Friendship is Card Games: No Second Prances · 12:57pm May 1st, 2016
This week, we have the long awaited return of a beloved character who hasn’t been seen in far too long. It’s been a long and terrible drought without her, spanning all of five episodes, but Derpy’s back!
Oh, and Trixie showed up too, I guess. 
Given how she’s showed up in Seasons 1, 3, and 6, I can conclude that we’ll next see her in Season 10.
But before we focus on the return of Smughorse in earnest, let’s give a few last hurrahs to Dragonlord Tsundergar:
• Rarity still has the Crackle costume… that they abandoned when they ran from the dragons. She actually went back to that stretch of woodland and retrieved it. That says a lot.
• Listening again, Torch explicitly states that he designed the Gauntlet of Fire himself, saying it was designed for a “big, strong dragon,” and that “being smart won’t help.” That maze at the end really puts the lie to that claim. Either he greatly underestimates the power of cleverness, or the conspiracy theorists are right.
• That being said, Ember’s intelligence feels like an informed attribute, unless we’re meant to infer that there’s a direct correlation between intelligence and friendliness.
• Dang. Spike moved a boulder several times his mass to help Garble. And, come to think of it, he also pulled a fully armored Ember up to the surface and swam to the island as quickly as most dragons flew there. Spike is stronger than anyone realizes, himself included.
Now, onto current affairs:
I wonder when Twilight got that cutie mark china. Almost certainly after getting the castle.
No, Starlight, you don’t get to joke about the cult village. Not yet.
Starlight whipping the cake together is impressive… but where did the utensils go?
If nothing else, Starlight got a friendship lesson out of manipulating Big Macintosh… though it really does show how much further she has yet to go. Still trying to reshape ponies to “perfect” them rather than meeting them halfway.
Also, at this point, I thought the ultimate lesson of the episode would be Starlight learning how magic isn’t always the answer to all of life’s problems, how the best results take hard work rather than taking the easy way. Evidently not, though I hope the show does cover that at some point. And the obsessive equalizer sure is quick to show off, isn’t she? To say nothing of how her cutie mark is plastered all over the cake.
Wear the hat behind your horn, Starlight. This isn’t cutie mark surgery.
Huh. Evidently, Dash can perform sonic booms without the rainbow effect. That’s… peculiar. Is it a conscious choice? Has she become so fast that the sound barrier is little more to her than a suggestion anymore?
Also, nice to see them touch on Starlight’s self-imposed cultural isolation. She seemed to grow up in an exclusively unicorn town and spent who knows how many years in Our Town. There’s a lot she’s missed out on.
Heh. Angel’s infatuation with Starlight is adorable. “She’s so wonderfully evil. 
”
At first, I thought Trixie’s voice was off. Then she went into her stage persona, and I realized that I’ve never really heard her out of it before. Even the apology in “Magic Duel” was more performed than said. The moment in the spa marks the first time we’ve seen Trixie neither putting on an act nor terrified for her life.
Starlight actually did beat Twilight magically and tactically. It’s probably a good thing that Trixie didn’t know about that.
I can understand Twilight’s concern. After all, all of the redemption case studies she has on hoof—Discord, Sunset Shimmer, Diamond Tiara, even Princess Luna to an extent—have involved surrounding the former antagonist with positive influences to keep them on the straight and narrow. Putting two people still on the path to the light side is undocumented and could potentially lead to a negative feedback loop.
Still, that doesn’t excuse Twilight trying to make Starlight bond with random people in a transparent attempt to make herself look good in front of Celestia. That’s honestly kind of pathetic, and outright deplorable when she tries to do it immediately after Starlight chews her out for doing so. Really not Twilight’s finest moment… though I do have to acknowledge that’s she’s prone to paranoia and overreaction. See “A Canterlot Wedding.” Heck, that subtly reinforced that behavior; she was right that time.
Also, I suspect Vinyl had no idea what was going on in that scene. (And yes, I’m still calling her Vinyl Scratch. I refuse to believe that anyone named their daughter DJ PON-3, even in Equestria.)
Huh. The Alicorn Amulet canonically sucks the wearer’s soul. Also, souls definitely exist in Equestria. Or Trixie was being figurative, but what fun is that?
That’s a peculiar manticore redesign. Why does it have horns?
Also, I wonder if Hoofdini went around discrediting fraudulent psychics.
Isn’t the new friend supposed to come with Starlight to the dinner? I know this show is important to Trixie, but she’s passing up a chance to dine with Celestia.
Also, the poster has Trixie’s name in Greek. Like, barely obscured, I-can-see-the-curls-on-the-xi Greek. Neat.
