Friendship is Card Games: Dance Magic · 11:04am Jun 25th, 2017
Despite the leaks, we here at Wizards of the Foam are dedicated to the originally intended release schedule. As such, we will not be using any information from the Ixalan rare sheet that was—
Wait, what?
Pony leaks from Australia? Seriously?
Well, the same policy stands. I’ll get to those when they air in the States, just like today's subject, which aired early in Poland. Let’s look at the latest dispatch from the technicolor ape world.
That is a very powerful hair dryer if it can get a car sparkling in seconds. And I do like how the Apple family pickup shows signs of being well-used. It feels right.
Sci-Twi’s outfit is unfairly adorable. Especially the bowtie.
AJ drinking OJ. Heresy?
I do love how Spike is the one who can see right through Rarity. No matter the world, he can wrangle unicorns and unicorn analogues with the best of them.
Evidently malls aren't dying in that world. At least, this one doesn't appear to be.
Aunt Orange Smoothies? Interesting tie-in. Wonder how it relates to the Apples in this world.
Huh. The Crystal Prep girls are still in their uniforms. Odd. Still, good to see them again. Other than Indigo Zap, anyway. I think it’s safe to assume she was still in the local region of spacetime. Eighty percent chance, at least.
Also, very interesting to see that Cinch resigned after the debacle at the Friendship Games, though as we’ll see, her philosophical legacy yet lingers.
Is street ballet actually a thing?
… Huh. Street ballet is actually a thing. Wasn’t expecting that. It just sounds weird to me.
Twilight, you’re a genius who figured out a way to harness a fundamental force that by all rights shouldn’t exist. You shouldn’t need a calculator to determine that 2x / (x / 2) = 4 regardless of x.
No one is permitted in the Rainbooms’ video crew unless they wear sunglasses.
I suppose dancing is just part of the Crystal Prep curriculum, like archery.
Heh. Pinkie’s doing the Discord Shuffle. I’m well aware the dance existed long before he did it, but the parallel amuses me.
Good thing the Crystal Prep girls were practicing at the mall that day and not at their school; otherwise we wouldn’t have a conflict.
Also, isn’t Crystal Prep in a completely different city? I could see them going to this mall to sign up for the contest, but why would they come back?
I do love how human Rarity has a drama couch in her room. And it’s neat to see that she has Opalescence as well.
It’s kind of ironic. This is the human counterpart to “Rarity Takes Manehattan,” but Suri Polomare isn’t involved despite going to Crystal Prep. Of course, the greater involvement of Rarity’s friends means it unfolds rather differently, but the parallels are still visible.
Wait, hold on. … Okay, we have a bit of a continuity and logic snarl here. See, Sugarcoat explicitly says that it’s been a few months since the Friendship Games, and we know this takes place after Legend of Everfree given why the Rainbooms are raising funds. However, the Shadowbolts are raising money to have a spring dance on a yacht, which means that the Friendship Games happened in the fall or possibly the winter (which would put Canterlot somewhere in the southern US equivalent,) while at the same time CHS must have gone to Camp Everfree during Spring Break rather than summer vacation, and now Rarity and Twilight appear to be going to Crystal Prep while class is in session, which raises the question of why they aren’t in class…
Long story short, when do these girls graduate?
Heh. Yeah, Twilight didn’t exactly avail herself of all of Crystal Prep’s amenities.
The confrontation at the dance studio highlights G. M. Berrow’s greatest strength and weakness as a writer. She’s great at dredging up obscure characters… but ironically enough, she’s not very good at characterizing them. The end result is that the Shadowbolts end up feeling more like generic mean girls than anything. Granted, it’s not like Berrow had a lot to work with, especially not with Sunny Flare, but still.
Huh. Pinkie recreated pony Twilight’s castle in sugar. That blooper reel was right; they do switch places.
The imagine spots are fun, but given Rarity’s reactions, it seems like she can actually see what the others are visualizing. Is this an extension of Sunset’s psychomancy, or am I overthinking this?
