WMG / My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Future Plots

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Future Characters, Future Plots, Crossovers, Other Guesses

This section archives guesses regarding potential upcoming stories that were made as the show was airing. New guesses concerning the finished material go in other sections.

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Entries to move to Jossed or confirmed, part 1

Season 3 will have an episode in which:

Celestia will leave Twilight in temporary charge (while having the important stuff already done, just to be sure) of Equestria, while she and Luna take a spa day or something. As the rest of the cast get toured around the capital by Spike, in which Hilarity Ensues. Twilight will become obsessed with the littlest things. Add in Pinkie causing riots or something. At the end, Celestia will return, and teach Twilight that leaders need to place trust in their followers, that not everything needs to be done yourself.

• Well, if history repeats itself, then this toy could be a forebearer of things yet to be.
• Partially Confirmed as the opening two-parter for season four, though the reason for Luna and Celestia's disappearance is sinister and there no resistance when Twilight temporarily takes over.

Gilda and Trixie will team up with the villains.

Ashamed with being laughed out of Ponyville, Trixie falls into a deep depression. The same evil force that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon will see this as an opportunity to take over a potentially powerful host. It convinces her to host it, promising that it will greatly amplify her powers. It also manages to convince other characters, among them, Gilda, to join its side. They go to fight the main characters. Gilda is asked to take down Rainbow Dash. She gives Rainbow Dash a beating, but finds herself unable to deliver the final blow. She remembers the good times that they had, and their years of friendship. She realizes what a jerk she was, and decides to side with the main characters, fighting against the evil force.

• I like the idea that they are offered the chance to become villains in exchange for power to get back at those who showed them up, but Trixie refuses because if she can't win on her own then her boasts are even more hollow and Gilda thinks that kind of plot is lame. The evil force then brainwashes them anyways.
  • Could they pull Heel Face Turns later and backstab the evil force?
    • Or this could all end up in them all backstabbing each other to the point where it just blows up in their face without anyone else even noticing this "threat".
• Trixie appears to have already had her Heel–Face Turn as of "Magic Duel," but it might not stick.

  • A teamup between the two gets used in the book Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell, but they just act as con artists.

• Since both characters have done Heel Face Turns by now, a full teamup with the villains likely isn't going to happen.

The Girls get re-invited to the gala, but they don't want to go.

So they try to foist the tickets on other ponies, but are having trouble choosing who to give them to.

• Twilight Sparkle will try to "accidentally" "lose" her ticket to Trixie in a competition. Either Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash (or both) will try to pass their tickets to Gilda. Rarity will try to pass it to several different ponies (Photo Finish, Hoity Toity, even Blueblood) only to realize that her attempts are doomed to fail because outside the main cast, she knows mainly High Society ponies who already have their own tickets. Applejack will do the obvious and just try to sell the ticket. Fluttershy, too shy to even approach anyone, will have no idea whatsoever what to do. Of course, they all fail.

The mane cast will attend the next Grand Galloping Gala...

...but rather than treating it as a privilege like they did in season 1, they will consider their attending a public service. Expect Fluttershy making up with the palace critters and leading an invasion, Twilight greeting guests in a manner designed to induce maximum confusion (possibly involving servings of Word Salad and/or Paranoia Fuel), Pinkie Pie being more Pinkie Pie than ever before, and at least one Sonic Rainboom. (Luna will also be there, her absence at last year's being explained by Celestia telling her she wouldn't like it and her presence at this one by Celestia eagerly assuring her that this one was guaranteed to be interesting, Twilight having indicated to her that they had some surprises planned.)

• In response to both of the above, the next Gala is a plot point in an early episode of season 5.

Possible stories will reference:

• Cupcakes (Sergeant Sprinkles): See past theories.
• Rocket To Insanity. maybe it would be a nightmare she will have, which would cause her to go nuts like their. but would be more like the alternate version.
• The Luna Games: Though with less jump scares and a little more legitimate scares.
• Story of the Blanks: Again, see past theories.
• Eppaljeck: A long shot, but it would be mostly in a format like "there's something odd about Applejack."
• Rainbow Factory
  • And the episode will be a deconstruction of conspiracy theories.
    • it would also get a ton of Dark Is Not Evil and Not Evil, Just Misunderstood going on here.
    • All this is jossed.

There will be an episode in which Luna is fulfilling Celestia's role.

Since Celestia mentioned they were meant to rule together, it only stands to reason that eventually Luna will take some princessing duties on herself. On one such occasion, she'll have to deal with the Mane Cast, perhaps giving them a task and supervising them.

Twilight will have to deal with responding not to her favourite mentor, but to someone who she barely knows but whom she is supposed to show the same respect and dedication, thus she'll be much more anxious about screwing something up, as well as harboring a slight resentment to Celestia for sending someone else to watch over her most faithful student.

The episode will probably end with Twilight writing a letter to Luna.

• Luna gets to take on Celestia's duties in an issue of the Micro Series comics, but the Mane Six aren't involved.
• Confirmed on Luna doing Celestia's job in "A Royal Problem", but not in the way suggested. Also, Celestia does Luna's job in the same episode.

The Mane Six will have to fight The Smooze.

Except they won't win. Because nothing can stop The Smooze^note For those not in the know, The Smooze is a G1 villain..

• Until they get a can of magical bug spray.
  • Well, it's showing up early in season 5, but doesn't seem to be an outright antagonist.

We will get at least 1 new episode focusing entirely on:

• Applejack.
  • Maybe one where she competes with the local carrot business, and learns that partnerships pay off more than rivalries.
• Fluttershy.
  • She could encounter some particularly nasty animal (a wolf, or a wild cat) that's giving the other fauna a hard time, and she'll have to find some non-violent way to deal with it.
• Pinkie Pie.
  • And it will be insane.
    • Can we call this confirmed? After all, what could be more insane than Pinkie cloning herself!
• Spike
  • With little to no appearance of any of the mane 6 (if they appear, it's so they can lampshade how they're not the focus of the episode).
  • Confirmed with "Just For Sidekicks."

There will be an episode focusing on Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom have both had episodes this season with them as the central characters, it's only natural Scootaloo will follow suit.

• The next episode is about Rainbow Dash hosting a flying race to see who will be her pet. Would it be surprising if Scootaloo decided to compete?
  • That's Jossed, but there could still be a Scootaloo-centric episode in the future.
  • If you take Cutie Pox as an Apple Bloom episode and Sisterhooves Social as a Sweetie Belle episode, then it would seem Scootaloo is due for a centric episode.
• There will be an episode featuring a lot of Scootaloo, but whether it'll actually focus on her remains to be seen.
• Maybe there could be an episode where Scootaloo is trying to learn how to fly after seeing other ponies her age flying. The moral could be that you can rush into things and you need practice.
  • If she starts too far and tries to fly off a cliff, the moral might be that if you're not careful, you will die.
• As of Season 3, we now have one. It's "Sleepless in Ponyville".

There will be an episode with an anti-racism type message.

Possibly in the form of a pony or group of ponies being mean to Spike for being a dragon. One member of the mane cast will go along with it because they want to fit in with or impress the group of ponies for some reason (if they want it to be extra crushing, it would be Rarity) but she'll learn her lesson by the end. The letter to Celestia will say that you should never let ANYONE be mean to your friends and that it's wrong to discriminate against others for things they can't control, like being a dragon.

• Wasn't that message already covered in "Bridle Gossip"?

There will be an episode about standing up to bullies.

One of the characters (Fluttershy, maybe? Or perhaps even Spike) will find themselves the victim of a bully or group of bullies who taunt them every day. The friends will step up and tell the bullies to back down, with the moral that friends stand up to each other.

• 'Confirmed in "One Bad Apple" and "Putting Your Hoof Down," but with very different morals.

There will be an episode about Speciesism

Seeing as Spike is the only dragon living among ponies, there will be some ponies feeling uncomfortable about the idea of a dragon living in a town full of ponies, especially since his Greed-growth can be used by the ponies as ammunition against him. It only proves to them that he can be huge and vicious. And so, they'll try to make him leave, saying that there are many dragons who migrate and live together, and he should be with his own kind. He will try to ignore them, and not tell any of his friends about what's happening, deeming his situation as "something they shouldn't worry about". However, as more and more ponies start to protest against him being there, the girls will find out about what's going on, and try to keep their friend safe. The lesson will either be "don't be afraid to tell your friends about your problems, because they'll always be there to help you", or "just because someone is different, doesn't make them a bad person (or... pony)".

• Wasn't "Over a Barrel" about speciesism? And "Bridle Gossip," slightly more subtly?

Discord and Queen Chrysalis will form an Evil Duo in Season 3.

Think about it; Discord thrives on the The Power of Hate while Queen Chrysalis and her army of Changelings feed on The Power of Love. Combining these two would be like putting butter on bread!

• However, Discord and Chrysalis may have been rivals back in ancient history, and they might end up fighting each other at first.
  • Or they could actually be long-lost lovers. We might even get to see a touching but disturbing reunion...if we're lucky.
    • Either way, Twilight Sparkle and her friends are gonna go through real hell to defeat these two together!
  • I'm not too fond of this. After all, changelings need to feed off of love, and Discord's chaos can surely prove problematic if he ends up corrupting their 'food source'.
    • How about in the end, their Villain Team-Up fails because Discord isn't exactly a team player and Chrysalis is too demanding. Either way, this will both bite them on the plots hard and they'll suffer a Villainous Breakdown. Points are given if the heroines gave a "The Reason You Suck" Speech or Nice Job Fixing It, Villain speech to the villains that they'll always be alone.
• 'Jossed, at least for Season 3. We're into season 4 already and no sign of Chrysalis.
  • However, if you're looking for an Evil Duo, Discord and Tirek happened.

The Season 3 premiere will be a Shout-Out to the Secret Invasion

With the Changelings taking place of the Skrull.

• Jossed. Completely new villain.

Discord will return, but will be stripped of his powers by the Princesses or others of his species...

And unable to regain them until he learns the meaning of true friendship. He will be sent to Ponyville to learn from Twilight, and will encounter a grumpy balding captain (played by Patrick Stewart) who he has fun annoying but who he eventually decides is "the closest thing he has to a friend" and then some of Discord's old victims attack Ponyville and Discord decides to surrender to them in order to save everypony else and this gets him his powers back. And there will be a marachi band.

• WELL... yes and no. He never lost his powers, but he has been redeemed by The Power of Friendship, courtesy of Fluttershy, who keeps his powers in check by threatening to revoke her friendship if he abuses his powers of chaos too much.

In case you have not watched Star Trek, this plot is lifted straight from there.

• To make this better, there will be a diamond dog or a changeling who will ask Discord to prove his newfound mortality by dying.

Discord's Return is a direct setup for the Season 3 finale

Not only is Discord back and nominally on Celestia's team, but the Elements of Harmony are now in Twilight's Library. This has to be a direct setup for the Season 3 Finale, which will feature Discord doing a Worf Barrage and likely a failure of the direct power of the Elements, likely leading to a Spirit Bomb finale.

• Well, Discord was nowhere to be seen. However, the Elements being in Twilight's library now was in fact a plot point.
• It's heading this way in Season 4, though.

The episode behind the Failure Success song...

• Twilight will take a major magic exam, but fails because it involved a type of magic she never studied. Her friends will do their best to comfort her. The moral of the episode would be that sometimes we fail even when we try our hardest, and that failure isn't the end of the world. We just have to move on.
  • Didn't we get that Aesop already with The Last Roundup?
• The test Twilight is taking will require at least two ponies to partner up—and Twilight's partner will be Trixie! Now Twilight's afraid her performance will suffer because Trixie's in no mood for cooperation, and may even be trying to steal the glory for herself thanks to her flashy new amulet...
  • Jossed

The thing Twilight wasn't prepared for is...

• Having to part ways with her friends.
• As mentioned above, cooperating with Trixie to pass a test.
  • Jossed
• Looks like it's becoming an alicorn.

Twilight wasn't prepared...

• To graduate. Think about it: throughout the entire first season, Twilight's claim to fame (for lack of a better term) was being Celestia's personal student, and what does every student eventually have to deal with that they're not always prepared for? The next phase of their life.
• To take a test with someone who wants her to fail (i.e., Trixie).
  • Looks like it's ascending.

The Pets Save Everyone

The Mane six will be trapped in some way (possibly everypony everywhere) and the pets of the Mane Six will have to save the day.

• Confirmed - it happens in one issue of the comics.

There will be a Bad Future episode

Recent leaked pictures show Sweet Apple Acres and Carousel Boutique in a state of disrepair. While this could be a number of things, it'd be interesting. Though it seems unlikely to be what would happen if Nightmare Moon, Discord, or Chrysalis won, considering it doesn't fit any of their MO's, but perhaps a season 3 villain.

• It's a Wonderful Plot about a Twili-less Equestria. Nightmare Moon's return was met with more desperate means, possibly involving Celestia's Heroic Sacrifice. Discord doesn't rule yet because he just spent most of his remaining energy to Make Wrong What Once Went Right. Changelings are around but there is scarcely any love to be find in this Crapsack World.
  • How about it's Twilight's friends and family as the Knight Templar type of villains? Similar to the Darkwing Duck episode featuring Dark Warrior Duck or the Justice Lords. Without Twilight Sparkle around, their Start of Darkness begins...
    • Princess Celestia is an Evil Overlord who now rules with an iron hoof
    • Shining Armor is now the General Ripper
    • Twilight's friends form the "Knights of Order"
    • Applejack's honesty forces ponies to tell embarrassing truths.
    • Rarity's generosity causes everyone to give their possessions for all to share (A Take That! to Socialism)
    • Rainbow Dash's loyalty has ponies make promises they can't keep or punishing those she considers treachery.
    • Pinkie Pie's laughter forces everypony to smile even when they're sad.
    • Fluttershy's kindness is similar to that of an Animal Wrongs Group.
  • The villains and the Jerkass characters form The Resistance. Because Even Evil Has Standards
• "It's About Time" is about a cyberpunk-looking Twilight Sparkle returning from the future with a warning. It's a false alarm. I'd call this Jossed.

In relation to the post above this one,

The Bad Future episode will either have a reference to or be based on Fallout: Equestria.

• Jossed.

The amulet Trixie wears in these pictures here◊

...is clearly an evil Amplifier Artifact that she found in a quest for more power. She'll use it to take revenge on Twilight.

• Confirmed.

• Or it invokes Dark Is Not Evil, or it turns out Trixie is the Fluffy Tamer of evil artifacts (hey, she's got a magic wand on her side).
  • Nope.

Season three's thirteen episodes will consist of the following, in no particular order except for the season premiere and finale...

• A two-part episode to open the season, which is already confirmed (two episodes).
• Episodes focusing on each of the mane six, and Spike (one for each, seven episodes total).
  • This seems well on its way to being confirmed. So far we have:
    • "Too Many Pinkie Pies": Pinkie.
    • "Magic Duel": Twilight, most likely.
    • "Sleepless In Ponyville": Turned out to be Scootaloo.
    • "Wonderbolt Academy": If this isn't Rainbow Dash, something is wrong.
    • "Apple Family Reunion": Uhh... do you really need to ask?
    • "Spike at your Service": Spike.
    • So the only Mane characters who don't have an episode obviously focusing on them are Rarity and Fluttershy, and there's no doubt they'll get one.
• A Cutie Mark Crusaders episode, where they fail once again to actually get their cutie marks and learn a valuable lesson in the process. However, they still won't get the point quite yet and will continue their crazy schemes (one episode).
  • This will also be the one we go crazy over, as they're talking with Dinky, who tells them "Mom's here; gotta go" and leaves with Derpy.
  • This could be "One Bad Apple".
• A holiday themed episode of some sort. Since Valentine's Day, Halloween and Christmas already had their equivalents done, expect something else such as "April Foal's Day" or the Equestrian version of Thanksgiving (one episode).
• Another two-parter to close out the season (two episodes).

Season three will feature a Half-Arc Season plot.

During the opening two-parter, the Mane Cast will face down a new villain and manage to defeat him/her. During the final scene, the audience will learn that the villain managed to survive, but is not in a position to retry taking over the world. To fix this, the villain will recruit Trixie to act in their stead. While the majority of the season will be spent on Slice of Life plots, Trixie will be working in the background to prepare for her boss' triumphant return in the season finale. And just to complicate things, let's turn Trixie into a Dragon with an Agenda.

• Even better: upon the villain's return, Trixie back-stabs them (complete with some pithy one-liner) and takes their power for herself!
• This theory could easily work with the "Sombra isn't fully gone" theory.
  • More like "The first two and the last two are the only ones relevant to the major event".

There will be a love triangle episode.

Now, before anypony goes "They don't do that!" and all that sort of stuff, think about it. The idea being a Betty and Veronica with Sweetie Belle (Betty), Rarity (Veronica), and Spike (Archie). There was a shot during the S2 finale of Spike and Sweetie Belle dancing. Perhaps there will come a point in time where Sweetie Belle realizes she has feelings for Spike, and they become a bit of a running gag like Spike's crush on Rarity. However, as with Spike, they do an episode focusing on these feelings, with the Aesop being something about how to deal with crushing on a friend who has eyes for somepony else. This is targeted for girls, who are entering that stage of life, after all.

• Well, "Simple Ways" sounds like it will be one like Rarity>Trenderhoof (a character unique to the episode)>Applejack so... yeah. Love triangle episode, but not between Sweetie Belle, Rarity, and Spike.

King Sombra will reform himself and return again.

The Crystal Empire episodes establish that he can reform himself from his horn. At the end of the episode when he gets "killed", his horn is very clearly seen being blown off and flying toward the screen. Now, why would the creators of the show put in that little detail, unless they intend for him to come back? He will be a recurring villain who intends to get Twilight Sparkle out of the way so he can continue his quest for power. He will be the one giving Trixie the amulet, it has the same color scheme that he does and they both have motive to defeat Twilight.

• Maybe the necklace is like the One Ring, and Sombra needs it to return to power, and in the meantime it'll corrupt ponies like Trixie.
  • The comics are hinting that he isn't as dead as we thought: his horn turns up again, sneaking back into his old private study.

The episode where Trixie returns will be the darkest episode in the series.

Looking at multiple preview clips and screenshots, I've pieced together a possible plot for "Magic Duel":

Celestia is holding a magical tournament for unicorns to show off their best magic skills. The winner will be granted anything they desire, and it just so happens that Trixie has returned. Through cheating, or possibly framing Twilight of cheating, Trixie wins and asks that she be made ruler of Ponyville, hence the statues and banners we see in one commercial.

As ruler, Trixie banishes Twilight, and Celestia can't do anything about it since Trixie supposedly "won." To make things worse, (as an explanation of the screenshots of Sweet Apple Acres and Carousel Boutique in ruins) it's Trixie and not Twilight that turns Applejack and Rarity into fillies as some sort of punishment for helping her.

• Most of these predictions turned out to be wrong. Still, Magic Duel has some dark moments. Does that make it the darkest episode in the series? That depends on your personal opinion.

The bit of King Sombra's red horn that remained after the Crystal Heart destroyed him contains his essence, and he turns it into an amulet/necklace that Trixie finds and uses to defeat Twilight in "Magic Duel"

See this: http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/434638-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic

• Jossed, the Alicorn Amulet had nothing do to with King Sombra.

There will be an episode with a lesson about popularity.

One of the ponies finds herself getting picked on by a popular pony for not having as many friends. So she becomes obsessed with getting as many friends as possible. But by the end of the episode, she learns that friendship isn't a commodity, and that friends are about quality, not quantity: it's better to have a few good friends than a lot of them you don't care about.

• Popularity confirmed, but the rest wasn't. Twilight Time has the Crusaders using their connection to Twilight to become popular, except it backfires.

The last 2 or 3 episodes of Season 3 will be a 2- or 3-parter involving Discord.

Since the last 3 episodes of Season 3 on the Recap page don't have titles yet, it's a likely possibility. Plus, who wouldn't want ol' Discord to return?

• Should the "Twilight alicorn" WMG not happen, it'll most likely involve Discord making a Big Entrance in Ponyville in the beginning and, after some resistance from the Mane 6, Spike, Shining Armor, and Cadance, similar to the Justice League two-parter "Hereafter", seemingly kills Twilight (but in reality transporting her to another, weird dimension), with all of Ponyville mourning her "death" as well as Celestia and/or Luna and Shining Armor giving her eulogy.
• Jossed. Discord only shows up in episode 10 (by airdate), but it DOES set him up as a recurring character.

Season 3's Big Bad is going to be incredibly powerful.

Lets take a second to look back at the facts. The season opens with Celestia sending Twilight Sparkle off to fight King Sombra not because it wouldn't be easy enough for her and Luna to deal with it (at least that seems to be implied by Luna) but because she needs to make sure that Twilight is prepared for the trials ahead. Whatever this thing is however is so powerful that Princess Celestia has seen fit to free Discord and spend an episode having the Mane 6 effectively tame him. What in all of Equestria could be so over the top that you need presumably three princesses, six elements and Discord?!

• Uh, make that maybe four princesses with Twilight becoming an Alicorn.
• Confirmed! ... mostly. It was the season 4 Big Bad but pretty much everything else about this WMG was spot-on, including Discord.
  • It feels good to be right. This even makes sense in context since Keep Calm and Flutter On comes after Lesson Zero. It's entirely possible that Celestia had known about Tirak since his escape but lacked any means to track him effectively. The pony attacked at the beginning of the Season 4 finale wasn't likely his first victim, just the first time he was strong enough to register on Celestia's radar!

Trixie will replace Twilight Sparkle in the Mane 6 after Twilight becomes a princess with wings

.

• Jossed according to the writers, who say that just because Twilight becomes a princess, she will not lose focus as a main character.

Related to the above, Trixie will get Fluttershy's Element of Harmony necklace with a different emblem, and Fluttershy will get Twilight's crown, but with her butterfly mark instead of the six-point star.

Both of those predictions come from here.

• Jossed.

Hasbro will be changing the show so much in Season 4 and beyond that it will be called "destroyed" by people, and then they will reboot the franchise to Generation 5, similar to how in the Book of Revelation God destroys the Heaven and the Earth to create a new Heaven and Earth.

• Jossed. FIM is still going strong, and a sixth season was confirmed before season 5 even began airing.

Season Four will be radically different from the first three, and will take place after a significant time-skip.

The mane six will be all Demoted to Extra, for the most part, and some of their children will be the new Plucky Comic Relief. Those of them without cutie marks will be part of the next generation of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Other changes may possibly be:

• Twilight living in a palace that was constructed in Ponyville, and the cast writing letters to her instead of Princess Celestia.
  • Season four finale replaces the library with the Palace of Friendship. So on the money if late.
• Spike is a bit bigger, but not much. He's still Twilight's assistant.
• The old CMCs are grown up and have earned their cutie marks long ago, off-screen. Most likely they would take the places of Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity respectively in the cast.
• Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's daughter, Skyla, is a Winged Unicorn like her mother. She is also a blank flank and becomes part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
• At some point, humans will be alluded to and actually introduced in the show. Expect them to look like how people look in The Littlest Pet Shop or for those two shows to cross over with each other somehow.
  • The Demoted to Extra thing is apparently Jossed, as Word of God states that Twilight will not be removed as a member of the Mane Cast, thus S4 will still retain the focus on her and her friends.
  • All jossed.

After season 3, the show will feature more story arcs and some darker, more action-oriented episodes.

About half of the episodes will follow the Slice of Life format, and it will still have the same tone and follow the same themes. But when Twilight becomes a princess, she'll probably have to deal with a lot more responsibility and take care of more problems. She'll have to deal with bigger threats, maybe some monsters and spirits that come from Tartarus. The show will feature longer, multi-episode story arcs. Her friends, of course, will be there to help her.

• More like a mix of "Slice of Life" and one or two major arcs over the entire season, such as "Equestria Games" and the Rainbow Keys arc in season 4.

The Equestria Games will be a Story Arc in the future

At least this time, they had the decency to properly foreshadow a big event unlike A Canterlot Wedding.

The lead-up includes:

• Applejack and Rainbow Dash training for the Games.
• Rainbow Dash conflicted on whether she wants to support Ponyville's team or Cloudsdale's team (assuming that each team comes from a different city).
• Celestia asking the Mane Six or Spike to carry the torch (probably the Fire of Friendship from Hearth's Warming Eve)
• Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, or Fluttershy deciding to participate, with her revealing that she has experience in a certain sport.

The games themselves include:

• Rainbow Dash meeting both of her old rivals: Gilda and Lightning Dust.
• Fierce competition from a certain rival team, most likely Fillydelphia or Manehattan.
  • I have this idea for a fanfic where Gilda is in the competition but isn't actually doing anything wrong aside from having a bad attitude, but otherwise minimizes her interactions outside the competition and practice. The Mane Cast confront her and want her to leave for what she did in Ponyville. Gilda gets annoyed at this, complaining about the double standards that are going on. They wonder what the heck she's talking about, only for Gilda to talk about how they're still holding a years-long grudge over a few hurt feelings, while the changeling competitors, who tried to eat the capital not too long ago, are allowed to play without issue. They realize the Crystal Empire is under threat from a changeling invasion, then demand to know why Gilda didn't tell anyone, only for Gilda to reveal she legitimately thought they were being allowed in because of messed up pony priorities, like how one of the rulers happened to try and usurp the throne and plunge the land into eternal darkness a few years ago, and was put on the throne despite this. As for how Gilda knows about the changelings, being part eagle, she can see the ultraviolet auras changelings give off when shapeshifted.
    • Bonus point if they eventually figure out that the Changelings weren't there to cause any trouble; they simply wanted to partake in the games. They only shapeshifted out of fear of being attacked by the ponies. This could be a set up for the Changeling episode describe a couple of times below.
    • Careful how you phrase that part about the ponies, because that sound eerily similar to making the ponies the problem, as seen in so many grating fanfictions. Simply, they would have shapeshifted because they know they would not be allowed to take part otherwise.
    • Well, really, I was implying that the Changelings thought that they would be attacked by the ponies, but later are told that wasn't the case.
  • Pretty close. They do attend the games, Rainbow Dash does compete against the Wonderbolts but seems to be matched against Spitfire not Lightning Dust, they spent a few episodes building towards it as well. (And a Canterlot Wedding was a surprise in universe as well, the Gala in season one got plenty of foreshadowing.)

The final episode of a season or the entire series will be another episode about Spike trying to find his real mother.

But after a while of searching, he discovers that he was forcibly taken from his mother's nest as an egg by Celestia. Afterwards, his mother had attacked Canterlot in an attempt to take the egg back, but ended up getting killed/driven off in the conflict. Cue a Was It All a Lie? speech towards Celestia, citing that she's probably worse than Chrysalis and Discord. The episode will end with a HUGE falling out between him and the rest of his friends. The following season/series will pick up after this (if it's a new series, it could be set a few years later).

Entries to move to Jossed or Confirmed, part 2

Season 4 will be the darkest season yet.

The mood of the season 3 finale is probably more happy and triumphant than anything before it, to the point that it almost seems to be Tempting Fate...

• Jossed. Tone-wise, it's mostly the same as previous seasons.

Friendship is Magic will go against the "passive princess" stereotype.

Princesses in most kid shows usually just sit around and enjoy their luxury. Season 4 and beyond will feature Twilight having to deal with the responsibilities of being a princess and having to take part in royal duties.

• Confirmed in the Season 4 finale. "You're a princess, you'll play your part."

The two-part Season 4 opener will have Twilight give up her alicorn-hood and wings, in order to save Equestria or some of her friends.

This one's mostly wishful thinking from those of us who don't like the new Mary Sue Princess Twilight.

• All she did as an Alicorn was waving her hoof, singing and flying. None of this looks like something that only a Mary Sue would do. Let’s not call her one until we’ve seen the new Twilight in action.
  • Jossed. She maintains her status through all of Season 4 debatably elevated in the Finale.

Alicorn!Twilight is here to stay.

If only because the creators don't want to come across as trying to teach their target audience the aesop that girls are supposed to just accept their lot in life because trying to rise above their 'proper' station never works out in the end anyway...

• Confirmed. And despite ascending, Twilight is still herself.

Twilight will gain an apprentice in Season 4

As one of the most magically talent and knowledgeable unicorns in Equestria, the Element of Magic, and now a Princess, she will learn to pass on her knowledge to another unicorn. She succeeded where Starswirl failed, who left behind a legacy of information and has his own apprentice in the form Clover the Clever and she herself was trained under Princess Celestia, so it's only naturally that she become a mentor herself. Much of the conflict will come from her balancing any other duties, her own desires to expand her knowledge and magical abilities, time with her friends, and most likely the stubbornness or ineptitude of her apprentice. As for who it would be, most Twixie fans would probably like her apprentice to be Trixie, but chances are it'll be a new filly, possibly a Late Bloomer.

• Cutie Mark Crusaders Magic Apprentices Yaaay!
  • I doubt they'd become her apprentices but I can see them trying to. At the very least she'll be able to bring out enough of Sweetie Belle's magic so she'll be able to do some of the basics.
  • Confirmed in "Twilight Time"
• It might be Sunset Shimmer.
  • Yep, she's teaching Sweetie Belle magic (and helping the other Crusaders too), but she's also become a friendship mentor with Sunset, as seen during the events of "Rainbow Rocks".

There will be an episode that will cement Discord's Heel–Face Turn status.

Basically, Fluttershy will be kidnapped by a group of bad guys, and upon hearing about it, Discord sets out to save her with the help of the rest of her friends. His normally goofy persona completely vanishes and a far more serious one takes its place. This ends up leaving the rest of the Mane 6 and the princesses disturbed/terrified because they have never seen him act like this before.

• And he will be so competent that they start relying on him more often, which will be the subject of another episode, as he starts being used for less serious situations more and more, until he finally has enough with it all. Bonus points if it's when Fluttershy starts asking for things that he loses it, and that this almost causes him to relapse back into being a villain. As he would view it as his only friend using him.
  • YMMV He provided the final key to save the world after betraying them. Some would say he confirmed himself as a wildcard not to be trusted others that he finally learned that friendship isn't just for when things are easy.

Season 4 will begin with Celestia announcing some horrible incoming disaster.

Throughout Season 3, Celestia has been gathering powerful allies. She brought a delegation from Saddle Arabia to Equestria in "Magic Duel". She takes a huge risk in freeing Discord because she "has need of his magic". She obviously anticipated Twilight's ascension after completing Star Swirl's unfinished spell, and chose to send her the book at this time rather than a year or a decade later. Clearly Celestia is gathering power to protect Equestria, or even the whole world, against some kind of disaster. Unlike with Chrysalis and Sombra, she actually saw this one coming, and has time to prepare.

• Hasn't she already been 2/3 for this each season?
• After all, Twilight did spend a lot of the season 3 finale drilling it into our heads that Everything will be/is fiiiiiine~.
  • The season, no. The two-part finale, yes... Tirek is on the loose!

Sunset Shimmer will join the mane six.

Sunset Shimmer is a new unicorn pony in a line that features all of the mane six except Twilight and she has unique box art. Her role will be Twilight's apprentice, and she will fill in Twilight's spot in the mane six, while Twlight will not be written out, but her role will be reduced. Similar to Twilight and Celestia, Sunset (note the suspiciously appropriate name) will write reports to Twlight.

• Alternatively, Sunset will join them for just one episode as a parody of Replacement Scrappy/Suspiciously Similar Substitute. Afterwards Sunset would leave the mane 6 and become a minor character.
• Jossed. According to Meghan McCarthy, Sunset Shimmer won't be in the show.
• Possibly confirmed in "Rainbow Rocks". (Well, Human!Mane 6, but still)
  • It's a mix: she's now part of her own alternate Mane Six in the human world.

There will be an episode where the Elements of Harmony are stolen

But at the end of the episode(s), it's revealed that the one who stole them only did so to prove that the Elements are not needed to maintain peace in Equestria and are, in fact, quite useless. Everything that was attributed to the Elements was actually done by the characters themselves.

• And the theves will be one of the princesses ('cept Twilight of course)
  • The Elements are willingly surrendered in the Season 4 Opener.

Alicorn Twilight will become such a monster that even Discord will oppose her.

Brainwashing the town in "Lesson Zero" was her Start of Darkness, and she's only going to get worse. Eventually she'll get so bad that Discord will team up with the rest of the mane six to stop her.

• Jossed. She's the Princess of Friendship.

The fourth season premiere will pick up exactly from where "Magical Mystery Cure" left off.

Twilight flies toward the camera, singing about how she's certain everything is fine...and then realizes that she never learned how to land.

• Jossed.

