My musings for Gen 5 and what it could be like

[Buck Testa 5,505]

Generation 5 is coming in 2025, and it leaves me wondering what kind of story they could tell. Considering we are in sort of a renaissance of cartoons where they are dealing in much more complex concepts while still being accessible for kids. here is my probably bad idea for what Gen 5 could be like.  

 

 

 

Plot concept: Rag tag misfits and rejects from all races and walks of life join together in a caravan, a travelling group that is lead by a nearly insane but good natured earth pony with strange powers and perceptions of the future. Each one is following this loony pony for different reasons, but they all are profoundly changed by their experiences in the caravan. Each season they will end up solving other peoples problems while solving some of their own as well and allowing them to see what caused their problems back in their respective homes. This caravan ends up becoming famous for defeating threats and doing things to help others, constantly wandering and gaining a reputation all the while. Some will come into the caravan, some will leave it, some will betray it and try to take it over, some will remain loyal to it throughout the entire series. 

 

Characters: The caravan set up allows for creatures of all walks of life to come in and out of the story and would allow for a rotating roster. They are merchants, traveling performers, fortune tellers, researchers, vagabonds, homeless creatures, orphans, mysterious wanderers fleeing from their past, dethroned royalty on the run, bored individuals looking for a change of pace, everyone and anyone is welcome and all are changed by spending time in the Caravan. While there will be characters whom would sort of be the main characters like the ones who join the caravan in the opening episode and the leader herself the meat and potatoes of it will be ponies or others whom have lost their way and find a new home in the caravan until they are able to see how to fix their problem or see where their place is in the world. There will be an over arching mystery on what the Earth pony is really planning with this caravan and how she seems to know exactly where she needs to be and what she needs to say. Some see her as up to something devious, others see her as an oddity needing closer inspection, others still think she is in tune with the world itself, but no one can get a straight answer out of her. the emphasis would not be on a main cast of six, but on those characters whom personal stories cross paths with the caravan and are changed by it. Explorations of the characters pasts will be done in flashbacks relating to the circumstances they are dealing with in the caravan. These flashbacks will explore the lifestyles and situations of the Earthbound, Winged, and horned races and the social dynamics of those three types. While countries and prejudice keep the world at large divided, this traveling community is almost an impartial mobile nation unto themselves. 

 

Merchandising: With a rotating roster like this, it would be easy to tune the story based on what characters are popular or selling and what are not doing so well. This keeps the story fresh with new faces and old alike coming and going, and the breadth of characters they can explore will mean more chances of reaching and connecting to fans. Just because a character leaves doesn't mean they can't come back either, they can come in and go out, allowing for great versatility on what the stories this Gen could tell. Instead of having a stationary town like ponyville, its a mobile community whom deal with all walks of life while still having the structure of a town. Their gypsy like homes on wheels would be easy to customize for the ponies and such and would work great as toy sets and as being extensions of the characters in the show, giving clues to who they are that you couldn't answer in a 23 minute timeframe. The places they would travel too would also work. 

 

 

 

Lore: Once upon a time there was the great awakening. It had came with a bright flash, one that had encompassed the world in its brilliant glow imbuing itself into the land itself. This flash, this inexplicable burst of energy, was believed to be the first spell to ever be cast, though by whom no one really knows. When the magic light appeared to of dissipated there were some animals whom started to behave differently. They were able to think in complex and abstract ways and they shared inexplicable knowledge in some language that all those affected seemed to know. No one knows why some species became sentient while others were unaffected, but it was a strange and confusing time for all whom would be the foundations of future civilizations to come. 

 

Earth bound, winged, and horned: Each species views the event in different ways. Some see it as an act of some higher power, others see it as some cosmic anomaly, still others believed that no such thing had ever happened and that it was an old mares tale told around a fire. Ponies were no exception. The race of pony branched into three different types, Earth pony, Pegasi and Unicorns. 

 

Earth ponies, while they sort of resemble their ancestors, are far stronger, more agile, and inventive than they were. Earth ponies are the leaders of commerce and innovation and are the most integrated in the diverse world they live in. Mining, agriculture, technological advancement, and a myriad of other things are under their belt. It is not uncommon to see Rams, Zebra, Minotaurs and the like frequenting their cities and guilds and trading goods and services. While earth pony magic exists, its usually harnessed to help compete tasks and is largely intuitive. That said there is the odd earth ponies whom have ridiculously potent levels of magic and seem to be in tune with the flow of time itself with the sacrifice of their sanity. The earth ponies have tried keeping these ponies separated from the rest, but they either can't contain them or their strange perception of reality allows them to evade capture. 

 

Pegasi whom evolved from a common ancestor as the earth pony and unicorns after the flash, developed wings and an affinity for walking on clouds like a few other select sentient species. They have relationships with other flying species and tend to stick to their cloud nations high in the skies. Cloud based agriculture and adherence to militaristic lifestyles and training regimens make them prideful and confident in their power. While they are generally at peace with one another now a days, Griffons and Pegasi were once at war with battles so fierce the sky clamored with the roar of thousands of lightning bolts, gale force winds and tornadoes, and piercing hail projectiles, forming terrifying hurricanes over the seas. their ability to fly and walk in this world above has bred this belief that they are better than their "earth bound" kin. They are generally isolationist with anything that aren't winged like they are. 

 

Unicorns, whom also evolved from a common answer as their kin, developed a passion for understanding magic. Gazelles, Rams, and other horned and antlered creatures found they could harness and focus the natural magic in their bodies and from the world around them to cast spells, utilizing magic in a much more controlled way than their non horned kin. Their cities and civilizations are largely concealed from the rest of the world and most species have never even seen things like unicorns. The only non horned beings that have ever been able to even find their illusive kinds were strange Earth ponies with potent levels of magic that defied everything they believed they knew on the subject. These horned kingdoms are connected by teleportation devices, allowing them to port from one place to another on scheduled trips without having to deal with the rest of the world at large. These isolationist tendencies have led to a largely different way of life than the industrial races like the earth ponies, although there are those whom prefer the fast paced lifestyle over the slow intellectual persuits of the horned masses, or they were banished.

 

And so these are the three main categories, Earth bound, Winged, and horned, and ponies had members in all three categories.

 

 

That's kind of a rough Idea of what I would start with anyway. What are your thoughts?