Friendship is Witchcraft

Friendship is Witchcraft is a series of videos overlaying scenes from with new dialogue. While technically an abridged series, the writers have stated that they stray so far away from the show's original story and characters that they prefer to consider it a glimpse into "a bizarro universe version of Friendship is Magic" airing on an alternate universe version of The Hub.

All of the episodes to date contain an original musical number, and have been written by "Sherclop Pones", a collective name for Jenny Nicholson and Griffin Lewis. Both also perform a majority of the voices.

The Perfect Swarm
The first installment of Friendship is Witchcraft still follows the episode it is based on fairly closely. The chronology of the plot is left intact: Twilight is preparing Ponyville for the imminent arrival of Princess Celestia, Fluttershy unwittingly unleashes the parasprites on the town, and Pinkie Pie is ignored despite knowing how to get rid of them. The ponies' attempt to corral the first batch of parasprites makes them steer them intentionally in the direction of Mollestopia, the next town over (ruled by Princess Mollestia); they later learn that their stunt knocked over all the pins in a bowling alley, and killed several ponies.

The music that Pinkie plays to eventually lead the rest of the parasprites out of town is an instrumental version of Rebecca Black's Friday. Running gags throughout the episode include several main characters randomly referring to "eye candy" (which the writers have explained is not supposed to be a specific reference, but rather a parody of forced running gags ), and a scene in which Twilight comments on a background pony watering some flowers getting repeated several times.

Read it and Sleep
When a storm catches Applejack and Rarity outside, they reluctantly seek refuge at the Ponyville library, to avoid coming down with the "disco fever". This is an opportunity for Twilight to re-enact a story she is writing: "Diamond in the Rough: a love story", whose main characters are Applesack and Charity. At the end of the episode and after some adjustments Twilight made, she sends the entire story to Princess Celestia, who is not very enthusiastic about it; this marks the first time a clip from a second MLP episode is used in a video (Griffon the Brush-off in this case).

Unlike Look Before You Sleep, Spike is present, but unseen; Twilight sent him to the roof to hold the lightning rod in place, and he later falls off it when the tree crashes into the library. In his brief appearance in "Dragone Baby Gone", his feet have been digitally altered to appear bandaged, possibly as a reference to his fall in this episode.

The episode's musical number is a song Rarity compulsively sings before going to bed, set to the tune of Art of the Dress. It has allegedly been favorably commented on by Daniel Ingram, the composer responsible for Friendship is Magic's songs.

Dragone Baby Gone
When a bunny (Angel in the show, though unnamed here) refuses to eat a carrot provided to him by Fluttershy, she throws him into a "friendship fire". This fire is unrelated to a cloud of smoke is starting to cover Ponyville, which Twilight informs the ponies is coming from a dragon. The main characters are tasked by Princess Celestia (or so Twilight claims) to destroy him. Fluttershy is highly hesitant to join the mission and actively tries to sabotage it (by causing an ABBAlanche, for example). She later admits that the dragon is her estranged father ("dragonness is recessive", she explains) and she doesn't want to face him. Only when Twilight inviting the dragon to voluntarily join a zoo, Rarity impersonating Fluttershy via witchcraft, Pinkie offering herself to the dragon as his new daughter, and Rainbow Dash's brute-force attack all fail, is Fluttershy motivated enough to confront her father and kill him (off-screen).

There is a running gag in this episode emphasizing how Applejack's and Rainbow Dash's Elements of Harmony (Honesty and Loyalty, respectively) appear to have switched in this episode. A compilation of clips from the show posted to Sherclop Pones' YouTube account a week later makes this point in a less subtle way. There is also a larger amount of creative editing than in previous episodes, with the screen turning red from Fluttershy's bonfires, clips from ABBA songs appearing on rocks during the ABBAlanche rockslide, and Rarity changing color using magical accessories.

