Sorting Equestria Girls into a single timeline · 2:32am Apr 26th, 2020
At some point my brain decided it had too much free time and it needed a project. So I’ve gone through and made a timeline for all the Equestria Girls animations (partly because I’ve been rethinking the outline of my stories and realized I can’t mesh my timeline with the series timeline as the series didn’t have one that made sense!).
The EqG series was released in such a haphazard way. Clearly the animations weren’t in order, they even seem to jump seasons at random. I suppose it’s not unique to EqG, after all even some MLP episodes were ordered quirky such as placing a winter episode (“Winter Wrap Up”) right before a fall episode (“Fall Weather Friends”), and the EqG digital animations were released in different orders on different platforms (Youtube, Discovery Family, etc.) so there’s no clear timeline of events.
Every list I found when looking online just grouped each type of animation together (movies, hour-long specials, Choose Your Own Endings, etc.) without trying to order the whole series into a single timeline.
So I made my own. Two of them actually.
Where possible I used the order of first release across all platforms but most of them had to be manually adjusted to make better sense.
I’m sure there’s 100 different ways to order these and if anyone has suggestions, or think I made any errors, please let me know.
Easier to read images are at the bottom of the post.
@@ Fall & Spring @@ Between MLP seasons 3 and 6 @@
Equestria Girls (Through The Mirror)
Make up Shake up
A Photo Booth Story
Raise this Roof
EG: RR: Music to My Ears
EG: RR: Guitar Centered
EG: RR: Hamstocalypse Now
EG: RR: Pinkie on the One
EG: RR: Player Piano
EG: RR: A Case for the Bass
Equestria Girls 2: Rainbow Rocks
EG: RR: Friendship Through the Ages
EG: RR: My Past is not Today
EG: FG - The Science of Magic
EG: FG - Pinkie Spy
EG: FG - All's fair in Love & Friendship Games
EG: FG - Photo Finished
EG: FG - A Banner Day
Equestria Girls 3: Friendship Games
The first 3 movies all have ties to events in MLP so they are easy: EqG1 (and its 2017 shorts) are between seasons 3 and 4, Rainbow Rocks (and its 2014-2015 shorts) are between seasons 4 and 5, and Friendship Games takes place during the finale to season 5 while its 2015 shorts lead up to that moment. (The winter following EqG1 was skipped). It's everything that came out after FG that is hard to place.
**SPECIAL NOTE 1:**
The Rainbow Rocks shorts “Perfect Day for Fun” and “Shake Your Tail” can’t be canon as that’s clearly the wrong Twilight (Princess Twilight left during the first movie and didn’t return until the 2nd) and where’s Sunset? So they are not included on this list. The novelization even states that these are just in Princess Twilight's imagination.
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@@ Late Spring @@ During or after MLP season 6-B @@
Equestria Girls 4 - Legend of Everfree
Half hour special - Dance Magic
Half hour special - Movie Magic
Overpowered
Queen of Clubs
The Finals Countdown
"Legend of Everfree" is either Canterlot High's Spring break or a special field trip just before that vacation.
The HuMane 7 then return home after LoE (either still on vacation or the weekend after the trip) and they keep trying to raise funds to help the camp ("Dance Magic"). If LoE was CHS's Spring break then Crystal Prep has their own Spring break later (maybe they have a longer school year than CHS) which is why they are trying to build funds for a yacht trip for it. Once they win the competition together, the HuMane 7 decide to accompany the Shadowbolts on their yacht trip (but this is NOT the same yacht as in Spring Breakdown).
In both "Dance Magic" and "Movie Magic," only Rainbow Dash and Twilight are wearing their new geodes until the rest decide it's a good idea to wear theirs for now on as well. Once they are all wearing them more often, they quickly find out that overuse of the geodes increases their power, making them hard to control ("Overpowered").
In "Queen of Clubs," RD and AJ compete to get as many club photos as possible in the yearbook. This means it's near the end of a school year (Spring). This yearbook is *BLUE.* Keep that in mind.
At this point, with 4 theater length movies, 2 half hour specials, and various shorts, it's HAD to have been about a full school year since the first Equestria Girls movie, especially since all but the first movie take place in the same Spring, months after the first movie which was in the Fall ("The Finals countdown").
