Toon4Thought

(Blatantly copying this from the other thread, but I don't care) Okay, now that I've seen this, I can now feel fully confident in saying that this compilation is what the digital series should have freaking been. Most of the stories are very in-line with what you'd likely see in the 2-minute digital series shorts, but the fact these are 7 minutes each allows for SO MUCH MORE substance it's not even funny. The extra attention put into character motivations, mileage per setting, and overall scope allows the audience to become much more invested in what is happening, despite the actual situations being on the same scope. Because of this, most of the segments work very well IMO. My favorites were definitely the souffle/snowball fight and school break-in ones. Even the weaker ones have great stuff in them though, enough for me to want to revisit them at some point. This kind of makes the direction the digital series took more frustrating to me. Because now I have actual proof as to how good and entertaining it could've been, how it could've been full of fun and sometimes emotional adventures with characters a lot of us are very familiar with but in a different and more relatable setting. But no, Hasbro had to take the cheap route and basically force it so that most of the material is just nothingness. I suppose it's better late than never, but it really is a testament to just how screwed EqG really was as a series, especially after 2017. Sure, there was still great stuff after that point (this being among them), but it could never achieve its full potential like they proved they could. I'm always going to stand by that, and I pray to Celestia that someone at IDW, Boulder Media, or what have you will give this the conclusion it deserves. Until then, I wrote a fanfic that's basically my idea of a finale as close to canon as possible. I encourage anyone to read it if they really want to see a proper ending, even if it's not even close to the same as an official one: https://www.fimfiction.net/... And with that, I close out with this statement: thank you Nick Confalone, Ishi Rudell, Katrina Hadley, and the others for making EqG as great as you could, despite Hasbro's meddling and everything.

Okay, now that I've seen this, I can now feel fully confident in saying that this compilation is what the digital series should have freaking been. Most of the stories are very in-line with what you'd likely see in the 2-minute digital series shorts, but the fact these are 7 minutes each allows for SO MUCH MORE substance it's not even funny. The extra attention put into character motivations, mileage per setting, and overall scope allows the audience to become much more invested in what is happening, despite the actual situations being on the same scope. Because of this, most of the segments work very well IMO. My favorites were definitely the souffle/snowball fight and school break-in ones. Even the weaker ones have great stuff in them though, enough for me to want to revisit them at some point. This kind of makes the direction the digital series took more frustrating to me. Because now I have actual proof as to how good and entertaining it could've been, how it could've been full of fun and sometimes emotional adventures with characters a lot of us are very familiar with but in a different and more relatable setting. But no, Hasbro had to take the cheap route and basically force it so that most of the material is just nothingness. I suppose it's better late than never, but it really is a testament to just how screwed EqG really was as a series, especially after 2017. Sure, there was still great stuff after that point (this being among them), but it could never achieve its full potential like they proved they could. I'm always going to stand by that, and I pray to Celestia that someone at IDW, Boulder Media, or what have you will give this the conclusion it deserves. Until then, I wrote a fanfic that's basically my idea of a finale as close to canon as possible. I encourage anyone to read it if they really want to see a proper ending, even if it's not even close to the same as an official one: https://www.fimfiction.net/... And with that, I close out with this statement: thank you Nick Confalone, Ishi Rudell, Katrina Hadley, and the others for making EqG as great as you could, despite Hasbro's meddling and everything.

Have you checked out my story linked a few posts above? It's pretty much made for people like you who want to see some kind of wrap up for EqG, even though this obviously isn't quite the same. But yes, the fact Sunset Shimmer doesn't have some kind of character conclusion is almost insulting for someone like her. I really hope IDW does something with her...