I’m a bit put out that even after all she’s done, Sunset still gets a black hat in Applejack’s idea. Though I can’t deny that it looks good on her.
Hmm. Was human Dash a fan of the Daring Do series before she met human Twilight? If so, was she before she befriended Sunset? I’m curious about the timeline here. And some other aspects about human Daring Do, but that’s a matter for next week.
Human or pony, Pinkievision continues to be amazing.
Human or Pony, Rarity has the same coping mechanism. I also love the sound direction.
(Despairing choir) “Nom nom nom.” (Despairing choir) “Nom nom nom.”
Wait, that track was Sapphire Shores? Doesn’t sound a thing like what little we’ve heard of her pony analogue’s work. I suppose they used an instrumental track to make sure no random passersby would recognize it as such.
That’s a nice way of putting it, Rarity, but this is Crystal Prep we’re talking about. It’s not so much the girls didn’t want to disappoint their classmates as much as they're worried about their social status taking a nosedive.
Huh. Vulcancoat. Wasn’t expecting that, but it does make me ship Moonsugar even more.
Nice! Fluttershy’s still writing songs for the Rainbooms.
Interesting choice to incorporate the pony mutations into the music video. I suppose the harmonics were too hard to suppress while keeping the choreography in mind. Or the girls just banked on the judges seeing it as more special effects.
Ugh. Why must Pinkie rap?
Double ugh. Recycled animation. Didn’t look good in “Spice Up Your Life,” doesn’t look good here.
In all, this was pretty fun. It was nice to see the Shadowbolts again, though again, they could’ve been presented better. Still, getting smaller regular doses of Equestria Girls content is a pleasant change of pace. I know this is just a three-part miniseries, but it’s still going to be fun to experience.
Oh, and do try to keep spoilers for the next two in the comments to a minimum. Just because you've seen them doesn’t mean everyone has, and let's not ruin it for anyone who's managed to dodge spoilers this long. In any case, let me share some ideas:
Antipsychotic Treatment W
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature’s triggered abilities can’t be triggered.
Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
“I miss Bitter.”
—Sour Sweet
Triple Pirouette 2W
Instant
Untap target creature. That creature gets +1/+0 and gains double strike until end of turn.
”Some people say ballet’s for wusses. I say you learn how to do ten-eighty roundhouse kicks.”
—Scootaloo
Notably Absent 2WW
Sorcery
Put target creature into its owner’s library just beneath the top X cards of that library, where X is that creature’s power.
Indigo Zap would worry about missing the video shoot once she started existing again.
Powerwash 1U
Instant
Target creature gets -5/-0 until end of turn. If W was spent to cast Powerwash, destroy up to one target permanent attached to that creature.
Any water is hard at sufficient velocity.
Window Shop 1U
Instant
Scry 3. (Look at the top three cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom of your library and the rest on top in any order.)
Retrace (You may cast this spell from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)
Shameless Plagiarist 3UU
Creature — Human Rogue
Flash
When Shameless Plagiarist enters the battlefield, if target player would draw a card this turn, instead that player skips that draw and you draw a card.
”Please, do go on.”
2/2
Borrowed Concept 4U
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals the top card of his or her library. Draw cards equal to that card’s converted mana cost. If a land card is revealed this way, return Borrowed Concept to its owner’s hand.
Shadow of Ahuizotl 3B
Creature — Hound Shade
Menace
B: Shadow of Ahuizotl gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Readers live in anticipation of seeing the mysterious beast’s true nature, but A. K. Yearling never seems very excited about the prospect.
1/1
Boogie Fever 1R
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature attacks each turn if able.
Whenever enchanted creature attacks, put a -1/-1 counter on it.
”I think it’s going around.”
—Fluttershy
Major Wager 2R
Sorcery
Discard all cards from your hand. Flip a coin. If you win the flip, draw two cards for each card discarded this way.
Most of the girls were enraptured by dreams of success. Only Twilight even considered the worst-case scenario.
