Ranking the 22nd episodes

[KH7672 1,604]

Continuing along with only three more until the end and it's clear we're getting episodes now where the end of the season is near so time for one last great story or just merely a story to fill time. It may be pretty obvious what's high and what's low but we've had surprise opinions before, myself included.

1. Once Upon a Zepplin- The Twilight family outing we never knew we wanted. Every single character is great here. From Twilight herself putting on such a front and learning a genuinely great moral of how to deal with it and from Cadence no less. To Twilight Velvet and Night Light getting some characterization and time to shine. Even Shining Armor and Flurry Heart while being limited to one joke still don't overstay their welcome. Plus an especially great return for Iron Will being as conniving as ever but still so charismatic in his endeavor.

2. Growing Up is Hard to Do- Better send-off than the "Last Crusade" debatable, however this still was such an enjoyable apisode from start to finish just because of the Crusaders. They are so full of energy and character here, they feel like the child characters we met in Season 1 again and even after "growing up" they still feel that way. It's downright enjoyable to watch their journey in this moment and on top of that provide a wonderful song too.

3. What Lies Beneath- While not as character building as "The Hearths Warming Club" it still is quite an entertaining outing for the students. They each get their time to shine in the labyrinth and provide stronger ties to their own personal friendship group. Plus it also has a nice appearance by the Tree of Harmony and great foreshadowing with Cozy Glow's ability to manipulate.

4. Hurricane Fluttershy- May get a little flak for this being this low but rest assured I view the first four of this list as equal quality. It's only down to for me just not being that invested in Fluttershy as a character compared to the characters in the ones above. It's still fantastic for how complex the feelings and emotions of the story is not just for Fluttershy but Rainbow Dash as well.

5. P.P.O.V (Pony Point of View)- What can I say beyond I'm a sucker for a Rashomon parody. I still thoroughly enjoyed the exaggerated personas each character got to portray and while the reveal was a little weak I wasn't expecting much and it was truly unexpected.

6. A Bird in the Hoof- Fluttershy's exuberant animal confidence plus Twilight's extreme anxiety are the best parts of this. A little much on the gross-out humor but Philomena was still a fun one-off character that was strangely forgotten by the show.

7. Trade Ya!- I'd say this suffers from having so many stories and only giving substance to one of them. I feel Best Gift Ever did it better as the events at the Trader's Exchange just feel so simple. Simple stories at any swap meet that the characters are put in and not impacted that heavily by execpt for the Rainbow/Fluttershy fetch quest. Still a fine episode just a little dull.

8. What About Discord?- Odd that both the top and bottom of my list have Twilight learning the lesson late season, but this one does it worse by honestly not feeling like anything happened. I'll admit I don't have a visceral hatred for this episode mostly because I like the idea of being kept out of the loop with the character (although Party of One did it better) and the fact that Discord actually isn't purposefully unbearable here, but the episode doesn't have any substance to it to execute such a story.

[Megas 27,064]

The top was tough between Hurricane Fluttershy and Once Upon a Zeppelin, but I'll go with Hurricane Fluttershy

1) Hurricane Fluttershy
2) Once Upon A Zeppelin
3) What Lies Beneath
4) Trade Ya
5) A Bird in the Hoof
6) PPOV
7) Literal dogshit
8) What About Discord

Haven't seen Growing Up

[Thrond 3,257]

1. Hurricane Fluttershy - Slightly more serious than much of what the show was doing at this time, which I think makes this one feel particularly sweet and uplifting. In particular I find the way Fluttershy's journey is paced to be incredibly satisfying. 
2. A Bird in the Hoof - This is really funny, and even has a funny moment from all of the mane six, and it's got Fluttershy at her sweetest. Extra points for introducing Celestia's prankster side. 
3. Once Upon a Zeppelin - Notable for being the first time that the show directly addressed the obvious fact that being a princess stresses Twilight out, and also for giving her parents personalities. Star Tracker is more creepy than funny to me, and I feel Cadance is wasted, but I find Twilight's character development here very satisfying, I'm always happy to see Iron Will, and the rest of the family is pretty consistently hilarious. 
4. Growing Up is Hard to Do - Really weird note for the final CMC episode, but I find this to be a funny and insightful take on how children misunderstand adulthood. I think more people would like this episode if it weren't about the CMC, but I must admit that I found this story refreshing after the last few seasons of the show were so indecisive about how old they are. 
5. Trade Ya! - Sort of a mixed bag in some ways - I'm not convinced that Twilight should keep those books for sentimental value, and Rainbow Dash trading Fluttershy for the dog is just plain weird. But this episode is very funny, and it's one of the few times that Applejack and Rarity bickering was tolerable to me. 
6. What Lies Beneath - I like the Student Six a lot and having their biggest fears explored is interesting, and I do like this episode a fair bit, but it just feels kinda forced to me. There's no subtlety, the character development is all stated out loud, and having this contrived high-stakes reason for the students to face their fears makes the story feel inorganic. But in general I found this episode cute, and I like the idea that the Tree of Harmony is a sentient being which the students could befriend. 
7. P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View) - I actually find bits of this one funny, but Rarity, Rainbow, and Pinkie act so immaturely that it feels out-of-character, and I always hated seeing Twilight lecturing her friends on how to be friends. They should know better. 
8. What About Discord? - I'm not sure why you would deliberately write an episode to be unfunny, plus it kinda seems like Twilight was right to distrust Discord, which breaks the moral. Mostly I find this one boring; it's probably my least favourite episode of the whole show. 