Wow is Starlight getting played. She basically pulled this exact same routine with Party Favor in “The Cutie Map.” I get the sense that her hostility towards Twilight factored into the decision. That good a manipulator doesn’t fall for a case of puppy dog eyes unless she wants to. Her failure to notify Twilight of her absence may indicate that as well, though if she did inform Twilight, the princess would probably use it as proof that Trixie was a bad influence on her.
Spoiler: Nosehair Trimmer will be the villain of the Season 7 premiere.
And so both Twilight and Trixie reveal themselves to be terrible people to an extent. Aren’t we all. While it’s nice to see a bit of complex moral ambiguity at work, those two really do seem to bring out the worst in each other.
I really can’t get over Fluttershy being afraid of a manticore, though I suppose she may be frightened more by the very real chance of Trixie’s demise… or the manticore choking on a high-speed morsel. Seriously, given Trixie’s despondent performance, this feels like an elaborate form of suicide. Given the way life’s ground her down, it actually seems possible.
And so, once again, Twilight has to be reminded about her own experiences as she learns not to micromanage. I really hope that this won’t be the plot for every Starlight episode.
Despite my grousing and the rather dark implications of the scene, I have to love Trixie’s wizard helmet.
Nice bow. That manticore is a professional.
Cranky’s question is entirely valid, though I suppose it’s one that Celestia gets a lot.
In all, this is kind of a mixed bag for me. I really don’t like how little Twilight seems to have learned. Starlight’s magical capabilities are frankly absurd, and she is still very much a work in progress. Still, we got some good development for Trixie, Starlight is moving forward (and really, seeing her gradual adjustment is better than the instant forgiveness of "The Cutie Re-Mark,") and hopefully Twilight will internalize the lesson this time around.
Now, come one, come all, and witness the greatest cards on site!
Commiserate 1W
Instant
Radiance — Until end of turn, target creature and each creature that shares a color with it gain “T: You gain 2 life.”
”Finally, someone who understands.”
—Starlight Glimmer
Cultural Isolation 2WW
Enchantment
As Cultural Isolation enters the battlefield, each player chooses a creature type.
Players can’t cast spells that are any of the chosen types.
”What’s an alicorn?"
Left Waiting 4W
Sorcery
Target player skips his or her next two combat phases.
”So, read any good books lately?”
—Ditzy Doo
Accessory Snatcher UU
Creature — Bird
Flying
When Accessory Snatcher enters the battlefield, unattach target Equipment. Gain control of that Equipment for as long as you control Accessory Snatcher.
”Everyone wants to get a hold of a Rarity original.”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity
1/1
Fervent Contradiction 1U
Instant
Change the text of target spell, ability, or permanent by replacing all instances of “+” with “-“, and vice versa, until end of turn.
Draw a card.
Trixie wasn’t sad, she wasn’t lonely, and she definitely still had the will to live.
The Great Hoofdini 2UU
Legendary Creature — Unicorn Wizard
The Great Hoofdini can’t be blocked.
1U: Exile The Great Hoofdini. You may return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control. If you don’t, do so at the beginning of the next end step.
3/2
Loquacious Compulsion 2UUU
Sorcery
Choose one —
• Each player with fewer than seven cards in his or her hand draws cards equal to the difference.
• Look at target opponent’s hand. You may cast a nonland card from that hand without paying its mana cost. (You control the spell. If it becomes a permanent, it enters the battlefield under your control.)
Entwine 3 (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)
Pyrrhic Triumph 1BB
Enchantment
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you may sacrifice that creature. If you do, that player loses life equal to its power.
With a single word, Trixie won her pride and lost everything else.
Stress Out 2B
Sorcery
Target player discards a card at random. That player loses life equal to that card’s converted mana cost.
With great power comes great anxiety.
Sullied Reputation 2B
Sorcery
Each player loses 2 life for each creature card in his or her graveyard.
Even the friendliest place in the world remembers dark deeds.
Belly Rub R
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast Belly Rub, tap an untapped creature you control.
If target creature has power less than or equal to the tapped creature’s power, untap that creature. Gain control of it until end of turn. It gains haste until end of turn.
Hypersonic Surge 2RR
Instant
Until end of turn, target attacking creature gains trample and gets +X/+0, where X is its power.
Rainbow Dash has beaten the sound barrier into submission.
Horned Manticore 4R
Creature — Manticore
Flying, trample
This strain of manticore is prized by stage performers for its great intelligence, greater patience, and low salary demands.
4/3
Fortuitous Meeting 5GG
Enchantment
Whenever you cast a creature spell, reveal the top card of your library. If it’s a creature card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, you may put that card on the bottom of your library.
