The movie really takes place between Seasons 4 and 5

[twilightsparkle3562 145]

I'm just basing this on personal headcanon views, but I really think that the movie takes place in between seasons 4 and 5, not between Seasons 7 and 8.  Here is why:

1. I feel that the Friendship Festival is meant to celebrate Twilight becoming the Princess of Friendship for defeating Tirek.  

2. How else would Canterlot and Equestria for that matter be so vulnerable to the Storm King's forces?  They were just getting over the events with Tirek.

3. Word of Mouth says that the movie was originally written in 2014, which places it between Season 4 and 5.

 

[darknessrising24 56]

Sadly, that headcanon doesn't hold up. Starlight Glimmer and Trixie are seen at the festival at the beginning of the movie.

[twilightsparkle3562 145]

5 minutes ago, darknessrising24 said:

Sadly, that headcanon doesn't hold up. Starlight Glimmer and Trixie are seen at the festival at the beginning of the movie.

That was really for fan service, I'm afraid.  My personal hunch is that they were added in at the last minute.

[Dabmanz 2,139]

I would say its either between season 7 and 8 or 6 and 7 though it looks like 7 and 8 from my understanding.

[twilightsparkle3562 145]

19 minutes ago, Dabmanz said:

I would say its either between season 7 and 8 or 6 and 7 though it looks like 7 and 8 from my understanding.

I highly doubt it that it would be between 6 and 7.  It just doesn't seem likely.

[Justin_Case001 4,907]

I was very disappointed that the movie did not feature any of the characters that have been developed during the last few seasons.  I thought it was ridiculous to introduce the pirate birds and the smooth talking alley cat when they could have further developed the great characters that they've already made.  I wanted to see Ember lead the dragons against the storm king, and Steve....oh....um...sorry, I tend to forget that's not his real name....ahem....Thorax....lead the changelings.  But then I heard that the movie was written during...like....S4 or something.  That explains a lot.  If it IS supposed to take place between seasons 4 and 5, that would make a lot more sense.  But that probably isn't the case, unfortunately.  Didn't...um....Big Jim or whatever his name is tweet that it was supposed to take place right after S7?  If that's true, it seems ridiculous to me, as it just jettisons so much of the continuity.  I mean, if it takes place after S7.....then why in the name of Celestia's ass would Starswirl and the pillars not have been involved in the fight??  Because the writing didn't take place chronologically, that's why.  They [apparently] wrote the movie before they ever conceived of Shadow Play.  That's why I thought they should have just waited until after the series ended, and THEN begin writing the movie.  Yeah, it would take longer, but we would have gotten a better product.  My two cents, anyway.

52 minutes ago, darknessrising24 said:

Sadly, that headcanon doesn't hold up. Starlight Glimmer and Trixie are seen at the festival at the beginning of the movie.

I remember seeing Trixie.  I missed Glim.  Ah, but here's the thing, were they actually together?  As friends?  Or did they just happen to be standing near each other?  How was Glim's mane styled?  Probably new Glim style, eh?  Bummer if that's the case.  It'd be cool if they gave her the bangs like she had when she was a villain.  Then we could just theorize that she was scoping Canterlot out for some reason, but she was still bad at the time, and then the OP's headcanon holds up.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

3 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

 How was Glim's mane styled?  

We got a post-reformation Starlight so the movie didnt take place before S5 finale. The continuity of this movie is screwed.

[Castle Bleck 19,386]

The staff confirmed it's between S7 and S8.

And the Starlight-Trixie cameo means that it can't be any earlier than No Second Prances.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Antagonist

[KrazyDashie 1,847]

6 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

 

I remember seeing Trixie.  I missed Glim.  Ah, but here's the thing, were they actually together?  As friends?  Or did they just happen to be standing near each other?  How was Glim's mane styled?  Probably new Glim style, eh?  Bummer if that's the case.  It'd be cool if they gave her the bangs like she had when she was a villain.  Then we could just theorize that she was scoping Canterlot out for some reason, but she was still bad at the time, and then the OP's headcanon holds up.

these two also have an appearence together during the end credits, in both here and the end credits they seem to be friends

also moondancer was shown during the beginning of the movie as a cameo appearance. if I remember correctly, amending fences was season 5

 

edit: either way, I think its nice that we have new characters instead of just using current ones (outside of the mane 6) if you think about it, if somepony like discord came along the movie would probably find away for him to lose his power during it, like what happened in to where and back again, otherwise... whats the point of having a full length movie when you have discord who can end the conflict in an episode's time?

