SigmasonicX
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(gif source)
(larger map, source: The Art of Equestria)
My Little Pony returns after its shortest break between seasons thus far. Season 5 is widely considered to be one of the best of the show, so expectations are high for season 6. In this season, the balance of power is shifted as a new alicorn appears: Flurry Heart. Alliances will shift and bonds will be broken, as the arrival of the new princess also portents a never ending winter. Can Equestria survive the struggle for power between five princesses? Or will the fact that Flurry Heart is just a baby and directly related to two of the other princesses mean we'll just get adorable family bonding? Probably the latter.
Outside of that, the theme this year is "Explore Equestria", which is reflected by a greatly expanded world map that has popped up in official material recently. Both places we've seen before and brand new locations are on the menu, but we'll still get plenty of stories set in plain old Ponyville.
In addition to the show, the next Equestria Girls movie, "Legend of Everfree", will come in the fall. A new toyline of honest-to-god action figures, Guardians of Harmony, is coming later this year, and has a trademark for an animated series, which could mean... something. The IDW comics are continuing as normal. But the biggest thing to look forward to is that in late 2017, we're getting a full-fledged theatrical movie.
New episodes air at 11:30 AM ET on Saturdays, on Discovery Family.
GETTING STARTED
There probably isn't too much danger is just starting the series from the newest episode, but if you're uncomfortable with that, then good news, we made an episode guide! If you don't want to watch over 117 episodes, or have fallen behind and want to quickly catch up, watch the episodes we've recommended. Note that in the interest of keeping the number of recommended episodes down, there are several good episodes that have been left off. If you like a character, just look for episodes tagged with that character and watch them regardless of if they're recommended or not.
Also of note are the Equestria Girls movies, described in the above guide, and the comics published by IDW. The comics are a mixed bag, but there's a lot to like.
PREVIOUSLY ON MY LITTLE PONY
Season 5 recap
What I Learned This Other Time (Season 5)
Time travel shenanigans! After the heroes shut down Starlight Glimmer's experiment in Cutie Marxism in the season premiere, she returned for revenge against Twilight in the finale. Wishing to demonstrate to the princess that her friendships aren't actually important, she channeled the power of the map in Twilight's castle into a spell that altered the past, so that the main six never became friends. Twilight and Spike were then flung to an alternate present where, contrary to Starlight's expectations of a world that was roughly the same, Equestria was at war... with King Sombra and the Crystal Empire!
Twilight was able to use Starlight's spell to go to the past, but no matter what, she couldn't prevent the timeline from being altered. If she tried to fight Starlight, the past would be altered anyway. Not even being a creeper to children helped! (gif version) And with every failure, she and Spike would find themselves in a new present where a different villain has won... somehow (don't worry about it). Even these villains got in on the action! Summarized by this awesome fanart, and this.
Eventually, Twilight realized that her only recourse was to talk to Starlight. After learning of how her interfering with the past was wrecking the present, Starlight revealed how her childhood friend, Sunburst, left after he got his cutie mark. This is what started her on her dark path. After a speech from Twilight, Starlight was successfully friendshipped and turned over a new leaf.
But wait, more happened in season 5 than in the finale! For one thing,
The Cutie Mark Crusaders got their cutie marks! After helping Diamond Tiara understand the true meaning of hers, they got cutie marks forever connecting them, but with inner marks that reflect their individual skills. But even with their marks, they still have much left to understand about themselves.
Other things to note from season 5:
* Rarity opened a successful store in Canterlot, fulfilling her dream from the first episode.
* Rainbow Dash has flown with the Wonderbolts in a show, though she's still a reserve member and not part of the main team.
* Background characters have official personalities and voices now!
* Still no overt lesbians, but Lyra and Bon Bon are "best friends".
* Cadance is pregnant! Speaking of which...
AND NOW
Neither the season 5 premiere nor finale had major toy tie ins, so to make up for lost time, we have an alicorn baby! While Auntie Twilight and her friends help Cadance and Shining Armor wrangle with the newborn Princess Flurry Heart's uncontrollable magic, Starlight visits her old friend, Sunburst. However, the reunion doesn't turn out well. To make matters worse, something has happened to the environmental magic of the Crystal Empire, letting in an eternal winter.
* Will baby save the day?
* Will Starlight and Sunburst get along in the end?
* How will those storylines connect anyway?
* Will the Guardians of Harmony toys tie into the show?
* After five seasons, will Celestia finally get an episode? Probably not.
New episodes air at 11:30 AM EDT on Saturdays on Discovery Family, and are usually put up on iTunes the next day. Seasons 1-5 can be found on iTunes and US Netflix. Episode descriptions for new episodes are taken from Zap2It.
1-2. The Crystalling - March 26
Part 1: The Mane Six attend the Crystalling of Cadence and Shining Armor's new baby at the Crystal Empire; Twilight gets the chance to present Starlight with her first friendship lesson.
Part 2: The Mane Six scramble to save the Crystal Empire from an eternal winter; Starlight struggles after the failed reunion with her old friend.
3. The Gift Of Maud Pie - April 2
Rarity and Pinkie Pie are in Manehattan looking for an ideal location for Rarity's new store and searching for the perfect gift for Pinkie Pie's sister.
4. On Your Marks - April 9
Now that they've finally received their cutie marks, the Cutie Mark Crusaders struggle with the question of what's next; the friends do not all agree on how to embrace their destinies.
5. Gauntlet of Fire - April 16
In order to save his friends, Spike is forced to compete in a perilous Gauntlet for the title of Dragon Lord.
6. No Second Prances - April 30
When Starlight Glimmer starts becoming friends with another formerly-bad pony, Twilight tries to stop her.