Friendship can happen to anyone, anywhere.
Finale Cannon 2
Artifact
Whenever you activate an activated ability of a creature, you may sacrifice that creature. If you do, copy that ability. You may choose new targets for the copy.
”Every show should end with a bang.”
—Trixie Lulamoon, traveling performer
Clearance Bin 3
Artifact
3, T: Return target artifact card in your graveyard with the lowest converted mana cost to your hand.
”I’m sure somepony will find a use for them.”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity
Silver Simulacrum 4
Artifact
(2u)(2u): Silver Simulacrum becomes a copy of target creature you control until end of turn, except it’s still an artifact. ((2u) can be paid with any two mana or with U.)
Trixie smiled at her creation. Twilight scowled at her ruined place setting.
Ice Sculpture X
Snow Artifact Creature — Golem
Ice Sculpture enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
Whenever a player casts a snow spell, put a +1/+1 counter on Ice Sculpture.
Whenever a player casts a nonsnow spell, remove a +1/+1 counter from Ice Sculpture.
0/0
Aerial Impact 1(rg)
Instant
Target creature with flying deals damage equal to its power to itself.
”That sign snuck up on me.”
—Ditzy Doo
Slip of the Tongue 1UR
Instant
Target player reveals his or her hand. Slip of the Tongue deals damage equal to the number of cards in that hand to target creature that player controls.
Every painful truth revealed at the worst possible moment.
Magical Manufacture 3(wu)(wu)
Instant
You may put a noncreature permanent card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Starlight single-hoofedly made up for Our Town’s skilled labor shortage.
This isn't an intellectual show. Everyone's intelligence feels like an informed attribute.
Also, this whole blog post is just from things that happened in S06E05?
3909844
True. Twilight didn't exactly come out smelling like Mensa in the latest episode.
No, just the bullet points.
3909847 Oh, ok.
But yeah, they portray Twi as an eggheaded intellectual (paging Rainbow Dash for serious use of the term "egghead" without snickering at the '50s) rather than an actually practical smart person all the time. Remember, it's a show where she's the Princess of Friendship, which is the strongest form of magic, and she occasionally also gets excited to study quantum mechanics.
The nonsensical don't-intellectualize-it-you-nerds worldbuilding is either part of the fun, or we can just watch another show.
Man, I loved just about every part of this episode. I love the added complexity and ambiguity Starlight brings to the show, and Starlight and Trixie's interactions were delightful
Re Twilight not learning: I think one of the key points here is that Twilight has to make the shift from being a student to being a teacher, and realizing that everything she's learned hasn't actually prepared her for that shift. Because life is complicated. So she has to figure out that just because she's not a student any more doesn't mean she's not supposed to keep learning. And Celestia was, wow, extremely disappointed that she hasn't figured that out yet
Celestia hasn't been this disappointed with Twilight since the wedding rehearsal.
I think part of the lesson here is that just because a scheming manipulator is obviously trying to convince you that your friendship is important to them, that doesn't actually mean your friendship isn't important to them. Like Ember, Trixie doesn't like to talk about her feelings. But Trixie has a go-to stage persona affectation she can use to get through anything she finds uncomfortable. I'm really enjoying these nuanced characters
Poor Twilight really got buried under the idiot ball in this episode. It hampered my enjoyment quite a bit. I really hope the writers don't make a habit of doing this.
As for the Starlight OP situation, I purpose the following: 1) All alicorns or high level unicorns can do those sort of spells, and 2) Most of the above know better than to do so.
Powerful unicorns who throw their magical weight around all the time are going to have a bit of a tough time making friends. Indeed, Starlight's OP magic displays were consistently shown to harm her cause rather than help it. Only in the case of Trixie, who required a specific spell for a specific task, did her magic help her.
This seems to fits in with what we've seen in the past: in pony society, magic is generally only used when requested explicitly. Anything else is considered deeply impolite. Twilight, for example, could harvest the Apple family orchard quickly and trivially, but she doesn't unless specifically called upon to do so.
Starlight is not massively OP, so much as she is massively socially maladjusted. Which fits perfectly with what we have seen of her character.
3909940
I enjoy this theory, and dread the day that the show ruins it. Hopefully this will be one of the times they give us something really good in exchange for destroyed headcanons.
Oh, Can I add one more thing?
