Season 1: Make it funny and creative, have the main character be a young kid who’s relatable and has room to grow and learn as the show goes along. Let the protagonist have healthy and complex relationships with their guardians, and don’t be afraid to show said guardians as flawed individuals who make mistakes. Keep the main status quo mostly grounded, but allow for gradual change. The adventures should be fun and only occasionally sad, and leave an impact on the characters and plot. Don’t shy away from the occasional big episode that’s more serious and gives hints to things to come.
Season 2: Bring in The Apocalypse
MLP went a bit overboard in the Apocalypse category
brought in like twelve of them
Only two of those could be considered an apocolypse.
The others are a great war in progress, a resistance against new leaders after losing a war, a world where the only change is that everythign is more beautiful and an industrial revolution