~~~Preambulations~~~

This is a topic I've been meaning to post (and getting sidetracked on) ever since the comment box incident a few weeks ago. For those who weren't there or don't remember, some outsiders wondered what our group was about.

Look at this group's title: "We hate what's happened to MLP." Okay... so what's "happened" that we "hate" so much? We've never stopped to answer this question.

I propose that we should, and I'm going to do it.

Here's the thing: I can only say how I see things. I can't speak for everyone. So other members are gonna have to add thoughts in their own comments.

HAVING SAID THAT, I would hope you follow my example and pretend like nobody's ever asked you before, so it's like you're explaining it for the very first time. If you talked to a person today and you just said "I hate Flash Sentry," they'd ask Why. So provide the Why.

If someone else already said it better though, that's okay, but if you have ANYTHING AT ALL to add, then please add it. Don't worry about length--we like length!

I recommend this topic be stickied so it'll always be here as a resource.

~~~So... What DO We Hate?~~~

Again, I can only say what I hate about what's happened to MLP. Everyone else who wants a turn will have to post a response, because I'm not a mind-reader.

I'm gonna start with a rather general point:

1. The General Declining Quality of the Seasons

Let's be clear here: Season One was when Friendship is Magic was at its absolute best, and I've said before that "the Best Night Ever" would've been the perfect place to end the show. But they didn't end, they kept going, and, well...

One place where I disagree with most is that I didn't like Season 2 all that much. Season 2 had a problem of every episode was either really good, or really, really bad. And even the "Good" episodes were only "good" due to memes or over-the-top humor that overrode all other sensations due to novelty but now you can see the flaws in retrospect. Case in point, I personally loved "Lesson Zero" the first time I saw it. It wasn't until "It's About Time" that I realized Lesson Zero had terrible implications for Twilight's characterization, specifically that she was now being condensed into a one-trick pony, that trick being "going nuts whenever she's stressed because that's funny."

Season Three, though, I actually... well, felt it was both better and worse than Season Two. What I mean is, there was no longer that "each episode was either amazing or horrible" thing, now every episode was just average (with two very specific exceptions, "One Bad Apple" and "Magical Mystery Cure"). That made the season a lot more bearable when going through it the first time, but it also meant I had little reason to revisit any specific episode once I was done.

As for Season Four... I got as far as "Power Ponies" and decided I'd had enough.

I know so far I've been speaking in broad strokes, but what I'm trying to do is lay down a foundation before I go into more specific aspects, so its easier both for me to explain and for you to see where I'm coming from.

Which brings me to my next point:

2. Bad Writing For the Sake of Lulz

Season Two began a terrible trend among the writers, where they adopted the Internet Reviewer creed of "nothing else matters as long as there's lulz to be had." Apparently its okay to ignore basic aspects of quality writing such as strong characters, strong central conflicts, a persistent and believable setting, and basic human (pony?) decency as long as there's lulz to be had.

I don't hate comedy--some of my favorite stuff consists of Ranma 1/2, Mystery Science Theater 3000, the Space Quest series on PC, the English dub of Samurai Pizza Cats, and more recently Gekisou Sentai Carranger. All comedy. The difference is that their comedy is enhanced by having strong characters, strong central conflicts, and persistent and believable settings, not by ignoring them.

Yes, Akane is very likely to club Ranma so hard he goes flying into the sky. But unlike MLP where this kind of thing would've been meaningless, in Ranma there's actually deep, fundamental reasons Akane behaves the way she does. It just happens that it results in humor. This is how you do comedy and not be a hack, folks.

(Also you should all totally watch Gekisou Sentai Carranger, because it is brilliant. A group called HaroRangers is fansubbing it. Google them!)

3. So It's All About Twilight... Until It Isn't. Then It Is Again.

One thing that bugged me about "Lesson Zero" even at the time though, was how suddenly "learning friendship" was EVERYONE'S task, not just Twilight's. That always rubbed me the wrong way, because honestly?... Twi is her effing student. Also she had huge social anxieties she needed to get over. None of the other ponies did. Two of those ponies (Applejack and Rarity) are business-owning adults. That would be like if you got a question wrong on a math test so your teacher said that not only you have to send in homework, but so do your dad, mom, brother and sister, even if they don't go to the same school or aren't even in school.

The excuse given for this at the time? They didn't want the series to revolve around Twilight. They didn't want this to be the Twilight Sparkle show. It meant they no longer had to find a way to shoehorn Twilie into every episode.

Okay, fair enough. Not every episode of Zyuranger can focus around the Red Ranger, after all (although I should note that the anime Ronin Warriors DID focus almost entirely around the "red ranger" of its team and it worked out pretty well). The problem is that the writers never dedicated to this decision. When the Season Finale came, all the sudden it was Twilight's Story again, and this continued into the Season Three premiere. And of course we all know what happened at the end of Season Three.

This honestly sums up a lot of MLP's problems. The writing basically changes its priorities every episode... or any time the fans have a criticism. It's a show that's being held together with duck-tape because its so wishy-washy and incapable of deciding what it wants to be or what it wants to focus on. Maybe if the writers tried actually thinking ahead instead of just doing gag-of-the-moment stories we'd have something good, but nope... can't give up those precious memes!

4. Warning: 30% Added Sugar

Now, nobody in their right mind is gonna say they went into MLP thinking it was gonna be a dark and mature show. It's a show about pastel-colored ponies learning Friendship (SHAO KAHN: "Friendship? Again?")

Having said that, what got me about Season One and what kept me hooked was the surprisingly... intelligent way it handled a clearly-childish concept. Just for example, Pinkie Pie is clearly the "fun for young 'uns" character who could easily have become annoying... except that not only does she display actual intelligence (I especially love how she locks up in fear of the hydra) but in her more childish moments, even her friends are embarrassed or weirded out by her. Just look at Twilight in "Green Isn't Your Color"--she's clearly skeptical of Pinkie's advice, but since she's new to this whole "friendship" thing she's trying it just to be safe.

Indeed even that aspect was, for the most part, treated as if it was silly, and the characters behaved like real people would--with all the personal issues and pigheadedness that entails, as perfectly demonstrated by episodes like "Green Isn't Your Color" (referring more to the Pinkie and Twilight subplot) and "Over a Barrel." The lessons learned throughout were either knowingly silly, with a "yeah I know this is stupid, just bear with us okay?" wink and nod, or else surprisingly mature for a kids' show (The Best Night Ever being all about unrealistic expectations for example).

Then Season Two gave us... "Sisters are great! You gotta love your sister!" and "Reading is fun! Gotta love reading!" both played completely straight, treated as if they were serious lessons everyone should learn. By season four, we had... scenes like this. Seriously, this is supposed to be a big dark villain and he's talking about "Friendship" the same way most of us would talk about drug dealers. When the hell did this show become Barney the Dinosaur? Even fricking Bibleman isn't quite this Sunday School-ish.

I'm pretty sure there's a huge irony in this point, somewhere.

5. STOP SINGING!

My friend Geo put it best: In Season One, full-fledged musical numbers were rare. Like, there's only four. All others are just Pinkie Pie breaking into an on-the-spot song, which again were treated like Pinkie just being weird. That knowledge of "hey, they're suffering too" made these moments easier to bear.

Remember "You Gotta Share, You Gotta Care?" That song was supposed to sound like Barney-level crap, and the characters in-show treated it like such--going so far as to call it "the worst performance I've ever seen."

The problem, then, is twofold. Ever since Season Two, there have been more songs per episode--real songs. No more "the grand galloping gala is the best place for me!" type silly randomness that even the other characters are embarrassed by. In fact that happened only once in season two, and it was in the exact same episode that Pinkie got a real, full-length character song that we were supposed to actually like.

And not only are there more songs, but they're the same Barney-level crap--both in composition and lyrical content--as "You Gotta Share You Gotta Care." Pinkie sings about how she's some sort of smile messiah. The Cutie Mark Crusaders sing about how bullies should be nice. The Apple family sings about how much they like being a family. Scootaloo...

Okay, confession: When I got to the song part of "Flight to the Finish" I said "F--- no I'm not watching this" and shut the episode off. I have never gone back to it to this very day. Not only was the song sounding bad, but it came immediately after Scootaloo started preaching about cultural diversity like she's in a PSA. If I wanted this kind of crap, I'd go to Sunday School and listen to the trying-too-hard-to-be-sweet teacher tell me a watered-down story about how God loves us.

(... Wow, no wonder people think I'm an Atheist. I gotta set something straight: I don't hate religion. I DO hate the condescending sweetsie behavior of Sunday School teachers and adults on Barney though.)

....

At this point in the document, I'm realizing something.

Basically, the problem with MLP is that it became the kids show it was always supposed to be in the first place.

When you watch G3, or the "Webisodes" that came before FIM, you see that their content is really not far removed from a Season 4 episode of MLP. Emasculated, Saccharine, and nobody has a personality outside of sunshine, hell they probably crap rainbows and piss honey. This is exactly what Hasbro thinks kids want (or need), this is their image of what MLP is.

Somehow, when FIM started out, it did something totally different--almost to the point of being either a deconstruction or a parody, or at least a non-stupid implementation of this kind of sugary-sweet vibe. And yet, as time went on, old habits reasserted themselves, and everything that had made FIM good was gradually becoming stripped away, being replaced with the exact same stuff we all hated about G3 and the Webisodes, except with the occasional villain thrown in so the writers can say "See? There's still dark stuff! It's still got maturity!"

