If anything, I'd argue that the Twilight/Tirek fight made Twilight so powerful, that her friends were useless and disposable. And, by the time they gain Rainbow Power and thrones in the Rainbow Castle alongside Twilight, they regained their relevancy to the overall series. But fans are constantly preferring the Twilight/Tirek fight but hating the Rainbow Power and Rainbow Castle, because the former was an over-the-top Dragon Ball Z knock-off, while the latter two were badly designed and badly written into the story. Unfortunately, by saying that, they're also unintentionally implying that Twilight's friends should be useless and disposable, and Twilight herself so powerful that she never relies on her friends at all, similar to the way Goku became overpowered while his friends become useless and disposable. And notice how I say "unintentionally"; that's because I'm perfectly aware that you were aware of the fight demonstrating that alicorn magic is ineffective against Tirek, and that Twilight needed her friends to defeat him. Unfortunately, you don't care about the themes so much as the superficial aspects, as if you want My Little Pony to just abandon its core friendship motif to become Dragon Ball Z from now on, right down to Twilight's friends getting murdered to demonstrate each new villain's powers, again a la Goku and his friends.
I think I seen this post before. I ,too, hate that aspect of DBZ and hate how Twily is left doing the big stuff on her own. It's the reason I like "return of harmony". but I still hate the rainbow power. The scene was rushed but that's sadly the good part. the designs were not all that good -- just a barf of rainbow. the castle isn't appealing either. it looks out of place and looks like it belongs to a evil sorcerer from the inside. the battle was a spectacular light show of bad-assery,just similar to DBZ. the rainbow power and the castle was a rotten strawberry on this awesome cake.
It seems to me that there's a lot of presumption going on in the OP. I prefer the Tirek fight because it was written better and was infinitely more entertaining than rainbow power. I highly doubt anyone is implying that the show should do away with Twi's friends, so if you're inferring that from people preferring the Tirek fight, then that's just kinda on you. Would I have preferred the rainbow power being done better? You bet. But since it wasn't, there's nothing wrong with preferring the Tirek fight. Also DBZ homages are awesome.
Please, for the love of whatever deities you people may or may not believe in, STOP COMPARING THE TIREK FIGHT TO DRAGONBALL Z!!! The fight was fast-paced, well-animated, and fun to watch. There were no long-winded monologues about "power levels" and "ultimate attacks" There were no charge times, and no constant cutaways to various other characters talking about how awesomely powerful the combatants were. Basically, the big difference the Tirek fight and any DBZ battle is that the Tirek fight was actually, you know... entertaining.
I wish I could agree with you. Unfortunately, tons of people will always compare this fight with DBZ because of superficial aspects. Also, ndogmario, when you're saying that the Twilight/Tirek fight was better written than the Rainbow Power and Rainbow Castle, you're also implying that Twilight's friends should be murdered to demonstrate Tirek's godlike power levels, and demonstrate that only Twilight and her godlike power levels can stop him.
