I wonder why they needed this at all, considering that they have the pegasus who could, as we’ve seen in “Sonic Rainboom”, fly at supersonic speed while holding four unconscious ponies…
@RyuSpike
Definitely 3rd act. But here, I think its more that the storm that the SK creates around the castle area of Canterlot is impenetrable to the airships, but they are able to rig Pinkie’s party cannon to launch the Mane 5 + Spike through.
Hmmm… Taking in the context of this scene alone, I can guess what is going on. Considering that we only see the Mane Six minus Twilight, this scene is taking place around the same time as Twilight is with the Storm King and Tempest. Which could mean that she was either captured by the baddies or surrendered to them to keep her friends safe. I’m voting the latter because that is such a Twilight thing to do. Considering that we also see the… griffon(?) pirates, that means that this is probably taking place near the third act.
Another reason why I think this is from the third act is the location. The buildings and tents look like Canterlot in ruins. Obviously the result of the invasion that took place. If the pirates are there then that means that they were stranded there. I am not sure, but I feel like they were the type of pirates who use a flying ship. Which could mean that Twilight’s gang and their new allies tried to take down the big bad’s ship but utterly failed. Stranding them all on the ground. Hence they don’t use the pirates’ ship to get up there.