My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

[Milo Thatch]

On the subject of Nick Confalone, I'd say he's so far my favorite writer who started in Season 5, although that really isn't saying that much, because I thought Neal Dusedau's episodes were terrible, and Gillian M. Berrow's The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows was a mixed bag, although Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco were at least decent.

 

[SonicMario]

Video Link

(Song Used: Full Moon - Sonata Artica)

When this episode's synopsis was revealed. I couldn't help but feel but have Phoenix Wright vibes, it wasn't that long ago that I started getting into the series at the time. I was suddenly hoping we'd get Rarity at least yelling out one loud Objection! somewhere in the episode. While we didn't really get that. What we got was still kinda nice. Even to the disappointment of Phoenix Wright fans we got just classic noir stuff rather then what we hoped. Though unfortunately the episode gets also a bit predictable, with first new character we meet Scooby-Doo cliche predictable with Wind Rider the former Wonderbolt trying to frame Rainbow before she has the chance to break his record (What is with recent episodes messing up the Wonderbolts reputation? You have Rainbow Falls and then this where even an honored member that retired is disgraced). On a side note it's fun to have this episode follow-up straight up on a previous episode. With Rarity in the Canterlot Boutique and Sassy Saddles appearing again. Not many non Two-Parters happen like that where the next episode feels like it could start the next day after the previous episode. So it definitely stands out.

While the episode certainly doesn't get any points for any huge twist, it's something fans of old mysteries can enjoy. And we don't see a Rarity and Rainbow episode all that often. So fans of the two ponies that work as hard as they can to reach the glorious futures they strive for can enjoy this one.

I feel like this episode is also a little underrated similar to Party Pooped. As again it's an episode that shows Pinkie as a character and not just a gag. The problem is maybe is that in previous episodes and even afterward there are points where Pinkie acts not too different from her clones to it doesn't feel as consistent. (Three's a Crowd has the worst of this where Pinkie is distracted by a balloon TWICE, considering the Pinkie clones were zapped for simply looking out the window, it makes you almost feel Twilight missed one Pinkie clone and the real Pinkie is somewhere else in Three's a Crowd). But Too Many Pinkie Pies does show what a Pinkie with actual character is like among her one-dimensional clones. There is a fair bit of convenience when Spike and Twilight find a book on the mirror pool in a secret compartment in the Library. And there is the scare of what just would happen if Twilight zapped the real pinkie when testing all the Pinkie's. It also may be considered yet another Dave Polsky controversy on whether this was even the right thing to do with the Pinkie's. As even if they are one dimensional, some may argue that they didn't deserve the fate they got. Because you could argue Twilight mass murdered those Pinkie clones. It doesn't help that there was at least one clone that did show emotion early on in the episode expressing stress to the real Pinkie. That alone gives a solid argument to some that the Pinkie's weren't just mindless clones. And depending on anyone taking it seriously enough may put this episode a lot lower then I do.

But as awkward that all is. I do feel they just had to do it because I don't know where they really would put a whole army of Pinkie clones. As disturbing Twilight zapping them might be to some, there's not a lot of options to do with them and might just have to be seen as a decision that had to be done. Again, that's kind of the controversy that most pre-Season 4 Dave Polsky episodes had with them. For some reason there was always something to argue about in his episodes. So maybe it's a little controversial to have this episode even this high up, but I feel a fair bit of the humor and another episode that actually helps Pinkie feel like a character justifies it.

*The Scariest thing of all: ANIME!

Scare Master is simply a reminder that not everybody is on board with certain holidays. While the theme is definitely Halloween and people who might be too scared or shy to go out and trick or treat. It can also be applied to Christmas for those who either aren't Christian or into the commercialism that holidays like Christmas bring and that's ok. On a side note this is the episode that leaked like an entire month early. With about three or 4 episodes and a movie that still had to air before this one. One of those being the huge CMC get their Cutie Marks. We should be lucky the CMC's flanks are covered by their Costumes. Because imagine if say it had been The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows that had leaked instead where we see the Cutie Marks on the CMC straight-up in view and we saw it before the big episode that contained them receiving those marks. Thankfully it was just a Halloween episode that could of aired anytime and wouldn't have mattered. But it's certainly a bullet dodged there. But anyway, it's an interesting episode that shows more of how Nightmare Night goes aside from what we got in Luna Eclipsed with more opportunity to see Ponies in costumes. With scary mazes and everything. Fluttershy's "scary tea party" certainly was something a little amusing with Fluttershy's making her attempt to make mundane things sound scary.

Though the episode will probably be more remembered for what Fluttershy performs at the end, even adorning a Flutterbat costume (They must of listened when they asked for more Flutterbat, considering we also got Flutterbat back in Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?) and legitimately being able to scare her friends which upon seeing her faces she backs down and apologizes. And despite her friends telling her it's ok and even perhaps asking if she could more of that another year she refuses saying it's not her thing. Which goes in fine, cause as said before everybody not quite into holidays can relate. If there's one nit pick I have with this episode is that Rainbow's kind of a douche here, I mean back to Early Season 1 Dash douchery, I feel she should be better then that at this point. But oh well, not too big of a deal.

This is the episode that first followed up what we got in Pinkie Apple Pie from Season 4. Where it was revealed it's possible the Apple Family and the Pie family may have a common ancestor and thus related. And the obvious result was to have the Apple Family meet up with Pinkie's family for Hearth's Warming Eve. Just like Scare Master the episode centers around a moral based on Holidays. Though instead of those who don't celebrate, it's those who celebrate it in a different way. The episode teaches instead of forcing traditions on each other, it's best to make up entirely new ones that both families can appreciate.

We're also properly introduced with Pinkie's 2 other sisters that we hadn't seen since Pinkie's flashback in Cutie Mark Chronicles. You have Marble Pie that quickly became a fandom darling for being practically perhaps the return of Season 1 Fluttershy (Though arguably she's even shyer then Fluttershy ever was, running away and only saying "Mhmm"). And then there's Limestone Pie who's rather bitchy overtones certainly got her more of a mixed response, but you can see she's just a hard boss that wants to keep the Rock Farm on it's toes. (Not to mention really protective of Holder's Boulder). While differences quickly arise not all is lost, as heck Marble Pie and Big Mac get all blushed throughout the episode. For once you can't blame the fandom for shipping ponies, the episode itself wanted us to view them as cute together. It did result in a little debate on whether this was kind of incestuous, but many did look things a little more and found it's quite possible they're distant enough cousins that should they become a couple it should be alright. Though you could also say maybe the Apples and Pies aren't family… yet. And through a Marriage between Big Mac and Marble (or for some of those who still cling on despite Pinkie Apple Pie and this episode, Applejack and Pinkie) they would become an official family then. Anyway, Hearthbreakers is a sweet holiday episode and only time will tell if we get a little more of the relation between the Apples and the Pies.

Big Mac being our only recurring male character aside from Spike (Unless Shining counts, though even Cadence at this point has probably had twice as much screentime as he has) is someone that's often in the background of this show mainly centered around our female cast. Doesn't help that he's been pretty quiet aside from the opening scene of Applebuck Season (Possibly implying he was going to talk more but they decided from Season 2 onward that his stallion of few words would be his endearing quality) and a switcheroo scene in Ponyville Confidential doesn't get the chance to speak everything he means aside from a yes (Eyuuuuup) or no (Noooooope). Well at least for this episode this changes, granted most of his speaking lines is when he's pretending to be a mare but hey it still counts right? Well either way, Big Mac definitely talks more unique lines he has in this one episode then he has in the previous 107 episodes combined.

Also I know initially this got a lot of people, especially on Tumblr where it's a big deal that this episode would be making fun of Transgender people. But as it turns out, this episode actually is actually kind of open minded. If an episode like this aired in a different show even just 10 years ago or beyond, I definitely think there would be characters questioning a male participating in a race meant only for sisters. But as it turns out the Sisterhooves Social allows any kind of bond regardless of gender and possibly even species (It would of been cool if Twilight and Spike participated as a result, maybe would of given Twilight SOMETHING to do since she was so bored which I probably should of mentioned that there's another neat continuity thing going on where the reason this episode even happens is Applejack is called by the map for Made in Manehattan) as long as they show something of a strong bond that the Social sees as ideal. So it's just Big Mac that's mistaken, still he insists on continuing as Orchard Blossom probably partly because he wants to set a good example that he can be the sibling that Applejack is to Apple Bloom. It's also great that Scootaloo and Sweetie aren't fooled whatsoever, Sweetie outright bluntly knows Orchard is Big Mac in a dress. It's good when characters aren't as fooled as they could be. Also aside from Big Mac and Apple Bloom there's another importance racer that aren't sisters that show further how the rules aren't limited to just sisters. With Scootaloo and Rainbow which excellently follows up something that's been there since Sleepless in Ponyville back in Season 5. They're not related but Scootaloo looks up to Rainbow as a big sister figure. And that's good enough for the social to allow it and that's really great. It's cool to see how open minded Equestria can be as that's what we want to see from this show. The utter positivity is one of the things that drew us to the show in the first place.

Speaking of positivity though, the best part of this episode is definitely the ending. Although Orchard doesn't win the social due to being disqualified (Notably not for being a Stallion, but just reckless behavior) Apple Bloom and Big Mac sit under a tree with a beautiful sunset in the background. Apple Bloom wants Big Mac to know that everything's fine despite what happened, and then Big Mac starts speaking and not in his Orchard Blossom voice, his actual natural voice in telling how Apple Bloom used to look up to him when she was younger and he misses being that person because now that Applejack is one of the Elements of Harmony where she's helping save Equestria and spreading the message of Friendship with Twilight and the others while he's just working on the farm, and he hoped that winning the Social would make Apple Bloom look up to him like she used to again. And Applebloom reassures him that he'll always be a hero to her, and apologizes for never making that clear. Resulting in a very heartwarming hug, and even when Granny Smith says Applejack has returned. Apple Bloom decides to stay a little longer with Big Mac, asking how Orchard would react to the Sunset they 're currently watching. Big Mac obliges in voicing his alias one more time before one more final laugh as the episode ends. Definitely one of the sweetest endings of an episode in the show yet. And it certainly provides us a better picture of Big Mac's character then we've had for a while.

 

[Milo Thatch]

Okay, I loved Too Many Pinkie Pies. It's a flawed episode (the questionable climax, Pinkie Pie not knowing if she's a clone or not), but for me, it's hands-down the most entertaining episode of the show. I also really liked Brotherhooves Social, mainly because the ending caught me off guard due to how emotional it was.

 

[SonicMario]

Video Link

(Song Used: Rapture - Hurt)

We've reached the Top 50 now! This is more traditionally the halfway point but we technically counted down 112 instead of 100. But we're at the point where at least in my opinion a lot of these episodes are really good. Some of the next few episodes particularly in this set may still be a little bit on the fence. But otherwise considering there's episodes in the 70's part of the list that I do really, really like in parts it should say good things about the episodes placed from here on out.

Ever since the pilot we've known Rarity has an affinity for the town of Canterlot. When Twilight mentions she's from there, Rarity says she's always dreamed of living there. And well while she doesn't move to Canterlot. She gets to expand her business to Canterlot which is still a pretty big thing for her. Cause now her business can become a franchise in the future if the Canterlot shoppe is successful. She even gets a manager to help with this sector, though trouble becomes quick when this manager has a particular direction she wants it to go that disagrees with Rarity's ideals.

Upon making the Princess dress for Twilight (Who is notably considered the most popular princess in the polls interestingly enough). Sassy Saddles wants to mass-produce it, making Rarity make the same exact dress down to the very details. Even just slightly changing it up angers the customer who wanted the Princess Dress. Eventually Rarity has had enough and threatens to close the store in protest of just making the one dress. As with many other Rarity episodes you gotta look at it in an artists lens. You can have a really successful art piece but if that's all you sell, you risk becoming a one trick pony (No pun intended). So Rarity has to show what else she can do, and she finds more customers of which to recommend clothes to in what was supposed to be the closing sale. At the same time she's also showing Sassy what Rarity calls the "Rules of Rarity" so she can understand why Rarity continues her business while Sassy's strategy of one popular dress being mass produced ends up running things in the ground (As she mentions, she doesn't want to be part of another failed business implying this happened before). Sassy see's Rarity's way working and apologizes for forcing her way into things. As a result, Rarity keeps the shop open and presumably gives Sassy control of the shop while Rarity goes back to the Ponyville boutique. (One thing I don't know how to feel about is the scene at the very end with the really chubby pony, I almost actually feel a little sorry for her that Rarity and Sassy simply say No when she came for the Princess Dress of which she gets a confused expression in her face).

I assume we'll probably see Sassy and the Boutique again some day (And I mean aside from the already mentioned reappearance in Rarity Investigates the very next episode afterward) so we should see how Sassy Saddles does in the future.

This is probably the one two-parter most are pretty split on. Most agree it's probably a let down if you compare it to how epic Canterlot Wedding was given that was the previous episode prior to it. But it also has some really good bits here and there that has some feeling it may be actually one of the more underrated episodes. Most of the criticism is mainly how Sombra feels much more like a natural force rather then a character, and how the Crystal Empire really just pops out of nowhere and how it's all given to Cadence and Shining. I mean we know Cadence and Shining were pretty rushed in as much as some of us may like them but even the place they rule over had to pop out of nowhere too which doesn't help with of the criticisms toward them. Though in at least defense in one of these, Sombra still felt like he was a dangerous looming threat. And if it weren't for a precise wife throw from Shining, Sombra would of gotten the Crystal Heart and won. For me the best scene of the two-parter though was definitely the Fear Door scene. I think it's great when we see firsthand what the characters fear the most. Twilight fears failure and rejection from the mentor she looks up to the most, and Spike in turn fears being abandoned by Twilight. I think it's a really great scene that show's something we definitely want to know about our characters because we get a feeling of how much they care about those they fear losing the trust or care of and everything.

On a side note, in this one episode we can see how much Twilight's improved in Magic since the first season. Granted even in Season 1, Twilight was awesome with magic given Boast Busters and the Cinderella-esque spells in Best Night Ever. But now she's reversing gravity and using dark magic. On another note, this is also the only episode that's the closest to less then subtle foreshadowing Twilight's ascension to an Alicorn at the end of Season 3. Aside from Luna holding Starswirl's journal that would prove crucial in Magical Mystery Cure. We have two things in the beginning of Crystal Empire. You have Celestia mention a Next Level of Studies. There was a moment prior to the episode's release where the first 11 minutes were leaked, upon hearing Celestia's words of next level of studies speculation started on what exactly Twilight's next level of studies is. And as it would turn out it would be her ascension into an Alicorn. The other one is a little more on the subtle side but there's a moment where Twilight and Luna are talking to Twilight and in the background their Cutie Marks appear behind them, and the same happens for Twilight. While it's a little arguably if it is foreshadowing to Twilight's ascension, it certainly would be a weird coincidence if that's not what they were going for. Going back on topic on the episode, it is pretty awesome Spike gets a key role for once in a two-parter. As he doesn't do much in the Pilot, Return of Harmony, nor Canterlot Wedding so for him to step up big is really cool. He and Cadence together save the Crystal Ponies from Sombra. Which speaking of which this seems to be the only time a villain in the show has been outright killed cause there has been no sign of any attempt to bring Sombra back and I even think Meghan has confirmed they don't plan on bringing him back (That's besides the alternate timeline thing, doesn't quite count).

So be careful around Princess Cadence guys, she may be the pretty pink princess probably partly made so they wouldn't make Celestia toys pink anymore. But Cadence is the only protagonist with confirmed blood on her hooves. Don't mess with the Princess of Love, folks! This episode also has a pretty large impact considering the Crystal Empire has appeared quite a bit since then. While this is a two-parter no one can really agree just how good or bad it is, I feel this is a good spot that it's high enough to recognize it for what it did right but still recognize that it has some flaws to make it one of the lower of the two-parters.

When it comes to smaller lists like Top 10's and especially Top 5's it can be kinda hard to know how to react to the most recent Season Finale episode that normally is still so fresh on the mind. I do think Equestria Daily often runs their best episode poll a little too early cause often it's the Finale that wins by a landslide due to everybody going nuts over it when they haven't even reflected back on the whole season. Not to mention we still don't know yet what kind of impact the episode will have on the future even if we can give guesses. Like obviously we're going to be seeing more of Starlight in the future, but we still have the question of just how much Starlight is coming upon Season 6? Will she actually be considered a 7th member of the Main Cast? Or will she be more of a secondary character ala Spike and the CMC where she can make supporting appearances but isn't necessarily one of the Main 6. With this big of a list though I can put the Finale in a pretty decent middle spot where it's easy to just say time will tell how big this episode will be. Maybe it will rise up in the future if any plot threads brought up in the episode come in Season 6? I do have to say however that the episode so far feels like it will be the lowest ranks of the Finales even if it does rise up in the future. As spoiler alert, the next Finale in the list won't come up until we're close to the Top 25. An episode would have to not only become really important later on but I'd have to personally have an epiphany that a past episode is just that brilliantly done. Which at the moment even if we do get a lot of Starlight in the future doesn't feel like will happen.

I think it's still a fun episode to watch what with the alternate timelines and scenarios given, but by the end of episode I didn't feel any sort of that Season Finale hype that most of those Finales had me feeling. Even Best Night Ever had me still reeling from Flutterage. But somehow this one did not really wow me whatsoever. I mean it was kinda cool to see the return of many of villains that couldn't otherwise make easy return appearances for a little bit. Though unfortunately it just looked like an excuse to bring them all back for a short time rather then a legitimate different scenario. I personally think there are much more fun things they could have done with the whole Alternate Timeline thing, like what if all the stress of having Equestria and no pony to help her free her sister. Celestia goes mad and eventually becomes like the Day version of Nightmare Moon? (I think one of the official MLP Card game stuff had something like that, Was it a timeline that was cut?) Some more inventive timelines like that could of been appreciated. Though my favorite of the timelines certainly was the Sombra timeline where the Ponies are still fighting a war with him. While War has been mentioned as a thing even as far back as Season 2 in this show, it's a whole nother thing to actually show some of it with major characters having scars and the effect War has on the ponies. But when we got to the like the really short mini-timeline parts where Twilight and Spike are there only for a few seconds it just made me wish they only spent the time on 2 or even 3 timelines. As it feels kinda pointless to just show Tirek destroying stuff, Discord chasing Celestia and Luna around (As funny as that was), and (I still say is rather WTFish) the Flim Flam's renovating the place other then the service of "Well we showed all these villain timelines, let's throw in a few more!" I would of much rather they used that time to make the scene where Starlight and Twilight are in the abandoned wasteland to make the scene more poignant or more time to explain Starlight's motive.

Though speaking of both these things, the Wasteland is probably subtly the best scene in the Two-Parter. Cause the scariest thing is not knowing what exactly happened, you can't know for sure what really happened, you can come up with theories like all the villains came out at once and the resulting destruction killed all life in Equestria, but again you won't know for sure. It definitely remains as one of the darkest scenes of the show when you really get what this all implies. However Starlight's motive is a different story where it really comes off as a weak motive. And unfortunately we have to wait until Season 6 to possibly get any kind of closure on it. We must have Starlight at least see Sun Burst again so we find out if there was any more to this split then the flashback in the finale had time to show (Cause they still needed time for the happy ending, as much as it is rather sudden). If Starlight's always been that kinda overreactionary or if Sun Burst proves to have become a jerk after getting his Cutie Mark then maybe we'll understand a little more. But as it is we don't know and it makes it difficult to really be happy for Starlight at the end because of it. I'm not sure I feel entirely sympathetic for her yet and that's what kinda bums out the episode for me.

As much as I said this episode could rise with importantence, I could also see it go down fast if we don't get any proper and/or satisfying answers in Season 6. All the time travel stuff is neat, but just because it has a cool concept doesn't mean it's going to get too far. Consider where this episode is at a cautionary spot. It may definitely change when Season 6 shows what this episode means for the future. I suppose the good news on that end is where we’re actually really close to the start of Season 6. We won’t have to wait nearly a year to find out what Cutie Re-Mark means for the future.

