| Season Number: | 9 |
| Image Upright: | 1.14 |
| Bgcolour: |
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| Network: | Discovery Family |
| Num Episodes: | 26 |
| Prev Season: | Season 8 |
| Next Season: | Friendship Is Forever |
| Episode List: | List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes |
The ninth and final season of the animated television series , developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on the Discovery Family channel 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 9 of the series premiered on April 6, 2019, on Discovery Family, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro, and concluded with a three-part series finale on October 12.
The final season focuses on Twilight preparing to become the new ruler of Equestria before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's retirement. At the same time, an evil ram named Grogar recruits Twilight and her friends' worst enemies in a plot to take over the kingdom.
On February 17, 2018, at the American International Toy Fair in New York, a ninth season was announced by Hasbro.[1] In a TV Kids Guide by Gaumont, it was confirmed that season nine will have 26 episodes.[2] At the following year's Toy Fair, it was confirmed that this will be the final season of the series.[3] The writing for this season began in late 2017.[4]
In a March 2019 Discovery Family press release, it was announced that Patton Oswalt and "Weird Al" Yankovic would return to reprise their roles as Quibble Pants and Cheese Sandwich, respectively.[5] According to series' director Jim Miller, Discord impersonating Grogar was planned since the beginning of the season, as they wanted Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow to be the villains since they had more connection to the main characters.[6]
Upon the broadcast of the three-part series finale "The Ending of the End - Parts 1 and 2" and "The Last Problem", when asked if Applejack and Rainbow Dash were romantically involved in the future setting of "The Last Problem", Miller replied "it’s up to the individual viewer to decide what those two are to each other".[7] When asked a similar question regarding Fluttershy and Discord, Miller replied that it was "open to interpretation."[8]
See also: List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes.