History EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / MyLittlePony

* Chrysalis speaks with a minor VoiceOfTheLegion filter in her [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 first appearance]], which she lacks when she appears later on.

** Later seasons establish that the characters speak Ponish, a fictional language (which is implicitly being "translated" for the viewer's benefit) making the season one English signage seem even more out of place.

** G3 occasionally implied humans exist in their world (Spike has knowledge of [[FairyTale Fairy Tales]] from RealLife and SantaClaus is mentioned, and his house at the North Pole is shown) but none appeared onscreen.

** Prince Blueblood himself is also really odd: he's supposedly Celestia's nephew (which would make him Luna's son! Either that or the Royal Sisters have a third sibling who no one ever mentions.) It's never made clear how he fits into the royal hierarchy, and after season 1 he vanishes from the show completely (aside from a few silent background appearances) never being mentioned again and never appearing in scenes where Equestria's royalty gathers. Later seasons establish that there are only four royal ponies (Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Twilight) seemingly [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome ignoring Blueblood entirely.]] A lot of this can be chalked up to ExecutiveMeddling where Blueblood was originally meant to be a Duke, a title of nobility which can be either hereditary ''or'' granted by a member of royalty, but the higher-ups felt that kids wouldn't understand what a "Duke" was.

** Prince Blueblood himself is also really odd: he's supposedly Celestia's nephew (which would make him Luna's son! Either that or the Royal Sisters have a third sibling who no one ever mentions.) It's never made clear how he fits into the royal hierarchy, and after season 1 he vanishes from the show completely (aside from a few silent background appearances) never being mentioned again and never appearing in scenes where Equestria's royalty gathers. Later seasons establish that there are only four royal ponies (Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Twilight) seemingly [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome ignoring Blueblood entirely.]]

* The show's treatment of musical numbers also changes over the first season. In the first few episodes, any singing is done by Pinkie Pie -- with the characters being annoyed with it. Starting with "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp Winter Wrap Up]]" midway through the first season, everyone else starts singing their own numbers too. It can seem odd to see the other ponies rolling their eyes at Pinkie's singing in the two-part premiere, especially when they all get their own songs as the show goes on. It is even shown in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" that the characters (in particular, Fluttershy) have broken into song ''before'' the events of the show.

* Spike is less competent in the pilot and some early episodes, not even knowing how to spell words like "brink". Twilight also treats him rather harshly, and is more an acerbic JerkWithAHeartOfGold in this and certain early episodes, compared to the SuperOCD AllLovingHero she usually is season 2 onwards (though that can be chalked up to character development).

* In general, the first season is a lot more SliceOfLife than any of the later ones, which tend to have more adventure-type episodes that include premieres/finales that bookend an overarching theme or plot. The season one finale, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E26TheBestNightEver The Best Night Ever]]", is just a standard slice-of-life episode; all other seasons' finales are instead much more plot-heavy, dramatized stories.

[[index]]

[[/index]]

[[index]]

[[/index]]

[[index]]

[[/index]]

* The Ticket Master also introduces Prince Blueblood, who Rarity talks about marrying so that she can become a Princess. This contradicts Rarity's ambitions in later seasons (where she has no interest in being royalty and little in romance, instead wanting to focus on growing her fashion business) and it's completely at odds with how becoming a Princess is later established to work in Equestria: it's a title that you earn through extraordinary accomplishments, not something you gain by blood or marriage.

* The [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials first special]] from 1984 was very dark; in fact significantly more so than other children's shows shows at the time ([[http://www.cracked.com/article_17129_7-badass-cartoon-villains-who-lost-to-retarded-heroes.html this]] Website/{{Cracked}} article notes that it was basically about a bunch of cartoon horses fighting ''the devil himself''). The series [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends based on the special]] was LighterAndSofter, and with later generations becoming moreso until ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' reversed the process (due to initial showrunner Creator/LaurenFaust actively taking cues from the original special and series).

* The original cartoons had humans. Every installment since has been strictly horse-centric, to the point of redesigning MixAndMatchCritters to replace strictly human body parts such as faces and feet.

** Later seasons establish that the character speak Ponish, a fictional language (which is implicitly being "translated" for the viewer's benefit) making the season one English signage seem even more out of place.

** Prince Blueblood himself is also really odd: he's supposedly Celestia's nephew (which would make him Luna's son! Either that or the Royal Sisters have a third sibling who no one ever mentions.) It's never made clear how he fits into the royal hierarchy, and after season 1 he vanishes from the show completely (aside from a few silent background appearances) never being mentioned again and never appearing in scenes where Equestria's royalty gathers. Later seasons establish that there are only four royal ponies (Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Twilight) seemingly [[PutonaBus ignoring Blueblood entirely.]]

