Updating Friendship - Part 2 · 8:20pm Aug 22nd, 2020
Alright, time for part two of Updating Friendship! I would also like to note that I forgot on the first part that Fall Weather Friends and Winter Wrap-Up would be switched around in the order to make the season flow chronologically.
Onto Season Two!
Ep. 1 “Return of Harmony, Part 1” – Same as canon. Sometime after the Grand Galloping Gala, Discord breaks free from his stone prison in the castle garden during the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ school field trip to Canterlot. The Mane Six and Spike learn Discord hid the Elements of Harmony so they can’t be used against him. They gradually become their opposite selves while dealing with his antics, and he spreads chaos across Equestria.
Ep. 2 “Return of Harmony, Part 2” – Same as canon. The group returns to Ponyville, all acting the opposite of who they are. Discord’s ignorance of Spike leads to Celestia returning the friendship lesson reports through him and reminding Twilight of her status as an Element of Harmony. The actual Elements are found, and Twilight and Spike track down their friends to turn them back to normal. Reunited, the Mane Six defeat Discord, turning him back to stone.
Ep. 3 “Lesson Zero” – Same as canon to establish Twilight’s anxieties as a student and expand the ability to send Celestia friendship lesson reports to the rest of the group.
Ep. 4 “Luna Eclipsed” – Continuing from The Best Night Ever, Luna visits Twilight in Ponyville to learn about modern holidays like Nightmare Night. Though she is initially uncomfortable with a holiday about her dark alter ego being celebrated, she gradually becomes more open to the idea once she learns it doesn’t celebrate the negative aspects of Nightmare Moon. This is Luna’s first focus episode.
Ep. 5 “Siblingrhooves Social” – Same as canon to establish Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s sisterhood along with the tradition of the Sisterhooves Social. Though, perhaps the Sisterhooves Social should be changed to the Siblinghooves Social so it is not exclusive.
Ep. 6 “The Cutie Pox” – Same as canon to further both Apple Bloom’s lessons from Zecora and to further the Crusaders’ quest for Cutie Marks.
Ep. 7 “May the Best Pet Win” – Same as canon to establish Tank as a recurring character.
“The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well” – Delete because everyone hates this one, and replace it with “Growing Up is Hard to Do”.
Ep. 8 “Growing Up is Hard to Do” – Since the actions of the CMC are more suited to an early season instead of a later one, them acting childishly here works because they haven’t received their character development yet. The mystery flower can be one Zecora found but has no knowledge of instead of being sent by Star Swirl.
Ep. 9 “Sweet and Elite” – Same as canon to establish Canterlot elite society. Minor edits include Twilight and Spike’s parents speak for the first time here to celebrate Twilight’s birthday, and Shining Armor appears on a requested day off from guard duty.
Ep. 10 “Secret of My Excess” – Same as canon to expand on Spike’s crush on Rarity and their friendship. Also explores dragon culture with Greedgrowth Insanity.
Ep. 11 “Hearth’s Warming Eve” – Same as canon to expand on Equestria lore and introduce the windigos.
Ep. 12 “Family Appreciation Day” – Same as canon to expand on Ponyville history and traditions, also expand on Apple family and Rich family connections. Scootaloo’s aunts appear in the background to establish Scootaloo’s family earlier than the final season.
Ep. 13 “Baby Cakes” – Same as canon to establish the Cake twins as recurring characters and teach Pinkie new responsibilities. She is good at entertaining kids, but not yet good at caring for them outside of having fun.
Ep. 14 “The Last Roundup” – Same as canon to expand on Applejack’s sense of duty and what happens when she feels she disappoints her family. Return of the Pinkie Promise, and minor edits include her family joining the Mane Six in tracking her down.
Ep. 15 “The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000” – Same as canon to establish the Flim Flam brothers as a rival to Applejack. Minor edits include Pinkie Pie only being shown getting cider once to avoid implications that she is a line cutter.
Ep. 16 “Read It and Weep” – Same as canon to establish the Daring Do subplot. As of this episode, it is not yet revealed Daring Do’s adventures are actually real.