Cute From The Hip
The episode begins with Cheerilee teaching Apple Bloom and a number of other children about robots. According to her, some very lifelike robots live in Ponyville unaware of their mechanical nature, and should be reported immediately when discovered, as they can be dangerous when they discover what they really are. Apple Bloom has other worries: Diamond Tiara is holding a Mark Mitzvah thanks to getting her cutie mark, and is rubbing it in Apple Bloom's face (who does not have a cutie mark yet, and who would be unable to hold a Mark Mitzvah of her own, since Applejack refuses to switch religions).

After both Applejack's and Rainbow Dash's attempts to get the filly her cutie mark prove unsuccessful, Pinkie enlists her help in preparing a magic spell. As we learn via flashbacks to "The Perfect Swarm" and Bridle Gossip, the other ponies' constant wrongful accusations that Pinkie was practicing illegal gypsy magic have given her an idea: learn magic and open a portal to the past so that she can save her parents from being killed.

Pinkie does not appear to be successful; Pinkie and (after a delay) Apple Bloom get teleported to Diamond Tiara's party instead. When being insulted by Diamond Tara, she is defended by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, the latter of whom speaks in an obviously robotic voice.

Twilight, who has wandered into the party, is reminded of her own days as a filly, illustrated with clips from The Cutie Mark Chronicles. In the final scene, Celestia reads her friendship report and sighs audibly when hearing that Twilight intends to send her a letter "every single day, for the rest of [her] life".

Pinkie's spellcasting is accompanied by a song. An extended version of "Pinkie's Brew" has been posted on Sherclop Pones YouTube channel; the lyrics contain yet another reference to Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, and a reference to the seaponies from the G1 My Little Pony generation.

Spike's Big Day
Not labeled as an episode on the YouTube channel, "Spike's Big Day" is a short video featuring clips from Griffon the Brush-off. As in the original, Pinkie incites Rainbow Dash to scare Spike into hiccoughs. The scrolls he is carrying contain an epic fantasy novel he had worked on for five years (called "Diaspora Scales: A Dragon Prophecy" in the YouTube description). His "weak grip" makes him unable to hold on to the scrolls when his magic dragonfire is triggered, and the scrolls literally go up in flames: they get teleported to Princess Celestia, who assumes them to be one of Twilight's fanfics, and hence burns them.

Neigh, Soul Sister
Rarity is woken from dreaming about her time in the war by smoke coming from her kitchen. The source of the smoke is Sweetie Belle's chassis, though the rest of the episode does not mention the incident or have one of the characters recognize Sweetie Belle's robotic nature. Implausibly, their parents arrive despite having died in a crash six years earlier, and remind Rarity that this is the week of the eclipse.

To get her sister out of her hair, Rarity sends Sweetie Belle to the woods, where she sings a stanza of a song about her love for Rarity; the song can be heard in full later in the episode, with Rarity's name switched out for Applejack. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom find her there, in a clip from The Show Stoppers. The earth pony remarks that her compass always points to Sweetie Belle, and the robot eventually returns home.

After a scene in which Sweetie Belle repurposes an animal carcass meant for a religious ritual for an arts and crafts project, Rarity meets Fluttershy at her "Conversion Spa", depicted with clips from Green Isn't Your Color. They discuss said ritual, which is supposed to bring about the return of the Smooze (a villain from the G1 movie), and with him the apocalypse.

Meanwhile, a dejected Sweetie Belle wanders around Ponyville, where she meets Apple Bloom. She suggests inviting Rarity to the Sentient Social, an annual competition/free labor scam hosted at Sweet Apple Acres. Rarity refuses, causing a falling-out between the two sisters. While she quickly realizes her mistake, Sweetie Belle is not so quick to forgive, going so far as to accuse Rarity of being a robot for having difficulty expressing real emotions.

As in the original episode, Sweetie Belle is led to believe that she can participate in the Sentient Social with Applejack as her sister-for-a-day. Partway, Applejack switches with a disguised Rarity, who chose to forego Fluttershy's resurrection ritual to be there for her sister.