7. Newbie Dash - May 7
After Rainbow Dash achieves her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt, she makes a disastrous first impression and gets saddled with a mortifying nickname.
8. A Hearth's Warming Tail - May 14
Starlight Glimmer has a case of the holiday blues, so Twilight tries to help cure her by reading one of her favorite Hearth Warming's Eve stories, A Hearth's Warming Tale.
9. The Saddle Row Review - May 21 (formerly "Saddle Row & Rec")
When Rarity opens her flagship store in Manehattan, a tell-all article threatens to expose how badly her friends almost ruined the Grand Opening.
10. Applejack's "Day'' Off - May 28
Rarity struggles to get Applejack to relax at the spa; when Twilight and Spike attempt to take over Applejack's simple farm chores, it turns out to be a more difficult job than they thought.
11. Flutter Brutter - June 4
When Fluttershy tries to convince her freeloading brother to move out of their parents' house, he moves in with her instead, forcing Fluttershy to stand up to him and help him get over his fear of failure.
12. Spice Up Your Life - June 11
Pinkie Pie and Rarity discover a father and daughter struggling to keep their family restaurant open, which is cause of tension in their relationship.
==BREAK==
13. Stranger Than Fan Fiction - July 30
Rainbow Dash meets a pony at the Daring Do Convention in Manehattan who hates Daring Do as much as she loves it.
14. The Cart Before the Ponies - August 6
The Cutie Mark Crusaders get the chance to race in the annual Applewood Derby; their teammates Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash take over the competition.
15. 28 Pranks Later - August 13
Rainbow Dash's excessive pranking gets out of hand; the ponies decide to give her a taste of her own medicine.
16. The Times They Are a Changeling - August 20
When Spike travels with Twilight and Sunburst back to the Crystal Empire to visit Flurry Heart, they discover the entire empire in a panic due to the reported presence of Changeling spy.
17. Dungeons and Discord - August 27
When the Mane 6 leave town, Discord decides to join Spike and Big Mac's role-playing game session.
18. Buckball Season - September 3
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy turn out to be Ponyville's best buckball players; Applejack and Rainbow Dash agree to coach them against Appleoosa.
(early non-US airing discussion)
19. The Fault in Our Cutie Marks - September 10
An enthusiastic young griffin asks the Crusaders to help her get her very own Cutie Mark; the Crusaders encounter a seemingly impossible problem.
20. Viva Las Pegasus - September 17
The Map sends Applejack and Fluttershy to Las Pegasus where they find Flim and Flam working in a resort called Gladmane’s.
21. Every Little Thing She Does - September 24
Although Starlight Glimmer is excelling at her magical studies with Twilight Sparkle, she has been avoiding her friendship lessons. Feeling pressure to impress her teacher, Starlight attempts to tackle several friendship problems at once, with questionable results.
(early non-US airing discussion)
MOVIE - Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree - October 1 (Netflix)
When Canterlot Highschool goes on a trip to Camp Everfree, they’re surprised to find a magical force is causing strange things to happen around camp. With the help of the Mane 6 and especially Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle must confront the dark “Midnight Sparkle” within herself and embrace her newfound magical abilities to save the camp.
22. P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View) - October 1
Twilight must find the truth after Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie have three different versions of events from their boat trip and are upset with each other.
(early non-US airing discussion for "To Where and Back Again" part 1)
(early non-US airing discussion for "To Where and Back Again" part 2)
23. Where the Apple Lies - October 8
When Apple Bloom tells a white lie to cover up a mistake, Applejack shares the story of how she came to value honesty after telling a series of lies that almost destroyed the farm and landed the whole Apple family in the hospital.
(early non-US airing discussion)
24. Top Bolt - October 15
Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle are sent to the Wonderbolt Academy to help two friends, Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger, solve a friendship problem that could prevent them from getting into the Academy.
25-26. To Where and Back Again - October 22
Part 1: Without the help of Twilight Sparkle and the Mane Six, Starlight Glimmer assembles an unlikely team of heroes to defend Equestria from the return of one of its greatest threats.
Part 2: Starlight Glimmer leads an unlikely squad of rescuers against one of the ponies' oldest and greatest foes in order to save her friends and Equestria.
This thread is for the discussion of all official media content, including Equestria Girls and the IDW comics, along with news and speculation. For general fandom discussion, including fan-made episodes, you can go to the Community thread.
* Episode titles and official synopses can be freely discussed, along with things tweeted by show crew and such.
* If an episode is leaked or made available early (some episodes have been put on iTunes early), discussion of it should be behind spoiler bars until after it normally airs, and you should state that you are discussing that episode early instead of just having a blacked out post.
* Fan works (art, music) are fine to post, but it's preferred if you only post works related to the most recent episodes. General fanworks or works based on earlier episodes should go to the Community thread.
* Something a few posters (including myself) have done is create bingo cards for the season. So the thread doesn't get clogged up by them, only embed the images if you get a bingo. Otherwise, just link them.
Season 1 Thread
Season 2 Thread
Season 3 Thread
Season 4 Thread
Season 5 Thread
Community Thread
Fan community links
Equestria Daily - The most active fan blog dedicated to MLP:FiM. It can be a bit hasty in posting rumors, but they are the best place to find news and fanworks at the same time. Like any big blog, avoid the comments.
Derpibooru - The biggest collection of MLP:FiM related images online. They block NSFW images, but sometimes things slip through, so it is unlinked. Avoid the comments.
The Round Stable - The best dedicated forum for MLP:FiM discussion, founded by those who left Something Awful when MLP discussion became a bannable offense there. There is a main page, but it's basically dead now. It also runs Bronibooru, a site similar to Derpibooru, but dedicated to only uploading family-friendly images.
MLP:FiM Wikia - The better source for pure information on the show and its characters.
