My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (season 4)

The fourth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on the Hub Network in the United States. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony 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 4 of the series premiered on November 23, 2013, on the Hub Network, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro.

The show follows Princess Twilight Sparkle, a studious alicorn pony, as her mentor Princess Celestia guides her to learn about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight continues to learn with her close friends Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. 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 ponies share adventures and help out other residents of Ponyville, while working out the troublesome moments in their own friendships.

Concept
Season 4 continues from the events of the third season finale, "Magical Mystery Cure", where Twilight, shown to have come to hone her magic skills while learning the value of friendship, has been crowned as Equestria's newest princess, becoming an alicorn in the process. Some elements of the season focus on Twilight coming to terms with her new status; lead writer Meghan McCarthy stated that "What we didn't want to do was change who [Twilight] is as a character, because she's certainly someone that everyone's proud to know and love", while Tara Strong, the voice actress for Twilight, claimed that the episode is "a birth of a new era for Twilight, but not the end of what makes the show so wonderful". In addition, with the directive of the letters to Princess Celestia no longer in force, the six main characters also resolve to keep a collective journal of their formative experiences for posterity's sake. According to a Twitter post from McCarthy, the season also includes a story arc that features the ponies on the hunt to find keys to open a mysterious six locked chest.

Production
Investment documents for DHX Media's 2012 financial year indicate that production for a fourth season had been financed. Before the season premiered, aspects of it were discussed by Meghan McCarthy, Tara Strong and other writers and voice actors at various fan conventions. Hasbro's vice president for international distribution, Finn Arnesen, had stated that My Little Pony is a "top-priority" brand for the company and expects the series to continue beyond the fourth season. The fourth season of the series premiered on November 23, 2013. This season marks the first time storyboard artist Jim Miller will be co-directing alongside Jayson Thiessen. This season also marks the first time to be executive produced by Thiessen and McCarthy.

Season synopsis
While the show otherwise employs a loose continuity between episodes, the fourth season featured a larger story told in the two-part season premiere "Princess Twilight Sparkle", five of the intermediate episodes ("Rarity Takes Manehattan", "Rainbow Falls", "Pinkie Pride", "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" and "Leap of Faith"), and the two-part finale "Twilight's Kingdom". In the premiere, Twilight is still struggling to understand her place as Equestria's newest member of royalty. She learns that the Elements of Harmony were originally taken from the Tree of Harmony, located under the ruins of the castle in the middle of Everfree Forest. When Equestria is threatened by a trick Discord played over a thousand years ago, Twilight and her friends sacrifice the Elements, leaving them otherwise defenseless, and return them to the Tree. The Tree is filled with magic that destroys the threat, and then reveals a box with six keyholes. Twilight begins to study the box but has no idea about the keys. Unknown to the main characters, each but Twilight are involved in a situation where their Element is tested (for example, Rarity's generosity is put to the test in "Rarity Takes Manehattan"), but they individually manage to stay true to themselves, and in return, inspire another in that same ideal. These other characters give the main character a memento of the experience as a gesture of kindness. They write down these stories, along with lessons learned from other adventures, in a journal inspired by what Princesses Celestia and Luna did when they were much younger.

The season culminates when Lord Tirek, a foe that Princess Celestia had imprisoned in Tartarus centuries ago, manages to escape and starts draining the power of ponies around him and getting stronger; the situation only gets worse when Tirek tricks Discord into joining him. Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadance transfer their power to Twilight, knowing Tirek is currently unaware of her existence, before Tirek banishes them to Tartarus. Twilight is hinted by Discord to read their journal, and realizes that the adventures her friends had may be the key to opening the chest which she believes now has the power to stop Tirek. They gather the mementos, finding they turn into five of the six keys needed, but Twilight has yet to have a similar story to tell. Tirek eventually absorbs the power from Twilight's friends and then turns on Discord and drains his power. After a massive magic battle, Tirek realizes that their powers are equal and forces Twilight to turn over the magic to him to release her friends including Discord. As Tirek absorbs the power, Discord apologizes for turning on them, and gives Twilight a medallion that Tirek has given him, which turns out to be the sixth key. With the box opened, Twilight and her friends are infused with rainbow-like powers that are able to defeat Tirek, rescue the Princesses, and return all of Equestria's residents magic back to their original host. With Tirek sealed back in Tartarus, the box flies off and lands in the middle of Ponyville, becoming a crystalline castle, which Celestia declares is Twilight's as she has proven herself to be the new Princess of Friendship, a role to share with her friends.

