Have an idea, but don't have the time to write it? Or do you need help fleshing out a plot you want to write? Then this is the thread for you!

(Also, ideas discussed in this thread don't have to be MLP-related, but they do have to be roleswap-related.)

One of my crack ideas for a roleswap bingo card was the Student Six with the Pillars during "Shadow Play", but I soon started thinking about how it would seriously work.

In the ancient past, when animosity between each species was at its highest, six creatures put aside their differences and united with one goal: to get the world to co-exist in harmony. At first, they succeeded... But one day, the six mysteriously vanished. Their nations were outraged and blamed each other, undoing all the harmony the six had worked so hard to create. To this day, the nations are still wary of each other.

• The Student Six's immediate relatives were also around in The Ancient Past™. The dragon from "Dragonshy" was Garble, and the Mane 6 ask him for help.
• ...Though saying that, I'm not sure if it should be a three-way swap where the Pillars have the modern elements, and the Mane 6 are future students.
• The Pillars' artefacts are replaced by the magical artefacts from season 8. Cozy Glow is the equivalent of Stygian, but less redeemable; she buttered up the six and orchestrated their downfall. Maybe she was a Discord cultist?

What do you think? I'm currently writing two short fanfics, have two more long ones planned for next year (one of which is also an MLP roleswap), and have college, so I might not have the time to write this.

7337855
Definitely intriguing thoughts here. While I'll admit that I don't have the time and energy to write this myself, I have to admit the story idea DOES have potential.

And yeah, I could especially see Cozy causing the problems with deliberate sabotage rather than a misunderstanding.

Starswirl could be a former teacher at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns (even though he is one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria [if not THE most powerful], he just doesn't have the physical stamina or reflexes to be doing the job on a regular basis anymore) with Stygian as a former student turned personal assistant. Starswirl USED to believe "once a villain, always a villain", but started gradually changing his tune after the return of his mentor Princess Celestia's sister Luna (who used to be Nightmare Moon) and seen several other former villains change for the better (but still acknowledges that there ARE some [like Sombra, Chrysalis and Tirek] that truly ARE beyond redemption)

Rockhoof could be a hired farm hoof at Sweet Apple Acres to help out Mac (as Granny is too old for that sort of physical labor anymore and Applejack and Apple Bloom are both too young).

The Mane Six are all a few years younger than canon (they are in their early-to-mid teens by the eighth season) and all of them have already known each other for at least a couple of years before the founding of the Friendship School (just a few months after the return of Sandbar, Gallus, Silverstream, Ocellus, Yona and Smolder), but it was this school that taught them the stuff they needed to parlay that mutual knowledge into actual friendship.

And, that's all I can think of to help. I know it's not much.

7338171
Thanks for adding on! This was partially inspired by your Pillars/Mane 6 roleswap. My idea for the friendship school was that the “Student” Six were the teachers, trying to spread harmony in a different way, because the School of Friendship always reminded me of Jade Mountain Academy from Wings of Fire.

7338171
I just got another idea! Maybe history misremembered Cozy as good and Sandbar as evil.

7339291
Yeah. Perhaps. That would be just about the only way I could see Starswirl and the others actually releasing Cozy after all.

Of course, the rest of the group, after their return, could set the record straight and Cozy, badly outnumbered, outpowered and faced with opponents that know her tricks only too well, is defeated and imprisoned before she can do any further major harm.

7339341
I know it’s been a while since this conversation, but I just had a mental image of Silverstream returning to Mount Aris and realising that it’s empty.

7351576
Yeah. I could see that too. And then finding out that the other hippogriffs have gone into hiding and WHY. Heck, that might end up tying into this universe's version of the movie, with the recently returned Young Six and the Pillars teaming up to take on the Storm King and his army.

7351580
I can imagine Silverstream returning to Mt. Aris directly leading into that, like, as a prologue. And Gallus discovers that Griffonstone is in ruins, and... would Ocellus be an unreformed changeling?

7351583
Well, yes, I DO think it would be a good prologue to this universe's version of the movie.

As for Ocellus, I would probably say "no" (after all, she already learned how good it felt to earn AND share love, so she would actually be the FIRST reformed Changeling; it's just that she disappeared before Chrysalis rose to power).

7351586
Maybe Ocellus used to be the queen of her hive, and there was a war of succession.

7351590
Yeah. Possibly. That could work.

So my contest submission was something I charged into and I feel like I didn't accomplish the sort of story I wanted to, now that I look back on it. So I've been thinking of other role swaps I might enjoy writing just for the fun of it, and I had two ideas I'm juggling:

Celestia as the spirit of chaos

Tempest Shadow taking Tirek's place

Any thoughts?

7525540
Sorry I didn't notice this sooner, but I have to say the ideas do have potential. Unfortunately, there is very little I can think of other than:

1. Celestia turning evil out of sheer boredom and developing a sadistic sense of humor that would rival the Joker (with the power of the sun to make her even more dangerous), so she starts kicking up violent chaos, telekinetically tossing around entire buildings (she could move the sun on a twice a day basis, so a few buildings wouldn't be a problem if she didn't have any morals holding her back) and setting small cities on fire for pure sick enjoyment. Whoever stops her and how would be entirely the choice of whoever can think of enough ideas to make the story work.

2. After losing her horn as a filly (more than 1000 years sooner than in canon), Fizzy (later Tempest) comes across an evil sorcerer who trains her how to do most of the things she could before even without her horn (to make her a more useful minion) and further tempts her with the thought of finding a mystic stone that allows her to drain energy from any other sapient species (be it pony, dragon, changeling or what have you) and gain more power than she needs to restore her horn. Ultimately, she actually DOES find the stone (it takes a few years), but double-crosses her mentor (correctly reasoning that he would have done the same to her the instant she out-lived her usefulness, so she just beat him to the punch). She, of course, DOES use the stone to drain several ponies (as well as a few other species) before she is defeated and captured (though by who is entirely up to whoever can think of enough to add to this, as is how Tempest is punished).

Though I'm sure others can think of much better.