Mariusioannesp Speculates Wildly on the Future of MLP · 6:37am Jun 29th, 2014
Come... Enter the blog of Mariusioannesp... For the answers you seek, let us consult the mystical orb of fate's destiny!
As promised, here I am once more to pierce the the shadowy veil of time to foretell what the future has in store for MLP. As you may be aware, I have a pretty good track record when it comes to these types of things so perhaps what I have to say might be worth listening to.
Many months ago as you probably already know, it was announced that there would be a Season 5 of MLP. It also became known that Hasbro has the next five years (including Season 5) of MLP already planned out. Now, this does not necessarily mean that there will be five more seasons of MLP. It could, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. Included in that number is the possibility of spin-offs, further Equestria Girls films, and perhaps a feature length film. It would be awesome if there were five more season of MLP. MLP is already Hasbro Studios’ longest running series. Ironically enough, that would give MLP a total of nine seasons, very close to the prediction in the story My Little Dashie of eight seasons. At this point, I can only speculate on what we know for sure. Season 5 could be the last season of MLP proper, and there’s nothing wrong with that. So I’m only going to talk about what we can expect to see in Season 5 and not theoretical future seasons.
MLP Season 5
Twilight’s Princess Status Will Be Emphasized More
Something that I and a number of others wanted to see for Season 4 was an episode where Twilight struggles with being treated differently now that she’s a princess. We did see a little of it in “Princess Twilight”, “Twilight Time”, “Trade Ya”, and “Twilight’s Kingdom”. None of these though devoted a whole episode to this topic. You might think it might be too late to do something like that in Season 5, but it really isn’t if you think about it. Season 4 saw Twilight continuing to live in Ponyville in the library and go about her business as she has for the past three seasons. (Thank goodness.) It could be possible that outside the filly population of Ponyville, the fact that Twilight is an alicorn princess hasn’t quite settled on them yet. But what happened in “Twilight’s Kingdom”? A magical castle pops out of the ground for Twilight. Twilight living in a castle says to the world that she is a princess. As a result, I wouldn’t be surprised seeing the residents of Ponyville start bending over backwards and making a fuss over Twilight’s status as a princess and an episode being dedicated to Twilight dealing with this.
Cutie Mark Crusaders Finally Get Their Cutie Marks
The Cutie Mark Crusaders’ modus operandi and raison d’etre since their inception in “Call of the Cutie” was to get their cutie marks, and they did that for three seasons. However, we didn’t see any of that this season. In fact, if I recall correctly, they only mention anything about getting their cutie marks at the end of “Flight to the Finish”. Instead, this season focused on the CMC growing up a bit. Apple Bloom tries staying at home alone in “Somepony to Watch Over Me”, Sweetie Belle deals with her own issues of sororal inadequacy in “For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils”, and they all deal with being popular at school in “Twilight Time”. “Twilight Time” is especially interesting. Recall that in my review of the aforementioned episode, I present it as the best evidence for those who believe that the CMC’s cutie marks will not be what we expect them to be. For the most part, it feels like they’ve accepted Applejack’s initial advice that a cutie mark will appear when they are meant to. That’s why I feel they will finally get their cutie marks in Season 5. They seem to have stopped actively pursuing them. And so now that they’ve stopped actively pursuing them, the cutie marks will finally come.
Princess Luna Visits Apple Bloom in Her Dreams
Speaking of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, this season’s “For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils” seems to have established a pattern with Season 3’s “Sleepless in Ponyville” of Luna visiting a CMCer in their dreams each season. First Scootaloo, and then Sweetie Belle. I submit that next season will feature an episode where we see Luna visit Apple Bloom in her dreams for whatever reason.
The World Beyond Equestria Will Be Explored
This past season featured a grand total of seven episodes in which in one way or another, members of the cast travel to unfamiliar locations outside of Ponyville. (With four of them within the first 12 episodes of the season.) In the process, we are introduced to new places like Rainbow Falls and got an in depth look at locations that had only been mentioned previously like Manehattan. Now, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we see even more of Equestria in the next season. However, so far the world beyond Equestria is pretty much a mystery. Though we do know there is stuff out there. Pinkie Pie’s Micro-series comic mentioned a Griffon Kingdom. Delegates from Saddle Arabia appeared in Season 3’s “Magic Duel”. We saw a Duke and Duchess of Maretonia in attendance at the Equestria Games in “Equestria Games” and then again in “Twilight’s Kingdom”. Now the fact that we saw these delegates in the tail end of Season 4 makes me think we’re going to be hearing more of Saddle Arabia and Maretonia in Season 5. Perhaps as part of her newfound role as Princess of Friendship, Twilight and her friends will travel on a diplomatic mission to either nation to broker friendship between the two nations themselves or between either of them and Equestria.
