How would you have re-written MLP?

[Props Valroa 26,038]

If you were the creator of MLP, how would you have done it, how would it have changed?

 

I would have changed it like this:

- Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash wouldn't exist.

- Possible darker under-tones.

- Sunset Shimmer is a main, re-occuring villain throughout the entire series.

- Starlight Glimmer never getting reformed but staying as a rogue trouble maker who wants revenge on Twilight.

- Discord never being reformed but freed and obligated to no longer do harm to Equestria.

- Friendship school and those student 6 characters never existign

- Sombra's full back story to be shown, different and more detailed voice actor and role in the series.

- Chrysalis shown more but more or less the same

- Trixie defeats Twilight in that one episode.

- The show to not focus on the mane 6 but the world as a whole. Whole episodes dedicated to background ponies such as lyra.

- Other planets and dimensions to be shown as well as alternate universes.

- Celestia's parents, and grandparents being shown.



Her Grandfather could be Father Time himself.



And her grandmother having something to do with the Earth.

[Sparklefan1234 161,858]

Twilight Sparkle becomes the Princess of Friendship in season 4 and does not become Celestia and Luna's successor at the end of the series.

 

Princess Cadance and Shining Armor are the one's who succeed Celestia and Luna with Shining becoming King of the Crystal Empire.

 

Princess Flurry Heart, the School of Friendship and The Student Six, and Discord (After his premier episodes.) DO NOT exist. 

 

 Trixie proposes to Starlight Glimmer and the two get married instead of Big Mac and Sugar Belle.  

 

Tempest Shadow moves to Ponyville after the events of the My Little Pony Movie and lives in the Castle of Friendship with Twilight, Spike and Grubber. 

[Splashee 28,537]

49 minutes ago, Scar said:

- Sunset Shimmer is a main, re-occuring villain throughout the entire series.

Dr Eggman 

49 minutes ago, Scar said:

- Starlight Glimmer never getting reformed but staying as a rogue trouble maker who wants revenge on Twilight

Knuckles 

 

 

This would actually work! 

[Megas 27,063]

For the first five seasons, aside from changing or removing a few episodes, nothing much would change, only major change would be for Cutie Remark by actually utilizing the alternate timelines properly(and have Twilight team up with a mane 6 each from a different timeline)..... Actually the are two major changes, Celestia gets episodes early on, There's plenty of episodes that were unpopular that could be replaced for a couple, MMDW, Princess Spike, What About Discord?, to name a couple. Also Discord never gets reformed

- Then come S6, I'd make Starlight's redemption journey more similar to Sunset's by having most of Twilight's friends untrustworthy, and have the "Our Town" place resent her, giving her something to earn and work towards fixing
- The original Dave Polsky version of Newbie Dash is untouched instead of the middle finger the final version was.
- episodes like Cart Before the Ponies, 28 Pranks Later, and PPOV are replaced with some more Starlight focus, some episodes with individual members of the mane 6 ala Zuko in Book 3. Starlight in general would have a bigger presence
- Trixie doesn't befriend Starlight, I'd want to save her for something else(that I don't have an idea for yet, don't worry it's not for anything bad)
- Like Newbie Dash, the original version of  AJ's Day Off is untouched, as it actually added more depth to AJ rather than make her look stupid like the final version did
- S7 drops the pillars entirely, S7 is more SoL focused and focuses more on the family aspect of the season, given how the Pillars felt really rushed in a lot of ways while the family aspect was the strongest aspect of that season and led to some of the show's best episodes.
- Starlight continues to have a notable presence in S7
   - Both S6 and S7 have her appear regularly in episodes that don't focus on her, whether supporting or BG
- S6 and S7 finales get swapped. S6 would be a team up between the mane 6 and Starlight, while the latter gets to be the hero of S7's finale
- S8 the school never existed......however, I'm not opposed to the Student Six to being personal students to the mane 6. Which ones get which though are up for debate(some ideas include Smolder getting in touch with her feminine side with Rarity, FS teaching Yona to be gentle, RD helping Silverstream being a WB, Pinkie helps Sandbar stand out, AJ helps Gallus find a family, Twilight helps Ocellus understand magic and knowledge)
- Any episode focusing on the school will be focused on the singular S6 and M6 characters, with a couple dedicated to the S6 as a group. Unrelated episodes remain untouched. S6 are the heroes this time around.
- S9 gets a clean slate, actually focusing on tying loose ends. No stupid bullshit no one wanted like 246G, She's All Yak, Uprooted, Dragon Dropped, Daring Doubt, Sweet and Smokey etc.,
    - Main arc is the villain team up. But this time it's not shit because Grogar is actually real. More major villains are brought up this time around.
    - Individually. Twi still becomes Celestia's successor, but much more like the original plans(meaning Celestia and Luna will actually "die", how I'm still not sure). Ocellus becomes her   personal student
    - RD settles the score with Lightning Dust while Silverstream makes it to the Academy
    - Big Macintosh gets married
    - Fluttershy opens her sanctuary
    - More episodes with Rarity and her family
    - We actually see Spike get over Rarity
    - Pinkie Pie witness the cakes grow up. Sandbar tries to run Sugarcube corner a couple of times
    - Remaining episodes will focus more on side characters like Starlight, Trixie, Gilda, Coco etc. All Celebrity characters get one more appearance
    - No bullshit redemption for Garble, Caballeron or Ahuizotl. Also Daring's last episode is a team up with Spitfire

