My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - Franchise Ranking Part 3 - The Best Of The Series

For a point of reference, from here on out in the list, these last 12 spots i would personally say are the best of the series to me, my faves of the bunch, what stood out most above all the rest

#12: The Best Gift Ever special: plain and simply, a heartwarming very delightful little adventure, and a nice way to divert from all the craziness season 8 delivered, rarity’s part in the story may be the most heartfelt with the level of generosity put on display, rainbow dash and discord’s little mishap made for some nice comedy, and you also get some funny meme material with twilight’s attempts at making “pudding” and the resolution for spikes story at the end threw me for a loop, but was sweet all the same, this was a nice, funny and very heartwarming slice of life story to give these characters before shit would get real in the final season
Grade: A-
Best Song: The True Gift of Gifting (Song) - MLP: Friendship Is Magic [Best Gift Ever]

#11: EQG: Sunset’s Backstage Pass: as a spin on the groundhog day story, this was pretty clever, you got a nice red hearing with the dazzlings making a comeback, leaving you to think they are to blame for sunset’s little dilemma, but as a whole, the highlight of this entire thing is pinkie and sunset’s whole dynamic, they have great scenes together and their character development here is just so wholesome and i loved every minute of it, probably the best sunset has been developed as a character since Rainbow Rocks
Grade: A-

#10: MLP FIM: Season 3: this season gets complaints for the shorter length and while i get to an extent where people are coming from, it still felt like business as usual all the same, the writing was good, great character moments, it was just half the length of a regular season, and i love twilight becoming an alicorn at the end, it was a nice way to slowly but surely start building towards her becoming celestia’s successor and it made for some great growth not just for twilight but the whole group as well
Grade: A+
Best Song: Celestia's Ballad (Magical Mystery Cure) | MLP: FiM [HD]

#9: Equestria Girls: the film that started it all for this side of the franchise, and for my money anyway, an exceptional start, the plot may not be anything innovative, but that's alright, something can be as good when simply being excellence through simplicity, and that's what i believe this was, you get some good dynamic with twilight beginning the human versions of her friends back together, sunset shimmer was a fun antagonist, and the added backstory, with her history with celestia really did numbers for fleshing her out quickly, and while it may come off as very unnatural for her to be reformed at the end just like that, i feel the sequels and numerous specials do wonders to make up for that on a story level,  i won't lie though, i could really do without snips and snails, like, in anything, ever, but they’re minor characters here, so i guess i can overlook it, doesnt change the fact that this was a very enjoyable start to what would eventually become an important core of the FIM lore
Grade: A+
Best Song: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - 'Cafeteria Song' Music Video

#8: MLP: FIM Season 5: A season i certainly liked on first watch, but watching Pony Bro’s reaction to this season later afterward is when it hit me, the emotional weight, with twilight and spike reminiscing over the library, their old home, and the CMC finally getting their cutie marks, redeeming diamond tiara, even the “brotherhooves social” episode, the Rarity Investigates episode is still my favorite rarity episode, shes a total badass, and really pulled some wicked skills and helped rainbow dash out of that pickle, so major props there, while this season had a lot of simple slice of life episodes like usual, the heart of season 5 for me came from the emotional weight, this and season 9 have some of the more heartfelt moments of the entire series
Grade: A-
Best Song: We’ll Make Our Mark (Crusaders of the Lost Mark) | MLP: FiM [HD] 

#7: EQG: Forgotten Friendship: For a franchise that for all intents and purposes never got an actual conclusive ending, this the closest thing to an ending in my eye, the plotline with sunset racing against time to restore everyone's memories and save all her friendships just feels very final, kinda full circle even, showing how far sunset’s come since that first film, and just how far she would really go for her friends, its all very heartfelt and very profound in a few scenes, so, again, for a franchise that didnt exactly have a conclusive ending, this is the closest thing to an ending as you could get, but a satisfying note to leave the EQG franchise on all the same
Grade: A+

#6: My Little Pony: The Movie (2017): I don't know whether or not if it's exactly a hot take to rank the film this high, but i personally can't help it, i love this film even more every time i watch it, the story may not be anything innovative, but in execution its an exciting adventure that leaves the door open for some cool worldbuilding, the new characters on display here are fun, interesting, to the point that i would've loved to see more of them in the show, all the songs are terrific, one small thing and open up your eyes being among the best of the entire franchise, and i'm not gonna go into a huge tangent about how twilight is portrayed here, i'll only say that i didn't mind it, in fact, i found it to very nuanced, and challenging, she is under a lot of pressure after all, given the circumstances, and in the end i do find it very heartwarming how her whole arc is resolved. In a way, i find this film to be kinda underrated, flaws and even occasional plot holes aside
Grade: A+
Best Song: One Small Thing (Song) - My Little Pony: The Movie [HD] 