Yeah, except Tirek is pretty pathetic next to, say, Witch Bandora, Mumm-Ra, or hell even Firelord Ozai. Or hell, even the original Tirek from the 1980s. He's more on the level of the Peculiar Purple Pie-Man of Porcupine Peak, or Professor Coldheart. Giving him the ability to throw a poor man's kamehameha doesn't change that. All that happens is we have a kiddy show with some hastily-inserted "dark" parts just so the writers (or their fans) can pretend it makes a difference.

It doesn't. Never has, never will.

~~~Am I Done Yet?~~~

Well... I'll start with this. The thing is, I didn't cover every point I wanted to make. There's more, but I'm out of mental fuel for this subject, and don't know how to cover the rest. I do think I hit on my major problem though (and somehow I did it without talking about Equestria Girls or Twilicorn. How did that happen?)

So, for the time being, I will label this post as...

~~~...To Be Continued~~~

3609084

I commend this thread! Okay, going onto some of my own points, and just like NGR said, I probably won't cover all of my personal grievances, (and there are many) but I'll attempt to cover at least some of them, and without retreading things that have already been said in the OP. So here goes...

World-building

One of the biggest things that got me into the show in the first place, (and one of the main reasons I even ventured into the world of MLP fanfiction) was the show's setting, and the feeling of a persistent world. It wasn't just *insert talking animals.* We were introduced to mythological creatures and magic, different races of ponies, important figures, powerful artifacts, symbolism and various locales with different traditions and different visual styles. Episodes like 'Winter Wrap Up' gave us an interesting (and pretty detailed) depiction of an earth pony village ushering in spring. 'Hearth's Warming Eve' gave us a brief history of Equestria, and how the three tribes initially fought each other, but eventually banded together. 'Family Appreciation Day' did something similar for the foundation of Ponyville. Then there were appearances from other creatures like griffins, and a general expansion of knowledge about Equestria.

With that said, there's something in particular about all this that makes it stand out for me. And that's how it all felt effortless. I don't mean that in a bad way. I don't mean it felt like they didn't give a damn. It felt like they were handing all this to us with ease, as if the world of Equestria was already set in stone and they were just uncovering little bits of it as time went on. And when it came to the stuff that we didn't know about it felt like the answers were just around the corner, waiting to be revealed when the time was right. In the early days it seemed like more people in the fandom would speculate and build up a logical picture of what to expect based on what we'd seen because, for the most part, the show appeared to be doing just that. But then... things got a bit crazy.

While the state of botched world-building didn't necessarily begin with 'A Canterlot Wedding,' it springs to my mind as the first big offender that simply snowballed with Season 3, Equestria Girls and Season 4. First of all, we had Shining Armor and Cadence pop up out of nowhere. That is, a sibling of one of the main characters, and a new alicorn princess. Oh, and we're meant to believe that Shining and Twilight have always been really close. Hell, Twilight breaks into song about how much she adores him, and how she feels like he's being taken away from her. (Equus to Twilight. He needs to be there in the first place before he can be taken from you.)

More problematic, in my eyes, was the sudden introduction of a third princess. I mean, what? Was she being held in a cage for the past two seasons? What's her history? Why would she need to exist? Oh, I guess we're never going to find out except through Hasbro sanctioned books that make even more of a mess of things when looking at the series as a whole. We had Celestia and Luna, princesses of the sun and the moon. The day and the night. Two parts of the same whole. Oh, and now some other pink pony who's supposedly really important, but we're never sure why. And all this came in the same episode as the brilliant reveal of the changelings, a race of half insect, half equine shape-shifters who can take on the form of others. They fit within the realms of the MLP universe, and even though a lot of what we might think of them is pure speculation, we don't need to know all about them. Their sudden appearance and limited backstory is justified by the story itself. But they can't counteract the impact of Shining and Cadence.

At other times, the show builds on aspects of the show that had been previously left unexplained. And sometimes, it does this so poorly that you're left wishing an average teenage fanfic writer had been involved in the making of the episode. Like, for example, Nightmare Moon's extremely lazy origin story. Or what about the Elements of Harmony themselves? They're perhaps the most important objects in the entire show! And this ties in with my next point...

The higher the importance, the lower the storytelling standards.

Magical Mystery Cure. Equestria Girls. Princess Twilight Sparkle. A Canterlot Wedding. The Crystal Empire. Most of these are of grave importance to the show's overall storyline, with the obvious exception of Equestria Girls, which is important because it's the first feature-length film based on FiM. And the problem? Well... In many respects, they feel thoughtless. That is, created without much care. I'm not here to debate on whether they're the worst episodes ever, especially since there are stinkers like 'One Bad Apple' and 'Spike at your Service.' But in terms of storytelling, I'd rank them as some of the biggest failures in the show's run. And the kicker? They're of the most importance.

Magical Mystery Cure is often cited as making the least amount of sense of any episode ever, and it deals with perhaps the biggest event that this series will ever see. So Twilight creates new magic from an unfinished spell, which isn't even needed to correct her friends' memories, and solves all this in a really easy way, and is now a princess without any consent or idea that this was going to happen, and we have no idea why this has even happened. We get told logical fallacies like "Twilight, you did something no other pony has ever done. You've created new magic." Okay, so what was that magic? All it did was create a counter spell to itself, and you'd have had to know that to give it to Twilight as a 'test.' Also, you're saying no other pony in history created new magic? All magic had to be new at some point. Did the first unicorn who learned to teleport appear as a princess on the other side?

And it doesn't stop there. Oh, no. Looking back at 'The Crystal Empire' and how it ties into 'Magical Mystery Cure', we understand just how ridiculous the whole set-up was. Celestia uses the fate of an entire empire as a test for princesshood without telling Twilight, give her a bullshit term for completing the test (the Elements could have helped) and then makes up a bullshit excuse as to why Twilight passed it anyway. So this new empire just so happened to pop up to give a convenient test, not to mention somewhere for Cadence to rule over since she needs to have some use as a character. And let's not forget that even after the events of 'Princess Twilight Sparkle,' we still had no damn clue about her role as a princess! Nothing! And the writers had planned this! Did they not stop and think for one second?

Equestrian Justice Warriors

As far as season one was concerned, the mane six were down to earth gals that you could relate to. Nowadays they're world-saving superheroes. While the first episode had them taking on Nightmare Moon, it still didn't feel like they were deliberately depicted as warriors tasked with protection of the kingdom. It marked a starting point that would lead on to the characters building friendships with each other. To be honest, I never really liked the episode, but I understood that it allowed the 'friendship lesson' scenario and these different ponies who represented the various attributes of friendship. What we got were mainly character driven, slice of life episodes where they learned about each other and bettered themselves.

But then the Elements of Harmony were reduced to all-purpose villain disposing rainbow cannons and so came the age of being the most powerful, important ponies in all of Equestria. Even moreso than Celestia and Luna, who were once revered as godlike beings but quickly revealed themselves as weaklings who can't fend off a few vines and fail miserably against changeling queens. And while I haven't watched the finale of season 4, I do know that it involves Twilight saving the day (again) while the other princesses are dispatched with ease, and the reveal of a throne room for our Justice League of Equestria. What happened to that lovable librarian? That caring farmer? That adorable baker? Oh, they're still there, depending on what the plot dictates them to be. But sometimes they're not. One minute Twilight is the center of the universe and the next, nopony gives a damn.

I'll probably have more to say as I get more time on my hands, so for now I'll leave it at:

To be continued...

3609084

You left me speechless, again.

Everything you said and synthesized in

and everything that had made FIM good was gradually becoming stripped away, being replaced with the exact same stuff we all hated about G3 and the Webisodes, except with the occasional villain thrown in so the writers can say "See? There's still dark stuff! It's still got maturity!

is exactly what has led me to dislike the show, you should only add canon discontinuity and immorality to make it perfect, but I already know you will do that in later posts.

Anyway this has nothing... well almost nothing to do with my hate for this show.
I mean Hasbro wants its money, the writers are providing it with almost no effort, and people is happy watching whatever crap they throw at them. Everyone is happy. Why should I ruin their fun? I could actually join them and watch the show just for being entertained and to pass time with the rest of the community, I wouldn't mind at all, and I can always watch Season One again whenever I want.

But no, I can't do that because I hate this show.
Watch this show makes me feel angry, indignant and disgusted, and that happens because:

3)

Lauren created something good, something of High Quality, she spent a lot of her time and a lot of effort in its creation, she put love and care in FiM, everything she has liked in her life like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings, her ideals and even her childhood. Heck she gave at the main ponies the personalities of her toys!
And she did all this for a reason, a beautiful reason, and I admire her for that.

But then, they destroyed or deformed everything she created, turning her work into... the exact thing she hated, spitting on her face... and the "bronies", the loyal fans of this show, the most open minded fandom in the world, are ok with this...they love that mutilated version of MLP more than the actual show... how is that even possible, is behiond my understanding.

But I can't help but think: "How would I feel if I would be in her place?".

2) Every single one of those characters represents one or more ideals, for example: Twilight represents hard work, responsibility, smartness, meritocracy etc, Rarity also represents hard work and cleverness, she is the pretty girl that knows how to use her beauty to gain what she wants (feminist show, can't complain) without becoming a parasite since she is independent and emancipated, and Pinkie Pie represents the fun loving type, everyone know her randomness, but we also know that she isn't stupid, she actually see things that others simply ignore, openly inviting the audience to not be superficial.