Sunset Shimmer will be the new antagonist for season 4

.It's mentioned on her box that she was a former student of Celestia and, seeing Celestia reward Twilight by turning her into an alicorn will make her so envious she'll try to find a way to get her revenge on her former teacher and her "new favorite"... Even going so far as to form an alliance with Chrysalis.

• Jossed. According to Meghan McCarthy, Sunset Shimmer won't be in the show.
• She WAS the antagonist of "Equestria Girls", but has since pulled a Heel–Face Turn.

The Season 4 opener will be an episode version of Twilight Sparkle And The Crystal Heart Spell.

There will be some minor story changes, but it'll have the same idea: Twilight isn't sure how to be a princess, she goes to Cadance for help, we learn Cadance's backstory, all that.

• Jossed. The plot was completely different.

Sunset Shimmer will return in season 5

And she will he hankering for revenge. So much so that she learns a spell that turns all the Princesses (Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance) into stone. She essentially becomes ruler and if anyone tries to dethrone her, she breaks the Princesses. It will be up to the remaining Main 6 to find a way to break the spell. How do they do it? By finding a new ally, Trixie. The Main Six (now technically Five) will attempt to fight Sunset Shimmer, while Trixie uses a new spell to free the Princesses. Sunset Shimmer will most likley just be chased away, or even better, thrown in some sort of Pony Prison. So impressed woth her skills, Luna will take Trixie under her wing as her student, and they will mirror Celestia and Twilight's relationship.

• Alternatively the Mane 5 could, through some serious teamwork and determination, defeat Sunset Shimmer and save the princesses all on their own. It would serve three purposes: 1) Being completely undone by five ponies that she likely didn't register as a serious threat would be the perfect defeat for Sunset Shimmer. 2) it would show beyond any shadow of a doubt that the group isn't carried by Twilight's talents alone. And 3) it would be freaking awesome.
  • Jossed. She asks Twilight for help in Equestria Girls 2, and cements her Heel–Face Turn.

Season 4 will introduce an Evil Counterpart to Pinkie Pie.

This adds on to the growing "Anti Mane 6" with Trixie and Lightning Dust.

• I imagine she'll be an expy of Mandy (bonus points if Grey DeLisle is the one to play her) and be the only individual in Equestria who is truly immune to Pinkie Pie's contagious happiness (even Cranky was nice enough to humor her a little ad eventually smiled for her).
  • Jossed. She gets Cheese Sandwich, who's essentially her Spear Counterpart, and is was in fact inspired by her.

The Equestria Games will be the finale of Season 4.

Based on the trailer for Season 4, it shows that the Equestria Games will be set up in earlier episodes, like the Grand Galloping Gala. So, maybe it will be something like that.

• Penultimate episode, actually.

Trixie will feature in an episode that's a giant shout to both The Wizard of Oz and Jaynestown.

The set-up: Twilight and co. travel to a foreign and/or backwater frontier town so Twilight can do some Princess-y things. Once there, they are shocked to discover that not only is Trixie there, but the townspeople regard her as a hero and celebrity.

Trixie takes the Mane Cast aside and explains that during her travels, she happened to be in the wrong place at the right time and the townspeople mistakenly thought she stopped a major disaster from destroying the town. The grateful townspeople offered everything they had as thanks, and Trixie, still down on her luck and struggling to survive, went along with the lie, using her magic tricks to give the impression that she was much mightier then she actually was.

Trixie asks the Mane Cast to go along with the lie, since she doesn't have many other options and she is honestly trying to help the townspeople in her own way. The Man Cast reluctantly agrees, and the rest of the episode has them deal with the consequences of that decision.

Basically, it serves as a way to keep Trixie's status as a foil to Twilight (Twilight became a princess through virtue and hard work, Trixie became a local hero through deceit and dumb luck). It also lets us explore the results of Trixie's Heel–Face Turn while letting her still be, well, Trixie.

• This is essentially the plot of one of the "Friends Forever" comics: Trixie winds up in charge of a kingdom of Diamond Dogs. However, all she really wants is to get out of there.

The six keys to open the box will be discovered shortly after each of the Mane 6 learns a lesson about Friendship

It will also probably related to the element they represent.

• Confirmed.

The box Twilight receives at the end of "Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 2" more or less is Pandora's Box.

When it is opened, the box will release something bad, and resealing/defeating it will serve as the goal in the Season 4 finale. Not necessarily a villain, but something bad. If it does turn out to be a villain, it might A. either make King Sombra look like a pansy in comparison, or B. be related to the history of Equestria, the Princesses, or Twilight Sparkle. An alternative take on this would be relating to Star Swirl The Bearded, perhaps along the line of a Sealed Good in a Can and possibly subverting this guess.

• jossed

The six keys won't be literal, physical keys.

Each lock will magically unlock itself after its corresponding pony learns an important lesson about themselves and/or their relationship with the others.

• Jossed. Physical keys are involved. (Of course, they don't start OUT in that shape.)

The box contains the Rainbow of Light.

• Not quite jossed! The box indeed contains a rainbow of sorts. But it doesn't actually do any leg-work in saving the day. That's up to the Mane Six's new super-forms that said rainbow granted them.

The box contains a seed for another Tree of Harmony.

Or lots of seeds. Either way, Twilight and her friends will eventually be able to plant Trees of Harmony all over Equestria, allowing the entire population to use The Power of Friendship to protect Equestria just as the crystal ponies use the Crystal Heart to protect the Crystal Empire.

• If Twilight's castle - which the box IS the seed for - counts as another Tree of Harmony, semi-confirmed.
  • Jossed. It contain Rainbow Power or something similar that supercharged the Mane 6.

The box contains Gallifrey

At the end of "The Day of the Doctor", the Doctors save Gallifrey from the Time War and is now going to go looking for it. This is why Time Turner is in Equestria, and this is why the premiere aired on the same day as Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary.

• Jossed.

As another extension, season four is building up to a grand villain-fest.

As the above WMG stated, there's a distinct possibility of Nightmare Moon returning. People are still questioning how genuine Discord's Heel–Face Turn is. Then there's the whole "Sombra's horn" fiasco from the season 3 opener. And we've seen and heard surprisingly little of Chrysalis ever since her appearance, which seems odd considering her popularity rivals Discord's. Then there's the Medusa-looking villain in various season 4 trailers...

• And now Ahuizotl is a thing...
• Jossed. There ARE two villains in the finale, but one was a Heel–Face Revolving Door.

The chest contains Derpy Hooves.

"Hi everypony! You wouldn't believe what I've been up to!" Derpy then takes a deep breath, and she's cut off by the credits. And then the series gets cancelled.

• Nope.

Episode 10 of season 4 will be a Pinkie Pie episode.

Since Party of One and MMMystery on the Friendship Express are the 25th and 50th episodes in the series to feature Pinkie Pie, it would make sense for the 75th episode to be a Pinkie Pie episode.

• Jossed. It's a Rainbow Dash episode titled Rainbow Falls.

Season Four is going to have Twilight giving Friendship lessons to her friends.

Celestia says as much at the end of season 3, that they're all Twilight's students in friendship. Unfortunately that's going to require the other five ponies spending the majority of most episodes holding the Idiot Ball so that Twilight can be the mature voice of reason.

• Jossed. Twilight and her friends give lessons about their respective elements to other ponies.

Season 4 will end with Canterlot being destroyed and Ponyville becoming the new capital of Equestria.

Promos for MLP's fourth season have stated that the quest for the keys can change the destiny of Ponyville forever. What destiny can this be? Well, maybe the next major villain will end up obliterating Canterlot. Now, Equestria's capital city will need to be rebuilt, but it might be easier to simply promote another city to capital and develop it more. Ponyville would be a great candidate for Equestria's new capital city. It's the closest to the old capital and it's the home of Princess Twilight Sparkle. It'll also mean the main setting will be a bit more exciting in later episodes.

• Not to mention the symbolism. Ponyville is one of the few places in Equestria we've seen that appears to have a pretty equal mix of the three main pony races. Ponyville would represent harmony and equality.
• Jossed. Canterlot remains intact, but Ponyville DOES get a new castle.

The six keys will be found by six duos, based on the new ponies in the opening.

Possible groups:

• Mr and Mrs. Cake (should be obvious why)
• Snips and Snails (again, should be obvious why)
• Big Mac and Granny Smith (again, should be obvious)
• Apple Bloom and Zecora (Zecora doesn't really have much interaction with other ponies outside of the Mane Six, except Apple Bloom)
• Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo (Apple Bloom is with Zecora, so I guess these two will have to be duos)
• Spike and Mayor Mare (Yeah, I got nothin)
  • If the shining rainbow things are the Keys, this is jossed, as they are items that are given to the Mane 6 by a third party.

The Equestria Games will be the season finale. However, it will be a fake out.

It'll be like A Canterlot Wedding, where it sets something up but the real conflict will turn out to be something else. Possibly even a return of the changelings, wanting to steal the Crystal Heart to empower themselves.

• Jossed. They're held in episode 24, BEFORE the finale. The villain has nothing to do with the games.

The keys will be found in different shows on the Hub.

Having no knowledge of their current lineup or future plans, I cannot possibly comment further.

• Jossed.

Sunset Shimmer will return in season 5.

But it won't be as an antagonist: instead, some new threat has surfaced in the world where Canterlot High exists, and has captured Sunset's closest friends. The Mane Six (and Spike) will cross over, assuming the form of their human counterparts, and will all help Sunset rescue the kidnapped girls and enable their group to defeat the villain.

In a subplot, there will be some amusing scenes of the five ponies and their human counterparts meeting and being surprised by one another. In the very end, as the ponies and Spike are returning to their world, Twilight's counterpart will show up, having just transferred in to the school, and be shocked to see her double passing through the mirror. When she asks what's going on, Sunset and her friends will happily welcome the newcomer and promise to explain what's going on. (Then cut to the Pony!Equestria again, where everyone's back to their normal shapes.)

• The "Sunset returns to ask for help when a new threat surfaces" part is confirmed in Equestria Girls 2.

Each of the The End... Or Is It? stingers of season four will come into play in the culmination of the season long story arc.

So far there have been three episodes that use the eye catch gag at the end of the episode to show that the problem of the episode may not be over.EP 3: Castle Mania- The Pony of Shadows appears to be real after all and is shown as a silhouette at the end.EP 6: Power Ponies - The Enchanted Comic disappears from it's place on the lectern after being read. (This is incidentally the same room the pony of shadows was spying on in EP 3)EP 7: BATS!- Fluttershy is revealed not to be entirely cured of her Bat pony nature.

This is very noticeable especially since the writers seem to be trying to put as much continuity, both into the story of this season and call backs to all previous seasons, that they can in each episode.

• Jossed.

A Myth Arc was planned for season 4, but has been canned or cut down severely.

The premiere of season 4 ended with something that could have given a sense of continuity to the series, much like the Grand Galloping Gala approaching in season 1. However, the writers realized too late that having to gather six MacGuffins doesn't make for a very good overarching plot like the Gala did - it's hard to it in a horizontal narrative without certain things happening - it's a downside of a television show. One could watch some of the episodes referring to the Gala and not be left in the dark (Since they may be aired out of order in reruns or during syndication) but with this show, a new viewer could watch an episode where they uncover the third key, two more episodes where they don't mention the six keys arc at all, then another where they find... the fifth key and have called attention to the keys that were previously found, causing the viewer to get confused. I think one of three things will happen:
1) The arc is an Aborted Arc and hastily crammed into the season finale just because they know the Periphery Demographic is watching and tends to keep track of such things. Obviously they don't think much of the intended demographic of young girls, if Equestria Girls is anything to go by.
2) The arc is aborted outright, with the season finale being a standalone adventure. The characters never mention anything like the chest that they had to open again. (This is least likely.)
3) The arc was cut back in order to make a lot of standalone episodes, leading to odd periods where Twilight and the others suddenly care about collecting the six MacGuffins, then are much more concerned about the new Daring Do novel or motivating the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

• Jossed. The keys show up over the course of five episodes (with the finale revealing the last one), and references to the chest are seen a few times over the course of the season.

The box from the Tree of Harmony will contain new Elements of Harmony...

...Including a seventh Element, which nobody has ever seen before. At first, this is treated quite tongue-in-cheek; Unsure of who the seventh barer of the element is, the Mane Six hold auditions for possible candidates (American Idol style) but in the end disagree on the qualities that they should even be searching for. Then a new, powerful villain appears. To demonstrate how powerful it is, Discord loses in a fight against it. The Mane Six then frantically tries to find the seventh barer to no avail. The villain then attacks the Mane Six, but Spike deflects its blow, getting seriously hurt in the process. The seventh element then starts to glow around him, and Spike is healed by its magic. It turns out that Spike is the barer that they had been searching for. Together, the seven unleash an attack that manages to defeat the new villain.

Afterwards, Princess Celestia comes by, and explains that in order to become a bearer of an Element of Harmony, one must earn the privilege. The new element is dubbed the Element of Valor.

• Sadly jossed. At least, the "seventh element" part. The heroes still get a temporary upgrade, but it doesn't appear to involve physical objects.

The six keys will be received in episodes where the specific element of the character is tested

This idea is based on the fact that Episodes 8, 10, 11, and 12 of season 4 specifically call the respective element trait of the lead character into question.In episode 8 Rarity's generosity is tested when being generous leads to her work being plagiarized.In episode 10, Rainbow Dash's loyalty is tested when she has to pick between two groups she is loyal to.In episode 11, Twilight's Friendship (magic) is tested when a friend needs her but she has things she would rather do.In episode 12, Pinkie's laughter is tested when she meets someone who is a bigger (better?) party er than her.

Following this thought there will be an upcoming episode in which Fluttershy's kindness causes problems, and one where Applejack's honesty is tested either via having to keep a secret or being too honest about something.

• Excluding episode 11, that pretty much is what happened during the Key episodes.

Cocoa Pomel's thread pool is Rarity's key

Why would it have such focus at the end of episode 8?

• Confirmed.

The box will contain Rainbow Power-ups for the Mane Six.

With this image: http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:BenRG/Rainbow_Power_-_The_Surprise_Reveal%3F , the spectrum of light shown when in Rarity Takes Manehattan after her realization, and the thread pool being a rainbow color (read above WMG), this could be possible. If the finale is a 2 parter, and if there's a villain, then the Mane Six could use the Rainbow Power as a way of beating them.

• Oh yeah.

Season 4 will introduce Fluttershy's Rival.

Currently, we have Trixie, the Flim Flam Brothers, Lightning Dust, Suri Polomare, and possible the upcoming Cheese Sandwitch in Pinkie Pride, than that just leaves Fluttershy without an antithesis.

• Jossed on Cheese though, he's actually very nice and Pinkie was his inspiration to be a party pony.
• Main guess also jossed.

All of the Keys will be rainbow-coloured and/or are made Keys by feelings of the Elements.

If the spool of thread is Rarity's key (as it most likely is), the key for Generosity would logically be purple if they were colour-coded to the original elements (whose shatter fragments likewise glowed the colours that corresponded), like the element itself, but the thread was rainbow-coloured, like what happens when the Elements are used. The Keys are not set nor pre-made, but they are turned into keys by extremely strong feelings of Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty, Honesty, and Friendship/Magic. They serve as sort of a vessel for those emotions concentrated. If this is true, and if my first statement is also true, then the items are turned rainbow-coloured when they become Keys.

• In other words, like friendship, the keys are not found but forged by random acts of kindness, loyalty, laughter, honesty, generosity, and, well, in this case magic. An ordinary item, such as a spool of thread, becomes a key when gifted in gratitude for one of the acts.
  • This is looking confirmed, as Rainbow's theoretical Key is a Wonderbolts badge and thus not something that can be picked up at a store because it simply calls to one as the perfect gift of gratitude.

The Closeup cliffhangers are Cow Tools...

Meant to hide the locations of the keys. Each episode of the season except the premier and finale will end on a close up of something that will never show up for the rest of the season except those with a rainbow coloring (like the thread pool Coco gave Rarity), those will become the keys to the chest. The rest are to throw the fans off and make the Chekhovs Guns more unpredictable, Those some of the objects (Fluttershy's fangs) will also become plot points to help with the illusion (as rainbow colored objects tend to be obvious).

Each of the Mane Six will get a "Key" from making a new friend

Rarity got her's from Coco, Pinkie may get her key from Cheese Sandwich and Twilight from her sick friend.

• Jossed? I guess? Rainbow got her's from Spitfire, and they're already sort of friends.

Each of the Keys will be acquired through a challenge that in some way resembles or mirrors their original challenges from Elements of Harmony Pt. 2

Suri Polomare has a purple mane and tail almost the exact shade of Steven Magnet's scales, and fabulosity is the subject at hand in both cases. However where Steven Magnet was genuinely touched by Rarity's generosity and not only calmed down nigh instantly, but helped them, Suri Polomare was only putting on an act that she needed a 'swatch' of the fabric, and abused Rarity's generosity. A bonus: the fabric is a similar colour to Rarity's tail◊; the main colour, since the outlines are nearly the exact same shade of purple. It sounds as if Rainbow Falls goes a similar path to the Shadowbolts vs Mane 5 thing; a competitive team possibly offering RD a really good position on the team compared to the less competitive but dependable team she's already with. Pinkie Pride will be the one to really make or break this guess, as Twilight didn't exactly face any challenges.

• Since Rainbow Falls ended with the badge Rainbow got at the competition glowing the same way the spool of thread did at the end of Rarity Takes Manehattan, this is looking more and more likely.

We're due for a "drugs are bad" aesop soon.

More specifically, the 20th episode of the current season.

• It doesn't look like they intend to actually do one of these. People though Episode 22 would be, but it's been jossed by the writer. Unless, of course, they were lying.
  • Does Inspiration Manifestation count?

The keys come from teaching and inspiring others about their element.

Rarity's example causes Coco to rediscover the value of Generosity after she had almost given up on it; Rainbow Dash is able to show Spitfire the importance of loyalty.In a sense, it links into the theme of passing on what they have learned.

• Looking more and more likely, as the online release of "Pinkie Pride" reveals that Cheese Sandwich (whom Pinkie gets her key from) learned the value of laughter from her... albeit when he was much younger, leading to his becoming the party pony he is today, and he came back to Ponyville in part to show her this.

The Equestria Games episode will have a lot of returning characters, particularly the foil characters/antagonists

They'll have various reasons for being there. Come up with your own.

• Trixie: Performing for the opening ceremonies.
• Sunset Shimmer: Will be seen through the Crystal Mirror.
  • Highly unlikely, since she was supposed to be movie-exclusive.
• Prince Blueblood, Jet Set, and Upper Crust: Wealthy enough to afford tickets.
• Suri Polomare: Providing uniforms for the Manehatten team.
  • Seeing as Suri didn't actually make her own designs, instead stealing ideas from Rarity and forcing Coco to do all the work, this doesn't look likely. Still, she could appear.
• Gilda: Competing in the sprinting competition.
• Lightning Dust: Ditto.
• Flim Flam Brothers: Providing drinks/conning suckers.
• Cheese Sandwich: Entertainer.
• Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon: Their families are rich enough to afford tickets, and they might want to mess up the CMC's routine to embarrass them in front of everyone.
• Nightmare Moon: Appearing in a cameo by a shapeshifted Luna.
• Discord: Appearing in same act as Nightmare Moon.
• Diamond Dogs: Here to steal the from the Crystal Kingdom.
• Chrysalis: Here to steal the Crystal Heart.
  • Partially confirmed, partially jossed: Prince Blueblood is seen attending; so are Gilda and Cheese Sandwich, but none of them have plot-relevant roles.

There's a benevolent secret society that hands out plot-advancing MacGuffins to ponies in need. Spitfire and Coco Pommel are members, hence the rainbow items.

I mean, isn't it a little weird that two wildly different ponies who presumably have never met are handing out weird, magical items with a rainbow theme? The only rational explanation is that they're part of the Equestrian Illuminati, covertly helping the Mane Six by testing their resolve and giving them MacGuffins. Don't worry, they're good guys.

• Not officially jossed, but it may as well be. It's more likely that the magic of the chest would have caused whatever item the characters were given to become their key.

Rainbow Ponies will be a thing in the later episodes of the fourth season.

Hasbro has released a new MLP: FIM toyline of the Mane Six, called the rainbow ponies. It seems to fall in with the mysterious rainbow shimmer Rarity's spool and Rainbow's badge give off at the end of their respective episodes. We shall wait and see...

• Confirmed. It's in the finale.

The Keys are about the mane 6 teaching their element to other ponies.

Rarity's rainbow thread came from Coco, who originally believed it was everypony for herself until Rarity inspired her with her generosity. Rainbow's badge was a gift from Spitfire, who saw no problem in lying to her teammate and getting an athlete from a rival team to fly for her until Rainbow demonstrated a great deal of loyalty. Each of the other Keys will be gifts from ponies who the mane 6, in a manner of speaking, give their element to.

• Further support in episode 12, "Pinkie Pride". Pinkie receives her Key from Cheese Sandwich, after he tells her about how she inspired him to become a party pony - essentially, overcoming his shyness and giving him Laughter. And For Her, It Was Tuesday!

An episode with a special item will focus on only one of the main 6

For example, Pinkie Pride was a Pinkie Episode.

The ponies who give the Mane 6 their keys will make an appearance in the Season 4 finale.

• Confirmed! (It's a non-speaking cameo for each of them, but they appeared.)

The Keys of Harmony story arc and Equestria Games subplot will be intertwined.

• Jossed, technically. Rainbow Dash DID get her key in an Equestria Games episode, but that's the only time it ever came up.

A future episode will have Luna entering Apple Bloom/Babs Seed's dreams, or will feature Luna interacting with all of the CMC.

• Season 5, episode 4. Apple Bloom gets her dream episode, along with all three appearing in one dream.

Twilight will receive her key in Episode 24.

There seems to be two patterns of how three each of the Mane 6 receive their keys in terms of episodes. In the first pattern, it was every two episodes with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie obtaining their keys in Episodes 8, 10, and 12 respectively. Now the second pattern is looking to be every four episodes with Fluttershy gaining her key in Episode 16 and Applejack possibly getting her key in Episode 20, meaning that in terms of this pattern, Episode 24 will be when Twilight acquires her key.

• Appears to be jossed, as the summary for episode 24, titled "Equestria Games", indicates it as a Spike episode.
• Definitely jossed. She got it in the last episode of the season.

The last two episodes of Season 4 will be a two-parter.

• Confirmed

Season 4 will end with the Equestria Games.

Each season so far has begun and ended with a major Equestrian event:

• Season 1: Began with the Summer Sun Celebration, ended with the Grand Galloping Gala.
• Season 2: Began with the return and defeat of Discord, ended with the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.
• Season 3: Began with the return of the Crystal Empire and defeat of King Sombra, ended with the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Season 4 had already begun with a second Summer Sun Celebration, so it's only fitting that another major Equestrian event would close the season. What better event than the Equestria Games?

• Jossed: they're the penultimate event of the season.

Spike's Butt-Monkey status of Season 4 will come to a head near the Season Finale

As most people have noticed, Spike has gotten the shaft in numerous episodes in Season 4. It could be building up to a Played for Drama moment concerning the Equestria Games. Since the games are somewhat based on Sochi's Winter Olympics, perhaps MLP can do its own take on the controversy surrounding the 2014 Olympics. An example would be that Spike is not allowed to attend the games, because it takes place in the Crystal Empire, and dragons can probably eat crystals.

• Jossed. Spike is regarded as a hero in the Crystal Empire, even moreso after his actions in Equestria Games.

The Season 4 Finale, like the premiere, will be a two parter, without any actual villain.

Of course, that doesn't mean there isn't any threat. There could be some sort of ancient force or disaster, or maybe one of the Mane Six will massively screw something up, leading to an adventure to save Equestria. Maybe they can even transform into those "Rainbow Power" ponies to save it.

• Semi-confirmed. It IS an ancient force... a G4 version of Tirek, and they do become Rainbow Ponies to stop him.

The Keys are found when the Mane Six obtain a more complete understanding of their Element

Such as Rarity coming to the understanding generosity is a two way street and just as she shouldn't let HER'S be abused, she shouldn't abuse the generosity of others. This ties into the idea what's in the Box is an upgrade over the Elements: it can only be obtained when the mane six have a more complete understanding of their Element.

Twilight will get her key after teaching another character about the magic of friendship.

Each character so far seems to have gotten a key after teaching someone else about their element, so it stands to reason.

• CONFIRMED!

Who will give Twilight her key.

Since Twilight is the only pony without a key, time to speculate who will give it:

• Discord
• Trixie
• Perhaps another one-shot pony character, since that's been the norm for everybody else.
• None of the above. It's her three fellow princesses.
• The previous spoiler is jossed. It IS Discord.

Twilight will get her key from a unicorn

It's the only pony race that hasn't given a key yet.

• Not quite. There's also alicorns.
• And, definitely jossed. It's a draconequus.

Twilight will get her key from someone she helped in the past.

There seems to be a pattern:

• Rarity and Applejack got their keys from someone they helped get away from a jackass.
• Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash helped good but antagonistic people find their way again.
• So that means Twilight will have something reminiscent of Pinkie Pie's, where her antagonist is a well meaning individual she helped in the past.
• An early review suggests this is definitely correct... her key is the magic she got from the other princesses.
• Actually, having watched the episodes, it now looks closer to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's situation.

There will be an Apple Bloom episode where Luna enters her dreams...

Predicted solely because the other two CMCs have had that plot element already.

• Confirmed: season 5, episode 4.

The primary antagonist of the season 4 two-part finale will be a revived Flutterbat.

Brace yourselves, this is a long'un.

Flutterbat was created because the spell Twilight used to remove the vampire fruit bats' desire to be what they are reflected onto Fluttershy while Fluttershy was using The Stare on the bats. While reversing the spell seemed to fix the problem at the end of Bats!, there's no guarantee that the spell didn't backfire in some way again. In fact, the very last scene strongly implies that Fluttershy wasn't completely restored to how she used to be pre-Bats!, so this contributor suspects that Flutterbat still exists as a secondary expression of Fluttershy's personalty... and is now sentient, actively malevolent, and the real dominant personality, a la The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

How does this lead into Flutterbat being the primary villain of the season 4 finale? Well, sucking the juice out of apples may not be what sustains the new and improved Flutterbat. Maybe she DOES, in fact, eat other ponies... or, rather, drains their life force and steals any magical abilities they were blessed with, at least for a while. She spends the day pretending everything's fine and that Fluttershy is back to normal while going out at night to research the villains from previous seasons, and, with the rest of the Mane Six left unable to stop her without harming Fluttershy in the process, reveals herself and embarks on a journey to find and drain each of the remaining past villains of their power, starting with Queen Chrysalis, so she can build an army of vampire ponies and take over Equestria.

This would also explain why Discord would be chosen to deal with her first, rather than Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia would reasonably conclude that since Fluttershy was the one pony who managed to reform Discord and likely also the one pony he's spent the most amount of time around, the two would have grown to be fairly close friends since the season premier — close enough that Discord would be the only one truly capable of holding out in an "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight against an increasingly powerful Flutterbat. The fact that the finale is going to be another two-parter means that even Discord will fail to stop Flutterbat; ultimately, the only thing capable of even scratching Flutterbat will be a Twilight Sparkle armed with the full power of the other three princesses, because no singularly powerful being is capable of standing up to Flutterbat, regardless of who and how powerful they are.

• Jossed. It's the G4 version of Tirek.

The box will contain something in some way connected to the EQ universe for "Rainbow Rocks."

It would explain the "Rainbow Connection" with the box and the title of the movie. And, someone please correct me if I'm wrong about this, but there doesn't seem to be much information on the plot of the movie yet.

• If that's the case... then I guess we know what route the show took when Pinkie Pie started rapping and the Jaws theme started playing.
• Half-confirmed. It gave them a temporary power-up and Twilight a new castle. The only connection to Rainbow Rocks is that the color schemes of their Rainbow Forms seem to be reflected in the upgraded anthro-modes.

The box will give the Mane Six an invokable Super Mode

And which will give them the Rainbow effects seen in a few art pieces in the toy lines. They won't look like this all the time, but can invoke the change at will to give themselves a power up when dealing with threat situations.

• Seems logical. The heroes have already used it once and then reverted to normal afterward. The "invokable at will" part has yet to be confirmed though.

Entries to move to Jossed or Confirmed, part 3

Season 5 will have more action, adventure, and worldbuilding.

Though the show will stay true to it's roots by having lessons and relatable scenarios and slice-of-life problems.

• Worldbuilding confirmed.
• Corollary: all the locations on Hasbro's map of Equestria will get A Day in the Limelight at least once. Further ideas (fee free to contribute, everyone):
  • Applewood - be prepared for wave after wave of Shout Outs to every era of Hollywood, with pony versions of everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Arnold Schwarzenegger. The actual plot... hmm... perhaps a minotaur actor who's sick of being typecast in villain/meatheaded action hero roles, and needs our heroines' help to realize that he can do more nuanced, cultured roles.
    • There may or may not be some revelation that the town was founded (and is perhaps still being run) by a branch of the Apple family.
  • Las Pegasus - one of the Mane Six (most likely Applejack or Rainbow) becomes stubbornly obsessed with winning that one game at the casinos, becomes Trapped by Gambling Debts, and Hilarity Ensues.
  • Baltimare - Comic-Con episode, with some ponies geeking out, at least one not understanding what's all the fuss, and Spike meeting such icons as Curtain Vial, Endless Star, and Zenith.
  • Vanhoover - Okay, I got nothin'. Anyone?
  • Jossed. Although Las Pegasus did appear in Season 6.

The 100th episode the long awaited background Pony episode.

For reference, the 100th episode will be the 9th episode of season 5. Maybe only focusing on the six most popular (Derpy, Doctor, Vinyl, Octavia, Lyra, and Bon Bon.)

• Confirmed.

The next 'villain' in the show will be a political one, and the episode in question will be a political thriller.

Picture this. With what is essentially four demigods in power, other countries might start to feel threatened and try to either get rid of them or steal the Elements of Harmony (or just uproot the bloody Tree). Better yet, there aren't just two parties involved, and the show will delve into a sort of Grey-and-Gray Morality with the different parties, with some White (Mane Six, Flash Sentry as a bodyguard, Cadance and Shining) and Black (The mastermind/villain who wants Equestria for himself, possibly Sombra to further screw with things) to balance out the Gray/Grey/curse your alternate spellings (The different parties, possibly Griffin/Gryphon/again with the spellings Kingdom, maybe even Celestia and Luna). It doesn't have to be violent, but the mood will probably be like End of Evangelion as in after all of the more supernatural foes are defeated, now it's time to face the most dangerous enemy: ponies (and gryphons/griffins/http://www.stfu.org, but who gives a crap about them, am I right?). Bonus points if Scorpan makes an appearance.

• Jossed. Starlight Glimmer's just a jerk with strange powers and a twisted philosophy.

The 100th Episode will be a Milestone Celebration

That or just be heavily promoted.

• Already confirmed as a milestone celebration, and the Lower-Deck Episode we've been waiting for.

All of the Mane Six will move into Twilight's castle

There will be an episode early in season five where Twilight has trouble adjusting to living in a new place. The others will help her to ease the transition by moving in with her. This can lead to other episodes where the characters have to get used to leaving home and now living with each other.

• Not yet... they did help decorate to make it feel more like a home, but they aren't moving in.

The town in MLP:FIM's Season 5 animatic is a parody of Unicornicopia from My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic.

There's an alicorn, the cutie marks (equal signs) are the exact same (kind of like how Unicornicopians' are nothing but numbers and letters) and they seem to be convinced their lives under the system are awesome. The Mane 6 and Spike shall teach them that friendship is magic and that differences aren't inequality.

• No alicorn there, just a unicorn. And yes, the Mane Six do point out the wrongness of Starlight's philosophy.

The opening episodes of season five will tie into the "Cutie Mark Magic" theme from the toy line.

Various trailers have shown the town where everyone's marks are resemble equal signs and at least some of the Mane Six get their marks changed as well. Whatever it is that puts it all right will somehow give the six their new Cutie Mark Magic and possibly set off another season long story arc saimilar to season four's key arc.

• Yes. The Cutie Map is definitely linked to their magic.

Gilda will return.

And will be hell-bent on revenge, and trying to kill and eat Pinkie Pie. (Hey, griffons ARE supposed to eat horses, after all.) It will end with Fluttershy defeating Gilda, as revenge for making her cry in the episode before.

• Or there could be a shout-out to Revenge of the Sith as Rainbow Dash has to fight Gilda.
  • If that's the case, then as an Element of Harmony, wouldn't RD be the one more fitting as The Chosen One archetype and therefore be in the role of Anakin?
  • Then Gilda could win the fight, but Fluttershy comes in and defeats her at the last minute.
  • Why does it have to be Fluttershy? Why can't it be Pinkie or another of the Mane Six?
    • Because Fluttershy is getting revenge on Gilda for making her cry. That would make the fans extremely happy.
    • Return confirmed, motivation jossed.

