Maybe it's just me after watching all the G3 movies and shorts again, but does anyone else think when it comes to the generations, G3 got the short end of the stick?

Now, before everyone tells me G3 was aimed at a younger audience, I woul;d point out MLP and Friends, Tales, and FiM have basically the same target demographic, and they had more interesting stories. The G3 toyline was handled pretty well, so how much unrealized potential did the storyline have if it had gotten a full series instead of just a couple of movies?

Think about it; three isolated communities- Butterfly Island, Ponyville, and Unicornia- that were mostly unaware of each others' existance, until key events (Starcatcher and Skywishes's efforts, and Rarity's little foul up with the wand) brought them into contact. How much of a shock would it have been to the earth ponies to find a tribe of ponies who could fly? (They initally were skeptical of Skywishes's claims of Pegasus ponies, and Pinkie Pie reacted with surprise when Starcather saved her, but that's about it) Would the Pegasus look with pity on thier grounded cousins? How would the unicorns view ponies who couldn't use magic?

Also, we saw that there were many diffrent castles throughout the land, and that each represented a diffrent virture/concept. Did each of those virtues have to be replished like the unicorns replenished rainbows? Was celebration castle one of those castles, the one that celebrated friendship? Might not all of the castles been built long ago, as magical battires that kept the land in balance, and the joy and happiness of the pony tribes are the magic fuel? Coud all those parties in ponyville serve the same purpose as the rainbow ceremony in unicornia, only for friendship? Just what was spike doing alseep under the castle?

Aslo, in the special we saw the potential for characters just as deep and complex as the FiM ones. You have a really complex core cast- Sunny days the sporty tomboy, Kimono the logical thinker, Minty the goofy and clumsy mess-up, Rainbow Dash the girly fashionesta, and Pinkie Pie, the closest thing the group has to a level-headed leader. (Considering G4, that's a shocking thing to say O_O)

Other ponies, like twinkle Twirl, Spakleworks, Sew and So, etc. are guest stars for particular episodes, and background ponies in the rest.

Start season one of in Ponyville, then discover butterfly island in Season 2, then unicornia in Season three- a new region to explore each season, and new advertisement for toys to sell!. Toss in a new character moving to Ponyville in each season to 'learn about the earth ponies' (Starsong and Sweetie Bell) and you build the cast to a core seven. The breezies are always around, of course, and even throw in some mild slice of lfe conflicts and a villian or two here and there.

I dunno, I just thought we got a glimspe of a lot of wasted potential in the specials, and everything I saw I wanted to see more. I'm not saying G3 should have been somehow darker or not aimed at it's core audience, I just think it could've been more interesting. Just my two cents.

The Tropes at least have pointed out that Sunny Daze had plenty of potential as a character that simply went unused (a laid back and friendly surfer girl? But at the same time is sometimes lacking in tact.).