Eh, MLP doesn't really seem like it'd fit on the CN roster. I say this mainly because of the demographic.Cartoon Network is mainly for kids 8-13 while My Little Pony, despite the older viewers, is mainly targeted towards 5 year olds. The thing about Tramsformers is that it's products can be geared towards any age. How? It's about a war between giant robots that transform into cars and jets to blow each other up, you can make that rated PG or R. My Little Pony is about friendship, magic, rainbows, and all sorts of soft, childish things. The most you can do is G or PG. Anyways, my point is that MLP = toddler, and CN = pre-teen.
As for the scheduling, I can't say much. I don't care if I have to wait a few months for a new season, I've waited 3 years for a movie.
I'm gonna give them the benefit of a doubt and assume that something bad happened at the last minute that slowed down production and they were like, "Crap, sorry guys, you're gonna have to wait a bit longer..." We all know what that's like, right?