I chose those three on purpose, what has become of them? Pinkie Pie is now a retarded, period.
Rarity is pathetic, she has lost her dignity and her decency, she is desperate and would do anything to gain the attention of a male and she willingly manipulates a child with her charm for using him as her little slave.
Twilight, she is my personal favorite, she has been turned from "almost everything I admire" to "everything I hate": an undeserving, superficial, idiot in a position of power unable to take big decisions; she is always wasting her time and she keeps betraying Spike, her best friend, but she is also irresponsible because in any case, she is supposed to be Spike's caretaker and she has no problem whatsoever to leave him alone when she goes on some remote place to have fun (behold our new princess, behold), and when she is with him, she uses him.
And she also got a crush on Flash Sentry and that's a sin per se... and she was dancing with him while all Equestria could have been burning . I never felt true hate towards a fictional character, this show has changed that.

MLP has become an insult to everyone that can relate to those character and everyone that follows the ideals they represented.

1) Child abuse, or as people like to call it "Spike Abuse".
This show has child abuse in it, I don't think I really need to explain how much disgusting this is, anyway...
Those characters are meant to be taken seriously (most of the time) so that children can relate to them and more simply learn something from their favorite ones.
I saw Spike being a true friend, I saw him stand at Twilight's side no matter what, I saw him asking for only one thing, to be loved and I saw him calling the "mane six" his family, because in the end he is just an orphan, of a different race nonetheless.
I saw him cry for this... his greatest fear is actually becoming useless to Twilight, and be left alone for this!

And what have our belevoled writers done?
They turned his character in the "clumsy assistant that constantly fails in his one job" to make us giggle (and people does)...

his greatest fear is actually becoming useless to Twilight, and be left alone for this!

I saw him crying more on S4 than on all the other seasons combined, and my mind can't help but take this seriously.

I also saw him constantly getting hurt, while no one, NO ONE, not even Fluttershy (except in one episode, cheers) has ever gave a single damn about it, while in Power Ponies, she got angry because a firefly got stomped.

I don't like seeing an orphan left alone while "his family" is having fun in another part of Equestria, I don't enjoy seeing a child getting hurt, I don't find it funny when he cries, I am not even slightly interested in a show where an orphan gets more and more miserable because he's living in a world full of hypocrites.

This isn't just bad quality, this isn't just pathethic, this is the most disgusting and immoral thing I ever seen in a TV show, something like this in a children show called Friendship is Magic...

I don't even know, is this legal? Can they do that?

~~~Last Time, on This Topic...~~~

I left the building, only to be utterly surprised when more great posts had emerged in my absence!

At this point I'm almost not sure I have to add much. Then again, I did say "if you have anything to add, please throw it in."

The problem is, honestly after I was done writing these reasons I kinda felt they were... weak, compared to the topic starting post. My earlier post picked on fundamental aspects of the series, while this one feels more like just me being picky. I tried to make up for that by being humorous, but my sense of humor is so bad that Guatanamo Bay cuts me checks for it.

Still, if you wanna trudge through, read onward.

~~~Getting Back to Our Show!~~~

So, more things that irk-ified me about the Pony thing.

6. Rainbow Dash Doesn't Know What Hands Are

Gonna go with a minor point to start off with, and something the dudes before me kinda brought up. It seems like nothing can be kept straight in this universe. For example, the ponies have used the word "hand" in several episodes, and they hang around with a dragon who has hands (not that they seem to have much regard for him)...

Then in Equestria Girls, Twilight says Sunset Shimmer is "in good hands" and Rainbow Dash immediately asks, "What are hands?"

What's a Paladin?

Who are the Gargoyles?

Can you tell me about Love?

What is the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom?

Your knowledge of the land shall be great!

The thing is, this kind of stuff is the norm for MLP nowadays, not the exception. And its not just in terms of characters either knowing or not knowing something they should or shouldn't (wow, that's a mindbender), but also the world featuring things it either should or shouldn't, and central traits of characters changing from episode to episode. Just look at Spike: is he a skilled, hardworking assistant or is he a clumsy goof-off? The show has played him both ways despite the images being incompatible.

It's like anything goes these days.

7. There's Never Any Sub-butts These Days

By "sub-butts" I of course mean "subplots"

A sub-rump, just so we're all on the same page here, is something else going on in addition to the main plot, which--done right--will enhance the main story in some way, at the very least by adding extra layers to the narrative to make it more engaging.

All the best episodes have at least one sub-ass. "Green Isn't Your Color" had Pinkie teaching Twilight to keep secrets, which made a winner out of what could easily have been a rather pedestrian story. "Over a Barrel" has the mane six get separated leading to them learning about the different sides of a land dispute. Heck, even one of the few Season Four episodes I enjoyed--"Leap of Faith"--was good precisely because its story had more than one thing going on, even though all the threads were related.

The problem though, is that starting with Season Two, sub-heinies became a rare beast, leading to the actual episodes being... well, frankly, far too simplistic to hold an adult's interest. Especially when the one active plot thread revolves around everyone meeting Pinkie's sister and deciding if they like her or not (I really wanted to like that episode, because I liked Maud, but it wound up being a very bare-bones "meet the new guy" fanfic in animated form). So basically this is a continuation of what I said earlier, about the show becoming more like a standard children's cartoon.

Also, I'm done with the "replace 'plot' with some euphamism for 'butt'" joke. That was just for this entry.

8. When A Canon Episode Is Like Something That Would Be In a Fanfic, There's Something Wrong.

My comment about "Maud Pie" reminded me that that's another thing that's been happening lately, and apparently has been for awhile.

Just for example, someone in the writer's group told me awhile back that "Rainbow Dash hurts her wing and gets hospitalized" is actually pretty common in fanfiction, although its usually to lead in to a lesbian romance (of course ) rather than her learning that reading is fun. There was something else that person mentioned, but I forget what it was.

If you ask me though, the most fanfic-ish plot of Season Two--besides "the girls fight an evil chaotic god"--is the one almost everyone hates, where five of the mane six dress up as a Batman knock-off (actually, she looks more like Darkwing Duck to me) called Mare-do-Well. And this wouldn't be the last time the show throws our heroines into the role of costumed heroes, since they revisited that premise (with actual powers to match) in "Power Ponies." Outside of that, we've had episodes like "Daring Do is actually real" (though admittedly I liked that episode), "Spike becomes someone else's servant," Celestia turning out to have some big, overarching plan, and even a bunch of little things like Pinkie Pie's fourth-wall exploits getting more and more out of hand and her randomly knowing things or having skills just because lol so random.

I gotta confess, I don't read fanfiction much. See, I associate "fanfiction" with bad writing, one-dimensional and often out-of-character characterizations, authors who claim to be fans but clearly don't understand the series they're writing about, over-enthusiastic nerds who want to do a concept (such as, for example, crossing Pony with Fallout) just because they're a fan of both, and the characters bending over backwards to facilitate a lesbian romance.

That last one is the only one that the show has not done yet. I'm betting it'll be in season five.

9. Mighty Morphin' Horsie Rangers!

Or, me being the Sentai junkie I am, I'd rather call them "Hooved Sentai Ponyger."

So yeah, let me talk about something. In the first episode, Fluttershy is afraid to talk to the (clearly friendly) Twilight Sparkle because.... because Fluttershy. Later on, she helps Rainbow Dash save Twilight from a fall, but nearly fumbles it because, her words, "I'm not used to carrying anything heavier than a bunny or two." In fact, many times the series makes jokes and/or storylines about Fluttershy's nervousness or lack of physical prowess.

(She should practice carrying my cat, Yoyo. There's a workout for your forehooves right there!)

Here's what I'm getting at: the Mane Six, being the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, basically wind up becoming a rapid response team that's expected to tackle any danger Equestria faces.

And yet it couldn't be a worse selection of heroes. I already mentioned Fluttershy, but think also about Pinkie. What does Pinkie have that makes her cut out to be on what is essentially a military force? Because yes, when I want to fight demons straight out of the AD&D Fiend Folio, I want a party girl who packs rubber chickens. Or for that matter, Twilight Sparkle herself is... a socially awkward, easily-annoyed person who spends most of her time reading books.

You know who else is a socially-awkward, easily-annoyed person who spends most of their time reading books? Me! And I'm not quite cut out to be superhero material. Spending all day reading means you don't get a lot of exercise or real-world experience. In fact you often have to be snapped back into reality (Sword of Shannara doesn't exactly have a chapter where the heroes accidentally disturb a fire ants' nest and wind up having to apply rubbing alcohol to the bitemarks). And yet somehow Twilight is not only capable of adventuring, but she's a natural born leader despite being reclusive! How does that work?

Arguably, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are the only two who really have any place in an adventuring party, but... oh yeah, these girls hid in fear of a zebra, and demonstrated that they'd get their butts kicked if they tried to take on a dragon or a hydra in a straight fight. That aside, Applejack has a job that demands her full attention, while Rainbow Dash apparently has sleep issues (assuming she's not just lazy) and a terrible work ethic.

See ultimately the problem with episodes like the pilot, "The Return of Harmony" and "The Crystal Empire" (even though I kinda liked that one) is that these girls clearly just aren't meant to be Hooved Sentai Ponyger. They're supposed to be The Girls of Ponyville. This should be a series about the joy of everyday life, but for some reason they just have to shoehorn some sort of adventure/superhero-ey premise into it, and its just broken beyond belief (fact or fiction, hosted by Johnathan Frakes).

. . .

Now, I have to add something here. Someone (I forget who) once stated that the superheroine aspects were part of the show's feminist ideals, that they were "empowering" for girls.