There will be an episode where one member of the CMC gets their cutie mark first.

One member of the CMC will get her cutie mark before the others. Or maybe two of them will get their mark around the same time, with one still having a "blank flank". This will lead to whichever filly is left out feeling like they don't have as much to do with their friends anymore. But by the end of the episode, they'll learn that just because a friend changes, doesn't mean they have to stop being friends.

• My bet's on Scootaloo, since she has a probably special talent (scooter riding).
• The one(s) with their cutie marks will still be accepted as friends, but kicked out of the organization with an already made medal of success.
  • Actually discussed early in season 5, including the lesson.

A possible idea if Discord does return...

He has lost a lot of his powers while being stoned, so he assembles an army of previous villains who each want revenge on each of the Mane Six.

• Twilight - Trixie
• Pinkie Pie - The Companion Cube squad from Party of One (who were alive all along and were controlling Pinkie then)
• Rainbow Dash - Gilda (who also wants revenge on Pinkie, but mostly Rainbow for abandoning her)
• Applejack - Flim Flam Brothers
• Fluttershy - Cockatrice and/or Iron Will
  • Or one if the Flim Flam Brothers is Applejack's Shadow Archetype and the other is Fluttershy's. Given how they kicked the Apple family while they were down...
• Rarity - Diamond Dogs and/or Prince Blueblood
• At the end, the villains get tired of working for Discord, and end up helping the Mane Six defeat him again.
  • I like the idea that Discord summons their so-called evil counterparts, makes some dramatic speech, only for the counterparts to be wondering what the heck is going on because they were poofed over there without consultation, and they reject Discord's offer on the basis that they don't live their lives obsessing over the Mane Cast.
• Preferably as a two parter. The first could end with a cliffhanger featuring the villains 'defeating' the main six. Thus, the second episode could begin with a different opening, sung by Discord and his gang and ending with the show being titled "My Little Pony, Chaos is Awesome" or something along those lines.
• Confirmed original WMG; Discord has become a recurring villain with two appearances already so far in Seasons 3 and 4.
• Recurring villain? He's reformed. (There was a bit of a Heel–Face Revolving Door for a bit, but he's fully reformed now.)

The ponies will visit Griffonville.

Or wherever the griffons live. Gilda and Gustave le Grand will be seen as background characters.

• That new map seems to indicate they're from another country. We might see "Griffontown", some area of a major city where griffons congregate.
  • It's Griffonstone, and Gilda is a major character when they go.

Gilda will return, but will have a much more pleasant demeanor.

She was in the area and comes by Ponyville, claiming she wants to have Rainbow Dash as a friend again. The Mane Cast all think it's just a trick, but by the end she will have convinced them that she really has changed. The lesson at the end would be that folks can change and that it's not always fair to hold them accountable for things forever.

• Return confirmed; pleasant demeanor jossed. At first. She was still a jerk when she returned, but see next guess:

We'll get an episode where Pinkie Pie tries to help Rainbow Dash restore her friendship with Gilda.

After going somewhere for the episode, they would happen to come across Gilda, who would avoid RD and the others. Rainbow Dash would reveal how she and Gilda met and became friends, and Pinkie Pie, feeling bad about how her previous attempt to get Gilda to get along with Rainbow Dash's other friends backfired, would decide to make an attempt to sort things out.

• "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" in a nutshell, though it doesn't play out exactly as stated. Still, they work things out.

Tank is going to be a hero when he returns.

It will take place when the Mane Six, or Rainbow Dash specifically, are in danger. Tank will have a combination He's Back!/Big Damn Heroes moment to save the day as his torpor ends, leading to a happy reunion with Dash.

• Jossed. He shows up with no fanfare at all in Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?, as part of a pet spa date.

Princess Luna will step in with regard to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's bullying.

Scootaloo will mention what DT and SS have been doing and Luna decides to given them a few nightmares, particularly centring about them losing their Cutie Marks. Perhaps it will become a bit more psychological as we end up discovering a bit more about their motivations.

• Jossed. She didn't have anything to do with their reforming - it was all the Crusaders' doing.

Diamond Tiara will become a better pony...

MLP loves its character development, and the trend is definitely in the direction of jerks gradually becoming more amiable over time. Besides, we've seen Diamond Tiara humiliated time after time, but it's always been a way to wrap up an episode, instead of focusing on how she realizes her actions hurt her as well as others. Idea: Tiara grows bored easily out-competing the CMCs in the lemonade stand-business, so she takes it upon herself to buy up a lot of the businesses and homes in Ponyville. She becomes a horrible slum-lord, poorly maintaining her properties and kicking out her tenants when they can't afford the exorbitant rent. Then it's revealed how she got the money to quickly buy up everything: She took a loan from the Dragon Mafia, the don of which threatens to burn down her collection of expensive shoes if she can't pony up the dough in a week. The debt is too large for even her father to help pay back, so she sells everything back to their original owners, all but her favorite shoes and other possessions, and, tearfully, her trademark tiara. But this still isn't enough. With only a few days left, she begs for work from the other ponies and takes on a variety of humiliating jobs: Hauling apples to market, attempting to give Opal a bath, becoming Silver Spoon's servant for a day, and, finally, donning a mascot costume for the CMC's lemonade stand. Finally, she is able to pay back the Don. But along the way, she realizes how hard the other ponies work for a living and how badly she was taking advantage of them.

• Confirmed. She reforms in Crusaders of the Lost Mark. (The business part, though, is jossed.)

One of Twilight's goals, once her position is officially defined

Will be to try and encourage Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to become better ponies rather than bullies, and get them to develop an actual friendship with the Cutie Mark Crusaders rather than being antagonistic toward the trio. It'd be a fitting task for the Princess of Friendship.

• Jossed. She didn't have anything to do with their reforming - it was all the Crusaders' doing.

Cadence is Pregnant.

Shining Armour & Cadence have been married for quite some time now. They must be probably be thinking of having kids (or should I say foals) by now.

• Confirmed in The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows.

A late episode in season 5 will be titled "The last Crusade."

Season 5 is focusing on cutie marks, so it makes sense that the Crusaders will finally discover their own cutie marks.

• Title jossed; the Crusaders get their marks in "Crusaders of the Lost Mark".

Rarity opens up a franchise in Canterlot.

And from then on, roughly half of the episodes take place there.

• While the essence of this is confirmed, as Rarity does open a store in Canterlot, no episodes have taken place in Canterlot because of it since.

Diamond Tiara will temporarily lose her cutie mark.

She has to spend a whole week without it, and comes to respect the CMCs a little more. She still remains friends with them once she gets her cutie mark back (but she keeps it a secret).

• Jossed - she became friends with the group after they helped her understand her existing Cutie Mark.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon will be the next big bads of the series.

Celestia comes down to visit Ponyville, but accidentally drops this special gemstone that gives her her magic powers. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon find it, and Tiara puts it on as a necklace. Suddenly, she gains all the powers that Celestia had, and decides to use these powers for evil. After giving these powers to Spoon, the two usurp Celestia and Luna, and become the new rulers. They also take away all the pony's cutie marks, along with the talents they represent. The ponies end up with cutie mark failure insanity symdrome, and all go crazy, including the mane six. At first it looks like the two have won, but then the Cutie Mark Crusaders step in. Being pretty much the only ones without cutie marks, they ends up being the Only Sane Ponies. Diamond Tiara laughs at the idea of two mere fillies defeating her, and blasts a huge ball of fire at the trio. Suddenly, Sweetie Belle manages to master her magic, and blocks the fire away. Tiara then gets angry, and uses more magic to knock the three off a cliff. Immediately, though, Scootaloo masters her ability to fly, and carries her two friends back up. Apple Bloom ends up in a huge fight with Tiara, and ends up knocking the necklace off. All of Tiara's powers suddenly wear off, and everything goes back to normal, including the ponies getting their cutie marks back. The CMC get their cutie mark, Celestia gets her gemstone, and her kingdom, back, and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are sent to Celestia's prison. Ok, so a lot of fans would get mad that the CMC stole the mane six's title for heroes of the series, but at least they would get a cutie mark.

• The CMC could use the Fires of Friendship, that requires 3 ponies
• Not the next Big Bad — we already know that's Discord. Maybe after that?
• I'm calling this jossed. They Heel-Face-Turned in season 5.

Discord will return, and the Mane Cast form an Enemy Mine with Queen Chrysalis against him

They point out that Discord loves breaking the bonds between ponies, and with no bonds to produce love for the Changelings to feed off of, they'll suffer as much as the ponies will. Optional: At the end, the Mane Cast will end up defeating them both at once with the Elements.

• Jossed. Discord wound up Heel-Face-Turning.

Princess Cadance will get pregnant

The plot will revolve around Shining's feelings about becoming a father and Twilight's feelings about becoming an aunt.

• Shining Armor may fear that he might not be able to see his future child very often due to his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard.
  • Considering that it's now confirmed that Cadence is pregnant, there could likely be an episode dealing with Shining Armor's nerves about fatherhood, and going to Twilight or even the full Mane 6 about it, possibly the episode having each of them giving different advice that doesn't really sit well with him, and Cadence finds out and it's her advice that makes him feel better (or even just her admitting she's nervous and uncertain, too). Though considering he's no longer the captain of the guard, it's probably more likely he'll be worried about parenting vs being the Prince of the Crystal Empire.
• Shining Armor and Princess Cadance might take babysitting lessons from Pinkie Pie in preparation.
  • This one is weird to me- Cadence already knows a lot about babysitting, and it's likely Shining Armor does, too, since he, like Cadence, probably babysat filly Twilight. Why would they need lessons?
• It may be revealed in the end that Princess Cadance isn't really pregnant thus bringing either relief or disappointment to the married couple.
• They really want it but something goes wrong and Cadance's life will be in grave danger if she sees the pregnancy through. She will get an abortion.
  • This part of the guess is really unlikely since this show is aimed at 6 year old girls. Celestia only knows how parents would react to a young princess getting an abortion, since many people believe abortion is sinful and counts as murder. Still, there's hope for Cadance getting pregnant, or at least showing up with a baby at some point.
• Confirmed. The pregnancy was announced in season 5; season 6 opens with the group meeting the foal for the first time.

Alternate to the above: it will be Discord who steps in with regard to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's bullying.

Discord could probably do so much more to them, he could probably steal their Cutie Marks or mess with their Earth Pony abilities. However, the CMCs themselves get a lesson in not taking the most extreme option when there are others available. You see, after the bully duo surrender, they make a condition that the CMCs face their own backlash in case they do something crazy and stupid, like when they tried to drive Babs into the lakeside which, if something went wrong, could have drowned her, or when they drugged Big Mac and Cheerilee, or that time they almost got Fluttershy turned to stone when they decided to wander off into a dangerous forest at night. That last one sets Discord off and he sets his sights on the CMCs (not really, but he does make a big show about it to make a point).

• Jossed - they Heel-Face-Turned in season 5, and it was the Crusaders who played a big part in it.

Starlight Glimmer is a henchpony for a G4 version of Arabus

There has to be a good reason why she's stealing other ponies' Cutie Marks (and has a particular interest in Twilight's and the rest of the Mane Six, as she still had those in hand when the townsfolk regained their Cutie Marks). Hence it's likely that she's actually trying to steal Cutie Marks in order to feed them to a G4 version of Arabus (the cloud-like being from the G1 episode Bright Lights), with Arabus offering to have Starlight retain her Cutie Mark in exchange for serving him. Only problem with that: the Season 5 finale could end up being a rehash of Twilight's Kingdom.

Starlight Glimmer will return...

But she won't be defeated by the Mane Six, or even fight them at all. Instead, the episode will revolve around Double Diamond, Night Glider, Party Favor, and Sugar Belle being the ones to defeat her because the mane six weren't called to the town to defeat Starlight, but to inspire those four to be that town's heroes and defend it. Starlight is ultimately their villain, not the mane six's. The Mane Six were basically The Mentor.

• Jossed - Starlight was doing this all for herself.

Starlight Glimmer will learn how to use Cutie Marks she has stolen

May lead to an All Your Powers Combined situation. Maybe she will gain this by acquiring the Alicorn Amulet to maximize her potential.

• Jossed. She hasn't used her Mark-stealing ability since the opener.

In the season 5 finale, Starlight will discover and unleash another villain from the original series

Namely, the Smooze. In an ill-thought out attempt to gain revenge, she will release the Smooze, only to become part of it. The Smooze then takes Starlight's philosophy to the logical extreme by trying to cover all of Equestria and make everything "Smooze". The Smooze will even taunt her with this, pointing out that she'll get her wish to make everypony the same.

• The Smooze is showing up in "Make New Friends But Keep Discord", and appears to be a friendly being. But the base concept is pretty likely.
• Jossed - Starlight was doing this all for herself.

Starlight Glimmer is The Dragon for another, more powerful villain.

She says that Twilight's Cutie Mark "could be very important to our cause" because it belongs to a princess. I'm thinking, her "cause" is less this so-called "Equality" and more "needs powerful magic to break a seal confining some powerful enemy". Possibly someone who promised to rid Equestria of its Cutie Marks, and therefore any talent that could make them a threat to this villain? (Personally, I'm thinking Grogar.)

Also, Starlight's remarks at the end make it sound like she's incredibly jealous of anypony who's better at anything than her... taking away their Cutie Marks, and therefore their special talents, would automatically make her the best at everything, which is probably what her boss offered her as a reward for her service. And since it's something he/she/it wants as well, it works out for both of them. Though if this turns out to be the case, I foresee another "betrayal" against their Dragon coming, akin to Tirek's betrayal of Discord... except in this case, it'd be less "for the evulz" and more pragmatic villainy, by ridding themselves of one last Cutie Mark that could be a danger to them.

• Maybe a Government Conspiracy that wants to make Equestria much more controllable and obedient by stripping their individuality?
• Jossed - Starlight was doing this all for herself. However, this short meme video claims that Darth Vader suggested she should create a cult (or she used to fight alongside him before Season 5), but Vader didn't take kindly to her defeat and thus kills her off.

Houlder's "Boulder" will hatch in the season finale

It looks like the finale plot will be Starlight Glimmer undoing the Sonic Rainboom. That means Pinkie likely never got her mark and may have never left the farm. I think she's going to do something in the altered timeline that will cause the giant egg-shaped rock they found in a dragon nest to hatch.

• Jossed

There will be an episode about Celestia and Luna

In it there will be some exploration of her character, i.e. how, like Twilight, she never really had many friends due to her position of power. Before Luna reformed her Phoenix and student Twilight were the only people close to her and even then it was a teacher/student bond. Maybe even give rise to a new threat like the eleents of discord theories or the smooze theories.

• The idea is Confirmed, the episode's name is "A Royal Problem".

Folder 1

Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadance...

Are destined to repeat history and fight the same way Luna and Celestia did 1000 years ago. But this time it will play out differently because Twilight has friends.

The Big Bad of the series will turn out to be none other than...

• Star Swirl the Bearded.
• Equestrius The Creator.
• Senator Rarity Armstrong, who also used nanocrystal illusions to fool both the characters and the viewers and secretly plant mind control chips inside various characters.
• The Elements of Harmony themselves.

The Aesop in the final episode (assuming the series is not canceled mid season) will be about learning to part ways with friends.

The series takes its viewers at least somewhat seriously compared to most girls cartoons. The final planned episode will involve the main cast being called away from Ponyville for their own reasons, with at least a couple in a situation where they won't likely meet the rest of the group again. The episode will involve one of the ponies desperately clinging onto contact with some or all of the other ponies, before learning that her clinginess is only serving to hinder her friends' own lives and making the whole process more painful for everyone involved. Lauren Faust will want to let the target audience know that friendship that suffocates is just selfishness. The ending will be "happy" as the ponies come to terms with the fact, but will still be mildly depressing, just like in Real Life.

• This troper assumes that sooner or later, Twilight Sparkle will have to go back to Canterlot anyhow, so the series finale discussed above would actually make a lot of sense.
• The lesson will be ill taught by Celestia, wishing to keep Twilight from being psychologically tortured later in life like herself. One pony will become dangerously depressed, and Celestia will forbid, in a loving motherly way, Twilight from returning, in an attempt to teach her to let go. The true final lesson will be that while you may have to break paths with friends, that does not mean you must abandon them. This lesson will be one Twilight teaches to Celestia as she escapes back to Ponyville against Celestia's orders.
• Let's be honest, the show's aimed at young girls. Seeing as simply reading the synopsis made this rather stoic troper die a little inside, imagine how the target audience would feel with an ending like that. It's much more likely that the final episode of the first season will be their biggest adventure, but they'd likely still be together at the end. It's what the fans would want, and it leaves room for a second season.
  • Series finale, not season.
    • My bad. My point still stands, however. This is My Little Pony we're talking about. It's pretty likely that they'd end on a high note.
    • Actually, this would be a very logical way to end the series. I remember a bunch of shows I watched as a kid ended with the characters being separated, usually because someone is moving or they'll all be going to different middle/high schools or the improbably long summer camp has finally ended. The episodes would deal with being anxious about separating, coming to terms with forces you can't fight, saying goodbye to someone you love and realizing that you don't have to see someone every day to stay friends with them. Done well, these episodes are both heartwarming and heartbreaking and also one of the best episodes in their series. And they are really important aesops because situations like having to move away or otherwise leave your friends do happen to children and it helps to know that it doesn't have to be so sad and that no matter where they are, you will always have your friends. And for a show that focuses on the power of friendship what better message is there to end on?
• Seriously, it would be a lot more likely that in the final episode Celestia will cave in and let Twilight Sparkle stay in Ponyville, considering her actions in "Ticket Master" and "Bird in the Hoof" (while saying "she'll change her mind eventually" to herself as she had just made Twilight into an immortal God-Princess).
  • The lesson of "learning to say goodbye to your friends" will actually come when Spike eventually grows too large to stay with Twilight and must go into the world to live as an adult dragon.
    • I think that will be (part of) the series finale. A "learning to say goodbye to friends" episode would be touching, especially to those of us who have had to say goodbye to friends who we know we won't see for a long time. One or more of the mane ponies having to say goodbye would be a bit too sad, I think, and it might be difficult to justify one of them leaving for good. If Twilight returned to Canterlot it would not be hard for her to visit regularly and the others could easily spend the rest of their lives in Ponyville. But Spike will grow up and have to leave eventually. And if the series finale does involve anyone having to say goodbye, you can count on declarations of "Confound these ponies they drive me to tears".
    • And being the living fax machine that he is, it would be easy for Spike to keep in contact with Twilight and the other ponies.
• The series finale may be about the friends getting separated... but still end with a high note with Twilight attempting to reunite them. More specifically, she would try to reunite them displaying each of the elements of harmony along the way to drive the point home... and fail, accepting the aesop. However, after some time passes, she realizes she doesn't like being a twilight-god-princess as much as she wants her friends back, and breaks the previous aesop by giving it a second try. Thus deconstructing friendship and then reconstructing it.
• While I'm sure that Aesop will be in an episode, I doubt it will happen like that, especially for a last episode. Personally, I think a new character will join the cast for a little while (just enough time for her to grow on us), and then will have to leave for some reason or another, and the Aesop will be used then. Mostly because I doubt the mane cast will ever have to say goodbye for good to each other, not in a show like this.
• If it resembles this fanfic in any way, this normally collected troper will spending the rest of the day bawwwing his eyes out.
• This is a very interesting idea, and one that would add a great deal of extra depth to an already interesting show. If it appears in the middle of a season, it might be a tremendous Growing the Beard or Cerebus Syndrome moment for the show. And if it happens as the original poster guesses in a Grand Finale of sorts, I will officially declare that episode/group of episodes "My Little Pony's Toy Story 3"
  • Indeed. Also, this could serve as a somewhat mild variation of Torch the Franchise and Run, as, if the characters end up accepting the parting of ways, it could potentially disable any third party Revival of the series (at least involving the characters). If anything, it would most likely be a Reunion Show of some sort. In essence, this would be an excellent episode to finish off the series.

Applejack will be revealed to have been replaced by a Changeling

Why else would she make her "Liarjack" face at the end of A Canterlot Wedding? Also explains why Applejack randomly loses her hat in some scenes in the season 2 finale scuffle.Applejack will turn out to have been lost in the big clone fight between the Mane Six and the Changelings and a changeling follows the rest into Ponyville. Over time, the changeling will grow genuinely fond of the rest of the cast, and beg for forgiveness once the real Applejack is found.

• Alternatively, Applejack encounters an injured Changeling disguised as her near Ponyville (crash-landed after the wedding?), and she has to choose between forgiving the Changeling and helping them (which would likely entail lying to her friends), or just ratting the Changeling out to Ponyville (and risk causing a Changeling Hunt to break out). The episode would end with AJ taking a third option of some kind.
• Applejack would probably let the Changeling masquerade as her so she could go into town unnoticed. She would be unmasked by Apple Bloom, and the third option would be to try to honestly tell Ponyville to accept their new member

The series will have a Distant Finale

The finale will show where the mane six are years from now. Rarity now owns a line of shops in Canterlot, Rainbow Dash has joined the Wonderbolts, Twilight has become a royal archmage, Pinkie Pie has her own bakery in Ponyville, Applejack runs Sweet Apple Acres and Fluttershy has her own animal clinic. Some of the mane six will be shown to have married, with Applejack having a lot of kids, while others are happily single. ("There are many different ways to be a girl", remember? Self-worth doesn't depend on having a man around.) The episode will focus on their annual reunion. While they don't see each other every day like they used to, friendship never truly goes away. Also, we'll get to see a fully grown Spike and the CMC will finally have their cutie marks.

Fluttershy learns to farm.

Fluttershy has always been closer to earth ponies than other Pegasi. When faced with being unable to afford housing and feeding all her animals, Applejack must resort to teaching her how to farm, and Pinkie Pie teaches her how to make her own food, but they both swear her to secrecy.It's been established in the episoe Hearth's Warming Eve that pegasi and unicorns can't grow food. A pegasi learning it would spark the interest of some sort of pegasus supremacist, as learning to farm could make the pegasus race more self sufficient.

The main turmoil will involve Fluttershy's feelings of betraying her race as opposed to never feeling welcomed by them in the first place, while Twilight will show up to pass on the advice she learned in season 1 to Fluttershy.

The return of the Windigoes will appear as season two finale or part of season three.

As of "Putting your Hoof Down," the ponies of Ponyville became ruder, greedier, and more impatient Jerkasses than ever. Eventually some-pony will perform an Moral Event Horizon that not only frees the Windingoes but Discord as well.

• Jossed as far as timing (season three has finished with no such reappearance) and possibly Discord's release unless he has a relapse. Basic premise still seems valid, though.

Dash's second Sonic Rainboom will be important in the future.

Her first one indirectly helped the mane cast to get there Cutie Marks, and (as said below) possibly aided in binding the bearers of the Elements of Harmony together. According to Pinkie, no one's ever done a Sonic Rainboom since. So, it's possible that when one does occur, it has far reaching consequences.

• It kind of was, considering it already happened. In episode 16. Where the plot revolved around Rainbow pulling it off. Just sayin'.
  • I believe the OP meant that the Sonic Rainboom in episode 16 will have greater significance than we currently know.
• Or perhaps it will have something to do with the villains. Just a guess.

A later episode will feature Twilight and company visiting Zecora's homeland.

There'll be some Scenery Porn inspired by the Serengeti Plains, the usual culture shock jokes, maybe an encounter with a monster from African folklore in which they team up with the locals to save the day, and a lesson in mutual respect for other cultures or something.

• The monster from African folklore part intrigues me, as I would be hoping for one of Africa's dinosaur-like cryptids to be put in there. Perhaps the Mane Six and Zecora will have to stop a mokele-mbembe from stopping a river flow? Or maybe Rainbow Dash will get into a dogfight with a high-flying kongamato? Or maybe the Big Bad of the story will be the snakelike nguma-monene? Or some combination of the three?

Should be fun...

• To alleviate any Interchangeable African Cultures problem which bugs me so much (this troper is Nigerian-American) maybe we should create a set country. I alwasys thought Zecora would live in either Botswana (Hoofswana?) Namibia (Windhoof?), or South Africa. She could be from the Serengeti, but I would like to keep one set if country stereotypes together.

Prince Blueblood will learn a lesson in humility.

After he is banished from Canterlot for insulting Celestia's students.

• Hmmm…sounds like the plot of a certain Disney film. Well, if Disney has taught us anything, it's that the only way to teach a spoiled prince to mend his ways is via Forced Transformation. If Blueblood is somehow turned into a creature, either Pinkie or Fluttershy will try to make a pet of him.
  • This will all hopefully result in shipping potential between Rarity and Blueblood where before there was none.

Or an episode where Rainbow Dash learns of all the mundane things the Wonderbolts do, and she loses interest in the group.

Season 3 will feature an episode in which:

A magical mishap of some sort causes the mane cast to turn into adorable babies, and the responsibility of taking care of them will fall to the CMC. Zecora may get some time to shine as well, as she would most likely be the first one that Apple Bloom would think of to ask for help; this would also give the writers an excuse to have the CMC become Badly Battered Babysitters as they try to keep six rambunctious babies from getting hurt in the Everfree Forest and learn a lesson about responsibility.

• The "magical mishap turning the mane case into adorable fillies" part is confirmed as of this preview clip. It seems like it'll be temporary though.
  • That was from "Magic Duel"; Twilight did it to show off her talents to Trixie. An episode where this happens for real is not yet precluded though.

One episode will feature double rainbow all the all the way across the sky.

What will it mean? It might even be a triple rainbow!

• Well, they already had chocolate rain...

There will be The Obligatory Body Swap Episode.

Maybe it won't be in Season 2, maybe it will, but at some point in the show's course there will inevitably be some sort of magical accident that causes the mane cast to turn into one another, though still sounding like themselves for some reason, and be forced to live as each other for a single day. The friendship report will, naturally, be about different perspectives and walking a mile in someone else's horseshoes. Here are some possible swapees and who they might become. Feel free to add.

• Twilight Sparkle
  • Rainbow Dash
  • Princess Celestia
  • Spike
• Rarity
  • Fluttershy
  • Rainbow Dash, for a little Mythology Gag (see here)
• Pinkie Pie
  • Twilight Sparkle
• Applejack
  • Rarity
• Fluttershy
  • Pinkie Pie
• Rainbow Dash
  • Applejack
• ...Spike?
  • Twilight Sparkle
  • Even better, Rarity for a hilarious Mythology Gag! (Spike's voice actress was G3 Rarity)
• Hell, maybe even Princess Celestia!
  • Twilight Sparkle
  • Luna, probably for some coup d'etat.
• A six-way swap between the whole mane cast.
• Perhaps an explaination could be Twilight temporally having a mess up with her magic and losing control of it for a short time.
• Also, given the now obvious Darker and Edgier tone the show has taken, I wouldn't be surprized if there was a The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body aspect to it, gradually picking up each others mannerisms, abilities, memories and the like, gradually start forgeting their own, and with each of the ponies getting used to their new host bodies, causing them to find a way to turn back before it was too late. I would think the change would be most apparent in whoever gets stuck as Rainbow Dash if, for no other reason, the new-found freedom that comes with her body. And, also, it's clear that the show does not assume that Viewers Are Morons. It never has. So I don't know about the Voices Are Mental thing. Besides, it'd be hysterical for one pony's vocal mannerisms to come from the voice of another.
  • Maybe they never get back into their old bodies, but just adapt to their new bodies so well over time that it effectively restores status quo.
    • Nah. That'd render the whole episode useless. Besides, we'd never hear the end of it.
    • Congratulations, X! You're the new Y!
• I'm gonna call this confirmed, but it was special talents they swapped, not bodies, which for all intents and purposes, was the same thing because they were forced to try to be each other, however unintentionally. Rainbow was Fluttershy who was Pinkie who was AJ who was Rarity who was Rainbow. And it was from Twilight's spellcasting; she fired off a spell she didn't know what it did and it messed with the Elements of Harmony, causing the destinies to change.

Season 3 will introduce Hippogriffs, the port town of Stalliongrad and Airships

The Hippogriffs will also come in Unicorn (though this time it's double Horned), Pegasus, and Earth varieties, and be highly skilled with tools and vehicles given their Pony Heritage, Claws by Griffin heritage, and their never-ending need to find new and better ways to make dinner with little or no effort on their part. They live in Stalliongrad, a massive seaport-airport hybrid where ships sail the seas and the skies.

• It would also reek heavily of communist bloc cities, and the Aesop is finding joy in the darkest of times.
• Jossed, at least the part about it being in Season 3. Could happen in a later season though.
• There's a hot-air balloon in the opening credits, so there's no reason Equestria couldn't have airships if they wanted them. Zeppelins are not that much of an advance in technology.

Spike will get turned into a pony for an episode.

Because it would not only be funny, but the moral could be a "Trot a mile in Another's Hooves" type deal.

• For bonus hilarity, Spike's pony form will become a Lust Object for Rarity only for Spike to be turned off by her aggressive pursuit.
  • So no male dragon wants to be pursued by a mare?
    • I doubt that'll happen unless Spike is turned into a stallion. He's a baby dragon and seems mentally no older than fifteen so..
• Alternatively, he'll become a Lust Object for Sweetie Belle.
• Doubly alternatively, Spike and Twilight switch 'roles,' with Twilight becoming a dragon, and Spike becoming a pony (Not an alicorn, though).

Rainbow Dash will go back in time and perform a Sonic Rainboom thereby creating the original myth surrounding the phenomenon.

• Well…that would explain how the "myth" began when supposedly nobody had ever performed a Sonic Rainboom before. Maybe the one who witnesses it is a younger Celestia, which could maybe explain why she didn't attempt to save Rarity in "Sonic Rainboom".
  • That would be a good idea. And even better would be having Celestia tell her that when she returns to the present.

In the season 3 two part opener, Doctor Whooves will be a main character, and will be voiced by David Tennant

This is the only possible way they could top Disqord. The Master (voiced by John Simms, but of course) will have stolen the elements, warped them to the elements of chaos, and used their power to de-age Celestia and Luna into their filly versions. Its up to the Doctor and his companions (and of course, Derpy) to stop him before he can raise the sun and become the new ruler of Equestria.

Or, you know, something a lot better than that.

• I really hope this doesn't happen. Nothing personal, but I watch MLP because, well, it's MLP, not Doctor Who.
• The character could be voiced by Tennant as some sort of gag to the fandom. Also, bonus points if he obsesses over a franchise that he grew up with only to become a part of it later on.

Krastos the Gluemaker will be the big bad of a season well down the road

Kraustos seems like the bit of fanon that the makers want to put in, but know they could never get away with at this point. Hell, they barely got away with showing part of a coffin at this point. But eventually, aftering having pushed the envelope, they'll feel brave enough to bring up Krastos.

• Bets up if he's a Knight of Cerebus just by the name alone

Derpy Hooves/Ditzy Doo will have her own episode.

It will be about a letter that HAS to be delivered, but can't due to some complication (a monster?) and the name of it will be some pun on "Through hail, wind or snow". The Mane cast will gain a new found respect for the postal service, and the aesop will be about appreciating people. And it will still have plenty of derpy moments, even if Derpy will be shown to be a good mailmare overall.

• Given the voicing and klutziness she was given in "The Last Roundup", Derpy's episode could by of the Very Special Episode type, where the Mane Six come to help her feel appreciated, with an Aesop about accepting people even if they are that different.

Derpy Hooves is going to have a Face–Heel Turn.

We already know that she is going to be part of the Mane cast, but she doesn't exactly represent an element of harmony (since there should only be 6,) does she? The answer? They put in an opposite force, elements of discord or whatever, and use HER as the 6th one, we already have 5 (the force that controlled Luna, and the 4 stars that helped Nightmare Moon escape). Some of the later (or pilot) episode(s) will revolve around this turn of events, possibly with a solid continuity. I only wish it didn't make so much sense.

• When did Lauren Faust say Derpy'd be part of the Mane cast?

Sweet Apple Acres is hit by a blight.

