Stupid stuff that comes to mind that we want to post (pony version)

@DerpyFast  
I was always bothered by how it was more about the individual characters than their relationships.
 
For instance in Dragonshy, it feels like Fluttershy could have been with complete strangers and it would not have changed the episode that much.
 
I think if they would’ve focused on the relationships it could’ve been more interesting and probably make characters like Rainbow Dash more likeable in season 1. Because sometimes I wonder how they’re even friends sometimes in season 1.
 
Also this might get into unpopular opinions: but I always felt like establishing their friendships in the first two episodes instead of over over a whole season, made their friendship seem kind of forced. I wish Twilight would’ve been friends with say Pinkie first, and then make friends with others over time.

@DerpyFast  
Hmm…I think that might have been because the chracters were fresher and we knew them less. But the friensdhip felt front-and-center too.

@Cosmas-the-Explorer  
Different episodes focused more or less on different chracters and relationships - that’s pretty inevitable, I think.
 
And the main issue with your idea is that before Season 3 or so, the show really did not have much continuity - and even in later seasons, there’s plenty of cases of episodes having their airings moved. For that kind of interchangeability you need to fully establish your premise and cast on day one.

@Background Pony #C383  
Me - hit anon by mistake.

@Cosmas-the-Explorer  
Yeah. I think Season One is a pretty great character study with a surprising amount of depth, but they definitely neglected setting up reusable premises and character dynamics.
 

 
They had Starlight build a circle of friends over time, and I thought it worked out really well.

@DerpyFast  
The show was in a completly different place in that point, though. And most of her friends were pre-estabished and popular chracters.

@Latecomer  
So less time needed to tell us who they are and more on them bonding.

@DerpyFast  
Sort of related to your post, but I actually liked it that she had her own circle of friends instead of being part of the mane 6, it benefitted her and her character more

@Myoozik  
And her friend circle and her “saviours of Equestria” circle only partially overlapped.

@Meanlucario  
Or you can do both; discovering who they are by watching them bond.
 
In Season One, it was pretty rare to see The Mane Six just enjoy each others’ company or bond over a shared interest. Pinkie and Rainbow bond over pranking, and Rarity and Fluttershy both go to the spa, but that’s about it IIRC.
 
@Myoozik
 
Absolutely. “Student Counsel” is on my list of all-time favorites.

If Faust wanted the show to be more “adventure centric” wouldn’t it have made more sense for the first season be about stopping NNM?

@Brass Beau  
Faust didn’t get everything she wanted.

@WyrmSpawN  
She wrote the first three episodes and set up the groundwork so it just struck me as odd that she would end that plotline so quickly. I’m just trying to think of why she would, assuming it was her choice.

@Brass Beau  
I always wondered. I always found these first three episodes to be really awkward in their execution. It feels like they were in a rush to set up all the elements for the later parts of the show.
 
I think you can still have slice of life WHILE having the looming threat of Nightmare Moon.

@Brass Beau  
Just because she wrote the first three episodes doesn’t mean those were the first three episodes she wanted.  
I don’t know for sure, but Hasbro may have wanted a more episodic series over a continual adventure and vetoed her original plans.

@Cosmas-the-Explorer  
Yes, but, Is anything perfect the first season?

@97blackbird  
Exactly. It’s nice to see how a show can evolve.

@97blackbird  
I’m probably just over thinking it, but I think you might be right.

One of my favorite moments is from season 1’s Over a Barrel episode. When the girls are just talking in the dark,Fluttershy wanting to be a tree, and Rarity screaming at them to be quiet. It’s one of those moments where the main characters genuinely feel like friends.

@DaddyMakesMeEUHH  
That was the exact scene showed to me when I met a brony for the first time. I asked, “why do you like this show?” and out came the laptop.

@Brass Beau  
I can see why, lol

@Brass Beau  
She always intended it to be a mix, and knew heavy continuity wasn’t an option.

@DerpyFast  
I just personally wish it didn’t go for the overused “Starlight feels guilt and remorse so she apologizes” formula that’s standard for her eps, but other than that, I really enjoyed it as well. Wouldn’t have minded seeing more episodes with this group, with or without Terramar.

@Myoozik  
There were a couple of things from the 8-9 era that made me go: “Ok, can the show just be about this from now on?”
 
>Rarity and Rainbow Dash’s bond in “The End in Friend”  
>Starlight’s circle of friends  
>The Legion of Doom

@DerpyFast  
are all of those season 8? I just checked season 9 and saw none of those titles.