Proof "Tanks for the Memories" was NOT Tank's first winter! · 1:52am May 10th, 2015
Series of chronological events which MUST be directly sequential:
1. FIRST Summer Sun celebration seen, NMM's return. Twi is wingless.
2. First Winter Wrap Up. Twi is wingless.
?: Hearth's Warming Eve (uncertain temporal placement)
3. Dash acquires Tank. Twi is wingless.
4. Canterlot Wedding occurs
5. Crystal Empire Returns (assume at least several weeks have passed)
6. Equestria Games announced (at least a month passes) Crystal Empire chosen.
7. Twilicorn cometh! (more time passes)
8. Training for games (several more months)
9. SECOND Summer Sun celebration happens in Canterlot, AFTER TIREK. Twi has wings. Tree castle is created.
10. Tank's for the Memories must come after #9.
The problem arises here. If we are expected to assume all of the show has taken place in less than a year and Dash got Tank in early spring, this means everything that has taken place since Dash got Tank has occurred in less than 8 months. This means some of Season 2, and all of seasons 3 and 4, plus the first two episodes of Season 5 (including travel time to and from Equal Town back to Ponyville) since Twilight was still acclimating to the castle.
There simply isn't enough time, meaning Tank must have passed one winter already, and the sole way this could have happened would be to set this episode back in Season 3, BUT that cannot be the case because of the castle!
Therefore, TFtM stands out rather awkwardly in the timeline as it MUST occur, and works far better as an story which would have fit neatly in Season 2 while Dash was still fairly self-centered and short-sighted, being set just before Hearth's Warming Eve episode.
If I watch TFtM while mentally removing the castle and Twilight's wings, Dash is perfectly in character with her Season 2 self.
As sad as it is, continuity just isn't very important in slice-of-life children's shows. They wanted to do an episode that dealt with accepting death through Tank going into hibernation, so they did it. Also, that's hardly proof. The space in between Rainbow getting tank and Twilight beating Tirek could have been just a few months. Sure, it's unlikely, but it is not impossible. I'm pretty sure you already know this, but I get annoyed when people misuse terms like 'proof'.
Do you think some of these plots are shelved ideas they bring out later? I sort of got that impression with Putting Your Hoof Down, which as a characterization of Fluttershy (and Angel), as well as who actually appears in it, could have occurred in season 1 or even before season 1 started.
3058142 If I have several days with nothing to do, I'm going to watch every episode which must be sequential and try to create a timeline to see just how implausible it is for Dash to get Tank in spring, then for all those events to occur before the end of that same year's autumn. I know that in a number of those episodes, many of which cannot overlap with any others since the events within are ongoing through the plot, specific periods of time were stated as having past. In those, I can lay them out with certainty, which will help me establish a solid time frame for the others.
3058163 Hard to say with Flutters. Her character has altered quite a bit back and forth in every season. It's only very recently that she's become more consistently outgoing than severely shy.
Dash, out of all of them, has demonstrated the most clear-cut and steady character growth up until now, which is why her behavior in TFtM felt so egregiously out of character. She was the one solidly moving toward the position of a courageous and selfless leader... and then suddenly risks everything because her tortoise is hibernating.
I know they wanted to do a pet death metaphor... but sheesh, it was just so over-the-top. They took it too far and hurt Dash's character growth in the process.