More Villains Inspired by G1 i.e. Grogar
As I have already said a number of times, Tirek’s introduction in “Twilight’s Kingdom” opens the door for the reintroduction of the villains of G1 MLP into FIM. I feel the next likely candidate is most likely Grogar from the G1 MLP episode “The Return of Tambelon”. There are a number of reasons this is likely. In a previous blog, I spoke of Grogar as effectively the archtype for the typical FIM villain. Also, he’s probably the G1 MLP villain most Bronies are familiar with after Tirek. They could even give him a background similar to Tirek by also having him escape from Tartarus when Cerberus made a break for it in “It’s About Time”. Grogar is unique in a way as a villain by having an army at his disposal made up of pig-faced goblin creatures called Troggles. 
Interestingly enough, these Troggles bear a certain resemblance to the Diamond Dog soldiers from Season 1’s “A Dog and Pony Show”. 
We haven’t seen much of the Diamond Dogs since then, except they made an appearance in the most recent Friends Forever comic featuring Rainbow Dash and Trixie. (And human versions of the Diamond Dogs are set to appear in Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks. I don’t know if that counts though.) Why are we suddenly being reminded of the Diamond Dogs? It would not surprise me if Grogar were to show up on FIM with the Diamond Dogs serving as his army. In fact, having a villain with an army could play into the aforementioned idea of the Mane 6 going on a diplomatic mission to some of the previously mentioned nations. I could see Grogar as the villain in Season 5’s premier or finale, but if they are feeling rather gutsy, I wouldn’t mind seeing him as villain recurring throughout the season.
I will hedge my bets though and add that if not Grogar, then it will probably be Catrina from G1 MLP’s “Escape From Catrina”. The only reason I see Catrina as possibly being reintroduced into FIM is that she was the second villain introduced in G1 MLP’s second special after G1’s Tirek.
The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters Will Continue to Have a Role 
The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters ended up playing a role in about four episodes this season with “Castle Mane-ia” first introducing us to the castle’s various secret trapdoors and oubliettes. The castle’s presence this season even led some to believe that Twilight would be taking it over as her own castle. This of course was not the case. Still, I see the castle continuing to play a role in the next season, especially if it ends up housing other potentially dangerous magical artifacts like it did in “Inspiration Manifestation”. Perhaps if Grogar is reintroduced next season, the castle could be revealed as having been his castle previously, making it FIM’s answer to Tambelon. If the castle ends up being refurbished as “Power Ponies” seems to indicate is what is happening, I could see Celestia and Luna returning to it though not permanently. It seems too unnecessary a change to have the princesses leave Canterlot. I could see it though as a vacation or summer home for the princesses, like their own version of Xanadu.
Scorpan: Where Is He Now?
One of the things I found odd in “Twilight’s Kingdom” was how Tirek’s backstory brought up his brother Scorpan, and beyond the amulet that becomes Twilight’s key, he doesn’t really figure much when it comes to the episode. This has led me to believe that we will be hearing much more about Scorpan in the next season whether as a flashback or perhaps it will be revealed that he is still around. I suggest that Scorpan should be voiced by Jonathan Frakes. Because he knows John De Lancie from having been on Star Trek: The Next Generation and I don’t imagine it’ll be hard for them to get him for the show, and because Scorpan looks likes a gargoyle, and it’ll be ironic. 
Discord Will Make His Triumphant Return... Again. 
Discord has made an appearance in at least one episode per season since his introduction in the Season 2 premiere. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him make yet another appearance in Season 5. Can’t really have too much Discord, especially now that he seems to be on better terms with the Mane 6 at the end of “Twilight’s Kingdom”. As I’ve said before, I do feel Discord is developing along similar lines as Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Spike also began as a villain, became a reluctant ally of Buffy, and then finally a hero in his own right. I see this in Discord’s future as well. Possibly in a season finale of some kind, Discord will play a big role saving the day and just as the Buffyverse Spike before him, he will complete his arc of redemption. You know though it would be most interesting if Discord ends up facing off sometime in the future with another evil Draconequus.