This is another episode that leads into something coming up in Season 6. Now we know what Cadence's foal looks like already but again like Cutie Re-Mark we still gotta see where the show goes with Flurry Heart. This episode could also be seen kind of as Pinkie's comeuppance for Green Isn't Your Color where she bothered Twilight about keeping things a secret. Now she has to keep a huge secret, especially from Twilight, and she nearly goes crazy about it. There's even something that could be a bit of a callback with Rarity mentioning "FOREVER". The episode is pretty much a fun one through and through, like I said with Party Pooped I feel Season 5 got Pinkie right consistently and this episode is no exception. Plenty of good dialogue throughout. This episode was also written by G.M. Berrow who before this episode only wrote some of those small story books. And I think for her first time she did a pretty good job. I think my favorite line in the episode is "THERE'S ALOT OF THINGS I KNOW, THAT YOU DON'T KNOW I KNOW" which considering that basement of files from Party Pooped may very well be true.

A bit of a weird part of the episode is the part where Shining and Cadence seem to be delayed but then they're not. I thought at first that possibly meant the baby was going to appear at the end of the episode was because the delay was because… well… you get the idea. Oh, and Shining geeking out over the room they made for him was pretty funny. We don't really get a lot of Shining after Canterlot Wedding and Crystal Empire so something for us to laugh about with him was nice to see for once. We have yet to see how Flurry Heart will go, but certainly it's nice to have her pre-birth announcement resulted in a pretty fun episode.

This was the first and probably the best out of the three map episodes of Season 5. Cause the other two were Twilight and Fluttershy stopping a feud between two families in a pretty overdone plot and while the return of Coco Pommel was nice. I wasn't seeing a lot into that one either. But this episode features the return of Gilda, who we haven't seen since early Season 1 and to top it all off. Both Rainbow and Pinkie are coming along. And we're also seeing the griffon lands for the first time. Despite Twilight's praise of the place it turns out not to be as great as it sounded in the book Twilight had. The Griffons themselves aren't much better, they ask for payment for nearly every little thing you ask them for. It's in this episode we learn that Gilda's former friendship with Rainbow is enough to make her have a little bit of good in her, at least compared to all the other Griffons anyway. As I said when mentioning Griffon the Brush-Off it makes the confrontation at the end feel somewhat tragic. As we see a flashback of a young Gilda meeting Rainbow for the first time, and despite what happened back in Season 1. Gilda remembers that moment fondly. And when Rainbow is stuck in a canyon with no way to come back, she goes and rescue when a different griffon just shrugs and leaves Rainbow there because she doesn't have the payment at the time.

It's a pretty sweet moment to have Gilda and Rainbow back in good graces, and as I keep saying Season 5 Pinkie brings many good jokes along with it. (PInkie flirting with the King Grover statue is definitely one of my favorite parts in the episode) It's a shame the other Map episodes couldn't follow the slack of this first one but then again the other two duos don't have a personal character we haven't seen a while to really connect to like Gilda and Rainbow & Pinkie. Though maybe seeing Philomena again for Twilight and Fluttershy might be a close second to it. (I definitely wouldn't mind that being an episode in the future)

 

[Milo Thatch]

I actually think The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows is overrated. Yes, the idea of Shining Armor and Cadence having a baby was great, but honestly, if it wasn't for that part, I think I would have disliked this episode. I thought it suffered from a lot of contrived moments, as well as a repetitive plot that tried way too hard to be funny.

 

[Nabber]

so I saw a kid with an MLP backpack but applejack wasn't on it

did she die or something

 

[SonicMario]

so I saw a kid with an MLP backpack but applejack wasn't on it

did she die or something

No, just sometimes in the marketing they forget about her. Applejack is almost never available when Friendship is Magic is getting McDonald's toys. (There was one time when they were promoting Equestria Girls 1 but other then that, nope)

Applejack is probably the least popular of the Mane 6. Being left out of the marketing like that isn't helping lol

 

[Magikrazy]

All of my friends are here! And Applejack is here too!

 

[SonicMario]

Video Link

(Song Used: Pulse - The Tea Party)

This episode being this high might actually be slightly controversial, as I've seen some degree of heavy criticism of the episode. Some saying it takes the subject of self-harm lightly, people getting a little tired of Luna episodes always having to do with Dreams, or the rather admittedly rushed ending. But honestly I don't know, I feel like it's a good spot because personally I really enjoyed watching this one. Maybe it doesn't give the implications of Self Harm everything, but we got to admit Self Harm is a very mature thing that you wouldn't think this show would ever try to tackle. But it makes sense to Luna's character because of how guilt-ridden she is over becoming Nightmare Moon. She says at the end that she created the Tantabus so that whenever she slept, she'd always have the same nightmare over and over again. Unfortunately that becomes trouble when the Tantabus manages to escape Luna's dream and start messing with other Pony's dreams. So Luna has to track down the Mane 6 to help track it down, with each of the Mane 6 having different dreams of which the Tantabus corrupts.

Granted I do think they could of been a little more creative with the dreams, but I suppose you can get away with that not all dreams have to be fantastical. I've had rather mundane dreams that could very well happen in real life, like talking on chat with a friend on the internet about something, and when I wake up I can be like "Oh wait, that was a dream? Huh, just seemed like something I do on a regular basis anyway…". But yeah, Twilight's, Rarity's, Applejack's weren't really imaginative as Twilight reads books, Rarity's being surrounded by flying dresses, and Applejack is growing a really large apple (Which is suspiciously similar to the really big apple from Bats!). The rest did have something to them, Rainbow going from fighting changelings to a field of singing, talking flowers (Those who play Undertale may get a little disturbed especially when the flower starts slightly talking evilly). Pinkie takes a bit of advantage of the breaking the fourth wall by Pinkie able to hop through different scenery's. And Fluttershy's perhaps shows the most interesting by showing that she'd like being THE pet for once (Though that got a bit of a chuckle from the Rule 34 crowd if you catch that drift). But the result of the dream's are the same, Luna chases the Tantabus in all of them but it again escapes. Eventually leading to Luna making the shared dream where we see a lot of other Ponyville ponies including the well-known background ones.

Now if there was any disappointment with the Mane 6 dreams, I think the Shared Dream made up for it with some really funny stuff here and there. And the whole town using dream powers to help Luna take down the Tantabus? It's just so cool that I can't help but really enjoy this episode. For those who didn't get enough fan service from Episode 100 in Season 5 they had this episode to really insert some crazy stuff from Lyra and Bon Bon together like CatDog, a giant Derpy that meows (With Warrior Spike from A Dog and Pony show using her as a mount), Princess Big Mac, etc. As soon as we get to the shared dream it's just craziness after another, the way the Tantabus really is defeated comes off as a little rushed. But to be honest it didn't ruin the sheer amount of Entertainment Value. If you disagree with me that the episode should be this high, I should remind that this is still a personal list and I've said before that if an episode has a high degree of Entertainment Value that tends to outweigh it's flaws for me. And I'll warn you right now this might not be the only one that does so, especially when we really get closer to the end of this thing.

While the Season 4 Opener was the next Discord appearance that first reassured us that Discord wasn't entirely good again after the worry that Discord would suddenly be goody-goody from now on. This is the first "Discord" episode since that time, and rest assured Discord messes with the ponies some more. Right down to faking an illness in an attempt to ruin Twilight's day with Cadence. In Three's a Crowd we got all the shenanigans that we hope for from Discord. The staff clearly wanted to bring Discord back for a reason, and fun episodes like this one are one of those reasons. Getting to do things they didn't have the chance to do back in early Season 2 like giving Discord a song was great. As much as it sucks for Twilight that Discord sabotaged her day like that, Cadence does at least turn the tables a bit on Discord by saying she actually somewhat enjoyed this. Saying this has been at least more eventful then the Crystal Empire has been (Cue Shining Armor has to step up his game jokes). And Discord even gets a final comeuppance by getting sick for real, so Discord doesn't escape without some sort of Punishment.

My only real complaint is the episode is something that's just overall minor in the episode, the scene(/s) where Discord distracts Pinkie with a balloon. Which like I said when talking about Too Many PInkie Pies that it makes Pinkie seem like one of her Mirror Pool clones. But other then that, Three's a Crowd is a fun ride from start to finish.

Can I just take a moment to say how proud I am of Dave Polsky's improvement in Season 4? Prior to Season 4 his episodes were mixed at best, but suddenly upon Season 4 he pretty much brought hit after hit. Some better then others, but nonetheless there's still actually three more Season 4 Dave Polsky episodes to get to in this list. For some who remember his Season 1 work it made them hard to believe it was the same writer.

But anyway, on to Twilight Time. The CMC need help with some projects they want to do and they enlist the help of perhaps the best pony for the job to tutor them through it: Twilight. Though when they start kinda bragging about getting the help that starts snowballing into trouble fast when because the rest of the class knows they're getting favors from the new Princess in town that they try to get their own Twilight Time. Even if they just intend to fanboy/fangirl over Twilight then have her help them with homework. And it quickly becomes a hassle as now the CMC have to start kinda hiding their time with Twilight. Even covering the windows when they're at a Fast Food place (Also silly Twilight eating burgers messily is priceless, Twilight's still a big dork and we all love it). But eventually Twilight has to find out that most of the students want to see her for the new title rather then just to get school help from her. Which just from the tone of Twilight's voice when she realizes that, you can feel all the disappointment (Just listen to when she says "Neither did any of you").

It really is subtly one of the more important Season 4 episodes, as Twilight's still getting accustomed to being a Princess and sometimes doesn't want to be treated too differently. If she had not been a Princess at this point she would of not had to worry about Ponies seeing her for the fame more then just needing her help, but then again if she isn't there's less ponies interested in seeing her. Even Diamond outright admits that she never paid attention to her before she was a Princess. And it's nice that the CMC are the ones who truly wanted to study under her, just they took their time with her get to their heads. It's kinda like if you had a celebrity family member or family friend (Hell it doesn't have to be person of royalty or a Movie star, it could be a local hero like a Police Chief or a Firefighter) that also happens to be your best choice for a tutor, you start telling the class you know someone well-known previously and suddenly you're the coolest kid in school. It's very tempting to brag about stuff like that, but when you're taking advantage of the person's fame as opposed to getting what they initially helped you for that's when you start really disappointing said person and if you're not careful they might stop helping you.

While I don't think a lot of people will really get the chance to relate to this, I feel it's still a strong lesson covered and a very sweet episode between Twilight and the CMC. I do feel bad about Spike making all those nachos for nothing though...

Ok this is another episode to get the Elephant out of the room first though perhaps not as serious as with Putting Your Hoof Down (Though it is interesting that both are Fluttershy episodes, who knew the shy one brought so much controversy?). Yes I'm one of those that really dislike Pinkie's portrayal in the episode. However in the long run, while this episode might of certainly been much higher without it. It's still pretty high all things considered. Pinkie's part of the episode still makes parts of this episode hard to watch, but otherwise it's a pretty good episode through and through. I won't go too much into Pinkie's part of the episode as I probably already got my spiel out of that a long while ago.

Some people argue that a lot of Fluttershy's episodes are the same since she has to overcome something. The thing is though for a shy character like her there's so many different things to overcome that it takes that extra little bit of time for each and every little thing. As said at the end of this episode, baby steps.

Though admittedly one awkward thing about the episode is right at the beginning when the others of the Mane 6 hear Fluttershy sing and they're jaw struck. Uh… Have the Mane 6 really not listened to Fluttershy sing solo? And in terms of a meta perspective, what about all the songs that have been sung up to this point by them? Rarity Takes Manehatten seems to imply they're aware they sing, but the only way the beginning of this episode makes sense is if most of the songs are really just musical versions of what's happening. They aren't really singing in the episodes they follow but it's presented as a song so they can use the advantage of music video transitions to move through pivotal plot things faster. This just feels like an episode that would of made more sense if it was early in Season 1 when there had hardly been any songs at that point. But this is mid-Season 4 and we've had Fluttershy sing solo, in a duet with at least one of the Mane 6 that is now looking awe-struck, and in a group with all of them. It's just one of those really awkward things when you start thinking about it too hard.

But anyway this episode is centered around Stage Fright, something that can affect people who might be naturally talented but are afraid to step on stage because of fear of being publicly ridiculed. Big Mac who is part of the Ponytones along with Rarity and one other pony loses his voice before a performance and they don't have many people who can hit the deep notes Big Mac's voice can. That is until they remember Flutterguy from Bridle Gossip. And since Fluttershy doesn't have to be directly on stage, Fluttershy volunteers. It works for a long while. But eventually the carpet hiding Fluttershy is lifted and upon being discovered she goes into full anxiety mode and runs. Her friends try their best to track her down and comfort her (With no help from Pinkie though… admittedly "You sounded like a dude" was pretty funny though). And we get a real sweet ending where Fluttershy becomes a fourth member of the Ponytones, though not in front of a big audience of Ponies. As said before, it's baby steps.

It's the episode that broke the Episode 8 Curse! Look Before You Sleep, Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, and Apple Family Reunion. All three of those episodes at least in this list couldn't even make the Top 100, they were all the 8th episode to air in their respective seasons. But it looks like at least in Season 4 and 5, the fears of a lackluster Episode 8 have been lifted (BTW Season 5's Episode 8 was Lost Treasure of Griffonstone). I suppose on the flip side it also challenged a Rarity solo episode never being that bad and that one won.

Rarity's faith in her element is challenged here as her own generosity results in another pony using her own fabric in the contest. So now if she tries to enter the same fabric she looks like a copycat. When you look at it like an Artist this can be related to plagiarism, where one artist pretty much traces or makes a near-perfect copy of the original when they asked another artist for an example and then releases that piece to the public and take all the credit for their own. Because they submitted it first, the scammed artist can't claim plagiarism because for all people know there's no solid proof. So now Rarity has to quickly find new fabric to make a line out of, and she decides to use whatever fabric she finds in her hotel room.

Stressed for time, she starts working the rest of her friends into helping her. And it seems to have somewhat of a reverse situation of Suited for Success where it's Rarity barking out the orders to the others. Some may very well take it for revenge. Though at least this time there's a little more proper reasoning. Her friends manage to complete the fabrics and she makes it to the show. But when she notices her friends are watching, she's afraid that perhaps she was a little too hard on them and they left Manehattan. But as it turns out they just overslept, so when Rarity sees them again she apologizes heavily.

Later, Rarity manages to get a private performance of the musical that the Mane 6 wanted to see though at first the catch was that Rarity has to stay in Manehattan to make the costumes. But then Coco comes out to hand the trophy that she feels Rarity deserves, and she is also given the job of making the costumes instead of Rarity so Rarity can go back to Ponyville at least. Oh and this was also the first of the Key episodes of Season 4, which got off with a good start. Well… 2 episodes later that would change but then after that the Key Episodes went for the most part without a hitch. Anyway, a very sweet episode we could certainly be thankful for providing a good Episode 8 for once.

 

[SonicMario]

Before I get to #40-#36 in my list we got some Synopsis's for Episodes 3-5 of Season 6

Spoiler: S6E3

Season 6 Episode 3 - The Gift Of Maud Pie
Air Date: April 2nd
Synopsis:

Rarity and Pinkie Pie are in Manehattan looking for an ideal location for Rarity's new store and searching for the perfect gift for Pinkie Pie's sister.

Rarity's expanding further and further. She's going to have a fashion empire at this rate.

Spoiler: S6E4

Season 6 Episode 4 - On Your Marks
Air Date: April 9th
Synopsis:

'Now that they've finally received their cutie marks, the Cutie Mark Crusaders struggle with the question of what's next; the friends do not all agree on how to embrace their destinies.

Now this should be interesting.

Spoiler: S6E5

Season 6 Episode 5 - Gauntlet of Fire
Air Date: April 16th
Synopsis:

In order to save his friends, Spike is forced to compete in a perilous Gauntlet for the title of Dragon Lord.

This sounds like it has potential. If this takes place in the Dragonlands though, hopefully there will actually be some relatively friendly dragon characters unlike what we got in Dragon Quest.

Video Link

(Song Used: Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana)

This may be another one of those that a little more controversial that it's this high. As there definitely is a huge split on this episode. Some just don't like it that the episode made Daring Do which was thought to have been a fictional work inside a fictional world into something that's secretly real in this fictional world. Even I gotta admit I'm still torn about it since I kinda likes the charm of having a fiction that the Ponies love even in a universe that can only be fictional. That said, there's nothing in Read It and Weep that really contradicts Daring Don't in anyway. To say an adventurer pony that saves the world multiple times could not exist is odd considering this is a universe with Magical Talking Ponies. You have to admit that even from the very beginning of the show there's a lot of things you have to suspend your disbelief for, cause this is a fantasy land that has almost everything you could imagine. There is a reason there is so much fanfiction for this show, it's a sandbox for ideas because when written well enough you can fit anything in. Even more darker fictions are capable of still maintaining some of the charm of the show. In a show like this, character contradictions are far worse then any so called logical problems.

And for the record, I wouldn't say anyone was out of character in this episode. We've seen Rainbow go total fangirl before, and of course she's hyped up around Daring. Because this is the equivalent of finding your favorite fictional character was real all along. Even if you managed to calm yourself at that moment, do not lie and say you wouldn't at least be excited as Dash was in your mind if something like that actually happened (I bet some of you may even do the same if Rainbow Dash herself appeared in real life in front of you). And another thing, I still think this is a legitimately good episode. We get more of the meta jokes that we can relate to Dash, she even argues about a plot point for a short time with Twilight. For a lot of us that like talking about this show, it's like looking in a mirror. What's funny about the face that's in the banner is that it's Dash's response to Daring making a Marriage joke to Ahuizotl which really makes the joke.

One thing I do kinda wish though was that this episode should have been Rainbow's key episode instead (I mentioned back in the Equestria Games part that there was an episode I feel could of better suited as a key episode and this was it). Surely having Daring Do/A.K. Yearling as the person Rainbow helps would fit in well. And as much as Rainbow Falls probably has the better argument for being more about Loyalty, I do think there's some loyalty you can relate to this episode. Isn't being a loyal fan and/or temporary partner enough? Oh well. While i wouldn't say it's as good as Read It and Weep, it's still a solid episode deviated from Daring Do. And I wonder if we'll get to see her again soon.

When you're an Artist, it's inevitable that from time to time they get what's called an Art Block. Where they've temporarily ran out of ideas, and the artist just mopes in a bit of a down period until something inspires them again. Most usually find it themselves, but sometimes an artist just wishes they could just make their ideas pop out in thin air simply by thinking of it. Rarity gets this chance in this episode, only it seems to show the dark side should this come to pass. But this isn't technically a Rarity episode, it's more Spike since it's Spike who gives the item that was with good intentions to help Rarity out of her "art block".

And yes this is actually a really good and fun Spike episode. It's only beaten by one more (Which happens to be the next episode in the list), the cursed book Spike gets Rarity does at first have it's intended result. But similar to the Alicorn Amulet in Magic Duel, it starts to corrupt Rarity more and more. She starts decorating random things and it interferes with the townsfolk life. And it's powerful magic stuff too, since at the very end Twilight is all frazzled and frustrated after all the hard work of reversing all that dark magic. I still wonder if had Rarity had that book for long enough she'd go as far as turning ponies into clothing. Seems like something that would fit with what this thing can do.

*She's got the whole world in her hooves

And here we are, this is the best Spike episode according to this list. It's a bit unfortunate that for much of the episode Spike gets more and more greedy because of Dragon instincts. But nonetheless, if you want a Spike episode you can enjoy just about as much if not more then a lot of the good Mane 6 episodes. This would be the one, everyone gets some good character moments (The Good Cop, Bad Cop thing that Rainbow and Fluttershy do is hilarious). And even some good subtly good Twilight moment, where she looks so worried for Spike at the doctor's. And perhaps a look of "…But he's not a pet" upon the Doctor suggesting they see if a vet can help. The episode can make you ask some questions however, and some of those that won't be answered because the show will obviously never cover it.