Starting with the season 3 episode "Just for Sidekicks", a second smaller theme through its third and fourth seasons show various preparations for the upcoming Equestria Games, with Rainbow Dash helping to lead her relay team (consisting of Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps) to a modest performance, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders (Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo) being chosen to be Ponyville's flag-carrying team for the opening ceremonies.

Main

 * Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle
 * Rebecca Shoichet as Twilight Sparkle (singing voice)
 * Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity
 * Kazumi Evans as Rarity (singing voice)
 * Ashleigh Ball as Applejack and Rainbow Dash
 * Andrea Libman as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie
 * Shannon Chan-Kent as Pinkie Pie (singing voice); Libman occasionally
 * Cathy Weseluck as Spike

Recurring

 * Nicole Oliver as Princess Celestia
 * Tabitha St. Germain as Princess Luna/Nightmare Moon
 * Kazumi Evans as Princess Luna (singing voice)
 * The Cutie Mark Crusaders
 * Michelle Creber as Apple Bloom
 * Madeleine Peters as Scootaloo
 * Claire Corlett as Sweetie Belle
 * Britt McKillip as Princess Cadance
 * Andrew Francis as Shining Armor
 * John de Lancie as Discord

Minor

 * Peter New as Big McIntosh
 * Tabitha St. Germain as Granny Smith and Mrs. Cake
 * Brian Drummond as Mr. Cake
 * Brenda Crichlow as Zecora
 * Nicole Oliver as Cheerilee
 * Chantal Strand as Diamond Tiara
 * Shannon Chan-Kent as Silver Spoon
 * Lee Tockar as Snips
 * Richard Ian Cox as Snails
 * Veena Sood as Ms. Harshwhinny

Guest stars

 * Chiara Zanni as Daring Do/A.K. Yearling
 * Brian Drummond as Ahuizotl and Seabreeze
 * Michael Dobson as Dr. Caballeron and Bulk Biceps
 * Ellen Kennedy as the Mane-iac and the Chimera
 * Ashleigh Ball as Prim Hemline and Crystal Chalice Stand Pony
 * Tabitha St. Germain as Suri Polomare and Zipporwhill
 * Cathy Weseluck as Coco Pommel and Torch Song
 * Jerrica Santos as Torch Song (singing voice)
 * Peter New as Goldie Delicious and Zipporwhill's Father
 * Trevor Devall as Thunderlane
 * Kelly Metzger as Spitfire and Blossomforth
 * Matt Hill as Soarin'
 * Andrea Libman as Fleetfoot
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic as Cheese Sandwich
 * Doron Bell as Trenderhoof
 * Alvin Sanders as Flutterguy
 * Marcus Mosley as Flutterguy (singing voice)
 * Danny Balkwill as Toe-Tapper
 * Graham Verchere as Pipsqueak
 * Ingrid Nilson as Maud Pie
 * Rena Anakwe as Sapphire Shores
 * The Flim Flam Brothers
 * Samuel Vincent as Flim
 * Scott McNeil as Flam
 * Ian James Corlett as Silver Shill
 * Saffron Henderson as Daring Do Collector
 * Michael Daingerfield as Ancient Beast Dealer and Antique Chicken Stand Pony
 * Sylvain LeVasseur Portelance as Stellar Eclipse
 * Jay Brazeau as Claude the Puppeteer
 * Vincent Tong as Flash Sentry and Duke of Maretonia
 * Mark Acheson as Lord Tirek

Episodes
The fourth season began on November 23, 2013 (with the two-part premiere "Princess Twilight Sparkle"), and ended on May 10, 2014 (with the two-part finale "Twilight's Kingdom"). Like the first two seasons, it contains 26 episodes.