Toon4Thought

There are just so many overarching arcs I can see them doing. They could show the girls become more proactive in seeking magical phenomena, highlight the general stresses of being a Senior student, and - most intriguing of all IMO - have the magical occurrences cause Sunset to gradually start to think back to her time at Equestria, eventually elevating to the point where she becomes homesick and debates moving back for good. There's something truly fantastic in there - I'd argue better than FiM. Pity that Hasbro doesn't seem to see it. It's not even like any of these things are out of the realm of what they're okay with exploring. The Sunset thing was initially explored in a deleted Friendship Games subplot (which IMO wouldn't have done the idea justice anyway, so I'm kind of glad it was cut), and occasionally they touch on general high school themes - just in a fun, romanticized way.

I feel the over-emphasis on phones in this particular special, while a little cringey at times, was mostly done in service to the plot focusing on how fame (particularly of the online variety) does not equate to friendliness. It's fine in the other material. I seem to be the minority when I say this, but I do think Juniper or possibly Wallflower should appear again in a supporting role. The parts with Juniper acting friendlier toward the main cast show a decent amount of potential, and especially Starlight offering to be friends with her. And the Dazzlings really do need to make a return appearance at some point. I'm willing to wait, but I'd be disappointed if it never does happen. I do think EqG could and should become more serialized, not just because of that but because seeing the characters evolve throughout their Senior year of high school could make for an extremely worthwhile coming of age story. They were already on a path toward that, might as well go all out.

That was my biggest issue with it as well. It felt very gratuitous, especially given it does nothing to affect the plot and can very easily be ignored. With Juniper Montage, her redemption was the resolution to her special. The crew has said that the fact villains are redeemed so much is a decision out of their control, but this is one case where it legitimately feels like the crew simply forgot about that rule until the last minute.

For that matter, no human that we know of (including Sunset's friends, for that matter) has ever thought to go through the portal and check out Equestria for themselves.

Apparently the term was used once in passing during Friendship Games. But in terms of the animations, that's literally it. Strange, isn't it?

I feel like Sunset outright needs to face this conflict at some point or another, probably if they make a "graduation" finale special. I know this was covered in the deleted scenes of "Friendship Games", but frankly I don't think that would've done it justice. The idea of her debating whether or not to move back to Equestria for good deserves a much more all-out treatment. So, which world do you think Sunset would (or should) ultimately choose if she had to pick one? And more importantly, what exactly would lead her to that conclusion?

The fact that Sunset Shimmer is somehow able to make an honest living (with a part time job, decently sized apartment, and everything) despite having no family and limited knowledge on human society. And yeah, the age difference can get pretty dang confusing. What exactly determines when a human counterpart is born as opposed to the pony one, or even if they're born at all? Keep in mind, there's a bunch of human characters we've never seen as ponies, and vice versa. But honestly, I think a lot of these odd quirks about an otherwise grounded society are part of what makes the EqG universe strangely intriguing to me. It's still recognizable as something to come out of MLP, but there's more than enough heavy contrasts to really get a sense on just how different their lives play out as humans.

Beyond the basic plot structure, I don't really see it. But with that being said, I for one would've loved to see Mirror Magic include several short adventures involving Starlight and Sunset bonding. Because let's be real, this was basically a 22 minute story with a bunch of shorts thrown in - not that it's really a complaint, in fact most people seem to agree those were the highlights of the special. Heck, it's still not too late to make shorts with them. Get on it, Hasbro!

While I've found the digital series vastly preferable over the "1 TV movie a year" format, it's hard for me to shake off the feeling that mostly relying on 3-minute runtimes simply isn't enough to pull off much of substance. A few of the shorts in particular, like "Overpowered", feel like they should've had much more to them than they did. To me, it feels like EqG has a lot of fantastic ideas just wanting to come out but just aren't able to because they never get the right format. Thus, I really hope the recent specials get enough positive press to convince Hasbro to turn EqG into a more full-length 11 or 22 minute series, so it could be able to finally unleash it's true potential. Granted, that would probably mean less episodes, but I think it'd be very much worth it in the end. The theme park special probably would've been better as 22 minutes anyway, and to me the three specials we got in 2017 prove it can work really well with the right direction. You guys agree with me? If not, why do you think so? And if so, what direction would you want to see the series take?

Well, turns out it actually did air today. I have to say, it felt so surreal watching something I knew virtually nothing about beforehand, especially given DF intentionally seemed to avoid advertising this - unlike Forgotten Friendship, which had an entire novel before we knew about the special's existence. It was quite the anomaly of TV programming IMO. But anyway, about the special itself, I thought it was... just kind of alright. I really liked how AJ and Rarity were actually the focus on a long-form story, something we haven't even really gotten in FiM, let alone EqG. It gives a unique perspective and helps make this stand out from the other installments. The theme park, while it raised a lot of questions being called "Equestrialand" and all, did offer a number of entertaining set pieces. The modern technology helped use EqG's strengths to its advantage, and helped make it feel like a story that could only be told in EqG. And the moral was surprisingly unique and especially meaningful to today's generation. There are a lot of downsides to it though. First of all, the plot feels rather disappointingly generic. It's not bad enough that you'll be able to predict the ending by the end of the first act, but it still feels rather played out due to the point where the characters themselves literally mock it, as if it's self-parody. Sometimes the writing could get clunky, especially as far as Rarity and AJ's friendship are concerned (I wouldn't blame you if you shipped them as you watched this), and they don't do much to make Vignette a sympathetic or even particularly compelling antagonist. Juniper Montage was at least a little relatable and had some charm to her, here it's just a popular snob. But the biggest problem is that the pacing is just slooowww. Many scenes go on to the point of repetition, and it takes forever for the plot to just get to the point already. If EqG was allowed to make 22 minute episodes (which I still hope happens in the future BTW), this probably would've been one. It just doesn't do much to feel special-worthy, unlike Forgotten Friendship which felt like a slightly condensed movie. Basically, I did enjoy the special for what it was, and unlike Mirror Magic it's not like there's anything that particularly disappointed me about it. I just can't help but feel like they could've been more substance than there was. Anyone else want EqG to become an 11/22 minute series?

