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Hearts and Hooves day is one of my favorite Season 2 episodes. Mainly because of Sweetie Belle.

Everything she does is freakin' adorable.

Hearts and Hooves day is one of my favorite Season 2 episodes. Mainly because of Sweetie Belle.Everything she does is freakin' adorable.

True dat.

My least favorite is the one with donkey doodle or whatever his name is. The only two episodes I remember disliking from your list are the first two.

The donkey one is A Friend in Deed.

I'm surprised "The Mysterious Mare do-well" isn't on here. Could you do list of the best Fim episodes from Season 2?

I could, but not tonight.

Oh, ok. Good thing, I was surprised you hadn't picked it (so I thought). I can't stand it either.

Yeah, it's a pretty awful episode.

I actually rather enjoyed Baby Cakes. Except for the annoying songs, it's the only episode that made Pinkie remotely tolerable. Although I like it mostly for Rarity's response to the Cakes asking her to babysit. Tabitha just makes that character.

 

Also, I'm not so sure there was any fourth wall breaking in Friend Indeed (maybe when she mentions her song). In fact, I don't think Pinkie has ever broken the fourth wall. Defies physics, yes. Breaks fourth wall, no. I'd be grateful if someone could provide some examples of when she does.

I thought Lesson Zero was awesome, and felt Twilight Sparkle was in-character. Keep in mind this is a pony who was extremely antisocial at the beginning of the series, and is still learning social skills that may come naturally to others. Couple that with the stress of potentially failing, and you have an infernal concoction of emotions that can preclude all rational thought. As a person with Asperger Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disorder, I can relate to that. And the episode managed to deal with such an emotional breakdown while still keeping it funny, in my opinion, through characters like Spike (who acted as the straight man to Twilight's increasing stress level) and Rarity (who consistently overreacted to much less substantial worries than Twilight's). I'd consider Lesson Zero one of the best episodes of the season, not because it was in tune with fanon but because it had a genuinely important lesson about not letting anxiety get the best of you. Personally, if I made such a list, It's About Time would be on there instead, seeing as that episode has Twilight going through a much less realistic breakdown, and Spike generally acting rude and uncaring compared to his concerned attitude in Lesson Zero.

 

I liked A Friend in Deed too, but that's largely because my Pinkie Pie tolerance level is much higher than most people's. I might replace it with Mmmmystery on the Friendship Express, which was predictable and had a less applicable lesson than pretty much every other one this season. Not to mention that in this latest episode, Pinkie Pie came off as much less sympathetic than in A Friend in Deed, where you genuinely could sympathize with her for having her somewhat idealistic worldview threatened by a grouchy newcomer.

 

I generally agree with your other ratings. Hearts and Hooves Day was okay, but it failed to explore Big Mac or Cheerilee's characters, and pales next to other CMC episodes this season like Ponyville Confidential. Dragon Quest had some good emotional moments, but they were largely overshadowed by the scenes where Spike unabashedly tries to suck up to the other obviously-unfriendly dragons. Baby Cakes was, at best, forgettable. The only points it gets in my book are those it gets for worldbuilding, particularly giving some small details on pony genetics and infancy.

I must be easy to please, because I actually like all the episodes you listed. Heck, I don't really think there are any episodes I especially disliked this season. Some I liked less than others, sure, but not any I really don't like.