@@ Summer @@ During or after MLP season 7-A @@
Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks: Life is a Runway
My Little Shop of Horrors
Mad Twience
Pet Project
Coinky-Dink World
Outtakes
Pinkie Pie - Snack Psychic
Five to Nine
So Much More
Get the Show on the Road
The Other Side
For the 2017 "Summertime Shorts," all the non-music videos were produced by a different animation company (Boulder Media) and none of them include the geodes from LoE. This is likely nothing to do with the timeline and simply the guest company not realizing they were supposed to include them, especially since some of their animations were based on magazine comics released before LoE. Everything produced by DHX includes the geodes in some form. Therefore, I am ignoring the presence or absence of the geodes in this list and saying they all take place after Movie Magic except for the 3 ("Make up Shake up," "A Photo Booth Story," and "Raise this Roof") that take place during the 1st EgQ movie.
I place "Life is a Runway" here as it doesn't really mesh with the other shorts released for Rainbow Rocks. There's nothing that would make it matter when it takes place anyway (except it has to take place after the first EqG movie). It just feels better along with other shorts NOT connected to any specific movie.
"My Little Shop of Horrors" I place here as while I suppose it's possible for a principal to take vacations during a school year, it's more likely this is a summer animation and Twilight just offered to help out while Celestia is out of town. It's Twilight. Sucking up to teacher is just natural.
Most of the EqG shorts that clearly occur during summer have no real effect on the timeline so they just get placed as close to release order as possible. However, it makes more sense to have the shorts featuring the girls in their summer jobs here as they continue to make money, either for Came Everfree or themselves as I bet at least some of them contributed their own funds for the camp. They may have also pooled some money to buy the bus in "Get the Show on the Road" as well as parts and tools to fix it up.
Since this timeline includes 2 summers, I split the summer animations between them. Again, most of these summer animations could go in either summer and in just about any order.
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@@ 2nd Fall @@ During or after MLP season 7-B @@
1 year since the first EqG movie.
Monday Blues
Leaping off the Page
Half hour - Mirror Magic
Canterlot Movie Club
Steps of Pep
Subs Rock
The Art of Friendship
Epic Fails
A Fine Line
School of Rock
Pinkie Sitting
Star Crossed
A Little Birdie Told Me
Display of Affection
Super Squad Goals
My Little Pony: The Movie (2017)
CYOE - Text Support
CYOE - Driving Miss Shimmer
CYOE - Best Trends Forever!
CYOA - Fluttershy's Butterflies
CYOE - Stressed in Show
CYOE - Rarity Investigates: The Case of the Bedazzled Boots
CYOA - All the World's Off Stage
CYOA - Constructive Criticism
CYOA - Opening Night
CYOA - Happily Ever After Party
Street Chic with Rarity
Monday Blues seems a good place to start the fall school semester. All the girls (except Twilight of course) need to transition from summer break freedom to school life and this music video fits that feel nicely.
"Movie Magic" takes place in the Fall as students are already around the school and it takes time to make a movie, even if the movie was close to completion when the HuMane 7 filmed their scenes. It's likely very early fall as big budget adventure movie releases tend to congregate around summer but it had production delays. Also, "Leaping off the Page" has the girls picking up Rainbow Dash to go see "a movie." Maybe it was for the Daring Do premier as they all have the same outfits in these 2 animations.
Canterlot Movie Club comes next as the CMC have seen the Daring Do movie 5 times and it's still in the theater.
“Steps of Pep” can go anywhere after Friendship Games.
All the remaining 2017 shorts fit here.
^^^^^^^^^^^^ MLP 2017 movie ^^^^^^^^^^^^
It's not necessary, but I use the movie to separate the Choose Your Own Ending/Adventure animations from the standard shorts.
With the exception of "Fluttershy's Butterflies," which was released 5 months before the rest of the CYOE animations dealing with the school play, they work well in release order.
Finally, I moved "Street Chic with Rarity" here to show that the season is turning from Fall to Winter. This is the only time we see snow in the EqG world outside of the "Holidays Unwrapped" special.