Multiversal friendship
3BU
Instant
Summon 3 or more monsters of the same type into your hand after searching your deck
This is based off of something in this episode that I find surprising
i65.tinypic.com/4sh65d.png
Note the circles. See who's there? Raindrops, Lyra, Carrot Top, and Cheerilee. Add Ditzy in the eariler part of the eppie and boom, the entire cast of the Lunaverse have made their appearence. I don't know why all six members showed up, but I would like to think that somehow, the bonds of the multiverse drew the five back to Trixie to cheer her on.
Headcanon. Fucking. CONFIRMED.
Nah, but really, this episode was just... meh, I guess. I like Twilight being flawed, but I don't like her being an idiot. Unlike with, say, Spike, Twilight is explicitly meant to be the smart one, so it's actually rather out of character for her rather than just unflattering. And I didn't like Trixie's voice. Or the dialogue. I was kind of down on this episode in general, actually. Maybe I just need to rewatch it with a fresh perspective, but my first impression of it wasn't good.
I can imagine throughout the performance he was thinking: I am not getting paid enough to do this job
Given Cranky's interest in hairpieces, has he spotted something nopony else has? - It's a wig
Between this, his lack of wings, his appetite for gems, and his being so resilient to impact that one of his belly flops impressed a horde of teenage dragons, I'm beginning to suspect that Spike is the dragon-equivalent of an earth pony. Have we actually ever seen any winged dragons chowing down on gems like Spike does?
I'm also beginning to think that mind-affecting magic is probably about as accepted in Equestria as targeted advertising is accepted here. It might be because of its potential benign applications, like anti-anxiety or extra loquaciousness.
Y'know, I don't think Starlight ever actually mentioned Celestia to Trixie. She just said that the dinner was with Twilight.
Not her fault. Somepony put a sign in her way.
Also, Fortuitous Meeting would have fit perfectly with my bloodrush Naiya slivers deck.
3909870
You make an excellent point with Twilight. She has a history of slowly adapting to unexpected roles when the fate of the world doesn't hang in the balance. It took her a long time to grasp the fundamentals of friendship, a fair stretch to adjust to the wings and what came with them, and she still hasn't figured out what to do with fingers when she has them but isn't using them. Plus, her teaching experience with Twilight Time isn't very applicable to Starlight; she's imparting wisdom, not teaching practical skills.
As for Trixie, I suppose I have trouble parsing her comingled manipulation and sincerity.
Thank you very much for the insight.
3909940 3909950
We'll see what happens. It's possible that the "request-only magic" idea only applies in principally earth pony areas like Ponyville. It could be similar to Winter Wrap-Up, where areas that don't have a historically high number of unicorns resent them flaunting their reality warping while those that do have made magic a part of the local culture.
3910037
It's certainly possible. Probability space is a wide and strange place.
As for the card, I'd cost it at 5GG. Definitely a green effect, and a very powerful one at that.
3910063
Given how we got a brief moment of star-maned Twilight in "Twilight's Kingdom," it probably isn't a wig... though I can't rule it out definitively.
3910124
Spike as an "earth dragon" would explain a few things. Especially the moments where it's clear he's been learning from Pinkie Pie.
Looking back, you're right. Twilight was the only one who mentioned Celestia was at the dinner. By that point, Trixie was at full gloat.
Heh, these are actually pretty interesting. Crap, now I've gotta read all of 'em. *gets mining helmet*
"A big enough to eat a pony in one bite, grown up dragon."
Gunna guess it was most likely seeing a pony fling itself into something's stomach, than the manticore itself that spooked Fluttershy.
On Cultural Isolation; You are missing an "of" between "any" and "the".
I am not sure if Accessory Snatcher should also unequip that item at the same time. Because, technically, there are no rules against having an Equipment you control on a creature you don't, or the other way around. If you take control of a creature, it keeps any Equipment and Auras on it, even if you don't control them and when you gain control of an Equipment it stays equipped until you move it onto something else, like say the bird that just stole it, or the equipped creature dies.
I'm not sure how much value I'd place on the unequip effect, if it'd be fine at UU alongside the shiny gank or if it'd be worth a 1 more to the cost. I think it'd be fine with no more cost, as long as it didn't auto-equip to the bird.
It just feels odd that the Equipment you just stole stays equipped to whatever it was on before.
Oh Horned Manticore; We need for "flample" in normal M:tG.
The wording on Clearance Bin seems a little off to me. Maybe have it be the following instead.
There is no real reason for the 'target' effect and the wording on it was a bit odd to me. Though with a 'target' effect you don't need to text about a tie. Maybe if we moved the terms around some.
The leaves out the need for what to do in the case of a tie since you've made your choice via the target. Though if anyone else at the table has targeted graveyard tampering, be it exile or putting back into the library or other means, then they can interfere with it while with my first version you'd just get a different card if you had more than one artifact in your graveyard.