There are, in fact, several apparent resurrections in the episode: beside Rarity's parents (who, it is implied, crash again off-screen directly after they take their leave), there's also Fluttershy's father from "Dragone Baby Gone", Granny Smith, and a bird or two. They all appear in a visual effect similar to the one caused by Pinkie's spell in "Cute From The Hip". Each time, a counter in the lower left-hand corner of the screen increases by one. At the end of the episode, the counter stops at 5, but can go up to 9, a number specifically called out in Pinkie's song: "they say a kitch-en time saves nine / but I'm just saving two".

The episode ends with a final scene in which Rarity and Sweetie Belle listen to a tape recorder swallowed by the younger sister. There are two recordings on it: a friendship report by Twilight that resembles the one given by Rarity in the original episode, and an "audition" by Spike for a play. The latter references yet another Disney song, "Reflection" from Mulan. Like "Hellfire" in the first episode (but unlike the instrumental snippet from Hunchback's soundtrack in "Dragone Baby Gone"), the song is not credited either in the video or the YouTube description.

(Episode 6)
Episode 6 will be based on Luna Eclipsed.

Fluttershy
Fluttershy is the local leader of a cult that worships and aims to bring about the return of Lord Smooze. She is said to have killed a dozen dragons, kills her own father in "Dragone Baby Gone", and poisons animals in the same episode, but she is timid around other ponies. She only very reluctantly takes Rarity up on her offer to give all her money to the cult. Perhaps for this reason, other ponies don't treat her as evil: Applejack seems only mildly annoyed when she has to deliver a cartload of apples to Fluttershy's cottage in a deal to save her family in "The Perfect Swarm", and Twilight refers to her bunny sacrifices as "innocent friendship fires". Following the first episode, both Rarity and Twilight are shown as converts to the cult of Smooze.

Fluttershy is partly based on Frollo from Disney's version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Fluttershy sings parts of the Hellfire song in the first scene of "The Perfect Swarm", and an instrumental version is featured in "Dragone Baby Gone".

Rarity
Rarity is the veteran of a war that ended ten years prior to the events of the series and mentions this on occasion, particularly regarding Applejack, whom she accuses of war crimes in "Read it and Sleep" and "Neigh, Soul Sister". Sweetie Belle recalls that Rarity was quite upset when Sweetie Belle play-acted a mortar attack with her. Applejack considers her a deserter. She regularly sees a therapist for "post-traumatic dress syndrome".

Job-wise, she is a purveyor of giant hats, which is referenced by several characters throughout the series. But when her boutique is threatened by parasprites in "The Perfect Swarm", she calls her fashion line merely a " casual hobby".

Rarity is one of Fluttershy's Smooze devotees and initiates Twilight into the cult in "Read it and Sleep". Episode 5 implies that part of her devotion is actually an addiction to a paste provided by Fluttershy in her Conversion Spa. It is also implied she has OCD, since she apparently requires the completion of a specific routine before she can enter a bed and go to sleep.

Twilight
Twilight is rather spoiled, and unconcerned with anyone but herself. This is not necessarily malicious, she is just very self-absorbed. In the very first episode, we witness a memory Twilight has of an earlier scene; only in her version of events, Twilight is brilliant and considerate and Spike is lazy and an idiot.

She has been Celestia's pupil from an early age, and while the Princess has clearly grown weary of her, Twilight has not. Her friendship reports tend to contain very mundane observations, not specific morals and friendship experiences as in the original show. She likes to think of herself as a princess herself, and believes she will be made one if she can prove herself to Celestia. Here Gaia name is "Celestia 2".

She is an avid fanfic writer, and that includes writing "fan fiction" - essentially romans à clef - about real ponies. Mentioned subjects have been Applejack, Rarity, and Discord.

In "Read it and Sleep", she becomes a devotee to Lord Smooze so she can fit in better.

Pinkie
Pinkie Pie is an orphan and spent at least part of her childhood in an orphanage, which is referenced in "Dragone Baby Gone". In "Cute From The Hip", she attempts to open a portal so she can travel back in time and save her parents from dying.