Ep. 17 “Hearts and Hooves’ Day” – Same as canon to expand on an Equestria holiday and to establish the minor subplot of Big Macintosh romantically courting Cheerilee.
Ep. 18 “A Friend in Deed” – Same as canon to establish Cranky and Matilda as minor characters and set them up for their wedding later.
Ep. 19 “Putting Your Hoof Down” – Same as canon to expand on Fluttershy learning to assert herself and introduce Iron Will as a minor character.
Ep. 20 “It’s About Time” – Same as canon to introduce time travel as a possible concept and to foreshadow Tirek’s escape from Tartarus.
Ep. 21 “Dragon Quest” – Same as canon to explore more dragon culture, introduce Garble as a rival for Spike, and introduce Peewee as a recurring character. Unlike canon, Peewee will reappear as Spike’s pet rather than being returned to his nest offscreen.
Ep. 22 “Hurricane Fluttershy” – Same as canon to expand on weather duties and Rainbow’s history with Fluttershy. Minor edits include Spitfire abandoning the recordkeeping to help with the water transportation because a necessity is more important than records.
Ep. 23 “Ponyville Confidential” – Same as canon to expand on CMC rivalry with Diamond Tiara. Minor edits include Featherweight being punished along with Diamond Tiara for going along with blackmailing the Crusaders and the Crusaders’ families not outright shunning them.
Ep. 24 “MMMystery on the Friendship Express” – Same as canon for filler. The only noteworthy thing is Celestia’s love for cake and the one griffon that successfully left Griffonstone to become a baker.
Ep. 25 “A Canterlot Wedding, Part 1” – Same as canon, but slight changes are made due to Shining Armor actually being introduced beforehand. Twilight tries to prove Chrysalis is an imposter of Cadence, but her lack of physical evidence is written off as family issues and stress. Chrysalis traps Twilight in the Canterlot caverns with the real Cadence.
Ep. 26 “A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2” – Same as canon. Twilight reunites with the real Cadence, and they break out to stop the wedding. Chrysalis reveals herself and brings down Shining Armor’s barrier so the changelings can attack. Edits to the episode include a changeling staying out of the invasion, foreshadowing Thorax, and instead of a montage of the wedding being fixed up, we get a verbal apology to Twilight from everyone for not believing her about Chrysalis being an imposter while the wedding is being put back together.
Most of the changes to this season would be background stuff, such as having the whole immediate Sparkle family appear for Twilight's birthday, and hinting at Scootaloo's family situation earlier to avoid the suggestion she's an orphan that became so popular. In my version, rather than going through a rotation of babysitters, her aunts live in Ponyville the whole time to raise Scootaloo while her parents are away for work.
I'm currently writing the outline for season nine, and I'd like to ask for readers' opinions. Would you want a tenth season to round things out, or wrap up at season nine. I have a plot point in mind I'd like to explore if an extra season would be added. Let me know below!
I have no complaints
5341014
I know there weren't many major changes, but did you like the changes I did make? Like Twilight actually receiving a verbal apology for the changeling thing?
5341020
That I did. Seriously, after everyone turned their backs on her, even her beloved B.B.B.F.F., no one apologizes, even though she pretty much made sure Queen Chrysalis' plan failed.
5341024
Agreed. What did you think about the more minor changes? And bumping up the Growing Up is Hard to Do episode, I'm wondering how bumping up later episodes like that will be received. Since the CMC haven't gone through a lot of maturing at this point, it makes more sense for the grown up episode to be sooner than later.
5341025
I agree. Episodes like that should've been in the earlier seasons, not in the very last one. The Last Crusade, Sparkle's Seven and The Point of No Return also count.
5341041
Point of No Return did get bumped up by several seasons, but Last Crusade and Sparkle's Seven did not. The latter two have a better sense of timing. In the Last Crusade, Scootaloo is living a successful life with the Crusaders, just like her parents were successful with their work, so it makes sense for her to stay. Sparkle's Seven gets a pass because it was celebrating the show's 200th episode and the timing of the competition was perfect because Twilight still had time left before she was crowned ruler.
Why do you think they should be bumped up?
5341045
No, no, bumped down. As in, they seem more like season two and three episodes rather than season 9. Also, having Scootaloo stay was a massive mistake. This could've been a really great episode but the writers chickened out. Imagine how powerful it would've been if Scootaloo moved away. It would've shown that things don't always work out the way you want them to and that no matter what, the CMC's would've remained friends no matter what. The ending felt like a cop out.
About Return Of Harmony, I wonder if things later on would touch on the whole "The sisters aren't connected to the Elements anymore"
What I hated how in the premiere that bit is basically used as an excuse to shaft Luna and Celestia instead of like touching on that issue properly and resolving it(like the sisters getting their connection restored or something). Like wouldn't Luna feel like its her fault she and Celestia can no longer use the Elements(and how apparently Harmony essentially tossed the sisters aside due to no longer being connected).
About the Flim Flam episode, would Spike be joining in on the girls with helping Applejack win? It kind of hurts how he wasn't involved(despite he was literally right there) especially with how Applejack considers the other girls as "family". Its like since Spike isn't an Element Bearer, he's not allowed to have the same bond with the girls and such, like often unable to go with the girls(or the writers making him decide to not go for some iffy reason).
For Dragon Quest, I love how you had Peewee stay with Spike. Not only it was bs on how the show made Spike send him back off-screen like that(and unfair on how the Mane 6 had pets of their own) but Spike's reasons of doing so is pretty hypocritical due to Celestia literally has a pet phoenix.
Though I wonder if the girls apologized for how they laughed at Spike like that in the beginning of the episode?
About Canterlot Wedding, was there any changes for Luna?
One huge issue(aside from what others mentioned like the apology thing) is how Luna apparently slept through the whole thing. Like she was asleep and missed out on not only the wedding but also the fact she was sleeping while Celestia was in danger(and Canterlot was being invaded by angry lovebuggos). Whats worse is how this got brushed aside pretty much, like wouldn't Luna feel really upset she not only missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime thing(a wedding that is her niece's) but also the fact Equestria(and especially her sister) was in danger big time.
I heard the writers actually forgotten about Luna and added her in last-minute pretty much.
Sorry about that.. those issues just bug me a bunch and I did sort of liked the finale due to how it introduced lovebuggo queen(Chrysalis) there.
If anything for of Luna Eclipsed..... can it be so that Luna keeps her S1 Design rather than getting her current design? It is what most of all for the princess of the night.... ;-;
These edits (what there are) do seem pretty much just tune-ups so far. The main exception being the episode substitution, which works rather well.
5341055
I personally disagree whether Scootaloo should leave or not. If you want her to leave, that's your opinion.
5341061
Maybe it would, to cover all the bases. Don't know about the Flim Flam episode, but just because he doesn't participate in the contest doesn't mean he isn't family. You might've read a little too much into that line. As for the Dragon Quest episode, the girls would probably apologize for laughing. Yeah, it'd be hypocritical for Spike to take Peewee back when Celestia has Philomena.
5341093
I like her season 2 design. Her having the wavy mane makes her look more equal with Celestia.
5341115
You'll be pretty happy with Season Three next week. That has a lot of new content.
5341151
Not really looking into that line too much though.
Its just jarring that Spike wasn't included like that during the FlimFlam part there.
The fact still remains about the family bit there honestly..
The show has a nasty habit of not having Spike being included with the girls like that, especially for no reason at times(or just iffy reasons)
5341153
RATS.
But still: It's too similar anyways, her S1 Design was meant to tell her apart from Tia anyways. ;-;
5341153
Honestly how Twilight "grew" into Celestia-size in The Last Problem raised questions and such.
Like why didn't Luna "grew" into that size if a ascended Alicorn like Twilight did.
It sure raised questions about Alicorn biology there.
