TeaCrumpet

Honestly I think there are three outcomes for the fandom given that we know that MLP G4 will be lasting another 5 more years giving us 9 season for the show at the very less. Outcome 1: The Best Outcome - More or less once the TV is over the community will go wild since now they no longer have to worry about the show adding or changing things. Having all the canon laid out will allow all types of viewers the chance to full pull the show apart and see what creative works they can make out of it. The best thing that could come out of the end of the TV is that Hasbro makes some type of forum or department allowing animators to go through them when it comes to making fan animations. I think if some type of agreement that allows animators to make videos and possible fan series and possible games that does not create issues with copy right infringement for both Hasbro and the fan creators would allow MLP G4 to live on and would cement the fandom for years to come when it comes to large fan projects. Outcome 2: The Realistic Outcome - Unlike the best one, more or less the realistic one will be more of the same we have now. The fandom would decrease at a slow rate, but would still have fan-works coming out and projects here and where. Creators would have the same amount of freedom as they have now and just like the best they could finally create without worry the show would end up making their work total non-canon or impossible. The only issue just like now is fan animation and games would still have to worry about C&D and thus making it harder for new animation works to come out thus having a healthy new content that might attract new viewer and keep the fandom fresh would not be there. Outcome 3: The Worst Possible Thing Outcome - Everypony who is a healthy and respectable brony/pegasister leaves only leaving the super obsessive creepy fans who more or less dig the fandom an early grave to the point that Hasbro decides never to make another MLP series or will only make MLP series like G3.5 just to keep bronies and adults away from the series.... (Note: I honestly don't think this one will happen at all, but it's amusing to point out this type of outcome)

Since the Crystal Empire power is different, they could very well have Lovestruck and a new group of friends explore the powers of love and other elements of emotion? that could power the crystal heart since canon wise we have learned from the two sisters journal that the crystal was originally protected by a princess and a dragon. (cue possible joining of G1 weatherby and other elements of emotion or something or other to help lovestruck on her journey)

The comics have already done a pirate arc and we do have plenty of sea pony media that the show easily could make off hoof mention of it to have them going to Aquaquestria on a diplomatic mission. Honestly the only thing I would say needs to be a must is the sea ponies singing if were going for a sea / mer pony ep.

Hmm, mentoring is an odd thing for MLP, sine both Twilight and Sunset were hoof picked due to prophecy more than just their talent. So honestly it’s really hard to say since right now outside of prophecy we really haven’t seen the princess teaching ponies like that. If were simply looking for ponies that could work as second tier or supports for Twi and her friendship council that would also give Luna and Cadence someone to train and maybe grow their characters, the I would have to go with Trixie for Luna and Cadence could have Love-struck or maybe a crystal pony possible since Cadence was originally a Pegasus and might feel more in tune with a non-unicorn. I do have to agree that this type of story would be best served in the non-TV media since there very little room with the mane 6 normally getting at least 2 if not 3 episodes per season as well as one ep allotted to the CMC with one group one and at least 2 spike episode, a story like this simply would not have the time to get fleshed out properly in the TV series. The comics and books however, oh lord I think they could have a field day with a short spin – off series about the new students to the princesses. Since everyone seems to be set with Love-struck for Cadence, I purpose the more common yet still best possible combo, Luna and The Great and Powerful Trixie. While it’s a popular fan trope, Luna and Trixie really do have a lot in common and frankly I think would have great chemistry. From the fact that Trixie like Luna has an arc based around being ostracize, revenge and repent while not exact but similar enough to Luna that those two could bond over the feeling of not being good enough and creating a new path from that repent. Trixie’s magic is also something that I think under Luna could be examined and frankly become very powerful force. We know that she seems to be skilled in stage magic which is based off of charms, illusions and things of that nature. It really would not be all that surprising that Luna specialty within magic would be these schools since normally moon, night, darkness and sometimes dream related power fall within these schools. Add to the fact their personalities would be hilarious to be put together. If they are dealing with comic Luna, her antics are just as hammy as Trixie’s, so honestly they would be a great pair to see for just the humor alone.

