The fifth season of the

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

'' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', developed by

Lauren Faust Lauren J. Faust (born July 25, 1974) is an American animator, writer, director, and producer. She is known for developing the animated series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and '' DC Super Hero Girls''. Faust has collaborated with her ...

, originally aired on the

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channel in the United States. The series is based on

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

My Little Pony ''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature ...

line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation, or "G4", of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 5 of the series premiered on April 4, 2015 on Discovery Family, an

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channel partly owned by Hasbro, and concluded on November 28. The show follows a pony named

Twilight Sparkle Princess Twilight Sparkle is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019), and later in the fra ...

as she learns about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight continues to learn with her close friends Applejack, Rarity,

Fluttershy Fluttershy is a fictional character who appears in the My Little Pony (2010 toyline), fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a c ...

Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a close friend of Twilight Spa ...

and

Pinkie Pie Pinkamena "Pinkie" Diane Pie is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a close friend ...

. Each represents a different face of friendship, and Twilight discovers herself to be a key part of the magical artifacts, the

Elements of Harmony The Elements of Harmony are six magical artifacts representing fundamental virtues of friendship in the television series ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. Each element embodies a specific virtue: honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, ...

. The ponies share adventures and help out other residents of Ponyville, while working out the troublesome moments in their own friendships.

Development

Concept

Teasers for the season were provided by the show staff at the 2014

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, including episodes centered around Twilight coping with the loss of the original library, the entire Pie family, Princess Luna dealing with a nightmare, and a 100th special episode focusing on the background characters. The staff also showed a brief animatic video from the first planned episode, showing the ability of Twilight's castle to direct the main characters to friendship problems around Equestria. Episodes showing more of the castle, about the six main characters, Pinkie Pie "breaking the fourth wall", Rainbow Dash saying "woah woah woah", and "confetti explosions" were to be expected. The show's fifth season features Twilight continuing her journey of becoming a princess in Equestria with the help of her friends; they discover that her new castle includes a magical map that highlights troubles across Equestria for them to resolve. In the two-part premiere, they come across a town indicated on the map where all of its pony citizens have an

equals sign The equals sign (British English) or equal sign (American English), also known as the equality sign, is the mathematical symbol , which is used to indicate equality. In an equation it is placed between two expressions that have the same valu ...

as their cutie mark and odd, creepy smiles. On February 25, 2015, it was announced at

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's 2015 PonyCon that the show would have a second

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

-themed episode. Another episode featured the Smooze, a gelatinous villain from the Generation 1 1986 film, '' My Little Pony: The Movie''.

Production

In an interview with World Screen, Stephen Davis announced that the series was going into its fifth season. On May 7, 2014, the series was renewed for a fifth season consisting of 26 episodes, with a tentative broadcast slated for April 4, 2015. On June 17, 2014, Business Wire released a press release confirming that it would premiere sometime in the fourth quarter of 2014, but it was later revised by Hasbro. At

BronyCon BronyCon was an annual fan convention held on the East Coast of the United States for fans of ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', among them adult and teenage My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom, bronies. Eleven events were held, wit ...

2014, G.M. Berrow announced that she wrote an episode, which focused on Pinkie Pie.

Promotion

From November 17 to December 22, 2014, the official My Little Pony

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channel released six weekly teaser trailers for the upcoming fifth season, each featuring one of the Mane Six as well as giving a premiere date on early 2015. Some scenes from " The Cutie Map" were teased in Rainbow Dash's and Rarity's recap videos for the season 5 teasers. On January 19, 2015, a new trailer was released at PoNYCon in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

on February 16 by ''Friendship Is Magic'' season four directors Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller; on that day, Thiessen and Miller shared some concept art of various characters and settings for this season, as well as a trailer that was originally planned to premiere at the convention was shown. On March 5, 2015, ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' released another trailer revealing a new villain with commentary on the fifth season from Hasbro's executive director Brian Lenard and co-executive producer Meghan McCarthy. Under the approval of Discovery Family and Hasbro, BABSCon showed the entire two-part season five premiere commercial-free on the same day as it premiered on the United States on April 4, 2015. On April 7, 2015,

Tina Guo Tina Guo () (born 28 October 1985) is a Chinese-born American cellist and erhuist from San Diego. Her international career as a cellist, electric cellist, erhuist, and composer is characterized by videos featuring theatrical backdrops and elabor ...

revealed via

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that the one-hundredth episode involved Octavia elodyhaving an

Electric Cello The electric cello is a type of cello that relies on electronic amplification (rather than acoustic resonance) to produce sound. An acoustic cello can be fitted with a bridge or body mounted contact pickup providing an electric signal, or a built- ...

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situation and that the episode would on June 13, 2015. On April 27, 2015, writer

Amy Keating Rogers Amy Keating Rogers (born June 17, 1969) is an American television writer who has contributed to several notable animated television series and films, including episodes of '' The Powerpuff Girls'' and '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. Sh ...

revealed via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that she left the ''Friendship Is Magic'' writing staff due to her new full-time job as a writer at

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

. She also confirmed that she had written four episodes for this season, including The Mane Attraction, which featured a character voiced by

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

actress

Lena Hall Celina Consuela Gabriella Carvajal (born January 30, 1980), known professionally as Lena Hall, is an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Tony Award for her performance as Yitzhak in the 201 ...