The Return of the Great and Powerful Trixie!
Speaking of Discord, there was another antagonistic character who made their return in Season 3 and underwent a bit of reform. Yes, the Great and Powerful Trixie! Unlike Discord though, since “Magic Duel”, we haven’t really seen anything of Trixie at all. She did make a rather secondary appearance in the chapter book Twilight Sparkle and The Crystal Heart Spell. More recently however, she appeared alongside Rainbow Dash in the most recent Friends Forever comic. She’s also set to appear in a future arc of the main MLP comic. Her human doppelganger appears to be playing a big role in Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks. What’s with all appearances by the Great and Powerful Trixie all of a sudden? I say they’re getting us ready for Trixie making a major reappearance in Season 5 perhaps in the season premiere as well as the finale.
Cheese Sandwich and Maud Pie Encores
Cheese Sandwich was one of the best new characters introduced this season with “Pinkie Pride” as one of the best episodes this season. At least in my opinion. Maud Pie was also an unexpectedly great new character introduced this season. Given their popularity among the fandom, it would be foolhardy for them not to make an encore appearance next season. It did though take Trixie two seasons to make a second appearance despite her popularity. It shouldn’t be too hard for Maud Pie to make a return, especially if it's alongside the introduction of Pinkie’s other sisters. Cheese Sandwich would be understandably more difficult to get back given he’s voiced by Weird Al Yankovic, but I don’t think he’d be against coming back. Interestingly enough, Weird Al is releasing a new album this July. Perhaps he appeared on MLP at just the right time to get a little extra publicity.
Flash Sentry Will Make More Cameos
It was quite a surprise, especially for an Equestria Girls fan like myself, to see Flash Sentry make two appearances this past season. His human doppelganger is also set to appear in Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks. I see Flash Sentry making further cameo appearances in Season 5. I don’t though ever see him being properly incorporated into the canon of MLP proper unless the writers are feeling exceptionally gutsy. It would be great if they did though.
Rest of Mane 6 Will Become Alicorns Because M.A. Larson... No
Ever since the Season 3 finale, there’s been a trollish rumor that the rest of the Mane 6 will be becoming alicorn princesses sometime in the future. However, such a development would make absolutely no narrative sense whatsoever. It would completely upturn the fulfilled and seemingly soon to be fulfilled destinies of the rest of the Mane 6. The powers that be at Hasbro and M.A. Larson I sense are smart enough to know not to make the same mistake twice, not that Twilight’s alicorn ascension was necessarily a mistake. The point is that given everything we’ve seen up to this point having the rest of the Mane 6 become alicorns would just obliterate everything we have come to know. There would really be no need for it. It just ain't gonna happen.
Spin-offs
And now for some possible spin-offs I foretell in MLP’s future.
Equestria Girls: The Series aka Equestria Academy
This one is a no brainer. There are already certain rumors coming out of France through Russia… or out of Russia through France, I don’t recall exactly. Either way, there’s a strong possibility a series based on Equestria Girls is already in the works. Even without the rumors, it seems almost patently obvious given the push they’ve given to the Rainbow Rocks sequel and all its related minisodes. Still, an Equestria Girls series could go either way. The Hub already has a slice of life high school-type show in The Littlest Pet Shop, though there are a number of Bronies who are also Littlest Pet Shop fans. I’d like to point out that one of the things I enjoyed most about Equestria Girls was a certain similarity it had to one of my favorite shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If they take that route and make it more of a slice of life/supernatural adventure type show with cues from Magical Girl anime with the human Mane 6 becoming anthro ponies to fight magical threats to their high school, then it might be something I’d like to watch. That could make it a bit similar to The Hub’s other show Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch. I don’t know how good that would be because I’ve never seen this Sabrina show.