Honestly I don’t think Megan would inherently dislike any pony without good reason. As for how she would react to each of the mane 6, I think it has far more to do with how you’re portraying Megan then the girl really. If you’re going with the bitter angry Megan then I think she would have issues with all of the girls since all of them would remind her of the ponies she loved. If you going with a more chilled out or happy Megan, I think it really depends on the lore that surrounds her in your fic as well as how the ponies will act from said lore.

Honestly I'm not sure about it being all cliche. Due to this being done by the french animation and story team, I'm thinking we might get something rather new and interesting. Personally I think a blend of something like Totally Spies/Martin Mystery and Wakfu might be closure to what will get, which frankly would be amazing.

Given that we can make the assumption that the Apple’s lost AJ and co’s mother and father when they were young, Granny Smith would be the closest blood relative they had, and thus she would be most likely the one to take care of them. From the various episodes we have seen, Granny Smiths mental state seems to be in a rather flux situation played more for laughs, thus the idea that she is fully senile seems a bit much. Maybe somewhat weaker, odd and forgetful, but not full out to lunch as it seems the OP is making the case for. Since AJ and Big Mac as rather close in age it seems once they had gotten their CM, they more or less would have been seen as legal adults or at the very less semi legal adults since it seems CM are marks of maturity in pony culture. Thus AJ at the episode The Cutie Mark Chronicles, would more or less have been able to take care of herself in pony society view. As for Applebloom, with all three adults there its really up to who you believe is the head of the Apple clan at the moment. PAP had it seem that AJ is now the head so thus maybe AB is under her charge legal, but that hard to say since we really don’t know the Pony legal system.

@ Flamingo: From whats floating around internet wise somewhere between 100 to 200 maybe 300 the lastest. The book doesn't seem to say. Though again I haven't gotten my hooves on it, so I am only going from the information I could gather. @ A.V. As far as I know, the journal does not cover that topic. More or less the journal jumps around alot, however the major things it does cover are: There's a lot of other stuff but that's the major stuff pertaining to them from what has been leaked so far.

I haven't gotten my hooves on the journal yet, however the details that have been floating around the internet about their youth are thus: Because of this we can make the assumption that at the very less alicorns such as Luna and Celestia youth before CM had to be much longer then that of normal ponies, so lets give them 100 years or so as foals and have them dealing with all that Tirek, Discord, Sombra and NM stuff for around 300 to 500 years or so, then toss on the thousand year banishment of NM and we then have current time period.

At this point I don’t think FS can really win as a character unless the show takes a HUGE step in making background characters not only recurring but important to the overall story plot. The issues surround FS seem to follow as such 1: He is a reminder of a movie that the fandom is very opinionated about and because his human counterpart could not deliver when it comes to having him have a point, thus the pony version of him is dragged into that dislike. 2: Because he is a BGP he suffers like so many BGP in being there only to serve the plot and nothing more. So unless the plot decides he has more of a role, he will continue to be a puppet and not a real functioning character. 3: Even if the plot decide to give him a point, the question is, what kind of role could he serve? All of the girls fill different roles and for FS to find a place within the cast he would need a strikingly different personality as well as role that no other pony could be. Outside of potential love interest, it seems that most of the other roles have been filled. Due to the fact that none of the MLP writers have proven competence in writing romance, I think FS is kind of screwed. So with this red tape still very much in place, I honestly think FS should just stay a BGP for his and all of our sacks.

Honestly I think the issue with the Castle has far more to do with the location they decide to place it in then the full design. I do think the artist will need to fix it somewhat since sadly it looks rather cold and sterile for a Castle of Friendship and Harmony. However, I think the Castle would have looked fine if it had replaced the Two sister castle and stayed in the everfree forest. The purple and blue crystal vibe the castle would look at home in the somewhat dim forest where it could be a beacon in the dark, plus it would go along with the theme of the forest becoming more tame over the last few seasons. With the castle not plunuked down at the edge of ponyville is really looks like a crystal eyesore against the rustic and colorful pallet, and due to there being now other large buildings or landscaping around it, it really feels out of place as if it really had just magically air dropped into that location without landscaping or ascetics being taken into consideration.

