MLP G5 Discussion and Speculation Thread

@DerpyFast  
Or just write the three tribes in the balanced way they should have been in G4, each with their own strengths.

@DerpyFast  
I still maintain the idea that earth pony magic requires hoof contact. It’s mostly used for enhanced physical traits (speed, strength, etc.) but could be used in insane ways (looking at you, Pinkie). If unicorns use telekinesis and pegasi use their wings to hold objects, it’s to compensate for the fact that earth ponies can just naturally stick tools to their hooves. G4 kinda threw that so far out the window it almost came back through the door, but G5 could correct that.

@Brass Beau  
There are a lot of theories, but I’d like G5 earthpony magic to be either as clear and explicit as G4 pegasus magic, or explicitly non-existent.

@Brass Beau  
I’d prefer earth ponies not be so pigeonholed.
 
It’s half the reason, i think, g4 never really expanded on it.

@WyrmSpawN  
Are pegasi pigeonholed by having relatively clearly defined abilites?

What I would like to see in the main character, especially if mlp gen 5 goes the adventure route for the show,is a proactive type of character.Kinda like Rainbow Dash, but without the huge ego she had. To me, Twilight had her moments of be proactive, but she still seem more like a reactive type of character.

@Latecomer  
Yes. Usually.

@WyrmSpawN  
Well, that’s the kind of pigeonhole I like I guess.

I mean the whole idea of there not being a lot of unicorns does seem like intresting topic. Maybe it could be like a dying race, or there is just not as many as there used to be.  
Looking back at gen 3, the earth ponies actually used to hold items in their hooves,unfortunately it looked weird and it doesn’t make sense in the whole scheme of things, but I guess “cartoon logic”.

@Background Pony #51DA  
maybe make the hold items thing their earth pony magic.  
Unicorn Magic: wizards  
Pegasus Magic: Weather  
Earth Pony Magic: Plants and holding stuff

As much as G3 was not…uh, great…I really liked how pegasi were secret and hidden away for a while. Unicorns were special too, but they didn’t exactly get out of their way to hide from the Earth Ponies if I remember correctly. I think making pegasi or unicorns a secret pony race or maybe one thought of to be extinct (but turns out they’re not) would be a really cool idea for G5. There’s a lot of potential there.

Okay, okay! Hear me out. What if, and this is gonna sound crazy, but what if we took the premise of Dragon Quest, which was basically a remake of a G1 story, and expand on it. As Spike travels the land he meets various types of ponies, including pegasi, unicorns and other horse adjacent creatures like centaurs and nuckelavee. You could do thirteen episodes easy with that premise, not only showing the various creatures that live in this world, but differing cultures and the scale of the world as well. Hell, he could find a village “owned” by a dragon and learn some dragon history from him… or her! She could even offer to adopt him into her brood of hatchlings. I’d watch the hell outta that show.

@Wiimeiser  
That’s a bit reductionist, don’t you think? G3 wouldn’t have been vastly improved if unicorns were more common, and a girls’ show wouldn’t be generic for no other reason than “everyone’s a unicorn”.
 
@Latecomer  
Sure. I should also say that unicorns being rare and elusive is part of the mythology. If they’re super common, then they’re just magical horses, which is what properly-balanced earth ponies would be.
 
@Vortaxonus  
@Brass Beau  
I like the idea that earth ponies have crystalline hooves that glow when they’re using magic. They’d also glow when doing holding things in their hooves, so that it feels intentional rather than a cop-out.
 
I’m also a fan of the idea that some earth ponies are basically earthbenders, while others are plantbenders. Unicorns live in magically-constructed homes, pegasi live in cloud homes, and earth ponies live in homes constructed by manipulating earth and plants.
 
Speaking of pegasi, Pegasus was Hercules’ steed, so in addition to a greek motif, maybe they also have a heroic streak. The show touched on that a little bit.

@Brass Beau  
Mhmm idk, that would seem more like a one off episode to me. But I do wish, that whatever they do to Spike they do him justice.  
This may be weird to say,but I actually like gen 3 Spike and what his character was, I mean they could of done more with him, but he was still intresting.  
@Vortaxonus hey, in a way that could seem “magical” to actual hold something with fingers, lol

@Background Pony #51DA  
without

@DerpyFast  
I don’t know how you came to that conclusion. Among the things I was saying was that G3 had only one unicorn (Sweetie Belle) off the top of my head, and most pony shows seem to focus on the unicorns…

@DerpyFast  
Maybe. But I think earthponies can be done in a way where they’re magical in their own way, like pegasi.

Pegasus was Perseus’s steed. It sprang from the neck stump of the gorgon Medusa. Still a Greek hero though.  
We’re also forgetting about crystal ponies. (Yeesh. How many types of ponies are there anyway?) Do they just have gem eyes like in the earlier generations or is their whole body made of crystal?

@Brass Beau  
I’d say crystal ponies aren’t their own race unless they’re always crystal or they have those gem eyes…

@Wiimeiser  
Starswirl: What do your crystal eyes see?

@Brass Beau  
Well, that’s what I get for basing my knowledge of mythology on Disney movies. Point still stands.
 
I need to rewatch The Crystal Empire, but I think the crystal ponies and the empire itself are what happen when you have a bunch of lore, but none of it means anything.

@DerpyFast  
Somedays it really feels like G4 is written by a newbie GM having to make stuff up on the spot because the players won’t stop asking questions.

@Brass Beau  
While sparklies of some kind are likely, I’m leery of crystal ponies in particular transcending G4. (Although we did get breezies, I guess…)

@Brass Beau  
I think that’s a webcomic…

@Brass Beau  
There’s a famous piece of writing advice that says “You don’t really know what a story is about until you finish writing it.” So making things up as you go is part of the process.
 
Speaking of The Crystal Empire, Celestia’s line about “sacrifice” ended up getting reincorporated in a pretty satisfying way. I think they ultimately did a really good job with Princess Celestia, even if you have to really put the pieces together yourself.