Stylistic Conflict 2RR
Sorcery
Stylistic Conflict deals X damage to each creature target player controls, where X is the number of colors among those creatures.
”It’s like pig wrestling with none of the fun.”
—Applejack
Hostile Natives 2G
Creature — Human Archer
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
T: Hostile Natives deals 1 damage to target creature with flying.
If you survive the first volley, they’re just welcoming you.
2/2
Stiletto Heels 1
Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+0.
You may exert equipped creature as it attacks. When you do, Stiletto Heels deals 2 damage to target creature defending player controls. (An exerted creature won’t untap during your next untap step.)
Equip 4
Crystal Rainboom 5
Artifact
Sunburst
4, Sacrifice Crystal Rainboom: Choose one for each charge counter on Crystal Rainboom. You may choose the same mode more than once.
• You gain 3 life.
• Crystal Rainboom deals 1 damage to each creature.
• Each opponent loses 2 life.
• Draw a card.
• Create two 1/1 white Human creature tokens.
Luxury Yacht 5
Artifact — Vehicle
T: Add CCC to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast spells with converted mana cost 6 or greater.
Crew 3 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 3 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
6/6
Canterlot Mall 6
Artifact
6: Search your library for a card and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library. Any player may activate this ability but only any time he or she could cast a sorcery.
”There are times when the Internet simply cannot compare.”
—Rarity
Positive Sum WU
Sorcery
Target player draws two cards. Another target player gains 7 life.
”Society is a game where the goal is to have everyone win.”
—Rarity
Street Ballerina 1(ur)
Creature — Human Warrior
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
(ur): Street Ballerina gets +1/-1 until end of turn.
Steel-toed pointe shoes make quite the impact.
1/2
“Dance Magic” 1GW
Enchantment — Song
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a verse counter on “Dance Magic”.
GW, Sacrifice “Dance Magic”: Creatures you and your teammates control get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of verse counters on “Dance Magic”.
Chocolate Model 2UB
Enchantment
You may have Chocolate Model enter the battlefield as a copy of any permanent card in a graveyard.
”Just as magical and twice as tasty!”
—Pinkie Pie
Surreal Interlude 2RG
Sorcery
Exile the top four cards of your library. Until end of turn, you may play cards exiled this way and you can’t play cards from your hand. Untap all lands you control.
”And then a space doggie shows up and eats the cheese!”
—Pinkie Pie
Recycled Animation 3(ur)(ur)
Instant
For each instant and/or sorcery spell that was cast this turn, cast up to one target card from a graveyard with the same name as that spell without paying its mana cost. If a card cast this way would be put into a graveyard this turn, exile it instead.
Chance 2W
Instant
Creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn.
Prance 5G
Sorcery
Aftermath (Cast this spell only from your graveyard. Then exile it.)
Creatures you control get +2/+2 and gain trample until end of turn.
Wizards of the probability Foam. :D
This episode may have leaked early, but the song was released on the Friendship Games soundtrack two years ago. Apparently the production plan is longer than I realized.
As for the episode, it was alright. I felt very unreasonably bothered by the different voices of the Crystal Prep gang though. And the fact that even when they get an episode featuring them, and there are fewer of them hogging space, they still don't get any solid characterization.
Same city. CHS is in the burbs.
That shouldn't have been a surprise. The song Dance Magic was on the Friendship Games album.
I had tried to watch these specials right after they leaked, but couldn't find an English version at the time. So after seeing your review, I checked Youtube again and saw that they've been re-uploaded. So I literally just finished watching this special.
If this takes place after Camp Everfree, where are the girls' magic necklaces? Did they lock them away so they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands?
I was glad to hear that Abacus Cinch was no longer principal – I like to think that she was either fired or forced to resign.
GM Berrow has clearly never made apple fritters. You don't bake them, you deep-fry them. They're like donuts' unshapely cousins. They're delicious.
Yeah, but it's cuter when Pony Rarity does it.
This was an ok special. It was basically “Rarity Takes Manehattan” with a different resolution, like you pointed out. But it was nice to see an EG character besides Twilight get the focus for a change. And it was good to see the Shadowbolts even though Lemon Zest was lackluster compared to some of the fan interpretations I've seen.