And that's if dragons do naturally age, are all big dragons just the greedy kind, or are smaller dragons their true form if they never found greed. I'd hope it's not, but this episode does suddenly raise the possibility that some of the large dragons we see in the show are not as old as we think they may be. That might actually explain why the Red Dragon in Dragonshy was a bit of a crybaby though when scolded by Fluttershy, though maybe Fluttershy fans would cry fowl because that would mean Fluttershy's scolding isn't as impressive if the dragon isn't really that old. Though one thing is a little funny, the episode Dragon Quest is what makes this episode make so much sense. Since it's in Dragon Quest we find out the ponies hardly know anything about dragons (Likely because nopony got close enough to study them and come back alive), and it shows in Secret of my Excess since it only takes Rarity (Not knowing the dragon was Spike) reminding him of his kindness in the beginning of the episode to bring them back to normal. And as they fall, Spike tries to confess to Rarity of which Rarity shushes him implying she already knows of Spike's crush on her. Very touching moment, especially if you're a shipper of them. (I'm not really one of them though, so don't ask me)

Anyway, that will be all for Spike episodes. It might be a bit sad that the best Spike episode is one from as far back as Season 2, but I do think there's potential for Spike in the future. Spike can be a good character to write episodes on, it's just most writers haven't had the chance to do a lot with him. Maybe Season 6 will bring us something worthwhile for the little guy. If nothing else, he still has plenty of supporting roles that he excels in.

Now we're on to Fluttershy's key episode. Now some people have nitpicked about things of this episode like how the Breezies work, or how they think Twilight's transformation spell at the end doesn't make any sense and/or a toy ploy (Neither are true, on the former. They have selective memory of what Twilight's magically capable of. And on the former, I don't think breezie toys of the Mane 6 have ever shown up yet despite it being more then a year since Season 4 started. You're also watching the wrong show if you didn't want any toy advertisement things coming into this). But I see no issue, the episode's pretty simple. The breezies have traveled to ponyville. A stray leaf screws up their flight path and now they have to wait a long while for the breeze to come back. Fluttershy offers her home as a shelter until then, most of the breezies are young and start to get complacent with being cared by Fluttershy.

Just like how in Rarity Takes Manehattan when being too generous backfires, being too kind has let the complacent Breezies take advantage of Fluttershy's kindness. And Fluttershy has to for once stand up for herself and kick them out no matter how it breaks her heart to even do the right thing. The breeze the Breezies need come back but there's not enough Breezies to help lift everybody. The solution? How about transform six ponies into Breezies for a short time. This even works to show us the reason why Sea Breeze wanted to get home so much. He had a family to get to. It's a very sweet scene when Fluttershy is given the flower as a gift. It's also nice to see Friendship is Magic improve upon a concept from a previous generation, as Breezies originally appeared in Generation 3 who weren't actually that different from the other ponies aside from being smaller with butterfly wings and antennae.

In FiM, they have a unique design only for them and they may even have a bit of a nationality if you hear Sea Breeze's accent. (On a small note, Sea Breeze is voiced by Brian Drummond. The guy who voiced the infamous "OVER 9000" Vegeta in the original/Ocean dub of the early seasons of Dragonball Z. Ah what different roles Voice Actors go through) The show has done wonders, even making maligned concepts from previous generations work well.

*…And that is how we plan on taking over the world!

We're here to the sequel to Equestria Girls. I told you back in Part 1 of this whole thing that despite my thoughts on the first film. The following films have been wonderful improvement, and I mean really huge improvement. Some annoyances still linger from the first, but for the most part alot of it has shrunken down and by now EQG feels like it's coming into it's own at last. I still wish it could of been more like that from the start, but more and more we're seeing more of the EQG world and how the magic of Equestria is affecting it. In EQG4 we're even going outside of the schools for once to really get more from out of the world. Though for now the Sequel remained in the same school. Nobody trusts Sunset much, which is pretty understandable given the events of the first film.

I do think one issue that still lingers is it still seems a little so fast that Sunset is so nice now considering how bitchy she was in the first. But that's just the problem with how the first went, they probably didn't write the first with the intention of a series so we didn't see a lot of redeeming qualities in the first so that we're just happy with how things end when Sunset's defeated. But there are many things that Rainbow Rocks improves so much over the first. The Sirens are so much more fun to see then Sunset in the first film, the music is a lot better (Though I thinly only the Siren's songs are really all that great. Trixie's song is not too bad either. But any song by the Rainboom's just don't work for me. Even in the final song, I vastly prefer the parts where the Siren's are singing), and the plot is overall just improved quite a bit. Enough to bring it this far into the list.

Flash Sentry is even less important then he is in the first though there's a few parts that are more cringeworthy then anything in the first (Ex: Twilight at the dinner table saying "Flash Sentry was talking about me?!"), let's just say I am so glad human Trixie was there at the end to interrupt a kiss. It takes a lot to bring something with rocky start at best within the fandom, to something that's actually grown on a lot people fast. And this film should get a lot of credit for bringing something that even some people who liked the first who were unsure of how a sequel would go suddenly bring a fully successful spin-off series in it's own right that would get a 3rd film that sets up things further.

On a personal note, when Rainbow Rocks was announced I felt disgusted. I never felt the first warranted any more of it. But as of right now, I'm actually somewhat hyped for what they bring in a fourth film coming later this year. My self from 3 years would be stunned about that fact. It took a good showing from this movie, and a lot from what's coming immediately next in the next part of this list to get to that point.

 

[Milo Thatch]

I was honestly surprised by how low the rating was for It Ain't Easy Being Breezies on IMDb. I mean, I know some fans think it's a boring episode, which is something which I actually agree with, but it's in the bottom 20 for the series.

Also, I'm definitely looking forward to On Your Marks.

 

[SonicMario]

Video Link

(Song Used: So Cold - Breaking Benjamin)

This is the part that at least by the end, we start to get to the real classics. Or at least the ones I think stand out as some of the best the show has to offer. I am not saying that a majority of the episodes until now have been bad. On the contrary there's a lot of episodes I've already covered that I definitely really like. Or at the very least something I enjoy from the episode. Even in the Bottom 12, for the exception of Rainbow Falls, there's something I do like even from what's listed in the worst episodes. It's just here where things start to get to the episodes that have raised the bar for this show. Before we get to the episodes though, we have the most recent Equestria Girls Movie which is #35 sharp. But from there it will be pretty great Pony episodes from then on.

While I know the general consensus seems to be that Rainbow Rocks is still the best of the EQG films so far. I honestly think Friendship Games and Rainbow Rocks are at about the same level, they just excel at different things and depending on your tastes regarding Equestria Girls you may prefer the one over the other. It just so happens the music and the villains are the louder of the tastes that tends to appeal more. Rainbow Rocks may have the better music and (advertised) villains, but what I do think Friendship Games holds over Rainbow Rocks is a more interesting plot point then anything Equestria Girls has offered before, more subtlety you can take out from the small things, character portrayal, and a great set up for the future of this sub-series.

If there was one thing I could say that was the thing that started to turn me around to the series, it was the introduction of Human Twilight. We've known a separate Human Twi exists since the first film, but it was kinda thought it was going to be a throwaway line and they'd never actually bring the other Twilight in. Thankfully, Rainbow Rocks had one more surprise for us in a post-credits sequence when right in front of us is a familiar voice, and color scheme. But definitely a different character from the Twilight we've come to know. It would turn out to be an outright teaser for the next film. As not only would Human Twi be formally introduced, she'd outright be in the spotlight. Arguably just as, if not more then Sunset was. I give Rainbow Rocks credit for being the sequel I never wanted that wanted to make me see more. But mainly because of that final sequence where we saw Human Twilight if they had not shown Human Twi at the end. I probably would of still been a little unsure about the 3rd film. The post-credits scene is what made me pull a 180 the most on the future of this series.

Suddenly I was excited where they were going to take this, and I was not disappointed with Human Twilight whatsoever. She's just as adorkable as the Pony Twi we've known for more then 5 years, and she even has her own unique charm to her that's different from Pony Twilight. She may be Twilight in name and voice, but because her experiences are vastly different. She's still very much like a different character, and I don't mean that in a bad way whatsoever, it's just a different interpretation of Twilight. Anybody who runs askblogs particularly alternate version of canon ponies understand how interesting alternate versions of characters we know can be. Because she seems a lot more sheltered, Human Twi has some traits you'd normally see in a Fluttershy-like character but it's not like they simply made this Twilight into a Fluttershy clone, you can still get some of the things that charmed us to Twilight in the first place just given a different twist. What's more is she's a figure you really feel bad for throughout most of the film even when she starts causing trouble. It's only because she's being blackmailed, and so sheltered (Not to mention mistreated at Crystal Prep) that she can only trust one of her own methods in an attempt to understand what's going on at Canterlot High.

Despite that the fact Sunset had every right to be angry at Human Twilight after magic released from the device messed with a race, you very well know that she never intended everything to happen. And the climax, everything that's been bottling up gets finally released and the very magic that Twilight has been collecting corrupts her mind as the pressure from Principal Cinch and the Shadowbolts forces her to give in to some dark desires. There are many small things in the film I feel are things in the previous films but were done far better, like how the characters "Pony Up" only when using instruments is kinda weird. The way they do it when showing their respective element in Friendship Games makes a lot more sense. And heck, there's even less Flash Sentry involvement in this film, and the two scenes he even gets it's mainly just Human Twilight rejecting him both times. (As if I couldn't like Human Twi any more then I already did)

And to me, the film's main villain is not Principal Cinch. It's the effects a terrible school environment has on a person. Now someone being bullied and/or blackmailed by the school they're enrolled in won't transform anyone into corrupt monsters that threaten to destroy the world, but just the effect on one person can be devastating to anyone nearby. But what that person needs is help and a different environment to help them out. And that's what Sunset and the Mane 6 provide, as Human Twilight decides to transfer over. Meaning in the next film, if Pony Twi ever returns to help out. Sunset will have two Twilight's. One she looks up to as we saw in Rainbow Rocks, and another that she is trying to teach herself. I think it sets up a very interesting dynamic for the future of Equestria Girls.

Despite how much I do like Friendship Games, the two sequels to Equestria Girls that surprised even the most skeptical still aren't much compared to the classics that have come out of the show but they come decently close. Maybe what's coming in the future could really make EQG grow into it's own, as things are trending right now. It could very well crawl out of the hole the first movie dug the sub-series into.

Looking back at Season 4, there's so many things that happened that really brought some interesting plot points for the future. And I'd say the possibility of Pinkie and Applejack being related all this time was one of those very things. While it's a shame we didn't get a clear answer in the end, I think from Applejack's attitude that we can probably consider each other family either way. The only people who may be bummed too much with this episode is possibly those who shipped Pinkie and Applejack. I think from the very beginning there was probably a following for every possible shipping combination between the Mane 6. While it likely wasn't as popular as some of big Mane 6 Ships (AppleDash, RariJack, FlutterDash, and TwiDash I'd say are probably the most common ones) I'm sure there had to be people who shipped it. And no doubt if they did they may have felt bummed out for this episode to put them in the Family Zone. Their only hope now is to say they're not family… yet (Implying they'll marry in the future). But perhaps the show's focus on Marble Pie and Big Mac is a sign for the ApplePie Shippers to make a move.

But anyway, this is just a really fun ride seeing Pinkie travel with the Apple family. While Pinkie was kinda inconsistent at times in Season 4, I'd say Pinkie was well done in this episode and may be only beaten by one more Pinkie episode from Season 4 in this list that I assure you is saved for much, much, later down the list. I also find Apples to the Core a very enjoyable song sung by the Apple Family. The last time Applejack had a group song with the Apple family of some sort it was Raise This Barn, which while it wasn't a terrible song by any means, it didn't really lift anything out of an already pretty barren episode. But I'd say Apples to the Core perfectly supplements this episode. I like that in the episode the Apple Family try their best to make Pinkie comfortable and happy when at the same time the Apple Family is nearly at eachother's throats in their attempt to please Pinkie on what could have been a big discovery in the end that Pinkie was related.

The reason we don't get a clear answer is to leave it to interpretation most likely, but like I said. Given Applejack's thoughts at the end, she may as well have been confirmed one. It's a very sweet family-esque episode that even got a pretty decent follow-up in Season 5.

Ah here we go, this is a true classic from the first season. And the first time we ever got a big song. The music loving bronies back in the day when Season 1 was still going on was pretty much obsessed over the Winter Wrap-Up song. The only song that really rivaled it's popularity in the first season was At the Gala in Best Night Ever because of it also being a big group song with the Mane 6 getting their own part of the song to sing.

The episode itself wasn't too bad either, with Twilight trying her best to fit in. The scene where Twilight asks if she can help with the clouds is a little more hilarious in hindsight given her later Alicorn ascension. It's definitely clear it wasn't meant to be foreshadowing whatsoever, but I'm sure any of those still into the show that re-watch the episode can't help but giggle a bit.. There's just not a lot to say, Winter Wrap-Up is one of those episodes that is essential when pointing out some of the memorable moments of the first season. Giving an interesting new bar to raise regarding the music in this show. And believe me when I say they've surpassed even Winter Wrap-Up a few times.

This is the episode I would recommend most to introducing someone to the show from a Season 1 episode if they didn't have time to see the Pilot. Cause it feels it still gives a significant introduction to the characters and shows that this isn't any normal little girls show when the plot of the episode is the girls traveling to kick a freaking dragon out.

Maybe that's not an entirely accurate idea as you could still get the wrong idea like Fluttershy being the main character when she's not and/or Rainbow being somewhat jerkish can give a bad first impression. But there's not a lot of other episodes aside from the Pilot that could give you a good idea of the characters right off the bat when it comes to Season 1 (Most people are going to start with a Season 1 episode since that's the natural way to start watching a show. Even if there are good episodes to start with from Season 2 and onward, someone new is likely going to want to see how Season 1 goes first).

But this is an episode that has it all, you have the humor, a sense of adventure/action, a pretty sweet ending with Fluttershy being badass enough to temporarily face her fear and stare down the dragon and manage to convince him to leave. While I do think quality wise, the first half of Season 1 may have been the worst stretch of 13 episodes in the show's history. This, Winter Wrap-Up, and the final episode in this section were true standouts that have stood the test of time.

*No matter what Pony generation it is, Applejack is and will always be, a silly pony

For me, this episode is the first true great episode of the show. While the pilot serves as a good introduction it's clear you need a little more then that to really start getting hooked into the show. And Ticket Master was just pretty ok. But getting to Applebuck Season, you see the first signs of what this show can produce on humor and characterization.

One shame about it is that for a while, it's the only Applejack episode where one of AJ's flaws is really explored up until the fourth season. It took a long time before episodes starring Applejack didn't focus on Applejack either being stubborn or showing she's learning to not be so stubborn when most of the other characters had different flaws at that point covered. And unfortunately it's a big reason why Applejack is normally seen as the least popular of the Mane 6.

But at the very least Applejack can take pride that one of her very first episode remains as a classic even after all these years. In this list there's only two more AJ episodes that are above it, one will be slightly controversial for a a reason (But that reason has nothing to do with Applejack) and the other is a very recent episode. I will always love the scene where Applejack meets up with Pinkie and when talking about ingredients, there's a moment where Pinkie's voice is slowed down. I just don't know why, but that felt like the very moment that I saw how hilarious this show can be. One fun note about the episode is that before the show smartly went with Applebucking, Lauren Faust once had it so the Ponies used their heads to knock down the Apples. Which… definitely sounds worse then what they eventually got. Concussions aren't fun ya know? Regardless, the first great episode of the show definitely has earned this spot

 

[Milo Thatch]

Friendship Games was my favorite too, for the sheer amount of new and interesting ideas it had. I think I was also surprised considering the writer of the movie.

Also, the first half of Season 5 is my least favorite too, although I'm not sure if it's for the same reason as yours. My main problem with most of its episodes can be summed up in one word: BORING.

 

[SonicMario]

Friendship Games was my favorite too, for the sheer amount of new and interesting ideas it had. I think I was also surprised considering the writer of the movie.

Also, the first half of Season 5 is my least favorite too, although I'm not sure if it's for the same reason as yours. My main problem with most of its episodes can be summed up in one word: BORING.

You meant 1 right? xP

Though on that I just feel early on it's where the show was still trying to figure out exactly what it was. It seems much more like the product of Faust fighting to get the series more Adventure-esque while Hasbro wanting to play it safe with a more Slice of Life look at it. Thankfully by the 2nd half of Season 1 and/or Season 2 they managed to pull of a nice compromise but some extremes toward the other sometimes showed up now and then in the first half of the first season.

Next week I'm going to put up two parts on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. So the entire Top 30 will be going up next week. So it will be all finished only days before Season 6 starts ^^

 

[Milo Thatch]

Yes, I meant Season 1. I can't believe I made that mistake.

 

[Milo Thatch]

So which Season 6 episodes are you guys looking forward to the most or least?

 

[SonicMario]

So which Season 6 episodes are you guys looking forward to the most or least?

Of what we have so far, I don't really have any big ones I'm super excited for nor am I dreading any. I just want to see how they'll go. The opener will be interesting since it will be our formal introduction to Flurry Heart and see firsthand how they'll handle Starlight. The Maud Pie episode coming after that could be fun, the first CMC episode post-Cutie Mark should be interesting enough, I'm a little cautious about the Spike episode but it could have potential, and all we have of the sixth episode of Season 6 is the title "No Second Prances" which sounds interesting but again no way to tell what it's about yet.



Video Link

(Song Used: Let’s Get This Party Started - Korn)

While Discord has made a few good appearances since Keep Calm and Flutter On this is the only episode I feel like I can truly say is a Discord episode. I feel that in every other Discord related episode, Twilight and/or Fluttershy have a more significant role in the episode. Discord's mainly an object of which to overcome in episode's he's involved in. But it's different in this episode where for once it's Discord that has something to overcome and learn the only other time you can say Discord has a moment like that is Twilight's Kingdom. And it'd be an immense stretch to consider that a Discord episode even if he does have a rather big role. Because when it comes to the Two-Parters it is always Twilight focused (The only two-parter I think is a Mane 6 episode all-around is The Cutie Map since despite them acknowledging that Twilight is a princess and everything. Twilight doesn't feel she has any more a significant part then any of the others. It could be argued Fluttershy is more major then Twilight in that episode). All the Mane 6 may have a good part of their own in nearly every two-parter. But what I think makes up a true Mane 6 episode is when each and every one has their little major part of the episode (Best Night Ever is usually the best example off the top of my head defining what makes a true Mane 6 episode).

But enough about this subject, this is absolutely the best post-Keep Calm and Flutter On Discord slice of life episode yet. With all the craziness you'd expect from a Discord episode, a fun return of the Grand Galloping Gala, and even a new character to enjoy watching. Tree Hugger is just one of the most chill ponies we've ever seen, the only moment we really see her somewhat upset is at the end but understandably so since Discord almost sent her to another dimension just because he was jealous since Fluttershy choosing her over him for being the +1 for the Gala. This episode also featured the return of The Smooze. Which was simply an amalgamation of similar purple slime creatures that smothered a lot of the Pony lands of G1. Though this time the Smooze is not even evil, just a green blob that has an insatiable appetite for shiny things that makes it grow. All it takes is for some interesting hums and neighs from Tree Hugger to calm it down. There's just so many hilarious moments from Discord and many of the other characters, even Maud gets to return and even sass Discord at one point. It's also fun to see Celestia still likes to have a little fun now and then, she knew Discord would liven up the party just like the Mane 6 did in their first gala.

Now if only we'd get a Celestia episode at one point so we can for once explore a little more into a character that's been really needed some more screentime lately. I think by now Luna has almost as much as if not more screentime in total.