My problem with that is this: Is demonstrating some degree of ass-kicking really the only way to feel "empowered?" I thought a part of the idea was "There's more than one way to be a girl?" And yet, if everyone is supposed to have an "inner badass," then its basically saying that you're less of a woman if you're a terrible fighter or even a pacifist. I can't be the only one who sees a huge issue with that.

~~~And So Once Again We Arrived At A Stopping Point~~~

Like I said at the top, this post feels, even to me, like its just kinda picky and not up to my usual standard (low as that already is).

Still though, my hope is that if nothing else, it still contributes to an outsider's understanding of what we find wrong with how MLP ended up. Maybe not as much so as the earlier posts, but at least a little.

I still haven't brought up everything I take issue with, so once again this topic is...

~~~...To Be Continued~~~

3609084
1. Indeed. The first season absolutely hooked me. Hell, I honestly thought there would never be a truly bad episode in the series. It wasn't until Season 3's start that I suddenly saw something wrong that absolutely infuriated me and butchered the character of dear sweet Celestia. You do not gamble with the lives of an entire empire.

2. All true.

3. Putting Twilight as the main focus of Season 1 was actually a very subtle move. Since she had the most to learn about friendship as the show started out, she was effectively acting as a medium for the audience. When Season 2 came along, it showed that while Twilight had the most to learn still, her friends could still learn more too. Passing the torch from her to all six of them was one of the most brilliant moves in the entire show and made for some very strong equality, showing that friendship is about each other, never about just you. But of course, they went back to just Twilight being the savior of the world, the rest of the girls being just power-ups and what not, blah blah blah... In retrospect, it's absolutely insulting to people who relate to the rest of the Mane Six because it makes people who relate to Twilight most seem superior and destined for greatness. I am one of those people and even I am offended by it. Not a healthy message by any means.

It rather disturbs me that Hasbro seems to be going out of their way to ignore all this criticism. Criticism paves the way for improvement. I've looked at criticism that was warranted of my works and have taken some of it to heart. The reliance on these marketing tactics in the show are highly outdated and they need to understand just how effective the show is without them. They'll still get merchandise profits without all this princess crap and so forth. It's just sad. They're not trying hard enough anymore.

But the biggest problem is the fans who are ok with everything Hasbro is doing wrong. And some of the biggest names in the fandom are on that list. I've even lost fans and readers because of my criticism for the show's and Hasbro's problems.

3613299

It rather disturbs me that Hasbro seems to be going out of their way to ignore all this criticism.

It's hardly new to them. After all they're the same company that forced G.I. Joe G1's writers to turn Cobra into an organization of millennia-old snake-men (a move which even the writers had issues with) and gave Transformers G1 fans the childhood trauma known as Wheelie.

... and Nightscream, but I pretty much hated both Beast Wars and Beast Machines anyway so yeah.

Point is, when its Hasbro, cartoons are good in spite of them, not because. By and large this is true for most toy companies in America... Japan doesn't seem to have this problem. At least, not the toy-based stuff I've seen (although that's not to say all of it was good--Transformers: the Headmasters could be used as torture in some places, up until you get to Galvatron's evil plan to make himself fat to rule the universe).

3615647 In other words, you're saying that MLP FiM became the surprisingly deep relatable show that should be taken seriously entirely by accident. If that is the case, I wish they would keep 'screwing up'.

3609084
Underwhelming Villains
I love villains. They tend to be one of my favorite characters i most series I watch or play. However, MLP doesn't have a good rouges galley in my eyes.

I don't know much about Nightmare Moon, except for its back story which is the only thing interesting about it. I admit, it's fun to come up with head canons for it. My favorite is the entity of pure evil.
Chrysalis is on my list of worst villains that I've seen.
Sombra was decent but they made some big mistakes with him. Mainly we saw him and made him talk.

And finally Discord who was the only good one. I'll be honest, I didn't thought he was funny. But thinking about what he does and what he did to Mane 6 made me realize he wasn't funny, but terrifying. A creature with a sick sense of humor with no regards to who he hurts as long as HE'S enjoying himself. and they screwed him over with the "reformation".

As for the minor villains, they're either annoying, I've them done better or I have no idea if they're a villain or not.

3619321 No kidding on the reformation. The parts of the episode where he was inside Fluttershy's house was surreal and comedic gold, but the rest of his antics just didn't feel funny and more of "just because he felt like it". And in the end, seeing him being a good guy just didn't...FEEL right. As if you see him acting like a good guy and it felt unnatural for him. That could've worked if his background had him at one time having a taste for friendship, but forsook it for constant chaos.

What's more, when I first found out that it was Fluttershy who ultimately reformed him, I thought that the Mane Six were tasked with it, but they all gave up on him at some point with only Fluttershy being the last one to stake it out. But then I watch it and hear Celestia claim that Fluttershy is the one best for the job.

Uh... Farfetched much? How would she even know that? You'd think such an undertaking would require the whole team, seeing as it took all of them to stop him in the first place.

Looking back on this, I think the whole problem why the reformation felt...wrong was because of how quickly it happened. If an entire season was dedicated to it, then it probably would've felt more believable. Discord giving up his chaotic ways in a single episode sounds pretty unlikely, especially when you consider that he must've been like that for eons.

3609084

Others have made really good points in this thread, so I'll try to keep my response limited to reasons that haven't already been given. So if some of these only seem like minor gripes, it's just because all of the "good" complaints have already been taken.

1. My biggest problem with the show is that it's all about Twilight Sparkle now. Granted, she's always been the main character, but ever since they turned her into a princess and elevated her in status above all of her friends, as well as magically powered her to like 10x what should be reasonable, it's pretty much just a show about how special and unique Twilight is.

Also this brings up a bigger issue of that they never treat magic consistently in the show. Back in S1 when there weren't that many different magic spells introduced, it wasn't as big of an issue, but now there are many, many different magic spells introduced, it really begs the question as to why Twilight seems to forget her giant arsenal of spells whenever it's convenient. For instance, given how much magic she has used before, it shouldn't have been any problem for her to get Flutterbat back (just use a teleport or grab her with magic or something) or for her to defeat Cabelleron's minions in the Daring Do episode (just use any number of combat spells, or hell just turn them into breezies). There are many more instances, but those are just a few where Twilight seems to forget about her powers just for the sake of having a plot work.

Either have your characters use their powers during times when it's appropriate, or don't fucking give them those powers to begin with!

2. Flanderization of almost every character. I can't think of a single character who has become more rounded or mature as the show has progressed, with the possible exception of Luna.
-Rarity completely made a fool of herself just to get a stallion in S4, something she never would have done in season 1. Also she's even more of a drama queen.
-Fluttershy hasn't really matured or progressed any, and in fact they seem to have this rather disturbing Jekyll and Hyde approach with her where she's afraid of her own shadow the first moment and then screaming and raging the next.
-Applejack is mostly the same.
-Pinkie Pie has gone full retard, and is pretty obnoxious whereas back in season one she had at least a few coherent moments when she was slightly tolerable.
-Rainbow Dash is still my least favorite character, and she hasn't really evolved as a character all that much.
-Others have commented on Spike and how he's now a bumbling idiot who they never want to bring along on any adventures, and I agree.
-Princess Celestia used to be pretty laid back and informal, and she even used to visit Ponyville quite regularly, but it seems like now she spends most of her time in Canterlot and we only see her when she needs the mane six to go save the day for her once again. When was the last time that Celestia tried to interact with her subjects on a one-on-one level?

3. They still haven't done anything cool with earth ponies. Lauren Faust always mentioned that earth ponies had a "special connection to the earth," and it's somewhat sometimes demonstrated that they might be physically stronger than the other two races (that's debatable though, given ponies like Roid Rage or Twilight Sparkle). Season four with Tirek establishes that earth ponies have their own internal magic, which he steals. But we haven't seen any episode about how earth ponies are cool or unique, and it's been like four seasons. Whereas we've had plenty of pegasi episodes (Sonic Rainboom, Keep Calm and Flutter On, Wonderbolt Academy) and unicorn episodes (Boast Busters, Magic Duel, Magical Mystery Cure).

Hearth's Warming Eve implies that the three races are equal, but it seems to me like they aren't. Why not make an episode where there's a huge problem that only the earth ponies can solve? And no, just sitting around and growing crops all day doesn't count.

4. Quit re-using all the lessons. Seriously, it's getting old. How many times do the Cutie Mark Crusaders have to learn patience, and that their cutie marks will come in time? How many times does Fluttershy have to learn not to be shy? There are also many lessons which you would think that these characters would already know just given their age and maturity level.

Also, every episode doesn't need to have a lesson. I remember back in S2 with the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, where Applejack said that she didn't learn anything, and it was a breath of fresh air. There have hardly been any episodes like that since then.

5. Why not show more of Equestria, or more of other countries? The only place that they really go that's different is the Crystal Empire, which is basically just Equestria's Canada: a "foreign" country up north that's only slightly different from Equestria itself. Why not show us some of the Griffon empire? The dragon or changeling lands? Why does the whole show have to take place in Equestria?

6. One of my favorite things about MLP was and still is the giant cast of diverse characters that they have. But lately it seems like they haven't been focusing on many of the great side characters that they have at their disposal.

Why not do an episode about a character other than
a. The mane six
b. The CMC
c. Spike, or
d. A new character who only appears in a single episode and then is never seen again. (Gilda, Iron Will, Maud, Cheese Sandwich, etc.)

When was the last time there was an episode about a character other than those? Why can't we get more episodes about minor characters? Season 2 gave us "Luna Eclipsed" and "Hearts and Hooves Day", which were about Luna, Cheerilee, and Big Macintosh. But since then, we haven't really gotten any episodes about minor, recurring characters. "Magic Duel" was more about Twilight than Trixie, and we hardly got to see any of Daring Do in "Daring Don't," it was more about RD. Plus, making Daring Do a real character just seemed kind of jarring anyway. "Leap of Faith" featured Flim and Flam very prominently and is a great example of what I want to see much, much more of, but it's the only recent example I can think of.

