YMMV / My Little Pony: Friends Forever

• Alternate Character Interpretation: After Crusaders of the Lost Mark aired, some wondered if Filthy Rich didn't really buy Diamond Tiara's lie about being bullied at school, but gave into her demands because he knows she is bullied by her mother and he spoils her to try and make up for it.
• Crosses the Line Twice: In Issue #8, Applejack and Rarity visit a knockoff of Disneyland and ride on "The Haunted Stable". One of the tombstones reads "I told you I was sick".
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Mina the dragon got this for being a brilliant stand-in to the series fandom.
  • Marine Sandwich seems to get this mainly for being an Unintentionally Sympathetic Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds.
• Epileptic Trees: Shining Harmer is likely just a normal earth pony modeling herself after a famous princess for her roller derby getup, but its much more fun to imagine she's really Princess Cadance in disguise on her day off.
• Fan Nickname:
  • "Pseudocorns", for villainous trio (Goldcap, Decepticolt and Zappityhoof) from Issue #25.
• Fridge Brilliance:
  • The book The Journal of the Two Sisters puts Luna's conflict with Pinkie in issue #7 under an entire new light.
  • The relationship of Zecora to Discord in Issue #5 has moments that bring to mind the relationship between Guinan and Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • Rarity showing greater business savvy then Applejack in issue #8 makes sense given she has to sell clothes in a setting that doesn't normally wear clothes as opposed to a staple like food.
  • A Flashback in in the main comic series has the younger Mayor Mare ridiculing her aptitude test recommending politics. This disregard would explain why her first attempt at being elected failed, in turn what caused her different demeanor in the present.
• Fridge Horror:
  • The very positive relation Discord established with the Cutie Mark Crusaders doesn't seem present in Make New Friends but Keep Discord. This continuity discrepancy could be rationalized by assuming something happened *Cough* Tirek *Cough* that would leave them on less ideal terms.
  • Issue #25: there's no way to describe the events other than "Rainbow Dash is attacked by organ harvesters." One has to wonder how often this could happen before the big alliance and the subsequent founding of Equestria.
• Growing the Beard: Issue #1 was So OK, It's Average at best. Issue #2 pairs Discord and The Cutie Mark Crusaders with all the epic, hilarious insanity fans expected plus a surprisingly poignant bonding between them over their trying to fit in. This set up the dynamic for the comics quality that it has since stuck with.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Issue #8 had Chrysalis's signature to add her head to the Mount Rushmore Expy, and #9 had a changeling cameo. Given they were last seen in the comics imprisoned, the continuity discrepancy was likely covered by Rule of Funny. Come their issue in My Little Pony: FIENDship Is Magic, they escaped, assuming it happened prior (other issues have used Anachronic Order), making those appearances a lot more serious.
  • Diamond Tiara seemingly convincing her father that she's bullied at school is a major whammy with the reveal that she's emotionally abused and bullied by her own mother in Crusaders of the Lost Mark. This also leads to an Alternate Character Interpretation of Filty Rich seemingly buying it.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Katie Cook & Andy Price were accused of being Rarijack shippers, despite them not knowing what the hell a Rarijack is, all because in the Rarity issue of the Micro Series Rarity brings a picture of Applejack with her on her trip. Their first issue in the Friends Forever series is an Applejack & Rarity story.
  • In the Rarity & Babs Seed issue, Rarity takes Babs to a roller derby game and doesn't quite get Babs' fascination with the sport. Her human counterpart will be partaking in a roller derby competition in Equestria Girls: Friendship Games, if the toyline is any indication.
    • Plus, Babs dealing with the hairdresser determined to trim her bangs, as she ends up with a hairdressing cutie mark.
  • In Twilight & Cadance's issue, whilst going incognito in the Crystal Empire, Twilight goes by the fake name "Twiggy". Come The Maud Couple, and we get a pony with a pet stick with that same name.
• Jerkass Woobie: Marine Sandwich may be a Mad Artist, but she did earn her right to compete, only for Applejack to steal her spot (albeit accidentally) and try to purposely lose, which would have ruined her reputation. Both of her attempts to reclaim her spot lead to humiliation and Getting the Boot (from two unicorn guards who buck her with their hind legs at the same time rather than use their magic to dispose of her in a more dignified manner) and this lead to a Despair Event Horizon. She does attack the competition and ends up frozen by her own icing, but her reputation is probably destroyed beyond repair. It's hard not to sympathize with her after what she's been through.
• More Popular Spin-Off: Became this to main comic series, which fell into Seasonal Rot during Friends Forever's run. The smaller, Slice of Life stories and smaller casts gave each character time to shine, while the main comic's larger stories were oft criticized for larger casts that often had no meaningful contribution to the story. It's single shot stories also let it rebound quickly for less well received issues while the main comic's Story Arcs would often be locked into unpopular stories.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Princess Luna, like dragons, had a bad reputation, and points out that like Spike, she often gets pushed aside. She then gets... pushed aside, only being involved in the conflict because it happens at night, under her jurisdiction.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: All of the things that happened to Marine Sandwich would be comedy gold...if she didn't deserve it on the first place. Applejack takes her spot in the contest and later tries to lose on purpose, which would ruin Marine Sandwich's reputation. Both of her attempts to recover her spot end up in humiliation, leading to her entering a rampage in the contest that ends with her being frozen in icing. From her first appearance to the ending, she was more of a Chew Toy than a villain.
• The Woobie:
  • The crystal bard who spent a thousand years fearing King Sombra.
  • Both Pinkie Pie and Princess Luna in the later half of issue #7, where they inadvertently tear into each others insecurities.
  • Iron Will in issue #10. He really wants to learn to be patient and kind for his wife, but his impatience and temper get the best of him. Not helping is pretty much everypony not trusting him and Rainbow Dash and Angel clutching the Jerkass Ball really hard.
  • Fluttershy in #18. She spends most of the issue in utter dread of her Cloudsdale Class Reunion, which is pretty understandable given her All of the Other Reindeer foalhood. However, her main Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up is revealed to have pulled a Heel–Face Turn when she publicly congratulates Fluttershy for all of her accomplishments as the Element of Kindness, resulting in a Throw the Dog a Bone Heartwarming Moments.
  • Discord in #20 is a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds. He develops insomnia due to a recurring nightmare, and he loses control over his powers as a result — to the dismay of all of Ponyville. Eventually, a Dream Walker session with Luna reveals that he deeply regrets his past Kick the Dog moments, to the point where he absolutely dreads the possibility of relapsing again and losing his friendships with the Mane 6, the CMC, etc.