That scene with Doggie-Spike totally seeing through Humanoid-Rarity's pretensions is what got me wondering about the possibility of (and problems with) a romantic relationship between them. One of the reasons why Pony-Rarity romantically loves Dragon-Spike is that he is one of the few males who actually understands her, including seeing through her facades, and loves her anyway. This is semi-canonical since "Inspiration Manifestation."
I think the joke of Sci-Twi using the calculator was that she was probably trying to figure it out in some obscure and complex manner rather than simply multiplying and dividing, like a normal person would.
Dancing would make sense as a Crystal Prep PE activity, because they are an upper-class prep school, and they would want to prepare their students for social situations. To be fair, even Cinch's hypercompetitive harshness sort of does: it prepares their students for the sometimes hypercompetitive harshness of the working world, better than the special-snowflake treatment some schools employ.
I'm guessing that Crystal Prep students are insanely proud of going to Crystal Prep. It shows them to be rich, smart and at least emotionally-tough.
Guessing that the Shadowbolts found some stores at that mall that they just happened to like?
Agreed: this is a waste of the characterization established for the Shadowbolts in Friendship Games. We got to see both sides of their personalities there -- they could be mean and nasty, but they were also fundamentally-decent, and even heroic when it was needed.
You can even see the moment when they decide to be heroic: it's when Sci-Twi's being sucked into that vortex and Cinch is funking out on everyone. They may have picked on Sci-Twi, but they still regarded her as "one of their own," and they weren't okay with letting a whole bunch of other people die, either. At that point they totally lost respect for Cinch.
I always saw Sugarcoat as exceptionally-intelligent. Interestingly, she seems to be sort of a Humanoid G1 Wind Whistler. She probably also has softer emotions, just as Wind Whistler genuinely cared about her friends; and it may sometimes irritate her that people assume her to be emotionless simply because she is rational and undemonstrative.
It would be interesting to see Sugarcoat interacting with Humanoid Maud.
Oh yes -- and while "Dance Magic" was actually my least favorite of the three EG Specials (mostly because they didn't use the Shadowbolts very well) the one thing I really did like about it was the way in which they more or less explicitly defined Humanoid Rarity's approach to life as looking for win-win (positive sum) solutions to conflicts.
One of the things I love about MLP:FIM in general is that it shows both catallactic and destructive competitional forms, and why catallactic is better than destructive both in the moral and practical senses. That is a sophisticated point to make for a show aimed at little girls!
Rarity is in many ways a rather Ayn Randian character, emphasizing the better rather than worse aspects of her philosophy. She would have fit in just fine with Howard Roark or Dagny Taggart, I believe.
"If we don't compete, we all win!"
*This message paid for by the committee to elect Starlight Glimmer.
4582699
But isn't everything by Ayn Rand horrible objectivist propaganda?
4582656
Or it was cut from Friendship Games for time and they devised an alternate use for preexisting assets. I could believe either one.
And yeah, as I said, Berrow tends to make plot catalysts rather than characters. Unfortunate. At least Sour Sweet's new meds appear to be working better than the old cocktail.
4582660
I suppose. The distances involved still seem impractical for at least one involved party.
4582679
Knowing it was coming did nothing to help.
4582691
I like to think that as her ship began to sink, lots of former students who she blackmailed came out of the woodwork, Twilight included.
True, but name one activity where a pony is less cute than the analogous human when doing it.
And yeah, getting the focus on a human other than Time-of-Day Lightverb was nice. Even if this Lemon was less than zesty.
4582693
As I said on your blog, the species, lifespan, age, and physical attraction barriers are likely insurmountable between girl and dog. Good friends, certainly, but nothing more.
I definitely know what it's like to overcomplicate what should be a simple task. Maybe she was trying to do some probability modeling to determine the wisdom of the investment.
Transitioning from Cinch's to Cadence's administration will likely be a long and especially awkward process. Crystal Prep's reputation could prove to be a white elephant for the new principal.
