Updating Friendship - Part 4 · 12:01am Sep 6th, 2020
Loving the feedback on the extended season three! Let's keep going!
Onto season four!
Ep. 1 “Princess Twilight Sparkle, Part 1” – Same as canon. Following Twilight’s coronation and the Sunset incident, Twilight still has doubts about being a princess. She is forced to act as princess when Celestia and Luna mysteriously disappear. Zecora provides a potion that helps her look into the past for answers, and witnesses the original rise of Nightmare Moon.
Ep. 2 “Princess Twilight Sparkle, Part 2” – Same as canon, but make Nightmare Moon more of a threat to explain why Celestia banished her to the moon. The Elements of Harmony are returned to the Tree of Harmony, and provides the Mane Six with the chest that needs six keys to open. Discord is revealed to have planted the plunder vines long ago when he was still evil and forgot about them while trapped in stone. To make up for the trouble he caused, he undoes all the damage.
Ep. 3 “Castle Mane-ia” – Same as canon to establish the Journal of the Two Sisters.
Ep. 4 “Daring Don’t” – Same as canon to progress the Daring Do plot and reveal that her adventures are real to the mane cast. Twilight’s mother is mentioned to be Daring Do’s publisher.
Ep. 5 “Flight to the Finish” – Same as canon to establish the possibility that Scootaloo has a flying disability and her insecurity about it. This episode also progresses the Equestria Games subplot.
Ep. 6 “Power Ponies” – Same as canon to expand on Spike’s love for comics and the possibility of enchanted storybooks.
Ep. 7 “Bats” – Same as canon for filler, and possibly open the potential for Flutterbat return.
Ep. 8 “Rarity Takes Manehattan” – Same as canon to establish Suri as a rival for Rarity and introduce Coco as a recurring character. This episode progresses the Tree of Harmony keys subplot.
Ep. 9 “Pinkie Apple Pie” – Same as canon to open the subplot of the Apple family and Pie family possibly being related.
Ep. 10 “Rainbow Falls” – Basic idea is the same, but change it so the Wonderbolts aren’t jerks by trying to replace Soarin with Rainbow. This episode progresses the Equestria Games subplot and the Tree of Harmony keys subplot.
Ep. 11 “Two’s a Pair” – Same as canon, except leave Discord out of it so Twilight and Cadence can have quality sister-in-law bonding time. The conflict can instead come from Twilight and Cadence struggling to reconnect after their lives have changed so much in the years since they've been able to visit together.
Ep. 12 “Pinkie Pride” – Same as canon to establish Cheese Sandwich as a rival/love interest for Pinkie. This episode progresses the Tree of Harmony keys subplot.
Ep. 13 “Simple Ways” – Same as canon for filler.
Ep. 14 “Filli Vanilli” – Same as canon for filler.
Ep. 15 “Twilight Time” – Same as canon, but make the focus on Sweetie Belle learning to control her magic as Apple Bloom already has Zecora as a mentor and Scootaloo already idolizes Rainbow Dash. This episode would symbolize Sweetie Belle’s growth with her being able to do more with her magic.
Ep. 16 “It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies” – Same as canon to progress the Tree of Harmony keys subplot.
Ep. 17 “Somepony to Watch Over Me” – Same as canon to expand on Applejack and Apple Bloom’s sisterhood and expand on Apple Bloom’s rise in maturity.
Ep. 18 “Maud Pie” – Same as canon to establish Maud as a recurring character.
Ep. 19 “For Whom the Sweetie Belle Tolls” – Same as canon to expand on Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s sisterhood and progress the Princess Luna mentoring trilogy.
Ep. 20 “Leap of Faith” – Same as canon to progress Applejack’s rivalry with the Flim Flam brothers and progress the Tree of Harmony keys subplot.
Ep. 21 “Testing, Testing 1, 2, 3” – Same as canon to expand on Rainbow’s unique learning style and progress her subplot of becoming a Wonderbolt.
Ep. 22 “Trade Ya” – Same as canon for filler.
Ep. 23 “Inspiration Manifestation” – Same as canon for filler.
Ep. 24 “Equestria Games” – Same as canon to expand on Spike’s self-worth after saving the Crystal Empire, and finish the Equestria Games subplot. Minor edits include less secondhand embarrassment for Spike.
Ep. 25 “Twilight’s Kingdom, Part 1” – Same as canon. Though while Tirek goes on his magic-collecting rampage, we get a brief scene of Cozy Glow and Tirek meeting eyes, the young filly either shocked or in awe of Tirek’s power, foreshadowing her later apprenticeship with him.
Ep. 26 “Twilight’s Kingdom, Part 2” – Same as canon. The library is destroyed seconds after Twilight rescues Owlowiscious, and Discord shows remorse for letting Tirek manipulate him into backsliding to old habits. Twilight gets her crystal castle in Ponyville, and Tirek is locked back away in Tartarus.