Why not do a Zecora episode? Maybe one that shows her life back in the zebra land, or one that shows her day to day routines.
Why not a Princess Celestia episode? One that shows all that she has to do to run a kingdom.
Why not a Snips and Snails episode? Just have them farting around and doing something stupid. Or maybe do a Pinky and the Brain homage where they try to take over Ponyville.
Why not an episode about Mayor Mare, where she's running for re-election?
Why not do an episode about the Cakes? Maybe Sugarcube Corner is in dire financial straits and they try a bunch of marketing gimmicks to get it profitable again. Or maybe they do an episode about the twins that's an homage to Rugrats or something.
Why not do an episode about Fancy Pants, Prince Blueblood, Jet Set, Upper Crust, Hoity Toity, or any number of the Canterlot Elite that we've seen?
How about an episode about Shining Armor and Cadance? Not sure what it would involve, but it seems like those two aren't really around unless the mane six is there.

One of my favorite shows ever is the Simpsons. It has a huge, huge, HUGE cast of characters, and all of them are really interesting and memorable, and guess what, they get their own episodes quite a lot of the time! Granted, most of the episodes are still about Homer, Marge, Lisa, or Bart, but almost half of the episodes have a pretty major subplot (or even main plot) about one of the many, many, many other Springfield residents. Why can't MLP take a page from that? Not every episode of MLP has to star the Mane Six or the CMC. Mix it up a bit!

3610826 Point three is making me consider how Meghan just doesn't know a crap about FIM

3627384

Why not an episode about Mayor Mare, where she's running for re-election?

That would've done the "Leadership is earned" crap I've heard in defense of Twilight's ascension into a princess much better. And even then, leadership isn't really earned in monarchies or democracies.

~~~Last Time, In This Thread~~~

Well, looks like we moved right along! Some people take issue with Spike, some with Shining Armor, and then we all got wasted like the Griffons, even those of us who don't drink!

At the moment I don't have a lot of thoughts on those things. In fact one thing kept coming back to my mind and I figured I better make a whole postie-post about it.

~~~So, drum roll please!~~~

This time, I'm only gonna discuss one thing. Yes, its something most of us have heard before, but again, this topic is for the uninitiated--for people who might not already be on board. Besides, this particular subject is worth beating again and again until the entire world sees why its wrong.

10. One Bad Apple, and How It Revealed MLP's Dark Side.

Let me start off by pointing out the single most effed-up thing here:

In Season 2, the show had Derpy Hooves' first ever speaking role... which they went back and edited after airing over concerns that it might be insensitive to disabled people.

This exact same show, and its exact same fanbase, are perfectly fine with an episode that basically says "if you're being bullied, you deserve it. How dare you only think of your own problems and not sympathize with the problems of the guy whose picking on you? You fiend!"

I'm honestly shocked to my very core that this episode didn't get major backlash, and in fact most of the time it's people who point out its very-much-intended meaning who get harrassed (see my blog post about Canterlot.com, and especially the comments section, for a good example!)

This is honestly some... I'm not even gonna self-censor anymore: anyone who doesn't see how this whole thing is just fucked-up is probably a bully themselves. I can't help but think that its some sort of Post-9/11 mentality where "the bully" is America and "the victims" are stand-ins for the barely-developed third-world nations America insists on invading, and episodes like this are actually meant to mean "just comply with us, you douchebags." Even if that's not right, there's no way to read it that's any better. One person on the afformentioned forum tried to justify it as saying "punishing the bully would just perpetuate the cycle of violence." Oh, so when a cop takes up arms against a robber or a soldier takes up arms against a fascist dictator, he's "perpetuating the cycle of violence," I see.

And lest you think those are exaggerations: What is a dictator, except a bully on a pedestal? What is a robber, except an adult bully? It's all the same--the kid on the playground beats the weaker kids and steals lunch money, grows up to become a black-jacking thug who breaks open cash registers. Look up the case of Lionel Tate sometime.

It also shows a sad degree of Authority Worship, with how most people are fine with the episode's "always let an adult handle it," which again, when you are an adult, translates to letting the police or the government handle it (which is pretty much the definition of fascism by the way). Most people I met were utterly naive about this, assuming that either the authority would do their job, or that if they didn't, they'd be replaced.

Fun fact: There was recently a case in the news where a woman got a restraining order on her psycho ex-husband, who then proceeded to kidnap her kids, killed them, then killed himself. This happened specifically because the court ruled that the police were not required to enforce the restraining order. In fact they've also ruled that people aren't entitled to police protection (which itself kinda sucks anyway). Then there's that news story about the boy who was first told that he had to have proof that he was being bullied, but then when he recorded proof, he was arrested on wire-tapping charges.

And people wonder why I'm pro-gun ownership.

Getting back to the show itself, the fact is, once you see that this is the kind of thinking that flies in Equestria, it starts to cast a pallor over every other part of the show. "Return of Harmony" used to be just a very stupid, completely out-of-place episode. But then the mane six's complete willingness to trust Celestia and just assume Discord is bad takes on a sinister tone when you consider their stance on bullying (IE that the bully is always right). Then of course there's "A Friend in Need" (Pinkie stalks a guy until he "befriends" her), the Gabby Gums episode (the Cutie Mark Crusaders are encouraged, then blackmailed, then made outcasts... until they apologize and take all the blame), and hell even things like Discord's "reformation" (get in line with us or else!) and Twi's becoming a princess ("you WILL do what I want whether you actually asked or not!")

Basically, with just one episode, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic went from being a cute, fun if occasionally badly-written show about horsies learning friendship, to being a dark, sinister propoganda piece hiding under a veneer of sugary sweetness, and by extension paints most Bronies (and even non-bronies who defend this particular episode) as... well, you know the word.

Some people would say that's reading too much into it. Those are probably the same kind of people who say that you shouldn't think at all and go around dishing out the "it's just a children's cartoon" excuses, or will insist your crazy and paranoid but then run you off a website for disagreeing with them, stalk you to a personal blog and then say they're gonna PM everyone who talks to you just to tell them what a meaniehead you are... thus proving that you are, in fact, totally right.

This is the kind of crap George Orwell wrote about, and a fucking children's cartoon gave it a foot in the door.