Makes sense to me. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of them are looking for ways to up their odds of running into Twilight.
They certainly had noble goals here, and Sour Sweet at least justified it in her mind as a relatively harmless crime. "Rarity's creative. She won't miss one little idea." And to their credit, they were quick to join forces with her when she made the offer. As you noted, this is Rarity at her best, even if the Shadowbolts weren't.
If Sugarcoat could avoid offending Maud within the first two minutes, I think they'd form a strong if unorthodox friendship. Mind you, that's a pretty big "if."
4582791
Oh. In that case, RIP
Funny story, before the Ixalan sheet got leaked on Reddit, the leaker actually posted a thread on MTGSalvation asking how much the sheet was worth. Somebody else asked him to prove he actually had it, and then he posted a pic of the corner. That was when I saw the thread, and I warned him not to post images of any of the cards in full, lest Wizards send out a swat team of kung-fu lawyers to go make him disappear. Needless to say he ignored my advice.
4582791
Buses?
There was a map released a while back that showed Crystal Prep as being in Canterlot City.
4582791
I think you're probably right about Doggie Spike and Humanoid Rarity. Though I do think they become very good friends, based on what I've already seen, and the dynamic of Dragon Spike and Pony Rarity.
It was just barely plagiarism anyway. And shows up a flaw of plagiarism, in that the Shadowbolts didn't by themselves have the skills to fulfill Rarity's idea. (Of course, neither did the Rainbooms!) The outcome was long-term good for both of them, because Rarity still saw the possibilities for fruitful cooperation, instead of choosing to hold a grudge.
Sugarcoat greatly helped here, in that she helped calm things down by being both honest and rational.
Ok, so I had a thought on the timeline issues. Technically the start of Summer isn't until around June 21st. Lots of schools get out in May, some as soon as the first week (I think my highschool let out for Summer on like the 4th one year). The Rainbooms could have gone to Camp Everfree in early to mid May, making it a "Summer camp" despite it technically taking place in spring. So if the episode took place around late May/Early June, it could sit comfortable between those two events.
As for the Friendship games, they could have taken place in early-ish Spring, say about March. That would be months earlier.
And for Crystal Prep being in session while CHS is not? CP is a private school, they probably have Summer classes. Or at least a significantly longer school year.
There is a line somewhere about her being on a trip with her family or something. Real reason is supposedly her VA simply couldn't make it in to the studio the day they were doing the recording.
I can see the point with G.M. Barrow, but I think the issue is more that she is clearly used to writing stories for much younger audiences, and so tends to make things a bit to simplistic and clear cut. Not having a lot of complication or depth that might be lost. Very direct good/bad, this is what is going on, linear and simple story presentation. Which yes, does mean character tend to be just plot devices. As that, she is definitely very good at making those kinds of stories, and adds more meaning to them then most little kids authors will, but when dealing with a more mature and complex desiring audience, it tends to not work as well.
Still a rather cute little short, fun.. and I am so headcanoning that unset Empathy power letting them see the others ideas!
I'm busy:
Saying "hmmph!" about the whole situation. I had to work this past Saturday, y'see, so I figured I'd just watch the episode on YouTube or DailyMotion during my lunch break the way I always have to when I'm working the Saturday a new episode drops.
But so far, the only version of "Dance Magic" I can find is one on YouTube that's broken into 22 one-minute installments! Is no one in this fandom interested in copyright infringement anymore?
On top of that, it looks like Discovery Family won't be reairing it next Saturday before showing "Movie Magic"! Instead, the next time they're showing it will be Sunday, July 2nd at 6AM here on the Pacific Coast! What's the world coming to?
Mike
Also, just had a little revelation from the director, this short WAS written and originally meant to be done before Legend of Everfree, so it wasn't just reusing old assets, but was planned out, and explains the continuity issues, since likely the original intent was them trying to raise the money to GO to camp.
4583756
Full version can be found here.
This page usually posts a good link to the new episodes within a day of them being aired.