** Prince Blueblood himself is also really odd: he's supposedly Celestia's nephew (which would make him Luna's son! Either that or the Royal Sisters have a third sibling who no one ever mentions.) It's never made clear how he fits into the royal hierarchy, and after season 1 he vanishes from the show completely (aside from a few silent background appearances) never being mentioned again and never appearing in scenes where Equestria's royalty gathers. Later seasons establish that there are only four royal ponies (Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Twilight) seemingly ignoring Blueblood entirely.

* The original cartoons had humans. However, once ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' came out, everything else was horse-centric.

[[folder: Friendship is Magic]]

* Despite WordOfGod to the contrary, some Season 1 episodes depict unicorns and pegasi as having physical strength on par with Earth ponies. For example, the three types of ponies seem evenly matched in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E13FallWeatherFriends the Running of the Leaves]], and they all are able to [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E19ADogAndPonyShow dig through earth]] at the same pace.

* The show's treatment of musical numbers also changes over the first season. In the first few episodes, any singing is done by Pinkie Pie -- with the characters being annoyed with it. Starting with "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp Winter Wrap Up]]" midway through the first season, everyone else starts singing their own numbers too. It can seem odd to see the other ponies rolling their eyes at Pinkie's singing in the two-part premiere, especially when they all get their own songs as the show goes on. It is even revealed in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" that the characters (in particular, Fluttershy) have broken into song ''before'' the events of the show.

* In the very early episodes, ponies treated other fully sapient creatures like animals. (Cows are kept in barns and a stampeding herd of them has to be rounded up, and when the mane six go up against a dragon, they value Fluttershy for being good with animals.) It isn't until "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E21OverABarrel Over a Barrel]]" that other non-equine sapient creatures are considered to be of other races. This creates FurryConfusion as cows and dragons can both speak.

* Spike is less competent in the pilot and some early episodes, not even knowing how to spell words like "brink". Twilight also treats him rather harshly, and is more an acerbic JerkWithAHeartOfGold in this and certain early episodes, compared to the SuperOCD AllLovingHero she usually is season 2 onwards (though that can be chalked up to character development). While Spike was always the ButtMonkey, earlier seasons had him treated rather abusively and in ways that suggested other characters thought very little of him (such as leaving him on an ice flow and laughing about him falling in the water and getting sick, or smashing his present for another character and not caring even when he complained) while in later episodes it is made clear he's considered a member of Twilight's family and, when he is on the receiving end of slapstick, it's always either completely accidental or brought on by himself.

* The season one episode "Suited for Success" has a surprising number of references to humans and the real world. For example, during the reprise of the song "Art of the Dress", Twilight mentions Orion, who is a human from Greek mythology. Later in the song, Fluttershy requests "''French'' haute couture" for her dress. And during the second fashion show, after seeing Applejack's dress, among the foods Hoity Toity mentions having a craving for is ''Dutch'' apple pie. It is quite odd hearing ponies making references to the real world, especially in one of the pre-Equestria Girls episodes.

* The season one episode "Suited for Success" has a surprising number of references to humans and the real world. For example, during the reprise of the song "Art of the Dress", Twilight mentions Orion, who is a human from Greek mythology. Later in the song, Fluttershy requests "''French'' haute couture" for her dress. And during the second fashion show, after seeing Applejack's dress, among the foods he mentions having a craving for is ''Dutch'' apple pie. It is quite odd hearing ponies making references to the real world, especially in one of the pre-Equestria Girls episodes.