Before talking about the episode it probably should be important to address probably one of the most infamous things from the early fandom regarding Pinkie. And that's the the fanfic Cupcakes. I did not fully read it back then, and I still haven't to this day. But it's definitely something that's certainly left a legacy whether that's good or bad. I doubt Grimdark fics really hit as big without that fanfic. Though it should be noted that it was made prior to Party of One's original airing date. But after Party of One, all Cupcakes related stuff featured Pinkie in the signature flat mane look. Though you also have to remember that it takes a while even just one episode to be made. It's very likely when they wrote Party of One it was before they knew they'd have the fandom they would have and certainly never thought would be the subject of such a gruesome fix. When the episode was new, there were people freaking out and getting flashbacks to reading the fix. It didn't help that the one pony that is chosen to fetch Pinkie out and thus the only pony to see insane Pinkie in all it's creepiness alone is Rainbow. Which if you're new to the fandom and never heard of Cupcakes (I'd say you'd be pretty lucky) was the unfortunate victim in the fiction. But it's all just one huge coincidence. But it's probably thanks to Party of One that Cupcakes got even bigger press then it already did.

But now getting to the episode itself, it is very much well deserves a pretty classic status in the fandom. The only real nitpick I ever had with the episode is that for some reason in the episode the town is pretty barren, besides I think like two or three background ponies at the start. The only ponies we see in the episode are literally just the Mane 6 and the Cake family. It just comes off as a little odd. It's not a big deal as either way it's not important, but I just thought it kinda sticks out. Regardless, scenes like Pinkie going insane, as well as Applejack's attempts to ward Pinkie away from the barn remain absolute classic moments from the first season. Early on it is kinda odd that Pinkie would forget her own birthday, but perhaps Party Pooped kinda answered that. With how likely she has to remember so many birthdays for everypony she meets she probably has a hard time keeping track of when it's time for her own because for all we know she has several parties to plan around the same time. Heck it should be noted that she remembered her pet Alligator's more then her own. Does she even have to remember all of Fluttershy's animals? Has to be taxing on her mind if so.

The episode also seems to imply that the Main 6 are Pinkie's main real friends other then her family. Because if she were truly big friends with everypony in town she may not feel like it impacts her much if 5 ponies doesn't want to hang out with her yet cause not everybody in a town will be ready for parties. As things stand, it's an episode that surely won't be forgotten anytime soon. Unintentional and uncomfortable reminders of a certain fanfic not withstanding

Here we are on to yet another classic from the first Season. Everything from the opening "Yay" scene to the Sonic Rainboom itself has deeply been ingrained within this fandom. It's also one of the first episodes to show Rainbow has some secret insecurity issues. Despite how high and mighty she acts most of the time, when things start looking dim she really starts to get into self-doubt. Even early on she shows a little room for nervousness, which only gets bigger and bigger especially when Rarity with her glamorous butterfly wings manages to get her in the competition (This unfortunately doesn't come too long after Suited for Success so for those watching in order, skeptics of Rarity, sometimes even if they were impressed by Rarity in that episode. They may go back to disliking her at least temporarily because of this episode). Rainbow thinks the judges will be too awe-inspired by Rarity's wings and goes as far as curl into a fetal position and also tries to avoid her turn by switching her number around. And when she finally is pushed out she bucks under the pressure and messes up a lot. But then when the time came, Rarity went a little too high and her wings burnt to a crisp in the ol' story of Icarus style and starts plummeting to the ground. The Wonderbolts attempt to save her but in her flailing, she manages to knock out both of the pegasi trying to save her. So Rainbow now has to get into gear and save three ponies from sure death.

And it's the heroic adrenaline within Rainbow that allows her to perform the coveted Sonic Rainboom, something important she did as a filly that would come back in another M.A. Larson episode in Season 1.. Ever since then Rainbow has been seen able to perform it on a whim. If you already saw Rainbow as pretty cool before this episode, then you absolutely loved her afterward. She may be far from the nicest pony and yes there are even moments fans of her may want to give her a slap or two. But there's no denying that it's episode like her that really show us a better picture of what Rainbow truly is, or at least what she'll be at her most ideal.

I know two of the bottom 3 episodes of the show were centered around her, but I never fault Rainbow Dash as a character for that. And there's a reason Rainbow became my new 2nd favorite pony by the end of Season 4. And that's thanks to a few more Rainbow Dash episodes we still have yet to get to. So while this isn't my favorite Rainbow Dash episode in the series, this is still a very much deserved spot for such a really awesome episode from the first season.

While you could argue there's still another Rarity focused episode to get to if you've been seeing what episodes are still to come by process of elimination (That episode will be in the next part in fact, but it's not credited even as a half Rarity episode). This is the highest Rarity focused episode. Also funny enough it was the only solo Rarity episode for a while, because after it aired there wouldn't be another Rarity episode until Season 4. Rarity finally gets her chance to live it up with the Upper Class of Canterlot society. But she also knows Twilight is having her birthday party in Ponyville soon, and she doesn't want to miss it. But as she's invited to more activities with the Canterlot Elite, she's afraid missing even one event will prevent her from getting any farther in the dream life she had for herself at one point. And it gets to the point where Rarity has to choose between attending Twilight's birthday, or the next important event.

Now some don't like what Rarity does in the episode (It should be noted that Rarity is not the element of Honesty here however), but she tries to tell a white lie by saying Opal is sick. However Rarity gets a surprise when upon opening her door, Twilight and her friends arrive. They decided to move the party to Canterlot so Rarity can participate anyway, not knowing this makes it even harder for Rarity. Because now she feels like she has to walk in-and-out of Twilight's party and Fancy Pant's garden party without garnering the suspicion of either side.. And it results in some really funny shenanigans as Rarity keeps finding the right excuses to walk between the two parties. But all goes to hell for her when her friends decide to crash the fancy party, resulting in a more subdued but may as well be yet another moment where the Main 6 ruin the fanciness of a big Canterlot party.

Despite this, when the snob ponies start questioning who those Ponies are. Rarity stands up for them despite knowing it could very well ruin her reputation forever with the Canterlot Elite. Luckily for her, the person running the party Fancy Pants is actually a cool dude and says in his own words that Rarity's friends have a rustic charm about them. And while it makes some of the Elite (Especially Jet Set and Upper Crust) hyprocites, suddenly they like them too. It's a very sweet (and elite? hohohoho) episode. And all this along with the song we got, is the best time I've ever had watching a Rarity episode.

How funny is it that the 26th episode of the series overall happens to also be #26 on this list? We're at the point now where (Well there's still a few Two-Parters to get to. So it would really be more) watching all the episodes left in the countdown would make the best possible Season marathon according to my personal views. And if you're watching it from 26th to whatever the other 25 are, what better way to start with what was an absolute great end to the first season. I know I'm not as big of a fan of Season 1 as some others are. As heck there's only one more Season 1 episode left in the countdown (And there's still at least a few more from every other season to get to, even Season 3).

But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the humble beginnings that were brought. And I have no doubt in my mind Best Night Ever in particular is one of the best episodes from the first Season for sure as it is the de facto example of what an episode that focuses on all six in the same episode and manage to pace it all perfectly that it still flows together perfectly. Each pony gets what they initially hoped for only for things to go wrong one way or another. Either through a whimper like Celestia being too busy greeting guests to spend proper time with Twilight and Applejack only getting one paying customer the whole night or through an outright bang where Fluttershy goes full rage mode when her talent is failing to give her the time she wanted with the animals she wanted. People still call it something like Cutie Mark Failure Syndrome where if somehow a pony fails at performing their special talent, they go insane.

While I would say despite crazy moments like Flutterrage, every following finale for the exception of Season 5's would outdo this episode on both epic, heartwarming and/or insane levels of things happening. That doesn't mean I think it's a bad finale, as I feel it was a great end to a very humble first season. Some fans kinda miss the more humbler times in the show, where we weren't expecting some sort of big fight against a powerful villain for the next two-parter or some big change to the status quo to come out of the finale. And I can certainly respect the feeling, as long as they understand in turn why I like seeing some of the big stuff that happens in later episodes. And it's not like every episode left are all crazy-fests, there's still some decidedly more humble episodes left to get to.

But it should be noted by now that there's still some of the other Finale's to get to yet. And when we get there, I'm going to explain the heck out of why I enjoy having more of a bang out of an ending of the season. Flutterage itself was a pretty big bang considerably back then, but for a while it got bigger and bigger. So while Best Night Ever isn't Best Episode Ever in this list, it's at a very respectable spot that I hope everyone will appreciate.

 

[SonicMario]

Video Link

(Song Used: Stay With Me - Celldweller)

I feel this episode unfortunately got swept up with what was perhaps the first large-scale drama in the fandom.. I'd argue Magical Mystery Cure wasn't even as upstaged by the drama surrounding it despite the Alicorn Twilight drama probably being much more important and/or status quo changing. It's hard to talk about The Last Round-Up without someone mentioning the elephant in the room of the Derpy censorship. Basically Amy Keating Rogers wrote in a small scene for the fandom favorite background pony to cause an accident that somewhat puts the plot in motion. In the original airing, Derpy had a somewhat deep voice but some thought fit very well anyway (Apparently it was a result of Tabitha who also voices Rarity and Luna thinking Derpy was male). Rainbow even outright calls her Derpy in the original version of the episode. The problem is apparently the name Derpy and the voice was enough to upset some people, Hasbro getting enough backlash that they edited subsequent airings so that the name Derpy was not used (In fact, in Derpy's first spoken appearance since then in Slice of Life she is credited as Muffins. Solid proof the name Derpy was one of the things complained about) and a much more normal female voice re-dubbed the lines. For a while, this causes major outrage within the fandom. As if Hasbro had given the fans a great gift, only to throw it on the ground and stomp on it in front of our eyes. When Derpy hardly had any appearances in Season 3, it was feared that the entire thing had led to Derpy no longer appearing whatsoever. But thankfully Derpy came back to her cameo glory in Season 4 (Technically a little before if you count Magical Mystery Cure).

But honestly it's a shame this episode is more remembered for what I like to call the Derpy Debacle, because the actual episode if you ignore everything Derpy related really makes for a great and entertaining episode. Yeah Applejack goes stubborn again, but given the pressure the whole town puts on her especially the Mayor, who can really blame her? She needed to win to get the prize money to help fix Town hall, and she didn't. So she felt like she failed all of Ponyville. And feels like she needs to now earn the money through part-time jobs if she's ever going to come back. Aside from Applejack, Pinkie is absolutely hilarious. Some would say the weaponized annoyance part was kinda much, but I do think that comedy-wise this is one of the best episodes for Pinkie. "Rarity, Catch me!" is probably my favorite moment of the entire episode, and Pinkie going rage mode after a Pinkie Promise seemed to had been broken was priceless too. The ending where AJ is forced to tell what happened is also very sweet, even if it's a little cheesy. But it lampshades it a bit with Rainbow complaining that it's even getting to her. While Applejack doesn't get to help out Ponyville, her friends and family just want her to be there for them. And they don't blame her that she couldn't get the prize money (Maybe the Mayor would of been very disappointed, but eh…).

It's an episode that got caught up in a lot of stuff that shouldn't have happened, but if you can manage to forget that for even a few minutes. I think for the most part you'd get one of the most fun Applejack episodes.

*Oh don't be so upset Sweetie! #24 for this episode is an awesome spot!

I compared Simple Ways to this episode being that they're both episodes themed on Romance but really just show more on the comedy aspect of it rather then actually get any serious with it. Though Simple Ways is far lower in comparison. That's because Simple Ways as much as I love the ending with farmer Rarity and Apple Jewel most of the episode actually is a little on the dull side at times. However, Hearts and Hooves Day is fun throughout the whole thing. Even though the entire episode centers around secondary characters. The only ones of the Mane 6 to appear is Twilight. And even then it's for a short time. Romance stories even if they're not taking things seriously like this episode does aren't exactly for everyone. So I understand some people's sentiments if they think it should be lower then this. But I can't help it, if I made a list for the funniest episodes in the show. I think this would at least make Top 5. I think it's funny the CMC basically become shippers and try to get Big Mac and Cheerilee together. Sweetie's "OH COME ON!" after Cheerilee and Big Mac's almost kiss is still one of my favorite moments of the entire series.

And while some may find the dialogue that love drugged Big Mac and Cheerilee say, the intent is that they're supposed to be so sickly sweet with another that it doesn't feel natural. If they had been saying stuff you'd expect an actual couple to do, it'd be hard to know if it's really the love poison they find out it is. Also one thing about this episode is I like is the placement of the episode airing order strangely enough, because the episode prior to this one is Read It and Weep. Where Twilight managed to get Rainbow Dash into reading, so in my mind when the scene where the CMC ask for the book that contains the love potion/poison ingredients. Twilight thinks the CMC also want to get into reading, implied a little more by the fact she tries to give them another book but the CMC had already ran away with the book they wanted. Season 2 is the only Season that doesn't have an arc of any kind so technically it's hard to say if it was intentional. But it's something I think can easily be made into a connection even if it's not intentional continuity.

I also kinda like how the episode left things vague at the end, you could either say Big Mac and Cheerilee were trolling the CMC by using one of those sickly sweet compliments, or if you've come to ship them that they're doing that plus affirming that the CMC got them onto something. Of course, now after Season 5 Cheerilee has some competition in Marble Pie. Though since Hearts and Hooves Day you see Cheerilee and Big Mac together a lot when they appear. They could very well just be good friends now after this ordeal and there's really no problem. But it won't stop the fandom from having it's silly shipping rivalries I'm sure. The episode is just straight up one of the most fun to watch episodes in the series, one of Meghan McCarthy's masterpieces to be sure.

Here we are at perhaps the one silver lining from the Equestria Games arc of episodes. It's always been a question about Scootaloo that despite her being a Pegasus we don't see her flying at all in the series. As it turns out, she may be disabled on that front. We don't know how much really, she really could be only able to flutter for a short time. Or it's just harder for her to learn then for most other ponies. Either way, this suddenly makes Scootaloo perhaps one of the most relatable ponies for anyone who has any kind of disability whether it's physical or mental. This is also the one episode you could say Diamond really goes a little too far, I wouldn't be surprised if there's Scootaloo fans who still can't forgive Diamond despite her redemption in Crusaders of the Lost Mark. Because bullying the disabled is something many find really despicable. She outright says that the Crusaders attempt to represent the three pony types in their presentation is flawed since their pegasus can't fly. While Sweetie and Apple Bloom had it set up to make up for that this forces Scootaloo to start trying for hours and hours to get flying to no avail.

Another thing about the episode that was done really well was Rainbow's part of the episode, we know for a fact Scootaloo looks up to Rainbow. And they even started their sister-like bond prior to this episode in Sleepless in Ponyville. Flight to the Finish is the episode where Rainbow proves why Scoots looks up to her, and proves she can be a good big sister. The ending where she says she'll be behind Scootaloo no matter if she can fly or not is very poignant. This is the pony who values flying fast and well over a lot of things, so showing that she can still get behind someone she knows who may never get the chance to be able to do the things she does is very heartwarming. And it's one of the reasons why Rainbow has risen up to be my 2nd favorite pony. The only thing that's a little awkward with the episode, is the fake-out close up of Scootaloo's flank. Sure Scootaloo has her cutie mark now, but at that point it still wasn't nice to just give us a big tease like that.

While we certainly have had a lot of fun with Discord episodes after his return, it's pretty much true that there's yet to be a Discord episode (Unless you count a certain finale) to surpass his own debut. Cause in at least the first half of this episode, he's always made a great case for best villain in the series. There had to have been a reason they brought him back in the first place, and that was because he was so fun for the staff to have the first time around. He was funny, he was smart (Until the ending anyway, Discord probably should not have been as overconfident especially since as it turns out Celestia and Luna took him down in a similar way), and a design that fit his character so much. Not to mention having John De Lancie voice him, who played a similar reality warping character called Q in a particularly popular Star Trek series.

The discorded Mane 6 characters were even a lot of fun especially Liarjack and Greedity that defended a rock as if she was Gollum from Lord of the Rings. (Speaking of which "HERE COMES TOM" is one of my favorite parts in the episode). The moment where Twilight goes grey after all her friends went their separate ways definitely deserves to be among one of the saddest parts of the series. Also as much as I was never too big on the friendship letters, at least they gave them a great purpose in this episode (Though there's clearly more then 25 letters in that pile, meaning there's friendship lessons Twilight learned that we never even saw. Oh well, makes room for fanfic material I suppose) in being the moment that turns things around as Twilight reads them. A fun fact about this episode is that this was originally meant to be the Season 1 Finale, thus kinda explaining why they had the letters play a role her but they had to push it for the Season 2 Opener instead. Which is fine by me as it got a pretty good season off to a pretty good start.

Before heading into the episode, it should be fun to note this is the first episode in the entire series that Twilight doesn't appear at all. And you know what, I'm really thankful for that. It may sound odd that despite Twilight being my favorite pony that I would be glad Twilight doesn't have to appear in an episode anymore. But it's thanks to Lesson Zero that such things are even possible. I've said a few times throughout this countdown that I've felt the friendship letters and Twilight having to appear because of those letters felt like they were limiting Season 1. As there are some episodes that didn't necessarily need Twilight to be in them at all. Also in a similar fashion to how I mentioned that Read It and Weep takes place before Hearts and Hooves Day. I like to think Twilight's had enough after not only having to take care of Discord and her discorded friends, going crazy in Lesson Zero, and then having to help Luna adjust. Was a lot of work on the poor girl and she gets some much needed rest.

This is also one of the few Sweetie Belle episodes, although it could count as a Rarity episode for some, the plot centers around Sweetie much more. There's precedent in this countdown after all, Somepony Watching Over Me is credited as an Apple Bloom episode even if Applejack plays a pretty big role in that episode. But regardless both Rarity and Sweetie bounce each other off at their best, and we get a great family related episode. Again despite being a show titled Friendship is Magic, there's a lot of family episodes that are almost always highlights in the show. But Friendship & Family is Magic doesn't exactly have the same ring to it. Even Applejack and Apple Bloom get to have a great moment or two in the episode. Applejack must have some amazing lungs if she was able to stay under the mud for so long, and I always find Apple Bloom's somewhat threatening line "ONE. DAY." hilarious. And I think it's really clever what they did with the switch between AJ and Rarity, while those who can notice details even on the first watch may pick it up right away (Eye change and the horn still pricking through) if you weren't paying attention that hard (Admittedly I wasn't) you get the same sort of surprise Sweetie does, probably partly because you wouldn't think Rarity would even consider covering herself in all that mud. But that just makes it more heartwarming that she'd do that to get the trust back from Sweetie.

On a few side notes, we get to see Rarity's parents for the first time, it's a bit funny that Rarity's dad might be a hoofball player if the three footballs are any indication. But I've once concocted a theory surrounding that (Which I won't tell here since it's not really relevant to the episode at hand). We also learn Sweetie is a terrible cook, to the point she even messes up toast and juice. One last thing I also kinda like about the episode is that Rarity and Sweetie don't win the race, as would be normal for most shows like this to do. It kinda shows that winning wasn't the important thing, just more so spending good time with those you care for the most. This is absolutely one of the best episodes of Season 2, and for certain gets a good high spot in this countdown

 

[Milo Thatch]

The one thing I didn't like about Flight to the Finish was the song. To me, it felt like it was ripping off Mulan.

 

[SonicMario]

Video Link

(Song Used: Fly Away - Lenny Kravitz)

We're now at the Top 20! The end is so close you can almost smell it. Still, There's this part and another three to go before this list finally is wrapped up. These will surely be full of episodes that I consider some of the best we've ever seen in the show

*Insert Reading Rainbow joke here

I've said a few times already that Rainbow Dash is my 2nd favorite pony starting somewhere between the end of Season 3 and late Season 4. It used to be Fluttershy until then, but if you asked me where the seeds were planted when Rainbow Dash started her upward trend for me personally? It would be this episode, Read It and Weep.

