>>/10706/
> Spike's on "royal business." I know it was just an excuse to not have him there but this line I have always remembered. What sort of business was he on?
In spite of being treated as immature, he is in charge of Twilight's correspondence, so he does have a 'job' of a sort. In the early seasons "royal business" could mean anything, though in later seasons we learn more about which areas of government are run by the crown and which aren't. Given it's Spike and not Twilight, I would assume he's acting either as a messenger or a courier. Perhaps the elements of harmony are being inspected, or Twilight needed something said to Celestia in person, though I can't imagine how you'd even get a peek at their letters, since they get sent instantly.
 >>/10707/
> What I have seen, usually in fanfics, explanations like, "oh, they import a lot of industrial goods from Griffons/someone else who has fingers and thumbs" or "Nope, elements like that are made just for human convenience as us as viewers, and thus should be ignored in prosper world building" 
Then there's Anthropology with the theory that humans lived in Equestria in ancient times. I can think of another though, which is Equestria before the rule of Discord, when Grogar was said to control the region. In gen 1 Grogar had these goblin-type creatures enslaved, and they had hands. I wonder if there are still ponies living in the land they migrated out of, and whether those ponies have a different culture without things like plates, forks, and other seemingly hand-intended tools. 
 >>/10708/
> Taking off nostalgia and trying to be objective I do think this show has some areas where it does standout but quality itself I don't think is the only factor.
Another factor, those closely related to both quality and abstract feelings, is that it is exceptionally comfy as a world and as a show. In a manner that no generation prior was. It's simply a place you'd want to go, a bit like the Shire.
> Closest is probably Bionicle where I feel something sort of special like that, but even then, that is also different and abstract. Feels like a lot of it is Apples and Oranges and I don't know if I should be factoring in bananas! 
If two things produce the same feeling then that is related in my mind too - if I'm eating a banana and it's making me think of oranges, sorry objectivity-lovers but that's an orange-y banana. But you're right that MLP is fairly unique, and what I really meant in bringing up those other franchises is that they create the same super-immersion, although it's immersion in a very different setting than that of Equestria. 
> I wouldn't call soulless in that way even if I have seen that attitude unfortunately come up sometimes in that sort of discourse. 
I didn't even particularly mean people who like dark stuff, I like things which are dark, things which are realistic and even sometimes things which are darkly realistic. What I more meant is those kinds of people who say "don't think too hard about it, it's just a story" for ANYTHING, not just "childish" stories. The kinds of people that just go fishing or golfing in the spare time, who don't read anything apart from nonfiction, who maybe watch the news and documentaries but nothing else. I cannot understand those people, and that's what I meant by soulless - though in fairness, there used to be much more of people like that, I feel, and they're becoming much rarer. They're probably a minority by now.