a few other changes
- More one shots get spotlight instead of only the ones the writers favorite
- Take a page from the comic books and actually fucking try with the Wonderbolts
- Actually, take a few pages from them, I know not everyone likes them, but there are some good stories and ideas to utilize, especially for those oddball pairups
- Flim Flam Bros get fucked in the ballsack with a cheese grater and never come back after SSCS6K

 

Spoiler

And, uh, squeeze in a Transformers crossover in there somewhere

Movies gets some changes but for the most part is the same. BGE and Rainbow Roadtrip are untouched

[Will Guide 21,325]

Boy there's a lot of cynicism here. Which is the last thing I need. 

honestly if it was up to me I would wish there would be more episodes with the Changelings so I would know more about how their biology works apply that to Changeling Will Guide. And the only other thing would be confirmation that Spike's real dragon parents were at least kind enough to make sure that he would be given his best chance even as they were destinied to lose their lives

I honestly wouldn't change anything else. Because honestly I think it's much more important to enjoy the show for what it is, not demand it to change every little thing you just simply don't like.

[Early Sunsets 2,106]

1. Make Rainbow's lead episodes less shit. The writers really did her dirty with a lot of her lead episodes.

2. No school of friendship, or at least no student 6.

3. A little more focus on worldbuilding.

4. Wonderbolt stuff. I think this might have just been down to being difficult to animate, but seeing more complex flight patterns and such would have been cool. We did get a couple good ones, but they were few and far between.

[Gaines 1,109]

The first two things I'd change off the top of my head is alicorn Twilight and the CMC's cutie marks.

I wouldn't make Twilight an alicorn; she would continue to be a merely wise unicorn who possesses the "magic" or true understanding of friendship. I also see no reason for her to become (theoretically) immortal. She didn't/doesn't need to raise the sun or the moon, she doesn't need to rule over an empire, she doesn't magically make ponies fall in love, so what is so important about her that she must be made immortal? Friendship is learned and spread naturally, but Twilight can build a school of friendship without being an alicorn as well.

Now while most fans are excited about the CMC finally getting their cutie marks, the other few, including me, are disappointed by the outcome. I really would've preferred if they got their own unique cutie marks, so that's another thing I would change. In one of the first CMC episodes, it's obvious that Scootaloo is good at riding a scooter (or possibly anything with wheels), Sweetie Belle is good at singing, and Apple Bloom is good at building or constructing (although a cutie mark similar to that subject may lack apples, it was her true talent and I believe her family will be proud nonetheless).

Edited September 30, 2020 by Gaines

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

6 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

Trixie proposes to Starlight Glimmer and the two get married instead of Big Mac and Sugar Belle.  

 

Tempest Shadow moves to Ponyville after the events of the My Little Pony Movie and lives in the Castle of Friendship with Twilight, Spike and Grubber. 

I really like these ideas!

[Adorable Lovestar 243]

I wouldn't have rewritten it, because it being the way it is has given me a lot of my formative experiences in life. Are there things I think would be better another way, though? Sure! 

[Flutterstep 46,287]

I would have given the mane 6 a little more depth and made them less stereotypical. Also share their personalities out more. Give Fluttershy some ambitious, give Rainbow some fears, give Pinkie more intelligents, give Twilight more flaws. Just make they more unique from other shows and we’d have the greatest characters ever. 