From the Journal, HWE and other media, I think we can safely have Celestia and Luna somewhere between 1000 to 2000 years old in our current MLP setting. The journal starts them off as very young without CM, however they explain that they are far older then they look (more or less think Elf aging for them) and they still don’t have their CM. We can also possibly take from this langue that there may be more of their born kind somewhere, though where they are is a mystery. That being said I think the 1300 - 1500 mark is most likely about right since it gives the ambiguous 1000 years ago with an additional hundred or so year for the girls to grow and mature into the mares they did.

I agree with this completely. Personally S3 issue is that since it was short the writer should have focused on the end they wanted to bring about and not all the somewhat needed filler it gave us. Sadly S3 to me became more of a 2.5 season with MMC more like the prelude to S4 since except for TCE and MMC the episode in-between would have sat nicely in S2 without much fuss. As for the quality of the show, I think comparing S1 & 2 with S3 & 4 is like comparing apples and kumquats. While both still fruits they both look, feel and taste very different. S1 & 2 were insulate slice of life seasons with little goals and heavy focus on character development of the girls personalities as well as them forging their new friendship through day to day trails and a few large adventures thrown into the mix for fun endings. With the exception for RtH, all of the other large endings had little impact on them except for plot device reason such as FiM giving them there powers. CW had more impact on the new character and the eventual TCE episode then the episode alone within the shows canon (comics not being counted here), and honestly BNE hasn’t been reference yet, so I can’t really count it having any impact on the overall show with the girls sadly. S3 & 4 Were far more about trying new ideas and expanding the MLP world and canon as well as seeing where they could push the idea of a slice of life show about candy colored ponies about friendship. A lot more adventure was thrown into these seasons and the attempts were made in seeing how an overarching story plot would work with additional story plots that were far more mature then S1 & 2 ever tried to have. These ideas have been met with various successes, however no one can blame the crew for not attempting to evolve the show into something that can last far longer than the slice of life style of seasons 1 & 2. With the additional fact that Lauran had wanted the show to have a more adventure feel to it, and the simple fact that S4 overall has made good on their basic promise of giving us an explanation of what Twilight is to be the princess of, what will happen with her friends and a bit about alicorns and more world building, I think we can say that S4 did live up to what it said it would. Overall the show has not lessened in quality, if anything it has gotten better with the amount of work all of the team (voice, animation, music, writers, etc…) has put into it. While Lauren’s mark on the show is something important to remember, I think people really need to put into perspective the fact that Lauren was only one member of a larger team, who frankly has a lot of the same people from day one, still working on the show. Also for the episodes that she wrote, fandom wise these eps are rarely in the top anything when it comes to remembering the fan favorites or best episode. In fact, the 3 she has done tend to show up in the least favorite of a lot count downs. As others have said Lauran is great with ideas, but is heavy handed with execution and moral writing. While Meghan has issues reigning in her ideas to fit the time allotted to her, she has a firm understanding of where the show needs to go and is still one of the best writers with some of the major top episode under her belt. I really think people need to just except that Meghan hasn’t ruined the show and simply the show needed to change in order for more stories to be told and at this point it is far more about personal taste then the overall quality of the show that is being put into question.