** The first two [[MultiPartEpisode Multi-Part Episodes]] (the pilot and season 2's "The Return of Harmony") had their second halves aired at least a week apart, while every subsequent one premiered as hour-long specials.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In the opening of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon the premiere]], the narrator refers to Celestia and Luna as "unicorns". The season 2 script and a 2013 comic later call Chrysalis a "pegacorn". Season 3 canonizes the fanon term "alicorn" for ponies with both wings and horns.
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E2ElementsOfHarmony The second episode]] suggests that Celestia and Luna aren't flesh and blood mortals. It's implied that Celestia literally turned into a ball of light and it's repeatedly mentioned that Luna was housed ''in'' (not "on") the moon. This fits Lauren Faust's original plans for the sisters to be godlike; however, later seasons establish the two sisters as much less distinct from other ponies and as not generally being especially powerful or otherworldly. The only [[TheArtifact remnant]] is Luna being housed in the moon as it's too concrete a part of her backstory to alter. At the end of the series premiere, Princess Luna is also shown to have a short, matte-colored, periwinkle mane, in sharp contrast to her long, dark blue, starry mane shown in later episodes.
** Spike is less competent in the pilot and some early episodes, not even knowing how to spell words like "brink". Twilight also treats him rather harshly, and is more an acerbic JerkWithAHeartOfGold in this and certain early episodes, compared to the SuperOCD AllLovingHero she usually is season 2 onwards (though that can be chalked up to character development). While Spike was always the ButtMonkey, earlier seasons had him treated rather abusively and in ways that suggested other characters thought very little of him (such as leaving him on an ice flow and laughing about him falling in the water and getting sick, or smashing his present for another character and not caring even when he complained) while in later episodes it is made clear he's considered a member of Twilight's family and, when he is on the receiving end of slapstick, it's always either completely accidental or brought on by himself.
** The third episode of the series, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E3TheTicketMaster The Ticket Master]]", was the first episode to be written, and it shows -- Spike lacks his crush on Rarity, non-unicorn ponies can somehow levitate the tickets above their heads, the episode opens with Twilight helping Applejack with the harvest (which clashes with the latter's convictions in "Applebuck Season"), etc. It's also the lightest episode plot-wise, as it was originally intended for a [[ThreeShorts Two Shorts]] format.
** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E10SwarmOfTheCentury Swarm of the Century]]" is one of [[https://cdn.twibooru.org/img/view/2020/7/9/7723.png very few episodes]] to have a scene with completely legible English-language writing, when townsponies make a banner that reads "Welcome Princess Celest" (the townsponies state that they couldn't fit "Celestia" on their welcome banner). Most other visually depicted instances of the printed or written word are made with chicken-scratch, made-up written lettering, or mashed-together letters with filled-in areas that look somewhat like Latin letters and real-life words.
** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E4ApplebuckSeason Applebuck Season]]" opens with [[TheQuietOne Big Macintosh]] having his first speaking lines and manages to say ''two complete sentences!'' Which is a rarity in the series as most future episodes will only have him saying [[CatchPhrase "Eeyup" and/or "Nope"]] whenever he appeared and maybe a two or three word sentence if you're lucky, barring the occasional episode that gives him ADayInTheLimelight where he is a little more talkative.
** In general, the first season is a lot more SliceOfLife than any of the later ones, which tend to have more adventure-type episodes that include premieres/finales that bookend an overarching theme or plot. The season one finale, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E26TheBestNightEver The Best Night Ever]]", is just a standard slice-of-life episode; all other seasons' finales are instead much more plot-heavy, dramatized stories.
** Despite WordOfGod to the contrary, some Season 1 episodes depict unicorns and pegasi as having physical strength on par with Earth ponies. For example, the three types of ponies seem evenly matched in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E13FallWeatherFriends the Running of the Leaves]], and they all are able to [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E19ADogAndPonyShow dig through earth]] at the same pace.
** It took a while for the visual effects of unicorn magic to be standardized, and even then, the ColorCodedWizardry didn't really show up until "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero Lesson Zero]]" in season two. Generally speaking, Season 1 episodes tend to depict the visual effects unicorn telekinesis as only a cluster of white sparkles around the levitated object, sometimes with a colorless glow around the unicorn's horn as well. From Season 2 onward, each unicorn and alicorn has a specific, individual color their magic always manifests as, and magic is always accompanied by a brightly colored aura surrounding their horn and -- where applicable -- the object the magic being cast on.
** The show's treatment of musical numbers also changes over the first season. In the first few episodes, any singing is done by Pinkie Pie -- with the characters being annoyed with it. Starting with "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp Winter Wrap Up]]" midway through the first season, everyone else starts singing their own numbers too. It can seem odd to see the other ponies rolling their eyes at Pinkie's singing in the two-part premiere, especially when they all get their own songs as the show goes on. It is even revealed in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" that the characters (in particular, Fluttershy) have broken into song ''before'' the events of the show.
** The first season is the only one to have [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle a recap of the lesson in just about every episode]], through Twilight writing Princess Celestia a letter. Once the E/I requirement was lifted in season 2, these were gradually phased out, with "Lesson Zero" having Celestia tell Twilight not to worry about sending her a letter every week.
** The end credits in the first couple of episodes are written in a fancy script font called Woodrow (which was also used for Lauren Faust's credit in the title sequence and for every episode title card) rather than the plain Helvetica Black in later episodes.

** In the very early episodes, ponies treated other fully sapient creatures like animals. (Cows are kept in barns and a stampeding herd of them has to be rounded up, and when the mane six go up against a dragon, they value Fluttershy for being good with animals.) It isn't until "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E21OverABarrel Over a Barrel]]" that other non-equine sapient creatures are considered to be of other races. This creates FurryConfusion as cows and dragons can both speak.
** The first season episode "Over a Barrel" features the Mane Six and Spike riding to Appleloosa in a relatively low-key (horse-drawn!) locomotive, the only appearance of a train that season. The Friendship Express already existed in the toyline, but it wouldn't appear in-show until Season 2.
** Chrysalis speaks with a minor VoiceOfTheLegion filter in her [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 first appearance]], which she lacks when she appears later on.

** The show's treatment of musical numbers also changes over the first season. In the first few episodes, any singing is done by Pinkie Pie -- with the characters being annoyed with it. Starting with "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp Winter Wrap Up]]" midway through the first season, everyone else starts singing their own numbers too. It can seem odd to see the other ponies rolling their eyes at Pinkie's singing in the two-part premiere, especially when they all get their own songs as the show goes on.