This is a great episode for many reasons, first of which it can be seen as very, very meta. Most of us fans were in Rainbow's exact situation if you put her and reading as an allegory for us watching this show for the first time. Just replace FiM with reading/Daring Do, us with Rainbow Dash, and the typical excuses of "How can MLP be good?" with "Reading's for eggheads". We get to see Rainbow have a bit of a nerdy fangirl side to her. While I've always kinda liked Rainbow for a few reasons even if she was kinda jerkish throughout much of Season 1 and Early Season 2. One reason is me being a Sonic fan, I saw many similar qualities that I like about Sonic as a character that are also in Rainbow. It's honestly not that hard for me to describe Rainbow to someone familiar with Sonic by saying that not only personality-wise are they similar, but Rainbow's blue, known for her blinding speed. The only major differences of course is gender, species, and Rainbow's fast speed comes in the air rather then the ground. But this episode gets into something that can finally differ a bit from there, as all the Nerdy sort of character quirks you usually find from Tails, not Sonic. It opens up an entirely new side to Rainbow, ok maybe not entirely new considering she did have fangirl squee's in the first season. But certainly something we weren't expecting, in a good way of course.

Even when Rainbow realizes that she's hooked, she tries to hide it from all her friends. Just like how some of us might of been nervous about people knowing we watch a My Little Pony show. Cause just like how Rainbow fell under the stigma that Reading was for eggheads, nerds, etc. we fell under the stigma that this was supposed to be a little girl's show that had no right to be watched by older men. Rainbow thinks, even if her friends have already stated they enjoy a good book or two that they'll laugh since earlier Rainbow denied Twilight's efforts to get her to read. It was only when she got bored enough that she eventually gave in and gave the book a shot. (While I certainly wasn't insulting it before, how I got into the show was also through boredom. I watched the pilot, got intrigued enough to binge watch every episode that had aired at that point within one week. Safe to say I got hooked pretty fast) Daring Do itself was an interesting thing to basically being ponified Indiana Jones, with raiding temples with traps, and over-the-top stunts and villains. While it's proved controversial now that Daring Don't revealed Daring Do is a real pony. It doesn't entirely ruin the fun of seeing a fictional book series within a TV series already full of fictional things. Cause only the Mane 6 truly know Daring's secret (Well the villains too, but I think since most ponies still think it's fictional. If they tried exposing Daring, if it even worked without the ponies thinking they're crazy fans that think Daring Do is real, that would expose their misdeeds and they would be arrested).

After this episode we even see Rainbow chilling and reading a Daring Do book from time-to-time. So even better is that it sticks, you see Rainbow with a Daring Do book more often then you see her with Tank to be perfectly honest. Read It and Weep just does it all both meta level and in-universe level. Not bad for an episode that easily could of played off the Reading Rainbow (see what I did there) angle of "please just read, kids!" They manage to make it so it can be an allegory for a lot of media as opposed to limiting to getting kids to read. It's still important for kids to read, but they shouldn't have it crammed into their brains in the shows they watch.

*Applejack why do you get to be Batma- oh wait, I remember your p*mumbled* are d-*mumbled*

For all the flack Merriwether Williams got for a while, it's certainly a surprise that she has an episode worthy of the Top 20 huh? Though this seems to have been the last episode she ever wrote for the show. As we have not seen her credited for an episode since Bats! (The original airing of Bats somehow made the mistake of putting McCarthy as the writer, but that was fixed later on). Well if it was Merriwether Williams last episode for the show, at least she left on a good note. Cause for once, an episode that easily could of been another politics-esque debate like Feeling Pinkie Keen and Over a Barrel turned out pretty good.

While technically the episode seems to imply it favors Fluttershy's side of the argument with Applejack given the darker lighting in the Stop the Bats song whenever Applejack is on-screen. The episode doesn't actually turn into an environmentalist episode where leaving the bats alone is always the right choice. Farmers really do have to deal with pests that can ruin their crops. At the same time however in the song even when depicting Fluttershy's lighter side the bats in Fluttershy's imagine spots are a lot cuter then the actual bats look so in that way it can be seen as Fluttershy being too optimistic. So even if it technically seems like it leans slightly to the environmentalist sort of thing, it also can show how being too optimistic in the moral choice can feel as out of place as the pessimist view.

And yeah, I'm one of those that think Fluttershy becoming a vampire pony was a really awesome moment. There's a reason the fandom has been obsessed with Batponies ever since then (While technically bat ponies have existed since Luna Eclipsed because of Luna's guards, I don't think Batponies were super popular until after Bats! aired), Fluttershy as a vampire design-wise looked very good and it provides one of the show's best attempt at a horror-esque concept. Batpony Fluttershy even got some good uses in the next season, with two appearances from the form. Fluttershy and Applejack also learn two good morals for both characters to learn. This is one of the few times you could almost get a Courage the Cowardly Dog vibe in Friendship is Magic, which for me is a very good thing given that's another of my favorite shows of all-time. Again, if this was truly Merriwether Williams final episode for the show. She left on a good note, however believe it or not. This isn't even her last episode in this countdown.

*Coincidentally this picture is also Pinkie's cover for her debut album. Containing such hits as Hammer(space) Time and the Fresh Pink of Belle-Air (Ft. Sweetie Belle)

Ah yes, the only episode so far to truly be a duo episode between my two favorite episodes. While you could argue both Daring Do episodes are also Twilight and Rainbow episodes. Those episodes certainly focus a lot more on Dash. In Testing, Testing, 1, 2 , 3. Both Twilight and Rainbow learn something by the end. This is also the final Duo episode in the countdown. Meaning it is currently my favorite duo episode of the series. Though again maybe that's not a surprise since once again these are my two favorite ponies. Though the episode being about my favorite ponies isn't the pure reason it's this high. As otherwise there would be absolutely no Twilight and Rainbow episodes in my bottom 12 if I let bias get in the way. My least favorite episode of the show is even a Rainbow episode.

The reason I love this episode is how it centers around that there's multiple ways to learn, and that's something I personally like in a moral. Because to be honest if I was forced only one way to learn something I might have struggled in School. There are some parts in school I had to learn a little differently due to how my mild form of Asperger's works. I used to hate Math until my freshmen high school teacher had a method that worked wonders for me, from everything from Elementary to Middle school I was getting C's and D's in Math. But upon High School, thanks to my Freshmen year math teacher I was getting A's and B's. I also had a class where I could get my homework done at School as opposed of dealing with any stress of having to wait to get home to get things done. And that really helped me a lot throughout my High School years. So to see an episode that recognizes that there is no 100% foolproof method to teaching something is great. Even if for some it might be a little too optimistic since some School's will try to jam their "tried and true" methods down your throat. And if it doesn't work, then they say that you're the problem, not the method, and thus they fail you. I was more then lucky enough to have a school willing to help me a little more then with other students so I didn't exactly have that problem. Some people just learn differently, it depends on the school if they fully support that.

I also find Rainbow's ability to pick up details while on a flight kind of interesting and kinda hope they use it cleverly in anyway possible similar to what they've done with Fluttershy's stare at some points. Using Rainbow's ability for reconnaissance would especially be cool if there's a fight against an army of creatures. On a side note there's some pretty good humor, Pinkie's rap that comes right out of the Early 90's (Complete with a screen format change and visual effects as if you're watching on a VHS) was crazy fun to see. If there's one thing I would nitpick, is that I wish Applejack's method of choice to try on Rainbow was something a little more thought out then "Apples!". But otherwise this is a great episode about how there's more then one way to learn something, it factoring into Rainbow getting closer and closer to becoming a wonderbolt is a big bonus to the episode as well.

Season 4 was successful in so many ways, some of the new characters introduced were no slouch either. Maud Pie was an instant fandom favorite just about as if not even more so then Coco Pommel. The episode itself and the character has a different way of humor that hasn't been see much in the show. Dry humor, where something is so exaggerated in mundaneness or mellowness that it's funny. It's amusing to see most of the Mane 6 just don't know how to react to this strange pony who seems to lack much emotion, and has a deep obsession with rocks. It's not the unique type of humor alone that makes this episode though, it's the ending that shows that Maud really does have emotion. She just shows it in a very different way from most ponies. Very relatable since there are people who are born introverts that even if they look or sound like they don't care, that's not the truth. They're just far from excitable or never really show signs of excitement and/or their emotions are all bottled up inside.

Pinkie and Maud are total opposites in the way they present themselves to people, but they love each other just as much as any pair of sisters do. So not only is it a good episode friend-wise, it's also one of the best in terms of Family morals. While it is a bit obvious Maud Pie was just made during Season 4, because we don't see Maud at all in Pinkie's flashback with her family (Though you could say that Maud arrived for Pinkie's first party a little late) in Cutie Mark Chronicles. They still managed to make Maud fit in well, probably a better way at handling the sudden new sibling for a main character then Shining Armor was as much as I do like him anyway.

It took a pretty long while for Scootaloo to finally get her own episode, but when she did. Boy did it hit the ball out of the park, Sleepless in Ponyville might just be the universal favorite of Season 3 if you put into account the episodes that were generally received the best and which ones had the least drama. This episode started the whole non-Family sisterhood with Rainbow that would actually stick heading into Seasons 4 and 5. It is also the beginning of the Dreamwalker Luna trilogy of episodes that involve each of the CMC. As I said before, a lot of people go nuts over Luna having any roles. But I can understand for this one since until Sleepless in Ponyville, Luna only had minor parts of Two-Parters after Luna Eclipsed. The ability to go through dreams is definitely an interesting power, and I think may put up something interesting if you think back to Luna from 1000 years ago. I think it's possible Luna tried to help kids even back then, but she scared kids doing this more often then not. Backfiring on her quite a bit and only contributing to Luna's turn to Nightmare Moon. But now Luna's taking a more gentle approach, and assisting Scootaloo in getting over her fear of looking like a scaredy pony in front of Rainbow.

Eventually Scoots does have to admit to Rainbow that she's been scared a few times during their camping trip due to the scary stories being told not to mention being all alone in a dark forest and/or cave for most of the episode. Which Rainbow responds that it's ok, cause Rainbow admits that as a filly the same sort of stories also scared her though if Scoots ever told anyone that, Rainbow would deny it. The episode also was really good in the comedy apartment, Scootaloo being so driven crazy she thinks she can call a stick to come closer as if it was a dog and Rarity despising camping. Just a solid episode all around with more Scootalove you'll ever find. Now if only I could figure out what happened to Corey between this episode and Rainbow Falls...

 

[SonicMario]

Video Link

(Song Used: My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion)

Love is in the air in as we reach the Top 15. We have two different weddings, my favorite of the Dreamwalker Luna trilogy, and the best episodes of the two tomboyish characters according to the list. These episodes may not be in the Top 10. But they're no slouches in any department from my point of view.

This is a pretty special episode, I'm not saying that just because in this list it's the best Applejack episode. But it's also Amy Keating Roger's final episode for the show before she headed off to work for Disney. She's one of the writers who have been there since the show began, and it's super cool that her last episode also proved to be a really good episode. Kinda fitting too since her first episode solo (Since she also worked with Faust a bit on Ticket Master) was an Applejack episode that also was very good (That was Applebuck Season). And I think this episode already even far surpasses that first episode of her's. Cause this is definitely one of the most heartwarming episodes you could find.

And lots of talent being put in from the music side of things. As the new character is voiced by a proven singer who went all out for this episode. Even the song based on the autotune kind of music these days felt at least a little bit catchy even if lacked any real depth to it (Though that's on purpose to show us what Sven Gallop has forced Rara to do to her music). One thing I like about the episode is it doesn't drag out Rara being angry at Applejack for having suspicions on Sven Gallop. There's a moment where it's like that it first, but Rara at least gives Applejack a chance to prove what she means. And in no time, Rara confronts her controlling manager and fires him. Though because Rara initially had trouble getting her talent out there without him, she initially worries that despite Sven being the big jerk he is. She's afraid he was right that she might be nothing without him. But thanks to some reassurance from her old friend, she just goes out there and sings her heart out. For probably one of the best singing performances this show has ever seen. The song she sings I think is by far the best song of all of Season 5 and a good candidate for best of the series too.

After which, she sings another song which is a reprise of the song she sung in a flashback with AJ and Rara as fillies (Which I still think should be Equestria's national anthem) and even brings the CMC in to sing with her feeling like a proper sendoff for Amy because of course the episode previous to this one was Amy writing the episode the CMC finally got their Cutie Marks. While this was Amy's last episode for the show, this certainly isn't her last in this countdown

I don't think anyone after Season 2 finished would ever think Merriwether would ever be able to write an episode worthy of being in the Top 15 of the show regardless of how many episodes there would end up being in the series. But here we are, it's funny. Merriwether William's first episode in the series is one of the worst episodes of the series, and it if it weren't for Rainbow Falls it would be the worst Rainbow episode in this countdown. But now getting to a Season 3 episode of her's where while she would kinda mess up again with Spike at your Service. At the very least she did perhaps the best job she ever did for the show in Wonderbolts Academy. If you asked me which episode gets the most ideal characterization for Rainbow for me, this would be the episode I'd say in a heartbeat. No other Rainbow episode captures the essence of the Element of Loyalty then this episode does. It's extremely poignant when we see Rainbow almost give up her dream of being a Wonderbolt, after she sees the organization seems to be favoring results over the safety of other ponies.

I also see Lightning Dust as a bit of a mirror of Rainbow in terms of Rainbow could of easily become something like her had she never gotten into friendship. A reckless pony who is not only vain about themselves, but their tricks don't put into account any sort of safety of innocent bystanders, not even one hint of regret either. It shows that while not everybody is a fan of Rainbow Dash's character sometimes, it really shows it could be much, much, MUCH worse. Even in the worst Rainbow episodes, you see Rainbow have some degree of regret or sadness, like for example the scene I mentioned for Mare-Do-Well where Rainbow is alone on the cloud. The scene where Rainbow confront Lightning Dust could almost be seen as Rainbow Dash looking at her dark side that by now she's learned to not listen to most of the time. Lightning Dust is literally what Rainbow Dash would be if she had none of her redeeming qualities.

My only nitpick with the episode would be that the ending is rather weird where it really left it vague on whether Rainbow was closer to being a Wonderbolt or not. But I suppose that was left for Season 4 and beyond to answer. And it seems Rainbow Dash is still ever so slowly getting there. In Season 4 she takes an important test on the Wonderbolts and in Season 5 she's part of the Wonderbolt Reserves. Not an official Wonderbolt, but in the case of an accident or as in the case of Rarity Investigates, an arrested Wonderbolt, she flies in their place. In Season 6 it's possible Rainbow could very well finally get to Wonderbolt status. If Twilight could become an Alicorn Princess, and the CMC get their Cutie Marks. I sure wouldn't doubt the possibility. And the journey towards that point would have started here, where Rainbow Dash could be seen as exorcising some old demons through her confronting Lighting Dust the way she does.

I don't think I stated this already in the countdown, Sweetie Belle is far and away my favorite of the CMC. Even in some of the weaker CMC episodes she tends to have at least one line that makes me laugh. IMO she also has the cutest design and voice out of the three. And while her relation with Rarity often gets tenuous as in both of Sweetie's episodes, she had some big disagreement with Rarity, we can see Rarity and Sweetie care very much for another. One especially cool thing about the episode is it's very much a Christmas Carol kind of situation where Sweetie even travels back with Luna to see her Past, something that will come the next day, and the future regarding a bad decision from Sweetie. But *gasp* this isn't even a holiday special, they took a pretty overused concept but made it fresh by applying to something other then a holiday.

This is also the 2nd of the Dreamwalker Luna trilogy, and as I imply with where I rank I think it's the absolute best out of all of them not only because of Sweetie Belle's part. But Luna feels more involved then she was in the other two, it's also really fitting for Luna to help out Sweetie given Luna has also been in a situation where she was upset at an older sister. Not that Sweetie would turn evil or something, but nonetheless Sweetie and Luna feel like they can have a natural bond of both having been the frustrated younger sister who feels overshadowed by their older sibling. Luna doesn't want Sweetie to make a similar mistake in doing something to spite her sister. Add in some fun imagery they use while in the dreamworld, and you have a pretty awesome episode.

This is also Dave Polsky's highest ranking episode. I think this is why I can't see myself overreacting whenever a so-called lackluster writer's name comes up in the opening credits. Cause writers can improve or at the very least at least for once give us some honest to goodness gems. Dave Polsky and Merriwether Williams were once perhaps the most disliked writers on the show staff, but at least in this list. They managed to both get at least one within the Top 15. Which is an amazing accomplishment for a successful show like this.

I can already kinda feel a bit of a controversy with this being this high. Though the thing is, I was afraid when making my list that the Top 10 would literally just be the episodes I've always listed as my Personal favorites. But at least two episodes that still are great, but not amongst my personal favorites was able to push it out. But #12 is still a really good spot, and I'm sure if any people who despised this episodes saw my countdown they would heavily disagree on so many levels. Cause this episode has been nitpicked perhaps more the any other episode that it's gotten to the point where it's just as easy to love this episode as it is to hate it. It's arguably considered one of the more overrated episodes of the show, but nonetheless I can't help but love it. I do concur that Shining and Cadence should have at least been mentioned prior to this episode so their introductions aren't as rushed as they are. Doesn't really help they haven't done a lot with Shining, though at least Cadence has gotten some good use by now.

It's easy to admit that had Canterlot Wedding been a fanfic instead of an episode it probably wouldn't be loved much at all considering it has some obvious cliches of bad fanfiction. A new character that is a family member of a main character, as well as an Alicorn other then Celestia and Luna which was considered impossible at one point. At the very least they didn't combine the two and in a relationship with a different main character as that probably would of got everything off the checklist on Friendship is Magic Mary Sues. But I don't know, despite the glaring similarities I'm not sure I count either Shining nor Cadence as Mary Sue's even if you only cover Canterlot Wedding. Cause for one, Mary Sue's don't make mistakes. And technically even if it's offscreen, both very much did. It's obvious Chrysalis as Cadence acts quite differently from the real Cadence, but I suppose like everyone else Shining thought it was the pressure of the wedding getting to her and by the time he could do anything about it he was already under Chrysalis' control. And obviously there had to be a time Chrysalis fought against Cadence and won, otherwise she wouldn't have been imprisoned in those crystal caverns. And it's not like Cadence and Shining didn't need anyone else's help to defeat the Changelings.

Twilight was still needed to get Cadence out of the caverns in the first place, and the fight scene the Mane 6 get involved in gives some hope that the Changelings can be fought back. Even when the Mane 6 can no longer continue the fight, it just proves to make Chrysalis overconfident as Twilight manages to free Cadence long enough for Shining and Cadence to what seems to be combining their talents (Shining's shield powered by Cadence's love magic) to expel all the Changelings out of Canterlot. There's a lot of media in the past where the villain's only big mistake was getting overconfident, heck even Discord had that problem in Return of Harmony. So regardless of how many nitpick Chrysalis' plan, it for the most part still worked until her overconfidence became her downfall. And no just because they're changelings and feed off love doesn't mean they'd be unaffected by the spell, if they're not sucking it dry from an effected pony that love energy is still energy that could hurt them. And technically by the same logic Chrysalis could of just eaten Celestia's laser too, cause if it's true that friendship/love is what powers magic in well… Friendship is Magic, then Chrysalis could of been able to absorb that too since that blast could qualify as Celestia's love for her subjects.

The Romantic type of love probably powers up a changeling faster and much stronger, but has it ever been said that a Changeling only gets power from that type of love? Anyway, Canterlot Wedding is the first time we had a real big boom in a Finale. Hasbro actually managed to hide a lot of the Changelings existence so that we were legitimately surprised when Chrysalis was revealed. Even if you don't consider that great of a villain, she definitely had a very unique design, and it didn't take long for her and the changelings to get a following. So much so the very first issue of the MLP Comics from IDW focused on the return of Chrysalis. For a long while it was hard for anyone imagining any future episode topping this one in every possible way. But believe it or not, the episode has made episodes that vastly improve upon Canterlot Wedding. Regardless where you stand on this episode, this episode has had immense impact since it aired through the introduction of characters, challenging the staff to surpass the bar they raised with this episode in terms of epicness, music, and total grand scale.