Cutie Mark Crusaders: All Growed Up
I feel there is great potential for a whole series about the Cutie Mark Crusaders once they’ve gotten their cutie marks and grown up. They on their own have had some really good episodes this season and in the past three seasons. A whole series just about them would be great. Originally, I imagined a series about a grown-up CMC following them in their high school years. That’s not something necessarily foreign to MLP. An arc of the MLP comics called Neigh Anything that focused on how Shining Armor and Cadance met had a high school-style setting and drew inspiration from 80s high school movies. There are a number of really good fanfictions following the CMC in their high school years like The Watcher in the Halls by Knightcommander and Sweet Apple Anthology by Bad_Seed_72. However, with a spin-off of Equestria Girls possibly already in the works, a series about the CMC in a pony high school would seem redundant. I guess I would then rather see them as adults plying whatever crafts they end up plying and possibly mentoring younger ponies on how to get their cutie marks. Keeping the whole cutie mark crusader thing going.
Just to be clear, I don’t seriously believe such a spin-off should be called “All Growed Up”. That is merely an allusion to the spin-off of Nickelodeon’s Rugrats that featured the eponymous Rugrats as teenagers, which in all honesty was not that bad.
Daring Do: The Series
A lot of people didn’t get “Daring Don’t”. Perhaps it would make more sense if it turned out to be the first part of a jumping off point to a whole spin-off series about Daring Do. The show and other sources have hinted that Daring Do has quite a large canon.(In “Read It and Weep”, there appear to be roughly seven books so far with “Daring Don’t” and the chapter book Rainbow Dash and The Daring Do Double Dare adding at least two others.) “Daring Don’t” then singlehandedly added a whole new world of adventure to the canon of MLP just waiting to be explored. In fact this fall, chapter book author G.M Berrow will be releasing three chapter books as full on Daring Do books, complete with the A.K. Yearling pen name. So clearly, the powers that be at Hasbro and The Hub are aware they have a lot of material to potentially mine when it comes to Daring Do. A series would be the next logical step.
My Little Power Ponies
“Power Ponies” was another episode this season that added a fair bit to the world of MLP. Plus, it was recently revealed the MLP comic annual will be about the actual Power Ponies. So it appears already clear that they are fully aware at the opportunity they have at their disposal. I don’t see them trying to make the Power Ponies real in the world of MLP though. That seems rather unfeasible. But the MLP comics and Equestria Girls for that matter has introduced the idea of alternate worlds to MLP canon (or deutero-canon if you insist). The Power Ponies could be their world’s answer to the Elements of Harmony. Even if a series based on the Power Ponies would be a shameless attempt to capitalize on the current popularity of the comic book superhero genre, it is one I would totally not mind seeing. They would be an all female superhero team I reckon. We totally need more female superheroes, even if they are ponies.
I don’t know if it needs to be said, but I shall say it anyway. It may seem odd that a slice of life/adventure show like MLP would give way to spin-offs that are more decidedly genre-driven, in this case the adventure and superhero genres, like these past two suggestions. But it’s not like it hasn’t happened before. Duck Tales was also a slice of life/adventure type show that gave way to the spin-off Darkwing Duck, which was more or less a send up of the pulp adventure and comic book genres.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: The Movie
This is certainly something a lot of Bronies are certainly jonesing for. The reason I always figured behind why they even release the Equestria Girls films in theaters as limited as it may be is to test the waters for an MLP feature film. Given how well the first Equestria Girls did, I reckon they should be really considering it. Plus, animated films have been doing really well as of late. I could see an MLP feature film either coming after the end of MLP:FIM within the next year or next couple, or between seasons with a season finale possibly setting up the film. They did something similar with The Transformers: The Movie back in the 80s. As much as I love the show's animation, I think something more would be needed for the film. I say that they should combine the show’s flash animation with 3D computer animation sort of in the same vein as Disney’s short film “Paperman”. In fact, they’ve already done a little of that in “Spike At Your Service”. The purpose of this is so that the film could be in 3D and look good doing it. I want to see a Sonic Rainboom in 3D! Anyway, they should pull out all the stops for an MLP film. They should have all the characters make appearances in it, and Derpy should speak! It should just be epic overall. Most importantly though, they should bring back Lauren Faust to do the film. Many of you many have already heard that Lauren Faust is currently working with Sony on an animated film about Medusa. How well that ends up doing might factor in whether or not Lauren Faust is brought onto an MLP film if it indeed happens. Plus, if an MLP film does well enough, it leaves open the possibility of sequels. So, even if the FIM series is over by the time that happens, there could be MLP movies for years into the future.