I wrote my own EqG finale story that, among other things, focuses on Sunset struggling to figure out her future and which world she should stay in for good. Long story short:

I've written a fan finale that covers the cracked statue, Sunset becoming homesick, and the girls graduating. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/447926/equestria-grads I know it's not quite the same, and I am really hoping we get SOME kind of official conclusion (surely Nick can hand over his unproduced idea to IDW if he wanted to, right?) but I wrote it with the intent to soften the blow to myself and anyone else who felt EqG got screwed out of a true finale.

You think there's a possibility for Nick to hand off his unproduced idea to IDW, so they can cover that in one of their future issues?

Well, EqG has a much more defined framework now (at least compared to 2013-14) and they can easily just work off the unproduced and unscripted ideas Nick Confalone and company had.

So it has been announced at NYCC that IDW will be making an artificial season 10 of the main show next year. That's cool and all, but I honestly believe EqG deserves a comic continuation much more. Not only was it pulled without an ending despite the crew having ideas, but it never had that many chances to tell full stories to begin with. It just seems like there's infinitely more potential in that. I don't know, would you agree with me and my logic? If so, what would you imagine it'd be like?

They've been really doubling down on the YouTube uploads over the past couple weeks, almost as if to make up for lost time. I wonder why they even paused them to begin with.

Apparently they're seven-minute shorts, i.e. what the digital series should have done from the start.

I've read a fanfic where exactly that happened. All the humans turned into ponies and other Equestrian creatures, and it was indeed an apocalypse for some time. The story in question basically focuses on different EqG characters struggling to resume their lives in this changed form and environment. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/417807/a-magic-turn-of-events

Anyone who knows me knows that by far the biggest problem with EqG as a whole is the fact that they basically keep the shorts at 2 minutes each. Because of this, most of the shorts wind up being all setup but no payoff, and/or end before they even have a chance to begin. And it sucks, because I stand by EqG had a lot of potential but, because of the format (and Hasbro's meddling, but that's another story), most of it was just so squandered. Ideally, I would've made the series 11 minutes an episode (even if it would've meant fewer episodes), but I don't think it would have been bad to do shorts if at least some of them were able to have a significantly longer runtime, at least if the story warranted it. Here are how I think certain shorts could've been made much stronger with a longer running time: Last Day of School - Combine what we get with subplots featuring the other girls. Find some way to even connect them in the end with a central theme. Overpowered - Give the 'magic overloads' more of a transition, and make the solution less of a one-off joke and more of a legitimate plot point in them adjusting to their powers Costume Conundrum - After getting Fluttershy into her costume, continue on with her hanging around in the costume party and having trouble enjoying it. I can probably think of more (and be more specific with those three) over time. However, I'd really like to think of how you would extend certain shorts to make them much stronger stories.

Honestly, what is the point of even releasing these shorts on an app that probably no more than 10 people actually use, let alone this far ahead? Surely putting them all on YouTube at the same rate the app has been would be much more profitable. And the fact the YT uploads took a random break silently and for no reason is a little concerning to me as well. That being said, yeah someone really screwed up with this one.

Some may argue her pony version, while infinitely more powerful, isn't THAT much more competent.

The fact they said around the time Rainbow Roadtrip came out that they weren't yet commissioned makes me very strongly believe they won't. Sure, they also said they could in the future, but let's be real, given the fact production would take about a year, it wouldn't make sense to have a time gap this large. If Hasbro was looking to continue it under Boulder, they would have reached out to them months ago. So I guess it's up to us fans to give it the conclusion it deserves.