She did not cast any magic before that episode, but is accused of doing so regardless. For instance, she and her "gypsy magic" are blamed for the chaos caused by Fluttershy's parasprite in "The Perfect Swarm".

Both her experiences as an orphan and as a grown-up orphan suggest she's had to live with prejudice all her life merely because she is an earth pony. Even the dragon in the third episode is not averse to adopting a pony, but it has to be a Pegasus or unicorn.

Applejack
Like Rarity, Applejack was in the war doing what she had to to protect her family, and mentions this on occasion. She has no patience for the cult of Smooze, but pretends to join it during "Read it and Sleep". She does appear to have a religion, declining to switch when Apple Bloom complains about not having Mark Mitzvahs in "Cute From The Hip".

She knows how to handle money. In the same episode, she sells her own sister an apron when they go to the market to flog apples, and then tries to take it away from her when she doesn't perform. She also charges Sweetie Belle money for participating in the Sentient Social race with her.

Rainbow Dash
This version of Rainbow Dash is rather dim, and has a very small vocabulary. She incorporates her name into almost every sentence in an almost Smurf-like fashion. She is also extremely short-sighted, which kept her out of the military during the war and out of the "Wonderballs" now.

Spike
Twilight treats Spike as her personal servant whose job it is to clean up behind her. Her first reaction at witnessing the carnage the parasprites have caused in Ponyville in the first episode, and her first reaction at seeing the aftermath of the rockslide in episode 3, is to call out for Spike.

No one in Ponyville seems to like him: the character profiles of all main characters in the third episode mention Spike in the "Dislike" section, and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom also think he's "no good at anything". Both Applejack and Rarity ignore his pleas to help him when he falls of the roof in episode 2; Applejack even drops a branch on him and closes the window to drown out his cries. Rarity and Pinkie Pie mock Spike while climbing the mountain in the third episode and apparently regularly steal his scales; Spike's scales are an ingredient in Pinkie's brew in "Cute From The Hip", according to Apple Bloom. Also in that episode, some one gets covered in blood, twice, thanks to a trap Diamond Tiara had built; the voice suggests it is Spike, as does the YouTube description, which lists Spike in the credits even though he does not appear on screen.

In the first two episodes, several ponies call him fat behind his back. In the third, and in the "Spike's Big Day" short, they make fun of his "weak grip".

Apple Bloom
Apple Bloom's characterization is similar to the one in the original show. She wants to become President, but everyone around her, including her sister, insists that her cutie mark will be apple-related, and that it is her destiny to continue working in the apple business.

She references the Smooze in "Cute From The Hip", but mispronounces the name; it is possible she just recited something she picked up from Fluttershy or Rarity.

Sweetie Belle
Sweetie Belle talks like a robot, her movements sound noticeably non-organic, water makes her "feel funny", and she thinks in programs and subroutines, and yet she remains oblivious to her (presumed) true nature. So, apparently, does everyone around her; Rarity never even mentions it again when Sweetie Belle's chassis starts smoking in "Neigh, Soul Sister", or when she makes the ground shake in anger in the same episode.

Sweetie Belle has been told to stay away from discussions about death and mortality (presumably to avoid, as Cheerilee put it, "a violent, existantial rampage through the town"), but thinks about these issues anyway, and repeats "life is worth protecting" like a mantra.

The main thrust of the fifth episode is that Sweetie Belle loves Rarity (or has been programmed to love Rarity), and wants the feelings to be reciprocal, which Rarity has difficulties expressing. During their fight midway through the episode, she indirectly threatens Rarity: "If the world isn't going to love me, then I'll teach it to fear me instead!"

The Friendship is Witchcraft Sweetie Belle is frequently called "SweetieBot" (or "Sweetie-Bot") by fans; one of the regulars at the /r/mylittlepony subreddit has a SweetieBot gimmick account.