I have to say, this is quite an interesting new version of Equestria we've been introduced to. Some advances in technology makes it obvious that quite some time has passed since the days of FiM. In a way, this results in some very interesting new settings, the three most significant being the Earth Pony coastal town of Maretime Bay (I'd describe it as pre-digital late 20th Century), the Pegasus mountaintop city of Zephyr Heights (fully modern with smartphones and large video screens on the sides of buildings), and the Unicorn home of Bridlewood (rather primitive with bits and pieces of later tech repurposed, so perhaps a modern poor nation would be an accurate analogue). Not to mention, it seems the FiM adventures occurred so long ago that they are now considered ancient history and even disregarded by many as myths. And of course, there's the status quo of this new Equestria where the three kinds are divided and largely fear and despise each other through false stereotypes (to the point where they each don't even know the other kinds have long since lost their magic), with only a select few ponies willing to look past all of that nonsense and see there's no reason to hate each other at all.
There's also the new main cast of ponies to consider. First is Sunny Starscout, who has been so persistent in her efforts to encourage friendship that she had gained a reputation as a troublemaker. There's Hitch Trailblazer, the town sheriff who has been friends with Sunny since childhood, but his duty to uphold the law has left him frequently at odds with her. The unicorn Izzy Moonbow is very enthusiastic, highly creative with just about anything, and eager to see past the differences to be willing to befriend any pony she meets. Zipp Storm is a member of the pegasus royal family, but has no interest in royalty and would rather spend her time going out and using her impressive athleticism to come as close as possible to feeling like she could fly. And finally, the pegasus princess Pipp Petals is a popular singer and social media influencer who always seems to have her phone nearby, but had little reason to really care for others (especially her older sister Zipp). There are a few other characters introduced in this movie as well, most notably for me is the guy who ultimately became the main villain, Sprout, who in just a couple days went from temporary sheriff to a supreme dictator who demanded construction of a tank-like vehicle to attack all unicorns and pegasi.
As for the events of the movie, I found it interesting how the group of friends eventually came together and learned to trust each other. Sunny and Izzy got along very quickly, Zipp was eager to help when she found out those two were seeking to restore the lost magic to all the unicorns and pegasi, Pipp was forced to flee her home because of an unfortunate incident and joined the traveling group with whom she soon learned to get along with and grew to appreciate, and Hitch initially followed Sunny to arrest her but eventually got to know the other ponies and realized that Sunny's dream of friendship between all ponies could actually be possible. I also enjoyed some of the funny moments throughout the movie (such as Hitch saying all of the "forbidden words" to keep the superstitious unicorns busy with a chant and dance so the five friends could escape). And as you might expect, this movie also had a few songs in quite a wide variety of genres (somehow, the one that I found most catchy was that angry mob theme led by Sprout). Also, there's some fun in pausing the movie at certain moments and trying to identify some amusing minor details that you otherwise might have missed (my personal favorite was trying to identify the several brand names that are spoofed in the ad signs all over Zephyr Heights).
Finally, there's much to consider on where the upcoming series is likely to go from here. Fist of all, with magic now restored to all the ponies and everyone apparently now happily visiting the other places, it'll be interesting to see what new sort of challenges will await the Main 5. I honestly can't believe that Sprout, who literally tried to start a full-scale war between the three pony tribes, has been essentially allowed free without any punishment despite expressing little regret for his actions, so that's something I feel needs to be addressed relatively soon. I'm not sure what will become of Sunny's home in the lighthouse after it was significantly destroyed, but I personally find it hard to believe that she and her late father were the only ones who kept any remaining records of Equestria's past, so I doubt the destruction would be too significant of a loss. And finally, I'm already hearing much debate over whether Sunny's alicorn transformation is temporary or permanent (I feel like it's a little too soon for her to earn something that took Twilight Sparkle three seasons to earn, so put me on the side of temporary for now), but I'm certain that question will be answered next year once the upcoming series gets underway.
Overall, a very exciting beginning to the new generation of pony. In fact, once I can find some time to spare, I absolutely intend to watch it again at least a couple more times. And of course, I'm eagerly looking forward to what else these five best friends will get to experience together, when the series begins sometime next year.