After bringing Granny Smith home from surgery, Big Mac, Applejack and Apple Bloom find out that in their absence their crops have been hit by "skyworms" and have rendered it all inedible. With the family's source of income gone, and Granny Smith's medical bills keep piling up, the three grandchildren have to figure out a way to make ends meet. Applejack asked Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy for help, but they each run off in a different direction. Big Macintosh offers his services as a delivery pony, but does not get many customers, Applejack gets a part-time job at Sugarcube corner (Because Pinkie Pie has gone to visit her parents) but is too stressed to do anything right, and poor Apple bloom tries a bunch of things, but fails at every turn. When "Mr. Taxes" comes to repossess the farm, Twilight Sparkle runs up and presents Mr. Taxes with a basket full of bits. Twilight has sold some of her books to help Applejack and her family, but sadly this isn't enough. Rarity and Fluttershy show up with a BIGGER basket of bits, as they worked their tails off to find and sell gems, but this still isn't enough. Finally Rainbow Dash shows up with the rest of town, She did a little stunt show to raise money, and when the townsponies asked why, they each wanted to help. The Cakes, Mayor Pony, Cherrilee, and everyone else shows up with money in hoof. Before anyone could count it all, Spike coughs up a letter from Celestia, who has graciously loaned the apple family one million bits. Applejack is moved to tears by her friend's generosity, and Mr. Taxes lets the Apple family keep their farm. In the end, they had all collected fourteen times the amount of money the apple family needed, and since Pinkie Pie just returned (With the entire crop of another Apple family's farm in tow. Don't worry, this was donated), they throw a party. The Aesop is "True friends stick together through thick and thin".

Rarity tries to "Turn Rainbow Dash into a Lady."

A fellow designer stops by Rarity's shop to "find inspiration" and she introduces herself to the rest of the mane cast. Things go well until she meets Rainbow Dash, who seems to give the guest pony a rather slovenly greeting and she arrives at the shop covered in mud. Deeply offended, Rarity asks the girls to please help Miss Designer by touring Ponyville, and Rarity sets to work teaching Rainbow Dash etiquette. Dash does not enjoy one minute of this and tries to thwart Rarity's attempts. Eventually, the rest of the Mane cast are forced to return to the shop, where Rarity and Rainbow Dash have begun to fight it out. Suddenly, The designer reveals her less lady-like side, and this shocks everyone. It turns out the designer was born and raised in the boonies of Equestria, and seems relieved that she has found someone she can be less formal around. The lesson here is "You can't change people, accept them for who they are."

• So then Rarity's goal would be so that Rainbow Dash always dresses in style?

We'll get a Time Travel episode where some of the cast meets Nightmare Moon during her imprisonment.

There'll be an accident sending some ponies to the moon during Nightmare Moon's imprisonment. Nightmare Moon, having gone crazy from the lack of social interaction, will go Yandere for them.

• As a Brick Joke, perhaps have Luna apologize to them at some time in the episode for no clear reason, the first time they've met since her freedom. They think it's just for her being Nightmare Moon in general, but at the end, they find out this is what she meant.
  • That's a good idea. Maybe the four stars that released her could turn out to be four of the mane cast?
  • They'll be Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy because the spell was so powerful Twilight needed Rarity's help.

There will be an episode that will address Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome.

Considering that all of the mane characters have had at least one mental breakdown, it would be interesting to have an episode where they have to face their problems.

• but whose suffering it, who knows, but i'll put my bets on princess twilight sparkle.

Pinkie Pie will help Sweetie Belle get over her fear of singing in front of audiences.

Her or Rarity. It'd be a nice sister-bonding moment if it was Rarity.

There will be an episode where Rainbow Dash puts on a member of the Wonderbolts uniform while they aren't looking…

…And proceed to get chased around by Wonderbolts fans.

• Considering that Rainbow is a full-fledged Wonderbolt with her own uniform now, this is probably not going to happen.

There will be an episode parodying the perception of Celestia as evil.

By either misunderstanding, possession, or... Really, who knows what else?

• And it will be called "A Bird In The Hoof".
  • Another way this could happen is the mane cast taking a trip to the pony equivalent of Hollywood, and starring in a movie where Celestia is the villain, with all her terrible deeds in fanon played for laughs. (Banishing ponies to the moon on a whim? There's an entire city up there, with strong implications that an invasion/rebellion is imminent. Constantly pranking her subjects? Everypony's used to it, to the point that Celestia not pranking them is cause for concern.) At the end of the episode is a Twist Ending: Celestia herself was the director!
• Not parodying, per say but Twilight's worst nightmare shown in The Crystal Empire - Part 2 definitely has shades of this.

The infamous Cupcakes (Sergeant Sprinkles) will become an Ascended Meme...

...In the form of an in-universe scary movie being filmed in Ponyvile. Pinkie Pie will be cast as the villain and Rainbow Dash as a victim. Naturally it'll be toned down, but references will be made while they're reading the script that only people who are aware of the fic will realize. Possibly as a Nightmare Night Episode.

• Alternatively, it's a ghost story written by Spike after the events of Party Of One.
• Or, if Krastos the Glue Maker actually shows up, he/she will be dressed similar to the outfit used in the fic.
  • Or maybe pinkie would wear a fake varitation of said outfit.
• Someone will say "I always knew you two were thespians!"

Fluttershy learns the art of farming.

Ok, so it's been established that the earth ponies are the only cultivators of land, right? But Fluttershy, being more in tune with earth than sky, might be able to learn that too, from Apple and Pinkie. So, other Pegasus (which don't know how to farm) will begin to pressure her to expose Earth Pony secrets. There could be some sort of secret Pegasus order dedicated to learning earth pony secrets.

There will be a serious "Find the Cure!" episode.

One of the group will get deathly sick and half of them will have to locate a cure, while the others stay behind to take care of her. Possibly Twilight, since her teleportation power could resolve the plot too fast. This seems to be a fairly popular fanfic plot for the series (and this is a series thus far prone to Ascended Memes anyway) for the simple fact it'd certainly be a dramatic way to reinforce the friendship theme of the series over all. What better way to show the friendship of the characters than one of them being in serious danger and the others come to their aid?

• And if you like irony, they will succeed, only to find that the hospital pulled the plug on the one. This could lead the rest to go so far as to burn the hospital.
• Confirmed except for "serious" part.

There will be an Easy Amnesia episode.

Either with one pony or all of em'.

Fluttershy's Friend to All Living Things ability will be used to pull a Big Damn Heroes moment at some point.

Since there will be villains this season, it'd be a pretty good opportunity to combine her Mama Bear mentality when it comes to her friends with her ability to befriend giant monsters. Think about it, bad guy has the group on the ropes, about to finish them off and Fluttershy shows up with some backup, like the Dragon from Dragonshy or the Manticore from the pilot, to save the day.

• Or they show up because they sense Fluttershy, their friend, is in danger.

Trixie will get trapped in a lamp.

After being beaten by Twilight, she falls into the despair that many ponies go through when they feel they didn't follow through with the talent their Cutie Mark represents. In a quest for power, she finds the most powerful being is a genie. She goes through to become one, without realizing that genies are bound to a lamp and must do what the owner says. Eventually someone in Ponyville (maybe one of the Mane Cast, like Rainbow Dash or Spike, or a side character like Snips or Snails) gets ahold of the lamp and makes her grant all their wishes, to her dismay.

The "Want it, Need it" spell will be used by an unscrupulous salespony.

A traveling peddler will come to ponyville selling useless wares (like perhaps used tissues) but enchant them with the spell. He can't be effected by the spell thanks to some special sunglasses he always wears, but everyone else in Ponyville is caught in the sway.

• He wouldn't need to wear special sunglasses. When Twilight cast the spell, she wasn't affected by it, presumably because she was the one who cast it.

There will be a Summer Sun Celebration episode.

And it will be filled with Continuity Porn.

There will be an episode parodying Sym-Bionic Titan.

Tara Strong's former castmates from that series will even make cameos voicing Pony versions of Lance and Newton/Octus.

One of the future episodes will be a Mystery Science Theater 3000 tribute episode.

All right, hear me out. Here's how I think it would go down:Our six heroes, split into two teams of three, would be playing a game of truth or dare. In the dare pile would be a Bad Apple, a dare so bad, nopony wants it. So naturally, one team draws the Bad Apple card. The dare: To go to the Movie Theater (that no one had bothered to mention til now for some reason) and go see the movie everyone's staying away from: Zombie Ponies from Outer Space.The trio then goes out to the Movie Theater (or Pony-Plex, as it'd be called) and find that nopony is there, they are the only three ponies in the theater for that screening (which, incidentally, is the only reason they're able to get away with talking throughout the movie.) The majority of the rest of the episode would consist of said riffing with the trio gradually finding that, although the film's bad, they're still having a good time regardless. The episode's moral would be something akin to the moral of the show on which the episode's based (and, no, I don't mean that one.): With a little help from your friends, you can get through just about anything, especially bad movies.I know, it's a work in progress.Of course, we'd have to make sure that the target audience is not rubbed the wrong way and that talking throughout the motion picture is okay (which it ain't), but I still think it's a half-decent idea. What about you?

There will be an episode in which Snips & Snails try to act like Big Brother Mentors to Pipsqueak.

Unfortunately, Pipsqueak's complaints about being as old as they are will fall on deaf ears.

Granny Smith finally passes on.

Her grandchildren are all gathered together some dark and stormy night, and Granny's in bed, getting sicker by the minute. Zecora, Fluttershy, Nurse Redheart, and other Doctor ponies are unable to fix her, so they leave. The Grandchildren realize that this could be it. Applejack refuses to believe that Granny can't be cured and vows to protect her from "eternal sleep". Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. A little black unicorn filly wearing a raincoat wants to be let in from the rain. They let her in, and Applejack goes on and on about how she'll protect Granny Smith from "Eternal Sleep". Then they ask the unicorn what her name is. She is Eternal Sleep, and she is an alicorn. All three grandchildren are in disbelief that the personification of death is a child. Before they can stop her, Eternal Sleep gets into Granny Smith's bedroom and gives her the strength to say goodbye to her grandchildren. Granny Smith gives them all a speech about how proud she is of each of them, that to see them all doing so well made her life worth it. Finally, Applejack allows Eternal Sleep to hold Granny Smith's hoof and leads her away, just as the storm clouds dissipate. At the Funeral, Applejack is the only one not crying. When her friends ask her why, she explains that while she is sad at losing Granny, when she remembers everything she did for her, it makes her happy. Then Applejack writes a letter to Princess Celestia about how saying goodbye is hard, but the happy memories will stay with you forever.

• Sniff. Someone needs to make this into a fan-fic, at least. This is too good of an idea to go to waste.

Not necessarily in Season 3, but there will be a Rule 63 episode.

There will be an episode where two or sets of two ponies experience a "Freaky Friday" Flip, with the moral about respecting and understanding others' feelings.

It's not the last time we see the corrupted cast.

Perhaps later on, the mane cast will have to face their inner evils just like in Bleach where Ichigo fights his inner Hollow.

• Just like this...

The next antagonist will pull Body Surfing.

...But do a generally poor job of imitating who the Mane Cast are when they do get control over at least one of them.

• Or, in a Shout-Out to Star Trek: Voyager, every body swap lands the new host into the old host's body (c.f. the "Freaky Friday" Flip guesses above). For example: Zecora gets dumped into a visitor's body, Apple Bloom gets dumped into Zecora's, Rainbow Dash into Apple Bloom's, Applejack into Dashie's, Rarity into Applejack's, Fluttershy into Rarity's, Pinkie Pie into Fluttershy's, Twilight Sparkle into Pinkie's, Big Macintosh into Twilight's, the Mayor into Big Mac's, and Derpy into the Mayor's. Hilarity Ensues over a two-or-three-parter).

One of the Mane Cast will die.

At the hands of the villains of S3, signaling a darker mood to the series, with that episode's Aesop being dealing with the death of friends. Expect one of that ponies closer friends, such as Rainbow Dash to Applejack, to be crushed. Perhaps in a later episode said friend would have the killer at their mercy, most likely with an Aesop about mercy.

• And now hopefully that I have posted this, the universe will do its best to stop it.
  • I seriously doubt that they'd kill off one of the Mane Cast (especially since all of them have a sizable fanbase), particularly not on a kid's show.
    • Nobody said they can't be reborn like a phoenix (if this is the case i'm betting it's Twilight).

The ugly dresses from Suited for Success will eventually reappear during a costume party.

Expect Rarity to be appalled, until it's pointed out that technically she didn't design them, her friends did.

Luna will cause some serious trouble again.

Despite things going well on Nightmare Night, Luna's public image will remain quite poor, with most of the world's ponies mistrustful or hateful of her because of the things Nightmare Moon did in the past. Also, ponies will give no more attention/love to the night than the ponies a millennium ago did (or Luna will merely think so). Eventually, this will get bad enough to the point where Luna says, basically, "You all still hate me? You all still think my beautiful night is not important? Fine, then! Since you think my night is worthless and unnecessary, let's see how the world does without any night at all!" She then goes on to not only refuse to raise the moon, but also to somehow stop Celestia from being able to raise the moon or lower the sun. The result? 24-hour daytime and sunlight. Soon (days? weeks?) the resulting problems wreak havoc with everyone and everything - ponies' sleep cycles are disturbed, and thus they don't get the sleep they need; temperatures climb to constant, very uncomfortable or even dangerous levels without the night to cool the land and air; weather goes out of whack as a result of the temperature fluctuations (assuming that Equestria's weather and wind-cycles works in any way like Earth's); animals, unable to sleep at all, start dying in droves from exhaustion and severe sleep deprivation; eventually, droughts and/or famines might kick in. Eventually, the ponies realize just how vital the night is, and how they screwed themselves over by taking it for granted and ignoring it, as well as realizing that antagonizing a living goddess who control the day/night cycle is a bad idea no matter how it ends up. This leads to the ponies of the world begging Luna for forgiveness and to bring back the night before mass deaths start.

This could end in several ways. Luna could accept the ponies' apologies and return the night to existence, with everyone in the world having learned a very vital lesson. Or she could reject their apologies and refuse to return the night; if this happens, the Mane Six could end up having to convince her to do it... or, failing that, having to fight her and force the return of the night.

And if Luna wins, it's The End of the World as We Know It

^note ...If anyone wants to make a fanfic out of this, go ahead; I lack confidence in myself as a writer to adequately make this into a proper story.

• May I get to know your handle, at least? I'll be sort of featuring a Lighter and Softer Version of this type of plot within a chapter of a Crossover I'm writing, and I'd like to give you credit for it.

Celestia will disguise herself as a normal Earth pony.

• ...So she can go around all day without being treated differently. It will go smoothly at first, but something will go wrong with the spell, making it so she can't change back to her true form at will. For extra drama, it will happen when Equestria needs her most, causing the Mane Six to save her.
  • I'd doubt the "spell going wrong" part. This is Celestia we're talking about; she's old and experienced enough for that to just not happen. Instead, I'd have it where Twilight sees right through Celestia's disguise when Celestia absent-mindedly uses a mannerism unique to Princess Celestia. Instead of blowing her cover, Twilight decides to play along and see where it goes. After getting her mentor swept up in the latest Ponyville shenanigans, Twilight then trolls Celestia by roping "new" pony into doing the honors of dictating that episode's Friendship Report.

There will be a Beatles episode, like another Lauren Faust show

• In which the Mane Cast and Pipsqueak visit Liverpool ^note which That Other Wiki tells me is also the name of a water obstacle in horse jumping and run into No Celebrities Were Harmed pony versions of The Beatles themselves.
  • Could work as the musical episode theorized elsewhere...which would be awesome as all hell if the songs were Beatles parodies.

At some point, Twilight will clone herself.

Unfortunately, either the intelligence would be divided between the clones (resulting in either a Twilight that doesn't know what the other halves know, or the Twilights being progressively simple-minded), or they each represent a personality trait of Twilight's, one or two not wanting to go back to Twilight.

• And one of them will be in full-on, permanent Twilight Snapple mode.

There will be a Very Special Episode at some point.

Don't know what it would be about, though.

• Does Babs' episode count?
• This could describe half the series.

There is a future episode with a flashback that will have a filly Derpy.

The animators decided to sneak the filly!Derpy model in "The Cutie Pox" as a teaser.

• Confirmed!

One or more episodes will be released on DVD before they air on The Hub.

Perhaps as one of the five episodes on Shout! Factory's upcoming DVD The Friendship Express.

• Possibly confirmed. The DVD includes an episode titled "The Last Roundup", but it may be aired before the DVD comes out.
  • It will indeed air before the DVD comes out, but there's still the possibility of a future DVD containing a never-before-seen episode.

At some point down the line, several fan-favorite background ponies will be featured in a Lower-Deck Episode

And it will be the ultimate love letter to the bronies.

• This one's slated to happen as episode 100 of the series.

The next villain will be immune to the Elements of Harmony

And the mane cast will have to figure out an alternative way to stop them.

• And maybe they'll have to actually fight hoof-to-hoof and/or with combat/elemental^note Fire, Ice, Lightning magic.
  • That would be an interesting twist. Maybe they go through Training from Hell just to make sure their friends don't get obliterated.
• Or the villain will be Out-Gambitted and dead forever.
• Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash aren't holding up their ends of the Elements, thanks to an extremely massive argument, but when the Cutie Mark Crusaders are threatened, their bonds are reaffirmed and they use the elements to swiftly put that jerk back in his/her place.

Queen Chrysalis will return incredibly lovesick.

Her system was overloaded and she falls in love with either:

• Big Macintosh. He gets all the fillies!
• Twilight's father, inexplicably.
• Spike. Everypony finds this creepy.
• Discord. It will be a match made in Tartarus.
• Every male character in the show.
• Every character in the show that isn't a child or teenager, period.

There will be an episode showing that the mane six's virtues (honesty, loyalty, etc.) can be harmful if taken to extremes.

• Honesty: If you tell the whole truth all of the time and never hide anything from anyone, you become brutally honest and can't be trusted with sensitive information.
• Loyalty: If you support someone in everything they do and never disagree with them (even if agreeing with them would be to their detriment), you become a Yes Mare.
• Kindness: If you always try to help everyone with everything they do 24/7 (even if your help is unwanted), you become a nuisance.
• Laughter: If you constantly try to get people to have fun, they'll eventually get bored and your efforts will just come off as annoying and selfish (In other words, this is what Pinkie feared had happened in Party of One).
• Generosity: If you give away too many things too freely, you'll end up causing waste and spoiling people. Also, you might be compelled to give away something that isn't yours to give.
• Magic: If you rely to heavily on magic and stop believing in the rest of the world, you become ignorant.

There will eventually be villains who try to tap into the Elements of Harmony by using the corresponding virtues excessively, as detailed in the previous WMG.

And it'll work. Sort of. The first five elements will behave erratically and destructively from being wielded in that fashion, and since their powers aren't being used to foster friendship, the element of magic will refuse to function.

We get to see the deific counterparts for other races

As Celestia and Luna represent ponykind, we'll see the gods for the dragons, gryphons, buffalo, cows, sheep, etc.

There will be an episode where it is learned that Princess Celestia isn't the Universally Beloved Leader she was originally thought to be.

A new pony will visit Ponyville and meet the mane cast. Everything turns out good at first, but during Pinkie Pie's welcoming party for him/her, he/she will have something critical to say about Princess Celestia during casual conversation. All other Ponyville ponies will call this pony out on it and accuse him/her of treason. The issue becomes so overblown that it gets Princess Celestia's attention. But Celestia finds the new pony's criticism to be valid, and uses it to solve the problem he/she brings up. The lesson? Some criticism is constructive criticism. Also, you should never overreact towards someone just because they gave a bad review towards something you love.

The Windigos weren't permanently defeated and are still active and feeding off of the negative emotions of the ponies. They just got more subtle about it.

The story in Hearths Warming Eve is the legend as it was known at the time, the truth is that the Windigos were defeated but not killed. They persist, subtly feeding on the negative emotions of ponies and trying to spread misery. After their first defeat they brought discord to Equestria to cause chaos and misery so they could continue their feast. When he was defeated, they used Luna's jealousy to corrupt her. It was their influence that helped release her, using her power to blot out the sun to cause an ice age deeper and colder than anything their blizzards could. The used the CMC's negative emotions to release discord. Member of the mane six goes crazy? Windigos trying to corrupt them to weaken the elements of harmony. The Windigos are the big bad, manipulative bastards, using The Corruption to trick people into bringing about The End of the World as We Know It. And even Celestia has no idea they are doing it.

There will be a CMC episode with a filly beauty pageant.

Sweetie Belle will be the contestant with the assistance of her friends and Rarity, while Tiara will be her rival. Also the pageant will be less Squicky than actual child pageants (see Little Miss Sunshine). If there is a talent portion, it could very well be the episode in which S.B. gets over her stage fright and gets her cutie mark showing her talent as a singer.

Angel Bunny will stop running.

Fluttershy has certainly seen animals die before, but she's really close to Angel. She will be devastated, especially if she feels there's something she should have noticed but didn't.

• Plus bunnies have especially short lifetimes.

A Very Special Episode will involve the Mane Six getting pregnant.

From them eating some kind of fertility berry to make it more kid-friendly. It will probably have a Shout-Out to Juno, where each of them are trying to find a home for their soon-to-be born fillies. Each of them will also have their own problems with the pregnancy as well.

• Twilight will have a hard time reading.
• Pinkie Pie will be unable to eat sweets without puking.
• Rainbow Dash will have a hard time flying.
• Applejack will have a hard time working.
• Rarity will freak out about not looking beautiful if she's huge.
• Fluttershy... I can't think of one for Fluttershy. At the end, they decide to keep the fillies. And this will be the finale of Season 3, just in case (JUST IN CASE) it keeps going.
  • If your theory does happen (which I doubt they could get away with something like that, considering the characters have the maturity of someone in their late teens, but you never know) Fluttershy's concern could be that she might not be able to properly care for a filly, or that caring for the filly would get in the way of her caring for animals.
    • Alternatively, Fluttershy could be the only one of the mane six who's well-prepared to raise a foal, and thus be a foil to the other five.
  • I actually have an idea that could make this work even more. A fair is held at Ponyville with booths available to anyone who has something to sell. An unassuming pony (species doesn't matter for this) is running a booth that sells fruit drinks. Twilight and her friends go over and introduce themselves. Thrilled to meet the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, the pony offers them each a sample of his "Harmony Swirls", special drinks that each reflect one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony which have names like Rarity's Berry Blush, Rainbow Dash's Color Quencher, Applejack's Sweet Reward, Pinkie Pie's Sugar Surprise, Fluttershy's Forest Blender and Twilight's Sky Dream (or...something like that). They all accept the drinks and think there's nothing to worry about. However later the Mane Cast discovers that the drinks had the aforementioned fertility berry in them and now they're expecting foals (I say foals because it would be interesting if one of the Mane Cast had a son). The problems above crop up though they do end up keeping the foals. However later the "pony" who sold them the drinks reappears and reveals himself to be some sort of villain (not a pony; just a shape-shifter pretending to be one) and reveals that the sweet foals the Mane Cast has been tending are part of his master plan to destroy Equestria. Horrified the Mane Cast pleads to be allowed a chance to save the foals. Out of cockiness, the villain agrees and gives them a riddle to solve (my theory is on something like "To give these foals a brand new start, find the truths of one loved one's heart) with the stakes of if they solve the riddle in the time limit (if it's long enough, this could actually be a multi-parter or even a movie), the foals will be free but if any of the Mane Cast fail, their foal (s) will belong to him. With no other choice, they agree but go to Celestia for help. She explains about the villain and offers to cover for them at the various workplaces until the riddle is solved. Luna then appears and gives them a special charm that shows them where they need to go to solve each pony's riddle contribution.
    • Damn, why the hell didn't I think of that?
    • I do not wish to turn this into a bash Anita Sarkeesian thread, but using a Mystical Pregnancy storyline in a show like this?! We and Hollywood writers should be feeling some back-of-the-mind level of guilt for trying to write a fanfiction about this, let alone an episode.

There will be a "Fantastic Voyage" Plot.

Why? Because every cartoon has a Fantastic Voyage parody!

• Even better, the Mane Cast's talents would play into it:
  • Twilight probably knows some shrinking spells.
    • If the submarine bridge setup parodies that of the Enterprise, Twilight would be a shoo-in for the role of science officer. Just so somepony (most likely Pinkie, see below) has the excuse to say, "Analysis, Mr. Sparkle!" ("Don't you mean Miss Sparkle?" "Nope! 'Mister Sparkle' is way more fun to say!")
  • Rarity would design the ship. ("Isn't our little submarine just marvelous? It can deal with any microscopic ruffian we encounter!")
  • Fluttershy's medical skills make her a shoo-in for the navigator/pilot.
  • Rainbow and Applejack would be the resident Action Girls, complete with a fight scene involving white blood cells.
  • And above all, the whole thing would be Pinkie's idea. Because only Pinkie could dream something like this up.
    • Alternatively, Pinkie would be the one whose body the other ponies are in. And the one narrating the story, framed as it being a book she wrote. And she'd be the captain of the submarine. Because...Pinkie Pie.

The Mane Six will perform a completely unnecessary rescue and put people in danger because of it.

They travel to a mining village deep in the mountains, where they hear that a dragon has moved into the area. The village hasn't been sending out its best goods for some time, because it all goes to the dragon. When the Mane Six ask why they keep doing this, the ponies answer: "Stop? We couldn't do that, the dragon would be most displeased if we did." Convinced that the dragon is oppressing the village, the Mane Six go off to his lair to confront him. Much pownage occurs and the dragon is driven off. When the girls get back to the village, they explain the rescue to a horrified population who've just had their guardian dragon kicked out.

The village had been paying the dragon to protect them and wanted him to be there. Its been protecting them from threats to their livelihood, to the point of becoming friends with the village, and the ponies were more than willing to give him their best materials in return. With threats closing in in the absence of the dragon, the Mane Six must both protect the village and convince the dragon to return.

There will be a Road to ... episode with Pinkie and Rarity

The combination, coming off the end of "The Last Roundup", fits the Hope/Crosby pairing to a tee, along with characters with great singing voices. It is not that this will immediately follow "The Last Roundup" with the two on a hoofcart, but some situation to strand them together to get back to Ponyville or Canterlot will be used.

• Mostly confirmed in "Pinkie Apple Pie," but it was Pinkie and Applejack.

One of the Mane Six (I haven't figured out which one) will get tired of her cutie mark.

She undergoes an expensive operation to change it. The lesson will be to be proud of what makes you special.

The Apple family will go to another town to visit an ailing relative...

...and will find Flim or Flam hospitalized; a mark had turned violent on realizing s/he was swindled. The aesop will be about mercy.

Spike will run away again

Spike is always willing to help out Twilight with in the library, or Rarity find gems. But he never seemed to get appreciated much for all the hard work he did. He didn't mind at first. He liked feeling useful. However, Twilight constantly has him do a large amount of work for her at the library, and leaves him there, while SHE goes out with her friends to have fun. They never seemed to invite much to anything, so he spent his days alone at the library. This will cause Spike to finally snap. He will get into a argument with all of them, about how he was never invited to either Gummy or Twilight's birthday, nearly drowned at the end of Winter Wrap Up, after the piece of ice he fell asleep on melting ice (no one helped him, they just let it melt)and they all just laughed at him, or how they abandoned him at the Gala when all he wanted to do was be with all of them. They will all be saddened by at what he said, but despite them trying to apologize, he ends his friendship with them all, and leaves them all in a shocked stance. After snapping out of it, they all wait for him to come back, thinking he hopefully left to just blow off some steam. But he doesn't come back. So after everyone in Ponyville looks for him, and all fail to find the baby dragon, Twilight and the others have no choice but to tell Princess Celestia that Spike's missing and it's their fault. Celestia sends out guards all over Equestria to find him, and Twilight tearfully tells Celestia her regrets about the way she treated Spike. Celestia calmly tells Twilight that if she and the others truly regrets what they did, they have to be there for Spike, especially during this time. A guard immediately bursts in telling the Princess and the others that some ponies reported seeing a baby dragon in a forest located in a distant area of Equestria.

Meanwhile, Spike has been going on his own misadventures, trying to find a new home. He meets some friendly ponies on his trip, but can't help but feel regret for what he did to everyone back in Ponyville. He keeps moving on, with a smile (though a fake one), and after nearly being starved to death, and filthy, he finds a cave to settle in, and starts to wish he never did what he did. Just then, Twilight and the others appear, and try to talk to him. He is reluctant at first, but eventually starts to speak more, saying how he always felt alone and friendless back at the library, while they spent a lot fun times on their adventures. He apologizes for what he said earlier, and is about to leave, when Twilight tearfully hugs him. The others start to join in, and apologize, admitting that what he said was true, and how they never intended to hurt him, but will do better to treat him as their friend. He falls asleep on the trip back to Ponyville, and realizes the next morning that he slept in too late. He rushes downstairs to help Twilight when... SURPRISE!! Everyone he knows has thrown him a party to show their appreciation for him. They all plan to do many things with him. And says that it won't just last one day, but they'll do all kinds of fun things everyday.

Twilight and the others will learn a lesson about never making your friends feel left out and to never neglect them. It will not only hurt them, but it can hurt you and other friends as well as destroy the friendship that you have. Always make sure that you show them the same love you show for your other friends as well and make them feel appreciated and accepted.

• Don't forget to add "not being invited to visit Rainbow Dash in the hospital", "not being invited to Applejack's welcome home party", and "not being told where Twilight and the others are going and being left alone for at least two days" to that above list.

A Season 3 episode will focus on Pinkie Pie learning how to plan a foal shower that Princess Cadance would enjoy.

And the writers will Show Their Work on equine pregnancy.

Another "villainous" team-up idea, this one doomed to fail from the start

The "villains" that team up here are...

• The Flim Flam Brothers (want revenge against the Apples and Ponyville in general, are the instigators of the idea)
• Lightning Dust (wants revenge against Rainbow Dash for usurping her position)
• The Diamond Dogs (are promised the gems at the bank in Ponyville)
• Cranky Doodle (Pinkle Pie interrupted his date with Matilda)
• Angel (Fluttershy sent him to his hutch for being bad)
• And Trixie (doesn't want to fight, but rightfully assesses the "villainous team" as pathetic and takes pity on them)

The Flim Flam brothers try to recruit actual threats, like Iron Will or Discord, but are rejected. When the team finally confronts the Mane Six in Ponyville's town square, things immediately fall apart for them; Cranky Doodle grumbles that "the whole idea was stupid" and quietly shuffles away before the fight begins, Angel immediately gets starred down by an irate Fluttershy, the Diamond Dogs are incapacitated thanks to Rarity's whining, and Lightning Dust is outmaneuvered by Rainbow Dash. Then the Flim Flam Brothers reveal their trump card: They've repurposed their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 into an intimidating-looking transforming mecha, which falls apart after taking a single step. At this point, Trixie nonchalantly strolls over to Twilight Sparkle, explaining that she sabotaged the machine but that "it didn't take much effort". The episode ends with the Diamond Dogs chasing the Flim Flam Brothers once it's clear they aren't getting their promised gems. Definitely a one-parter.

There will be a Season 3 episode that will be about Spike looking for his parents

• The Mane cast's parents will come for a sort of parents day celebration, and spike will feel bit left out of the party. When they all leave for a while, spike writes a letter to the princess asking where his egg came from. Which will result in the princess coming to the library, in person, to tell spike, that she had found his egg, and had no idea where his parents were. She simply used her magic to keep the baby inside the egg alive, and wait to use him as a part of the entrance exam for Twilight. This will cause Spike to go out, and look for clues on where his parents are. The girls will refuse to go, and try and convince Spike not to go too, by saying that it's dangerous, and he might find out the truth about his parents, and the truth may not be pleasant. He will still be determined to find them, despite the consequences it may bring. But the girls will try to track him down. And there will be enemies waiting for them, at every corner.
  • In one possible ending, It will turn out that Spike's parents were killed a long time ago, back when ponies hunted and killed dragons for sport. Celestia found spike's egg alone, after his parents were killed, and took care of him. Keeping his egg in stasis, for many, many years, until Twilight hatched him. This will result in him having a /Heroic BSoD, but Twilight and the others comfort him, saying that they will always be a family to him.
  • Another ending could be that Spike successfully finds his parents. They aren't mean or nasty like the girls would've thought, but actually kind and caring. And they will all find out that a group of ponies had once came to their cave trying to steal their hoard of gems. They accidentally took Spike's egg by mistake, but during their escape, they accidentally dropped the egg, leaving it behind for Celestia to find. Twilight feels upset that her number one assistant and brother might actually leave her. But his parents, not wanting him to choose between them or his friends, decide to move to the cave that the red dragon lived in in DragonShy, so they can always watch over him
  • Considering the title of his next episode, "The Great Dragon Migration" may be a Shout-Out to the tenth The Land Before Time film, and the plot has him join the migration to find himself, it's possible. After all, Littlefoot did find his father in that film, so its possible.
    • This episode would serve as a sequel to the "Dragon Quest" episode, in which it would answer all of Spike's questions. The letter that Celestia sent to Spike, while he was with the other dragons, will be brought up again, and play a role in the story as well.