@@ 2nd Winter @@ During MLP season 8, episode 1 @@
Again, the Winter was skipped (with the exception of the gag in "Street Chic") so I figure the whole winter simply took place during the planning, construction, and etc. of the school of friendship in Equestria. Even with pony magic that had to take a little while and it seems EqG Canterlot has short winters. (Then again, I live in Vermont so most places have short winters by comparison.)
@@ 2nd Spring @@ During or after MLP season 8-A @@
Reboxing With Spike
DIY With Applejack
The Craft of Cookies with Pinkie Pie
Street Magic with Trixie
Sic Skateboard with Rainbow Dash and Tank
Game Stream with Sunset Shimmer
Best in Show Pre-Show with AJ&FS
Best in Show The Victory Lap w FS&AJ
Twilight Under the Stars
I'm on a Yacht (Music video)
Spring Breakdown
In addition to "Street Chic," there are 6 more shorts with matching title screens so I put them next. I consider these to be either the weekends of the Spring school semester, or before the semester starts. Same goes for the "Best in Show" and "Twilight Under the Stars" shorts.
The tire fire that is "I'm on a Yacht" takes place just before "Spring Breakdown" since it can’t take place after. As for "Spring Breakdown" itself, the way I figure it, The Rainbooms enjoyed the Yacht cruise with the Shadowbolts so much that Twilight organized a similar Spring break cruise for CHS the following year. This is clearly not the same Yacht cruise as was mentioned in "Dance Magic" as there are no CPA students.
**SPECIAL NOTE 2:**
Is it me or does it seem that Twilight and Timber are no longer dating at this point (“Twilight Under the Stars”) and are just friends now? Maybe that’s why we get that cute hand-holding scene in Spring Breakdown at lunch (21 minutes in). Or am I just wearing shipping goggles?
@@ 2nd Summer @@ During or after MLP season 8-B @@
Forgotten Friendship - Parts 1 & 2
At the Beach - Aww… Baby Turtles
At the Beach - Too Hot to Handle
At the Beach - The Salty Sails
At the Beach - Blue Crushed
At the Beach - Friendship Math
At the Beach - Turf War
Forgotten Friendship - Parts 3, 4 & 5
Last Day of School
At the Beach - Unsolved Selfie Mysteries
At the Beach - X Marks the Spot
At the Beach - Lost and Found
Five Stars
Road Trippin'
Good Vibes
Shake Things Up
Rollercoaster of Friendship
And now what's likely to be the most controversial decisions.
I'm placing "Forgotten Friendship" here despite the writer saying that it takes place before the MLP movie as I don't see how it can fit there. First of all, they go to the beach and in one of the shorts AJ mentions it's summer. They also assemble a new yearbook (PURPLE) so this is clearly the last few school days before summer vacation. Also, note that the new yearbook they make at the end of this special is PURPLE, while the yearbook seen in "Queen of Clubs" is BLUE, and the yearbook showing Sunset to be the "Biggest meanie" is RED. This means it's been a full year since "Queen of Clubs" and nearly 2 since the first EqG movie.
The only way to get FF to take place before the MLP movie would be to place it in between LoE (Spring) and "Mirror Magic" (Fall) and that can't happen because Sunset's first trip back to Equestria since the first EqG movie was in "Mirror Magic."
Anyway, I've also split the special as it was released on Youtube (the Youtube version includes some deleted scenes that the 44 minute version doesn't have). Part 1 of the special takes place on Friday (school) and Saturday (beach and Equestria). Part 2 takes place on Saturday (Equestria and the beach) and Monday (school). The remaining parts all take place on Monday at school.
My thinking is that most of the beach shorts that DON'T include Sunset take place on Saturday and Sunday while the rest of the Rainbooms have forgotten their friendship with Sunset (makes the shorts a bit depressing but it fits). After part 5, when they get their memories back, they return to the beach during summer break (after "The Last Day of School") so they can make up for lost time with their friend.
So the full order is, on Saturday: "Aww… Baby Turtles," "Too Hot to handle" (moved up from release order as it features the crabs from the Turtles short), "The Salty Sails," "Blue Crushed," and "Friendship Math" (because Pinkie can only be SciTwi's best friend if Twi's forgotten about Sunset). "Turf War" is likely Sunday as AJ mentions she's the substitute lifeguard for "the day" so it couldn't be the same day as the other shorts she is in. Next are the remaining 3 parts of "Forgotten Friendship" on Monday.