[Ittoni 536]

- Nuke the movie's existence along with equestria girls, therefore disappearing them from the series, and furries/Capper and Flash disappearing with them. If they must exist don't connect them to the show in any way. Find a better way to include the hypogriphs through the map missions just like how we found out about the kirins. If Tempest must exist then make her a villain in the show.

- Make Twilight an alicorn, yes, but not until season 5. And not during a musical montage so it's rushed, make it a two parter at least.

- mention Shining Armor's existence way back in season 1 at least once before we meet him and integrate him in Twilight's devolve into the misanthrope she became to actually justify her lack of interest on any relation that is not with books and her lack of knowledge in anything friendship.

- Cadence and Flurry Heart doesn't exist. If they must exist then don't make Cadence Twilight's foal sitter, make her the already princess of the crystal empire that got trapped for a thousand years with her kingdom and subjects, make her full crystal alicorn pony (with the hexagonal eye shines and all), and after Sombra is defeated make Shining Armor stay in the kingdom so they can develop their romantic interest and ultimately marry and have Flurry Heart which is first of all not an alicorn abomination bust just a normal healthy baby pegasus half crystal pony that, if it's too terribly necessary, will eventually be revealed in the epilogue as having gained her horn at some point in the future. But ideally I would like if the nepotism and royal inheritance wasn't that obvious so ideally I would like to have any other random pony be the next prince or princess while Flurry stays as pegasus royalty.

- Have the three pony races be more balanced. Unicorns can have their magic if they want but they are known to be oblivious on top of physically weak and known to be probe to corruption. Pegasus are just fine with their weather manipulation, maybe even be able to create clouds on command or summon them, and flying. Also they are all known to be brave and free spirited but assholes because of their narcissistic tendency due to their free nature just like actual birds (which is basically what we see in the show). Earth ponies are considered dumb or slow but not because they are farmers like in the show, they are in tune with nature and therefore their intelligence are less understood and their patience is confused with being dumb. They can instantly grow crops magically kinda like what that one kirin did in the episode or like Mist Mane but unicorns would not be able to do that at all so Misty would have to change a bit, they can understand animals and have strength and supernatural understanding and connection to the occult arts, more about knowing and using the power of natural elements to their advantage like a druid or a psychic/ more like Pinkie's and Maud's  abilities. All races will have the very basic understanding and very basic abilities of their race but also more talented members that with study can achieve great feats regarding their magical abilities.

- the student six get more screen time and development during the entirety of season 9. 

- more reformed changelings and their society please. Let them be a non-binary dominated society too. And don't try to rewrite the fact that they are all Chrissalis's kids. Maybe the first generation of reformed changelings after reformation will not but the original ones are. Oh, and leave some unreformed renegades and outsiders. 

- a bit less of the teenage dragons and more involvement of the bigger adult ones. Or at least an explanation of why the adult ones are not around as much, simply a mention will be sufficient.

- make the pillars actually give Tirek a bit of a fight, not like the poor excuse of an attempt we got.

- have a male alicorn that is not an animation error. Better if that alicorn is Sombra, it will tie perfectly with the alicorn amulet too.

- have less unicorn protagonists. Mix the races up a little, and since they would be more balanced they can all have an opportunity to be villains or heroes.

- involve the other races more after we meet them.

- if it must happen, let Twilight have her boyfriend but let it bloom and develop, kinda like Sunburst and Twilight's brief platonic romance so is not another "love at first sign, thirsty for some action" situation. 

- make rainbow less of an ass, Applejack doesn't become a parody of herself over time, Rarity doesn't become bad at fashion for the plot, Fluttershy doesn't become bad at fashion knowledge for the plot, Twilight's ocd and anxiety is not treated as a joke for the lols for the most part, Pinkie doesn't devolve into stupid just because she's the funny one, Spike is less abused and doesn't suddenly become an idiot for the plot, Big Mac is not monosyllabic and a parody and more like in Apple Buck Season. 

- Discord explains that his plan involving impersonating Grogar was to try to make the villain trio become friends for their eventual redemption but he tried to do it on his own and fucked up.

- Have an actual episode where Discord properly addresses his unconformity on the main six (save Fluttershy) treating him like garbage even after they "forgave him" and "gave him another chance" but they actually didn't do we could tackle those resentments once and for all instead of dragging them until the very end.