Hope that helps!
4585081
Thanks!
Mike
4583139
No, human Rarity. The inhabitants of the EQG-verse were specifically referred to as humans in Friendship Games. Or have you forgotten this bit?
4586183
Of course, they call themselves by some word translatable as "Human." If they knew we existed, they'd call us by some word translatable as "Humanoid" -- "Human-like."
But they're clearly not our species. They have the full range of color variation observable in the Ponies. Our kind of Humans don't.
4586204
Oh, I see. I'm referring to animated media canon, (you know, what we are explicitly told or shown therein) while you're referring to your headcanon. (And I'm afraid that I have to say that regardless of how "obvious" or "logical" one thinks something is, unless it is actually stated or shown, it's just headcanon.)
And that's another thing; maybe you were just neglecting to add the obvious qualifiers, but when talking to you or reading your Fimfiction blog, you sometimes came across to me as failing to distinguish between your own headcanon and actual canon, a habit I find rather... vexing. (Especially after dealing with a certain individual on another forum.)
4586263
We are explicitly shown that the people in Equestria Girls have a color scheme as variable as that of the Ponies. We know this because many of them are colored the exact same way as their Pony counterparts.
There are some exceptions to this rule, but basically we see the full range of MLP Pony colors expressed in the EG characters. This includes colors never seen in real-world Human skin, such as blues, greens and purples.
We also see that skin color can vary widely within the same family (note EG Principal Celestia and Principal Luna, or Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor). There also appear to be no color variations corresponding to the actual human races of our world -- while Big Mac and Applejack look vaguely Caucasian, their color type is rare, and there are no "blacks" or "Orientals" or "Latinos," in terms of skin color or facial contours.
In short, we are not looking at Homo sapiens sapiens, but a different though related subspecies, species, or (possibly) genus.
4586275
Okay, I see that you've missed my point. Namely, that they are explicitly called humans in canon, and that means it is unnecessary to split hairs beyond that.
4586291
Sure. "Humans" who can manifest blue, green and purple skin tones and who are of no recognizable human races, and can't manifest color-based races because color is wildly variable within within single families.
That's why I called them "Humanoids." They're not our species.
4586297
*shrugs* Call them whatever you like, I guess. But at least acknowledge that what you choose to call them is contrary to canon. (And here you see my biggest peeve, and the whole reason that I started this line of discussion.)
Incidentally, did you ever try to argue that the inhabitants of Doug, or any other show that used Amazing Technicolor Population weren't really human?
4586297 4586327
If you two must continue this conversation—which I don't recommend, since you're talking past each other—could you please do so somewhere else? PMs come to mind.
Quick question: Why did you make the mall an Artifact rather than a Land? Just curious.
4595274
What is a mall but the logical progression of a Trading Post?
Huh? What's a Vulcancoat, and who's the Moon in Moonsugar?
Beyond that, I particularly liked the flavor on Triple Pirouette. I'd also missed that Pinkie's chocolate castle was a replica of Twilight's. They don't have to be switching places, though - my headcanon is that all Pinkies are manifestations of the same hyperdimensional entity projecting itself into lower dimensions, much like the Orz of Star Control. Thus, anything one Pinkie knows, all Pinkies know, because all Pinkies are one.
5157395
Ah, the Facets of Joy model of Pinkieology. I am fond of that one.
As for the portmanteaus, Sugarcoat makes an unexpected observation that cooperation is the logical course of action at the end of the special, and the Moon in Moonsugar is Moondancer.
Yes, we never see her human analogue, but I like the idea of the two of them a) both having unrequited feeling for Sci-Twi, and b) ending up together on the mutual rebound.
5157402
I'm... not sure what Facets of Joy is. My google-fu only returns some book about the formation of a particular method of Catholic religious upbringing.
That's an interesting idea for a ship. I like it.
5157404
Don't mind me, just making up more terms and assuming people can read my mind.
"Facets of Joy" is my term for the theory of each Pinkie being but a small extension of the All-Pink.