There will be an episode about Bronies

There will be a new TV show or something that is primarily aimed at young fillies, however each of the mane six and Spike soon find themselves enjoying the show immensely, but none of them want the others to know about it for their own reasons. By the end of the episode, each will reveal their enjoyment of the show and the moral will be that you shouldn't be ashamed of something you like and that true friends won't care about what you like either. Bonus points if the reason Applejack comes out is because she finds out Big Macintosh openly enjoys it and doesn't care what others think.

There will be an episode where the characters play a game akin to D&D.

Where the Ponies all play their own characters, with Twilight as the Game Master. The episode would have Twilight trying to tell a good story, but the others keep making it go off the rails, causing Twilight to get a little forceful with putting them on track with the story.

There will be an April Fools' Day-esque holiday episode at some point

Maybe involving a war of pranks between Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Bonus points if it references Discord.

As the US presidential election draws near, there will be an episode about respecting those who disagree with you.

There will be some issue that divides Ponyville, and even the Mane Six will find themselves on opposite sides. Many on each side will consider the others' stance a Moral Event Horizon, until something makes it clear you must respect those who disagree and not automatically attribute to them stupidity and/nor every abominable motive that strikes your fancy.

Twilight's 'Failsafe' spell will come back to haunt everyone.

When she used the spell at the beginning of The Return Of Harmony, she had literally just read it out of the book before casting it. Now in this Tropers mind, a thing like a failsafe spell would probably require a control or template to base itself off of.So, what if Twilight's first casting accidentally set Discord's chaos filled world as that template? Then, in a future episode, a house burns down or something and Twilight walks up to say "Don't worry everypony I have a spell that'll change this back to way it was!"...

There will be an episode where Twilight is committed to Ponyville Hospital's mental ward.

In "Read It and Weep", it was implied that Ponyville has a mental facility somewhere within its hospital, if the super tight security for stealing someone's slippers and the appearance of Loose Screw is anything to go by. In "Lesson Zero", Twilight went insane trying to find a friendship problem to please Celestia, and in "It's About Time", she was willing to stop time for her own means. Rather than suffering from Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome, Twilight is mentally unstable all on her own, especially concerning time. Thus, she will be considered a danger to everypony and put in a mental ward for an episode.

• And for the rest of the series, she'll be laid-back to the point where she doesn't care what the outcome is anymore.
  • or maybe pinkie pie would get sent to the mental ward instead, she definitely is closer to insanity then the rest of the mane six and just don't care what happens to anyone else like the suggestion above.

Scootaloo will become a big sister

Following a WMG in the Secondary Character's section. Rather than be a younger sibling like Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo will instead gain a younger sibling (if she doesn't have one already). However, in an inversion of the usual trope that follows this plotline (i.e. Scootaloo getting jealous of the attention the new baby gets), she'll become smothered because her parents, aware of the above trope, put in extra effort to give her more attention than she usually receives.

Screwball will show up again in Season 3

She'll be connected in some way to Discord, perhaps even his daughter as depicted in Fanon. She could even be the villain of Season 3's opening two-parter.

• Being the villain of Season 3's opening is probably Jossed.

There will be an episode centered around another Draconequi

And he/she will be a good guy, but his species is demonized thanks to Discord (who even they consider a monster), so he has to try and get past that. The moral will be not to judge somepony based on what or who they are, but on them.

• Or, if this new Draconequis is a villain, he/she won't have Discord's sick sense of humor and have a reason beyond spreading chaos beyond their own entertainment.
  • The new Draconequis could be a Well Intentioned Extremist who is convinced that the safe and orderly society the ponies enjoy is in fact destructive stasis which is smothering the ponies and preventing them from developing as individuals. He will then attempt to introduce chaos in a way that turns all of Equestria into a version of Everfree Forest.

Evil Versus Evil - Emotion Eaters Face Off!

With the revelation that the Changelings feed off The Power of Love, what better enemy for them to face than beings that feed off The Power of Hate, the Windigos? Such a conflict might even result in a Heel–Face Turn for the Changelings (or at least some of them), siding with the ponies of Equestria in fending off those who would destroy them all.

There will be an Aesop about Forgiveness.

Now I'm aware that the theme of forgiveness is sprinkled in here and there in many episode but not as the main theme. There should be an episode about the dangers of holding a grudge and/or the Vicious Cycle of Revenge.

• Original poster here, bonus points are given if not only they do an episode of Forgiveness but reveals to be Princess Luna's past. Or it can be Gilda, Trixie, and the other jerks who teamed up against the revenge on Mane Six. Only to show to see the causing the end of their world or becoming the ones they became.
  • Another version can give a Freudian Excuse on WHY he/she isn't willing to forgive or accept forgiveness, that when he/she were young he/she DID forgiven/accepted their apologies but only only for the offenders to continue. This can result a Shut Up, Kirk! speech, asking the Mane Cast how he/she can forgive their offenders if the said offenders are going to do it again and again?
    • This whole idea sounds like my headcanon for the underlying cause of the Applebloom/Diamond Tiara dynamic.

Or, vice versa; Queen Chrysalis will return, and the Mane Cast form an Enemy Mine with Discord against her

They point out that while at first the Changlings are make chaos but once they fully take the control things will be more stagnent then normal. Optional: At the end, the Mane Cast will end up defeating them both at once with the Elements.

Or a new threat will show up and the Mane Cast form an Enemy Mine with Queen Chrysalis and Discord against it

The changelings will turn Luna back into Nightmare Moon.

Without Shining Armor's love, the Queen doesn't have the power to face off against even one of the the ruling sisters anymore, so bringing back Nightmare Moon would remove an obstacle while gaining an ally, that isn't as dangerous to all sides as Discord. Of course Nightmare Moon doesn't seem the follower type, so there will be plenty of villain infighting.

Or vice versa; Luna will try to reason with the changelings.

There will be an episode focusing on Zecora's backstory.

It will involve:

• Several tearjerkers, maybe even including exile.
• An elaboration on zebra society, which will be mondern with a tribal ancestry.
• Her home will be based on sub-Sahara Africa, mabye South Africa.
• We will found out that the Witch Doctor is a traditional position.
• She has mastered medicine, maybe even an actual doctor who has a speciality in herbs, plants or chemistry.
• And she toke up english literature or poetry as a hobby, Which explains her use of rhymes.
• And she'll have a niece voiced by Cree Summer

Beach Episode!

Of course, the writers won't have the heart to show off the Mane Six in a Fanservice-y way, especially as that squicks out some male fans. It won't be any good vs evil type thing, just a Slice of Life where the Mane Six go on a vacation.

• I don't see what's so wrong with swimsuits, given that ponies don't usually wear clothes, period.
  • Which raises the question of why they would start now.

There will be an episode showing that Ponies are Bastards.

A villain will try to break the spirit of all of Equestria showing how ponies are actually worse than what everypony (and what the fans) think. The Mane Six may respond with a Patrick Stewart Speech saying that Ponies are Flawed but not evil.

• Didn't we already get the first half of this with Putting Your Hoof Down?

Rather than stating Ponies Are Bastards, they should give out Rousseau Was Right

To add the WMG above, the said villain could do a "Social Experiment" similar to The Joker in The Dark Knight to the ponies in "Putting Your Hoof Down" maybe jerkasses but they're not total sociopaths, and show their Freudian Excuse on why they act that way. And everypony is really good at heart, except the villains. Or perhaps even the said Villain had a reason, without evil. The universe will suffer from entropy and wipe out from existence.

Star Swirl the Bearded will appear...from out of the time warp he vanished into thousands of years ago.

Since he's been mentioned 3 times and the last time involved his invention of Time Travel.He smashes right into Twilight Sparkle.Naturally, he'll think that unicorns are the master race and thatApplejack and Pinkie are Twilight's slaves since Unicorns have a duty to guide the "lesser races".When introduced to the concept of Alicorns, he'll have some kind of breakdown-which will get worse when he meets the Cakes.The lesson of the episode is about racism.Also,he won't be an old man(pony?). He'll be young enough to function as a love interest.

Star Swirl the Bearded will appear as the new body of Discord

Among other things discussed in this Reddit thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/mylittlepony/comments/14gsel/the_hell_is_wrong_with_upcoming_episodes/

Tara Strong said at a recent convention that there is one episode of Season 3 that bronies will go absolutely crazy over.

See the question and answer here. Make guesses as to what might happen in that episode.

• A Derpy Hooves episode
  • Nope
• Discord's return
  • This one's the winner
• The return of Trixie
  • This one is also a winner.
• A genderbent episode
  • Sorry, no.
• Twilight Sparkle getting put on a bus (What? "Go absolutely crazy over" doesn't necessarily mean it's good news.)
  • No
• Twilight Sparkle turning evil Nightmare Moon-style (Come on! We've seen Twilight Sparkle go pretty insane twice in Season 2. Who wouldn't want to see her go COMPLETELY insane and try to destroy Equestria!?)
  • Sorry, no. Guys, remember when you're making these guesses this show is targeted at 6 year old girls.
• An episode about the Brony phenomenon
  • Nope
• Remember back during Season 1 when "Weird Al" Yankovic recognized the show, and pony versions of him were drawn by fans? It took two seasons to become canon, but here he comes!
  • Not in Season 3, but this happens in Season 4! Weird Al shows up in "Pinkie Pride" as the voice of Cheese Sandwich.
• Derpy's funeral, complete with heart-wrenching Really Dead Montage and Dinky learning how to cope with the death of a loved one. It would explain why nopony has said if Derpy will appear in season three.
  • Mercifully, no.
• Pinkie and Dashie star in a horror film.
  • No
• An episode with Doctor Whooves. (one can always hope...)
  • And he will be voiced by David Tennant himself.
    • No.
    • God no.
• Dinky Doo and/or Pipsqueak joining the Cutie Mark Crusaders
  • No, but Scootaloo finally got her own episode.
• A roadtrip to a new location (e.g. Fillydelphia, Los Pegasus, Zecora's homeland, etc.)
  • This didn't happen until S4, where they went to Manehattan. The road trip episode was in "Pinkie Apple Pie"
• Twilight is sent back in time to when the Princesses first discovered the Elements of Harmony.
  • Kinda! In the opener for S4, she drinks Flashback in a Bottle, and witnesses the event.
• There is a Story of the Blanks reference (actually mentioning Apple Bloom's ordeal).
  • Nope

Folder 2

Twilight Sparkle will become evil in one or more Season 4 episode(s)

We've seen Twilight Sparkle go pretty insane in two Season 2 episodes. But most would agree that both times she went insane were hilarious. But, what would happen if she were to lose all hope in Equestria and/or herself, go completely insane and transform into an Omnicidal Maniac ala Nightmare Moon!? How will the Mane 6 (or Mane 5 excluding Twilight) be able to save Equestria as well as their bestest friend from herself!?

• The trigger of Twilight Sparkle's transformation will be...
  • Her insecurities and/or inferiority complex - Despite helping many in need and saving Equestria three times since first moving to Ponyville, she still feels insecure about many things including herself.
  • A more serious OCD freakout - And Princess Celestia won't let her off the hook this time.
  • The chaos she created (e.g. the Want-It-Need-It spell incident) being exposed to everypony - This could turn everypony she's ever cared about against her... including Shining Armor.
  • A "Reason You Suck" Speech pointing out her personal flaws (e.g. self-righteousness) and inner demons - This could be a Shut Up, Kirk! speech from a villain like Discord reminding her of the chaos she caused without him being there and that she is not so different.
  • A genuine Bad Future (unlike in "It's About Time" where Twilight, for once, thought everyone she knows have gone mad after becoming more and more disillusioned by her friends, family, and mentors). It can be that the heroes (including the Princesses and Shining Armor) agreed to do something completely hypocritical to the elements or friendship in general. For once, Twilight will lash out at them and begins her Start of Darkness.
  • An Alternate Timeline where Discord and/or Chrysalis won and Twilight decided to join the villains because after all, if you can't beat them, join them.
  • Twilight Sparkle putting on the Alicorn Amulet (from Magic Duel) herself either during and/or after her Heroic BSoD.
• Since Twilight Sparkle would most likely neglect her Element of Magic, somepony may have to temporarily take her place as its wielder. This could be...
  • Princess Luna - This could be her chance to atone for her crimes as Nightmare Moon!
  • Shining Armor - Bonus points if he refuses to use the Element of Magic against his own sister fearing for her safety.
  • Princess Cadance - She does have magic to wield the Power of Love after all. And since Twilight Sparkle saved her and Shining Armor, this could be her chance to return the favor.
  • Trixie - After finally releasing the error of her ways in Magic Duel thanks to Twilight, this could be here chance to finally redeem herself by saving ''her'' this time...although this may not end well...
• The Mane 6 (or Mane 5 excluding Twilight) wield the Elements of Harmony to save Twilight Sparkle...
  • And succeed with help from...
    • Princess Celestia
    • Princess Luna
    • Shining Armor
    • Princess Cadance
    • Trixie
    • Spike
    • Discord (That would be a huge shock!)
    • Twilight Sparkle herself trying to regain self-control
  • Or the Elements fail and Twilight seemingly defeats them.
• Twilight Sparkle ultimately realizes what she has become and...
  • She then attempts to regain self-control.
  • She then helps her friends vanquish her Superpowered Evil Side with the Elements of Harmony once and for all.
  • She breaks down in tears believing that she is a monster and that what she did was unforgivable.
    • Everypony may easily forgive her, but she may refuse to forgive herself. In the end, she is reassured by her friends to learn from her mistakes.
  • She believes that everypony would be better off without her and decides to leave Ponyville for good. However, her friends beg her to stay telling her that their lives wouldn't be the same without her.
• When Twilight Sparkle finally returns to her original self, she almost dies...but ultimately regains consciousness and self-control.
  • With the destruction of the Elements (no easy way out, must use force) and Word of God saying Twilight won't outlive her friends, she might actually die in this scenario!

A future Discord appearance will have him take the opposite approach to Corrupting the Elements of Harmony

• Rather than try to destroy what made them worthy to bear the elements, Discord will reinforce their Elements to their Logical Extreme...
  • Applejack: Will exhibit Brutal Honesty, to the offense and sadness of those around her. The closest she'll be able to get telling a white lie is to focus on insignificant good sides of things.
  • Rarity: Will take her generosity to utterly ascetic levels by giving up practically everything she owns and even starving herself by passing any meals she's about to eat to the first bemused mare to walk past her.
  • Fluttershy: Will take her Extreme Doormat tendencies up to eleven out of "kindness" to increasingly undeserving people around her.
    • So basically, will do nothing with Fluttershy.
  • Rainbow Dash: Her loyalty will be cranked up to the point where she becomes a submissive Yes Mare to her friends, Twilight especially, even if she sees any obvious flaws in any plans or ideas anyone close to her will have, and will become extremely aggressive to anyone who questions their decision making, no matter how legitimate those questions may be (resulting in conflicts with Applejack due to the above).
  • Pinkie Pie: Will become a somewhat more benign Stepford Smiler. She'll laugh 24/7 regardless of whether she finds anything funny.
  • Twilight Sparkle: Will rely solely on magic, possibly to the point where she dismisses science itself.
    • Science and Magic are one and the same in this universe.

Discord will turn out to have an opposite number

• Possibly a brother who is an Order obsessed control freak. Like Discord, he'll be an expy of a villain with a similar mindset with a desire to put everyone under a spell of mindless, synchronized, conformity and be voiced accordingly. Potential Enemy Mine ensues.
  • Or the opposite number will be a huge group of imperialistic individuals who want everybody to be like them, whether they want to or not. In essence, they will be the Borg to Discord's Q, and will be a large group of beings of average strength that are mainly scary because of numbers and strength from a shared purpose, contrasting against Discord, who is a super-powerful individual who manages to be horrifying, despite his lack of companions.

Twilight Sparkle will end up in the same predicament she started in, except worse.

Pinkie Pie mentioned that losing a friend's trust is the best way to lose a friend forever. In the Season 2 finale, it is implied that Twilight lost the trust of all her friends, including the princesses. There is some serious foreshadowing here.

• it could be temporary but the above theory of her turning into a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds does make a good argument from here as her Start of Darkness and she'll go more and more mad as time passes on and well referance this for how it goes complete with Redemption Equals Death and Born-Again Immortality / Resurrective Immortality after the incident, it would go as far as a two-,three-,or even four-part episode. it would be interesting what happens if they use the former type of rebirth and the whole rebirth thing would be a shout-out to The Phoenix

There will be A Day in the Limelight episode for Celestia

Seeing as how everyone's image of Celestia has been tainted by her losing rather easily to Chrysalis, the writers will give her an episode that proves that she is the most powerful pony in the world. It won't be unlike some Superman stories, showing her as a Showy Invincible Hero that is far from boring.

Spike, feeling unappreciated, quits as Twilight's assistant and begins working for another pony

Spike becomes frustrated that Twilight doesn't show him appreciation, so he decided to quit working for her and moves in with another pony (it could be one of the other mane 6, a recurring character, or someone completely new). Twilight initially brushes it off, thinking Spike would come back after he cools down, but to her horror Spike actually enjoys spending time with his new best friend and decided to never come back. Can Twilight win her former number 1 assistant back?

Rainbow Dash will eventually lose her temper with Fluttershy.

After putting up with Fluttershy running away from almost everything for so long, Rainbow Dash finally gets so fed up with it all that she completely gives up on her and/or, even worse, lashes out on her calling her a useless coward saying that she doesn't need her anymore.

• Fluttershy often felt like a burden to her friends at times, but would still be naturally shocked by Rainbow Dash's sudden outburst especially after being there for her since they were both fillies. Bonus points if she tries to remind Rainbow Dash of the times when she tried to convince her that she did need her in episodes like Dragon Quest and Hurricane Fluttershy.
• If the rest of the Mane 6 are present or eventually find out, they would naturally chew her out for lashing out on Fluttershy.
  • However, Rainbow Dash might then lash out of them and counter with a Shut Up, Kirk! speech claiming that Fluttershy had it coming for a long time. Fluttershy may then suddenly interrupt Rainbow Dash's rant telling her to leave Twilight and the others alone as they have nothing to do with this.
• This predicament may then culminate in a fight between the two pegasi with Rainbow Dash trying to attack her own friend and Fluttershy blocking, dodging and parrying almost her every move. The fight then ends with Fluttershy pinning Rainbow Dash down in hopes of calming her down. She then tells her that she understands why she is angry and is sorry for running away but fighting her own friends won't do anypony any good.

Pinkie Pie will try and act mature and serious for an episode.

After a day of annoying everybody in Equestria to tears, Pinkie finally realizes that she should learn to drop her eccentric ways and become more mature. However, when nothing seems to work and she ends up continuing to ruin things for everybody, she turns to Zecora for help, who feeds her a mysterious potion which will convert her from a fun-loving, childlike pony into an intelligent, hard-working lady. But the potion seems to work too well, and Pinkie starts to have a very boring but perfect personality with no quirks whatsoever. She starts to treat the other ponies like children, bossing them around and gloating about her new, elegant, nature, which greatly upsets a jealous Rarity. The others realize that new Pinkie is even worse than the old - instead of being friendly she is bossy, and instead of being an oddball, she's overly devoted to perfection, and as a result, she's no longer a friend. The moral will be that sometimes, trying to change a person can only make them worse, so learn to like a person's personality.

• This is actually a reasonable plotline for an episode, something that fits with the "this show is aimed at little girls" thing, especially because it touched on this idea with "Too Many Pinkie Pies", where Pinkie's love of fun backfired hard on her and after it did, she spent most the episode being downright depressed (though not to Pinkamena levels) and acting quite serious.

The series finale will involve the return of Nightmare Moon.

Just for the sake of Book Ends.

• or it involve Celestia turning into Daymare Sun or something like that.
  • Maybe Solar Flare.
  • Oh, can anyone just pitch a name here? I like Black Hole Sun myself.
  • The canon name is now Daybreaker.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders will learn a swear word.

It's happened in other cartoons, so why not? ^note Especially funny since the CMC were based on the PPG.

• Probably not, because Moral Guardians are a lot stricter and easier to upset now than they were back then, and Spongebob is aimed at older kids than MLP, and is geared more towards boys than girls (yes, yes, girls like the show too, but it's still technically a boys cartoon with the Gross-Up Close-Up shots and what have you). Boys shows can get away with murder (literally; characters can be killed off on boys shows, girls shows? Not so much.), where girls shows have to fight to be anything more than girly and flowery. MLP is aimed at 6 year old girls, not 12 year old boys. If the show was aimed at 12 year old boys in this day and age, then that wouldn't be so unreasonable. However, because girls are dumb and fragile according to networking people, they can't handle hearing a dirty, filthy swear word without fainting in shock and despair, their little souls eternally tarnished as the Black Speech of swearing falls upon their innocent ears. It's amazing that MLP even got away with something like Discord with how network people view little girls.
  • F**k Moral Guardians.

If there's going to be a Seventh Element, list the possible Sixth Ranger candidates, the reason, and his/her element.

• Well technically it's Seventh Ranger but who's counting?
• Possible candidates
  • Derpy Hooves - Since her popularity by many bronies, and her's will be the Element of Innocence
  • Cheerilee - Since her bigger role in season two, and her's will be the Element of Knowledge being one of the smartest ponies aside from Twilight.
  • Trixie - Since her Ensemble Darkpony status and her's will be the Element of Confidence.
  • Two unrevealed Alicorns
  • Spike - Element of Bravery. 'Nuff said.
  • A stallion, to be The One Guy besides Spike. Possibly with the Element of Courage, Ambition, or Determination.
  • Princess Cadance - According to her trading card, she possesses the Element of Love.
• Aside from Cadance's (and she doesn't have an Element) none of those are really Elements of Harmony or components of Friendship, though, are they?
• if she changes her mind, sunset shimmer will get the element of bravery

Ultimate Lower-Deck Episode!

Okay. If there will only be 13 episodes this season, they'll be no way to give all our background characters their limelights. Therefore, the writers will give them all their times to shine in one single episode, showing them in their daily lives and squeezing in as much fanon as pony-ly possible. And it will be called 22 Short Films about Ponyville.

• Allow me...
  • The Episode begins with The Mane Six being sent by Celestia on an epic adventure of some sort. As Pinkie leaves Sugar Cube corner, she attends one final customer...
  • Derpy buys a muffin, delivers some letters, and donates two bits to a familiar street performer...
  • Lyra is depressed, not being able to make ends meet. She plays her heart out, but to no use. Another musician, feeling sorry, gives her a few more bits...
  • Vinyl Scratch has a gig coming up in Detrot, which she wants to write a song about, but she's having trouble with a rhyme. The friendly Neighborhood Zebra aids her...
  • Zecora has come into town to do her digging thing again. A familiar little filly asks her why she's doing that, along with a few other questions about herself and zebras in general Which Zecora answers with limited flashbacks. The filly leaves intrigued with history...
  • Apple Bloom joins the Cutie Mark Crusaders and explains their new plan: Cutie Mark Crusaders Ponyville Historical Society Go! They pester a few ponies until a relative of Apple Bloom's relative slows them down with a long story about the old days...
  • Granny Smith leaves the snoring fillies to run some errands, including picking up mail (Derpy Hooves Cameo), buying some flowers for supper and feeding the birds. She fails to notice her purse has gone missing...
  • The Diamond Dogs are looting around Ponyville and are making quite the killing. However, their run-in with Rarity has traumatized them, as shown when they run into a different white Pony...
  • Content with her song, Vinyl finishes packing and tries to hail a taxi with minimal success. A cream-colored, uneven-voiced mare helps her out...
  • Bon Bon returns home and works on cleaning her two-pony apartment, accompanied by cheerful song. As soon as she's done, her roommate returns home...
  • Lyra explains that, seeing as her lack of dough is all thanks to a lack of inspiration, she plans to take a hike in the woods for ideas. After a touchingly ambiguous goodbye, she sets out for the Everfree forest, almost running into a giant red colt.
  • Big Macintosh agreed to help fix up Cheerilee's schoolhouse today, which is falling apart fast. He responds to every moment of destruction with a stoic I can fix that. to the proprietor of the building...
  • Cheerilee is preparing for school the next day, which includes cleaning white boards, grading papers and working out lesson plans. She takes a break and notices two of her students are watching snails race on the fence Mac is trying to paint
  • Snips and Snails, grow tired of the race and try to find something else to do. Help Mac paint? Nah, not after the macaroni art fiasco. Become a barbershop quartet and sing about what they could be doing today? Nah, Snips can't carry a tune. Become pirates? Become Pirates. they begin working on a raft, garnering the scorn of two young fillies passing by...
  • Daimond Tiara and Silver Spoon are being generally horrible to everyone they meet, only avoiding repercussion due to being little kids . . . rich ones at that. Only one donkey has the mind to call these kids out after they practically ruin his date...
  • Cranky Doodle apologizes for his outburst to Matilda, explaining that he just couldn't stand seeing two brats ruin their three-month anniversary. Matilda accepts it and forgives him, she's still having a good time. She's about to have another muffin when...
  • Derpy swoops in for another muffin and flies off for home, which is just above the Everfree forest. she enjoys her treat while watching a mint-colored pony enters the woods...
  • Lyra takes a nice long walk through the woods, gathering some inspiration before running into a house. She is awe-inspired by the visuals of the place and writes down what she sees. It's almost dark by the time she is done and she has a nice four-minute long song in hoof. Somewhat lost in her own mind, she asks a seemingly nice river-serpent for directions back home...
  • Stephan Magnet attends to his undersea home, which is a small village mostly inhabited by seaponies who took him in as a baby, much like Spike. In fact, Atcampus is a lot like ponyville. up above a raft passes over the city . . .
  • Snips and Snails are tired of their adventure. they venture home and run into some panicking dogs, who hand over some stolen goods. They return home with the goods and set up a Lost and Found, where several ponies collect their goods. There with the crowd, a pony debuts her song...
  • Lyra plays out her heart again and Fodder Life is a huge success. everyone from the episode joins in: Lyrical Zecora, scratchy-voiced snips, Overjoyed Bon Bon, faraway Stephen Magnet and Vynil, howling Diamond dogs, braying Donkey couple and even the main six, who have just returned from their journet and whom are fully prepared to tell their story . . . which they never get to do seeing as the episode ends with the song.

  • Maybe instead of DT and SS being jerks, they have a Villains Out Shopping scene (possibly literally). Maybe even showcase what their CMs actually mean (like, DT is modifying her tiara while SS is helping her family sell luxury goods).

There will be a "Temporarily Roommates" episode.

You know, the kind of episode where a character has to stay with a friend for a few days because something happened to their own place and both friends drive each other with their different living styles. And no, I'm not counting "Sisterhooves Social" as one of those episodes, because it was with Rarity and her sister instead of one of her friends.

• octavia and vinyl scratch someone

Fluttershy will get her own radio station.

Well, she'll accidentally fall into poison oak, getting her Flutterguy voice back. Other ponies will accidentally hear her voice and mention something about how pleasant it sounds. Meanwhile, Fluttershy will have financial troubles, forcing her to secretly take an announcing job at a radio station. This will culminate in her estranging her friends as she tries to hide her new career, and she will be found out, nearly ruining her reputation. A lesson will be learned about being somepony that you're not.

Luna disguises herself as "Moon Dancer" and tries to live life as a normal earth pony for an episode or two.

• Of course, Pinkie Pie can see right through her disguise and nearly blows her cover on several occasions.
  • Ever read Sunny Skies All Day Long?
  • It'd be a different name. We met the real Moondancer in season 5.

A member of the Apple family gets married.

Not any direct relation to Applejack, but a distant cousin or something. The gang prepares for the wedding, and the CMCs want to help out. On the day of the wedding, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom arrive on time, but Scootaloo oversleeps. This is especially bad, since she was supposed to pick up the wedding bands (bracelets because ponies don't have fingers) and she has not done that yet. In her mad dash to get to the wedding on time, she accidentally crashes into the wedding arch, sending it crashing down. Sweetie Belle manages to distract all the guests by performing for them and Apple Bloom repairs everything. everything works out, and by the end of the episode, Twilight tells the CMCs to take a look at their flanks…

The Mane Six will meet an old creature in the Everfree Forest with separation anxiety issues.

They'll befriend it, have fun with it for a bit, and then go back to Ponyville. Unfortunately, the creature will panic and imprison the ponies, so that they'll stay with it forever and ever. It will be strongly hinted that the last friends the creature made died of natural causes long ago. It'll be like that one episode of Chowder, only less Played for Laughs and more Played for Drama. Bleak, harrowing drama.

• Will Zecora have any involvement?
• something like iPsycho?

A possible idea if new elements get introduced...

Two new ponies join the Mane Cast. And because there are two Earth ponies, two unicorns, and two pegasi, they will be a new species of pony. I doubt sea ponies will work, but maybe zebras? Anyway, because each of the Mane Six has an opposite, (Twilight to Pinkie Pie, Applejack to Rarity, and Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash) these two will have opposite personalities as well.

• One will have a Hair-Trigger Temper, and get angry easily, but at the same time, she's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and cares a bunch about her friends, and is quite clever and can figure the way out of a lot of tough situations. Her element will be either Courage or Assertiveness.^note More likely the former.
• The other will be a fat, lazy, stupid slob (maybe an Expy of Bunny?) who does nothing but eat and sleep, but is really friendly. I have no idea what her element would be.
• Alicorns
• changelings

There will be an episode where the CMCs help Dinky stand up to bullies.

We hear Diamond Tiara telling Dinky "At least my mother never destroyed Town Hall", and also taunting her on things not related to Derpy. Scootaloo's advice is bad, as is Apple Bloom's, but Sweetie Belle hits the nail on the head.

• Not everybody has the Headcanon that Dinky and Derpy have anything to do with each other.
• maybe they decide to make amethyst star,ditzy doo, and/or dinky hoo will be sisters (which will be sisters or some other relative is your option.)

If Discord returns, he will turn into a pony in an attempt to better understand friendship so he can more effectively counter it...but

He'll realize his lack of true knowledge about it, and thus try to actually understand it in an attempt to use this new found knowledge against the mane six. However, to understand friendship truly, one has to FORM friendships, and gradually the friendships he forms begin to change him for the better, in the end he'll try to launch another take over, but find he's no longer able to bring himself to harm the mane six anymore, and if he does, he'll feel guilt, and be completely baffled as to why. Someone will point out it's because he finally knows what it's like to care about someone other than himself, and that's not something he can just throw away like it's nothing. He'll then realize taking over Equestria will put him in conflict with them, or hurt them indirectly, and his newly developed sense of compassion makes him unable to bare doing that. The last scene will have him teleport away to get his thoughts in over and his next appearance will have him become The Atoner.

If Discord returns, it'll be a blatant Shout-Out to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Deja Q

Like the above, he's turned into a pony/other mortal species. All we need is a Diamond Dog or a Changeling to fulfill the role of "traditional antagonist species now allied with our heroes" to fulfill the role of Worf. Double points if he's actually voiced by Michael Dorn.

Crystal Kingdom vs Crystal Empire isn't just a naming inconsistency...

Okay, we know the toyline is releasing a new "Crystal Empire" set, and the leaked Crystal Fair Song confirms it'll play a part in the show...except Twilight refers to a "Crystal Kingdom anthem". Either this was just a slip up, or there's more to it than that: both terms are correct. That is, the place will be called the 'Crystal Kingdom' at first, until some Tyrant Takes the Helm (whether an old villain or a new one) and turns it into the 'Crystal Empire.' Remember: kingdoms are good, empires are evil.

• Alternately, it involves a Civil War. The Crystal Kingdom being one side and the Empire the other. Using their history to save them is reminding them of their history to stop the fighting.
• There's a really simple explanation for this: King Sombra. King Sombra. Ruler of the Crystal Kingdom. While he ruled it, it was a Kingdom. It's now an Empire, and it was one before he took over, because Celestia calls it an Empire when stating it returned. Twilight probably called it a Kingdom because not only is she from the Kingdom of Equestria (lack of actual kings aside), but she's thinking of the fact that it's last ruler was a king. Seeing as Cadance isn't an Empress, she's a princess, the mistake is easy to make. "Crystal Kingdom Anthem" might actually be what's written in the book.

Fluttershy will be revealed to have Abusive Parents.