There may be people out there that despise this episode perhaps more passionately then I do with Rainbow Falls even, but I also think there's still more people you'd find who love this episode like I do more then you'll find people who absolutely adore something that's in my Bottom 12. And I think just making it into the Top 12 is an excellent spot for such a big episode like this.

*Remember this following picture is your fault, yes you, no matter who's bothering to read this. But we love you nonetheless for it.

Canterlot Wedding isn't the only wedding related episode in this part. Just one outside the Top 10 is the episode that is the reason I can even make a Top 100. This is Episode 100 itself! An episode full of love letter references to the fandom as for the exception of the final few seconds, none of the Mane 6 have any lines and we get a focus on popular background Ponies. You could even call the ponies focused on in the episode the Background 6 if you will. You have Derpy, Doctor Whooves, Lyra, Bon Bon, Octavia, and Vinyl Scratch. And even with all these fandom references, IMO this episode also hits it off well as a regular episode even if you weren't big into fandom characters just because of how the moral is represented. Though no doubt if you've been in the fandom long enough the episode feels all the more special. Of course given this was all for the fandom there were or still are people who never thought this was a good idea at all. But I'm pretty sure this is one case where we can lighten up on things for once.

Because it is thanks to us that the show could have reached it this far. The show might of likely ended after Season 3 had we not helped it be the success it was (There was a time in Magical Mystery Cure's development where they thought (including the writer M.A. Larson himself) it was going to be the Series finale). So for sure we can see this episode as a huge thank you from not only the staff but even Hasbro itself (The staff has even said it was Hasbro's idea to have Episode 100 be a love letter to us). And again, beyond just the fandom stuff I think even the kids who are not aware of the popular background characters (Though there are kids who do notice them sometimes, I have heard stories of little girls who absolutely love Derpy for example) can enjoy them as well because to them they're just introduced to vaguely familiar characters, I wouldn't be surprised if the episode raised awareness of the characters for the younger fans who hardly know about the fandom on the internet so there could be a lot more younger fans who enjoy the likes of Derpy, Vinyl Scratch, and Lyra. I do think this episode got the right balance of bringing in fandom popular characters and still providing a fun episode for all ages. Moments like Gummy's inner monologue as well as the entire insane scene where Vinyl and Octavia ride some sort of music speaker automobile that goes on around the same time is certainly one of those unforgettable hilarious moments.

Whether or not you've paid attention to the fandom there's something for everyone in this episode and that's not the easiest thing to do. While the episode itself isn't going to have much impact since I doubt we get much more episodes like this, this episode does have a lot of impact in terms of that it is us that resulted in it's creation. Both from that it would never have come to pass without us, and that it's the tons of fandom content for the characters focused on that gave the staff at least a vague clue on what would make most people happy to see them do. And the show even provides a few new things of it's own such as Bon Bon being a secret agent. There's no doubt that this was a special episode, and certainly is a highlight of this show's history.



Coming on Thursday is the final stretch of the countdown! The Top 10 is close at hand. If you've been at all keeping in mind which episodes haven't been covered yet you'll know what episodes made it, you just won't know the exact order I put them in.

 

[SonicMario]

Video Link

(Song Used: Lose Yourself - Eminem)

At last here we are at the Top 10, some of you may wish I had just done the Top 10 from the start. But I really wanted to go all out as well as recognize the many episodes that while weren't good enough to get here, were still awesome. There is after all a lot more then 10 awesome episodes in this show, otherwise it wouldn't be so big if only a few here and there were great. But as true with any Top 10, these are the episodes I consider the true cream of the crop one way or another.

Rainbow Dash wasn't always my 2nd favorite pony. While my #1 will always be Twilight, nothing will change that for the foreseeable future. In my first year or so of being a fan of the show I had no 2nd favorite and viewed the rest of the Mane 6 as good as one another. Even now I can't rank Rarity, Applejack, or Pinkie one over another for several reasons. But the first pony to really break out for me was Fluttershy. And that was mainly thanks to this episode. This is absolutely one of the best episodes the show has ever seen, I could even see some people get angry at me that this isn't in the Top 5 even if all thing's considered making it just in the Top 10 is still a pretty awesome spot. This is one of the few episodes that are very emotionally charged. There's not many episodes like it in this show, but when it does happen you know you just watched something special. I like everything from the surprisingly mature look at Bullying and it's effects even when the victim has grown up years since then, Fluttershy not suddenly being super good at flying despite the training montage, and ultimately the ending where Rainbow even gives up the thought of getting the record to get everything they can to get the bare minimum when some of the pegasi were too sick to participate.

It's bar none the best Fluttershy episode in the series, and even though Cindy's work for the show have been all over the place in this countdown whether good or bad. This is pretty much her magnum opus, all of her episodes after Hurricane Fluttershy are closer to the other side of the spectrum in this countdown but I'm not going to hold that against the episodes she really did well. I can't recommend Hurricane Fluttershy enough

*Sweet, sweet schadenfreude

In this list, Trixie's debut may have not faired so well considerably since Boast Busters is all the way back in the Bottom 12. However even if the original episode of a character wasn't too impressive that doesn't mean an episode that has a major return of that character can't be on the opposite side of the spectrum. If you remember my blurb on Boast Busters I said it took until Magic Duel for Trixie to grow on me. While it seems odd that an episode where she's a lot more cruel considerably would make me like her more. The context is with the Alicorn Amulet, you could say Trixie was bad for planning on getting the Amulet in the first place. But the apology at the end implies that was not her intention, unlike most of the antagonist/villian redemptions, we get the sense that the Amulet was more the culprit then Trixie was. If Trixie had somehow won the duel against Twilight without the Amulet she simply would of left and been satisfied that her pride had been restored. She didn't intend on enslaving the entire town until that Amulet corrupted her mind. It also makes so much sense for this corrupted Trixie to be torturing Snips and Snails the most for their part in Boast Busters, because to be honest Snips and Snails were the reason for Trixie's embarrassments more then Twilight was.

The episode was funny, it had pretty good magic duels (Note: Magic Duel's don't have to be straight up laser battles. Sometimes you just need to show your power and/or out smart your opponent instead of straight-up roughing your opponent up). I love how clever it is that Twilight uses Trixie's own talent against her (Illusion Magic) to trick the corrupted Trixie into letting go of her Amulet. Some people point out that Trixie didn't turn back immediately after she tore off the Amulet, but I think at that point the corruption in her mind was still there. It's just like how the longer you wear the Amulet the more it corrupts you, it's the vice versa for however long you have it on. This episode is why I would love to see another return of Trixie, the next time we see Trixie she should be on Twilight's side for once. I think it'd be nice to see what Trixie does as somepony trying to be a little more friendly then she was. The way the "Apologetic Trixie" scene at the end implies, it could be very amusing.

It's safe to say the wait for Season 4 was a tumultuous time for the fandom. Season 3 had ended with such controversial subjects to mull over like Twilight becoming an Alicorn, Discord being reformed, the general argument about the general quality of Season 3 compared to the previous seasons (Even if I feel the amount of episodes made that unfair), and it didn't help that we had another source of Drama pop up during this break with the first Equestria Girls movie. I don't think it's hard to say being a Brony during this time was all that fun no matter where your stance was on Season 3. I wouldn't be surprised if there were people who would of otherwise been fine with the changes we got and even Equestria Girls 1, but were alienated from the fandom due to how hostile people were no matter where you stood on any of the controversies.

But for those who managed to stick it out for the 281 days we went without a new episode after Magical Mystery Cure, Season 4 would finally arrive with this episode. And do you know what this episode did within the first 5 minutes? Address most concerns people had about Twilight being a Princess. Somewhat retconning that final flying scene that even I didn't like, Twilight being unsure about the whole thing, her friends supporting her through and through, and more. I think while there were still concerns and definitely some still a little salty about the whole thing I think the Season 4 opener was huge in showing the show had not gone completely off the deep end like a lot had feared. Discord was even his entertaining jerk self again. Also while the Cutie Map in Season 5 went off kilter from the normal two-parter formula, you could say this episode did the same thing. There was no true villain (Even if you could stretch it by saying past Discord), and while the Elements were used again they are being given up rather then just used to stop the threat. So while the Elements do instantly get rid of the problem similar to the many endings of previous two-parters there is more of a catch to it this time, they're putting the Elements back in the Tree of Harmony perhaps permanently.

You could say Rainbow Power that would come later in the season is just replacing the Elements with a different kind of Elements, though we don't know for sure if that's the case since Twilight's Kingdom is the only time we see Rainbow Power being used (There was the dream in Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? But that was it, just a dream). But still the elements themselves have been there since Season 1, so to have the Mane 6 give them up in order to save Equestria as well as Celestia and Luna instead of just using them again feels more poignant. This also means Discord can't be turned back to stone easily if he were to fall back to his evil ways, in some ways you could see that as why Discord subtly helps Twilight out in the first place since Discord knew the seeds were his all along and he could of easily known that giving up the elements is the only thing that could destroy those vines. Which leads well into what the staff intended for Discord in Season 4 that if Discord truly is good now. Twilight's Kingdom would eventually give us that answer, but Discord was a mystery once again thanks to this episode. I feel this episode should definitely get a lot of credit for transitioning from the concerns from Post-Season 3 to the new Season that would be full of Twists and Turns.

Ever since Season 1 we've been waiting to see if the CMC get their Cutie Marks. I still remember a lot of people thinking the CMC's Cutie Marks was just going to be another of those things that would never be revealed before the show's end. I didn't share that pessimism but even I was thinking they'd probably save their Cutie Marks for when they know they're in the final season. But here we are, they get their marks slightly past the middle of Season 5 and we're only a few days from the beginning of at least one more Season and a Movie in 2017.

It helps that this did come legitimately as a surprise, most fans watching weren't expecting the Cutie Marks at all actually even if in hindsight maybe it should of been a little obvious when the episode was being represented as a musical. Because this is very much what Magical Mystery Cure was for Twilight, what this episode was for the CMC. Cause you have many tributes to the CMC episodes of before, and even some background for Diamond Tiara to show why she's been so mean before. Now I'm amongst the crowd that wants to see Diamond see do more good deeds before I start forgiving her for everything she did before. But it is still legitimately hard not to feel bad even for her that her Mom demands so much of her as that's actually a very relatable thing for some. As not everybody grows up with good parents, I feel actually lucky that I have parents that care very much for me and vice versa.

Regarding the music in the episode, I don't feel there's a huge stand out like there was in the other two musicals in the series. But if I had to say which song was my favorite from the episode, it'd be Diamond's "The Pony I Want To Be". As you can also kinda guess by now both of the other Musicals are also higher in the list then this one since I haven't gotten to either of them yet. As I feel regardless how huge it is that the CMC got their Cutie Marks, the episode's execution does not feel as solid as the others but considering it's #7 in the countdown that doesn't mean it's bad, just I felt the other two Musical episodes still executed it better. In fact, one of the other musicals is what's in #6

I've said earlier in the list that Pinkie was very inconsistent throughout Season 4. However, between all of this there was a moment where Season 4 actually had a Pinkie episode far better then anything before and since in Pinkie Pride. Now when I can show what my ideal Pinkie characterization is I don't have to point to the Smile song but say not to watch any more of Friend In Deed, I can just point to this episode now. This episode also had a special guest appearance from Weird Al. Who manages to be one of those great guest appearances where they don't entirely overshadow everyone else. Cheese Sandwich plays off Pinkie very well, in some ways for the exception of when Cheese is singing it may have been hard to tell if Weird Al was voicing him if we didn't know beforehand.

Many of the songs were pretty darn good throughout the episode, my favorite is Pinkie's Lament the part of the song where Pinkie says "They love seeing me, the real Pinkie! Show them the time of their lives, like they've never known!" always manages to give me chills. Amy Keating Rogers might of been inconsistent when it comes to Pinkie herself as she wrote Friend in Deed as well as Filli Vanilli, but at least here she managed to write what I think is her magnum opus in the show even if some are probably thinking either Crusaders of the Lost Mark and/or Mane Attraction is that.

If nothing else though, it certainly is a magnum opus for Pinkie at least. No episode captures the positivity and crazy fun Pinkie is as a character consistently throughout the entire episode like this one. If it weren't for the fact that so far Pinkie Pride hasn't been too important in the long run compared to what is in the Top 5, it certainly would be in there. But I wouldn't say #6 is a bad spot at all for this episode. BTW, Weird Al has expressed interest in returning in the future. So maybe we'll see Cheese Sandwich again. This BTW is the highest non-Twilight or Mane 6 episode in the list. So considering Pinkie isn't even my 3rd favorite, you know that's a compliment to just how great Pinkie Pride is.

 

[SonicMario]

Video Link

(Song Used: Minerva - Deftones)

Ah, finally. We're here to the final part. The Top 5. You'll get to see the episode I personally rank as the absolute best of the show. Funnily enough, it just so happened that in the Top 5. Each season got at least one episode in the Top 5. And I never planned it that way from the start. That's just how it ended up. But I like it that way because it still feels each season get's it's due. Now if you've been crossing out the episodes through the process of elimination. Or at least keeping in mind which episodes have not shown up yet, you'll know what episodes are in the Top 5. The question is just what order will I put them in?

(A bit of a warning that what I say for the episodes ranked #1 and #2 are particularly long. For the most part I think I’ve kept things fairly short for most of the episodes in this list. But when it finally came to getting to the Top 2 I have to kinda explain myself why they’re where they are. Especially since one of those two is one of the most divisive episodes in the show’s history)

This is one of the most important episodes in the entire series for plenty of reasons. And I don't just mean because it was relevant to the recent Season 5 Finale. This episode we get a background on every one of our main characters, we get out first look into how these characters grew to be where they are now. It doesn't hurt to see the utter adorableness of all the Main 6 as fillies either. But getting back to backgrounds. Here's the breakdown for each character.

We learn from Twilight's just how she became Celestia's student, the birth of Spike, Twilight's Parents (I'm still waiting for them to make a proper speaking appearance like they did for Pinkie's Parents in Hearthbreakers. Please make it happen Season 6!), and it helps that the entire flashback is one of the most entertaining scenes in the show with Filly Twilight going Avatar State after being startled by the Sonic Rainboom. It's probably obvious since Twilight's my favorite pony, but it's far and away my favorite of the flashbacks. Do you know one of the quickest ways of making me smile? Give me a pic of happy Filly Twilight. You can thank this episode for that in the first place.

From Applejack's we learned there was actually a time she was a bit of a rebel and didn't want the farm life. But when she tried the city life with her cousins of the Orange family (Because get it, between Apple's and Orange's?) she ended up regretting that and finds she really does think the Apple farming was for her. But still from the way you see Applejack you never would of thought AJ might have actually tried something different because she often seems like she's just been ok with being the farm pony she's been for her entire life. Suggesting there is a little bit more depth to her then meets the eye, even if it hasn't helped enough in regards to popularity polls.

From Rainbow's you learn she may have known Fluttershy a little earlier then some of the others. As well as seeing chronologically the first time she performed the Sonic Rainboom (Even if of course we already saw the Sonic Rainboom in the titular episode).

From Rarity's we learn that Rarity's had high expectations for making costumes and/or clothing stand out more. (Though to be honest I feel this is kind of the weakest of the flashbacks since the whole horn dragging Rarity is kinda weird as we don't see it that much for other Unicorns who got their Cutie Mark. As funny as it is we got funny stuff like the gifs of Filly Rarity showing up in random places)

From Fluttershy's we see how she discovered her love of Animals and even get a fairly sweet song. Also nice to note Fluttershy's filly design is the only one that's a bit of a different model then the others. Fluttershy as a filly looked closer to a baby deer which kinda fits. It may also be due to Fluttershy having been canonically said as 1-year older then at least Pinkie. But otherwise it definitely shows a design as meek as Fluttershy must of been at that age.

And from Pinkie's while it would prove to be true anyhow, there was people debating if there was a bit on unreliable narrator-syndrome especially when Pinkie said "And that's how Equestria was made!". We see Pinkie's family for the first time (No Maud Pie, but likely because Maud was made for Season 4, though again like I said before it could be Maud just arrived late back then) and we even learn there was a time Pinkie wasn't the cheery self she always was. But somehow the sight of Rainbow's Sonic Rainboom made her permanently the cheerful pony she's almost always been. For those who like to debate that there's an unreliable narrator thing going on, it is possible Pinkie could of exaggerated events when telling the story. But by now we can tell a lot of it has to be true given we've seen Pinkie's family and everything.

Really the only problem I have with this episode is Scootaloo's kind of an annoyance wanting to see nothing but Rainbow's cutie mark story and no one else's while Sweetie and Apple Bloom are happy to hear everyone's. But otherwise this is one of the most important, most heartwarming, most cute, and most interesting episodes in the show. It is far and away my favorite episode of the 1st Season. You may have noticed I'm not as big on the 1st season as some people may be given the 2nd best episode of the 1st Season just barely misses the Top 25. I just do think that a lot of the other seasons improve upon a lot over what Season 1 had. But I won't deny there are really awesome moments that still hold up. And I say Cutie Mark Chronicles is a huge one on that end of things.

Season 5 as a whole was an interesting season. I think in terms of quality it's more consistent then any Season before it. There are no episodes I would say are one of the worst episodes in the series. Seasons 1 and 5 are the only seasons without one episode in my Bottom 5 (Though to be fair, Season 1's worst in this list would be #6 so it's just barely there while my least favorite of Season 5 just managed to make it to #100). However at the same time I wouldn't say it was a season full of really great episodes aside from a select few. Only four episodes from the Season made it into the Top 25 in this list. Granted that's better then the measly one that Season 1 got under that same statistic. But to put this into perspective. Season 3 managed to also get four episodes into the Top 25 and it had much less episodes to do it in. And both Seasons 2 and 4 got 8 each in the Top 25. I'm not trying to say of course Season 5 was a bad season at all, but I would certainly say it's a step down from Seasons 2 and 4 at least. It's a good ways above Season 1, and because it was a full 26 season it certainly has an advantage over Season 3 as well. It makes Season 5 at least for me feel very middle of the road.

However, if there was one moment Season 5 had an episode that stood out so much that it presented us with an episode destined to be one of the instant classics in the show's history. It has to be Amending Fences. It's an episode I'd say is on a similar level to Hurricane Fluttershy in just how instantly beloved the entire episode is. You have awesome connections to events that were only mentioned in the pilot, the introduction of Moondancer who for once doesn't have some crazy revenge against Twilight or evil plot in general like so many other counterparts (I'm looking at you Trixie, Sunset, and Starlight) that's popped up in the series. Moondancer is simply an old friend of Twilight's who's heart was broken. Even if there was good reason for Twilight not being there since of course she was saving the world and everything, neither party in this episode were really in the wrong. You could blame Twilight for not being a better friend before then, but you could also argue Moondancer may have been expecting too much from Twilight at the time. It's probably by far one of the most realistic conflicts the show has ever seen as we can see the perspectives give each character their own story of what they did and how they reacted. Unlike the black and white of Trixie's, Sunset's, and Starlight's motives there's more grey between Twilight and Moondancer. And Moondancer herself is not an antagonist, or at least not in the traditional sense. While the lengths that Twilight missing her party could be seen as somewhat of a overreaction (Compared to Starlight after Sunburst left, Moondancer took it just fine though. Because, geez), and may give some people implication that maybe Moondancer secretly thought of Twilight as more then a friend if it was so vital for her to get to her party.

Aside from the main plot, other really enjoyable parts of the episode include the other ponies who were also Twilight's old friends. Who didn't even take Twilight's leaving that far and even just assumed they moved on, we even learn Lyra was one of those friends and they make sure that didn't confuse the people who noticed big details like how we see the background ponies that are Twilight's friends sometimes in earlier episodes (A funny note is that Lemon Hearts, one of the ponies that is one of Twi's old friends holds the Twilight Scepter from Princess Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps she wanted the memorabilia of her old friend?) because they go to visit Lyra from time-to-time. Also Minuette is definitely one of the most happy-go-lucky ponies you've ever meant, she's kinda like a somewhat toned down Pinkie. Though speaking of which it turns out Minuette is friends with Pinkie too, Pinkie herself also playing a great role in the episode since she's the one that plans the big party for Moondancer at the end.

