A time skip would be nice

[Buck Testa 5,505]

They probably will not do it, but I think a time skip would benefit the show quite a bit. It wouldn't need to be a huge one. Just a few years to give the status quo a bit of a nudge. A few things would happen if they did go through with it. 

King Thorax and Lord Ember can get more established: Give them a few years to establish their kingdoms and put their own spins on them. Right now they are on the very early stages of regime change. They could use with some time to get situated. It would make for interesting episodes in their newer more established lands too. Plus it would have the added bonus of giving Chrysalis enough time to amass a new army to try and get back her throne, and who'd say no to that happening? 

 Age up the fillies/colts a bit: They haven't really changed their character designs at all in 7 years barring the cmc's cutie marks. They could use a time skip to grow up a little. They don't need to be adults or anything, but let them age up a bit so they can handle different issues. Also the cake Twins and Flurry heart could age up to filly/colt status so they can actually have personalities and actual lines and stuff like that. Poor twins have been babies for ages man, let them grow up and go to school dangit!

Deal with Spike: I have devoted so much time to showing how much potential this little drake has, and I REALLY want them to do something with him. He doesn't age like ponies (or even other dragons from the looks of it). His size is dictated by the size of his hoard. He needs to start making one! Let the little guy graduate from Baby status already. Dude cannot be much younger than Twilight considering how long she's had him. Also, considering how many episodes he is NOT in lately, could we perhaps let him go over to the Dragons and Changelings as like a full time Ambassador? He has so many other uses besides wearing an apron and doing chores, let him stretch his legs! 

Wonderbolt Dash: Rainbow needs a couple years to get situated and initiated more into the Wonderbolts. Have her time with them show a notable shift in her maturity and discipline. You know, like such a position would ACTUALLY do to someone. Maybe after a couple years calm  she actually is with them more often, and it's a bit harder to wrangle her from her duties to do Elements of Harmony shenanigans. 

Trouble at the Apple Farm: Puberty and strong willed earth ponies is going to equate to sisterly issues. Applebloom and Applejack should definitely be butting heads more after she gets a bit older and more rebellious. Also, Maybe address Granny's age? She's been around since the founding of ponyville, which was like, hundreds of years ago, so hey maybe that could be brought up in this time skip. She doesn't need to kick the bucket per say, but old age is a thing. 

Rarity's fashion empire: If that Mare had a few years of peace time to focus on her already extremely successful line of Boutiques, she would be a virtual fashion mogul to be sure. She's running three of them right now while SAVING THE WORLD. I think she could pencil in a few more stores into her schedule. With such growth, she would have whole new issues on her plate, like potential corruption, faulty management behind her back, slanderous hit pieces paid for by competitors, the works. 

 

Maybe one of them could get a date? Before the subsequent comments turn into nothing but "But Buck, any insignificant, miniscule, tiny little HINT of Romance in this show would absolutely DESTROY the very fabric of its core message and plunge its entire existence into the void itself, ruining it forever!" or the other popular one, "ALL THE PONIES ARE *insert sexuality they deem the edgiest here* SO you *insert political party they don't like here* can SUCK IT!" comments; how about we just not? That'd be cool right? Could we NOT be cancer about them maybe having a date? Last time I checked, going on a date doesn't guarantee they'll end up in holy matrimony anyway. It's just a date that one of the mane six could go on. One little cute date. I vote Rainbow because embarrased shenanigans. 
Also seriously, please leave the "it goes against the show" and "they only like x" comments out of this. We have enough threads with that nonsense already. 

 

Twilight's Influence growing:  Much like Thorax and Ember, Twilight needs some years under her proverbial belt to stretch her royal legs. Maybe show her getting taller and more alicorn shaped like Cadence? Have her be more proactive and have some staff in the castle besides Spike? Maybe even some guards actually GUARDING the castle so potential enemies can't just wander in and kick up their hooves to wait for her to get back? Sure, pony guards are about as useful as mannequins guarding your kingdom, but at least they look tough. 

General growing apart: A few years of peacetime will also get them more relaxed and used to doing their own things instead of being a tight knit group ready to pounce at all times. Let them be a bit on the vulnerable side when the next threat rolls around. Maybe some of them are off doing business when it happens? Maybe they aren't prepared to do what needs to be done when the threat hits? I'd say that'd be an interesting predicament. 

If there was a time skip, what would you like to see happen with the show? How long would your preferred timeskip be? How much of the status quo would change during that time? 
 

[ShootingStar159 2,157]

I think a time skip is a good idea, but I doubt we’ll see it in FiM, that sounds more like something they’d do for a spin-off series.

[n1029 229]

Watching the characters' natural progression is part of the thrill of the series, imo. I want to actually see what happens in those years you want to skip.

