My main gripe about changes subsequent to Faust's departure isn't bad characterizations (although horrid episodes like Spike At Your Service show that abundantly), departure from canon, or even Twilicorn, but a somewhat more subtle thing.

In the first season, any time we got a look at Canterlot high society, there was always a subtly snarky criticism of the absurdity of the culture there, whether it was the kind of staged social gathering they have (Best Night Ever) or haute couture (Green Isn't Your Color and Suited for Success). Some of that remains into the second season (Sweet and Elite).

But now, the attitude toward royalty and the wealthy is almost unapologetically worshipful, as it would be in a Disney film. It drips with bourgeois sentimentality.

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In the first season, any time we got a look at Canterlot high society, there was always a subtly snarky criticism of the absurdity of the culture there, whether it was the kind of staged social gathering they have (Best Night Ever) or haute couture (Green Isn't Your Color and Suited for Success).  Some of that remains into the second season (Sweet and Elite).

Due to Faust's pilot not including them, I have always taken the idea of these self aggrandized characters as purposefully out of place – as in, they really could not exist in Equestria, but they are shown as a tool to teach that one can, in fact, still remain whole and good even when surrounded by the terminally fake.

I think that about Blueblood, that he basically doesn't belong in Equestria, because he is so utterly repulsive. But he was introduced at a time that Faust was basically as in charge of the show as she ever was other than in writing the origin story. There are a lot of other characters, though, like Hoity Toity (Karl Lagerfeld) and Photo Finish (Anna Wintour) who are clearly parodies of modern society.

They aren't utterly dreadful people, just a bit silly. I can't see that Faust would have disapproved of having these people on the show or been unaware of the cultural references.

3322596 Have you noticed that characters like that are always wearing clothes? Clothing is the oldest symbol of setting people apart. I believe there is a clear relationship to their pride/self-aggrandizement and their wearing of clothes. Even Applejack has a problem with being herself and is always wearing a hat as if to conceal parts of herself that she doesn't accept. I don't think that Faust disapproves of their being on the show, but I do think that when they were there in the first season, they were props to represent the ridiculousness of “high society”.

When the M2 assault writer (megan mcarthy) wrote “Sweet and Elite”, it was actually a good story, much in the same way that Gone in 60 Seconds was a good story about car thieves who stole cars to keep one guy's brother alive, which might sound forgivable except that the only reason the guy's brother was in danger was because he was stealing cars in the first place. The ending of “Sweet and Elite” is the same way: Rarity lies and lies and lies, then saves face about lying by never telling the whole truth, and manages to turn a profit. It's an interesting story for adults who already know morality, and should never ever ever be shown on a show that was designed to teach children how to act friendly. As I once described it in another post, the episode was decent animated fanfiction.

This was the episode that absolved the high society of their ridiculousness because the assault writer never understood that Faust wanted to show the quickly forgotten truth that people who set themselves apart from everything and everyone believing that they really are better than everyone else, deserve only to be treated as jokes because they are no longer real.

Rarity is a good example of a character who has been rather mistreated after Season 1. In fact, Season 1 seems to be the last time she was actually in character as the Element of Generosity. Sweet and Elite, in particular, is an example of an at best equivocal moral message.

It is not for no reason that the show ditched the "e/i," that is, educational and informative classification after the first season. Allegedly, if you believe the Wikipedia article, that is because it started taking on more adult themes. If so, it would be one of the worse influences from the bronies, but I don't believe it. The show, if anything, became more juvenile after Faust's departure.

For instance, the first season had direct homage to Sondheim as well as other references to musical theater, more lyrical complexity in the songs, which have largely been generic pop songs in subsequent seasons, and other things. However, as you note with regard to an episode like Sweet and Elite, and what seems more relevant to that e/i rating, the morals of some episodes have been less than uplifting. If you had to distill a lesson from it, it is that it is okay to be narcissistic and self-serving, to renege on your promises and then lie about it, and treat your friends as embarrassing bumpkins, so long as you later tell half the truth. Kind of. Sort of.

Actually, Fancy Pants in that episode was more of a class act than Rarity and basically bailed her out.

The Rarity of Suited for Success is the one I consider the real Rarity. Yes, she was always a drama queen, but she would also work her fingers to the bone for her friends, even at the cost of her career if necessary. She is hardly the only example, though, of a character who has basically been Flanderized, that is, reduced to their most salient characteristic to the point of losing track of what the character is actually about.

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Even Applejack has a problem with being herself and is always wearing a hat as if to conceal parts of herself that she doesn't accept.

I know it's an old thread but I wanted to point out that hats are useful for those that work outside all of the time. A hat rim shades the eyes from the sun. So, for Applejack, having a hat means the difference between being blinded by the sun and not having her vision obscured.

5593209 For a human, that is the true, but Equestrian ponies did not evolve or were not created the same way. If they were, nearly every character would be squinting every episode because most of the episodes take place outside at high noon when the sun is in everyone's eyes.