- we see the baby cakes and the cmcs visually grow a bit older over time.

- Daring Do exist only in the books and AK Yearling is only the author. No mixing both and have the author be the hero because that creates some very controversial points for the other party that is based on an actual culture that was ransacked for centuries and killed for their gold while having the classical depiction of the white adventurer/savior that will go kill some natives and destroy ancient civilizations for the artifact in which they didn't even tried to hide it was the Aztecs and it was happening their reality in the show as something good and admirable. I take offense to that.

- the episode "Fame and Misfortune" doesn't exist. It's like the higher ups that decided to change the writing of the episode without Larsson even knowing about the changes are not used to get criticism (spoiler alert: they don't) and can't handle it nor know how to solve and address said fan issues tried to "fix" things the way they do, by making fun of others and get revenge on whoever dared to question them. I have to deal with this kind of people all the time and let me tell you is exactly how it sounds like, and I have to take all their criticism and the public's criticism for my work up the ass and have to actually learn how to deal with it in a constructive manner but I can't say anything to them because they are the client or the creative direction, whose position were inherited or gained through nepotism (wouldn't you know), and they take it personally. Of course is not everyone but you would be surprised how common that is in the entertainment industry. Fuck those guys.

- have Twilight get an actual staff and guards after getting the castle toy set.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Ittoni

[Goat-kun 2,498]

In my image, of course! But seriously, being a H-Bro property, I'd recreate MLP as a pocket plane from MTG which would be implied but never outright stated. I'd build characters and everything else from that. I'd also make it feel kinda like One Piece or The Last Airbender in that the core band of characters would travel around the world on an airship instead of being constantly in one place.

[Props Valroa 26,038]

I would also have the mlp movie with the Storm King, Tempest, etc never happen. I would make the Storm King and Tempest characters in the actual show. But NO furry characters whatso-ever. Rainbow would be replaced with Lightning Dust who is the most ass-hole there is, but she is the MOST loyal out of all the ponies oddly enough. Pinkie would be replaced with Maud Pie or someone, but Maud Pie's bland-ness and lack of emotions is what makes her MORE funny than Pinkie.

 

14 hours ago, Splashee® said:

Dr Eggman 

Knuckles 

 

 

This would actually work! 

I can imagine the 2 as allies for a short time. Imagine how powerful they would be, but as villains do, they don't work together well.

[Metemponychosis 1,236]

I don't think I would've changed much. 

Biggest ones I can think of are removing Celestia's place as ruler and make her simply a sort of spiritual leader or even just the weirdo that moves the sun around. Same for Luna.

If Celestia was going to stay as the ruler, I would make her the ruler, starting with calling her queen and then never letting Twilight approach her by title. If the cartoon was not going to delve into the issues of ruling the ponies, it should have kept away from that. But if I had free reign, which I doubt is something that the producers had, my Celestia would have had to deal with the classical issues of the wealthy vs the needy. I'd have her deal with policies and their effect over the nation. And then, if Twilight was to replace her, it would be a must to see her actually learning from Celestia. Honestly, to this day, I'm not sure what is it that Celestia actually taught her to begin with.

I would've made Equestria the whole world and moving the sun would actually be a big deal, both culturally and magically.

I would've given the griffons a real nation/realm and some cultural tansion with the ponies.

Star Swirl and the others would've stayed dead.

I think that Twilight's school was a good idea, but after the cartoon had showed her learning from Celestia, whose school would be one for the future leaders and for the study of advanced magic, not a fucking kindergarten.

Luna would have something similar, with the intention of bettering the world.

There is more but I got stuff to write and the cartoon is done already.

[Rushing cash 824]

If I had to change something, it would have been:

• Discord never returns, especially as a reformed character(until the final season he doesn't really have a serious impact on the show, well maybe other than screwing up in S4 finale but it could have been changed to some other character instead), it creates to many plot related complications.
• More Wonderbolts episodes.
• More Ember
• Maybe a bit more family related episodes
• A bit more realistic redemption for the changelings 

That's it, the rest are alright by me, some I maybe would like to change but at the same time I am not sure its a good idea and how it would have impacted the show.

Anyway, I love the show as it is, I am not a fan just because of what ifs, I really like the episodes and the characters, its not perfect, but nothing is and no thing can satisfy every single person.