There's hardly anything wrong with the episode whatsoever, the only thing I could see it holding it back is there's probably not a lot that will come out in the future unless we get significantly more appearances from Moondancer who's only appeared for a short time in the Season 5 Finale since then. We can't know for sure if there will be anything in the future that also comes out of this episode. But this episode isn't #4 because of it's impact on the future, but more so on it's impact on past events prior to the show's beginning which could arguably be just as impactful cause it's connecting so much. It's very possible the Moondancer party mentioned in the pilot was simply going to be a throwaway line that we didn't need to pay much attention to that was only there to establish how anti-social Twilight was. But thanks to the success this show has done, the staff managed to make one conversation exchange from the very episode that started the show, realize there could be a consequence that deeply affects a character or two, and develop a fully new episode 102 episodes later that warms the heart of every fan of this show.

This is the final normal episode of the show. As the Top 2 are both specials/finales of some kind. But in terms of regular episodes go, this is #1 for so many reasons. I've said at least a few times in this countdown that a gripe I had with the first season is how Twilight is forced to appear in every episode due to how the friendship letters worked. It was probably made that way because Hasbro wanted to play things safe as well as the fact that Season 1 episodes had the E/I rating at the time that somewhat limited what the staff could do with the show. I believe it's not farfetched to say that Faust probably wanted the show to be a little more adventurous like it kinda is now even as far as back then but again Hasbro wasn't sure if that was the best way of going things yet looming over the show more then they've ever had (I do think Hasbro probably was more strict on the staff back then compared to now despite how many people complain about all the toy advertisements). Upon Season 2, the show was finally out of that E/I rating and right after Return of Harmony (Which is an episode that was once going to be the Season 1 Finale, perhaps explaining why all the friendship letters became so important) what does the very first regular episode of Season 2 do? It smashes the limits Season 1 had pretty much immediately.

Suddenly Twilight doesn't have to appear in every episode (Sisterhooves Social, the first episode to not have Twilight in it whatsoever in fact was only 2 episodes after Lesson Zero), Suddenly the rest of the Mane 6 could write the letters, and suddenly they don't have to necessarily have a friendship letter for every episode at all (Most Season 2 episodes would have them still, but they would pretty much disappear coming into Season 3, a temporary better replacement in Season 4, and pretty much non-existent in Season 5. This makes Lesson Zero the first episode in the series to immensely destroy what was the status quo prior to the episode's airing. And I'm for one a huge fan of almost every instance that has happened since. And since Lesson Zero managed to break something what people thought would pretty much be the formula for the entire show pretty early on it set things up for the future where if there's a big change that the show could go through. They go ahead and do it, not many shows like this are brave enough to make such changes because they fear alienating too many fans and all those changes can make the show feel entirely different from the roots that people enjoyed. While there are certainly those kind of fans that have felt exactly that way towards the many changes the show has gone through it's clearly not a majority opinion given the show has not dwindled in popularity that much. I for one am one to think that nearly all the changes has been for the best and even prevented the show from becoming stale cause it keeps throwing things at our main characters that we want to see them react to and gives potential for future episodes in the series that make Discussion threads about episodes we'd love to see interesting.

Now of course the status quo breaking isn't Lesson Zero's only strength of course as otherwise it wouldn't be #3. It is by far one of the most hilarious, entertaining, and insane episodes you'll ever see in the series. When I saw this episode for the first time I was almost rolling on the floor laughing literally as we got to Twilight's breakdown. Some who criticize the episode feel Twilight is somewhat flanderized for going so crazy over all this. But like I said long ago, I feel Flanderized Twilight fits more with how Twilight acted in Look Before You Sleep then in this episode. And in Swarm of the Century we do have a bit of a precedent even if of course it's not that far. Though certainly enough to show that want to appease Princess Celestia is such a stress factor for Twilight that she'll lose all rational thought as she cares so much about being a perfect student. Maybe those who don't find themselves as interested in Twilight's character may not care for that and may in fact make them like her less, but this is actually important to the episode. Because this IS that important at least in Twilight's eyes. Even her friends underestimate how important this is to her and it becomes a very important part of the moral as they realize how much they screwed up when Twilight heads off for what seems to be discipline from Celestia.

Twilight screwed up too, in fact there's no doubt she screwed up the most in Lesson Zero then any other character. I'm not saying her friends are more at fault for what are definitely Twilight's actions. Maybe she even deserved a bigger punishment then she actually got, though from my point of view I feel the way she'll probably remember the whole thing will be enough of a punishment on her because her attempts to appease Celestia even if for only a brief moment did the opposite. Disappointing Celestia is Twilight's greatest fear, the fear door in Crystal Empire showed that. And as such the events of Lesson Zero will probably haunt her a long time regardless of her success in the future. The best thing about mistakes however is that you learn from them, and I'd say for certain Twilight has learned from Lesson Zero. There are moments in the show after Lesson Zero where if Twilight had still been her Pre-Lesson Zero self she'd very much had start to go crazy or even have moments where she would actually have a good reason to go insane as she did but she doesn't simply because she's learned self-control since then. Perhaps the breathing exercise that Cadence teaches Twilight from Games Ponies Play (Probably the only thing from that episode that was really that substantial) being all part of that.

I also can't forget Lesson Zero as being one of the few episodes where Spike really shine, he properly tries to get Twilight to snap out of it and even is the one that contacts Celestia at the end when things were getting out of hand. It is a real shame that the show rarely gives Spike such awesome moments like he has in Lesson Zero as it shows the potential the character could have if the writers put effort into integrating him. But anyway, Lesson Zero broke the status quo, it provided a great lesson for Twilight to learn, and absolutely deserves a spot as the best episode of Season 2 as well as one of the best we've ever seen in the series.

(Due to Character Limit, post is split here)

 

[SonicMario]

Well we're finally here, I'm about to address what may just be my most controversial placing in this entire list. Magical Mystery Cure AKA the one episode that was part of the reason the fandom was in such turmoil for every single day after Season 3 ended until Season 4 started is as high as #2. I know how crazy this must sound, that only one other episode is better in my opinion then the episode depending who you ask either loves to hate, likes and/or even loves it but acknowledges it could of been a lot better either because they weren't as fond of some of the songs and/or they wish it was a two-parter. I'm basically implying I like an episode that is often a trigger for those who despise the fact Twilight's an Alicorn and/or Season 3 in general is better then a lot of fan favorite episodes with this placing. I severely doubt there will that many people who agree this episode deserves this spot, I think there may even be people who like this episode about as much as I do that still think #2 is slightly too high for this episode. Heck I don't even think if M.A. Larson, the writer of this episode himself saw this list even he wouldn't agree with me as even he's expressed that he felt it should of been a two-parter and everything. But allow me to explain why I do feel it very much deserves this spot.

First of all, if you asked me which episode caught the heart and soul of this entire series. I'd honestly say this was the one cause despite what easily could of been a forced toy advertisement (We'll probably never know exactly what went into Twilight's ascension in terms of behind the scenes, I do feel it's at least somewhat less of a mandate that some people think) and turned it into a finale that makes people who enjoy Twilight as a character proud of her accomplishment. Similar to how when we first watched this show we thought we were just going to get a lame 22-minute commercial for whichever episode we watched first, but instead we actually got something that actually gives us fun characters to watch going through interesting situations throughout the show. Sure it's easy to dismiss Magical Mystery Cure as a commercial for the Princess Twilight toy if you're a casual viewer who doesn't pay attention to a lot of the small stuff in episodes before it.

I suppose in that way it is a concern with this episode because with this kind of episode you kinda have to see every episode prior to all this or at least every episode that gives Twilight a good role before you watch this episode as otherwise seeing this episode when you've barely watched the show. It's one of the few episodes that pretty much entirely goes against the safe approach Hasbro took with Season 1 where you can go into almost every episode without having seen the others and still get what's going on. Magical Mystery Cure is very much a episode you have to be a big fan of the show to get every little detail the episode has to get everything and feel the emotions the episode is trying to convey to you. And if you prefer that the show not have such huge dependence on continuity and understanding what these characters have gone through to get this far then I could understand why you wouldn't like an episode like this cause not only does it require you to pay attention more to previous episodes but it also begins to set a change in the show where continuity and character development are a lot more important.

I do think Seasons 4 & 5 have paid a lot more attention then ever to what happened in previous episodes then most episodes in the first three seasons. And I believe MMC is a huge harbinger of that change. Of which I personally think it's a great direction the show has went since then. I think it's safe to say this episode has a big impact, and I don't mean just because Twilight gained and still has Wings and her Princess title since then. I also mean it has impact on previous episodes too. As I said already it takes paying proper attention to previous episodes to get what this episode is about. It's because of Magical Mystery Cure you could see the first 65 episodes as the first grand saga of the series as Twilight's rise to Princesshood. It also has effects on the past prior to the pilot which I implied in my blurb on Amending Fences that can be just as important.

Cause let's be honest, before we knew there was even a chance Twilight became an Alicorn… Did we honestly know why Twilight was being tutored by Celestia in the first place? Was it really just to save her sister that one time and occasionally help take down more threats like Discord or Sombra and then just have a quiet rest of her life with her friends in Ponyville? I feel that wouldn't of suited all those years of training that are implied to have happened, I honestly think the ascension to Alicornhood and becoming a Princess makes all this make sense. Celestia was grooming Twilight to be the next Princess of Equestria this whole time. All the struggles and obstacles in Twilight's path from the time she became Celestia's Student as a filly to the events in Crystal Empire were all part of her growth as a character where she'd finally be ready to endure the position of a Princess of Equestria.

We also have to remember that a Princess in Equestria is an entirely different definition then in most media that contains Princesses. Part of the reason people complained about Twilight being a Princess is just the word Princess in itself because if you don't pay attention to what exactly the Princesses do in the show's history then you'd think of the stereotypical look at Princesses such as the real life ones who really only Smile and Wave until they ascend the throne as Queen's after marrying a Prince or the Disney kind that while there are certainly badasses who just happened to be Princesses in Disney's long history there are a few and there that needed saving like the traditional depiction of Princesses have been and/or a kiss from a true love to break a curse on them. But looking at what the Princesses that we learn even before MMC is that that they defeated Sombra and Discord, hell a 3rd Princess (Cadence) outright finishes Sombra likely for good in Crystal Empire. And the Princesses have led Equestria and kept it generally peaceful for at least a little over a millennium, and leading a nation certainly is not easy so to not have Equestria have some part of it where their is dissent with Celestia's policies and/or threats from nations outside Equestria (Such as the Yaks, Dragons, Griffins, etc.) should absolutely be considered amazing work especially when you consider for the longest time Celestia's had to take care of that all alone after she banished Luna. Sure there had to have been Cadence, but I don't think she got into any big royal duties until the Crystal Empire returned. As heck Cadence was an Alicorn at the time she was foalsitting Twilight back in the day.

This kinda gets into how when Lauren Faust was first developing the show she wanted Celestia to be a Queen, not a Princess. However Hasbro felt that making Celestia's title a princess rather then a queen would make her sound more like a good character cause they thought kids may go the Snow White logic of Princesses being good, and Queens are evil. But if you really think about it despite the title change from Princess to Queen, it's pretty obvious that Celestia pretty much is a queen. And the same goes for the others. Luna, Cadence, and Twilight are all Queens as well. Perhaps there might of been less complaining if the status was Queen instead of Princess, or at the very least Celestia and Luna were Queens. While Cadence was a Princess until she took command of the Crystal Empire, becoming Queen after defeating King Sombra and Twilight at the moment is still a Princess while everything around her still gets settled (Twilight may have her castle now but she doesn't have her own guards yet. Though that can even be saved for events saved after the show's end. Remember that Cadence was foalsitting when she was an Alicorn. Not everything has to come so quickly).

At the same time though you could argue that leaving them all as Princess actually properly equalizes the leadership not to mention makes sure that the term Princess does not always have to follow the stereotype that some Disney Princesses have unfortunately instilled in everybody's minds. While their title doesn't say they're Queens, it hasn't stopped them from doing things that a Queen in-charge of a country would do.

One last thing regarding Twilight becoming one of the Alicorns is it may make it seem like Cadence feels out of place when Celestia, Luna, and Twilight are are kinda centered around time of days. But I for one think Twilight being an Alicorn actually helps Cadence fit in because what is most often considered Cadence's title? Princess of Love right? Well what if I told you Twilight was a Princess of Love as well? And no, I don't mean in terms of being so romantically involved you silly shippers, I mean in terms of a different type of love from Cadence's domain. I feel Cadence is the Princess of Romantic Love, while Twilight as the Princess of Friendship is more so the Princess of Platonic Love. It helps that through the marriage with Twilight's brother that Cadence and Twilight are sisters, sisters-in-law maybe but sisters nonetheless just like how Celestia and Luna are sisters too. So because of this all four of the Princesses are connected in some way with one another. Even with the new baby Alicorn being introduced this Saturday she''ll have that connection with the other Alicorns.

While there's no doubt our 5th Alicorn coming up this weekend will make people think Alicorns are becoming less special, I do think they're making sure they don't get too far with them. I feel they won't have a rather sudden debut like Cadence had again, as they did at least warn us Cadence was having a baby with The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows. This may even be the first time we actually learn about Alicorn biology in the show for the first time which has probably been desperately needed so there's a lot less confusion. As nearly all the big drama events aside from Last Round-Up Derpy and Equestria Girls have been Alicorn related. While having some things cleared up will no doubt cause Drama amongst those that don't agree with the show's official Alicorn canon no matter what they do, it will be good to have something at last.

One last thing on the Alicorn Princess is that I feel it's great we get to see Twilight actually really earn her status rather like most Princesses where they were just born royalty. That reason alone I think will always make her Best Princess for me (Even if that's slightly made kinda biased since Twilight was my favorite pony to begin with). But moving on to other things aside from the impact the episode had and just about everything regarding Alicorn Princesses this episode isn't #2 in this list just because of all this as there's still the very substances within the episode such as the Music, the Plot, and also the emotions the episode has you go for.

I don't want to dwell too much on the music since that's probably one of the most subjective things as many people tend to have different tastes in Music. Though I don't feel it's any use arguing with people who developed their opinions based on the music whether positive or negatively because that just means they value music more then should be normal. Even though the episode is a Musical, I feel the Music is not the most important thing about the episode as the Musical format is mainly so they can use the transitions that music can give you in order to express everything they can within the 22 minutes of airtime. If they had tried doing this without the Musical format the episode would be so much worse because of how much exposition they'd have to try to squeeze into 22-minutes. In a musical you can have many songs and have simply one-line with the proper mood-swinging music to show how you're supposed to feel and see just what is happening and still get what is going on. Regarding my thoughts on the Music in the episode, I feel most of the songs are definitely on-par with the quality of music the show has had in the past. Though there's two songs I certainly praise above all else and still consider one of the best pieces of music in the series. That would be "I've Got To Find A Way" and Celestia's Ballad.

The former is one of the few songs that feels like aside from it's rather short length (Though an extended version does exist) could easily be something you listen on the radio as there's no obvious reference to ponies and it sounds like it's in a genre that at the time the show never covered. And Celestia's Ballad is just beautiful in every sense of the word not just for the song alone but the entire scene I feel is one of the best the show has ever seen as while it works perfectly in context with the show as it's already an excellent tribute to what we know Twilight's done prior to Magical Mystery Cure, even out of context it's very much a great song because you could see it being about a mother who's seeing their son and/or daughter off to College or whatever great accomplishment they fulfilled upon growing into adulthood.

I even feel as a whole that Magical Mystery Cure has the best overall song quality even compared to the other two musicals in the series (Pinkie Pride and Crusaders of the Lost Mark) cause while I'm not saying any of the songs from those episodes were bad aside from the two songs I already praised there is the fantastic tracks of What My Cutie Mark is Telling Me as well as True, True, Friend. The latter of which I feel is up there with Winter Wrap-Up and Best Night Ever for best group songs in the show. Again with Music being one of the most subjective things in media I don't expect everyone to agree with me on this subject but it certainly helps that I fairly enjoy the execution of the music that we got in the episode.

But the real meat of any episode is of course the story, and there's technically of course two plots that start and are finished by the end. First of which is of course the Cutie Mark switch that makes up most of the episode that starts from the beginning of the episode until the end of True, True, Friend where the Mane 6's Cutie Marks are switched, perhaps their entire history replaced with new memories that unfortunately have left not just them but the entire town of Ponyville miserable. I think most people wish this had been it's own episode especially to really show us everything on how this affected the ponies, but I feel with what we get we still very much get the emotion required to know that this isn't something they're happy with at all and thus the satisfaction during True, True, Friend as each of them get their real Cutie Marks back. Some complain what the Cutie marks do to the ponies doesn't make sense sometimes such as Rainbow's cutie mark making Rarity do fancy things with clouds rather then give her speed or something like that. But I think we often forget just how vague Cutie Marks can be and how they could be interpreted multiple ways. A rainbow streak coming out of a cloud could very well match with a pony aiming to put a fashionable touch on clouds in the sky. Swapping Cutie Marks doesn't have to necessarily mean Rarity has to have Rainbow's talent straight-to-straight like that because first of all, that's kinda impossible without wings, but it also shows that a Cutie Mark's meaning can depend on how the very pony sees it. And this actually comes back upon Season 5 when we see Trouble Shoes think his Cutie Mark means bad luck as opposed to the Rodeo Clown talent he actually got.

And if I may connect this is all real quick to Twilight's destiny, the Cutie Mark she got in her flashback she got after her magical burst of power which definitely shows enough of how Twilight is full of magic, but if you pay close attention to the scene the mark does not appear until after Celestia has taken her as her student. Which could mean her Cutie Mark also relates to being tutored by Celestia possibly even groomed into being something by Celestia in the future. It's not something that would be picked up at first, but it certainly is a possibility. And I feel that's an excellent look at Cutie Marks that sometimes the moment they get their Cutie Mark isn't the only time in the Pony's life where they realize everything about their destiny. Giving them a lot more depth then simply being the indicator of the character's job and/or personality. So once again another concept in the show that's been there for a while gets subtly expanded upon thanks to this episode.

After the Cutie Mark Switch though of course is Twilight's ascension. It takes less time from the episode then the switch does (Because any follow-ups to Twilight's Princesshood would be elaborated on in Season 4 and beyond. Mainly the Season 4 opener) but nonetheless this part of the episode is particularly important because this is the point the episode is supposed to tug at your heartstrings.

Do you know what the ultimate purpose of Magical Mystery Cure was? It wasn't to sell to us a new toy, it wasn't to add more depth to Cutie Marks, it wasn't to give us a grand musical and ending to the shortened season. Though the episode certainly achieved those in part, the real reason was this: To make us proud. Not proud of ourselves, or the show (Of which Episode 100 probably fits both of those more). But proud of Twilight. I think an interesting question to ask anyone regarding of this episode is if they cared enough about Twilight as a character to feel the emotions the episode wanted you to feel throughout the episode.