#5: MLP: FIM Season 9: Opinions on whether or not this was a satisfying way to end everything have varied, at least from what i've seen so far anyway, but pretty much my only real flaw with this season is how much screen time snips and snails get, that may only sound like a nitpick to some, but i really, REALLY don't like those 2, they just don't interest me, they could've given that extra screentime to more interesting background characters like lyra and bon bon, or derpy, characters that i feel had WAY MORE story potential, so that really rubbed me the wrong way, other than that everything was business as usual, with some nice slice of life stories, and very satisfying closure for other side characters, and aside from the twist with discord, which i'm admittedly on the fence on, the 3 episode finale is fantastic, the final fight with the mean 3 has an epic full circle climax, and the Last Problem episode, i can't describe how heartwarming it is, there's a great message of how true friendships can last forever no how much things change, if you really care about each other, the connection lasts forever, it may not be things i can still resonate with on a personal level, but they still hit hard because i really grew to care about these characters, i cared about their arcs, plights, struggles, how they were developed overtime and just who they were altogether, on a story level, the ending may not have been what lauren faust herself would've done, we may never know, but the small details the crew put in there to honor faust’s vision in the spots they did made it a more than satisfying, heartwarming, and worthy ending to what is without a doubt, the best incarnation of the MLP franchise.
Grade: A+
Best Song: The Magic of Friendship Grows (Song) - MLP: Friendship Is Magic [Season 9]

#4: MLP FIM: Season 4: This was a season that most people call the last of the “classic era” of the show, a few people i've even heard say they could've ended it here and it would’ve been a good final note, i wouldn't go that far, but this season does have a kickass ending, tirek is the best long term villain this series had to offer and he made a great first impression in the finale, discord gets some great character development here too, and the buildup to the tree of harmony was some great mystery, oh and i gotta really praise the Testing testing 1 2 3 episode, great growth for rainbow dash.
Rarity Takes Manehattan is another uplifting episode too, i really felt for rarity towards the end there, she really came through at the end for her friends.
Not much else to say, but another great season to keep the momentum going after what was a somewhat controversial ending in season 3, oh and yes, cheese sandwich is awesome, weird al just makes anything better.
Grade: A-
Best Song: Tied between these 2: Vampire Fruit Bat Song (Bats!) | MLP: FiM [HD]
                                             'Generosity' Reprise - MLP FiM Song - Rarity takes Manehatten

#3: EQG: Rainbow Rocks: surprising absolutely nobody, i do think this is the best in the EQG series as well, sunset shimmer turning good at the end of the first film may have felt rushed, but the character development she gets here more than makes up for that, she really earns her stripes as one of the group, the dazzlings are epic villains they absolutely steal every scene they're in, the comedy lands (almost) everytime, especially this bit, it's just funny: Rarity - Oh, you can never have enough costumes!
Kickass music, great character moments even for the background and side characters which both this spinoff and FIM always excelled at, this is just an awesome film
Grade: A+
Best Song: Under Our Spell | MLP: Equestria Girls | Rainbow Rocks! [HD]

#2: MLP FIM: Season 1: The one that started it all, and what a hell of a first impression it was, while later seasons would put a bigger emphasis on action and lore/worldbuilding, this first season is just total slice of life, and i loved all of it, that's the kinda tone and setting you need for the start of a show of this type, it all worked so well, the pacing may be too slow at times, but i see that as another strength, they make good use of the slower pace to really ease you in, let you get to know these characters rather than try to force too much too fast, every character gets an episode or 2 to shine on their own, and their motivations, livelihoods, and so on are all quickly established and understood. 
A great start to a show that would only continue to build from here
Grade: A+
Best Song: Tied Between these 2: MLP:FiM "The Gala Song" (No Watermarks)w/Lyrics in Description
Winter Wrap Up (Winter Wrap Up) | MLP: FiM [HD]

#1: MLP FIM: Season 2: Lauren Faust’s magnum opus, for the most part they maintain the slice of life tone from the first season, while adding an emphasis on bigger action set pieces and they balance the 2 very well, it goes without saying that Discord immediately cements himself as one of the series’ best villians/characters, even if he was only in 2 episodes this season, my favorite episode of the series is in this season as well, it's not the sole reason why it put season 2 as a whole in my top spot, but i digress, Read It And Weep spoke to me the very first time i saw it, because frankly, thats me getting into this series in a nutshell, rainbow dash denying being into books, slowly being tempted to reading, then low and behold, she cant get enough of it, she loves it, but hides it, embarrassed at first, worried of what people (or ponies) would think of her, yeah, thats me in a nutshell with this show, one of the many shining examples of how it has such smart writing, that can speak to people, you can resonate even, so it's funny, for a show that i personally feel stayed strong all the way through, this was the strongest installment out of the whole bunch.
Grade: A+
Best Songs: A 3 way tie actually: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – ‘Smile Song’ Official Music Video
This Day Aria Song - My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - Season 2
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - 'B.B.B.F.F. (Big Brother Best Friend Forever)' Music Video

So that's how i'd rank this entire franchise, comment down below what your favorites or least favorites are and start a discussion, i've loved every minute of being apart of this fandom so far so id like to see what everyone else thinks