Wished that they say Luna can still "grow" a bit more and even into Celestia's size by the logic they went with Twilight "growing" into that size like that.
5341055
Seems like a bit of a contradiction - there was only any chance of her leaving because the show was ending.
5341157
I think it's okay that he's not included all the time. He has his own friends like Big Mac, Discord, Smolder, and Gabby.
5341158
Her color scheme is dark, and Celestia's is light. Celestia is taller, and Luna is shorter??? How much more different can you get?
5341165
Not really ok honestly.
Like he really deserves to be included with the girls there.
Especially since he was literally born on the very day the girls got their Cutie Marks and most how the girls got connected to the Elements from that even with the Sonic Rainboom.
It just hurts that he doesn't get to have the same kind of bond with the other girls like that(since apparently he isn't an Element Bearer).
Spike hanging out with Discord, Smolder and Gabby and Big Mac doesn't really fix that honestly..
5341161
I think Luna can grow to Celestia's size. Give it a few more decades with her on the throne.
5341168
I think Faust even mentions that Luna hasn't "fully grown" yet.(Yeah, I know Faust is long gone but still pretty interesting)
Don't think she's referring to Luna's S1 design turning to S2 design due that transition was the result of Luna's powers working again. Like the S1 design is just her power got messed up by the Elements.
5341166
Well, having a non-flowing mane makes her unique, Hence why for her S1 Design to make her different from Celestia with the flowing mane. ;-;
5341014
5341061
5341093
5341115
Loving the discussion, but I haven't gotten an answer if anybody would like for there to be a tenth season to round things out, or end at the ninth season? I've got a plot point that I'm interested in touching on, and want to know if you guys would be interested in it.
5341172
Oh yeah, forgot about that bit.
A 10th season might be interesting depending on how things are going and whats in that season too.
5341172
Better yet: Have things change in Season 9. Aka... not having the Sisters retire at all.
5341148
I mean, why not? The show has delved into more mature themes in the past like racism (okay, specieism but still) and the death of loved ones. They took the easy way out and made it a predictable looks-like-a-character-is-leaving-kidding-no-they're-not. The show Arthur was more adult about the subject.
5341162
"Contradiction"?
5341176
I feel like at least their parents decide to stay close to Ponyville honestly.
Like a wake-up call that they've been preferring to do their own job over watching Scootaloo there rather too much.
How the show did that episode was pretty iffy and it kind of painted a iffy image for her parents there.
5341172
Season 10 would address a lot of things the show shied away from, such as Princess Celestia manipulating Twilight, Luna's unresolved emotional trauma from her time on the moon and self-esteem issues, fallout from Discord's Grogar scheme and everyone being hurt by him, etc.
5341172
It really depends on the shape of the show by then. Perhaps better to ask closer to the time?
5341177
Either the episode can be earlier, or Scootaloo can actually leave.
5341178
And yet, like many good guy characters, their bad actions are never called out
5341180
Oh right. Well, if set earlier, then yeah, she'd have to stay but if it remained in season 9, then it would've been more powerful for Scootaloo to leave.
5341180
5341179
5341175
5341174
Sounds like the majority would be okay with adding a tenth season, but Latecomer is also right. Perhaps once we get closer to season 9's post, I'll ask again.
5341181
The execution was sure not exactly done right honestly.
5341183
Okie.
I think this is okay by me. I’m wondering if season ten will delve into some topics the show hasn’t focused on yet?
These ideas for both seasons are pretty good (except for deleting the episodes you mentioned. I kinda like those episodes). Are you going to write these out as stories? That would be awesome!
5341223
Maybe, still haven't worked that out.
5341233
No, probably not. I don't have time to write all those episodes, and at this point, the changes that would be made would be minor. But thanks for the interest in a full series of rewrites.
5341165
Did you see the points I made to counter this?
Did you know according to Jim Miller, the writers wanted to age up the Cutie Mark Crusaders since season six? Growing up is Hard to Do would've been a good replacement for the cart before the ponies. That episode should've been something in Equestria Girls.