Fluttershy hears that her parents are coming over, and everypony is excited to meet them. Except for Fluttershy herself, who's nervous about meeting them for reasons she won't tell her friends. Soon, her parents appear, ^note hopefully, voiced by Tom Kenny and Grey Delisle and, after what looks like a happy reunion, start beating up on their poor daughter right in front of her friends. Afterwards, Fluttershy reveals to her friends the truth: she had been abused ever since she was a filly, for being a poor flyer, and that is how her Shrinking Violet nature and low self-esteem came to be. Her friends all give her a great big hug, and then go tell Celestia. The lesson at the end is that, if your family members are being cruel, always tell somepony else, no matter what. It could be the series's Very Special Episode, and maybe even a Wham Episode.

Similar to a theory above, Twilight will turn Spike into a pony so that he can impress Rarity.

If he becomes a Pegasus, there could be a sequence where he carries Rarity up into the clouds, as an Affectionate Parody of the "A Whole New Word" sequence from Aladdin.

The Series final scene

Will pull out to reveal a little red head girl named Laura playing with her My Little Pony figurines.

There will be an In-Universe Fandom Rivalry.

The Mane Six will argue about different genres of book that they each like (Twilight likes fantasy; Rainbow Dash likes action/adventure; Pinkie likes humor; etc.) until it becomes a huge fight. The moral at the end is that different ponies like different things and have different opinions, and that nopony's opinion on a work is better than anypony else's.

The Mane Six will try to make a cartoon.

Bonus points if...

• They mention a cartoonist pony named Buck Jones.
• The episode has shout outs to The Ren & Stimpy Show episode "Stimpy's Cartoon Show", and/or the Rocko's Modern Life episode "Wacky Delly".
• They each model a character off of another one of the Mane Six, but exaggerate their personality up to eleven. (For example, a character modeled off of Pinkie would be even ditzier and more gluttonous than the real Pinkie.) The moral ends up being "be careful when making characters off of real life, our you'll hurt somepony's feelings."

Celestia will get a 'Breakdown Episode'

And it will be TERRIFYINGLY awesome.

Everypony else is going to be ready to turn the Mane Six over to some apparently undefeatable evil

However they will be stopped by Derpy Hooves intervening and giving them all a solid lecture about friends not feeding friends to evil monsters.

There will be a Seven Samurai-inspired episode.

The main cast will travel to a small, isolated, poor village which will be threatened by some group of villains or another, and become the Seven Six Samurai Friendship Warriors who must train the villagers in the ways of friendship (as well as old-fashioned ass-kicking) and work together to achieve victory against the villains.

There will be an episode in which a previous minor antagonist showing Hidden Depths will have significant impact on the plot of the episode

Perhaps due to offscreen Character Development, they end up doing something surprising. Ideas:

• After being sent to therapy to deal with his behavioral problems, Prince Blueblood has a few harsh words to Princess Celestia for letting her friends ruin the Grand Galloping Gala and get away with it instead of informing the party planners of her desire for a change.
• Gilda is doing community service for delinquent behavior and finds out that she enjoys it (possible activity: some sort of training regiment, which lets her talk down to people).
• Flim and Flam end up doing legitimate business helping farms with shorthanded workers harvest more efficiently.
• The Diamond Dogs are still going after gems, but as a legit business (either starting their own operation or getting mining jobs).

There will be an episode that references Dr. Seuss's The Sneetches.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders encounter a sales-pony (maybe Flim and Flam?) who has a machine that can put cutie marks on ponies. The CMC go through it, and then show off their new cutie marks to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Tiara and Spoon get angry, but then the sales-pony(s) show them a machine that can remove cutie marks. Tiara and Spoon go through it, and then become proud of their new blank flanks, thinking that they are now better than the CMC. The CMC get jealous and go through the machine as well, and if you've read (or seen the Animated Adaptation of) "The Sneetches", you can probably see where this goes.

The current wielders of the Elements of Harmony will need to learn how to use their Elements to their full potential.

To do so, the Mane Six (with Spike tagging along for the ride) will need to travel all over Equestria in search of the one who "created" the Elements of Harmony (or at least the necklaces/big crown thingy they are associated with). Additionally, he/she (I'm thinking a he) was also one of the Elements' original wielders back when they were used to stop Discord — thus making him an Alicorn like Celestia and Luna.

The reason no one has ever heard of him before? Long ago, Discord scarred the original Element Wielders for life, possibly by causing the death/s of one or more of the original Wielders. After his imprisonment, the remaining Elements that we haven't heard of turned at least partway Discorded. The one that made the Elements couldn't bear this and went into hiding to keep from getting more Discorded. And so, for over a thousand years, he's been going slightly insane and becoming very snarky, almost completely Discorded.

When the Mane Six show up, he's unaware it's been over a millennium since he and Celestia last made contact, making him slightly irritated and unwilling to help the current Elements. But over time, their friendship proves strong enough to soften the Element Maker's heart, and he trains them — unwittingly at first, mostly by giving seemingly unhelpful advice that proves useful later.

This will all be a crucial part within a much larger story arc — dealing with, I would hope, a supremely overpowered Nightmare Moon who the Elements of Harmony cannot hope to defeat in their current state. This may also be a way to reveal to the Mane Six (and the audience by proxy) the origins of the Elements of Harmony.

Spike will take Heart's Desire by mistake and wake up as a pony.

Think a purple unicorn with a green mane and built like Big Macintosh. The better to impress Rarity—but he's disoriented and only mature physically—not mentally or emotionally.

Time Turner will get an acting job...

...and will turn out to be some foal's father. He has to move, and that's what the episode will be about. Fandom Nods will appear too, as many as legalization permits.

The major villains will be revealed to have been former Elements of Harmony

Since we know that Luna was a former Element holder gone bad, and it's been speculated that Celestia and Luna weren't the only ones to use the Eo H, it's possible that turning evil is not an uncommon fate of past Eo H users. Each of them were somehow driven to despair by the very world they protected; possibly corrupted by the same force that corrupted Luna.

• Luna/Nightmare Moon: Element of Loyalty. When Celestia and Luna started ruling Equestria, Celestia took on much of the work because Luna was still rather young. Because she was so busy, Luna began feeling neglected by not only her subjects that ignored her night, but her sister as well. When she saw what her betrayal did to Celestia, the little shred of Luna left in Nightmare Moon felt remorse for her actions, and was able to be changed back by the Mane 6.
  • Or for Irony's sake generousity
• Discord: Element of Laughter. Discord used to be a fun loving prankster like Pinkie, that used his magic to entertain others and make others laugh. When other ponies started mocking and shuned him for his appearance, he began to use his magic to get revenge on those who were cruel to him, and developed his own twisted sense of fun. Discord changed his name to better fit his new demeanor. (Or because he found his old one embarrassing.)
• Queen Chrysalis: Element of Kindness? Running under the theory that Chrysalis is the pony princess from the Hearts and Hooves Day story, Chrysalis was genuinely in love with the prince who gave her the love poison. He didn't realize that she truly loved him back and gave her the poison, thinking that was the only way she would love him. When the dragon attacked her kingdom, the prince died trying to protect her. Only when she snapped out of the love poison, she realized what had happened to her love and her kingdom. The guilt drove her mad, and Chrysalis shed herself of her old name and identity, and forced her subjects into eternal admiration. When she and Celestia fought in A Canterlot Wedding, they didn't even recognize each other.
  • Or if we're having Irony, honesty

The kicker is that each of them chose to embrace a darker path. And each have a chance at redemption if they are willing to feel remorse for what they've done. Even worse is that if Celestia hits a Despair Event Horizon she's just as likely to become another Big Bad.

• I wrote pretty much the same thing somewhere else in the WMG pages, but I believe you said it better. However, just like loyalty turned into betrayal and laughter became mockery, the queen of deceit must have been the element of honesty. And for the original source of corruption, and the series' final foe, I would see the former bearer of the element of magic.
  • OP here: I figured I'd heard this or similar else where, I just couldn't remember if it was here or another site. You're probably right,though, it makes more sense for Chrysalis to be the Element of Honesty. My mind just immediately went to to Kindness because she just seems like a cruel, ruthless dictator.

Also, elaborating on the Celestia-Big Bad theory, I originally saw Celestia being the Element of Magic, but becoming the avatar of misery and suffering. Because, while the Magic of Friendship brings happiness, loneliness only brings sadness and despair. However, she could just as easily be the Element of Kindness, and twist her Element into something horrible rather than betraying it like the others. Such as trying to rid the world of suffering by destroying it, thinking she's performing the greatest act of Kindness.

• But what about King Sombra? What will his Element have been?
  • Going off this genius theory, I don't think we've met the corrupted form of Magic yet because that sounds like a wonderful series end Big Bad. I think Chrysalis' was Generosity. All she did was take and take. Sombra's could have been kindness because he turned his subjects into slaves. That being said, maybe Celestia might be the Big Bad in that series end, she could turn into the Big Bad of Magic and it's up to the Mane Six to stop her.

Princess Celestia will order Twilight to establish an Equestrian secret police.

At the end of season two, the Changelings were defeated, but not destroyed. At the beginning of season three, therefore, Celestia will be very worried about the ongoing threat of Changeling infiltration into Equestrian society, so she will assign Twilight Sparkle to establish a secret police to ferret out any Changelings. Twilight will feel very uncomfortable with and unprepared for this task, and that's what she's singing about here.

• Consider this: Spike nervously asks Twilight if she "failed" just before the song begins, and during the song she laments that she "can't be sure" about something. Perhaps Twilight is only being considered as the leader of this force, with other possible candidates?

There will be an episode about Rainbow Dash losing a race or some flight event.

She'll have a break down, refuse to do anything, blah blah blah, and we all go home learning a lesson about how you can't win everything.

Twilight will get sent back in time.

And not just a few days as in "It's About Time". More like back a thousand years when Discord ruled Equestria. There she'll meet the young Celestia and Luna, and then it'll turn out she's the one who helped them discover the Elements of Harmony and defeat Discord. In doing so, both Celestia and Discord will learn about Twilight and her friends' connection to the Elements, and both will begin making their plans for the Mane Six—Celestia for gathering them in the first place, and Discord for tearing them apart.

A baby Changeling will turn up in Ponyville...

And proceed to become the Token Evil Teammate for the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

There will be a Villain Team-Up between Discord and Chrysalis.

But it won't work out as planned. They both want complete control over Equestria, and aren't willing to share the power. Tension, chaos, and a power struggle will ensue, to the point where the Mane Six will barely even have to try to defeat them. Discord and Chrysalis take care of that for them.

There will be an episode where the Mane Characters Easily Forgiven status is Lampshaded.

What happens is that they'll confront a jerk-level antagonist for their bad behavior, only to have them throw back some of the crazy crap that our heroes have gotten away with.

Gilda: Oh come on Dash, making, Fluttershy, was it, cry makes me a monster? Didn't you get your magical butt tattoo knocking her off a cloud and almost sending her spiraling to her death?

Trixie: Who the heck are you to lecture Trixie on being a jerk, you pompous bunch of self-righteous hypocrites? Last she checked, Trixie hasn't trashed any major national events. You're up to two.

Prince Blueblood: Yes I used you as a cake shield, but at least I didn't knock three celebrities senseless and nearly got them killed because I ignored the directions!

Diamond Tiara: You want to know why I don't like you Apple Bloom? It's because you're a walking disaster zone. Whether it's smashing things up looking for your Cutie Mark or unleashing the Spirit of Chaos, whenever something crazy happens in this town, it's usually because of you, or your friends, or your sister, or her friends.

• Perhaps it would then turn into a Shut Up, Hannibal! when the mane characters point out their mistakes were accidents while the antagonists were jerks intentionally. Though they might actually admit Trixie wasn't responsible for the Ursa incident and it was Snips and Snail's fault.
  • It might become an escalating Shut Up, Hannibal! Shut Up, Kirk! when the jerk antagonists point out the heroes still keep causing these accidents, simply in new and exciting ways, meaning they don't actually learn from their mistakes, while the jerks don't cause nearly as much harm or destruction with their bad behavior.

There will be a 22 Short Films About Springfield-style episode.

We will get to see short interludes about various background characters, possibly including some Villains Out Shopping-style plots.

We'll get an episode where the Mane Six have to fight a serious threat without Twilight's help.

Generally speaking, Twilight is the pony who gets the most done, especially during the adventure stories. She knew about the Mare In the Moon prophecy, she figured out how the elements work, she restored everyone from their Discording, she figured out something was up with Cadance, etc. A future villain will single out Twilight as the most dangerous member of the group and capture her, imprisoning her in a high-security cell. However, they'll end up neglecting the other ponies, which will be their downfall. Here's an example, albeit exaggerated:

Twilight: You'll never get away with this!
Villain: Oh, but I have! Your precious kingdom burns tonight, and you are helpless to stop it!
Twilight: Even if I can't do anything, my friends will stop you!
Villain: Oh please. Everyone knows that you're the serious threat here. You're the organizer, the leader, the glue that holds the elements together. Without your presence, they're milling about like lemmings!
Twilight: So what you're saying is that out of my circle of friends, I'm the only one you consider a threat?
Villain: Yes.\\

Twilight: My friends which include a cow-pony with impossible strength, a daredevil who can fly at supersonic speeds, a fashionista who's much, much smarter and tougher then she looks, a wallflower who commands the entire Animal Kingdom, and Pinkie Pie.
Villain: Yes.
Twilight: And you haven't done anything to stop them, just in case you're wrong?
Villain: Why would I?
[Twilight stares at villain with an "Oh Celestia, you're an idiot" expression. She walks away to the far corner of the room, facing the wall.]
Villain: What are you doing?
Twilight: Staying far away from you.
Villain: Oh, intimidated, are we? Well, at least you're seeing the light.
Twilight: No, I just want to be far away from you when my friends get here.
[The other ponies burst through the prison walls and deliver a righteous beat-down.]

Pinkie pie will get (another) part-time job as a dance instructor

The episode will focus on learning not to stretch yourself too thin. Besides, she’s already got the flash-dance costume.

The mane six will learn of the “a-word”

It’s not what you think, the word is “Acquaintances”. Five out of six will accept that acquaintances exist and everypony has them, But Pinkie Pie is horrified at the idea. She thinks this means “less than friends” and she goes on a mad dash about town to try and get closer to all the other ponies. She gets so tied up with trying to “re-friend” everypony that she inadvertently neglects the mane six.

Princess Celestia will have an episode where her desire to be treated like everypony else has a cost.

Princess Celestia has a desire not to be treated as special, given her discomfort at it throughout the series. However, the same thing that grants her unwanted privileges also shields her from criticism. At some point, some incident will cause the special treatment to fade away, and then she'll find ponies being uncomfortable with her actual flaws (possible contenders: passive aggressive behavior given what happened at the GGG, inability to be straightforward, favoritism in of friends and family in spite of very real and dangerous behavior ["Princess, we must contest your appointment of your sister as co-ruler! Not only is she a thousand years out of date, she's unadaptive, emotionally unstable, and has dabbled in high treason! Not to mention you completely ignored your niece's terrible and completely out-of-character behavior until it was too late because you like her more than your other relatives save Luna!"])

Twilight Sparkle will be possessed by the same entity that created Nightmare Moon.

Celestia's too powerful and there's no way that Luna will fall for its tricks again. So, change of plans: go for the next most powerful pony in Equestria, who ALSO happens to possess an Element of Harmony (taking away one of the ways to defeat it). Twilight will start to get anxious about her studies, feeling that she's not good enough and that she can't help her friends when they need her because of all the work she needs to do. The entity will whip that up into a frenzy, and when Twilight is at breaking point, it'll say, "I can make all of your worries disappear - just let me in..."

When Luna tries to raise the moon that evening, it and the sun get stuck half-way, trapping the world in a perpetual twilight. The Mane Six will be summoned, but Twilight is acting a little... strange. Maybe an aspect of her appearance will change too - her eyes could become like NMM's just palette swapped. Eventually everypony realizes what's happened (maybe Luna was suspicious) and will try to stop Evil!Twilight, only without the Element of Magic they can't.

But Twilight's friends refuse to give up on her. They try to reason with Evil!Twilight and, failing that, just give her a Cooldown Hug. It works. The good Twilight within remembers her friends and manages to break the entity's control enough to use the Element of Magic, freeing herself. The entity is sealed away/destroyed for good. Of course, this would leave Twilight with a plot-load of issues and guilt, but Luna's there to reassure her that it gets better.

Luna's upset at not being able to do anything, which will lead to several plots

The look on her face in the Crystal Empire preview seems to state that she doesn't like having to do nothing. It may be revealed later on that Celestia has been holding her back for whatever reason, so Luna could become upset at not being able to do anything. This could lead to her trying to prove her competence throughout the season, and confronting Celestia about not letting her do anything, and Celestia revealing the reason.

We'll get an episode about a Changeling possibly replacing one of the Mane Cast

Possible stories (feel free to add your own):

• A The Roshamon / Spot the Impostor mash-up: Everypony has a different version of some event, and the key to exposing the Changeling is to pick out inconsistencies in their stories. Bonus points if Pinkie Pie does another Sherlock Holmes impression.

• This could also go the Imagine Spot / All Just a Dream route, which could allow for parodies of Film Noir or Tuxedo and Martini spy flicks. As a possible Twist Ending, the whole thing was a Changeling's dream!

• The Changeling could also be revealed right at the beginning. The rest of the episode would be tracking down the real pony.
  • (OP) This could also have elements of the "Ponies get to know Changelings" idea discussed above: a subplot could involve Twilight or Shining interrogating the Changeling, possibly revealing that Changelings are just as terrified of ponies as vice-versa, along with some possible glimpses of Changeling culture. And to keep the Changeling somewhat sympathetic, it has a complete breakdown upon being discovered.
  Changeling: No... please! I'll take you to your real friend; I'll turn myself in; I'll do anything! I won't even try to escape—just, please, don't hurt me! (breaks down crying)
  • After they find out about the Changeling, the Mane 6 and the Princesses talk about what they should do with it. After a few moments of discussion, they come to an agreement: They actually have no idea what to do with it.

Sweetie Belle will be learning basic spellwork...

...and will do something incredible at one of Pinkie's parties.

• maybe she uses the spell for her singing career.

Or, to put it another way, Sweetie Belle's magic brings a great big smile.

The 'King Sombra' that was defeated at the beginning of Season 3 was just a piece of his essence. The real full essence is still alive and will be The Man Behind the Man of the entire season

• Celestia mentions King Sombra was turned to shadow and sealed under the ice. It was no mere coincidence he was somehow freed just as the Crystal Empire resurfaced. It can be speculated he has been free for a while and waited for the Empire to return, sending only a piece of his essence to conquer it since he could foretell somepony like Celestia would find a way to stop him again.

• Also speculated he could be the power behind Trixie's possible power increase in the upcoming Episode 5 where she somehow transforms Ponyville into an Egopolis of a dark town that honors herself. See here◊ and here.◊

King Sombra will appear in an episode flashing back to a thousand years ago

The creators have stated they have interest in exploring events during Celestia and Luna's time a thousand years ago. King Sombra was given so little characterization because the rest will appear in A Day in the Limelight episode for Celestia and Luna focusing on events from a thousand years ago. We got to see the end of him, not his beginning.

There will be an episode that features at least one of the ponies discovering Gak.

Hasbro catches on to our fandom, and with the Season 3 opening having sparked the meme almost instantly, they're bound to make a Shout-Out sometime - I', betting Season 4. Pinkie Pie would likely have the most fun with it.

King Sombra was never supposed to be the real Villain of the Season 3

The REAL villain was dark powers that he controlled. At some point it will be revealed that King Somber got his powers by summoning some Eldritch Abomination, which became The Corruption. And when he was defeated, that power found a new host...

Remember the timeline? King Somber was defeated 1000 years ago, which means that Luna had to have become Nightmare Moon not long afterwards. And Word of God has stated that SOMETHING turned Luna evil. That something was The Corruption that infected her after sealing away King Somber (which would also explain why neither of the Princesses could help Twilight and co.). And we're not done yet. The Black Magic that Celestia is shown using is proof that SHE was infected as well, she's just been better at holding it back, for now...

Thusly, the REAL villain of Season 3 will be... Evil Celestia.

• or celestia nightmare moon-style.

A future episode will be an Whole Episode Flashback...

...to the time when King Sombra was ruler of the Crystal Empire. A villain with so much potential... they have to flesh him out somehow!

If we ever get an episode about Celestia, Luna, and Discord's backstory...

Princess Celestia shows Twilight an image of when she (Celestia) was a really little filly, and the announcement of the birth of her baby sister. Then it shows the current rulers, Princess Epona and Prince...something, who are alicorn versions of Lauren Faust and Craig McCracken. ^note  Bonus points if they're even voiced by Lauren and Craig. They show Celestia her new sister, and tell her that, while she (Celestia) will be destined to control the day, her younger sister will be destined to control the night.

As the two get a bit older, they go explore around the kingdom, and find an abandoned baby that Twilight recognizes as Discord. Bonus points if he looks like how the fandom usually draw him. The two sisters take him back home, and, after begging their parents over and over, get to keep him. When he gets older, he is enrolled in magic school with his two adopted sisters. Unfortunately, he gets bullied by the other ponies for his bizarre appearance, and, even when his sisters stand up for him and try to defend him, runs away and hides, maybe even singing a sad little song to himself at one point. He gets homeschooled to avoided this, and learns spells such as making cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk. But he still can't go outside without being made fun of, so he runs away.

His sisters wonder if he'll ever come back, and worry about him for many years. When he does come back, he has completely lost it, and begins to start his terrible rein over Equestria. Bonus points if he sings a Dark Reprise of that aformentioned sad song he sang when he was a child. We may also see this exchange:

Celestia: What happened to my little brother? The one I knew and loved...he would never do anything like this!

Discord: That little brother of yours is gone. I'm here now...and I'm here to stay!

They manage to use the Elements of Harmony to defeat him and encase him in stone. Their parents are grateful, and crown them the new rulers of Equestria.

Twilight begins to feel sorry for Discord, but Celestia reminds her that the adorable little child version of Discord she was shown is the one she should be sorry for, not the Mad God that she's familar with. Later, Twilight is out talking with her friends, and tells them about everything that Celestia told her. The resulting aesop is that bullying can damage a person much more than one thinks, and can even turn them into a totally different person, not always with good results. ^note  If one can think of a better and less cliche aesop, that would be very much appreciated.

Each episode of season 3 will involve one of the main characters passing some sort of test

We've already seen it with Twilight in "Crystal Empire" and Pinkie in "Too many Pinkie Pies", so this may be an ongoing story arc for the season. The shorter nature of this season also means there are just enough episodes for each character to get one. For the revealed episodes so far:"One Bad Apple" - Apple Bloom"Magic Duel" - Twilight again?"Sleepless in Ponyville" - Scootaloo"Wonderbolt Academy" - Rainbow Dash"Apple Family Reunion" - Applejack"Spike At Your Service" - Spike

A future episode will deal with Babs Seed's Manehatten CMC

Either A Day in the Limelight episode or the CMC go there and meet up with them.

There will be an episode about parental abuse/neglect.

It might not be about outright physical abuse, but perhaps emotional abuse. One of the ponies will hear a friend (perhaps someone in the Apple family) talk about how great and important family is, and about how it's important to always be loyal to family and do whatever your parents say. As a result, the pony is afraid to talk about abuse/neglect that her parents and possibly siblings are taking part in. The episode will end with the moral that sometimes, family members do bad things, and good friends will always listen to your concerns.

The Alicorn Amulet will return.

An extremely powerful but corrupting artifact? It wasn't destroyed at the end of Magic Duel, just being hidden away. Maybe there will be a threat so big that Twilight can't defeat it, so she puts the amulet on knowing it will corrupt her but feels she has no choice if she wants to save her friends or Ponyville or whatever's in danger. Or some other pony will wear it.

• Or, alternatively, Twilight Sparkle puts on the amulet either during or after her biggest Heroic BSoD yet thus corrupting her even more than it did Trixie. Thus, having lost all hope in herself, her friends and their future, she turns her back on Equestria and threatens to destroy everything in it to ensure eternal peace in the universe.

Applejack will get a Spaghetti Western episode.

It's probably the easiest way to get Applejack an episode where she can be a genuine badass.

• And the episode will be called A Hoofful of Bits

We'll get a role-reversal episode where Twilight goes back in time and mentors Celestia.

Just for laughs, it will be revealed that Celestia was once a Former Teen Rebel. Twilight will spend the episode trying to put up with her antics while teaching her.

Wonderbolts Academy will appear in future episodes.

Rainbow Dash IS remaining in the school, and a school setting would allow the writers to do new types of plots and conflicts, moreso than the elementary school the CMC go to.

Lightning Dust will become Gilda's new best friend.

They'll bond over their mutual love of flying and their grudges against Rainbow Dash.

• With the revelation of the ending to "Wonderbolt Academy" having been changed from one in which Lightning Dust admits her mistakes, it seems likely that the creators are planning on having her return in some capacity...

There will be an episode where Apple Bloom wants to learn about her parents.

The creators of the show have pretty much confirmed that AJ's parents are dead but don't think that an episode addressing the situation would be approved, for being too sad. But as a show gets more popular and lasts longer, it's typically allowed to get away with riskier content. This is already showing in Friendship is Magic. I predict that there will be an episode where Apple Bloom will want to know more about her parents, perhaps as some sort of parent's day comes up and Diamond Tiara (not knowing that Apple Bloom's parents are dead) will be teasing her about it.

Both King Sombra's horn and the Alicorn Amulet are Chekhovs Guns

Zecora or the Mane 6 will lose the Alicorn Amulet. And then somepony ^note  Betting on Diamond Tiara here will put it on for one reason or another, then they will be corrupted by its power. However if the pony that found it was an Earth pony or pegasus the they have no way to use its magic and thus needs a horn. The Amulet will lead then to the arctic where to find the horn, the amulet will fuse the horn with it wearer and one of two things happen:

• Sombra will pull a Grand Theft Me / Demonic Possession.
• The pony with that amulet will be made even more powerful (and evil) than with the amulet alone.

Ether way, the pony who found the amulet will go From Nobody to Nightmare and become the villain for the next two-parter.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Babs and the two unknown blank-flanks in her class will become the next Mane 6

They certainly are giving Babs a lot of screentime and character development since her introduction, and Word of God states she'll be a recurring character. Then they go ahead and casually mention two more blank-flanks in her class interested in becoming Crusaders. By The Theory of Narrative Causality, this has to be significant. Then it hit me: CMC + Babs + 2 more = 6. Six. Perhaps they're setting up for an eventual Sequel Series, starring the Crusaders and their new friends all grown up. Plus, this is their best option for a Next-Gen series without resorting to Spin-Offspring and inevitably pissing off fans with Ship Sinking. They could have an entirely new set of 6 elements too.

• or in equestia present time, the mini-mane six.

There will be a Whole Episode Flashback about Celestia's battle with the corrupted Luna/Nightmare Moon.

It'll be framed by a conversation between Celestia and Luna on the anniversary of that fateful night; said conversation will provide an in-depth look at what both sisters went through and will end in a Heartwarming Moment. As for the battle itself, it might have some similarities to Thor and Loki's final battle in Thor or Obi-Wan and Anakin's duel in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

Someone will come out of the closet as a publicity stunt.

Oh, don't look at me like that. Nothing will change and it won't even be the focus of the episode. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but all the pieces are in place:

• There is nothing political about teaching children that gay people exist. Don't mention legal rights. Just say "these people are different from you in some ways, but they aren't scary and can still be your friends even if you don't agree with everything they do". If anyone has a problem with that, I wonder what show they've been watching.
• It has to be a main character, not some background pony who can be written out of future episodes at the first sign of trouble. If you believe the fans, FiM is perfect for that because you can pair off any combination of the main six and it will make sense, or at least not contradict anything.
• The other convenient thing about FiM is the presence of Audience Surrogate little sisters who are clearly aware of romantic love but may have questions. Think of them as an anvil delivery system.
• The show and its merchandise are very, very profitable. A few Moral Guardians making a fuss won't kill it.
• In conclusion, yes, I believe this can happen. Barring Executive Meddling, it certainly wouldn't be a difficult thing to do, and if all you can say is "the time isn't right" you will wait forever.
  • I'm going to say this is unlikely, but not for the reasons you're clearly expecting. I'll get the one you're expecting out of the way now: the show is about friendship, not romance. Only two ponies have been shown with interest in anypony- Rarity and Twilight, and they're both very downplayed considering Rarity only does this in two episodes (and finds out they're not all they're cracked up to be), and Twilight's is restricted to the Equestria Girls franchise. Spike's crush on Rarity is the only consistent thing, and it's not made into a big deal or a driving force in the series. The show will probably continue to keep it that way, because six year old girls aren't interested in romance, and it's not six year olds who need to be taught that there's nothing wrong with homosexuality. Kids are very accepting, and most kids already are aware of the "these people are different from you in some ways, but they aren't scary and can still be your friends even if you don't agree with everything they do" thing, as kids are happy to play with noticeably autistic kids or children with Asperger's, and those kids are "different" from the rest of the class and in a much more blatant way than a kid who might like the same gender when they grow up. Kids are also totally OK with playing with, say, a boy who wears girl's clothes and likes princesses and MLP, because they have the same interests, and they don't care about him being a boy. You're right, there's nothing wrong with a coming out episode, but the target audience is too young for it to actually matter, because the kids already know it doesn't matter. They unlearn it due to being told it's wrong as they get older. If the target demograph was about twice as old, you'd have a case, since that's when kids start to get more judgemental and when they start to get crushes. So considering the target demograph and to a lesser degree, the fact that the show doesn't make a big deal out of romance, a coming out episode seems unlikely. The show clearly has no problem with portraying homosexuality, considering how secondary characters Lyra and BonBon are clearly written in "Slice of Life" (calling themselves "best friends" in a tone that says it's an inside joke and being unnaturally touchy-feely for "best friends") and shown in "Rainbow Rocks", so it's never going to be an issue of if they're willing to show it. It's simply the fact that the moral will go over a kid's head, but I somehow doubt that's a satisfactory reason.

Season 4 will have an episode about the now-reformed Discord trying to fit in.

It's a cool idea, but if anyone can figure out how to not make it a remake of "Luna Eclipsed", that would be awesome.

• Actually I think the opposite is more likely to be true at least in the end. We get an episode that has reformed Discord trying to fit in. and ultimately someone most likely Pinky Pie who seems to share similar if much weaker reality warper powers and a sense of insane humor. That you're only going to be happy being yourself. Ultimately Discord ends up being similar to any of DC's 5th dimensional entities. The heroes don't so much like as tolerate them.

Discord will be a neutral character for a few episodes until a bigger bad threatens or harms Fluttershy.

At which point he will go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.

All of Celestia's actions regarding her interactions with the Mane Six, from the two tickets to the gala, to not saying Rarity from falling and beyond, will be shown as part of a much, much bigger plan in preparing the girls for something that eclipses both Nightmare Moon and Discord in terms of scope.

Celestia will try to get Blueblood to learn about learning to respect people on their merits instead of their heritage and have him deal with the Mane Cast.

Unfortunately, the lesson will backfire because learning to judge a person based on their actions can be problematic when dealing with a group of people who, on a bad day, would destroy the the town without outside intervention. It will mirror Church's speech in the Season 5 finale of Red vs. Blue.

King sombra is going to come back and try to be the absolute ruler of the Crystal empire by being married to Cadance

While he is possessing Shining Armor.

When Friendship is Magic finishes, Hasbro will create a Sequel Series.

FIM is too popular (and thus, profitable) to let it just end. When it finishes it's run, Hasbro will have a Sequel Series, led by the creators of FIM, made. It takes place in the same universe but follows different characters, (who may or may not be related to the Mane Six in some way) though may feature appearances from the Mane Six from time to time. To avoid repeating the plots and events of the first show, it would have a different premise and take place in a different setting. Some possible changes:

• Rather than following an episodic Slice of Life format, it might instead focus on longer, multi-episode story arcs.
• The show would be about the group of ponies traveling around Equestria, and the world, in an airship, all hoping to learn and achieve different things.
• but what would it be called, tales and adventures of my little pony?

Folder 3

Just for the fun: Possible Season 4 Episode plots

• An episode about Twilight taking flight lessons from Rainbow Dash.
  • Confirmed. While the whole episode wasn't about Dash training her, it was a major plot point in the season opener.
• The Mane Six (and Spike) visiting the Equestrian Games in the Crystal Empire. May or may not be a two-partner with a new villain.
  • Confirmed. They visit in the appropriately named episode "Equestria Games".
• Another Trixie episode, but this time she isn’t the antagonist. Instead the Mane Six offer to help her restoring her damaged reputation.
  • Jossed; Trixie doesn't show up again until Season 6.

There will be a plot revolving around Ponies without magic.

They look like earth ponies, but are unable to grow food or commune with animals. They will either be high tech or nomads.