[BastementSparkle 20,328]

I'll agree with @n1029 here. I'd love to see some more progression and growth in the series, but not by means of time-skip. It just wouldn't feel right to me to skip ahead like that, it'd eternally give the feeling that we've missed a bunch of stuff. Seeing things like the CMC, Spike, and the babies finally start to grow, Twilight's castle actually gaining some staff, and the others like Rarity and Dash growing in their careers is great...but I actually want to SEE those things, not just skip ahead and have them told to me.

[Libra 11,691]

It would not make sense at all. Time skips are good,but they lack progression: I hate it when stories just randomly skip ahead a few years and that just leaves the audience to think "wait, what happened?" Natural progression is key to story: no matter how slow paced it may be. I'd say just let that happen naturally.

as for the date, I don't support it. (There was an incident involving a petition boycotting mlp over scootaloos lesbian aunt, but it was later revealed to be a 4chan troll) due to the amount of controversy its going to cause. And belive me, neither me, Hasbro, or our lovely staff members have the sanity to put up weih that.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

I'd like a time jump one day on the show! I was actually thinking of something like that right before the series finale, where all the main cast have drifted apart in their own lives leaving Twilight alone with her princess duties, and when a new threat in Equestria arrises, she reunites them!

[jackfettgames 50]

3 hours ago, n1029 said:

Watching the characters' natural progression is part of the thrill of the series, imo. I want to actually see what happens in those years you want to skip.

I completely agree.  One of the major draws of the show is the nuanced character development, and it employs a unique combination of day-by-day slice-of-life and fantasy elements which are heightened by the natural progression of time.

[Hierok 11,832]

First I hope to see visual aging. The CMC should be at least a little larger after 7 years.  A time jump after the mane 6 arc is closed is a good way to continue the series. 

[Hierok 11,832]

52 minutes ago, MegaSean45 said:

I'd like a time jump one day on the show! I was actually thinking of something like that right before the series finale, where all the main cast have drifted apart in their own lives leaving Twilight alone with her princess duties, and when a new threat in Equestria arrises, she reunites them!

That would actually be pretty nice to see, but then take the whole season as time jump.

[Steve Piranha 29,432]

I'd LOVE to see a timeskip in the universe of FiM's , but I think they should do it in a spin off show

 

[Buck Testa 5,505]

8 hours ago, n1029 said:

Watching the characters' natural progression is part of the thrill of the series, imo. I want to actually see what happens in those years you want to skip.

 

7 hours ago, BasementSparkle said:

I'll agree with @n1029 here. I'd love to see some more progression and growth in the series, but not by means of time-skip. It just wouldn't feel right to me to skip ahead like that, it'd eternally give the feeling that we've missed a bunch of stuff. Seeing things like the CMC, Spike, and the babies finally start to grow, Twilight's castle actually gaining some staff, and the others like Rarity and Dash growing in their careers is great...but I actually want to SEE those things, not just skip ahead and have them told to me.

 

4 hours ago, jackfettgames said:

I completely agree.  One of the major draws of the show is the nuanced character development, and it employs a unique combination of day-by-day slice-of-life and fantasy elements which are heightened by the natural progression of time.

I understand the argument against a timeskip too be sure. However I would like to counterpoint that if they don't do a timeskip the likelihood of things like the CMC or the Cake twins getting an older redesign is greatly diminished. You can't really show gradual growth in their character models without making a new one for each stage of development, and that is more resources than they'd want to allocate. However a bit of a timeskip would be good for shifting to a different model and not having it be all that jarring. 

Same with character progression. While it has happened over the last seven years it's something they drag their heels on. Especially with tertiary characters like Spike who have been relegated to increasingly minor roles instead of growing as characters. Sure they've had some growth, but it's very minor. 

7 hours ago, Ninetales said:

 
as for the date, I don't support it. (There was an incident involving a petition boycotting mlp over scootaloos lesbian aunt, but it was later revealed to be a 4chan troll) due to the amount of controversy its going to cause. And belive me, neither me, Hasbro, or our lovely staff members have the sanity to put up weih that.

Fandom radicals are going to have a hissy fit regardless of what show creators do. There is always going to be a petulant, childish segment of any given fandom that'll blow up their twitter feeds and whatever else to complain about a minor incident they didn't like. Just comes with the territory sadly. The best thing they can do is make sure it's done well. They are already in the right direction with characters like Sunburst, who are leagues better than that cardboard cutout of a caricature, also known as Flash. 

What I do NOT advocate is AVOIDING creative ideas because it would "steal fandom waifus" or some shit like that. They can do what they like with their show, they shouldn't be beholden to the ravings of an extremely loud minority of a fandom. 

