SigmasonicX
Member
Halfway through the season, half silhouettes.
The long national nightmare finally comes to an end! After literally nearly a year, season 5 has arrived!
This season is a particularly special one, as we're coming up on the 100th episode! And not just that! With this season, Friendship is Magic will become Hasbro's longest running TV series, beating the original Transformers' 98 episodes. And it doesn't end there! Season 6 has already been confirmed, and in 2017, we're getting a wide release theatrical film! And with multiple ongoing comics and tie-in books to boot, it's a good time to be a pony fan... besides the long gaps between seasons, that is.
New episodes air at 11:30 AM ET on Saturdays, on Discovery Family (formerly The Hub).
GETTING STARTED
While more changes between seasons than you'd expect from an episodic show aimed at little girls, that's still what it is, so if you don't want to watch all 100+ episodes to catch up, I recommend just starting from this season. Really, it might be easier to just jump in from "The Cutie Map" rather than watch the first episodes then skip ahead to here, and it's a pretty good story at that. Recommended episode guides for the entire series are difficult, since everyone has different favorite characters, but for me, almost any Twilight, Rarity, or Fluttershy focus episode will be good.
EDIT: We now have a NeoGAF recommended episode guide!
PREVIOUSLY ON MY LITTLE PONY

AND NOW
One day, our heroes activate a magical map in the new castle, and marked on it is an unusual town. There, they find that everyone has the exact same cutie mark: an equal sign. While they all seem perfectly content, the girls can't shake the feeling that there is something sinister going on.
Will they be able to stand up to the forces of Cutie Marxism?
Yes
Turns out it didn't appear *shrug*
Surprisingly, no
Video recap
Series song medley

This thread is for the discussion of all official media content, along with news and speculation.
* 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.
* As a change from the first half of the season, Equestria Girls can be discussed in this thread, since it will be airing among the season 5 episodes anyway. With that exception in place, it only seems fair for official comic discussion to be in this thread too, along with other official media.
For general fandom discussion, including fan-made episodes, you can go to the community thread.







Princess Twilight Sparkle
Voiced by Tara Strong, singing voice by Rebecca Shoichet
Twilight Sparkle was a gifted unicorn who caught the attention of Princess Celestia, thus becoming her personal student. Twilight constantly works to improve herself through study and being a better friend, but she can be patronizing and has a maddening fear of disappointing others. Over time, her magic developed such that she turned into an alicorn. Now acting as the Princess of Friendship, she works with her friends to spread its magic across the land.
Applejack
Voiced by Ashleigh Ball
Applejack is the strong, hard-working, and straight-forward earth pony who runs Sweet Apple Acres orchard, and she values her family above almost everything. She can be very stubborn and competitive, but she is well known for her reliability.
Rainbow Dash
Voiced by Ashleigh Ball (yes, same as above)
Rainbow Dash is a high-flying daredevil and one of the fastest pegasi around. She often acts and speaks before she thinks and hates to be inactive when she's not sleeping, but over time, her leadership skills have developed and she has learned when to be gentle and supporting.
Rarity
Voiced by Tabitha St. Germain, singing voice by Kazumi Evans
Rarity at first appears to be the image of a fashion-obsessed popular girl, but she is in fact a relentlessly creative designer and a savvy businessmare who runs a boutique that is known all across Equestria. Though she is fussy, she is generous to a fault, and she can be surprisingly effective in a brawl.
Fluttershy
Voiced by Andrea Libman
In direct contrast to Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy would love nothing more than to stay on the ground and avoid attention, though she has been learning to open up more. She is caring and motherly, but when she finds her courage, she can be surprisingly intimidating. She also wrestles bears.
Pinkie Pie
Voiced by Andrea Libman (really, same as Fluttershy), singing voice by Shannon Chan-Kent
Even though she grew up on a rock farm with a largely gray family, Pinkie Pie is the brightest and craziest of them all. Able to squash and stretch and seemingly bend reality at will, she often startles or annoys the others, but she can always bring a smile to their faces--a skill that she carries great pride in.

Opening
In my heart, this is the opening
Episodes 1-2: The Cutie Map (formerly known as Cutie Markless) - April 4
Episode 3: Castle Sweet Castle - April 11
Episode 4: Bloom and Gloom - April 18
Episode 5: Tanks for the Memories - April 25
Episode 6: Appleoosa’s Most Wanted - May 2
Episode 7: Make New Friends But Keep Discord - May 16
Episode 8: The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone - May 23
Episode 9: EPISODE 100!: Slice of Life - June 13
Episode 10: Princess Spike - June 20
Episode 11: Party Pooped - June 27
Episode 12: Amending Fences - July 4
Episode 13: Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? - July 11
Episode 14: Canterlot Boutique - September 12
Episode 15: Rarity Investigates - September 19
Episode 16: Made in Manehattan - September 26
MOVIE Equestria Girls: Friendship Games - September 26
Episode 17: Brotherhooves Social - October 3
Episode 18: Crusaders of the Lost Mark - October 10
Episode 20: The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows - October 17
Episode 19: Hearthbreakers - October 24
Episode 21: Scare Master - October 31
Episode 22: What About Discord? - November 7
Episode 23: The Hooffields and McColts - November 14
Episode 24: The Mane Attraction - November 21
Episodes 25-26: The Cutie Re-Mark - November 28 - Starlight Glimmer, hoping to obtain revenge against the Mane 6, acquires a spell that could change the past, present and future of Equestria forever.

The Season 1 Thread
The Season 2 Thread
The Season 3 Thread
The Season 4 Thread
The Community Thread
The Movie Announcement Thread
Next: The Season 6 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.

Thanks to DrForrester for letting me steal from his previous OT and for providing some new assets!
Previous titles: Challenge of the Superfriends; Season 6 com--NOPE, HIATUS
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