I fully agree. And what hurts me about all this is that we know the staff is capable of doing fantastic things with both the world and characters. They're just never able to unleash its true potential. Not only was 2 minutes way too short to pull off any substance, resulting in most of the content feeling like a whole lot of nothing, but it's pretty clear Hasbro held this on a far tighter creative leash than FiM. We know for a fact the reason Spring Breakdown exists was to sell cruise toys (despite the fact I haven't seen cruise toys), and Forgotten Friendship to sell beach toys. So I can only assume a lot of the other ideas were demanded by Hasbro as well. Seriously, imagine a world where the series was actually 11 or 22 minutes, even if that meant fewer episodes a year. We could've gotten actual character arcs to not just give the Humane Seven some much needed depth, but possibly even develop more of an ongoing story involving their geode powers and the magic leaks. Maybe even letting Sunset's ties to Equestria get the focus it deserves. I honestly think it could've exceeded FiM in quality if they were only given the chance to, which they never were. And if anything, the proof of their potential in stuff like Forgotten Friendship and Dance Magic makes it hurt more because it just makes me think we could've gotten more stuff on that level. That, and they actually made me hold out hope that some day they will be able to make the series as fantastic as it could be. But alas, it was not meant to be. It's pretty tragic IMO.

And I'm glad I and a few other fans are doing just that, writing our own ends to the story. In fact, I think everyone who has ideas like this should be encouraged to share them.

Y'know, I am somewhat disappointed by this in a number of ways, most of it boiling down to it not getting a proper ending. I did kind of halfway expected this to be the case, but it's one of those instances where I just didn't want to be right. Ever since the digital series began, I've held out hope that one day the crew will be able to fully unleash its potential and prove how fantastic EqG can be when firing on all cylinders. That's probably what gets me the most; it never got the break it deserved. It basically went from one TV movie a year to mostly 2-minute shorts, which is nowhere near enough time to pull off any substance. That, along with the obvious corporate mandating (significantly tighter than FiM's) did nothing but harm IMO. But oddly, this is actually kind of empowering me in a way. Some of you may know that I've had my own ideas for an EqG finale for a while now, so much so that I'm writing it as a fanfic. And this news is motivating me more than ever to finish it. Because if the crew can't give EqG the ending it deserves, then I will. I know it doesn't quite leave the same impact since it doesn't reach quite as many eyes, nor will I be the only one to do this, but I don't care; as long as my ideas (which I partially got from @cmarston1, thanks very much for giving me the initial push) get out there, that's what matters to me. I really can't wait to share it to anyone who's interested.

So what? It's fun to speculate.

I agree that EqG very much deserves a truly grand finale, and I think that it would probably make up for any shortcomings the series suffered from over the years. Here's my idea, partially based off those from @cmarston1: The girls are preparing to graduate from Canterlot High, and the girls eagerly discuss their future plans. Sunset Shimmer, however, is left with a complete blank, made even more so by her recieving an invitation to continue her magic studies with Princess Celestia where they left off, as well as a spot in Princess Twilight's castle, making her start to feel homesick. But then, the cracks in the statue finally break open, unleashing more magic than ever before and wreaking chaos over the city. Thus, Sunset goes through the portal to seek urgently help from Princess Twilight - and, with some convincing from her friends, takes them with her. They discover that the magic coming out of the portal threatens to spread past the city and become world-threatening if not stopped, so the only conclusion she reaches is to close the portal for good. Upon hearing this, Sunset - without thinking - bursts out against it, admitting her homesickness and not wanting to say goodbye to anyone. This does not sit well with a few of her friends, particularly Applejack and Fluttershy - who have at this point made it known that they want to stop fighting the magic and focus on their own lives - and they accuse Sunset of being incredibly selfish, leaving her behind. Thus, it's up to Sunset to mend her friendships, decide once and for all where she truly belongs, and stop the magic from spreading across the planet.

My idea for an EqG finale, which I'm trying to put into fanfic form, involves the bolded parts.

It's one of few EqG I legitimately don't like.

If the reunion with Princess Celestia hadn't already happened, I'd honestly say this would be an ideal take. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/261485/as-the-sunsets-on-the-past

I would love that too. I actually have an idea in mind that I'm probably turning into a fanfic.

With part 2 now being up on YouTube, I just want to say that the All Good song has really grown on me. The instrumentals especially sound really nice. Shame we probably won't get a full version of that anytime soon; heaven knows Invisible never made it to the public (fittingly enough).