After that we have "The Last Day of School" to end the semester so the girls can go back to the beach WITH SUNSET. This gives us "Unsolved Selfie Mysteries" and "X Marks the Spot." And to explain why Rarity, AJ, and RD were missing from those we see them spending them “all day” digging for Rarity's earring in "Lost and Found."
**SPECIAL NOTE 3:**
If the RED yearbook was their freshman year, and the BLUE one is sophomore year, then they are finishing their junior year in "Forgotten Friendship." This makes them seniors in the following fall and winter animations. So, if EqG hadn't been canceled with MLP, the next season likely would have included their high school graduation.
**SPECIAL NOTE 4:**
So, if they were Sophomores and it was, let's say, October 1st when the first movie ended, and the mirror was designed to open every 30 moons (840 days assuming real world moon cycles), the next time the mirror would open on its own would be January 19th during the girls' Senior year while still in high school.
After the beach specials, it's still Summer so there's "Five Stars," "Road Trippin'," and Good Vibes." The first 2 could easily be placed during the previous summer, but "Good Vibes" can only be after "Forgotten Friendship" as we see Trixie pulling off REAL magic which she only first managed in that special. This explains why Flash considers her magic "bad" *earlier* in "Spring Breakdown."
Finally, "Rollercoaster of Friendship" is also specifically stated to take place during the summer so it has to go either here or during the previous summer, but it has to be after "Mirror Magic" as that's the first time the girls get "trapped" in a magical artifact. Also, the director mentioned it takes place after the 2017 MLP movie. I already ignored the crew's word once so… I also put "Shake Things Up" right before RoF so we see AJ at the job she quit right before RoF.
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@@ 3rd Fall @@ During or after MLP season 9-A @@
2 years since the first movie
Schedule Swap
FOMO
Run to Break Free (Music video)
CYOE - Sock It to Me
CYOE - Tip Toppings
Festival Looks
Camping Must-Haves
Festival Filters
Find the Magic (Music Video)
Sunset's Backstage Pass
How to Backstage
Five Lines You Need to Stand In
CYOE - The Last Drop
CYOE - Inclement Leather
CYOE - Lost and Pound
CYOE - Accountibilibuddies
CYOE - Wake Up!
CYOE - The Road Less Scheduled
Let It Rain
Cheer You On
"Schedule Swap" starts a new school semester. It could instead be used for the previous Spring, or Fall semesters, but it was released in 2019 so it feels better to place it late in the timeline.
This is where I placed "Sunset's Backstage Pass" as it's mentioned that they had school the day before the festival and there's nothing saying it can't be in the fall. To show that they've had school, I start this section with all the remaining shorts that take place at school but not during Winter or late Fall. I also placed "Cheer You On" at the end as it seemed fitting being the last of the 2019 shorts and it's all about Flash Sentry watching the Rainbooms having all their adventures while he can only watch from afar.
As for the order of the Festival animations, I started with "Festival Looks" and "Camping Must Haves" (in either order) since the girls are still at home before their trip. "Festival Filters" takes place right when they first arrive, which is the first scene of the hour long special. Next is "Find the Magic" featuring the Dazzlings to build up their appearance in the special. It works just as well after the special though.
Speaking of the special, it all takes place on "Day 1" of the festival. Sunset mentions that she has a VIP pass (seen in "How to Backstage") but it's only good for Day 2, so that short is next. Then it's "Five Lines to Stand in" as Pinkie still hasn't gotten that out of her system. We know that "Wake Up!" isn't Day 2 as we see Sunset waking up just fine on Day 2 during the special, so it has to be Day 3 by then (no one mentions how long the festival lasts). Also, by the time Sunset has had 3 weeks of Day 1 and finally gets to Day 2 and fangirl all over the place with her VIP pass, she's likely dead tired. I finish the festival with "Let it Rain" simply as it feels like the best ending.
All the other festival shorts can go in most any order so I left them as they were released.