. On July 9, 2015, Hasbro corrected via Twitter that the season's second half would premiere sometime later in 2015, not the sixth season as previously announced. A month later, on August 11, 2015, it was revealed by

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that the season's second half would premiere on September 12, 2015. At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that

Starlight Glimmer Starlight Glimmer is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She was introduced as the main a ...

would return in the two-part Season 5 finale.

International broadcast

The fifth season premiered in mid-2015 on

Treehouse TV Treehouse TV (commonly known as Treehouse) is a Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary specialty channel that was launched in 1997. Its name comes from sister network YTV (Canadian TV channel), YTV's former programming b ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and debuted on November 2, 2015 on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

Cast

Main

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' The Fair ...

Rebecca Shoichet Rebecca Shoichet ( ) is a Canadian voice actress who has voiced in English dubs of Japanese anime and other shows for Ocean Productions in Vancouver, having moved there from Victoria in 2000. She took over Saffron Henderson's role of Sota Hig ...

as Twilight Sparkle (singing voice) * Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity **

Kazumi Evans Kazumi Evans (born September 14, 1989) is a Canadian actress. She began her career as a contestant on the CBC's '' Triple Sensation''. As a voice actress, she has voiced Saffi on ''Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British anima ...

as Rarity (singing voice) *

Ashleigh Ball Ashleigh Adele Ball (born March 31, 1983) is a Canadian voice actress and singer. She is known for voicing characters in several toyetic movies and television series, notably the ''Barbie'' film series, ''Bratz'', ''Johnny Test'', '' Care Bea ...

as Applejack and

Andrea Libman Andrea Libman is a Canadian actress. She is known for providing voice acting in various animated shows, such as voicing the characters of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy in the Discovery Family series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and it ...

and

Shannon Chan-Kent Shannon Chan-Kent (born September 23, 1988) is a Canadian voice and stage actress. She is known for her roles as Silver Spoon and Smolder and the singing voice of Pinkie Pie in ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', Misa Amane in the Englis ...

as Pinkie Pie (singing voice) *

Cathy Weseluck Cathy Weseluck is a Canadian actress and comedian who frequently works with Ocean Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia and is known for her roles as Near in ''Death Note'', Cybersix/Adrian Seidelman in '' Cybersix'', and Spike in Discovery ...

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (Broderick book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter ...

Recurring

Nicole Oliver Nicole Lyn Oliver (born February 22, 1970) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Princess Celestia and Cheerilee in ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' and Zoe Trent in ''Littlest Pet Shop (2012 TV series), Littlest Pet S ...

Princess Celestia Princess Celestia is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She serves as the benevolent ru ...

* Tabitha St. Germain as

Princess Luna Princess Luna is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She serves as the co-ruler of Eques ...

* The Cutie Mark Crusaders ** Michelle Creber as Apple Bloom ** Madeleine Peters as Scootaloo **

Claire Corlett Claire Margaret Corlett Brown (born July 9, 1999) is a Canadian actress, known most notably for providing the voice of Sweetie Belle in the animated television series '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic''. She is the daughter of voice acto ...

as Sweetie Belle

Minor

Single role

* Peter New as Big McIntosh * Shannon Chan-Kent as Silver Spoon * Cathy Weseluck as Mayor Mare * Nicole Oliver as Miss Cheerilee *

Michael Daingerfield Michael Daingerfield is a Canadian actor, acting coach and founder of On The Mic Training, a voice acting school in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known for his voice roles of Ace Ventura in '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'', playing Gordo ...

as Braeburn *

John de Lancie John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, best known for his role as Q in various ''Star Trek'' series, beginning with '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' in 1987 and leading up to the third season of '' Star Tre ...

Discord Discord is an instant messaging and Voice over IP, VoIP social platform which allows communication through Voice over IP, voice calls, Videotelephony, video calls, text messaging, and digital media, media. Communication can be private or take ...

* Marÿke Hendrikse as Gilda * Richard Newman as Cranky Doodle * Michael Dobson as Bulk Biceps *

Britt McKillip Britt Analisa McKillip (born January 18, 1991) is a Canadian actress and singer. Her credits include the film '' Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktacular'' and its sequel '' Scary Godmother: The Revenge of Jimmy'', and her role as Reggie Lass i ...

Princess Cadance Princess Mi Amore Cadenza "Cadance" is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She first appe ...