[Will Guide 21,325]

Hurricane Fluttershy for having Rainbow being more concerned about Fluttershy than strictly about breaking some world record. And for the Grand bombastic debut of Bulk Biceps' back when fans were calling him Roid Rage or SnowFlake.

[Sparklefan1234 161,875]

Since I have to choose one “Once Upon a Zeppelin” is my favorite 22nd episode.

Edited October 29, 2019 by Sparklefan1234

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Once Upon a Zepplin  was my favorite. Who knew that Twilight's mom was a dare-devil?

[Buttonmash1973 1,024]

1. Growing Up is Hard to Do

2. A Bird in the Hoof

3. What Lies Beneath

3. Trade Ya!

5. Once Upon A Zeppelin

6. Hurricane Fluttershy

7. PPOV

8. What About Discord

[Oleks 1,983]

1. Hurricane Fluttershy – this was actually the first MLP episode I ever came across. I watched like a minute of it and switched the channel. Then, when I got into MLP, I rewatched it several times, and I still occasionally work out listening to Fluttershy training theme. 
2. Once Upon a Zepplin – a very wholesome episode: from Iron Will actually caring about his clients to Cadance and Twilight talk that felt just so right at the moment. Also, Twi’s mom is best pony mom!
3. Trade Ya! – I really enjoyed this episode, even though it had that selling Fluttershy into slavery moment. Other than that, the duos were great, and all the little details, often in the background, make Trade Ya! worth rewatching several times.
4. P.P.O.V. – it’s really funny if you don’t take it too seriously. Even the final reveal makes sense… because it makes so little sense.
5. A Bird in the Hoof – back when MLP had Benny Hill scenes. Also, Trollestia.
6-7. What Lies Beneath, Growing Up is Hard to Do – both good episodes, but they have very strong competition in this poll.
8. What About Discord? – I still feel left out, just like Twilight did in this episode.

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

My choice ain’t no surprise. Hurricane Fluttershy’s one of the best episodes of the entire series, period.

1. HF
2. Zeppelin: Fame & Misfortune written correctly, and Cadance’s best appearance.
3. What Lies Beneath: The Crystal Empire done correctly. Hilarious and well-done development of Cozy.
4. Growing Up: The Cutie Mark Crusaders return to their obnoxious routes, the worst dialogue since Buckball Season, and Twilight and FS deserve a chunk of the blame for leaving three fillies alone with that flower.
5. Bird in a Hoof: Humor’s gross. Twilight is unneeded. Non-sequitur moral. Trollestia at its worst.
6. What About Discord: One good moment was Discord parodying Bob Ross. The rest of the jokes don’t work at all, and Twilight is written completely in the wrong despite plausible fears and the fact that Discord completely justified what worried her so much.
7. Trade Ya: Exposition is really stupid. Everyone is an out-of-character idiot and acts like they can’t stand each other. Rainbow Dash immediately trades FS in for a prized Daring Do book (!!!), making it one of her worst moments of all time. Nobody except Spike (a rarity at the time!) comes out for the better.
8. PPOV: I have no idea how an episode this horrible got approved. Rarity, Pinkie, and AJ all talk a complete pile of shit behind each others’ backs and creates awful, bigoted, stereotypical portrayals of those they now dislike, ESPECIALLY Applejack!! How the Tartarus can I laugh at this garbage when the background score, Twilight, and Spike take the threat of a friendship split seriously? This episode makes NO sense, and the ending is LAZY! Fuck this episode! 

[Js250476 1,367]

Hurricane Fluttershy for the excellent story and character development for Fluttershy. What About Discord for being boring 

[Rushing cash 824]

Once upon a zeppelin for me. It was so good to see twilights family again, and iron will. The episode is just great, love every bit of it.

Hurricane fluttershy is awesome to, great character development for shy and dash and really enjoyable episode all around.

What lies beneath is the students best episode with interesting lore and expending our understanding on the tree of harmony.

PPOV is pretty bad, but it had some great moments that make up for it. Whst about discord was pretty boring. 

[Cash In 21,516]

1. Hurricane Fluttershy (S2) - I love this episode so much. Did wonders for Fluttershy's characterisation and was structurally great.
2. Growing Up is Hard to Do (S9) - Great. It's the final CMC episode, so I was expecting a lot from it. It didn't disappoint.
3. Once Upon a Zepplin (S7) - This one was really good too. #To be fair, Iron Will makes this episode good by default.
4. Trade Ya! (S4) -  Fine. Has some issues, but I liked it.
5. A Bird in the Hoof (S1) - Same as the one above.
6. What Lies Beneath (S8) - Meh.
7. P.P.OV (Pony Point 0f View) (S6) - Meh. It had a few funny moments, so I'll give it that much.
8. What About Discord? (S5) - Why does this episode even exist???

Edited October 3, 2021 by Cash_In

[ChB 18,532]

Hard choice, as none of them are all that great to me. I guess I'll go with What Lies Beneath, because it's a good Student Six episode that gave me a sense of wonder about the Tree of Harmony.

[bigbertha 410]

1. Hurricane Fluttershy

2. Once Upon a Zeppelin

3. P.P.O.V.

4. A Bird in the Hoof

5. Trade Ya

6. What Lies Beneath

7. Growing Up is Hard to Do

8. What About Discord

[Astralshy 23,571]

My listing and I ldon't hate any of these episode. Just the personal preference

1. Hurricane Fluttershy
2. Once Upon a Zeppelin
3. A Bird in the Hoof
4. Trade Ya
5. What Lies Beneath
6. What About Discord
7. Growing Up is Hard to Do
8. P.P.O.V.