Mane 6 favorites in order

[The Recherche 29,968]

My list used to be:

1. Rarity
2. Applejack
3. Twilight
4. Pinkie
5. Fluttershy
6. Rainbow Dash

My list has remained mostly the same, but with some slight differences.

1. I still find Rarity the best of the bunch. I like her archetype already, but her songs, humor, episodes, and overall characterization are the most robust of the Mane 6. From start to finish, I think Rarity has always been the best of the group.
2. Applejack did face a lot more competition as time went on, but her down-to-earth nature won through, even if she had the least material to work with among the Mane 6. Her episodes are sparse, but they do tend to be great, even if I don't usually like her songs that much.
3. Against all odds, Rainbow Dash has risen significantly in my ranking. I began to like her more after it seemed some of the writing staff disliked her more than I initially did. She does have some great episodes, but her bad ones tend to be particularly rubbish, because of how malicious they can seem, which I think is why I disliked her at first.
4. Though not as bad as the Alicorn Drama Queens predicted, I do think that Twilight's character did degrade a bit post-ascension. Nothing terrible, but I do think she became a bit less charming after Season 3. She used to be a lot more of a smartass, and her freak-outs used to be much less common. The whole "Twilighting" thing really dragged her down for me.
5. Pinkie Pie's biggest issue is how obnoxious she can be. When she is allowed to be an actual character, she can be lovely. She is often relegated to being obnoxious comedic relief, though. This is especially bad in later seasons, after all of her best episodes happen, and she seems even more deranged.
6. Fluttershy has her moments, but she has never managed to rise in my rankings. I just find her to be the most bland of the lot. Her best episodes are indeed fantastic, but they have never been good enough to push her higher up. I really don't even find her that much cuter than any of the rest of the Mane 6.

I am still not quite finished with the series yet, so this is subject to change, but this is how it looks thus far.

[Lone Traveler 91]

For Seasons 1-4 (This would be my overall rating since I like and care about these seasons much more):
1: Twilight - I loved her personality and character development. In Seasons 1-3, seeing her grow and develop as a student learning about the world and friendship was really fun. In Season 4 she had a great arc of her finding her place as a princess, with Twilight's Kingdom being a perfect conclusion to her arc as a whole.

2: Pinkie Pie - Managed to be incredibly entertaining, fun, and likable through and through. Although she was occasionally too dumb or mean spirited, 90% of the time she was written extremely well, and somehow managed to be hilarious and not annoying at all. Considering her hyper personality, daftness, and her voice, the fact that she managed to almost never be annoying is extremely impressive.

3: Rarity - Like with Pinkie Pie, they took a character that in many other shows would have been an annoying unlikable stereotype and made her very likable. While she still had her flaws (overreactions, shallowness) she was also very generous to others and dedicated to her craft. Her artistic struggles were very compelling even though I personally do not care for fashion at all. Her voice acting is the best of all the characters, and her freak-outs were hilarious.

4: Fluttershy - She suffered a bit from being overly shy and not doing much when not the focus. I understand that that was the point of her character, but it sometimes seemed overboard to the point where it was less cute and more like she needed legit help. That being said, I still really loved her character, because nearly every time she was the focus of an episode it was among my favorites of the show (Dragonshy, Hurricane Fluttershy, Keep Calm and Flutter On, Bats, It Ain't Easy Being Breezies). The show really knew how to use her when she was the star instead of just being along for the ride.

5: Rainbow Dash - While she was somewhat of a sterotypical jock with negative qualities (big ego, shallowness) she balanced it out with many positive traits (mainly her earnest loyalty for her friends and her society, and how put so much effort and responsibility into flying and her job when needed). She also had awesome episodes staring her (Sonic Rainboom, Wonderbolts Academy, Daring Don't) that showed both her strengths and weaknesses in compelling ways. So I loved her character, she's only lower than the above ponies because I don't relate to her as much and I personally find her flaws more annoying.

6: Applejack - The only member of the Mane 6 I can not honesty say I loved as a character. I still like her and think she is a good character, I just never found her as interesting as the rest. I never found her personality to be very interesting, and she never had any particular goals or arcs like the others. 

For Seasons 5-9 (Rarity and Fluttershy are the only ponies I thought did not become worse after Season 4 btw)

1: Rarity - All the above things I said above still apply, she was consistently great throughout the show's whole run.

2: Fluttershy - She showed great character growth, having developed to become more assertive and outgoing, but remained naturally shy and kind hearted. She had a number of great episodes in these seasons that showed her character growth (Make New Friends But Keep Discord, Scare Master, Health of Information, Sounds of Silence).

3: Rainbow Dash - Was less interesting after her arc of joining the Wonderbolts was completed, and I never felt much was done with her actually being one (and Newbie Dash itself was an unceremonious mess). She also sometimes suffered flanderization and was unlikeable (Non Compete Clause, 246 Great being the worst offenders.) Still, for the most part she remained interesting and entertaining, with great episodes featuring her.

4: Pinkie Pie - Her shtick got old in these seasons. She often felt like she was being put into episodes just for comic relief, and she often seemed dumber and less good hearted than in the original seasons. I found her annoying on a number of occasions, a feeling which was very rare for me in Seasons 1-4. Still, she often retained her old charm and was often still used well.