Season 4 will have an episode that works as a Take That! against claims that alicorn princess Twilight will ruin the show.

Twilight finds that all her friends and the townsfolk are treating her different after she becomes a princess. So she tries her best to show them that she's the same pony, and everyone learns a lesson.

We'll be seeing more of Canterlot and the ponies who live there in Season 4.

Because after the events in the Season 3 finale, Twilight will, if not outright move back there from Ponyville (unlikely since it'd basically mean leaving her friends behind), then at least visit there more often in order to spend some time with the other princesses and learn more about her own new role.

Fate deals some ponies a poor destiny

What we saw in the finale may just have been the result of an unfinished spell, but five of the Mane feeling compelled to do what their Cutie Marks 'tell' them brings up an interesting point. That is, perhaps there are ponies out there who - in spite of the 'be yourself, do what you like to do' lessons that the CMC fail to learn - have a Cutie Mark and special talent that is of limited use, contrary to their nature, or just plain makes them miserable. While the mix-up in Magical Mystery Cure is so drastic it may only come about by reality-warping, ponies like Rarity and Rainbow Dash both have jobs which are not purely to do with their talents (gems-finding for fashion design, and Rainbow's speed makes her weather work efficient). Maybe Season 4 will look into possibilities for those ponies who are not entirely, permanently satisfied with what 'destiny' has granted them.

Star Swirl will play a major role in the story to come.

We know that "Magical Mystery Cure" can be considered the first part of a three part story. The episode also spends a fair amount of time talking about Star Swirl and expanding a bit on his character: namely, that he didn't really understand friendship like Twilight does. Star Swirl is being set up to make a major appearance during the episodes dealing with the fallout of Twilight's coronation.

• Related Theory: Star Swirl is going to be a villain.
• Related Related Theory: Star-Swirl's "secret unfinished masterpiece" was written to allow him to steal Princess Celestia's destiny ("a mark of one's destiny, singled out alone, fulfilled") in order to become ruler of Equestria and/ ascend to godhood/alicorn-ness. Kind of like Jon Irenicus. Heck, maybe they could even get David Warner to voice him. To elaborate, if you take his "secret masterpiece" as intended to be an alicorn ascension spell, then the phrasing of the spell suggests Star Swirl's idea was to take it all for himself, hence the wording (would the greatest magician in Equestria come up with such awkward spell phrasing simply by accident?). In contrast, Twilight succeeds where he failed (ascension) by instead embodying the elements of harmony and uniting her friends together. And yes, Star Swirl's version steals destinies but not attributes (unicorn-ness, alicorn-ness, etc.), but that's only because it was unfinished.
• Related Related Related Theory: Star Swirl is the Equestria's version of Sentinel Prime. He was regarded as a great pony during his time and was even Celestia's mentor. When he makes his comeback, he is seemingly friendly at first, but he secretly struck a deal with Queen Chrysalis to take over Equestria. While Chrysalis is merely in it For the Evulz, Star Swirl the Bearded is a Well-Intentioned Extremist who merely wants to return Equestria to its "former glory," and is using Chrysalis as a pawn to fulfill his plans. Like Sentinel Prime, he'll also have an A God Am I moment.

There will be an episode that introduces a second Mysterious Mare-Do-Well.

This time, the one bearing the Mare-Do-Well moniker will be an alicorn, so that she would be able to do all the things that Twilight and Co. did as the original. She will play out similarly to the second Red X in Teen Titans (2003); making sporadic appearances throughout the season/series, being morally ambiguous, and by the end of the season/series, we still have no idea as to who she is underneath the mask. Maybe her last appearance will have her taking off her mask in front of Rainbow Dash, but it will be hidden from the viewer in some fashion (Dash doesn't tell anyone what she looks like out of respect for her). She might double as a Trickster Mentor from time to time.

There will be an episode in which Princess Twilight is sent onto a diplomatic mission to Saddle Arabia.

And while Twilight is struggling with the exotic court protocol of that country, Applejack discovers that there are 87 types of fruit she's never heard of on the menu but not a single honest apple, Fluttershy draws the eye of the local prince — or his son, if they follow the Equestrian custom of attaching the title of "prince" to the actual ruler — with Rarity cheering them on from the sidelines because we've already had her being jealous once, and Pinkie Pie is being Pinkie Pie...Rainbow Dash will run into an old friend and her father as members of the palace's griffon guard.

Discord trailing along as a mischievous would-be genie optional but potentially hilarious.

Related to the above. The next Big Bad will be...

Celestia and Luna's own parents. Who had ether fallen ala Lucifer and tried to rule Equestria with iron hooves, or been possessed by whatever caused Luna to become Nightmare Moon (and if they go the Series Finale The Sombra and Discord incidents as well. Either way they would had been usurped by their daughters before they had done any damage and then come the next season, They'll be back to kill their daughters, Twilight and Cadance, those closest to the alicorns (Mane 6, Shining Armor), and maybe ALL OF EQUESTRIA AS WE KNOW IT!!

Celestia has been gathering power with the Crystal Empire, Saddle Arabia, Discord, and most importantly granting Twilight Sparkle (who has the most magical potential) alicornhood (as they are on par with Physical Gods in terms of power though not endurance) because she knows that her parents by now borderline evil or Mad Gods and Eldritch Abominations are more powerful than Celestia and Luna combined.

This "epic thing" Meghan McCarthy mentioned on her Twitter.

Let's speculate, shall we?

There will be an episode concerning 'speciesism' and it will focus on the ponies and Changelings.

Whilst it is true that in season 2, we had an episode based around racism, the 'Hearth's Warming Eve' episode between the different races of pony. However, what the show could then do is take it to a new level and actually deal with relations with an entirely different species. As far as we've seen, a lot of species we've seen outside of ponies are EVIIIL, be they dragons (with the only real notable exception being Spike), diamond dogs, or changelings. It would do a world of good if the show dedicated an episode to how some, or better yet, many members of these 'EVIIIL' species are actually good people and are not uniformly bad. True, some species are kind of set up to come across as evil, but one of the big messages of this show is on love and tolerance, so one of the best examples of that is having the Mane Six realize that 'hey, maybe it's wrong to write off every single one of these guys we hardly know as an 'evil jerk'. They are people, with lives and their own family and loved ones and are, in many ways, like us'. The species that this could very well be done with is the Changelings, mostly because they are the species that are most set up as uniformly evil and thus would make it more interesting and compelling than say, the Diamond Dogs.

• It also allows the Mane Six to be portrayed as more sympathetic in their distrust and NOT as blind, ignorant bigots as is the case in many fanfictions on this issue, because unlike the incident with Zecora (which was not them being speciesist per say, more fear of the unknown), which was based more on ignorance than hatred, they have more of a founded reason to see all Changelings as the enemy; an army of them, led by their Queen, invaded their country! Unlike Zecora and the different races of pony, there is a solid reason for which they are actively expected to not like Changelings. It does not justify their prejudice entirely, but it makes the audience sympathies and understand them more. No one side is entirely in the wrong.

• The Mane Six, in the end, would come to understand that Chrysalis' army is not representative of every single Changeling and that it is wrong to paint all Changelings as their 'enemy'. That they are people, with lives and their own family and loved ones (on a side note, this is why this troper does not support the hive-mind idea that some fans endorse, because it mostly takes away the opportunity to show Changelings as individual characters). They (the Changelings) are like them (the Mane Six and ponies in general) in many ways.

• Their kingdom and culture and society could be revealed to based off that of similarities to Oriental cultures, like Japan and Korea, the rationale for this mainly how Chrysalis' designer, Rebecca Dart was inspired by the work of manga artists Junko Mizuno and Hideshi Hino. Therefore, if we see the Changeling Kingdom in the show it can potentially enable the show writers and animators to explore some East Asian art, architecture and culture. And picture this: Changeling Samurais!
  • Changeling culture would more than likely be Celtic due to their real world counterparts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling.

• Now close your eyes as you listen to this music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2xY6OSv9KyY, picture Changeling children playing in beautiful ornamental gardens with dolls and wooden swords, Changeling mothers laboring in the farms, carrying their babies in satchels on their backs, a whole market place full of Changelings going about their business, and finally, in her palace, Chrysalis, sitting cross-legged in her kimono, drinking tea and her child sleeping soundly against her.

• It has many ways in which the episode could be played out:
  • The Mane Six are stranded in an isolated area with a group or family of Changelings.
  • The Mane Six find themselves trapped in the Changeling Kingdom and disguise themselves/They are sent to the Changeling Kingdom as spies and go undercover. Either way, they then get an understanding of what the Changelings' lives are like, and how privileged ponies are in Equestria in comparison to a Changeling's daily hardship and squalor.
  • The familiar scenario of them finding a Changeling baby and have to return it to its family, as examined in detail below. The twist? It's Chrysalis baby! How're they gonna get themselves out of that one, especially as Chrysalis believes they kidnapped her baby?
  • Equestria and the Changeling Kingdom go to, or are at the brink of war.

This sort of thing relates to real life in ways a lot of us may not realize. We often associate entire certain nationalities or groups of people as our enemies because of what their leaders (past or present), ancestors or a select minority of them have done, when in reality, many of them have done nothing to antagonize us and could otherwise be our friends

A lost baby Changeling episode

The Mane Six and Spike come across a lost Changeling baby, or larva, and have to go on a journey to return it to its family. Whilst, like I said, this has been done before, MLP does have a way of doing different takes on these familiar plots. The reasons this troper would like this kind of episode, for MLP specifically are:

• It allows for serious potential world-building, potentially a Changeling Kingdom. Their kingdom and culture and society could be revealed to based off that of similarities to Oriental cultures, like Japan and Korea, the rationale for this mainly how Chrysalis' designer, Rebecca Dart was inspired by the work of manga artists Junko Mizuno and Hideshi Hino. Therefore, if we see the Changeling Kingdom in the show it can potentially enable the show writers and animators to explore some East Asian art, architecture and culture.
• The Mane Six and Spike are forced to confront their own perceptions/distrust of Changelings as their enemies, especially in what they're doing. The typical things would include, "the bitter truth is that this child is going to grow up one day and be our enemy", "Is it then worth all this trouble to bring this child back?", "It's not like we're going to get a "thanks" when we return it", "Are all Changelings really automatically our enemies?", etc.
• We get to see the Mane Six's potential maternal side. Imagine RD's heart eventually melting, despite her resistance, with the little baby.
  • Or even better: a Mama Bear moment from Rainbow, or even all of the Mane Six at once, if the little bug somehow gets in danger.
    Rainbow Dash: Hurting a little kid around me—whether they're a pony, Changeling, whatever—is...not a good idea. (cue Moment of Awesome)
• A baby Changeling. I mean, imagine how cute it'll look.
  • It could even lead up to mindblowing twist; It's Chrysalis's baby! Imagine the look on their faces when they find out they've got the Prince or Princess of the Changelings. And how're they gonna get themselves out of that one, especially as Chrysalis will most likely believe they kidnapped her baby? Not only that, one wonders if she'd be physically able to express gratitude for them returning her baby to her once the misunderstanding is cleared up.
    • Bonus points if the baby Changeling becomes a recurring character. Perhaps an "unofficial" fourth member for the Crusaders? Or (if the Changeling doesn't stay in Ponyville) a Token Good Teammate for the rest of the swarm, and a Friendly Enemy for the Mane Six. Frequent Go-Karting with Bowser will ensue in the latter case.

There will be an episode dedicated to the improving of foreign relations between Equestria and the Changeling Kingdom.

Sorry, but if Celestia is so willing to give Discord a second chance, then her willing to repair relations with Changelings is not in the realm of the impossible. This troper can imagine an episode based on an early episode of Young Justice, where like the North and South Korea based countries, the Changeling Kingdom and Equestria's leaders gather at a peace summit to try and work out peace, with who else being the arbitrator (in Young Justice, Lex Luthor) than Discord.

There will be an episode that will end with the Mane 6 having a fallout with each other

And the next season/series will pick up after this. And it was such a Tear Jerker that even Discord was affected by it.

The entire series will be revealed to have been one giant Flash Back

Told by a now-insane Twilight as she sits in a mental ward with her psychiatric analyzer.

One of the Mane Characters will pull a Face–Heel Turn in the future.

There will be an Another Side, Another Story episode dealing with the Changelings.

The episode will give us insights on how the Changelings live and how their society functions. Might also show us what Chrysalis is like during her normal life and what relatives she might have.

Over time, the other members of the Mane Cast will also have big life changes.

Twilight has become a princess, establishing that this show will not be completely static and things can change. So we can believe that the other members of the Mane Cast will also move forward in their dreams and have big life changes, such as Rarity becoming a big-name fashion designer, Fluttershy opening up a zoo, and Rainbow Dash becoming a Wonderbolt.

Princess Celestia is planning to reclaim the ancestral pony kingdoms

Other WMGs have noted that Princess Celestia has been massing power and gathering allies as of late. What if, instead of being a defensive measure against enemy invasion, these are instead offensive preparations for an invasion of their own?

As far as we know, the old kingdoms are still windigo territory since the ponies abandoned them and the winter there never ended. With the land devoid of friendship or protectors, windigos and possibly even other horrific monsters have been roaming the area completely unchecked for who-knows-how-many thousands of years, making the old kingdoms territory quite possibly one of the most dangerous, evil-infested places in the world. However, with all of Princess Celestia's preparations, (Which include the Mane Six and the Elements of Harmony, the Saddle Arabians, and freaking Discord) she and her forces might just have a shot at succeeding.

Taking back the old kingdoms would serve four purposes:

• First, it would expand Equestria's territory even further.
• Second, it would rid the world of a major bastion of evil.
• Third, being able to study the old kingdoms would be an incredible opportunity for learning more about pony history.
• Fourth, Twilight would lead the efforts to rebuild the kingdoms and thus become their princess.
  • No, the old kingdoms are still in winter and still in quarantine, guarded by a giant wall and manned by an ancient order of black stallions. More likely, she's trying to raise her military readiness rating in preparation for a greater threat
    • Wait, where did we learn that?

At some point, the series' minor antagonists will team up in order to get revenge on the Mane Six

Each member of the "Elements of Disharmony" will want to get back at a different member of the Mane 6 who wronged them:

• Trixie will want to get back at Twilight. After getting over the dose of humility she received after the Alicorn Amulet incident, Trixie will realize that she still nurses a grudge against Twilight for ruining her career, a grudge which will only be exacerbated when she somehow gets it into her head that Twilight only agreed to forgive and be friends with her in order to defuse her as a threat.
• Gilda will want revenge on Pinkie Pie, who humiliated her and contributed to the destruction of Gilda's friendship with Rainbow Dash.
• The Flim Flam Brothers will want to get back at Applejack (and perhaps the Apple Family in general) for ruining their reputations as salesponies.
• The Diamond Dogs will want revenge on Rarity for torturing them with her whining and taking all of their gemstones.
  • Prince Blueblood is another character who may want to get back at Rarity, for publicly humiliating him.
• Iron Will will learn that Fluttershy actually benefited quite a great deal from his assertiveness lessons, and will come back to collect his money by claiming that she lied about not being satisfied with the lessons in order to get out of paying for them.
• Lightning Dust will seek revenge on Rainbow Dash for ruining her chance to be a Wonderbolt.

Interestingly, Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell has planted the seeds for this, as it establishes that Trixie and Gilda have become friends/partners in crime since we last saw them (with Trixie seemingly haven taken a dose of Aesop Amnesia to boot).

Twilight will get the chance to learn all about Luna and Celestia's distant past.

This video hints at 0:52 that that she is really interested in learning about their foalhoods. Perhaps she'll get time travel? Perhaps an extended flashback? Perhaps we'll get their history like we did of Equestria's founding from A Hearths Warming Eve?

When Meghan McCarthy tweeted that there we should be expecting 53 more Alicorns She meant it!!!

It's probably exaggerated since it would be hard to come up with 53 new Alicorns even considering that it's likely that the remaining Mane Cast will end up becoming 5 of them what with Meghan tweeting that Twilight won't outlive any of them so there will either be 10 or 15 not 53 unless she's counting background Alicorns.

• Maybe there's a secret village of them?
• Maybe two of them are Luna and Celestia's parents?

Building off the above WMG and ancestral territory one, the S4 season or mid-season finale will involve a Mass Super-Empowering Event

Twilight will find/invent a spell that will supercharge the ponies' magic. Once they attack the Windigoes The spell will be used in tandem with the Elements of Harmony will enhance their powers and maybe make 53 ponies alicorns (Including Twilight's friends and Shining Armor). They will then rule over the conquered and purified territories.

• And HOW.

We'll get an episode where almost every character involved is voiced by Tabitha St. Germain.

Like say, Luna summons Rarity, Derpy, Granny Smith, Mrs. Cake and the gravy boat to help her save Equestria from certain doom.

An episode will introduce Queen Chrysalis' daughter, the Changeling Princess.

In order to try and establish a sense of Peaceful Coexistence (doubtfully the word used) between Equestria and the Changeling Kingdom, Chrysalis' daughter, the young Princess Pupa is sent over as an exchange student/take a tour of Equestria. The gang expect the daughter to be a fierce, black-hearted warrior-like princess, but when she arrives in her armored train (accompanied by armed guard) she is revealed to be a tiny, bespectacled and all around adorably sweet Changeling (add in asthma and the frequent use of inhaler) who could rival Sweetie Belle in terms of giving a viewer diabetes by her sheer cuteness.

Of course, we have the usual shenanigans with cultural clashes (bonus points if the Changelings' culture is given an explanation, something from the Far East like Japan and Korea would be really interesting), with a written message/threat by Chrysalis to the Mane Six that if a single hair on Pupa's pig tailed mane is hurt, she'll personally bite their heads off one by one. However, some of the Mane Six decide they want to see if they can pump any secret information about Changeling government and military secrets out of the filly (behind Celestia's back) by sending in the CMC to befriend her. They eventually get nothing and are surprised (despite Pupa's young age and already innocent appearance and demeanor) that she knows little to nothing of her mother's dealings and plans - she doesn't even know about the Canterlot Invasion, which can lead to a classic Fawlty Towers, "Don't mention the war/invasion!" set of jokes.

A good twist in the plot is that the CMC and Pupa go missing, and remembering Chrysalis' warning, begin a desperate search for them. Or a good emotional scene where Pupa finds out and believes the CMC used her, only for them to make up again in the end.

OR...

Chrysalis' daughter and heir, Princess Larva/Pupa/Imago whatever (a spoiled, sheltered brat in this scenario),, has grown tired of palace life and wants to experience life as an ordinary filly. She knows it'll be difficult to do so amongst fillies of her own kind, so sneaks out and somehow or another, travels to Equestria in the disguise of a unicorn filly where she ends up in Ponyville and meets the CMC. At first, she is excited, but the spoiled, sheltered Princess quickly becomes disgusted by the "filthy, common peasants" and only sticks around because unlike her mother, she adores apples and apple pie.

Meanwhile, the Mane Six become suspicious of the filly. A lot like her mother, the Princess is a VERY bad actor and it soon becomes blaring obvious she is a Changeling, what with her mannerisms and inconsistent story. What really clinches it is that Chrysalis, realizing her baby is missing and suspecting Equestria of kidnap, issues a threat against Equestria to return her "precious little baby" or she will launch another invasion and the Mane Six put two and two together.

When they confront her in the sand box, the Princess' immediate response is to throw sand in their eyes and bolt. Thus begins the chase scene, where the kid pulls off a few tricks, taking after her mother, by pulling off a wounded gazelle gambit of her own by making bystanders think the others are hurting an innocent filly ("Help! Help! Those mean mares are trying to hurt me for no reason!"). Eventually, they catch her, force her to drop the disguise and must take her back to her mother without it making it indeed look like they kidnapped her.

Discord's final appearance in the series will involve a Star Trek parody.

Either as a brief gag or as a full episode. If it's a full episode, then it will involve...

• ...Discord playing the role of Q, obviously.
• ...Rarity as a cross between Kirk and Picard. She's hammy, she's classy, she's a tea drinker, and she can speak french. Also, she would have the worst reaction to turning bald.
  • If Rarity is Picard, does that make the Nightmare Forces the Borg?
• ...Twilight as Spock.
• ...Applejack as Bones. "Dang it, Rare! I'm a farmer, not a physicist! I don't even know what I'm doing here! Ah can't grow apples in space!"
  • Then at the end of the episode, she learns she can. Somehow.
• ...Princess Luna as Scotty.

Twilight will learn about Tall Poppy Syndrome the hard way

Everypony will start resenting Twilight for the promotion, especially when there are plenty of ponies who are more deserving and/or qualified than she is. Eventually it'll wear her down and she'll quit.

There will be an episode that sort-of deals with Discord's past.

A mysterious creature will have turned up from Tartarus and is seen roaming Equestria, and the only thing it says is some variation of, "Where's Discord?" When Discord hears of this, he immediately starts panicking badly. When questioned about this, he reveals that he used to be a denizen of Tartarus, but had managed to escape. He tells the Mane Six (and perhaps the Princesses) about his life back when he lived in there, and makes it abundantly clear that he never wants to return there again. When the creature inevitably finds him, Discord accepts his fate and gives a tearful goodbye to his friends. When the creature sees this, it realizes that Discord has changed and lets him go, citing, "You are no longer one of us. You are free."

(And before you ask, yes, I ripped that last quote straight from System Shock 2.)

A future episode will deal with Shining Armor.

(Now, before I start, I realize that this probably wouldn't make sense, but just bear with me.)

I was thinking that the episode will deal with him accidentally getting involved with something bad or was framed and is forced to go on the run, pursued by his own men. He eventually does clear his name, but he does so with the help of someone you'd least expect...

Meanwhile, the Mane 7 (and maybe the princesses) start looking into the whole matter, personally, because none of them buy into the idea that he'd do something like that.

As for what he gets involved with/framed for, just use your imagination.

There will be an episode about the fate of the Flutter Ponies.

The Mane 7 will end up stumbling across some ancient ruins (which will probably look like this◊) and discover that it used to be Flutter Pony land. It is explained that the Flutter Ponies vanished eons ago and everyone, including Celestia, Luna, and Discord, thought that they were just a legend. They spend the episode trying to piece together exactly what caused them to disappear in the first place, but never come to any conclusions. Afterwards, they decide to leave, citing that no one will ever know what happened.

The episode may or may not contain a reference to a future villain.

• Alternatively, it may end up implying that the flutter ponies are still around and that we've already seen them. The catch would be that, in present-day Equestria, they're known as changelings.

Lauren Faust's idea about an episode where Scootaloo learns that she'll never be able to fly will occur.

And maybe during the same episode, she finally gets her cutie mark, just to make up for this fact.

A future episode will involve a zoo opening in Ponyville.

Either the town itself will be opening it and Fluttershy gets asked to run the place, or Fluttershy herself opens it to have a place for all those animals. The conflict of the episode could be about one of the friends being upset that Fluttershy can't spend as much time with them because of work, or Fluttershy having some difficult running the place. (perhaps some of the zookeepers aren't listening to her like they should)

• Alternatively, a new resident (let's just call him "The Zookeeper") moves to Ponyville, along with a collection of animals captured from all over the world. Everypony is fascinated by by these exotic animals except Fluttershy, who is distraught that the animals live in small cages. She releases them in hopes of becoming their friend, but they quickly escape and make a mess of things. The animals are all recovered, but Fluttershy and The Zookeeper get into an argument concerning the morality of caging up animals versus letting them run wild. The Aesop comes in when Twilight gets them to compromise, and the animals are given large enclosures in which to roam, establishing the aforementioned zoo. The title of the episode shall be "Zoopocalypse"
• Alternately, Ponyville opens up a zoo and asks Fluttershy to run it along with a famous animal expert. Fluttershy is excited to work with her hero, but is disappointed to find that this pony cares more about fame and money than the well-being of the animals. Fluttershy is too afraid to say anything, because she looked up to this pony for so long, and because going against this pony might ruin her own reputation. Eventually she can't ignore the suffering of the animals and calls out the expert. The expert is disgraced and Fluttershy is given full control of the zoo, and gives the animals bigger and better enclosures.

All the members of the Mane Cast will go further in their goals in future episodes.

Twilight has already advanced in her magic studies, working her way up to princess. Rainbow Dash has been accepted into Wonderbolt Academy. To keep the show fresh and allow for new conflicts and stories, it would make perfect sense to have all the characters take promotions in their cutie mark talent. Rarity might open up another store, possibly in Canterlot. Fluttershy may end up working at a pet store, zoo, or animal sanctuary. Pinkie Pie could open up her own party planning area. Applejack might start experimenting with new types of apples.

• Rarity did indeed open a new store in Canterlot in Canterlot Boutique; the rest have yet to come.

Twilight will eventually find a way to replicate the combination attack produced by the Elements of Harmony by herself, and it will become FiM's version of the Rainbow of Light from the original series.

Ultimately, Friendship is Magic is Twilight's story, and both the end of Season 3 and the movie make it pretty clear that Princess Twilight doesn't have anything else to learn about friendship, and doesn't need the other elements as long as she has her own; they're all in the process of going their separate ways. The Rainbow of Light will be Twilight's last contribution to magic in Equestria: an artifact that can be used by anypony who truly understands friendship.

• Bonus points if it ends up in the hands of the Cutie Mark Crusaders at the end of the series.

An Identical Stranger celebrity counterpart(Maybe to Rainbow Dash) will appear, need to take a break and swap places with her counterpart.

Both Littlest Pet Shop and Pound Puppies had done this plot already. It would be interesting to see what FiM does with this idea.

There will be an episode involving a reality show.

Feel free to add ideas on what kind of reality show.

• One of the ponies winds up sharing a house with a bunch of other ponies who are almost complete opposites. It will end with An Aesop akin to the one from Look Before You Sleep (even the most different of people can get along). Bonus points if it's Twilight Sparkle and her housemates are voiced by Cree Summer, Jess Harnell, James Arnold Taylor, Adam Carolla, Jack Plotnick, and Abbey McBride.

There will be an episode dealing with Cadance and Shining Armor having a baby.

And a running gag in the episode will be everypony debating as to whether the baby will be a filly or a colt.

Diamond Tiara will be paralyzed for life.

And with a bit of prodding from Dashie, Scootaloo will offer comfort. At the end, Diamond will write the letter to the Princesses.

King Sombra will return in Season 4.

I say he will return because he showed so much potential as a villain for not only obtaining powerful dark magic but unlike the previous villains he actually managed to conquer a kingdom for 1000 years. Yikes. Even after being defeated by both Celestia and Luna they only destroyed his physical and were unable to restore the crystal kingdom. Had it not been for Spike he would've won.So I predict that somewhere in season 4 The Chrysalis Queen will make second attempt to conquer Equestria however this time she found the horn of King Sombra after his defeat using a form of ancient magic she brings him back. In return Sombra gives ancient knowledge that they use to storm Canterlot Castle. God that be awesome.

• Jossed. Season 4's over, and no Sombra. Maybe season 5.
• or season 6, and beyond.
  • He could still return, given the final scene in his backstory comic.

An episode will focus on the Cutie Mark Crusaders secretly dealing with a threat to Equestria/Ponyville while the mane cast (and possibly other characters including the other princesses, Shining Armor, and Zecora) are busy with another huge, Noodle Incident threat.

Because if Justice League Unlimited can rip off "The Zeppo", so can FiM.

The Box contains something that will let the Mane 6 use the elements without having the Physical Gems

Either copies of the elements, or new ones, or just a message that tells them that the magic was inside them all along.

A future episode will address Discord's part in sabotaging the Tree of Harmony

He will come to regret his actions. I'm thinking Fluttershy will be put under some kind of spell that only the Elements of Harmony would have the power to break.

• Boy that would be a huge My God, What Have I Done? moment when Discord realizes what he'd done.

Season Four is slowly building up to the return of Nightmare Moon.

Here's my reasoning.

First, the flashback scene with Nightmare Moon's fight with Celestia. It was cool and all, but when you step back you realize that it wasn't very relevant to the plot. Sure, it reminds us of how the old castle got ruined and ties in with Celestia' talk about moving on from the past, but those are pretty minor details in the grand scheme.

Second, the Castle-Mania episode goes out of its way to connect Nightmare Moon with the Pony of Shadows. The story would work just fine on it's own, but then you drop that bomb and suddenly you connect this monster with the show's greater mythology...and you do nothing with it. Right.

Basically, the flashback scene served to re-establish Nightmare Moon as a menacing threat, one that could be very dangerous if she were to return. The Pony of Shadows is being set up as Nightmare Moon's loyal minion, working to bring about her mistress' return in the season finale.

Also, the star spiders might be involved. You know, because "the stars will aid in her escape" and all that jazz. They seemed like too big a detail to just be left alone.

The star spiders will make a return.

I just thought it was really weird that they brought these things up, gave them a unique design and name, and did absolutely nothing with them. They're being set up for something.

as an extension to the WMG 2 spaces up, The Nightmare Forces will stage a third attempt at The Night That Never Ends

Nightmare Moon's plans have been thwarted three times by now (First by banishment to the moon, then by the Elements of Harmony, then by the friendship between their bearers). With the Mane 6 now separated by the Elements of Harmony, they will try to take control of all the Mane 6 (Including Twilight, a princess at least as powerful than Luna and Celestia, and rarity who they already possesses before) and then attempt to take over Luna. A Big Damn Movie or The Season 5 Premier will be about The Mane 6 as Big Bads and it being up to other ponies to stop them from getting whatever's in the box (Nightmare Moon callbacks and that chest being this season's McGuffin cannot be a coincidence). We will also get an Origins Episode for Nightmare Moon and the Nightmare Forces. (which would reveal that they were born from Luna's resentment, magic and envy festering insider her, eventually taking her over that fateful night). Other possibilities include a Reversal of Equestria girls, (Sunset and the Hu-Mane 5 winding up in Equestria) or a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits (led by Trixie or Celestia) being La Résistance to stop the NightMane Six and save the Mane 6 from the dark magic.

We'll get an episode dealing with Twilight getting used to her new Earth Pony senses.

Because frankly, if they want us to believe that earth ponies are just as important as unicorns and pegasi, they need to show us instead of telling us. Like say, Twilight has to get used to a newfound connection with nature, with Applejack as a teacher.

There will be an episode where Silver Spoon's parents decide not to allow her to spend so much time with Diamond Tiara out of concern that Diamond Tiara is being a bad influence on their daughter.

A one-shot episode primarily featuring Derpy / Ditzy Doo

Hey, a guy can dream, right?

I'm thinking that her profession as a mail-carrier could be ground for some fertile ideas. One that springs to mind is that Twilight Sparkle has to get her letter to Princess Celestia by the end of the day, but Spike is too sick to spew the flames that usually do the job. So, after exhausting all other options, she gives the delivery job to Derpy, who is ecstatic. The rest of the episode follows her flight to Canterlot, which would normally be uneventful, except for the fact that Derpy is very easily distracted (she follows a caterpillar along the ground for an hour, she shows Rainbow Dash several aerial tricks she's just learned, she doggedly pursues her favorite celebrity around Canterlot for an autograph accidentally using Twilight's letter, etc.), causing her to lose the letter several times and deliver it just in time. At the end of the episode, Derpy writes her own letter to Princess Celestia, describing all that she did that day in a scatterbrained fashion before saying she learned the importance of focusing when it's time to work

An episode featuring the Sea Ponies and a specific Sea Pony character

Twilight creates a new potion, one that allows the user to breath underwater temporarily. She'll test it out on the beach and discovers the Sea Ponies. She is allowed to meet with their own princess, who is knowledgeable about magic and also socially inept, like Twilight was at the beginning of the series. Happy to finally have somebody to relate to, the Princess and Twlight hit it off well, but when she learns that Twilight has other friends above water, the Princess becomes jealous and forbids Twilight from ever leaving. Meanwhile, Spike notices that Twilight is gone, and along with the rest of the Mane 7 tries to recreate her underwater breathing potion. They eventually succeed and save Twilight. At the end of the episode, Twilight mentions that she'll try to create a potion allowing underwater creatures to breath air next.

It will be revealed that every pony who gives out a key has the potential to be an Element Bearer.

So Coco Pommel could be the Element of Generosity.

There will be an episode concerning the difference between telling jokes and being mean.

Of the Mane Six, this would probably be best focused on either Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash, although it'd might be best for a peripheral, relatively-unpopular character, like Twist. Anyways, a pony feels ignored but gets attention when she tells good-natured jokes about the ponies around the character. So they begin to focus on joke-making exclusively, hoping to gain more attention. This works for a while, until ponies start to get bored/annoyed by joke after joke. The focus character misinterprets this as a sign that she must up the ante and now tells jokes that are genuinely hurtful. The character eventually realizes the value of moderation when it comes to joke-making, and wins everybody back with a couple of observational, self-depreciating insights about herself.