Edited November 10, 2017 by KrazyDashie
added stuffs

[Steve Piranha 29,447]

It feels that way because the script was made back in S4, or at least during the year it ended. They couldn't afford to adapt to the constant changes each subsequent season brought, but Starlight's and Trix's presence shows that it takes place mid S6 at least if you wanna ignore Word of God   

[Justin_Case001 4,907]

On 11/10/2017 at 8:25 AM, A.V. said:

The staff confirmed that it's between S7 and S8.

Which means that while the fate of the land hung in the balance, Starlight, Starswirl, and the pillars just said "f*ck it" and played Ogres & Oubliettes instead.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

7 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

Which means that while the fate of the land hung in the balance, Starlight, Starswirl, and the pillars just said "f*ck it" and played Ogres & Oubliettes instead.

Instead of going to a very far away land to find a useless MacGuffin that will never come to play in the end of the movie

 

anyway, they could just:

1. Find Starlight

2. Find the Pillars

3. Find Discord

4. Find Thorax and his badass brother Pharynx

5. Find the best MacGuffin of the show, Element of Harmony.

6. Find Flurry Heart.

.....................

22. Goddamn it, i cant count anymore, anything in Equestria can kick those Storm King army's asses, there no need to go outside Equestria..........

23. How about we find Maud, she can handle all of Storm King army AT ONCE.

 

On 11/11/2017 at 0:52 AM, KrazyDashie said:

whats the point of having a full length movie when you have discord who can end the conflict in an episode's time?

To Where and Back Again done it better, it has a MacGuffin that can DEACTIVATE Magics in large area, you cant even use magics at all. Tempest army has shields that can absorb magic attacks but cannot stop magic users casting spell unless you put them in the cage. Twilight can just teleport right away to any safer place and find strategy to defeat the villains instead of going a very far away place by FOOTS. To write a story about finding a MacGuffin to solve a problem, make the villain is powerful at least in Pony of Shadow's level that you cant defeat them in any conventional way.

 

On 10/11/2017 at 6:13 PM, Justin_Case001 said:

then why in the name of Celestia's ass would Starswirl and the pillars not have been involved in the fight??

When was the last time that Celestia's plan that actually make sense? Not Twilight Kingdom, not Crystal Empire... Let see... Aha, when she was defeated by Chrysalis in solo duel, what did she say to the mane 6?

 'The Elements of Harmony. You must get to them and use their power to defeat the queen.' - Celestia.

Come on, Megahn...

[MontagnaMagica 307]

On 11/12/2017 at 0:50 AM, Justin_Case001 said:

Which means that while the fate of the land hung in the balance, Starlight, Starswirl, and the pillars just said "f*ck it" and played Ogres & Oubliettes instead.

Headcanon accepted. ROFL!

[tazmy 23]

I just have headcanon that the movie is alternate universe so doesn’t directly correlate time wise.

[Rosetta Spring 21]

4 minutes ago, tazmy said:

I just have headcanon that the movie is alternate universe so doesn’t directly correlate time wise.

Yeah but the movie looks like its going to be referenced in season 8 

Spoiler

Silver Stream is a seapony.

 

[Jeric 46,866]

On 11/10/2017 at 5:12 AM, twilightsparkle3562 said:

3. Word of Mouth says that the movie was originally written in 2014, which places it between Season 4 and 5.

Word of mouth is wrong. They hadn't even hired the entire writing staff yet. All this is easily confirmable. 

 

[Steve Piranha 29,447]

19 minutes ago, Rosetta Spring said:

Yeah but the movie looks like its going to be referenced in season 8 

  Hide contents

Silver Stream is a seapony.

 

Unless she's an actual seapony and not a hippogriff transformed into seapony  

[Rosetta Spring 21]

Just now, Steve Piranha said:

Unless she's an actual seapony and not a hippogriff transformed into seapony  

It seemed like a lot of destruction happened it wouldn't be surprising if some of them stayed in Seaquestia after they had the whole city underwater.

[Justin_Case001 4,907]

On 11/10/2017 at 9:52 AM, KrazyDashie said:

whats the point of having a full length movie when you have discord who can end the conflict in an episode's time?

