That probably doesn't make a lot of sense. Look, if you've known me any length of time then that won't surprise you! But what I mean is that the ponyfic part of the fandom, at least, nowadays sometimes seems to me to consist substantially of: A) people who just take everything lightly and take the view of: whatever, because hay, colourful talking ponies; and B) people who are really, really invested and will post highly researched deep dives about Rarity's character evolution or whatever, sometimes running to thousands of words. There is of course nothing wrong with either of these positions. But neither of them are mine.
I mean, obviously the very fact that I've had a blog going for almost a decade and written over 400 Ponyfic Roundups excludes me from Group A above. Clearly all that, not to mention my episode reviews (next FiM rewatch coming this weekend, honest!) means I couldn't really fit into that box. But I'm clearly not in Group B either. Every so often I'll read a blog that goes to enormous lengths to list every single continuity error in the show or something, and I have to admit that my immediate reaction will be: "You know what? I'm not sure I honestly care enough to worry about every tiny note there."
So I'm in Group C. That's made up of people for whom yes, reasonable levels of consistency in writing and characterisation and continuity and so on are important, and so for example suddenly having the internet or something in a canon-universe fic will in all probability make the ride bumpy, as will that bloody bunyip in "P.P.O.V." But on the other hoof, I can let sometimes things slide if they're entertaining. And here's the thing: I know I'm doing it, but I'm not inclined to care so much about it that it undermines the enjoyment I'm already getting.
Post-reformation Starlight Glimmer is a good example. Sure, she unbalances the, er, balance of the Mane Six¹ (as indeed did Twilight's ascension years before). Sure, she was arguably more interesting as a villain. But although I don't always like Reformed!Starlight, I am very firmly in the camp that enjoys her appearances more often than not. Right up to late Season 9, yes. And that's Group C in a nutshell: we're not blind to problems and inconsistencies and sometimes they annoy us, but we quite often feel that Pony being fun is actually more important. I'm quite comfortable with where I sit on this.
¹ Though in one way she rebalances it, as the seven central ponies again include two of each main tribe (plus one alicorn)