[n1029 229]

Surely it's not that taxing to slightly modify the character models every few seasons; considering how many completely new ones they've introduced recently.

Character progression tends to drag in real life too. That's not something I'm too concerned about.

 

Edited October 22, 2017 by n1029

[Buck Testa 5,505]

6 minutes ago, n1029 said:

Surely it's not that taxing to slightly modify the character models every few seasons; considering how many completely new ones they've introduced recently.

Character progression tends to drag in real life too. That's not something I'm too concerned about.

 

Fiction (usually) is more streamlined than reality is. Even slice of life shows like this don't go through EVERYTHING they do. Hell the episode with Rarity's mane had months go by in the span of an episode (which is kind of a time skip in and of itself). 

I'd be down for them changing character models a bit without them skipping too much though. Just as long as there is tangible proof that time is indeed passing. 

Edited October 22, 2017 by Buck Testa

[BastementSparkle 20,328]

4 minutes ago, Buck Testa said:

I understand the argument against a timeskip too be sure. However I would like to counterpoint that if they don't do a timeskip the likelihood of things like the CMC or the Cake twins getting an older redesign is greatly diminished. You can't really show gradual growth in their character models without making a new one for each stage of development, and that is more resources than they'd want to allocate. However a bit of a timeskip would be good for shifting to a different model and not having it be all that jarring. 

Same with character progression. While it has happened over the last seven years it's something they drag their heels on. Especially with tertiary characters like Spike who have been relegated to increasingly minor roles instead of growing as characters. Sure they've had some growth, but it's very minor. 

When it comes to giving the characters older redesigns, I think they could manage to do some of that without being too jarring. We don't see the Baby Cakes particularly often, so I think if they just avoided using them for a decent amount of episodes and then had them return as Toddlers now it wouldn't feel too unnatural. As for Spike we don't know how the Dragon age process naturally works when not influenced by the crazy Greed like in "Secret of my Excess", so if they wanted him to go through a similar, though less crazy kind of growth spurt in just one episode, I could buy it. The CMC are a little more difficult, as they appear more often than the Baby Cakes and aren't dragons like Spike so a sudden growth in one episode would definitely be jarring, but I think if they were willing to put in just a bit of extra effort I could see the CMC aging up a bit over the course of a season.

As for Character progression, I don't really mind it going slow as long as we get good episodes on the way, and it does eventually lead to some changes. They could also deal with some character's extra slow and minor progression by just focusing a bit more on those characters and their development as it happens, which would be harder than just "Skip ahead so it happens off-screen", but far more satisfying I think.

 If they handled a time skip decently well I could live with it and enjoy the show still fine, but I'd much prefer actually getting to see the developments happen.

[Thrond 3,263]

It's a change, so I wouldn't be against it. I'm prepared to welcome anything different in this show. 

[Libra 11,691]

36 minutes ago, Buck Testa said:

 

 

I understand the argument against a timeskip too be sure. However I would like to counterpoint that if they don't do a timeskip the likelihood of things like the CMC or the Cake twins getting an older redesign is greatly diminished. You can't really show gradual growth in their character models without making a new one for each stage of development, and that is more resources than they'd want to allocate. However a bit of a timeskip would be good for shifting to a different model and not having it be all that jarring. 

Same with character progression. While it has happened over the last seven years it's something they drag their heels on. Especially with tertiary characters like Spike who have been relegated to increasingly minor roles instead of growing as characters. Sure they've had some growth, but it's very minor. 

Fandom radicals are going to have a hissy fit regardless of what show creators do. There is always going to be a petulant, childish segment of any given fandom that'll blow up their twitter feeds and whatever else to complain about a minor incident they didn't like. Just comes with the territory sadly. The best thing they can do is make sure it's done well. They are already in the right direction with characters like Sunburst, who are leagues better than that cardboard cutout of a caricature, also known as Flash. 

What I do NOT advocate is AVOIDING creative ideas because it would "steal fandom waifus" or some shit like that. They can do what they like with their show, they shouldn't be beholden to the ravings of an extremely loud minority of a fandom. 

time skips would just scatter the story all over the place. That's like reading a book at chapter 15 instead of chapter 1. If you do a time skip, yeah it might work, but there's going to be a lot of crucial details skipped out.

id rather have minor growth then major story skips. For example, in the hunger games If you read chapter one, then skipped to the part where katniss enters the arena, some of the lines and duologue (and the story) will make no sense.

slow and steady wins the race.

Edited October 22, 2017 by Ninetales

[Steve Piranha 29,432]

I've noticed a concern of introducing these changes gradually. I agree for one part, because most of us love to see the gradually growing world of FIM. On the other hand, it'll make exploring Equestria as exciting as the first time we watched the show