It'll be interesting to see what we get with this, as unlike Forgotten Friendship, we know very little about what we should expect. We know it's an amusement park theme, but that's really about it. There are a couple things I'm hoping for, but I'll save discussing those for when the special comes out. To think that if it wasn't for the Friendship to Remember novel, we probably wouldn't have guessed that would be where Sunset reunites with Princess Celestia until the promos implied it.

It's really hard to say. Most if not all of these were probably originally conceptualized as one-offs, but most of the time, it's not really too late to return certain characters, especially when you only have so much material released each year. The Shadowbolts made a return, after all. Personally, I think the majority of the characters you listed could benefit from a return appearance. *The Dazzlings are kind of begging for another appearance when you consider all that's happened. They are left without their source of magical power, but all the while magic is leaking left and right around them. While I'm not creative enough to imagine the possibilities myself, there's definitely potential for a great story involving them gaining new magic to target Sunset for revenge. They could give more character to Aria and Sonata, or even have the latter see the error of her ways. There's simply a lot that can be done here. *Gloriosa is the one that I don't really see a need for a return, mostly because she was entirely associated with the camp setting and not the Humane 7. I wouldn't mind seeing her come back, probably alongside Timber, but it's hard to see her really carry a story on her own. *Juniper Montage I feel gets kind of a bum rap. Her motivations were quite simple, and it felt like more of a textbook example of the formula than the others, but I think the parts where she's being nicer toward the girls show some potential for a worthwhile side role. Two ideas that come to mind are to develop her potential friendship with Starlight Glimmer (I like the idea of SG having her own human friend), or have her realize how friendship can benefit your career goals. It can work, and I believe it should be tried. *Wallflower Blush, being the most recent, is the hardest to find a good spot for. Much like Juniper, I can see and be all for her directly following up on her initial character arc by improving herself with Sunset's help, or even gain her own group of friends with other established characters.

I fully agree. Daniel Ingram's music is starting to feel a little same-y, and even the two songs he did for the digital series are IMO the least good of the six we've gotten from that.

Honestly, I just want to see one or more of the human counterparts visit Equestria. Imagine them having to adjust to being on four hooves (a surreal sensation in and of itself), learning how to control their pony magic, and becoming fascinated with a mystical land that's unlike anything they've ever seen before.

I also think that would be cool, especially if it means the counterparts run into each other, but I prefer the way I suggested since we've seen two ponies become human - but no humans to become ponies.

Oh yeah. Picking just three proved really hard to me as well. In fact, I'd argue EqG's music is better than FiM's at this point, probably because they have the advantage of having different composers.

Yeah, seeing one or more of the born-humans drop into Equestria would be really fun, and the Humane 6 need more substantial screentime (Rarity is really the only one who's gotten that so far, and maybe Rainbow)

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Which fic was that? Sounds like something I should check out. I myself wrote a fanfic last year that was simply about how Starlight spent her vacation in the human world, which puts a decent amount of focus on Starlight and Juniper forming a relatively strong friendship.

I don't know, given the scenes of her actually being nicer around the main cast, and the idea of Starlight having her human friend, I think there's a good supporting role in there somewhere. I know her first appearance was polarizing at best, but I think she could easily come off better in a second.

I really do think she should return to EqG at some point. Her adorable design and friendship with Sunset are both far too good to only use once, and I just want her human form to be complimented by better material. IMO it was a fairly big waste for said friendship to not be the main focus of Mirror Magic, and I think having even a short expand on this in the future would make up for that. And it was an even bigger waste to say she was staying for a few days but then doing absolutely nothing with it... you couldn't have at least added in a photo montage of her stay before or during the credits or something? That, and I see potential in a lot of small things too - it can be the catalyst for Sunset realizing that maybe Equestria really has friendships waiting for her, there's her proposed friendship with Juniper Montage (I like the idea of Starlight having a human friend), and running into human Trixie.

The two most recent EqG antagonists both have the kind of background that IMO merit at least one more appearance each, even if minor. Wallflower's entire character is that she's a loner and that should be addressed in some form, while the scenes in Movie and Mirror Magic where Juniper is acting nicer to the main cast shows a decent amount of potential for a supporting role. So what do you guys think they should do with either of these characters? Like, in terms of story and possible arcs, regardless of size?

Fair argument, but I'd counter by saying that some accessories worn by human could translate to pony form if they go through that way and not the other. And beyond that, I think a slight inconsistency in this regard would very much be excusable specifically because it would avoid the "identical appearance" issue. Just sort of an artistic plot device. Besides, my ideas listed a few posts above would avoid the "respect for Sunset and pony Twilight's wishes" part. One would have Sci-Twi (reluctantly) get Sunset's permission, while in the other Rainbow would simply sneak her way through without either of them knowing (at least at first). I don't know, I just feel there's way too much potential with this idea, to the point where I'm surprised they haven't done anything with it yet. Like I said, it practically writes itself, and I love stories where characters have to survive in a form different from their own.

I know. It's a real shame they either are unwilling or just straight up not allowed to do so.

That's kind of why I think it's becoming a bit ridiculous that they never refer to EqG even in the background. It's not like the people who don't follow EqG would need to know what the book's about, since it wouldn't be relevant to the plot anyway.