Unpopular opinion time

In my opinion, the worst episode in the entire series may be “It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies”. I liked breezies and wanted to see them appear in G4. Then the episode appeared and in general it feels to me like the writer hated breezies even before this episode was made and the episode was written specifically to stealthily ensure it’s nigh-impossible for anyone to even want to write breezies into the show:
 

@Algebroot Neogears  
I suppose it could be a conspiracy, if you look at it like that. And they probably did want to keep them self-contained. But it’s probably not as mean-spirited as you’re putting it. Although, the breezies don’t come off in the best light… Hmm…

@Spinny  
It’s easier to forgive the pre-S6 episode’s shortcomings because I always felt they were written with good intentions(yes, even MMDW and Rainbow Falls).
 
But once S6 and Newbie Dash hit they were practically punishing you for liking the wrong character from there on out. Seriously, you had to have tried to ruin an episode about RD becoming a WB. It got so bad to the point where Dash’s portrayal in goddamn Pony Life felt like a fucking improvement.
 
HECK, in Flight To The Finish, RD was supposed to be the antagonist instead of DT and SS, but they probably changed it for the same reason they changed Spike At Your Service. Had that episode come out in S6 or sometime later I can guarantee they would have doubled down on that shit instead
 
@Algebroot Neogears  
Jim Miller was really open about how much he hated animating them, so it wouldn’t be surprising if this is true

I think I’m one of the few people who liked It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies. It’s a harmless episode, the ending was cute and it has funny voices for this type of characters.

@Kiryu-Chan
 
Wow, I never knew that about Flight to the Finish. That’s pretty surprising given that it’s one of Dash’s best episodes.
 
@Ring Team
 
Harmless? The Spike abuse in that episode alone makes me hate it. Making him be the accidental cause of the breezies failing to get home when it could have been literally anything else, even just the wind, and then going to the mane six in tears because he believed they were all blaming him for what happened? Yeah, that was freaking running him into the ground for no reason.
 
Then of course, just like with Dash, Twilight was needed for Fluttershy to earn her key because she couldn’t get the breezies home on her own. And I still think the spell Twilight pulled off is the most powerful thing she’s ever done, which has a lot to do with how Larson was the only writer who ever tried to avoid making Twilight too powerful. In any case, this was definitely the episode where she peaked.

I need to go back to rewatch it, when I have time.

@Spinny  
Yep and honestly, I would’ve been like Trixie in that situation

I’d say Applejack episodes are worse than Spike episodes.
 
At least Spike episodes are memorably bad. Applejack’s episodes are some of the most forgettable in the show.

@Kiryu-Chan  

 
What’s this now? Maybe they changed it because “Sleepless in Ponyville” established (via the the iconic scene at the end) that Rainbow Dash was fully aware of Scootaloo’s wing situation from the beginning.
 
Though “The Washouts” has her very strongly imply that she’d been expecting Scootaloo to follow her into the Wonderbolts, so…

@DoctorWTF  
It was in the leaks, though it wasn’t so much RD acting exactly like DT and SS, but she coaches the CMC with their routine, but RD is excessively more harsher with training Scootaloo as opposed to the other 2, to the point where Scootaloo thinks RD doesn’t like her as well as makes her think she’s the weak link of the CMC

Dammit, I saw another image spoiler that I shouldn’t have seen. xD
 
Even though I don’t think there’s gonna be any major reveals in the last 10 episodes, I like to be surprised. The Last Laugh was a perfect example of a great Pinkie Pie episode that I definitely didn’t see it coming at this point of the show.

Dragon Dropped does not mean Spike has lost his feelings for Rarity. To me it means he’s just growing to be his own person.
 
If anything this might actually be a plus for that ever so unlikely pairing. If Spike can be his own man instead of just following Rarity, maybe Rarity can see him as an equal not just a kid. And being equals is one of the keys to a romantic relationship.
 
But the point is, is that Rarity probably has a better relationship with Spike now. And they might start to be a little more like peers now.

@Cosmas-the-Explorer  
Spike is getting into younger than Rarara females, PS: Twilight is younger than Rarara and completely not blood related to him, which is a fact.

@Background Pony #14A1  
Also a fact is that he sees her as family, which is generally more important. (Although who knows how the Westermarck Effect works cross-species…)

@Latecomer
 
It would probably be enhanced.

@Latecomer  
What about AJ’s parents, they even met each other since they were frickin babies!!??
 
Making this not fair for Twilight’s and Spike’s relationship!!

@Background Pony #E848  
Also, there’s “critism” for this effect.

@Background Pony #E848  
Also, many people in this fandom and even the show’s writers seems to have the “double standard” when it comes to Twilight’s and Spike’s shippability, while letting AJ’s parents whom met since born or very young as well got loose… don’t make me think of Spike swooning over Rarara, and if Spike was younger, Rarara is more vulnerable to accusation than Twi, gosh, fortunately the ship gag was a joke.
 
Making this seems hypocritical if you ask me…  
And marks one of the few issues I have with this show and fandom, even I like the show because of the quality content it gives overshadows the bad qualities, but now I am mentioning the bad qualities for today.

@Background Pony #E848  
AJ’s parents were peers. Twi was one of Spike’s main caregivers.

@Latecomer  
Still, did Twilight ever be a “mom” to him? Not stated in the show at all, at best he is her housemate sharing same household til the day of their death (like AJ’s parents but I see AJ’s parents may live in different households, but still are childhood playmates evolved into lovers).
 
Twi’s parents and/or Princess Celestia are main care givers.

@Background Pony #E848  
Ps: The “you are not my mom” line from Spike in the show, is true, but Twi heartbreak from it makes me cringe, shows that show writers are also wired into this mess of relationship logic between them.
 
Meanwhile, AJ’s parents gangsta in afterlife.

@Background Pony #E848  
Part mom, part sister, part boss. All of which make any such relationship skeevy. And neither of them show any sign of one, either.
 
Now, could it possibly work a few centuries down the line, when their youth is long behind them and almost everyone else they knew is gone? Maybe. But not anytime soon.

@Background Pony #E848  
Spike literally said that Twilight raised him. We saw glimpses of this from season 1 and upwards. Spike was a child throughout the show and Twilight was an adult, therefore shipping them would be awkward as opposed to the two equal aged childhood friends becoming lovers.

I always appreciated little moments where the characters does horse related things. Sometimes you forget that these horse-shaped people are actually horses.

@Background Pony #7CFD  
Same for him on Rarity and any other mares by that logic (CMCs are avaliable).