Cause this episode is very much a tribute to Twilight's character and everything she's gone through since she became Celestia's Student and/or since we first saw her in the Pilot. If they were not, I think it's a little more understandable why they may not like the episode because they're disconnected from how the episode wants you to feel. But if you did, even if you were worried about what this change was going to do to her you were reassured that she'd stay the same (Twilight even asks if there's a book about being a Princess somewhere, great way to show that Twilight's still our Twilight not too long after her ascension) and I think regardless on your feelings about the ascension you could at least find yourself smiling during Celestia's Ballad which happens to be the final scene Twilight is a Unicorn. (Quick Fun Fact: The day Party Pooped aired was the day Twilight officially was an Alicorn for longer then she was a Unicorn counting the Pilot's airing date as the first day)

I think another great scene however is Twilight's speech to the crowd, one concern about her being a Princess is she'd start thinking she's on a higher level then her friends just because of that. But straight at the end she tells them to come up on the Balcony with her and gives them the proper credit that they deserve for helping her in getting this far. Her friends themselves are proud of Twilight as well (I feel Rainbow's line of "Twilight's got Wings! A new flying buddy!" was more important then it sounds because not only is that the first immediate reaction from her friends to her ascension. But it tells us what could be coming up in the future) and the group hug they share together being incredibly heartwarming. Even Shining Armor gets a solid line in with "Liquid Pride". And from there we get one last reprise of the Morning in Ponyville song that reassures us everything's going to be fine (The only part of the episode I dislike is kinda part of this scene when Twilight flies into the camera because that could of meant Twilight somehow knows flight without the proper training for it. Luckily Season 4 (Or well, ok technically EQG1 reassured us first) showed us that wouldn't be the case.).

All-in-all despite all the controversy, Magical Mystery Cure remains one of my all-time favorite episodes of the show for so many things from the impact it's had on the entire series, the entertainment value from all the music and fun moments, and all the heartwarming moments that make us proud that a purple pony gained wings. I still think if I ever get someone criticizing my list that Magical Mystery Cure being #2 will probably get me the most scrutiny out of anything else. But I hope I at least properly explained why I feel MMC at least should be in the conversation for Top 10 in the series regardless of the controversy that may have surrounded it. Though with all things said with how much I've been gushing over this episode in this entire thing how can there be another episode above it cause from the way I've been talking it's almost as if I put Magical Mystery Cure at #1. That's because in some ways, the effect Magical Mystery Cure would not be as complete without #1. I think MMC did enough to well deserve it's #2 spot, but it's the #1 Episode that I feel truly completes what I've been saying all along ever since MMC aired. At this point it's probably easy to know what it is considering it was a pretty big episode that I didn't get to yet. But nonetheless… ladies and gentlemen. My #1 Episode of Friendship is Magic is...

(Due to Character Limit, post is split here)

 

[SonicMario]

That's right, Twilight's Kingdom. While no episode of the show is perfect. Twilight's Kingdom is the only episode I feel has the argument of being the closest to being perfect. It perfectly gives closure to all of Season 4 and perhaps Season 3 as well. I mentioned at the very tail end that Twilight's Kingdom fulfilled what I've been saying all along about MMC in the end. And what I mean by that is things such as Twilight being the Princess of Friendship.

As much as I still praised it back then, there are people who had a point in saying MMC didn't truly establish just what Twilight was a Princess of. And it didn't help that throughout a majority of Season 4 it still wasn't established, and perhaps for what was somewhat of a legitimate common complaint about the season is that Twilight's new status wasn't being as acknowledged as often as we thought it would. Twilight wasn't officially the Princess of Friendship until Twilight's Kingdom gave her that title. Though one thing I can say is that for fans like me it was pretty obvious that Twilight was going to be the Princess of Friendship and/or Magic just by remembering what this show has been about and/or just remembering the title of the show. And while it kinda sucked that Twilight's princesshood wasn't getting as addressed as they thought it would I actually feel it could be seen as an intentional way of easing us into the change. Not everything is instantly different upon getting back to Season 4's regular episode. As Twilight still has that tree library with no castle (Until you know… the episode that I'm talking about here), she doesn't do very many royal duties other then the trader exchange in Trade Ya, and she's still able to participate in the everyday lives of her friends like she was before. Some people might criticize in that Magical Mystery Cure didn't change enough immediately for Twilight and thus may make it feel like the change was pointless.

But we have to remember that Princesshood in Equestria isn't a short-term thing like a Presidency where in the 4 years (Or if you do a good enough job, 8 ) you're expected to instantly start bringing in changes to the country. A Princesshood in Equestria is a lifelong thing (Even if we don't know exactly how long Alicorns live, though we don't even know how long regular ponies live. We assume it's around our own life expectancy but we don't know that for sure. For all we know Granny Smith may be over 200 years old). When Celestia, Luna, and Cadence became princesses I don't think there was any moment they weren't Princesses afterward. And they probably had a good amount of years to transition from their lives before they were Princesses into the leaders they became. So there's probably room for some amount of leniency towards time of Twilight getting what every Princess has. Sure as much I would like to see Twilight have her own Guard force in the show, this is something that can potentially wait if need be. I doubt Cadence had guards when foalsitting Twilight (Otherwise that would be a kind of intimidating foalsitting atmosphere).

At the same time I think some of the same people who complained about Twilight's status not being acknowledged enough might have also complained if they had addressed it more often then they did in most of Season 4. Imagine if everyone in Manehattan stopped what they were doing to ogle at the new Princess. Not only would it be rather awkward, but it'd be a distracting sideplot that hardly had anything to do with the episode at hand. Also realistically all the Mane 6 would be celebrated in the streets everytime they walked out because of how many times they've saved Equestria. So to be honest the response the Manehattan ponies had I feel is less of a problem relating to Twilight's new status as it is where the citizens hardly ever recognize what the Mane 6 have done for Equestria. It's just that if they were recognized for everything they did, the show becomes a lot less interesting. The Wonderbolts would probably already have Rainbow in their ranks cause the publicity of having a public hero be a part of them would be good for them. Then the problem comes from that the characters don't feel they properly earned what they've strived for at the end and simply got the favors thanks to simply helping Twilight save the world. There'd be no room for character growth. If you see Twilight's title not as recognized as it could be as a flaw of Season 4, that's ok, but I feel it's not quite as bad as some of the flaws from previous seasons. And to be honest, the Equestria Games arc I think is the bigger flaw of the Season. And even that's not a big deal since that's just three episodes even if one of those three was Rainbow Falls. And it's technically not even Season 4's fault since it was Season 3 that started the whole thing.

Regardless even if you still felt it was a legitimate complaint, Twilight's Kindom pretty much erases that by pretty much making it the point of the episode. Twilight tells her friends as well as the other princesses that she doesn't feel she's done all that much nor does she know what her role as a Princess is. Which leads into the song Play Your Part which is sang by all four Princesses. While I wouldn't say it's the best song in the series I feel very much like it's a very sweet song nonetheless, heck it probably even satisfies the crazy Luna fans as she actually gets to sing for once.

It's after all that though we are introduced to Tirek. Which I have to say instantly became and still is my favorite villain in the show. He's by far the biggest threat Twilight has faced then anything that became for and so far since. He's manipulative, and when he's grabbed enough power he's by far the strongest villain (You could almost see him as a G-Rated version of Cell from Dragonball Z. I mean G-rated in that when Cell absorbed people they met terrible fates. But aside from outright killing those whose power he absorbs, Tirek could be fairly compared to Cell in a few ways. With a little bit of the Super Buu aggression), While Meghan McCarthy's new villains have been criticized in the past, Meghan seems to be really good at taking somebody else's villains and putting her own spin on them. She used Discord to great affect in the Season 4 opener, and in this episode she takes Tirek (Who was the main villain of the very first MLP Movie back in the 80's) and really ramps him up to pure greatness. If it wasn't for the keys of which the Mane 6 has gained and been building up to, then Tirek would of been utterly unstoppable since he practically had nearly all the Magic in Equestria prior to being blasted. The moment when Tirek took Discord's Magic could very well be a metaphor for how he overtook him for my favorite villain.

Though speaking of Discord we should probably talk about him in the episode, I think it's thanks very much to this episode that Keep Calm and Flutter On doesn't feel as bad as it could have felt. Cause this episode shows a legitimate good reason for Discord to be reformed for good cause we see him look away even as he sees most of the Mane 6 (Note that probably especially includes Fluttershy) that he betrayed when Tirek takes their magic. Then his heart being utterly broken as Tirek betrays him in turn, even after Tirek had given Discord an item that he described as a symbol of Trust. Only for Tirek to reveal that it was Scorpan's (Tirek's Brother), who had betrayed him long ago. (I do wonder if we'll see Scorpan show up. I feel that's a character that might be really great to see as I doubt bringing back Tirek is going to be a strong possibility. Would help us learn a little more then what we got of Tirek's backstory). So upon Twilight finding her friends stuck in bubbles, even after what Discord had done she demands Discord be freed as well despite the fact she could have easily left him in there for punishment for the betrayal this action pays off, as now it's Discord's turn to pass off that symbol necklace. This time giving it to Twilight as a sincere gift of trust between them. I think this doesn't feel as special if you have not seen the Season 4 Opener or Three's a Crowd because in those episodes you get a look at what Twilight and Discord are like as opposing characters. Twilight could of very well gone selfish and remember all the times Discord annoyed her and combined that with the fact Discord helped Tirek ruin Equestria to deny Discord her friendship.

Instead, Twilight ultimately forgives Discord in perhaps the ultimate showing of Friendship. Thus unlocking the final key needed for the box that's been building up the entire season. It's kinda funny how at least in this list the Key Episodes both have the worst episode of the series rank-wise but it also covers the best. And since 3 of the other 4 are at least in the Top 50 it really makes up for that one large failure enough to make the Key Episodes by far the most successful Season specific arc this series has ever had. As all other kinds of arcs that showed up were either too small (Gala Arc in Season 1, Starswirl's Book in Season 3, Map episodes in Season 5) or they faltered in some way (Equestria Games throughout Season 3 and 4).

Now the final result of what came out of box turned out to be two things that the fandom are still kinda lukewarm about: Rainbow Power and Twilight's new Castle. The first of which because for some it may very well just be a really tacky looking replacement for the Elements, though so far we really don't know that yet and Rainbow Power could very well be a one-time thing. Though it's going to be hard to have any legitimate threats to Equestria if the Mane 6 can simply activate Rainbow Power at any given time, cause that was used to banish Tirek who we have to remember had absorbed almost, if not all the Magic in Equestria including the combined Magic of Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence. (Considering during their fight that was enough for Twilight to be equaling Tirek's magical strength, that means Tirek got at least 2x as strong as he already was in that battle. And Rainbow Power takes him out in nearly an instant. Seriously, if the Mane 6 are able to use Rainbow Power at will then any villain no matter who they are coming in to attack Equestria head on would be fucked). Probably why they had to downgrade the villain to simply a renegade unicorn that was certainly bad but certainly doesn't deserve to be blasted by Rainbow Power for Season 5. They probably need more time to figure out if Rainbow Power will come into effect again at any point because they may have just written themselves a bit into a corner in terms of magic power levels, the only hint we have that Rainbow Power is something the Mane 6 can activate at any time is Luna's dream in Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? But since that was a dream, we don't know if that really is how they can use it again. Luna may just be assuming that's how it worked before. I don't know if we will get any elaboration on how the Mane 6 can use Rainbow Power again, and while I am one of those who feel it is kind of a very tacky design for a superpower form. I don't feel it impacts the episode that much in the longrun as I feel it's no different from the items of mystical power that are established from the beginning of the two-parter such as the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart before we see them defeat Nightmare Moon and Sombra, only these are probably a lot better because we had an entire season to build up to Rainbow Power.

And as for the castle, there's quite a lot of people who complain about how they just don't like the design of the castle very much. Which I can understand if you care a lot about an aesthetic, but personally I have no problems with the castle nor it's design. I did say way back regarding Castle-Mania that I wish that Celestia and Luna's old castle was made Twilight's castle because of it being such an Iconic location. But regardless the result is the same, Twilight has a castle now. Which was one of those inevitabilities upon Twilight becoming a Princess as I don't think that tree library is probably befitting one of such a status (Regardless of what anyone who signed that #savetree petition unironically and/or not realizing that was a joke said). IMO, the Castle is an upgrade over the Library anyway. Maybe not in terms of simple design and aesthetics, but definitely in space for things. There could still be rooms in the castle we have not seen yet. Twilight can also have a bigger space for all those books she loves so much which I'm sure is always a plus for her. Plus there's probably rooms that each of her friends can sometimes stay the night in. Each of the Mane 6 (Even Spike has a little one next to Twi's! No idea how that works but I think it's cute nonetheless) have their own thrones, so their own rooms certainly are possible. (Speaking of which I really love the whole Knights and the Round Table vibe of that throne room). By the way Rarity has said in the show she loves the design of it, as the character who pays attention the most to aesthetics then other ponies then those who disagree's opinions are invalid (Ok, I'm just kidding about that). Once again we don't know enough about Rainbow Power, and the castle is just another one of those Status Quo changes that some of us just need the time to get used to we've endured those kind of changes since Lesson Zero. So we really should be used to it by now. I think neither are a real flaw with the episode aside it from just being nitpicks and/or pet peeves.

But now that we're done talking about Rainbow Power and the new Castle. There's one more scene in the show I really want to talk about, and that's the absolutely amazing fight between Tirek and Twilight. As a big fan of Dragonball Z and to some extent Avatar: The Last Airbender (Seriously a few things during the fight reminded me very much of when Aang was fighting Fire Lord Ozai in the Series Finale especially when Tirek threw those big rocks the shape of discs) this was an absolutely stunning fight to watch and no doubt one of the most entertaining scenes in the show's history. A funny behind the scenes fact in the episode is there is something Hasbro did have to tell Meghan to cut out, but all it was is they didn't want Twilight straight out punching Tirek in the face. That's right the censors were told everything that was going to happen in this fight that if it was pitched back in Season 1 with the E/I rating probably would of never gotten through and the only thing they suggested to remove was Twilight outright punching Tirek. They still let the awesome laser battle that reminds us so much of the most insane battles you'd find in Dragonball Z and some really awesome action shots all-around slide just fine. While admittedly I would of liked seeing Twilight punching Tirek in the face too, it's not a big deal when we still got the awesome scene that we got. I wouldn't trade that fight for anything. And regardless of what some critics of this episode may say, the fight did serve a purpose in Twilight and Tirek showing just how strong they are with Tirek having absorbed most of the Magic in Equestria while Twilight not only has her own but the addition of Celestia's, Luna's, and Cadence's.

Eventually Tirek realizes that their fight would last forever if they continued, so he uses his trump card of showing he has Twilight's friends captive. Saying he'll free them if Twilight surrenders all her Alicorn Magic. Despite the pleas from her friends to not give in to their demands (In the middle of all this Discord having perhaps the most heartwarming message he's said to Fluttershy in the entire series), she gives them up. But as of course we all know all isn't lost as I mentioned before that freeing all her friends including Discord despite his actions earlier, led to the reveal of the final key that unlocks the box that have been building up since the beginning of the Season. Regardless of how cool it would of been to have the fight also have a DBZ-esque ending where the hero manages the strength to overpower the villain in one final beam struggle, that's not the intent of this show. Twilight isn't some Goku-esque hero that trains to be so strong no one can beat her in a magic battle 1-on-1 (As Twilight on her own can only be at most 1/4th as strong as she showed in the fight against Tirek).

Twilight got where she is and through all her obstacles thanks to the friendships she's gained since coming to Ponyville. Each of the other key episodes involved a challenge against the Ponies' known element. Twilight's element is Magic, and she's the Princess of Friendship. The very title of the show says that they are one and the same. Though in some ways the impasse between her and Tirek does challenge both terms, Twilight has to give up her magic in order to free the friends she's come to know. So while in that sense it's not like she's giving up friendship to help her friends it's more so preferring the magic of Friendship over everything else. And in the world of Equestria there's nothing stronger then Magic born from Friendship, and that's basically what Rainbow Power was as a result. In some ways the power of Rainbow Power is still very much connected to the Elements since it came from a seed-like thing that grew out of the Tree of Harmony. The Tree of Harmony is where the Elements originally came from, it was strong enough to resist Discord's vines for slightly over 1000 years. But you could say in exchange for fixing the Tree, the tree itself challenged our heroes to have another moment of ephipany for each of their respective elements so they could have the perfected strength of Friendship Magic in their grasp. Because of that, as much as I don't like the looks of the Rainbow Power forms too much I still agree with their ultimate purpose.

If you feel there's something wrong with that, then you're watching the wrong show. This show is going to be somewhat cheesy in that regard that Friendship conquers all, if you weren't looking for a show that does that kind of things then what were you watching this show for to begin with? Even in a lot of the really good regular episodes you'll find some rather cheesy friendship dialogue between the ponies at times. In some ways it's just part of the charm of this show that it celebrates such positivity. Such things is what drew us to this show in the first place because it's something that can make us smile amongst a real life world that isn't so cheery. I think Twilight's Kingdom has every kind of quality and even all the bonuses of an excellent episode and I think it is the #1 Episode of the entire series. I can firmly believe that even after it's been at least a year since.

Will something ever usurp it from this spot? I think it's possible, but it's going to be difficult. As Twilight's Kingdom is just one of those episode that takes advantage of so many things that came before it at just the right time. I think even the movie in 2017 may have a hard time competing with this episode as a result, as remember that as I continue on using this list as a template for everything that comes in the future of the show from Season 6 and onward. I'll want to see if they can outdo even Twilight's Kingdom, but I'll make sure and do the safe thing and not expect an episode as good or even better then Twilight's Kingdom because at this point it's unrealistic. Regardless if an episode ever surpasses Twilight's Kingdom or not, the episode will still forever remain one of the few episodes to reach near-perfection. I cannot think of any episode more deserving of this spot then this one.

_______________________________________________________________________

Thank you to everyone who bothered to keep up and/or read along all this. It's been a daunting task picking and choosing just where each and every episode I feel at least I gave a good estimate where I think they deserve to be. But I'm glad I did it. I've been wanting to do something like this a long time. Possibly as early as when we only had 26 episodes to go off of. There was a chance I would of never been able to do something like this had the show not been big enough to get that far. But luckily it did, and I will be more then happy to see if I update the list any further in the future. Remember that not every spot is exactly set in stone as of course we have an additional 24-26 (24 accounts for the Openers and Finales usually being Two Parters. Remember that in this list Two Parters count as only one episode) episodes and two movies confirmed. So no matter what happens, we're going to see that same number of episodes being pushed out of the Top 100. And even some episodes in the Top 100 could rise or fall depending if any episodes provide any substantial impact in the coming future. It's been nice being able to talk about each and every individual episode regardless if I loved the episode, simply liked it, found some rather average, or even hated it in rare cases. I'm pretty happy with how my list came out there may be some parts I'm still sketchy about particularly towards the middle of the Top 100 but that's why I said some things aren't set in stone. I could change opinions on some of these episodes in the future for the better or for the worse. I think for the most part the Bottom 3 and Top 5 might stay where they are unless a really bad or awesome episode shows up in future but we'll have to see what happens. Again thanks everyone for reading, and I'll be sure to seeing what's ahead of us for Season 6 which is only days away now. ^^

P.S. If you have any questions regarding where or why I placed episodes where they are feel free to ask. As long as you're generally respectful I'd love to talk about my entire list and even if you have a fair bit of criticism, I can keep it in mind in the future cause as I said the list will never be truly in it's final version until the show has ended with no sequel show that takes place in the same universe (If say the next series is a thing where it focuses on the CMC grown to the age of the Mane 6 then that might be enough grounds to consider continuing the Top 100 even if the show has an entirely different title by then). I think it's entirely possible I overlooked something as I didn't even rewatch the series whatsoever when making this list. And like I said earlier there are points especially towards the middle of the list where I could probably put episodes in any order and I'd be ok. Just again be respectful of my opinions, even if say one of your favorite episodes is in my Bottom 12 or vice versa I want you to keep in mind this has and always will be a personal list. I am not trying to say this is the definitive list of what are the best and worst episodes of the show. It's how I view things, I did try to keep things somewhat subjective but that is really difficult and no doubt there may be parts of the list where bias may seem obvious (I'm sure the Top 5 episodes (For the exception of Cutie Mark Chronicles, but even then still has a significant Twilight related scene) being all Twilight centered episodes may be a big one. But remember that if I were ranking episodes purely on how much I liked the characters. Rainbow Falls and Mare-Do-Well would not be the Bottom 2 considering Rainbow is my 2nd favorite pony)