And now, for my final and boldest prediction…
MLP Generation 5... Friendship is Magic: The Next Generation
I predict that sometime in the next ten to fifteen years, Hasbro will once more reboot the My Little Pony franchise. However, this time, we will be in charge. It’s a no brainer that there are many in the Brony community who are incredibly talented when it comes to art, animation, and writing. I have no doubt that many among us can parlay these talents into careers in the animated entertainment industry. I am certain that once our Brony brethren are ensconced in said industry and word gets out through whatever channels it does that Hasbro is making a new MLP, they will flock together to work on this new generation of MLP and recreate the magic that was Friendship is Magic. Perhaps, if possible, it could actually be a direct continuation of MLP featuring the children or other assorted descendants of the original Mane 6. I do hope though that it could be rated Y7. You can do a surprising amount with Y7 rating. In the end, the Brony community will finally be in charge. The inmates shall run the asylum. It will inspire a new generation of Bronies who won’t be afraid to be men and love a supposedly girly children’s cartoon. We Bronies will last forever!
Whether these predictions are at all accurate or just the deranged and perverse fantasies of a clearly addled fanboy remains to be seen. What do you all think of my predictions of MLP future? What to you foretell in MLP’s future? Tune in next time where I go over some suggestions for some G1 MLP villains that they could reintroduce on FIM.
God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.
OMG! the ponies from Saddle Arabia don't have Cutie
Marks!
hang on, blueblood's cutie mark is different from the one he had in season 1's finale. what?
2242488
2242491
You just noticed that.
2242805 well, yeah. Back during those moments they appeared on screen during the games, I was more focused on spike, so I just looked them over. It wasn't until I looked closely at the pic here that I noticed.
Some very interesting speculations indeed.
It appears that you and I share similar hopes for the future of MLP.
I'm really looking forward to this if this is what ends up happening in Season 5 (I have a feeling that it will).
I've really enjoyed the growth of the CMC throughout Season 4 and, like you, I'm hoping that we finally see them earn their cutie marks this next season. I think Sweetie Belle will be the first to get hers with Scootaloo coming in second and Apple Bloom coming in third and last. I don't know why, I just feel that's how it's going to play out.
I'm hoping this happens. It would form a nice, loose Luna/CMC trilogy within Seasons 3-5.
All of the yes! Season 4 took many great feats in world building. Lets hope Season 5 continues and expands upon this trend.
Tirek definitely opened the door for the introduction of more G1 characters and aspects into G4. It's certainly given the next few years of MLP a lot of interesting potential.
Definitely interested in seeing how that particular arc continues.
I'd love to see Scorpan make an official appearance on the show!
Can never have enough Discord! I'm certainly excited in seeing how his friendship with the Mane 6 plays out from here on out.
Definitely support this. It'd be interesting to see Twilight and Trixie interact on more positive terms (potentially).
All of the yes! Imagine if these two shared an episode together! I think the fandom would explode from sheer awesomeness of seeing these two bounce off each other!
I wouldn't mind this. It would actually be kind of funny to see all of the overly-negative fans freak out over this.
Like you, I'm confident this will never come to pass because it would just break everypony else's characters and development. The writers and powers that be would have to be trying to piss off everybody if they decided to go down this route (which I pray never comes to pass).
So far, only info about its French release has been revealed. No talk about its American release yet. I'm certainly interested in seeing how this plays out.
I don't think this would make for a whole series but I could see it as a 30-90 minute special or something.
This could make for an interesting series but, like with the CMC thing, I can only see this coming to pass as a 30-90 minute special rather than a full series.
Same as the previous two. 30-90 minute special rather than a full series.
It'll happen eventually. Let's just hope it doesn't become MLP's equivalent of Half Life 3.
A next generation show would be very interesting. I've really gotten interested in the idea of a next MLP generations thanks to the OCs created by kilala97.
2245054
I haven't really thought about the order of it happening. I could see Apple Bloom being last because she's been the most adamant about getting her cutie mark.
Quite possible.
I hadn't even thought of that!
That would be so awesome! Like Cheese Sandwich could come back to plan a huge party for Pinkie Pie and Maud Pie and her sisters would be there too! 