Movie 2 “Equestria Girls- Rainbow Rocks” – Same as canon to progress Sunset’s redemption arc and progress the plot of Equestrian magic leaking into the human world. Once again, Spike is human instead of a dog, and include more interactions between Twilight and the human Flash. Edit: Also have the Sirens' backstory line up with the one presented in Shadow Play. After the Sirens are defeated, make sure Twilight and co. offer them a chance at redemption. Whether the Sirens take it or leave it is up to them.
Not much to say about this one. It was one of canon's more solid seasons with the overarching subplot of retrieving the keys that will open the Tree of Harmony's chest. Discord's presence in what could have been a great Twilight-Cadence bonding episode was annoying, and I'm not entirely sure who would serve as a good mentor figure for Sweetie Belle like Apple Bloom has Zecora and Scootaloo has Dash, so Twilight would have to work for the Twilight Time episode.
Let me know in the comments what you think of this season's changes.
These changes looked pretty fine.
Such as more stuff in the flashback with Nightmare Moon since in the original, many things felt like they were missing there.
About the premier and finale in general in the show, I feel like its where things really started to go downhill for the Royal Sisters in the show(specifically during crisis stuff). The Plundervine incident being a really embarrassing thing on a important day along with Discord "unintentionally" getting payback on the sisters for their victory over him 1000 years of years ago, canceling out said achievement due to that.
Wished that there was consequences for Celestia's iffy plan in Twilight's Kingdom honestly. Like it was really flawed plan with the princesses dumping their magic on Twilight. With risking their magic getting taken in one fell swoop if Tirek finds her and he would most likely find out so much sooner than Celestia had hope due to 3 things. He was out sometime before Twilight became princess, so he might know she became an Alicorn from whats going on. There's literally a stained glass window of Alicorn Twilight there. And Discord would have told him. Once Tirek finds out, he will quickly think she has the magic due to only another being like an alicorn can handle all of that power in their body like that(a regular pegasi/unicorn/earth pony would most likely die if the princesses transfer their magic into them). Hated that Luna would have agreed to such a flawed plan there, which resulted in a huge embarrassment for the sisters. It just bugs me on how the writers had that be brushed aside, really felt like it could have been an issue for the repercussions of that flaw plan after the incident.
I am curious on if the tree made something for the girls can use since the Elements can't be used, why didn't it do the same for the sisters? Like at least giving them a chance to restore their connection to the Elements or something. Sadly the show had shown since Luna and Celestia can no longer use the Elements, they are SCREWED.
Anyway..
Still liked how Spike is a human instead of a dog in the Rainbow Rocks movie. Curious on what stuff would happen in there with him being human there.
Yeah, Discord was really annoying in the Cadance-Twilight episode. I kind of wanted to reach into the TV and shake him up like a ragdoll when he sang while screwing up the two princesses' day like that. A Cadance-Twilight bonding episode was something we needed.
Sorry if this comment was um.. iffy..
Just got some thoughts and such..
What about the Sirens? Wouldn’t Twilight confront the Sirens to change their ways as they refuse and tell the origins of their species and the reason why they did what Jerkswirl did to them (Their words but Starswirl is still a jerk. Especially his ego because of his fans)
5349575
I didn't think the plan to transfer the princesses' magic to Twilight would be that flawed, to be honest. As the newest princess, she still looks fairly ordinary and she has a support network, so she might've been able to hide the magic better. But hey, we can agree to disagree. Don't worry, your opinion is valid.
5349578
Good point about the Sirens. They didn't get the redemption offer too, did they?
5351189
Even if she looks ordinary, she's still an Alicorn. A unicorn with wings is a dead give-away.
The moment Tirek quickly finds out about her(not buying much time Celestia had hoped), he will know she has the princesses magic.
And Tirek would have used Twilight's friends to make her give up the magic, which exactly what happened in the finale after their fight stalemated. Along with he has Discord with him who might instantly find Twilight somehow.
And the risk of Tirek would get all of the magic in one fell swoop if he finds her.
I just hate that plan so much. The writers really just make it look like the princesses must give everything to Twilight and get shafted since she's the "chosen one" or something. That's what the feeling that plan gave off.
Just wished there was consequences for Celestia coming up with that plan. Like it strained Luna's relationship with her due to she agreed to such a plan and it did not work well and resulted in the sisters getting humiliated pretty badly. Like Luna trusted Celestia and it basically bit her in the flank there.
The plan pretty much shafted her(and Cadance, yes) in favor of Twilight pretty much.
Really.. season 4 is where things went downhill further for the sisters in terms of crisis stuff.
A better plan would have been the princesses split off and go into hiding. Making it harder for Tirek to get their magic and buy even more time. For Discord, since Celestia happen to have a spell that kept Discord's claws off of the Elements somehow, she could have made something to keep Discord from instantly finding them.
I am just.. frustrated when looking back at that finale.
Sorry..