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View from the Phoenix's Nest: My Top 10 Desires for Season 3 of Friendship is Magic

• Written by Linwood Earl Knight on Friday, June 29 2012 and posted in Features

With the afterglow of the Royal Wedding finally fading, the question on everyone's mind is naturally going to be "What's Next?" Join The Outhouse as celebrate BroNYcon Eve with a wish list of our Top 10 Desires for Season 3.

Introduction


Time truly flies by when you're having fun. Even though "A Canterlot Wedding" aired over 2 months ago, it's only recently that I realize that it'll be at least another 3 months before we get to watch a new episode. Still, despite how relatively painless the wait has been so far, I can't help but ask the question "What do the creators have in store for us?" Unfortunately, public information about Season 3 has been at a minimum, but at the same time the lack of information allows the fandom to go wild with speculation as to what could be in store for our favorite ponies come this fall. In the hopes of getting that discussion started, here are the Top 10 developments I want to see from Season 3. Will your hidden desire make the list? Continue on to find out.
 
 
10) A more consistent stream of memorable songs


Besides the strong writing both character and story wise, the show's biggest appeal has to be the diverse and vast soundtrack that has been developed over the first 52 episodes. However, while Season 2 had its share of memorable tracks, those contributions to the top-tier were extremely back loaded, whereas Season 1's came on a more consistent basis. One of the things that I'd like to see is Season 3 takes notes from Season 1 and gives us more memorable songs on a more consistent basis. Even if that doesn't happen (especially since it does take hard work), as long as we the quality continues to remain consistent, it shouldn't bother me too much.







9) A better portrayal of Rarity as a multi-dimensional character.


Let me just confess right now and say that Rarity is my favorite Pony on the show. Besides her absolutely addictive enthusiasm for life, her Business ambitions, love for the finer things, and the fact that she'll do anything to make her friends happy makes her the member of the Mane 6 I relate with the most. When you combine those positives with her flaws, you have what I feel is the most versatile character of the Mane 6. At the same time, Rarity's dramatics, hysterics and blind desire requires a delicate balancing act from whoever is writing her. Otherwise, she's very susceptible to becoming a one dimensional drama queen, something that I thought happened in a few instances (Lesson Zero in particular) during Season 2. Beyond the focus episodes she'll more than likely get, I'd like to see her character depth shine through more when she's in secondary role. With everything Rarity can be, there's no reason why it shouldn't be on display more.








8) More Shining Armor and Princess Cadance


Now I'm not one for general blanket statements, but I'm pretty sure that if you polled 100 Bronies back in March as to whether they see themselves caring about those 2, at least 51 would've said no. Fast forward to June and not only have both Shining Armor and Cadance have been fully embraced by the fans, but have more than enough to them as characters to warrant a second look. Why would I want to see them again you might ask? Besides the curiosity about their married life, fleshing out the two characters also gives us another story angle for Twilight Sparkle and what her Brother's Marriage means for her future as a whole. It is for those reasons, along with giving the show another piece of progressive continuity that I would love to see the completion of the couple's graduation from being a simple marketing stunt.  








7) A Greater Focus on the Magical Girl/Adventure aspects of the show.


What do "Friendship is Magic", "The Return of Harmony" and "A Canterlot Wedding" sagas have in common? Besides being 2 parts, each of these pairs of episodes departs from the usual "slice-of life" storytelling and goes into Adventure mode where dramatic rescues, daring stunts and pier-6 brawls replace the usual charming antics. It's also an aspect that we were supposed to get more of, but not to the point that "Friendship is Magic" would be known as a "Balls-to-the-wall" action show as rumored by some. If "Friendship is Magic" and "The Return of Harmony" gave us a glimpse of the Faust's original vision, the "A Royal Wedding "makes me hope that a part of Season 3 is dedicated to a long-form story arc of sorts. Even if we got more episodes in the vein of "Dragonshy" and "A Dragon's Quest", I would consider it mission accomplished in that regard.







6) A Greater Fleshing out of Applejack's character.


When it comes to opinions about Applejack, it seems like current consensus ranges from "Applejack is the least interesting character" to the more colorful "No one gives a shit about Applejack." From where I sit, I am of two minds of this character. While I do agree that being the voice of reason among the Mane 6 doesn't make her as outwardly exciting as Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash, it doesn't mean that she can't be interesting in her own right. One of the unheralded positives of Season 2 was how it began to flesh out her character beyond being the designated "straight-woman", as we got to see how both her immense pride and difficulty in seeing things that are not in front of her inadvertently made the situation worse. The best thing Season 3 could do for Applejack is to put her in a situation where the solution isn't in front of her face. Making her think outside of the box would go a long to getting people to care more about an excellent character.




 

5) At least one episode with Scootaloo as the main character.


