I run a youtube channel where I do various topics about the My Little Pony Fandom. I recently ran a poll on Equestria Amino and what won was a remake of my second ever video (See below) "Why the OC Hate?" So I'm going to do what I didn't do last time and simply ask.

Why do you have the OC's that you do? Also, what is the most common criticism?

5803656 my original OC was a black and orange alicorn with a mane and tail styled like Celestia's, this was when I was only getting into the fandom and because I liked the design of the two main alicorns in the show. Later I grew to dislike the design of it and changed it, still making it a black and orange alicorn but much shorter with a short tail and hair similar to Vinyl, who was my favourite pony at the time. I gave him a more bookish design while also making him into a small bookstore owner, figuring it was a much better and more comfortable OC to have. Later I kept the design but changed it so he was purple and black. Strangely enough I was never called out for my OC. Anyway, a few months went by and after entering a little competition I won a free commission from an artist. At that point I wanted something new with my OC, as such I changed from an alicorn to an Earth pony, this time black and light blue.

I still like my purple and black alicorn OC, but I do see the problems some people may have with alicorn OCs, with the most common concerns being things like "Too overpowered" or "Just a recolour" or even the oh so classic "Too edgy"

I myself never really cared much about how other people made their OCs since I thought it was ok to do what you wanted, if someone wanted to have a black and red alicorn that was the God of blood or something like that by all means I had no right to stop them, nor did I care much.

The reason I make OCs that are Alicorns is because it's fun. I mean, drawing them is a pain because wings, but honestly? I like Alicorns. Some I make because I can, either general Ocs, Next Gens that could be an Alicorn so I decide 'why not', others are 'worldbuilding ocs', who are Alicorns because it fits into what I made up to fill in the gaps. My 'Ponysona' is an Alicorn as well. Alicorns are characters, just like any other character.
The 'criticism' I've gotten is mostly along the lines of the usual 'Alicorns are OP', and things like 'I've never read a story with an Alicorn OC that was good!', even though the person leaving that 'criticism' refused to read my story because of the Alicorn OC. Even if they were right, who cares? Write your fic or yourself, not to please people. Like, yeah people liking your fic is good, but making what you like is important.
As for recolors, well, the only reason people use recolors is because they can't draw as well. Which I get. And to be fair, many shows have done the 'recolor' or 'character that looks similar to the main character' thing. MLP does it, of course. I mean, they need a crowd shot, so they copy and paste Lyra and change her color scheme around to make new characters. But they also used it for Daring Do, who is a recolor of Rainbow Dash. As for other series, Gravity Falls has "Schmipper and Schmabel", who aren't exactly 'recolors', as it's a couple physical features that are switched instead of colors, but the point is that it's easy to see that they were based off Dipper and Mabel. And Sonic the Hedgehog made Shadow, who while he does look a little different in features, Sonic and Shadow are enough alike for in-world characters to be unable to tell them apart. Anyway, as long as your recolor isn't like 'this is Rainbow Gun, Rainbow Dash's 110% identical twin who uses a gun', but is their own character, let it go.
And since I brought up Shadow the Edgehog, let's talk about Dark OCs as well. While I will make a handful of 'edgelord' jokes, usually people make Dark OCs because they like that stuff. And I get it. Like, I love MLP stuff pastel ponies singing about friendship, but you know what else I like? Murder mysteries. Serial Killer stories. I also like monsters, creatures, and full on Lovecraftian Eldritch Horror. So of course I have to make a 'Dark OC' if I want to make content for that stuff. And if, just for funzies, I want to draw some kind of eldritch horror as an OC? I will. Because why not?
Again, 'criticism' on these type of OCs are usually petty or misguided, and honestly it's getting old. To counteract this, I like to pretend those people are, like, the stereotypical white suburban moms at a PTA meeting. 'it's lazy to use recolors!', yeah, well, not everyone has spent ten years earning to draw Karen! 'Alicorns are OP!' Who cares, Brenda? All characters in fiction are OP. Why is this one criticized? 'I've never seen a good Alicorn OC, so therefore none are good!' And I've never tasted a good Lemon Bar from you, but that doesn't mean I can't make my own good lemon bars! 'Dark OCs in a show like MLP is dumb because the series has no dark elements!'. Fight me, Helen. This show had a physical embodiment of Nightmares as the first villain. Since then, we've had multiple main characters go through psychotic breakdowns, the fact that Tartarus exists, a Trickster God turning the world upside down, people's loved ones being replaced my love-draining importers, a guy who murdered a Royal and took over her kingdom before enslaving her subjects, a bunch of clones)that might've been sentient) being zapped to oblivion, a giant Centaur who drains ponies of magic and tries to destroy the world, a literal brainwashed cult that has a very painful initiation process, various alternate futures(Eternal Nighttime, Chaos Landscape, Changeling War, War with Sombra, Tirek destroying everything, complete freaking nothingness), a girl turning into a literal demon, three girls hypnotizing a town, another girl becoming a Dark Angel and trying to rip apart the entire dimension, yet another girl going nuts with magic and trapping people in a cage of vines, along with oh so many near death experiences! So what if this one is a monster or an edgelord?