@@ 3rd Winter @@ During or after MLP season 9-B @@
Holidays Unwrapped - The Cider Louse Fools
CYOE - Costume Conundrum
Holidays Unwrapped - Blizzard or Bust
Holidays Unwrapped - O Come, All Ye Squashful
Holidays Unwrapped - Winter Break-In
Holidays Unwrapped - Saving Pinkie's Pie
Holidays Unwrapped - Dashing Through the Mall
The 6 "Holidays Unwrapped" shorts go here. Starting with "The Cider Louse Fools" as real world cider season usually begins in September or early October.
Next is "Costume Conundrum" as that is at the end of October. "Blizzard or Bust" is next because there's no snow yet. Then "O Come, All Ye Squashful" since it's the only story left during school. "Winter Break-In" establishes it's during Winter break so it fits better before, "Saving Pinkie's Pie". And finally "Dashing Through the Mall" is a warm, fuzzy holiday special and fits well as the end of the series.
@@ Epilogue @ During the MLP clip show specials @@
As for "Do it for the Ponygram," this animation is just a collection of recorded events, including bloopers from previous animations. This works great when paired with the MLP clip shows being released.
Okay, that’s one timeline. I also made another that ends with Forgotten Friendship instead of Holidays Unwrapped. This makes it so that the girls are finishing up their junior year at the end of the timeline instead of also completing half their senior year.
It’s mostly the same, but with some blocks repositioned to make the whole thing just under 2 years rather than a little over 3 years, ending with the 2nd summer instead of the 3rd Winter.
I haven’t spent as much time with this one, so there’s more likely to be errors.
@@ 1st Fall & Spring @@ Between MLP seasons 3 and 6 @@
No changes from the other timeline. (The first 3 movies and their specials.)
@@ Late Spring @@ During or after MLP season 6-B @@
No changes from the other timeline. (LoE, Dance and Movie Magic, Overpowered, Queen of Clubs, and The Finals Countdown.)
@@ 1st Summer @@ During or after MLP season 7-A @@
All summer animations except Forgotten Friendship, the beach shorts, Good Vibes, and Rollercoaster of Friendship which go at the end instead.
@@ 2nd Fall @@ During or after MLP season 7-B @@
Mostly the same as before, just a few small changes.
@@ Winter @@ During or after MLP season 8-A @@
Street Chic, Costume Conundrum and all 6 Holidays Unwrapped specials.
@@ 2nd Spring @@ During or after MLP season 8-B @@
Again, just a few changes.
@@ More Spring @@ During or after MLP season 9-A @@
All the remaining Spring animations. (I broke this Spring into 2 sections since it was getting long and also to have some EqG after every half MLP season.)
@@ Summer @@ During or after MLP season 9-B @@
Forgotten Friendship to end the girls’ junior year then the beach, Rollercoaster of Friendship, and Good Vibes.
@@ Epilogue @ During the MLP clip show specials @@
And finally, Do it for the Ponygram as before.
So, thoughts?
Was this a good idea? Did I goof anywhere? Which timeline looks the best?
Does anyone have their own that they want to share?
And here they are in image form.
Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you had time on your hands.
I'm a bit OCD and a lack of a timeline really bugs me.
I haven't watched most of EQG after the 3rd movie, mainly because it seemed to much of a pain to follow. I might use your list to organize a viewing. Thanks!
5250371
You can find links to many of the animations (though ordered by type rather than chronology) on This Equestria Daily post.
I disagree with all points made here
That's a lot of work, now I want to watch all EqG again to alter my timeline thanks.
PS. First timeline seems better for my taste.
5250414
What did I do wrong?
The fact that EQG needs this level of effort to detangle it's insane timeline...
I mean, I love it too, but fer cryin out loud!!!
Wait, really? It's been a while since I watched those. Who was she holding hands with, and do you have a pic?
5250451
It's better fully animated, but here's a quick gif.
i.postimg.cc/09Gtcywj/Cute-hand-holding-scene-in-Spring-Breakdown.gif?dl=1
Twilight: I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world. In any world.
Sunset: Aww. Same here.
And then there's the RareJack moment in the background.
5250453
Hmmm. That’s pretty good, but I’d still think they are just friends. Now, if Sunset grabbed her hand, and not just her wrist/forearm, I would agree.