When Scootaloo was formally introduced in "Call of the Cutie", the fact that she stood up to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon about having a blank flank left an indelible impression on me, and it would be her overall fearlessness that made her my favorite Cutie Mark Crusader. Unfortunately, the spotlight of Season 2 wasn't too kind to this orange-coated, dark-purple maned Pony, as she was placed under the shadow of Applebloom and Sweetie Belle who each got at least one episode (Applebloom got 2) where they were the main focus of the story being told.  This is a disappointment made more impactful when considering that the character still has many burning questions that need to be answered. Besides my personal opinion that she can be a break-out character, Scootaloo having an episode (or two) dedicated to her would be television gold if attacked from the right angle, something that I'd trust DHX Studios to deliver on.








4) A Princess Celestia Focus Episode,




The Picture says it all. Without a well-defined character, Princess Celestia has been subject to variety of character interpretations from Bronies that range from the downright hilarious to the downright disturbing, and it serves as fuel for me wanting to see what the show runners take on the character is.Of course, we know that Celestia is the powerful, wise supremely patient, yet down to earth Senior Ruler of Equestria, but with the way that the primary and secondary background ponies have been written, there' s obviously more to the character than just the side we've seen so far.  Just off the top of my head, one 22 minute episode could give us more details about her direct leadership style, hobbies, flaws and personality quirks that make her Celestia. One of the best parts of "Ponyville Confidential" is learning that she has a massive sweet tooth. A Season 3 episode dedicated to character building moments like that would be a huge plus.



3) A greater emphasis on forward story/continuity movement.


Despite primarily being a show for little girls, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is to be commended for its ventures into establishing a pretty consistent continuity that has its share of story and character progression. Of course, the show isn't perfect in this regard, but the efforts DHX has made are to be commended. It's for this reason that one of the main underlying storylies of Season 3 will be whether the Status-Quo will truly become God, or will forward story movement still be a priority. Personally, I hope the latter wins because I sincerely think that the show will better off for it. Think about it for a second, how much more cooler would the show be if...

- A longer term story arc was interwoven into the episodes?
- Fluttershy slowly got more assertive?
- Rainbow Dash got closer and closer to achieving her dreams?
- Scootaloo showing us that she can fly?

- Rarity put in situations where we truly see why she's the bearer of the element of Genorsity?

- Twilight Sparkle getting past her paranoia?

- Applejack being put in situations where even she has to grow to overcome them?

- Pinkie Pie becomes more secure about herself?
- The Cuite Mark Crusaders get their Cutie Marks?
- The Mane 6 as a whole take another step towards their grand destines?


Should even half of what I listed happened comes true, I would be extremely satisfied and completely enthusiastic about where Season 4 would take us.



2) A Full 26 Episode Season

When it comes time to make a list of the unsung reasons why "Friendship is Magic" has been so awesome, the amount of episodes should definitely be at the top of the list. While certain shows may have had too many episodes, this show has benefitted from having a greater than average amount of episodes in each of the 2 seasons, which have allowed for both the characters' amazing development and the sense that's there still more story to tell. A 13 episode season would be completely handcuffed with the angles they could explore with both the Mane 6 and the secondary Ponies due to the storytelling space being cut in half. Thankfully a 13 episode Season 3 hasn't been confirmed yet, and hopefully it never does.


And the Number 1 Desire I have for Season 3 is....



1) Beyond all else, make sure the show remains Accessable to ALL of its fans:


Let's face it, no matter what we Bronies are inspired to create, at the end of the day the show is primarily aimed at little girls, and the show is better for it. Not only does it allow "My Little Pony" to stay accessible to its' target audience, but it challenges the show runners to create a show that appeals to as many people as possible, as having to work in that narrow space has probably made each person that works on the show in a major capacity better at their craft. Beyond those reasons, My Little Pony: Friendship is magic has emerged so triumphant because of the sense of wonder that has be put into each frame of animation, a sense of wonder that makes you smile every time you watch an episode of the show. Now I know you may ask, doesn't this statement run counter to the points you just made?

The answer to that question is no, because I believe in the intelligence of the primary audience, and as long as DHX does as well, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic will remain awesome.




My Final 22 Cents:

There it is ladies and gentlemen. My Top 10 Desires for the 3rd Season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Now it's your turn to get into action. What do you want to see from the 3rd Season of this show? Is it the return of fan favorites, a new villain to challenge our heroines, more background Ponies getting the spotlight, or something else entirely? Well, whatever it is, you can either come to our forums to join the discussion, or e-mail me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , do your own article, or start a discussion on the website of your choice. Summer Is just beginning and so is the countdown to Season 3.


Happy BroNYcon weekend.



SilverPhoenix Out!



















Written or Contributed by: Linwood Earl Knight

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