Oh, a best pony discussion? For me it's still Twilight at the top, then Rarity. Then probably Fluttershy. It's more nebulous after that.
Concerning Twilight being boring now, I felt that was the case in early season 4, but I haven't had any problems with her since then. We still have plenty of dorky moments, moments where she freaks out, motherly moments with Spike, etc., and now bae moments. Fun fact: before I started the series, I was only really familiar with it through GIF avatars (which NeoGAF no longer has), which made me think for some reason that Twilight was a villain. Particularly, I thought she was supposed to be the ineffectual Team Rocket style villain that gets caught up in things like a crowd tossing her up and down in the air: that's how I interpreted a GIF from "The Ticket Master" where she has an unamused expression while Pinkie has ponies do that. Plus, you know, she had dark fur, so clearly she was the villain while the white unicorn was the hero. I was actually pretty surprised when I started the first episode and saw Twilight was not only a hero, but the main character.
I wasn't particularly a fan of Rarity early on, only thinking she wasn't as bad as she could have been as the stuck up popular girl character. I liked her more after "Suited For Success" showed more sides of her and portrayed her as an actual professional, but it took "A Dog and Pony Show" for me to really enjoy her as a character. I don't recall finding her melodramatic scenes that entertaining before then, but I did after that. I really appreciate the continued focus she's had as a businesswoman, and how much they've avoided the stuck up popular girl qualities I was fearing.
As for Fluttershy, she just has an adorable design that strikes you from the start, and she often gets pretty good episodes, even if they often have similar themes. It might surprise you to learn that I once feared a character was becoming a Mary Sue, and of all characters, it was Fluttershy. "The Return of Harmony Part 2" had that scene where Fluttershy is chasing after Discorded Rainbow Dash and catches up to her despite having a hot air balloon tied to her, which led a lot of fans to believe that Fluttershy was secretly faster than Rainbow. Combined with "Green Isn't Your Color" showing that Fluttershy is a better model than Rarity, "Suited for Success" portraying Fluttershy as having more sewing knowledge than Rarity (as fans then interpreted her rant about how Rarity should have stitched her dress), and "Lesson Zero" portraying her as being super strong, I was worried they'd end up revealing she was better than everyone else at their respective skills. Not intentionally, but through constant gags involving subverting expectations. I have to imagine the show crew realized this too, because we haven't actually had scenes like that since, to my knowledge. "Hurricane Fluttershy" largely put my fears to rest.
More fun facts: before I started the series, I assumed Applejack was significantly younger than the others, since I only saw her in a GIF of her sitting down, leaning against a tree, which made her look smaller, and one of her making a silly face from "Look Before You Sleep" after telling the "ghost story" about Rarity, which didn't provide size information. I think I largely interpreted Rainbow Dash correctly, besides her being more into sports than I expected. I don't believe I was aware Pinkie existed before I started the series, oddly enough; did I really never see an image of her? When she appeared in the first episode, gasped when Twilight greeted her, and ran away, I really thought that was the end of that character, and was surprised when she returned to throw her a party.
I also thought the definition of pony was "young horse" even when I started watching the series, up through "Applebuck Season" where Mayor Mare appears. I was thinking, "Huh, weird that they have a young horse that's supposed to be old." That finally drove me to look up what "pony" meant. I blame Celestia for me not looking it up before. Literally, since it's easy to think Celestia is meant to be the one adult in a world of children when she's the only normal sized horse; I figured it was a Neverland situation. Oddly, I had that assumption while also thinking Twilight was meant to be a college student, but I suppose I just wasn't thinking about it before then.
On another note, I'm looking at Derpibooru, and maybe I had it backwards when I assumed that episodes airing early would increase the amount of fan art. There's significantly less art of "Fluttershy Leans In" than "Rock Solid Friendship", and not much came out before Saturday. There doesn't seem to be an increase in detailed art either; the ones that have come out are from artists that usually release detailed art on Saturday or Sunday anyway. Maybe it's just this episode; we'll see next week.
Pinkie Pie Says Goodnight: Who You Are
And I suppose I should make these posts on Sunday too.
Today's Canadian episode is
7. Parental Glideance
When Rainbow Dash's parents discover she's a Wonderbolt, they show up at every event to cheer her on. However, their unabashed enthusiasm proves to be rather embarrassing and pushes Rainbow Dash to the brink.
Episodes that can be discussed without spoiler tags
1. Celestial Advice - Twilight Sparkle agonizes over Starlight Glimmers future and receives some much-needed advice from her very own mentor Princess Celestia.
2. All Bottled Up - While the Mane 6 are on a friendship retreat, Starlight Glimmer loses Twilight Sparkles friendship map. Afraid her anger might get out of control, Starlight Glimmer casts a calming spell while the ponies search for the lost map.
3. A Flurry of Emotions - After planning a jam-packed day, Twilight Sparkle also agrees to babysit her niece, Flurry Heart. But with Flurry Heart along for the ride, Twilight Sparkle struggles to maintain her title as 'The Best Aunt Ever' while keeping Flurry Heart out of trouble!
4. Rock Solid Friendship - When Pinkie Pie learns that Maud might move to Ponyville, she does everything she can to make sure her sister sees that it has more to offer than just rocks.
5. Fluttershy Leans In - Fluttershy is determined to make her career dreams come true with the help of some very special ponies. But when her true vision is not being executed properly, she must find a way to stand up and fight for her ideas.