(... It actually kind of makes me second-guess Derpygate too. Most disabled people actually held Derpy up as an icon, proof that you can fit in despite disabilities, and criticized the edit for making her out to be someone who needs to subsist off the sympathies of others like a parasite. It almost makes me wonder if that edit was really done out of kindness...)

~~~Don't really have a postscript this time, so as always, TO BE CONTINUED...~~~

Meghan McCarthy screwed up because her idea of a girl is,"Every little girl wants to be a princess!"

When I was a little girl, I wanted to hold a gun and shoot zombies. And that's where all horrible things began. Lauren Faust had an almost perfect idea of a little girl. That's why season 1 was my favourite season. It was everything I wanted when I watched cartoons! All failed! MLP and Powerpuff Girls was the only shows to get it right! It had conflict. It had juicy parts. They were shows to get me on my feet sometimes. Now, MLP is more like Dora the Explorer. The characters are way too forgiving. Sure, they can be forgiving but not to the point it becomes:
Villain: I did something evil five seconds ago and now I'm crying.
Twilight or any other character: I forgive you.

Don't you think that the character can get punished or made to do a few things ( not even saying a lot ) for forgiveness? They don't need it to be very realistic but at least it makes sense. So yeah, the root of my hatred of where it is going. But I'm not about to stop me from writing fanfiction!

3641222 Just a question, have you ever seen Sailor Moon, Rainbow Brite, or She-Ra Princess of Power? If so, what did you think of them? Those all sound like they might be up your alley to one extent or another.

3641261
I love Sailor Moon. I will try the others.

For me its a couple(New in the group hello everyone )

1. The animation(I know some aren't going to agree).

Im just gonna come out and say it, the animation is somewhat becoming more and more forced and more and more going into 3D, while i have no grudge or anything bad against 3D animation, its just the more I see it in MLP, the more i question what they are sticking too, 3D or 2D. And sometimes the 3D is unnecessary (Princess Twilight Sparkle and among others) to do, again I know the animators are working there assess off and I give them massive props but just to me, it seems forced and having 3d is kinda unecessary.

2. Pop Culture References

Yeah I have fear of getting flamed for it and I know I am going to be told i'm wrong, but I think there's too much of it and just hearing Megan said " It wouldn't be MLP without Pop culture references." Kinda worries me, I have no problems with some pop culture, not a massive amount, but a small tidbit. Here in the past two seasons I have seen it just everywhere....and I mean EVERYWHERE!!!! It made me detest this (pardon my language) Asshole even more in the fandom(EqD doesn't help with it).

Again i don't have problems with Pop culture reference but too much can make a show lose what it was about.

3. The comics

Again back to the second reason, they spearpoint the references massively. And just the unwanted attention that makes MLP warrant a comic( I could be or am wrong about this whole reason). I can't think of anything else...oh wait back to the ahole, as much as I detest him i fear they are going to copy-paste a personality(A show I extremely detest but don't attack fans that have like it) rather then have his own

I can't think of anything else, but more reasons will come up.

4. Discord

Again I fear getting flamed for this and how wrong I am( I said on EqD in the comment section that he is just meh and that he is stale and got attacked), but I don't like Discord. He seems to be the same reason as reason number 2 and just what he represents as a Spirit of Chaos. I want to see him vulnerable, I want to see him actually lose control of the chaotic force to the point he knows chaos isn't a force to take lightly and playfully and that it's unpredictable both physically and spiritually. And just him being totally random is something that was entertaining for awhile but...became annoying, I thought he would be on both aspects from a simple kick of a can has the potential to unleash a maelstrom of despair and chaos in an instant. And just how stale he is the further the show goes in(I didn't like his reformation).

If this is the wrong thread I apologize and i just needed to get it out of my system and i know i am wrong on it.

3679361 While I'm a little undecided on the other three points, the first definitely brings up a problem. The show was originally masterfully crafted in the use of Flash only and it only got better as the seasons went by. But when that isn't enough for the company and they start forcing in other art programs to produce 3D effects, that's when you know they are sacrificing substance for extra eye candy.

Give Season 3 some credit. At least the Mane Six were still in character most of the time.

3679422

Agreed, it just doesn't fit and the transitions and angles of the animation don't' fit with the show

3679361 I actually completely agree about Pop Culture References. So many writers think references equal good writing, when it really depends on the nature of the beast. Something like Scott Pilgrim depends on them and makes them work, but with MLP they really should minimize them and make them unbotrusive. Too many pop culture references make it feel like what it is--a product of the internet age.

Also, it does make me think of a rather awesome way to re-write Dragonshy:

RAINBOW DASH: I'm gonna kill the dragon!
TWILIGHT: With what, your bare hooves?
DASH: Yes!

(minutes later)

TWILIGHT: Congratulations, you've just killed a dragon with your bare hooves! Unbelievable, isn't it?

Why do I hate what's happened to MLP? Because the things they did gave it an identity crisis. Lauren Faust wanted an action show, Hasbro wanted slice-of-life. She wanted it to be charming (I hope), they wanted it mean-spirited. So which is it?

There's also the whole child-abuse angle where Spike and the CMC are concerned. As I've stated before, I like them, but their storylines come off as Peanuts-like with the same air of futility that never let Charlie Brown resolve any of HIS issues. You heard me: I didn't like Peanuts for that reason as a child, and I don't like it now (or anything similar to it).

I ask again: When was anyone planning to make those music videos?

3751257 Exactly what music videos are you talking about?

Why, these music videos:

Spike - Numb
Apple Bloom - Runaway
Sweetie Belle - One Step Closer
Scootaloo - New Divide

I mean, with all the garbage they endure on an episodic basis, who else could warrant the Linkin Park treatment best? We have videos for Twilight Sparkle, Luna/Nightmare Moon, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, but hardly anything for these four. I'd make them myself, but I don't have the right video editing software. Everything I download requires some activation key I don't have, and it's too expensive for me to buy right now.

Wasting Good Ideas
I'll be honest, there were some good ideas in MLP. The problem I feel is they seem to waste the potential they got. Things like Alicorn Twilight, Discord's reformation and the wedding are examples of wasted potential that we beaten like a dead pony, but one that really stood out was Peewee, the baby phoenix from the end "Dragon Quest". I thought it was nice that Spike got a pet of his own. Especially one that might live as long as him. But then in season 3 they got rim of him off screen. Why? is it becuse the writers think Spike is a pet too?

3780380 Peewee? Probably the same reason why Applejack's parents were killed off. They just couldn't figure out how to work the character into the show.

Although with the wedding episodes, that isn't so much wasting a good idea as it is wasting a good moral.

When I first caught wind of the Royal Wedding, I was assuming it would have one of the strongest morals that both kids and adults could take to heart.

My prediction was this. With Cadence being a princess and analyzing screenshots and summaries of the upcoming episode, my assumption was that Cadence was leading Shining Armor by the nose, acquiring his love in order to ascend to the rank of queen. As everyone knows in a monarchy, when a prince or princess gets married, they instantly are 'promoted' to the title of king or queen. This would mean that upon getting married, she would outrank Celestia and Luna, effectively usurping them without them having any means to retain their authority by royal law as a result of a massive oversight on their part. Cadence could have very easily worn the 'scheming mastermind' villain type very effectively. I was expecting the moral of this episode to be that one should take their time and never rush into a relationship and to get to know their partner the best they can before going too far, as love can be blinding and one can easily be taken advantage of in such a relationship. Anyone who has had a relationship end badly, myself included, can vouch for that.

And what did we get? "Always trust your instincts". Seriously? In how many forms of media and how often has that moral been taught? It's one of the most basic morals to teach and in hindsight, it was the first moral in the entire show that I feel was a massive cop-out. They could've come up with a plot that would have taught a serious important lesson about love to the audience in all age groups, and they instead retaught a moral that EVERYONE should already know about. In other words, I sorely overestimated the writers. In my eyes, it was the only truly inexcusable flaw of the episode. Being a moral that EVERYONE should know, I like to think of this episode as being without a moral as everyone should automatically know to trust their instincts.

That's not to say that I think Shining Armor and Cadence are bad characters, as I found myself liking them a heck of a lot more than I thought I would. But in terms of morals, that was the first time I really felt Hasbro dropped the ball in teaching a moral, an aspect the show was famous for.

3780380

How is that I never saw this post?

No, not because they think that he is a pet, but mostly because giving Spike his own little and cool animal, like the other main ponies, made his role of major character even more obvious.

IMHO I think that, besides the fact that they had no idea of how using him, they also removed Peewee from stage to facilitate Spike transformation in clumsy sidekick used only for comical relief. "Just for sidekicks" the name should tell you something.

3940458

Well the message of this episode was "BUY OUR TOYS!". They just needed to attach a random moral they to make it more presentable, so they took one at random.

"Always trust your instincts" [...] a moral that EVERYONE should already know about.

I Dunno I always hated this kind of moral. For starters it never made sense, how could the main character overcome obstacles or the most genial schemes and plans of the villain with just their instincts? Not to mention the "Be brave, put your head down, charge and you will become a good king"

But in this episode this message was even more awful: you don't have to trust the judgment of someone like Celestia because your own anger and jealousy are telling you otherwise? This is exactly how many villains usually are born, but beside that: "Listen kids, if your instincts says that you are right then it means YOU ARE! Don't listen to your parents because your anger is saying that they ARE WRONG! You don't have to justify yourself with other people, because they are hurting your feelings and your instincts says you are RIGHT! etc. etc

Why do I hate what hate what happen to MLP:FIM, it because of the walking contradiction it has became after S2. Way to forget about taking your friends worry seriously. Good Job! I was referening the Canterlot Wedding eposide and the moral after lession zero.

Secondly, my second point is the "fanbase", which i actaully detest more than the series itself.

I somehow never saw the responses in this topic, even tho my feed says I did...

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As everyone knows in a monarchy, when a prince or princess gets married, they instantly are 'promoted' to the title of king or queen.

Wait, seriously? I don't think that's how monarchies work. If it was, then most real-world monarchies would be seriously broken.

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No, not because they think that he is a pet

Two words: Equestria Girls.

4005744 Well, I don't know every single nuance of how that form of government works because I can't stand politics, but that is typically a requirement for ascending to the throne.

And considering how unexplored how the monarchy of Equestria is, especially its workings, it would be easy to assume it really would be that easy for Cadence to ascend to the title of queen.

I hate that like Harry Potter and Avatar, Friendship is Magic has the potential to evolve, mature with its audience, and explore it's own universe and themes...and it DOESN'T!!!

