttershy for getting in the way. This does not make her a good antagonist, this just makes her a jerk. I know that's how they wrote her, but that's no excuse. The party was just one large prankfest to attempt to ingratiate Gilda into her new friends was a great way to end this episode. Overall, it was a nice early series episode establishing a bit of RD's past and the start of the RD/Pinkie dynamic seen throughout the entire rest of the series. It's just a shame that Gilda was in so few episodes, because she had so much potential as a character. Grade: B

This was the first instance of Applejack being EXTREMELY stubborn, which is one of the reasons why I really enjoy this episode. It's a comedy of errors brought on Applejack and her insistence to finish the harvest following the stampede of cows in the first segment of the episode. The episode is made that much better with each of the 6s (besides Twilight) things to do throughout the episode, which made her more and more loopy by the second. Plus... DASHFACE! The second segment featured her doing the trick with RD and the botched muffins AKA baked bads with Pinkie Pie (and Derpy in the background) made this segment a fun watch followed up by AJ and Winona botching the 'Bunny Census' and the ensuing bunny stampede (didn't really care for this part). Twilight with all the alliteration followed up by AJ FINALLY accepting help ended this episode on a positive note. Overall, this was a quality early series episode focused on a character flaw of one of the mane 6. Not a classic, but certainly not awful either. Grade: B+

In the episode "Molt Down" Rarity's ears became clogged by some effect of Peewee's feathers. But in season 1 and 3 "A bird in the Hoof" and "Just for Sidekicks", Celestia's pet Philomena didn't seem to have any effect on anypony including giving Fluttershy one of her feathers, and we don't see much but a few pictures of Peewee as a baby phoenix with Spike and Twilight. The possible reasons as of to why is: 1. Maybe there is a difference between wild and domesticated phoenixes, that wild phoenixes need to defend (themselves, eggs, nest, family, etc) and therefore develop genes as a defence where domesticated don't, Peewee for being so young when Spike returned him to his family didn't have as much time being with Spike compared to being in the wild with his family. 2. Another is that Rarity might be allergic to them. It might be a very rare allergy (pun not intended) which is why we have never herd of it until now except for Zecora. And both could clear what Zecora said "Ah, the feathers of that bird can affect ponies' ears", the keyword being "can" as though it possible to but not 100% that it will. 3. One other that might explain Philomena but not Peewee is that Celestia might have some kind of spell on Philomena to have her feathers not have an effect on ponies.

Are there any birds that fly north for the winter? Fluttershy said in Better Together season 2 "Street Chic" that they where starting head north for the winter, but that would only make sense if they lived south of the equator, but that would contradict what Rainbowshine said in "Winter Wrap Up" that Ditzy Doo went north to get the southern birds, also during the song "Winter Wrap Up" both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy bringing home/welcome back the southern birds, and in "Tanks for the Memories" during the song "I'll Fly", Rainbow Dash turns the geese around leading them north when they were heading south, which would put Equestria north of the equator not south where it seem the EQG world is according to Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash was not out of character in "2 4 6 Greaaat". Rainbow isn't into cheer leading mostly because she sees it as to girly but just cheering for a friend is different. She mostly only knows cheering from her parents when they were cheering from the sidelines and what she knows by them is just the basics, so just teaching Fluttershy the basics of cheering is for the sidelines. Even in season 4 "Rainbow Falls" yes Twilght and Pinkie were wearing cheerleader outfits and were cheering for Ponyville but still they were just cheering not cheer leading, even with those outfits. Rainbow also looked uncomfortable when the 2 cheerleaders for Cloudsdale were cheering around her she only smiled a little for those 2 before she returned to the Ponyville team. Rainbow Dash is a tomboy being into sports, but not the cheerleaders and doesn't pay attention and/or as she said in "2 4 6 Greaaat" ponies get snacks during it. In season 3 "Games Ponies Play" is the ONLY time she was in fact cheer leading, but it was Twilight that came up with the routine and Rainbow had to go with it and had put on the act to get the Crystal Empire to host the Equestria Games so they feel "the crushing wave of disappointment" that she felt when Cloudsdale lost out of hosting. She never has been interested into cheer leading aside from that and that was just to get the Crystal Empire to host the games, and only the basics of cheering is what she really knows in general, but knowing nothing about the overall process of cheer leading makes sense.