Andrew Francis Andrew Michael Scott Francis is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in many television shows and films including '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' as Shining Armor, '' MegaMan NT Warrior'' as MegaMan.EXE, '' Monster Rancher'' as Genki, '' ...

as Shining Armor *

Trevor Devall Trevor Devall (born November 10, 1972) is a Canadian voice actor. He worked for various other studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for years, before he relocated to Los Angeles, California in 2013. Early life Trevor Devall was born ...

as Fancy Pants * Sylvia Zaradic as Cherry Jubilee * Kelly Metzger as Spitfire *

Matt Hill Matthew Hill (born January 19, 1968) is a Canadian voice actor working for Ocean Productions. Career Hill's roles include Ed in '' Ed, Edd n Eddy'', Kevin Keene/Captain N in '' Captain N: The Game Master'', Kira Yamato in '' Gundam Seed'' a ...

as Soarin *

Brian Drummond Brian Drummond (born August 10, 1969) is a Canadian voice actor. He formerly served on the board of directors for the New Westminster-based Urban Academy along with his wife, Laura Drummond, also a voice artist. Usually working in Vancouver, h ...

as Mr. Cake *

Kathleen Barr Kathleen Barr is a Canadian voice actress. She is best known for voicing Marie Kanker and Kevin in ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' and Trixie Lulamoon and Queen Chrysalis in '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic''. She also voiced Henri Richard Maurice ...

Queen Chrysalis Queen Chrysalis is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She serves as the main antagonist ...

Multiple roles

Kelly Sheridan Kelly Sheridan (born May 19, 1977) is a Canadian voice actress best known for being the voice for Barbie in the ''Barbie'' film series from 2001 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2015. She had also voiced in numerous animations and English-language dubs ...

and Sassy Saddles * Sam Vincent as Party Favor * Brian Drummond as Double Diamond, Sheriff Silverstar, and Filthy Rich * Rebecca Shoichet as Sugar Belle and Night Glider * Tabitha St. Germain as Granny Smith and Mrs. Cake * Ashleigh Ball as Open Skies, Lyra Heartstrings, Daisy, and Lemon Hearts * Ingrid Nilson as Maud Pie, Limestone Pie, and Marble Pie *

Terry Klassen Terry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor, ADR director and writer. Before animation, Klassen worked in radio in Winnipeg (CITI-FM), Toronto (Q107), Calgary (CFAC), Portage la Prairie (CFRY) and part-time at CFOX and CFMI. In animation, he is best ...

as (young) Hoops * Nicole Oliver as Tree Hugger and Cinnamon Chai *

Richard Ian Cox Richard Ian Cox (born October 3, 1973) is a Welsh-born Canadian actor. He is best known for his voice work for English-language dubs of anime, mainly for '' Inuyasha''. Cox gained prominence for playing the character of Henry Dailey's (played ...

as Grampa Gruff and Featherweight * Brenda Crichlow as Matilda, Amethyst Star, and

Zecora Zecora ( ) is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's ''My Little Pony'' toyline and media franchise, beginning with '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' (2010–2019). She is a recurring character throughout ...

* Peter New as Doctor Hooves, Sunflower, Orchard Blossom, and Igneous Rock Pie * Andrea Libman as Bon Bon, Pearly Stitch, and Cloudy Quartz * Tabitha St. Germain as Aloe, Clear Skies, Muffins, Lotus Blossom, Twinkleshine, and Nightmare Moon *

Lee Tockar Lee William Tockar (born February 11, 1969) is a Canadian voice actor and visual artist who works for several studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is also a writer of children's literature, a musician, sculptor, illustrator and col ...

as Steven Magnet and Gummy * Kazumi Evans as Octavia Melody, Rose, and Moondancer * Cathy Weseluck as Sunshower, Lily, and Coco Pommel *

Peter Kelamis Peter Kelamis is an Australian actor and stand-up comedian. He is best known for voice roles including Goku in Ocean's English dub of the animated series ''Dragon Ball Z'' (succeeding Ian James Corlett and preceding Kirby Morrow), Rolf from ''E ...

as Fashion Plate and Big Daddy McColt *

Chantal Strand Chantal Strand (born October 15, 1987) is a Canadian voice and stage actress as well as former stunt performer known for her vocal roles in animation, anime and video games. Her vocal role credits include those for younger girl characters in t ...

as Diamond Tiara and Spoiled Rich

Guest stars

* Jim Miller as Trouble Shoes *

Garry Chalk Garry Chalk (born 1952) is a Canadian actor. He has provided the voices for Optimus Primal of '' Beast Wars: Transformers'' and '' Beast Machines: Transformers'', as well as Optimus Prime in the anime English dubs of '' Transformers: Armada'' ...

as Prince Rutherford * Rebecca Husain as Minuette *

Jan Rabson Jan Rabson (June 14, 1954 – October 13, 2022) was an American actor. During his four-decade career, he appeared in over 100 titles. He frequently worked in voice over, including as Tetsuo Shima in the Streamline Pictures dub of the anime film ...

as Wind Rider * Sidika Larbes as Stormy Flare *

Graham Verchere Graham Marc Verchere is a Canadian actor. He is known for roles in '' Stargirl'', '' Fargo'', '' The Good Doctor'' and '' Summer of 84''. Early life Verchere was born in Vancouver to Cynthia, a pediatric plastic surgeon at BC Children's Hospit ...

as Pip Squeak * Ellen Kennedy as Ma Hooffield *

as Countess Coloratura * Colin Murdock as Svengallop

Episodes

Songs

DVD release

Notes

References

{{My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic 2015 American animated television seasons 2015 Canadian television seasons 5