As someone who did not like and frankly hated the sudden push for Twi to becoming an Alicorn, I found this season with the addition of the comics gave us the time and the proper support that S3 did not to come and accept Twi as an alicorn and the direction the show seems to want to go towards. Do I feel its perfect ? No Do I feel I still feel the execution of Twi’s ascension into alicorndom could have been much better? Heavens Yes. Do I feel there is a lot more stories and things the show needs to do to get to where I think they really want this show to go. Heavens Yes. Do I think the show is ruined forever, all the tears and rawr sauce: Buck no, not even a little. S4 for learned from S3 mistakes and took not 1, but 2 full season arcs and for the most part did pretty good with them. Not since session 1 have we seen a season arc and the Grand Galloping Gale, was hardly that weighty of an arc to handle. This thing is, if we look at S1 to S3, outside of the openers and closers, all the eps could be mixed up and have no bearing on the enjoyment or overall storytelling. S4 decide to change that and make watching each ep important, with call backs from previous eps and real implemented character development, thus making the show as a whole more connected and epic in the classical term sense. For the most part, this season was far more about her friends getting to a point in their own journey with friendship and getting to the place where Twi and her friends can be equal teachers of their elements. As the leader, Twi needed to become a princess so she could have the leverage not only for herself but for her friends to all become teachers from S5 on. Throughout this season it was shown that just because she was an alicorn didn’t mean anything, it was only when she realized that she and her friends made up the title of the friendship domain that ponies finally recognized her as a full princess with authority, which frankly is the proper sequence that the story about friendship should take. MLP Season Friendship Structure Thus Far: S1 = Twi becomes a student of friendship, learning the basics S2 = Friends become students, Twi is tested on friendship and continues to learn S3 = Twi is tested more and graduates from friendship student and become basic teacher (alicorn), friends are still learning and being tested S4 = Friends are tested more and graduate from friendship students becoming basic teachers (Rainbow Power), Begins to explore teaching methods and what it means to being a leaders, princess and teacher

Hmm, honestly there are a lot of pair ups that could be amusing, but since the comics are taking a lot of those on, when it comes to the show I would have these three as my top ones. Rarity and Rainbow Dash: Given these two are the only ones who had defined goals at the start of the series, I think they having a ep about possible changes in what they want as their goals in life or reaffirming their life goals is in order Pinkie and Fluttershy: We really haven’t had an ep with them and I think there’s a lot of potential for some fun, heartwarming episodes for this mix. Spike + (RD,FS,PP): Since we have already had him with Twi and AJ, plus a lot of Rar ones, I think Spike with any of the other girls would make for a good time as well as more healthy development for Spike. Twi gives spike the parental / family story angles, AJ and down to earth ones and Rar the young love ones. So the other girls have a lot of room to help him develop as well as give them some nice bonding with him as friends.

Could go either way. My personal hope is that we get a fully new animated season opening since S4 just felt pasted together at the last minute, which is a real shame. As for changing the music, I think a remix might be in order since as many have noted the target dem has grown, so having something a bit more up-tempo and less saccharin sweet would be enjoyable for all watchers I believe.

From all the media we have gotten, I think its pretty safe to say that the chance of the girls becoming alicorns unless it’s a last season finale is pretty slim. The writers and Hasbro know that alicorns are a touché thing in our fandom and the target demographic did not seem overly bold over from it, thus turning all the girls into alicorns serves little purpose. However, I do think the girls transformation have not ended with Rainbow Power. I think a happy medium can come about with the girls having body molds of them growing and becoming the ultimate versions of their race. This would make a lot of sense since all of them becoming imbued with the powers that make their race special would work rather easily since all of their personalities fit: Earth Pony Domain: AJ: Strength PP: Constitution Pegasus Pony Domain: RD: Dexterity FL: Wisdom Unicorn Pony Domain: TS: Intelligent R: Charisma As for body types, a good example would be what happened to Rarity in the comics with her Nightmaraity form. Simply that being white would be perfect ultimate form for her and something along the lined for the girls, only AJ and PP being built a bit more muscular and RD and FL having unique wing designs. Going with this idea would allow the girls bodies that are different enough from other ponies thus making them special, but allowing them to keep their original race, thus keeping what made them special originally intact and not having to deal with more alicorn hijinks.

After the end of season 4, I think one major thing has been pushed and that is Friendship and the power is has is not something that is controlled by one, but one found within a group. With Twilight and her friends now possibly ruling over ponyville and having some type of counsel of friendship/harmony I think the idea of them sharing immortality would and should be the end result somewhere down the line. Twilight without her friends is nothing, and as we saw until she figured out it was friendship (and her friends) that made it meaningful, it was rather pointless both being a princess and an alicorn, so if Twilight has obtained immortality either by becoming an alicorn or having the ability to cast a spell to stop ageing, then I don't see why she would not share it with her friends, since without them, her own power become pointless. Equally so, all of the girls have been able to wield very powerful magical objects, it would not surprise me if simply by being the barriers of harmony, they have already achieved immortally and simply have not noticed due to only a year or so of time passing.