5: Twilight - While she had individual episodes that still used her very well (Amending Fences, Beginning of the End, Once Upon A Zeppelin, Sparkle's Seven) for the most part the charm she had was gone. She was far more interesting as an awkward nerdy student exploring Ponyville than as a stagnant know it all princess, and it was a huge factor in the show's decline. Her dynamic with the rest of the Mane Six especially suffered.

6: Applejack - Same opinion of her as in the earlier seasons, just not a very interesting character to me.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Lone Traveler

[dead account 2,711]

I like them all, I usually just list them in a, for me, relatable order.
6. Rainbow Dash, 5. Applejack, 4. Fluttershy, 3. Twilight Sparkle, 2. Rarity, 1. Pinkie Pie

Rainbow Dash is simply the whole opposite of me. I'm not a competitive person, I don't like rivalry, I'm not sporty. I even feel bad when I always win in multiplayer games and would be happy for the other people if they win. After seeing how she reacted to Maud's reply, I don't have I hopes she would even like me. Rainbow didn't want to be her friend simply because she doesn't care about winning. I think she was the only character I really disliked when I watched FiM for the first time and it stayed like this for a good while. I even would have prefered if she wasn't in the show. Oops. I would've liked to like her more, but she never did much to earn it. Even in the last seasons, she treated the cheerleaders like absolute trash. And still the annoying rivalry between her and Applejack. She has the most caring parents who are absolutely amazing and also treats them like trash. She is like one of those "cool" kids we now from school, who keep to their own circle and are super arrogant. I also can't relate to most pegasi, especially the wonderbolts. It's just not my world.

Applejack is also not very relatable. But that's mostly because of how things are in real life, it can't be compared with their world. But we both value honesty and this works in both worlds.

Fluttershy is a bit more relatable, my opinion or feelings here changed over time. She is kind and understands the feelings of others, characteristics I don't own. I prefer talking creatures over silent ones like animals. She can talk to them, so it's a different matter. What I share with her are our..."extremes". And yeah, we both like tranquility. Fluttershy is a good middle for me.

Twilight Sparkle and I like to learn and to gain knowledge. And friendship is the most important thing to us.

Rarity is just so nice. I wouldn't flirt with strangers or manipulate them. She is just so creative and creating fashion for ponies is something I would love to do as well, as they are the most beautiful and friendliest creatures that ever existed! She has excellent manners, it would be so pleasant to have her around and to talk to her. And she isn't like the other arrogant Canterlot ponies, she is still caring and supportive. A fantastic character.

Only Pinkie Pie is more open-minded, supportive and acceptive and that's why she is my number one out of the Mane 6. I would never eat the stuff she makes and I really despise parties in real life. And I'm not loud or funny. But pretty much everything else is so relatable! And even if we don't have some things in common, I do still appreciate them on her. She also has my favorite family in the show, I love the whole Pie family so much! After Maud got introduced, the series became better. After the rest of her family got introduced, it becamer better better. I'm always happy when there is an episode with them. I literally know every single fan art of all of them, besides Pinkie, since she has too many. Maybe I have seen them all in 2035. I also like Pinkamena. Not the fan version that kills everypony, but the canon one. She is so cute with straight hair and it makes me want to give her hugs to make her feel better. Not proud of it, but Pinkamena is also relatable. The Pinkamena episode is my favorite episode in season 1. They could have called the show: "Friendship is Pie", they really are what makes the biggest fraction of FiM so great for me. And Maud and Starlight even have a past and befriend one another later on! After she and Trixie became friends, I couldn't believe how amazing things still developed there! And Pinkie still has a copy of her running around there! More Pinkie is always better, haha. I don't know. Pinkie and Starlight have amazing personalities, I love all their friends and I love their families too. I almost can't believe how amazing they all are and how they all are intertwined!!

[ExplosionMare 18,065]

1. Fluttershy (I felt like I grew up with her during her assertiveness journey)

2. AppleJack (How could you not like AppleJack?!)

3. Pinkie Pie (Reminds me a lot of a family member who is similar in personality)

4. Twilight (Most people expect her to be my top favorite since she's purple but I never liked her enough to consider her a top favorite)

5. Rainbow Dash (Never been a top favorite either, but she's super fun to draw for some reason)

6. Rarity (Not a huge fan of her besides the curly mane, but that doesn't mean I dislike her)

[Savy 5,081]

1. Fluttershy (I strongly relate to her and she reminds me of myself in a lot of ways)

2. Applejack (I can also somewhat relate to her since we both kinda have a southern accent)

3. Twilight (I used to be very, very antisocial and didn't want to make friends, just like her in the first episode. I'm also kind of a dork)

4. Rainbow Dash (I used to be obsessed with her, but somehow she just dropped on my list. She's still cool though, and I was quite the tomboy like her.)

5. Pinkie Pie (She never was really on my top 3, but she's still cute)

6. Rarity (Not a huge fan of her besides her mane and awesome fashion sense, but I don't hate her or anything)