 

On 11/12/2017 at 7:14 AM, Lambdadelta said:

To Where and Back Again done it better, it has a MacGuffin that can DEACTIVATE Magics in large area, you cant even use magics at all. Tempest army has shields that can absorb magic attacks but cannot stop magic users casting spell unless you put them in the cage. Twilight can just teleport right away to any safer place and find strategy to defeat the villains instead of going a very far away place by FOOTS. To write a story about finding a MacGuffin to solve a problem, make the villain is powerful at least in Pony of Shadow's level that you cant defeat them in any conventional way.

Yeah.  The thing about Discord is...well, it's the same ever-present plot hole that you have with Q on Star Trek.  (Cause, y'know, for those who don't know, Discord and Q are the same character.)  So, what's the point of any conflict on Star Trek when Q could snap his fingers and fix it?  Or just undo the problem from ever happening in the first place?  It's the plot hole you get when you create a godlike character.  The difference between FIM and Trek is that on Trek, you have an infinite amount of Q in the continuum, and they have a strict policy of non-involvement in mortal affairs.  Q is a rogue who likes to meddle with humanity, but he's gotten into trouble many times for that.  As such, it makes sense that he'd try to limit his involvement and not go hog-wild all the time.  As far as Discord, there would seem to be much less incentive for him to sit on the sidelines, especially given the fact that he's actually friends with the ponies.  So, my only theory is that, despite his outward demeanor, he is wise enough to know that constant intervention with chaos magic would disrupt the balance of life and the universe, so he limits it.  Kind of a flimsy explanation, but it's all I got.  I usually just wave this plot hole away by telling myself, "Eh, reason we didn't see Discord in the movie is the same reason we never saw Q in a movie."  That's good enough for me.

Since you mentioned Twilight teleporting, it occurred to me the other day--The 'lights magic training session in Every Little Thing She Does proved that both Starlight and Twilight can [seemingly] teleport to any location in the world with ease and pinpoint accuracy, so it make me wonder: why do either of them bother flying, walking, running, or riding anywhere, ever?  Just...one of those things...

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

10 minutes ago, Justin_Case001 said:

Kind of a flimsy explanation, but it's all I got

Very good headcannon. Actually all he care in To Where is Fluttershy, so your headcannon isnt too far-stretch. If the show can speak for themself like that, i will stop complaining about how Discord isnt in [insert any high-stake two-parters] of the show. 

18 minutes ago, Justin_Case001 said:

  I usually just wave this plot hole away by telling myself,

I wish i could trick myself that the plot hole is not as big as i thought it would be. I love when the show can speak for itself, i dont like using headcannon to explain the plot, i use whatever the show could give me. 

26 minutes ago, Justin_Case001 said:

Since you mentioned Twilight teleporting, it occurred to me the other day

That scene was played for humors so it could exaggerate Twilight abilities. HOWEVER, the problem in the movie is why Twilight didnt try to use it, one mile away is not that hard for Twilight.

 

I can accept the fantasy logic as long as it try to explain to me. Magics cant create mane? Its bullshit but at least they try to explain it so i accepted it. Just try.

[tazmy 23]

On 11/13/2017 at 3:58 PM, Rosetta Spring said:

Yeah but the movie looks like its going to be referenced in season 8 

  Reveal hidden contents

Silver Stream is a seapony.

 

They can reference events or characters  that exist in both AU, I just have the head cannon that the specific movie version is AU since the timing doesn’t make sense.

[StormBlaze 992]

I totally agree with the setting being close after S4 - I actually didnt enjoy it so much because of this. 

It felt out of place with the show at the time, almost like Twilight's character was forgotten. She's still learning how to be the Princess of Friendship.....which we know has been covered and pretty much resolved in the current series. I know its hard to keep a movie up to date with a TV show, but I think maybe we should have been given a longer hiatus between seasons for the movie to catch up... this would also had been a good idea because S7 finale was very overshadowed by the movie release. 

[twilightsparkle3562 145]

On 11/20/2017 at 4:54 AM, StormBlaze said:

I totally agree with the setting being close after S4 - I actually didnt enjoy it so much because of this. 

It felt out of place with the show at the time, almost like Twilight's character was forgotten. She's still learning how to be the Princess of Friendship.....which we know has been covered and pretty much resolved in the current series. I know its hard to keep a movie up to date with a TV show, but I think maybe we should have been given a longer hiatus between seasons for the movie to catch up... this would also had been a good idea because S7 finale was very overshadowed by the movie release. 

At least we agree on something.