• This episode could serve as a call-back to "Griffon the Brush Off", with the stories paralleling each other, as well as "Ponyville Confidential", with the character making outright hurtful jokes like the CMC's stories in that episode. Good candidates for this episode would be Snips and Snails or better yet, Spike, since Spike can be very tactless at times. It would be a Spike-centric while the Mane 6 are away or too busy episode, though. Using Spike would also be a good way to make use of the background ponies, since he likely knows everypony better than Twilight does, though I expect Lyra, Bon Bon, and Derpy would be exempt because Celestia knows the fandom would flip if they're portrayed as anything but what fandom consensus is.

We'll get to see how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were like as young fillies.

And the results won't be flattering. I imagine that Trixie finally nails the age spell by herself and demonstrates this at a festival in Canterlot. But her de-aging spell misfires and hits the aforementioned princesses instead. Aside from the immediate effects (the sun and the moon erratically shift around in the sky), the personalities of the two princesses revert to what they were like when they were young: Celestia is an absolute spoiled brat, disregarding a flustered Twilight's pleadings at every turn, and Luna is scared by everything, eventually sealing herself up in the labyrinthian Canterlot dungeon (it's revealed over the course of the episode that Luna would often play here by herself when she was young, because she was intimidated by many ponies, especially her older sister). Twilight learns that even her idol is huma- er, equine, with her own faults but with the ability to improve herself, while Trixie eventually coaxes Luna out of the dungeon, saying that she's got to believe in herself once again. Eventually the two are brought back before Trixie, who performs an aging spell, with accuracy this time.

The cast, or at least Twilight, will somehow end up displaced by millions of years.

And meet a band of colorful, striped Eohippus (Eohippi?) with an uncanny resemblance to the Mane Six. The episode will be entitled "The Dawn of Friendship".

Babs, after being absent from season 4, will return in season 5 for an episode or two.

According to this article, Babs won't be in season 4. This doesn't, however, preclude a return in season 5.

• Half-jossed. She's only mentioned in season 5, but may be back for season 6.

The Mane 6 have to leave town and start new lives

• Rainbow Dash has an accident and has to pull cabs in Manhatten with a bunch other misfit ponies.
• Pinkie appears on a Jackass type tv show
• Applejack and her family, also become TV celebrities on a Duck Dynasty type show
• Rarity becomes the editor of a Vogue-type magazine.

etc.and they make new friends and have to teach them about friendship, etc.

There will be a riff off of Toddlers in Tiaras...

...In which the Cutie Mark Crusaders are forced into a pageant by their overly-competitive "stage moms", Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
...and Diamond Tiara will become Honey Boo-boo ponified...or rather, even more so...

An episode will involve multiple forms of animation.

...Maybe involving parallel dimensions or something like that. We'll get to see the characters as old-timey black-and-white cartoons, claymation, puppets, anime, computer-generated, live-action, etc.

There will be an episode where Fluttershy learns that if you love something, sometimes you have to let it go.

She either takes in an injured wild animal or takes a job at a zoo or wildlife rescue working with one, in a small enclosure. She grows close to the animal and keeps trying to insist it shouldn't leave. When the animal runs off, she chases after it but finds that it's returned to its home and family. She notices how much happier it is and decides not to take it back, realizing that she needs to care about its happiness over her own.

There will be an episode concerning body dysmorphic disorder...

...But with a surreal twist to keep the episode from becoming too dark for a children's show. For example, for an upcoming party, Rarity might discover a powerful spell to temporarily become "as graceful and beautiful" as Fleur de Lis. She initially asks Twilight to do this, but she refuses. Then she asks Discord, who agrees, in exchange for doing all of his unpleasant chores. At the party, Rarity is a smash, mostly due to the dress she crafted for the occasion, which she mistakenly attributes to her transformed body. She's invited to further events, encouraging her to keep up the charade and spend all her time doing Discord's work. Her natural tailoring abilities suffer thanks to this, and soon she attends parties in shoddily-made dresses. When she's rebuffed for this, Rarity thinks this is because she's not "beautiful enough", and asks Discord to make her even more "lean and graceful". So Discord gradually makes her proportions more and more ridiculous, until Rarity resembles the horse in this painting. It's at this point that Rarity realizes what she's done and asks Twilight to undo the spell.

There will be an episode where Twilight actually has to wield her authority as a princess

...But is reluctant to do so, because she's afraid that she'll be perceived as bossy. For instance, a drought could strike Ponyville, and without Twilight's organizational skills, the ponies use the remaining water inefficiently/selfishly and the town nearly descends into anarchy. Another possibility: Luna gives control of the stars to Twilight. The constellations in the sky try to take advantage of her inexperience by trying to outshine each other, making night as bright as day and preventing anybody from getting a good night's rest. Twilight resolves the issue by putting her hoof down and decreeing that each constellation will get a turn to be the brightest thing in the night sky on a rotating basis.

There will be an episode where one of the main characters try to take Mayor Mare's place...

...After a huge mess everybody blames the mayor on. Perhaps we'll all see some of Mayor Mare's backstory.

There will be an episode that deconstructs the old saying of 'Two Heads are better than One'

I remember this episode from the Arthur cartoons which featured Arthur and his sister, D.W., having to clean their rooms. Their father suggests that they work together, claiming that "two heads are better than one"; however, both get incredibly fussy of what stays and what goes when the other is helping. In the end, they decide the best thing to do is to clean their rooms by themselves. Perhaps there can be an episode where two ponies have to work together on a project together, but their personalities or work habits keep getting in the way of progress. If they have to, they can throw in a twin-headed beast or monster (such as a two-headed ogre) that share one body to represent the conflict. The lesson could be that there are times when two heads are better than one, but there are other times where doing it by yourself is the best way.

There will eventually be a Courtroom Episode.

C'mon, who doesn't want to see Pinkie Pie: Ace Attorney?

• Assuming she'd be on time to court, yeah? Have to say, it seems like an excellent idea. With Luna as the judge since it feels that she fits better as a judge than her sister. Though... I can see a CMC episode going this route, since they'd be likely to get Pinkie as their defence attorney, with Twilight as the judge in that instance, with one of the CMC as the prosecution, one as the defendant, and one as a witness. Whoever is the prosecutor obviously not understanding what a prosecutor does, unless the CMC had a row.

Rainbow Dash will go through a "Groundhog Day" Loop.

Rainbow's having a really unlucky day, and is getting more and more upset with everything, and starts being much more of a jerk than usual. Eventually, she will snap at her own friends, and when they give her a What the Hell, Hero?, she flies off, not wanting to ever see them again. However, she later wakes up on the exact same day, and after taking some advantage with the loop to do what she wants, tries to make everything right for her. It's only when she finally gives up and stops being so selfish that the loop ends.

This show will have an It's a Wonderful Plot.

They've now done a Christmas Carol, it's only a matter of time before they do an It's a Wonderful Plot.

There will be a spinoff series based on the April Fools Dragonfire trailer

Either Hasbro or the Hub was testing the waters for interest and it will end up like the April Fools broadcast of Toonami, which actually brought it back.

Season 5 will have multiple episodes about dealing with responsibility, fame, and power

The Mane Six are set to get a world shaking power-up at the end of season 4, perhaps one that will finally break them out of their perceived obscurity in setting, and force them into the roles of leadership in Equestria.

as a corollary to the above, Season 5 will go cosmic

The Mane 6 will wind in new adventure as the setting become heavily philosophical. Twilight would be the most offected by this as she starts to ponder the meaning of friendship and life. This will ultimately result with her and maybe the other mane 6 pulling an Abstract Apotheosis after a Heroic Sacrifice against a villain who represents animosity and antagonism, the void of friendship, as well as general nihilism, the void of faith in anything. Then we cut to a reused clip from "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" with Pinkie Pie saying "And that's how Equestria was made."

In a future epic storyline, Fluttershy will get hurt and Discord will go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.

There will be a future episode dealing with Discord's recent Heel–Face Revolving Door

After Discord betrayed Equestria and sided with Tirek the ponies would trust and like him even less than they did before. This would lead to either Discord pulling of a Heroic Sacrifice against a new Big Bad to prove that he finally and truly wants to be good or the resulting distrust from everypony around him (possibly even from Fluttershy) would lead him to go back to his old ways declaring Then Let Me Be Evil because that's what he views everypony expecting of him. Considering his actions in the recent finale was clearly a way to get around his Story-Breaker Power this could happen once the writers run out of ideas on how to make sure he can't solve any plot so easily.

A future episode will involve the Mane 6 exploring Discord's house.

It turns out to be an insane funhouse (one that is much bigger on the inside than on the outside) where nothing makes sense. To find Discord, they need to do things they would never do. When they find Discord, he will claim he was trying to teach them a lesson about thinking outside the box and pushing one's limits.

A season 5 episode will have all the Mane Six (minus Applejack) turn evil.

Based on the new Pony Mania toys. Maybe Applejack is unaffected by whatever evil force takes over the other Mane Six.

There will be an episode parodying Mary Sue original characters.

So... there'll be an black and red Alicorn coming to Ponyville, then suddenly everyone likes him/her. Twilight gets suspicious. The Alicorn is revealed to be a Changeling.

One of the future episodes will be about trust issues.

Namely, between the Mane Five and Twilight.

Star Swirl the Bearded will appear in a future episode or comic as a time traveler

According to the Journal of the Two Sisters, Star Swirl is aware of what kind of role the cutie marks on the tree of harmony will play, which means he may appear in the future.

Ponyville will get a new library, leading to Twilight coming to terms with the loss of her old home.

Libraries are kind of a public necessity, so Ponyville would want a new one as soon as possible. The episode would involve a new librarian coming to town and taking Twilight's old position. This would lead to some soul-searching on Twilight's part and coming to terms with what happened so she can move on with her life.

• it's possible, as a episode about twilight dealing with losing her first home in ponyville has been confirmed.

In a season finale, the Changelings will return and successfully assimilate Twilight.

Only one leg and half her face will change, and she will call herself Locust. TO BE CONTINUED

Shining Armor will receive some much needed spotlight time during season 5.

Considering his wife had more focus than he did in season 4, it might be high time that Shiny get a little attention for the upcoming new season. Perhaps one episode could have him working through the guilt he's been harboring ever since "A Canterlot Wedding" for the way he broke his sister's heart after dismissing her blind accusations about the fake Cadance?

• He only showed up in two episodes - a brief appearance in "Slice of Life", and a major one in "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows". In which we find he'll be a dad.
• He might still get a major appearance in season 6 (outside of the opener, where we meet his daughter) though.

The background ponies in Trade Ya....

Hints that season 5 will FINALLY start focusing more on the background ponies (Doctor Hooves, Octavia Melody etc.). It is the first episode that has numerous Crystal ponies in it, and there is even a pony in crutches.

A future two-parter will involve a war between the ponies and the griffons.

It's up to the Mane Six to defeat the Griffon King (hopefully voiced by Tim Curry) and put the ponies and griffons at peace. Maybe there'll be a hippogriff who assists them, being a pony/griffon hybrid him/herself.

"But they can't have a war in a little girl's show!" you shout. Well, I'm pretty sure they can't have schizophrenia or succubi either. I'm sure teaching the target audience about war wouldn't be such a big deal, even if they toned it down to be a bit more relatable.

Spike will wake up one morning with wings.

Or rather, tiny, vestigial wing buds. He gets all excited about this, and goes around bragging about it. Then he starts trying to fly. Throughout the episode, he'll start jumping off higher and higher places, from the Ponyville fountain to the tops of houses, but each time ends up crashing and hurting himself. Finally, he'll try jumping off a mountain, but thankfully, Twilight will catch him before he hits the ground. She explains to him that these wings will grow as he does, and then he'll be able to fly. The lesson is that you shouldn't jump into something you're not ready for. The wing buds will be visible throughout the rest of the series, but they will rarely be mentioned.

There will be a special with a plot similar to Turtles Forever.

One episode will explain how teleportation spells work.

That way, everyone can stop complaining about why Twilight doesn't use her teleporting abilities that often.

A Season 5 episode will reveal that Starlight Glimmer is a former student of Princess Celestia.

There's an interesting naming scheme with Celestia's students...Twilight, Sunset, and Starlight have late-in-the-day astronomical denotations, while Sparkle, Glimmer, and Shimmer are near-synonyms. Starlight also seems to have an idea of friendship, unlike Sunset Shimmer (who didn't consider friendship important) but she just thinks of it the wrong way (i.e. everyone must be equal, with no disagreements, for true friendship to happen). One of the townsponies also asked if Twilight knew Princess Celestia, so Starlight may have told the town something about Celestia.

The "Applejack only cries on the inside" thing wasn't just a throwaway gag

It's setup for a future episode. She'll go through an episode where things are constantly going wrong and stresses pile up, but she takes it all in stride without a word of complaint. Eventually one or more of the other characters will try and teach her that it's not healthy to keep it all inside and we may get some insight into why Applejack is so bottled up in the first place (confirmation of dead parents maybe?). When she finally does break down and cry, it'll just be a few dignified tears, not the Inelegant Blubbering we saw from Rainbow.

Spike will become a pawn for a future Big Bad

It's already established that Spike has serious self esteem issues. Combined with his "friends" constantly ditching him and making him do a lot of work for them, (Though, I personally don't think they mean to do anything) being a universal punching bag for slapstick, not knowing a thing about where he came from, and being used as a magical fax machine, leave all kinds of potential, for a great story of what happens when he's been pushed over the edge.

One day, Spike will have finally had enough of his Butt-Monkey status and run off. There, someone will come to comfort him. This stranger will be kind at first, telling him they understand what it's like to be the The Chew Toy with no respect, or not being able to trust your friends, and offer him a way out, (Alternatively, he could claim to know something about where came from.) causing the little dragon to make a Face–Heel Turn and betray his friends. At some point, Twilight (and friends) will try to talk him down , only for them to get a long over due The Reason You Suck speech, when Spike calls them out, saying they were never friends.

But, when the finale phases of the plot go off, Spike will have a moment of realization. Maybe, the Villain will make it clear he was just using him, maybe he was sincere, but Spike knows there're both about to cross the Moral Event Horizon. Either way, Spike will inevitably make a Heel–Face Turn and save the day. Possibly by saving the Mane Six so they could stop him, taking out the villain himself, or trying to reason with the villain.

From here, he can either go back to the Mane Six, or if the writers feel like mixing things up a bit, he could decide it's best to find his own way and sets off on his own: after making up with his friends.

The next Musical Episode will have a false Plot Twist.

Considering two previous musical episodes have massive plot twists in them, the next one will parody this with a completely out of nowhere plot twist near the end, like Celestia saying "I have cancer" or something, before bursting into laughter from everybody's shocked expressions. Alternatively, there will be a REAL plot twist after that that doesn't come out of nowhere.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders will help Silver Spoon with her cutie mark in Season 6

Since they help Diamond Tiara understand what her cutie mark means, it would make since for them to do the same with Silver Spoon. The only difference is that Silver Spoon's talent goes against her cutie mark.

Sunburst will show up again

At some point, Starlight will attempt to reconnect with her childhood friend, similar to what Twilight did with Moondancer. It will turn out that Sunburst developed similar issues to Starlight (though not quite as extreme) because she stopped talking to him after he got his cutie mark, and he never found out why.

• Possibly, Starlight will only be a Mane Character until she reconciles with Sunburst, after which she'll choose to stay in Canterlot to rekindle their friendship.
• Possibly confirmed! Zap2it's description for season 6's opener seems to indicate that Starlight meets Sunburst again.

Sunburst is Sunset Shimmer's younger brother

Both of them have sun-themed names, are orange unicorn with teal eyes, both have spiky and reddish manes, their special talents seem to both be magic related, and both went to study with Princess Celestia.

The alternate timelines didn't cease to exist when Twilight set things right

The alternate universes created when Starlight traveled back in time all still exist.

There will be an episode about trading cards centered around either Spike or the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Trading cards are more associated with children, so this type of plot wouldn't be able to work with any of the adult Mane 6/7, with the possible exception of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

The episode introducing Princess Flurry Heart will delve into Celestia and Luna's origin story.

With the introduction of the new baby, we already know a pony can be born an alicorn. Celestia and Luna are said to have been born as alicorns. Perhaps this episode will be about (or at least touch upon) born-alicorns and will expand upon where the Royal Sisters come from?

Fluttershy's brother will be introduced in Season 6 as being locked in jail.

More specifically, he's a troubled thug and is in prison in Las Pegasus. Her brother being a less than respectable individual would explain why she never mentions him. She would be uncomfortable with ponies asking her questions about him. But he would actually be a Jerk With A Heartof Gold, or Troubled, but Cute instead of a real villain. The plot involving his introduction would be about Fluttershy going to meet him when he is released, the rest of the 6 finding out about his existence, and her improving their relationship by deciding to introduce them to each other.

• Jossed. The episode synopsis describes him as a freeloader who still lives with his and Fluttershy's parents, with Fluttershy having to deal with him wanting to stay at her place.

Princess Flurry Heart's birth will prompt Twilight to become desperate to learn more about babies and how to make them like her.

Twilight can't hold a conversation about magic studies or books with her niece just yet, so she'll try anything she can do with a baby that is appropriate and fun for both of them. But being Twilight, she becomes paranoid about everything and if it will keep her from being a Cool Aunt to Flurry Heart.

The Diamond Dogs will finally return and make many references to David Bowie.

In a sort of tribute to him now that he has passed.

Starlight Glimmer will have to save the Mane 6 from a monster that exploits ponies' insecurities.

The monster will try and weaken her by making her think those she's harmed will never actually be comfortable with her around even if they forgave her. But Starlight will remember better aspects about herself and her life, which will allow her to defeat the threat and solidify her place as the Sixth Ranger to the audience as well as herself.

Gummy will be transformed into a Kaiju by Discord.

It would be an attempt at a funny gift to Pinkie Pie on her birthday. But Gummy, what with his surprisingly troubled mind, will try and destroy everything out of the agony of not being able to get a Cutie Mark and believing his new form is his actual destiny. He knocks out Discord and the ponies must defend Ponyville from GumZilla.

The Apple family will try to grow things other than apples.

But they'll turn out to be comically inept at tending to any fruit other than apples. Hilarity Ensues.

In the season 6 finale, season 7, or the movie, Sunburst turns out to be a younger Star Swirl the Bearded and he and Starlight had something to do with Flurry Heart being born an alicorn.

It is already established that Sunburst is the brains of the duo and Starlight is the brawn. We also know from "It's About Time" that the timeline is stable. Flurry Heart being an alicorn is obviously going to be important later on (possibly to the villain's plans, but for the sake of this theory, let's assume that she needs to be an alicorn so the villain can be defeated for some reason). After Sunburst realizes that he is Star Swirl (see the "Sunburst = Star Swirl" theory on the Secondary Character Guesses and Minor Character Guesses pages for more details), he and Starlight pool their talents to travel back in time and cast a spell on one of FH's ancestors to ensure that she is born an alicorn. Also, Celestia and Luna were the ones who discovered the Tree of Harmony in the Everfree Forest. But if The Journal of the Two Sisters is canon, Star Swirl was the one who urged them to go explore the forest. It's quite possible that Sunburst and Starlight were the ones who created the tree, the Elements, the chest, the map, and the Rainbow Power. (All of those things have always screamed intelligent design to me.) This means that Sunburst and Starlight were orchestrating the defeat of all the villains so far. And if Sunburst started leaving notes to Celestia after the events of the journal, that explains why she was so knowledgeable about Twilight's destiny. This also means that Starlight could be Star Swirl's apprentice, Clover the Clever.

Twilight Sparkle will use a spell to help the CMC find cutie mark problems using the Friendship Map.

Starlight Glimmer has already shown that the Friendship Map can be used for things other than friendship problems, and Apple Bloom proposed "figuring out ways to search all of Equestria for cutie mark problems" in "On Your Marks".

Season 6 will not have a cohesive story arc.

It will, however, continue the Arc Welding trend established in Season 5.

Starlight Glimmer will form her own Mane Six, composed of reformed villains.

We've already seen her befriend Trixie, maybe she'll try to befriend other villains. Some possibilities include:

• Lightning Dust and Suri Polomare, though they need to be forgiven by Rainbow and Rarity.
• Gilda, although she, unlike Trixie, seems to be fully trusted by Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.
• MAYBE Diamond Tiara, though with her being a filly, it may be weird with the others being mares.

The Pinkie clone in "The Saddle Row Review" is actually a changeling spy.

Word of God is that the clones weren't real sapient ponies, but were only magical manifestations that just looked and acted like Flanderized versions of Pinkie. If this was a clone, it wouldn't have been able to avoid detection this long. The only reasonable explanation is that it is actually a changeling, especially since the season premiere seemingly set up a return of the changelings. The reason it's impersonating Pinkie is that Chrysalis read about the clones in the newspaper and hoped that if somepony noticed an extra Pinkie, they would just assume it was an escaped clone.

The alternate timelins seen The Cutie Remark will foreshadow upcoming events

Each timeline seen in the sea season 5 finale will foretell events that will come to play either this or next season or in the movie.

• Sombra Timeline: Grogar will use Sombra’s horn and either planted in the fresh corpse of a crystal pony he just killed in order to resurrect the Umbrum or infused said horn on top of his head in order to gain its dark magic and become a force to be recon with. Then the ram along with his army of the dead will take the Crystal Empire under siege, overthrows Cadence and Shing armor, fillynap Flurry heart ,use her magic as a powersouce for nuclear weaponry, then brainwash the crystal ponies into becoming his soldiers and wages war on Equestria.
• Chrysalis Timeline: The Mane 6 will visit Zecora’s homeland only to find is being under siege by Queen Chrysalis and that the zebras and other inhabitants had to flee to the forest in order to escape the Queen’s tyranny. Zecora, along with our heroes, must form a rebel army against the Changeling Queen in order to save Zecora’s home.
• Nightmare Moon Timeline: The “Pony of Shadows” emerges from ….well… the shadows...and releases the Power of Darkness to turn everpony into demonic creatures and by under his/her command through a mind control crown. The villain then uses his/her god-like power to move the moon in front of the sun, creating a solar eclipse as well as eternal darkness. Princess Luna sensing a disturbance, teleports into the Canterlot to find what is coming, only to discover the POS is behind it all. After an intense battle, the POS reveals he/hrt was the one who mentally manipulated Luna into becoming Nightmare Moon in order for her to kill Celestia, extinguish the sun, and bring forth Eternal Night, in order to wipe all non-nocturnal life so he/her Lunarian kind could rule Equestria in a state of darkness.
• Tirek Timeline: Descendants of Scorpan will free Tirek from Tartarus, feed him the magic they stole from other creatures in order to restore him into his original, larger self. Tirek then processed to finish what is started, by burning Equestria to the ground.
• Discord Timeline: a malevolent Longma from (whatever-the-pony-name-equivalent-of-China-is) comes to turn Equestria to turn it into a hellish Wonderland filled with never-ending chaos and nightmares on Nightmare Night. It’s up to the Mane 6 with and Luna the help of Discord do stop the him.
• Film and Flam Timeline: The twins are industrializing Sweet Apples Acres, The Evergreen forest and other lands under the command of a Corrupt Corporate Executive is planning to build hundreds of amusement parks and resorts.
• Wasteland Timeline:A zebra empire is planning to take the land of Equestira under siege and are in talks with other nations, seeking allies against the land of ponies . They convinced dragons,griffins,dogs, and other creatures from outside the world of Equestria to join in an alliance aka Operation Skyfall. Celestia, sensing the approaching danger, calls forth the mane 6, Discord, Candace, Shining armor, the Wonderbolts, and especially Zecora to inform the dragons,dogs,yaks,griffins,deer and other species and nations from other regions about the incoming threat and start an alliance between all Equestrian lands to prepare for the upcoming war . A war broke between the two alliances, lasting many days and nights. Eventually Equestria alliance was on the verge of dealing their enemy, but rather the zebra army facing defeat ,they instead thousands of Megaspells known balefire on various cities such as Canterlot,Ponyville,Cloudsdale,Appleloosa, Manehatten,Las Pegasus,Yakyakistnan,Saddle Arabia, and other locations, killing millions of lives. Next they cast Pink Cloud spells on the Royal sisters, the Royale couple, and Discord to ensure their deaths, but not before the gods teleport the Mane 6, CMC, most of the Ponyville citizens that survive the holocaust and what was left of the Equestrian alliance to underground stables that were constructed throughout the course of the war and would only surface sporadically thought-out centuries to follow The war devastated both sides, the Equestria’s government was annihilated, their population decimated and all of its once beautiful territories is now reduce to a nuclear wasteland.

There will be a healthy eating episode focused on Pinkie Pie

Pinkie is told she has to cut down on the sweets and struggles to adjust to a healthy diet.

• Leads to A Lesson Learned Too Well as she cuts sweets out of her diet entirely.

The Mane-iac from Power Ponies will reappear — as a disembodied head.

Not sure whether it will be in the "comic" world visited on the show or the show's canon universe, but this odd toy suggests that she will be back, sans body. This is not the first time Hasbro has accidentally revealed plot points with products based on the show before they actually aired.

One episode will feature a producer from Applewood wanting to make a movie about Twilight Sparkle and her friends

Possibly tying in to the upcoming Friendship is Magic movie, much like the Powerpuff Girls episode "Film Flam", the conflict comes about when Twilight learns her friends are depicted as bungling, exaggerated versions of themselves while she's depicted as a near-flawless Parody Sue.

There will be an episode about male/boy characters

For a show originally designed for little girls, they continually downplay the capability of guys, especially when even some of their sisters have to always save their rumps (eg. Shining Armor), making them look like powerless and cowardly stereotypes. I understand their trying to empower confidence for being female and no matter what gender you are, you are strong. We have many episodes with Spike, Big Mac and sometimes Discord, who had character development over the series. Yet there are still some guys that mostly speak in one episode per season, who's lives need exploring. Like:

• Soarin - Whatever he does whenever he's not training with the Wonderbolts, or training from his perspective.
• Bulk Biceps -
• Flash Sentry - His daily routine as Royal Guard for the Crystal Empire.
• Shining Armor - Everything he does while ruling the Crystal Empire.
• Thunderlane and Rumble -
• Snips and Snails -
• Mr. Cake -
• Sunburst -
• Thorax -

In "Daring Done?" Caballeron and his goons stole a town's entire supply of glowpaz stones for a reason.

This was NOT written just so the villains would have an excuse to be bad guys. He needed them because they were negotiating with Diamond Dogs, who will finally make another appearance in the show sometime in the future while in his employ.

Fluttercord will get more serious in the future.

There's a lot of evidence that Discord has a crush on Fluttershy, and she may feel the same way to a degree: staring at each other dreamily quite often even when the other isn't looking, Flutters blushes when he hugs her, "We LIKE each other, that's the point!", calling it a "relationship" rather than "friendship", apologizing to her first for the betrayal, etc.). Given that it's a kid show that focuses primarily on platonic companionship, Fluttershy and Discord might never get to become an Official Couple, but given that the creators seem to ship it and it being somewhat popular with fans, they'll start dating and/or they'll admit they love each other.

The final season will be called My Little Pony: The Final Act and be completely serialized.

There will be an episode in which the Cutie Mark Crusaders are called by the Map

Their Friendship Problem would be like another Sunburst/Starlight situation (one of two friends gets a cutie mark, while the other doesn't), but more serious. This time, the Ponies the CMC has to help are constantly fighting, eventually declaring the end of their friendship. It would also remind Aplebloom of one of her earlier concerns, which she eventually discusses with the other Crusaders.

Theories involving End-of-Series Awareness during Season 9:

• Two episodes are not enough to defeat the final Big Bad at the start of the season, and the damage he/she caused persists throughout the season.
• Twilight: "We must prepare for our greatest battle for the next 22 weeks. It could potentially destroy or reset Equestria."
• The Background Six reveal their fan-given combat experience early on and are shown reenacting GaoGaiGar throughout the season as preparation for the Final Battle.
• Throughout the final season, ponykind prepares to relocate to another science fantasy dimension just in case it takes a literal apocalypse to finish off the final villain.
• Halfway through the season, Sunset Shimmer returns to Equestria for the rest of the show and has the Mane Six record their memories, containing the show's nine seasons (and The Movie) onto DVD and Blu-Ray for other universes to watch in the event that they fail. At the end of the series, Sunset remarks "Jolly good show" as a DVD of the complete series finishes playing.
• At the start of the season, Daring Do reveals that she will take half a year to write "Daring Do and the Cancellation of the Apocalypse", the one entry in her series that spans all of Equestria.
• The Mane and Background Sixes visit Planet Zacherle ^note a blatant reference to Bonnie Zacherle, the creator of the entire My Little Pony franchise to meet a seer, a being that watches the events which occur in all universes, and refers to the adventures of ponykind as if they were fanfiction and episodes in a TV show. In fact, said seer's castle is filled with television screens playing various episodes of the show alongside various brony fan works, opening theme included, and throughout the episode he/she brings up the show's tropes, its changing quality over the years, audience reception to various storylines, and how a new age is beginning for Equestria (even noting their current "universe" has lasted longer than any of Hasbro's previous ones).
• Celestia and Luna reveal that all the friendship lessons throughout the show were building up to something really big.
  C&L: The magic of friendship has no less than nine main purposes: 1: to protect us. 2: to inspire us. 3: to define us. 4: to teach us. 5: to guide us. 6: to lead us. 7: to defend us. 8: to guard us. And 9: to save us.^note This references both 9 and how the show is planned to end with Season 9.
• While delivering the final blow to the Final Boss: the Mane and Background Sixes tell him/her "You wanted to know how history will remember us? Well, here's your answer." Said final blow also collapses and recreates reality, leading straight to G5's new world.
• After creating hardening nanocrystals for her body to greatly increase her strength, durability, and speed, Rarity spars with Rainbow Dash while singing "It Has To Be This Way".
  Rarity: I think I heard this song in a final fight somewhere...
  Rainbow Dash: Great! I'm ready for a satisfying final fight!
• Fluttershy doesn't want to have to save the world anymore. "Please let this be the very last threat to Equestria we have to face."
• In an attempt to prolong the series, Pinkie Pie initially refuses to fight the Final Boss.
• The final Big Bad calls Discord and Starlight traitors, revealing that said Big Bad created all the show's villains.
• Throughout the final season, said Big Bad and his lackeys will destroy all the major locations of the series. G5 will be set in the rebuilt version of Equestria.
• Said Big Bad also has his lackeys make web accounts to give all the show's episodes, restaurants, and Daring Do books one-star ratings, threatens to get FiM cancelled mid-season to leave it hanging, and ultimately gets killed by one star.
• At a certain point through the season, the Mane Six find Canterlot completely abandoned. Then Twilight's original friends explain that when the Final Boss eventually conquers Canterlot, they can't afford a single pony there being captured and enslaved, and destroying Canterlot completely with said villain and his entire army in it may be necessary to save the day.
• The final episode starts with a clip show of the Mane Six and various fan favorites set to a somber piano version of the show's full theme song.
• The final part of the series finale will be entitled "Friendship is Magic", the exact same name as the show's premiere. As reality collapses, the Mane and Background Six find themselves flying through a massive portal full of storyboard sketches, concept art drawings, and fan art and fan videos of them, and even falling into the other works of Lauren Faust and the previous generations of MLP.
• As reality collapses, "My Way" by Frank Sinatra will play in the background.
• The final credits roll to a montage of epilogue scenes set to the end credits song of Bomberman 64.
• The final line of the series is "Friendship Is Magic"!
• Flim and Flam either getting arrested, or forced to retire.
• Zephyr Breeze accepting the fact that Rainbow Dash is not into him.
• An episode that acts as a Recycled Plot to Regular Show's Meet the Seer. With a speech that ends with this phrase. "Everything must end eventually".
• Trixie, now a Mega Man X Expy for post-FiM appearances, emerges from her stasis capsule and reveals the events of the show to be her "best dream ever".

The final scene of the series ties together with the very first one.

It involves a closing narration from Princess Celestia, with the very last shot of the series being the same book seen in the first episode closing.

• During a cosmic battle between good and evil that results in the destruction of Equestria and its inhabitants, Grogar manages to kill the Mane 6, Celestia, Luna, Discord, Cadence, Shining Armor, Starlight, Sunburst, Stygian, and the Pillars, but not before our heroes transfer their magic to the Student 6, Spike and Flurry Heart. The last remaining heroes use all the transferred power to vanquish the evil ram once and for all, but doing so results in the universe to be reset and leading to a new cycle of time and a parallel universe in its place. This event becomes the set up for Generation 5