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I know, right?

Friendship is Magic? This show should have been called "My Little Pony: Infinite". I don't think I ever saw (or will see) something with such unlimited potential.
I simply can't leave this fandom (that I dislike) of this show (that I don't watch anymore) because of the purely theoretical potential that this world of rainbow ponies has. A potential that no one will ever use.

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A potential that no one will ever use.

Well, true, but some of us are still working on channeling that potential into a world of rainbow kitties instead.

Cuteness break!

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Where is my insulin?!

There's a fun fact, "Friendship is magic" wasnt really the original tittle. The original tittle is MLP: Adventures. Anyone whom believes they should had left the tittle alone?

4030609 I don't know. They stopped having adventures after a while. Now all they do is try to fix the overgrown problems they create because of their own stupidity.

4280032 Think that's bad? The comics are ten times worse, I recently saw in a screenshot of it ponified versions of Mario and Luigi.

4280032
I'm gonna have to disagree with you here. Heck, I bloody loved when they did that Space Odyssey reference back in S1, or the Star Wars one in S2.

The "slenderpony:" what do you mean it "sticks out like a sore thumb"? From what I recall, it's on the screen for literally less than a second, in the background, mostly hidden by trees. And that episode just had them go through a creepy cave full of supernatural beasts. Think one of them might stalk the group? Why not?

I'm pretty fucking sure the little seven year old girls' mother is going to absolutely LOVE this pop culture reference to Bad Dragon Cum Lube. Obviously.

Bad Dragon Cum Lube

If that's the first thing you think of when you see a white liquid in a TV show intended for little girls, the problem is with you.

Flutterbat: well, it was a Flutterbat. Sounds a lot better than bat-Fluttershy.

Ass shots: these aren't there for the creeps who sexualise the show, you dolt. They're there because when you're 8 years old, butts are funny. Jesus, it's like you've never been a kid.

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Ass shots: these aren't there for the creeps who sexualise the show, you dolt. They're there because when you're 8 years old, butts are funny. Jesus, it's like you've never been a kid.

I've been a kid (hell, sometimes I still am) and I never found butts funny. In fact even as a kid stuff like that up there disturbed me.

In fact I've never really met a kid who thinks butts are funny, in and of themselves (now if something happens to the butt, or if there's something weird about it...) though I've seen plenty of children's media made by people who []think kids think butts are funny. That usually tends to be the media kids forget when they grow up.

I do agree that assuming anything is for the bronies might be stretching it a bit, but in cases like that I can understand where the assumption is coming from. In a weird way its almost more logical.

5. STOP SINGING!

No kidding. Even in Sonic Underground it wasn't this bad. And there at least it made sense: the whole show revolved around hedgehogs that had magic music instruments as weapons. (It was still dumb. but at least the singing made sense in concept of the show.)

Though to MLP's credit at least the songs aren't sung in this very nasally voice that makes you want to rip your eardumbs out just to make it stop, unlike sonic underground.
Probably why that show was cancelled.

4293125 Well, to be fair, the show's whole rock band setup was a product of its time, so it could get away with it better than it could today. Besides, Sonic's singing voice was done not by Jaleel White, but by Sam Vincent. And this is a guy who knows how to sing. And he's even involved in MLP FiM by providing the voice of Flim, who sang a rather memorable song during his debut. So I'm all but certain that Sonic Underground was cancelled along the same lines as Sonic SatAM, especially since they surprisingly had the same world and even the same villains to a certain degree. Although he also provided the voice for Edd from Ed, Edd, and Eddy, so who can really say how his voice was at singing back then when compared to today?

But you want to know what might be the biggest offender of the rock band cliche before the rise of Rainbow Rocks?

I will never know how I ever sat past this opening back when it was still on. And who here even remembers Generation O?

This was an embarrassing attempt to follow the rock band cliche when it had already worn out its welcome. Want to know how? The cliche is a product of the 80s and 90s. This show came out in 2000. And what does the main song of each episode entail? Well, from what I recall, the pilot episode was all about the singer of the band, Molly O, coming up with a song and singing it to her fans that she wets the bed. Other songs of the show have included being about a desire to get her ears pierced, loathing her obnoxious brother, and being sleep deprived from a bad case of insomnia. And it only lasted 13 episodes.

Yeah... Riveting inspiration.

I'm not even sure if this is relevant to the topic, but thinking about the rock band cliche with Sonic Underground and how it was a product of the time made me think of this all but forgotten turd of Kids WB. This almost seems to serve as a word of caution that products of their times should only be made as soon after the start of that era as possible and not terribly frequently.

Forced Emotional Manipulation

Something a lot of media does to draw in the viewers and make them feel invested in what they are watching is have something that tugs at the viewers' heartstrings to illicit sympathy for the characters. However, if used poorly, all this does is serve to piss off any viewers who have any proper grasp of what is really going on. Probably the most infuriating example is Magical Mystery Cure, where the show tries to make the viewers feel sorry for Twilight and her friends for what seems to be an accident that messes up their destinies and therefore ruins their lives while anyone with any grasp of reality will be seeing them as being too stupid to see past their cutie marks and continue to pursue their passions and a disgusting act of manipulation by Celestia herself. But I don't need to tell all of you that, do I?

Besides, Magical Mystery Cure did not make me think of this. Let's move on to a more recent event. I am driven to add this problem with the show by a very recent episode in Season 5. Tanks for the Memories.

The premise of the episode is that Rainbow Dash's pet tortoise, Tank, is on the verge of going into hibernation with the onset of winter. But instead of letting her pet take a routine four month long siesta, Rainbow essentially goes mad and goes to extreme lengths to hold off winter to the point where I am all but certain the royal guard would have had plenty of reason to show up at her front door with an arrest warrant. She acts far more immature than she really is to the point where pre-season 4 Pinkie Pie would've found her to be too childish.

Right off the bat, I am seeing a problem. Can you guess? Rainbow Dash already knows what hibernation is and how it works, and therefore knows it is nothing to get upset about. How do we know? Tank has hibernated at least once before after Rainbow Dash adopted him. Need proof?

See what came after Tank's debut only four episodes later? That's right. The show's Christmas special. In other words, Tank was deep into hibernation at that time and Rainbow Dash was clearly not dwelling on it at all. And why should she have been bothered by it? Fluttershy, a friend she has known since childhood, knows all about many types of animals, including tortoises as she was the one who had Tank before his adoption. She surely has told Rainbow Dash that hibernation is a completely natural and routine part of many animals' life cycles. Even as early as Season 1, it was shown in Winter Wrap Up that many animals hibernate and routinely wake up at the start of spring, including other reptiles like snakes. Therefore, even in the off chance that she did not have Tank after Hearth's Warming Eve first aired, she still knows how hibernation works, thus having no reason to be upset about it. And there is no way I can take seriously the staff's claims of the first three seasons having taken place in just one year. If Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Changeling invasion, and the Crystal Empire's return happened in that one year, then was the previous thousand years just really flipping boring or what? Yeah, there's no way that happened, no matter how badly they want us to believe that.

So the conflict of the episode is actually pretty unwarranted, even though this episode really goes all out to bring the feels. And I have seen journals on DeviantART displaying such feels. And while I do find it touching that Rainbow Dash really has grown to adore Tank after such a rocky start, the episode takes itself far too seriously over such a trivial conflict. It's the equivalent of watching someone slamming their head against a brick wall to get inside their friend's house and being expected to feel sorry for the person when the unlocked front door of the house is just to the person's left. The only person I feel sorry for is Tank himself and everyone else Rainbow wrongs since poor Tank just wants to go to sleep and she won't let him. Especially, as I showed above what happened behind the scenes in Season 2, that Tank has already hibernated at least once before under Rainbow Dash's ownership. If I was present when she broke down crying and the rest of the Mane Six joined her, I would've just facepalmed and reminded them that Tank was not dying. Kind of hard to feel sorry for the guy when he is about to experience a phenomenon that he has experienced many times before and is probably looking forward to it.

Considering that the show has been showing relatively strong continuity since Season 3, I find it nothing short of ridiculous of the character's behavior in this episode. You would think that the episode was originally meant to have Tank die and teach a moral about coping with grief and a death of a family pet, something countless children across the world have to go through every year. God damned Arthur already did an episode about this problem! And this episode even showed the corpse of the deceased pet onscreen! (And yes, Arthur was the first show whose catalog of episodes I checked to see if this premise had done before and better. Can you blame me?) And that is a show made specifically for educational television. And Hasbro thought that kids couldn't handle such a moral when a show like Arthur, that never talks down to their audience, already handled that conflict better than MLP FiM ever could? I wouldn't be surprised if Tank, much like Peewee and Applejack's parents, is never seen again after this episode with the writers even providing commentary like "We were originally planning to have Tank die, but Hasbro decided that children wouldn't be able to handle such a dark subject matter. So yes, sorry. Tank did not survive the winter. Just don't tell Rainbow Dash.".

As much as I dislike D.W., the moment her pet is shown dead onscreen and she reacts to her father's claims of him being dead is still somehow cringe-inducing.

Going back to the problem at the start of this post, Tanks for the Memories abuses the emotional manipulation in one of the silliest nonsensical ways I have ever seen. Hibernation is completely safe and natural, the characters KNOW it is safe and natural, the person who owns the pet that will be hibernating has already had their pet go into hibernation once and coped perfectly with it, and even if she somehow freakishly missed that and completely forgot about him between the end of autumn and the start of spring which would make her the most irresponsible pet owner on the planet, Rainbow Dash has seen animals wake up from hibernation with every Winter Wrap Up she has been involved with. But in this episode, she seems to see hibernation comparable to death and goes out of her way to prevent it to the expense of...well...just about everyone. Including her pet. Where she was just downright insufferably arrogant and selfish in Fall Weather Friends, she is just outright stupid in this episode. And the episode attempts to manipulate the viewer's feelings into sympathizing with her when the entire setup is outright laughable. Honestly, I could see myself laughing at some of the antics that happen in this, especially Rainbow's absurd overreaction to Tank's imminent temporary siesta. For the love of god, Rainbow, your tortoise is going to take a four month long nap. He is NOT going to die. It's not like you would be able to take him outside anyway during winter without him freezing to death. Let him sleep out the cold months so you and him can get the most out of the upcoming warmer months.