I think the first version does work but it just doesn't read right to me.
On Slip of the Tongue. I think the first half of the second ability should read "in that player's hand to".
Though, there is one card that does use the terminology of "that hand" it is the only (non-silver bordered) card that does indeed have that terminology. (And the silver border card is using it in different context.)
I mean, it does work but could be considered a bit ambiguous and is probably not what most players will think the card actually says.
But gee, that's two cards I think work just fine but have minor problems with their wording. Wording is hard.
Yet another good batch, looking forward to the next one.
3910037
No offense but, please learn more about the game before trying to make cards. Neither Blue, the "U" in the casting cost, nor Black, the "B" in the casting cost, are good at putting creatures into play for free. Also, the terminology is "creature" not "monster", the word "Summon" hasn't been used in the game for over a decade and it's a "library" not a "deck".
Also, (though I'm going to leave the above to show my initial misunderstanding), after re-re-re-re-re-rereading your card I think you meant for it to add cards to hand, not into play. See "Summon" used to be putting creatures into play, but they don't use that anymore. I think you meant for the spell to let you search your library for three creatures of the same type and add them to your hand. Now THAT is sort of a Blue effect, though Blue doesn't tend to do much with creatures, so maybe a Blue-Green effect. Green is the "creature color" of M:tG.
I don't take the game itself overly seriously, I'm rather well known in my local gaming group for the one with "odd ball" type decks that only just barely competitive, but I do take the color pie and game terminology rather seriously. FoME can tell you that; we've butted heads on his fancards on more than one occasion.
There are a lot of moving parts to keep track of, and I can't keep it all in my head. But thankfully there are a lot of good resources for this sort of thing and every time I'm a bit fuzzy on something I can look it up in either the Comprehensive Rules or on the unofficial Wiki.
It was a good attempt, I'd suggest the following.
3910953
None taken, I never tried making a card before and it was my first attempt
3910124 I have been thinking exactly the same thing about Spike! It gives us Pegasus Dragons, Earth Dragons and possibly Sea Dragons (Sea serpents) which is pretty cool. It's also obvious that, if it's true, the different dragon tribes don't exactly interact with each other much.
I'm pretty sure that Cranky's question to Celestia is the Equestrian equivalent of Strong Bad's "How do you type with boxing gloves on?"
I suspect that Starlight's urge to 'improve' ponies will never really go away entirely. Character traits like that never actually do leave a person completely. After all, Applejack might have learned to rely on others to an extent but she still tends to let her work to win philosophy guide her AND we have Twilight's being slow to adjust to new things AND Trixie's being a brash, inconsiderate loudmouth to contend with and so on and so forth.
3910726
Enjoy your spelunking!
3910953
Accessory Snatcher: Oh dear. I meant to have it unattach the artifact, putting the Snatcher in line with Carry Away. I should have made the adjustment by the time you read this.
And yeah, wording is tricky sometimes.
3912437
Would that make Twilight and company the Cheat Commandos?
3912598
Likely true. Still, hopefully she'll learn to bring it down to well-intentioned meddling rather than compulsion spells.
3913817 That's probably her trajectory; she'll be the Princess Of Passive-Aggressive Wheedling.
Figurative souls literally exist in Equestria, and are tied to magic.
Losing your soul is recoverable, but similarly to undertale, a your emotional-magical connection with reality and inherent sense of passion is lost and must be retrained manually to be maintained manually.
Starlight apparently-but-not-technically stole ponies souls when she took their cutie marks.
If souls were eyeballs, losing your soul to some demon/artifact would be equivalent to having your eyes removed/gouged out, while Starlight's cutie mark removal spell merely switched off the optic nerves.
Assuming "ponies are squishy, and hate is powerful" is at all true, then this is very much her talent actively manifesting her repressed/suppressed desire for suicide.
But that lesson is so relatable/important for the target audience of young girls!
Flurry Heart also matches that drama template. That could be this season's overarching source-of-conflict theme.
Twilight's character has shown that she does not internalize lessons without some form of personally affected trauma; she merely absorbs the lesson into her day to day tactics for the purpose of "faking it until you make it".
Huh, and I thought Starlight couldn't make herself anymore self-aggrandizing; with this thought in mind, that makes her rule of "our town" a full-on OC Self-Insert egotism!
My god, all those horribly written fanfictions where the author-self-insert OP-OC has everything revolve around them as they solve everyone's "problems" with universal praise and adoration... The HiE fix-fics that go on about cutie marks being evil and fatalistic!
The writers introduced Starlight Glimmer to make fun of those types of fanfics!
Awesome!