So for the first chapter, I'm just going to establish what is different and what is the same for my series compared to the G5 cannon. It will be less confusing if I just get it all out now.
G4- My series will be much more in line with G4 lore.
Pony Magic- Unicorns still need to study spells. Earth ponies don't have crazy plant magic, they have their G4 magic. Enhanced strength, cutie mark magic, special connection to plants.
The Workings of the World- The sun and moon still seemingly move on their own and the weather and seasons will seemingly work on their own.
Technology- I'll keep the phones. I'm not really a fan of the phones, but this is still the future and it does make sense they'd have them.
The Movie- I'll keep the movie's story the same. I didn't have any serious problems with the movie other than it left questions that apparently didn't have good answers.
Opaline and Misty- They stay. Though I will slightly change their relationship. And Opaline won't be so comically evil and incompetent.
Sparky- Hitch will still have Sparky. Sparky will not have wings though and his fire, while still magical, will not do all the crazy things it can do in the show.
The 3 Pony Cities- These are just the capitols of the wider pony countries. In the show, they make it sound like the entirety of each pony race lives in their respective cities. The 1 city. That's crazy. Unless there was some massive pony massacre with very few survivors, there should be way more pony cities and towns than that.
The Separation of the Races- No, it did not happen while Twilight was still alive. That is such character assassination. The races separated for various reasons over a period of time, with Opaline causing the final push.
Unity Crystals- They were made by the princess of the time to store pony magic. Basically, it kept ponies from being able to be individually drained of magic because the magic was actually in the crystals. It was made with friendship magic and losing magic if the ponies aren't friends was an unintended side effect.
Cutie Marks are back to normal- I have no idea what they are doing with cutie marks in G5. In my story, ponies still got cutie marks pre-magic return due to a small amount of residual magic. They showed purpose correctly, but did not get the magical boost until post magic return. Example: Hitch got along with animals before, but could only talk to them after. (Though Hitch's cutie mark really doesn't seem to have anything to do with animals and is actually for him being sheriff but I like him being able to talk to animals so I guess we just have to deal with it being weird.) There was also a number of ponies pre-magic return that never got their cutie mark due to lacking the magic needed for what would have been their talent. You will notice that both Pipp and Zipp's cutie marks don't have wings and, in the cannon series, neither of them seem that all into flying. Even Zipp is more into the detective stuff than flying (I suspect because 3D animation is harder, and they really should have stayed 2D if they couldn't pull everything needed off in 3D).
Sunny is a Semi Alicorn- She still has the ability to become the transparent Alicorn for short times. This is due to having the magic of all 3 races within her. She has not done an act worthy of princesshood yet though, so she does not have a real horn or wings.
The Lantern- It isn't magical. I have no idea why the show suddenly decided the lantern was magical.
Names- The G5 names don't seem to be as connected to their talents as they used to be and they seem to have actual first and last names. Though it does seem inconsistent. Why is it Zipp Storm and Pipp Petals? I'm actually not sure on this one. I guess I'll ask your guys' opinion on it. Should the ponies have G4 type names where name is determined by talent or G5 type names where they seem less connected and last names seem to be a real thing? Honestly, even in G4 the existence of last names was confusing. Pinkie's family where all pies, but that kind of family name was rare.
The Crystal Brighthouse- I am saying that the Crystal Brighthouse was made by the unity crystals in a Twilight's castle/magic treehouse type situation. They never really explained where the super fancy house came from in the show. Tell your Tale had that diorama at the beginning and then it was just already built. How long did that take to build? Who paid for it? Who made it? Glossed over. I think it coming from the crystals is just the easiest solution that makes the most sense. It would also explain why Opaline can't easily get her magic inside of it. Because in the show, Misty could just pop her head out of the window and suddenly reach Opaline again. Which makes it seem like the building is what is magical, because if it was the crystals blocking it, that is very coincidental that the field around the crystals just happens to end exactly where the outside of the building is. The building itself being magical both explains its origins and its protections.
I think that covers all the major things. My story will start shortly after the movie.