Manipulating the viewer's emotion is perfectly acceptable in helping the viewer really get into what they are watching. Films like Toy Story 3 is an example of it done well. But when it is done when the plot and setup is an absolute joke and a kick to the balls of common sense and reality, it is just a mess and funny when it shouldn't be. And only funny in a purely satirical way. And I doubt this will be the last time we see something like this in the show.

4320147 Yeah, it was indeed underwhelming. A lot of these popular fan projects are far overrated. The one time I actually did choke up though was at the very end where the final snowflake Snowdrop made fell with it being the first one she ever made. Best for last, I guess. Or maybe a better term is "Only part done right saved for last".

I'm still watching, but I do have plenty of gripes.

Twilicorn.
It's been analyzed many times already and Jawjoe did the definitive epic takedown of the episode itself earlier this year, so I'll keep it short. 'Magical Mystery Cure' was lousy. I can live with a lousy episode, but it was the wings and crown that really bothered me and still do. They weren't necessary, they added nothing to what was really important about Twilight's character, they made no sense within the world MLP had built to that point, and no supporter of Twilicorn (and they made up the majority of the fandom from what I can tell) could successfully argue otherwise.

Anyone could see that pony had a lot of issues she needed to work on ('Lesson Zero') before she was given any more power on the show, but the writers basically said, "meh, never mind. Off on the road to Suedom!" It was painful to watch as Twilight, or a pony that was supposed to be her, trotted blissfully through the end of the episode, never really questioning this crazy situation or panicking about her new responsibilities as she so obviously should have. Time has not improved this, and I do not particularly enjoy this "new and improved" main character. The Twilight Sparkle I know, love, and enjoy writing about is a unicorn. Period.

Stop singing!
If I may echo NoGiantRobots. Geez, these musical numbers used to be special! They happened for a reason. And it was their rarity (not this Rarity ) that allowed them to be special. Season 3 changed all that. Now there are so many that they mostly blur together. 'One Bad Apple' and 'Flight to the Finish' had CMC songs that added nothing to those episodes. The song in 'Rarity Takes Manehattan' was a perfect example of them getting too complicated and flashy for the needs of the show. 'MMC' had 15 minutes of songs and it opened with Twilight singing about nothing. NOTHING!

HI BRONIES LOL
Stop throwing in references for us! It's not just irritating and unnecessary, it actually hurts my enjoyment of the show. MLP started as a simple, innocent, well-done show for little girls. That was all it needed to be for teen and adult viewers, who were sick of the subpar and crushingly cynical entertainment WE were being offered, to flock to the show in droves. For some of us, MLP represented the childhood we never had and that was special. The last thing we needed was for the show to turn around and scream "YO, WAZZAP?!" Once again this problem really surfaced, as did so very many others, in Season 3. 'Magic Duel' in particular was an ominous, empty experience, and I couldn't believe none of the other bronies I talked to seemed to feel that way at the time.

Loss of focus
What happens when you try to do too much with a good idea? It becomes watered down, the impact is softened, and it's just not special anymore. So let's follow up an entire season that has exemplified this problem...with a spinoff! I don't know how that could possibly go wrong! "Aw yeah, it'll be cute. Bratz and Monster High fans will love it. They'll go to a parallel universe where they're all human and sing pop songs and sh**." Because that's EXACTLY the kind of thing Lauren Faust had in mind! Forget it. I will never, ever watch EQG and every time I hear people going on and on about Sunset Shimmer and Adagio and the Dazzlings and the Sirens and the Snozzwangers and the Vermicious Knids, I just sigh and roll my eyes.

I'm still watching, ultimately, but my interest has really faltered since Season 3 for exactly these reasons. Eventually I just switched off and took a year-long break from the show. I'm back, at least for now, but we'll see how it goes.

4320147 I agree that 'Snowdrop' was emotionally manipulative, and that hurt it. I didn't feel sorry for her because she was blind. But aside from that, I thought it was a pretty damn good animation for the time. The history of Snowdrop's character gave her a lot of potential that was left to the imagination, which makes her both unique and useful in fanfiction. So hooray for us.

Unlike most, I didn't stop watching because of season 3. I didn't even finish season 2.

Return of Harmony was really good, though its rushed second half does hurt it a bit. Then we get Lesson Zero. Zero is right. It's my most-hated episode. Even worse, I can't analyse it well enough to say why I hate it so much. Next comes Luna Eclipsed, and I breathe a sigh of relief thinking the previous episode was just a one-off screw-up. Sisterhooves Social was okay. Then we end up in a long slog of sub-standard episodes. All along the way, I'm losing my patience waiting for it to return to standard. The comments section on Equestria Daily puts me off Derpy after her speaking appearance. Still waiting for the quality to improve. Then comes A Friend In Deed. Horrible episode. Unlike Lesson Zero, this one I can analyse. Months later, I'd make it my entry on the show's Dethroning Moment Of Suck page on TV Tropes. I make it through the next episode out of momentum and realise I'm no longer enjoying the show. I make an attempt to watch episode 20. I get through the teaser, and close Media Player Classic while the opening credits are still playing saying "Screw it. It's Lesson Zero again. I'm done.".

Months later, when season 3 is about to start, I watch the promo. It's the show's last chance to keep me watching. If it can convince me that it'll be good enough to make sitting through the seven crappy episodes I haven't seen worthwhile, I'll go back.

It failed miserably.

I still hate alicorn Twilight enough to filter it on Derpibooru though. Why? Lesson Zero. Any version of Twilight who has been through that is, in my eyes, permanently inelgible for any position of power on the grounds of not having a functional moral compass. You don't brainwash people. Ever. As of Lesson Zero, Twilight is a Villain Protagonist.

But okay, there have been villain protagonists we've liked in other works. Maybe we can live with this.

Unfortunately, that's only the start of the problems.

The art quality declined in post-Discord season 2. Season 1 and Return of Harmony have a really neat and restrained art style. Season 2 is sloppy in comparison. The animators might be trying more technically-difficult shots, but they're neglecting the simple ones. There's a much higher incidence of freaky faces than in season 1, and I think it's due to this. I also get the impression that the animation has become kind of... more like Loony Tunes. If I wanted Loony Tunes, I'd watch Loony Tunes!

The humour has also suffered. Season 1's was mostly emergent, coming as by-products of the characters' interactions. Season 2 gives me the impression of trying to be funny by author fiat, which doesn't work. I think a sign of this is other people calling an episode "hilarious". I find that overwhelmingly tends to mean "painful to watch".

A common complaint I had during season 2 was predictability, though it was probably a symptom of a general dumbing-down of the stories. An especially egregious example being the find-a-pet episode. Okay, okay! The tortoise is going to win! Stop rubbing it in our faces!

There's probably more, but it's late and I'm getting tired.

Something tells me that Hasbro will eventually blow up all of Equestria for the sake of money. :P Dynamite Headdy parodied this serial escalation with its post-credits boss. Said boss is a greedy theater manager who wants to make even more money by completely blowing up the world that Headdy just saved. Headdy has none of that and beats the stuffing out of the manager and ensuring that the world is forever safe.

4588906 ...... So I check this forum for the first time in awhile and I see a reference to an obscure Sega Genesis game.

Right off the bad, my day is made

Its nce that this forum has a new member who is sympathetic to our cause. Lately it seems like we've been the target of intolerant bronies with weird dependency issues.

Equestrian Justice Warriors

The Avengers don't care about helping each other either, which they COULD in theory due to their movies sharing a universe. Where was Hawkeye when SHIELD was revealed to have been infiltrated by HYDRA?!? Was it his day off or something? Imagine if The Legend of Korra, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Attack on Titan took place in the same universe and the protagonists didn't help each other. Then all three shows would be over in ten seconds flat, with the main characters of all three shows utterly destroyed!

On a side note, if you're going to have your characters save the world regularly, make an action series rather than a slice of life one! The main characters of Regular Show hate doing mundane things, so they always end up going on epic adventures and defeating the monster of the week each episode. Power Rangers are very clearly trained and equipped to save the day, especially in Japan. I'm also watching Steven Universe right now as the first series I checked for proper magical girl adventurers.

Why not scale back and lower the stakes? Season 4 ended with an enemy too cataclysmic for another episode. The first show I checked for lower stakes was...Super Sentai. Most of the time there, the villains wreak havoc without trying to blow up the Earth. Hell, some episodes even involve a single person being targeted by one! Whenever the entire world is on the brink of obliteration, I always wonder why the rest of the world isn't involved, especially when Black Widow and Hawkeye, relatively normal people in a superhero world, had no problems scrapping Ultron robots. Lord of The Rings showed that entire cultures were threatened by Sauron's armies.

MLP, you have a lot more potential than just the Mane 6. Do something epic with other characters, like Vinyl and Octavia <3. And I mean Tokusatsu-level epic, not Slice of Life.

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Where was Hawkeye when SHIELD was revealed to have been infiltrated by HYDRA?!? Was it his day off or something?

He was SUPPOSED to have a scene in Winter Soldier, but Renner was too busy.

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They never treat magic consistently in the show. Back in S1 when there weren't that many different magic spells introduced, it wasn't as big of an issue, but now there are many, many different magic spells introduced, it really begs the question as to why Twilight seems to forget her giant arsenal of spells whenever it's convenient. For instance, given how much magic she has used before, it shouldn't have been any problem for her to get Flutterbat back (just use a teleport or grab her with magic or something) or for her to defeat Cabelleron's minions in the Daring Do episode (just use any number of combat spells, or hell just turn them into breezies). There are many more instances, but those are just a few where Twilight seems to forget about her powers just for the sake of having a plot work.
Either have your characters use their powers during times when it's appropriate, or don't *dolphin noise*-ing give them those powers to begin with!

Guess what the first show I checked for using powers during appropriate times. Super Sentai. In every season I've fully seen so far (Dekaranger, Go-Onger, and Go-Busters), whenever a new weapon was introduced it wasn't just thrown away. It got major roles after its introduction episode.

And you'd expect a unicorn almost universally dependent on her magic to use it when appropriate. By catching Sunset Shimmer and the crown before they went into the mirror, it could have saved us a certain "movie". Hell, Magneto would have just levitated the metal crown towards him and also save us 70 minutes, while Quicksilver would have immediately disarmed Starlight Glimmer (in X-Men: Days of Future Past, he uses his speed to redirect bullets and make security guards punch themselves in the face in slow motion). Why didn't Twilight or Rainbow Dash even try to do the same?!? I find it funny that putting a mutant in one of the Mane 6's place could save a lot of time.

Seriously, in an action pony show for teens, unicorn magic could definitely be used as machine guns and to toss enemies around, force choke them like Darth Vader, stop bullets like Neo from The Matrix, and even make enemies beat themselves up like so:

I would love to see a Toku-style martial arts show where Vinyl and Octavia are something like this:

And they only take 24 minutes (same as a typical Toku series) to explosively destroy each of their enemies (without the Elements of Harmony or Rainbow Power).