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Metemponychosis
 

What do you think of Celestia being the final villain of the show?

[Ittoni 536]

3 minutes ago, Scar said:

@Metemponychosis
 

What do you think of Celestia being the final villain of the show?

Isn't she already? 

[Props Valroa 26,038]

Just now, Ittoni said:

Isn't she already? 

[Ittoni 536]

2 minutes ago, Scar said:

Oh! In that way. 

It would have been cool to defy the status quo and have evil Celestia. I honestly thought that was where the whole tree of harmony was going because it's a psycho of friendship, showing the dark side of the "good". It kinda was there with Cozy but they didn't knew how to explain it well. 

[Props Valroa 26,038]

@Ittoni

I think Celestia is the type that rules through a good mask but is actually quite twisted on the inside. I can imagine my villain Sunset Shimmer teaming up with Twilight to defeat her. 

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

I wouldn’t change a thing about it! It’s perfect, just like my favourite Six ponies! 

[Metemponychosis 1,236]

1 hour ago, Scar said:

@Metemponychosis
 

What do you think of Celestia being the final villain of the show?

I'd ask them why did they give the script to Shyamalan.

Honestly, it's not something I would've liked in this show, not with Celestia, because I don't see why she would teach Twilight to be... Well, Twilight and then turn out to be the villain. It would be something just to pull a 'ah-ha! gotcha' pointless moment on the audience. Not that I don't think that can't be done with proper foreshadowing and preparation, but it's not something I would do. In this fictional world.

For it to work, I think that the writting staff would need a lot more cohesion because it would have to be a legitimate nagging doubt since the beginning and, beyond that, since the cartoon shied away from letting Celestia showing weight as the ruler, it would just be pointless betrayal. Which is why I didn't care for Daybreaker either it just seeme like an attempt to rehash a Luna out of Celestia. Or something... The cartoon would have to change a lot for that to work for me or to even have the emotional impact it should. Heck, I couldn't care less about canon Celestia past season five or six.

Not that I don't like her. I like more the fandom creations that make sense with what the cartoon originally pulled with her. I can even enjoy a story about her being the big evil villain in hidding the whole time if the writer can account for all the issues I see.

1 hour ago, Ittoni said:

Isn't she already? 

Now I'm curious...

[Sparklefan1234 161,858]

16 hours ago, Megas said:

S7 drops the pillars entirely, S7 is more SoL focused and focuses more on the family aspect of the season, given how the Pillars felt really rushed in a lot of ways while the family aspect was the strongest aspect of that season and led to some of the show's best episodes.

 

Yes, please? 

 

16 hours ago, Megas said:

- More episodes with Rarity and her family
    - We actually see Spike get over Rarity

 

1. I wanted to see Rarity's dad be revealed as a private investigator since his look was based on Magnum P.I.. 
2. I would've liked to have seen this instead of  Dragon Dropped. 

Edited September 30, 2020 by Sparklefan1234

[Landi 597]

Alright here are some of the changes I would make:

• Twilight doesn't become an alicorn till the end, or at least towards the end.
• Season Three is the length of a full season
• Equestria Girls never exists! Instead, Sunset Shimmer is a powerful unicorn who's the villain in the season three finale (since twilight wouldn't become a alicorn till the end of the series).
• Flurry Heart is a pegasus, or at least a unicorn. Not an alicorn.
• The School of Friendship and the young six NEVER exist.
• Cozyglow isn't a villain. Option #1 is that she's a slightly confused friend of the CMC who hangs out with them. Option #2 is that she's a minor antagonist who hangs out with Diamond Tiara.
• The three pony types are actually balanced. This would mean that unicorns would have to be nerfed and earth ponies would be buffed. Pegasi are already balanced so they are fine as is.
• The show spends more time focusing on either new or existing locations INSIDE of Equestria, rather that focusing on other places outside of Equestria.
• Give the Wonderbolts much more screen-time. Along with that, give each Wonderbolt an interesting personality.
• Scootaloo flies by the end.
• Keep the changelings unreformed.
• Have dragons be big, dangerous antagonists. Not a bunch of rude, snarky teens.
• Give Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack a bigger role in the MLP movie

There are most likely plenty more little changes here or there but these are the main ones that I came up with.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Landi72
"villain" to "alicorn"

[Splashee 28,537]

MLP FIM is the masterpiece that we all became Bronies for, right?

Why does it need rewriting?