Friendship is Card Games: Tell Your Tale, Pt. 15 · 12:08pm Aug 27th, 2023
The summer of G5 continues with another batch of Tell Your Tale (though given the comic backlog, I’ll won’t get to the next G4 content until the end of September. There’s a climate change joke in there somewhere.) Let’s dive in.
Ah, we’re still on Bridlewoodstock. Makes sense; the last short from the previous compilation was the first one set at the festival. (Also a handy reminder that chronologically speaking, Bridlewoodstock was intended to happen after the clash at Opaline’s tower.)
“I love everything!”
I’m glad you do, Izzy. Just don’t put all of it on the same bagel.
Those VIP tents feel more like huts. Possibly yurts. Either way, tent” doesn’t do them justice.
I’d expect Hitch to make a better roadie, well-suited as he is to support roles, but he doesn’t exactly understand the needs of a rock band. (The bowl of nongreen M&Ms isn’t because they’re picky, it’s to make sure the crew read all the parts about how to set up the pyrotechnics without burning down the arena.)
“Not my lucky underpants!”
Okay, so it’s not entirely for practical reasons. 
And yes, the living beings falling down that pit are rather more important than the lost gear and tents.
“Aww, the last sinkhole of the year, so cute.”
Further proof that Pipp really should have listened to the locals before arranging a concert at this particular venue.)
Sunny, that’s a nice sentiment, but you probably should have proposed getting substitute gear before Electric Blue had (checks watch) negative fifteen seconds until showtime.
“What about the crowd?”
The crowd doesn’t know about the sinkhole and can hear the PA system. They are literally the one part of the performance that wasn’t impacted by this disaster.
… Oh, what about keeping the crowd there. I see. I feel like they could have just announced technical difficulties, but I suppose having a fill-in act to keep them from getting restless helps.
We did see a produce stand in the food truck village, so there’s justification for those tomatoes. What concerns me is why most of the crowd brought them to the Electric Blue concert. (Most. Posey I don’t question in the least; she’s probably had several on hoof for the entire festival.)
“We can’t perform in muddy outfits.”
You are literally naked. The most any member of the band is wearing is feather dye and a pair of sunglasses. I can’t tell if this one is more on the writers or the animators.
… I was just trying to make an Everything Everywhere All at Once reference. Though it’s possible the writers were as well.
That is an impressive bagel, but there’s a woeful lack of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, salt, garlic, and onion.
Oh, wait, there are the sesame seeds.
See? Posey’s been waiting for this opportunity since she got here.
Sparky transmuting things into explosives feels dangerously close to a war crime.
I see Zipp is following in her mother’s hoofsteps, claiming anything she needs without regard for whether other ponies are using it or if her authority extends this far.
Pipp, try asking what they want. It’ll take a lot less time than running through half a dozen styles for each member.
Izzy has gone from EEAAO to Katamari Damacy, and that popcorn vendor clearly should’ve brought more supplies. Come on, that’s half a dozen bags’ worth of kernels at most.
Not sure why Sunny needed to plead for that outfit rather than make it herself. I suppose it’s much harder to focus on the precision growth magic while the plants are twining around you.
I mean, I’ll take an exploding bagel over an imploding one.
The power of friendship is great and all, but did anypony ever recover Electric Blue’s instruments from the sinkhole? Or find replacements?
Ah, good, it happened offscreen. Minimal chance of going awry that way. And while already covered in food, the band need not fear tomatoes.
Good message, though I’ve never been a fan of “chance disaster undoes all the effort” plot contrivances. It just feels like a bunch of wasted time and effort. And I do wish the songs in this generation were better.
More than one person in my usual Discord chats weren’t amused by this short’s title given the ongoing record-breaking highs.
I’ve never surfed, so I can’t say for certain how tricky it would be for a species with no arms, twice as many legs, and one fifth the usual number of toes. Still, it doesn’t seem like a simple affair.
I find myself somewhere between impressed and concerned by how quickly Zipp’s hair sprang back into shape. I know, I know, default model, but still.
Great detail with most of the other main cast’s phones having a smiling Zipp for her profile picture… and then there’s her sister, who captured her in a much less flattering light.
Ah yes, the two instruments that media use to indicate dry heat: Surf guitar and sitar.
While I am happy to hear “no way” used in place of “neigh way,” “It’s way too hot for the beach just feels off. It’s way too hot to be next to a massive body of water one can go into at any time. (Under another hoof, Zipp’s greater dedication to exploring pegasus magic may have inadvertently given her a higher degree of temperature tolerance than most ponies.)
Okay, yes, hot sand is a valid concern for a species that makes minimal use of sandals.
Misty is too used to lurking in the background. She’s forgotten that it’s okay for her to just, you know, talk to ponies now.
For the record, horses can get sunburn. Though I imagine actually applying sunscreen to skin is an arduous process for ponies.
Sparky has become literate enough to write fake smoothie orders. He has officially lost all “cute baby bumbling into causing problems” privileges.
Also, I do appreciate Hitch lending a hoof at the smoothie stand. At this point, it’s a matter of maintaining public order; if Sunny doesn’t maximize throughput, they could have a riot on their hooves.
Yes, hydration. That’s definitely one of the benefits of a smoothie. 
Huh. Passing out from heat exhaustion. That might be the most mortal peril G5’s had since that plummet into the infinite void in Chapter 2. (In animation, anyway. Discord did threaten the Mane Five with magma that one time.) Also, setting up an awning over the smoothie line might be in order. Or getting pegasi to move clouds into place, but it’s clear that weather manipulation is still a long way away.
So… does Mane Melody not have central air? Lost meteoromancy is one thing, but I’d expect ponies to have come a long way with purely technological HVAC systems.
I see we’re dealing with Tears of the Kingdom-strength fans. I can only hope nopony found any flame emitters or time bombs.
For a moment, I was worried that Zipp would exercise royal authority and order ponies to the beach. (Not that they’re in Zephyr Heights, but it’s not like that stops Haven.)
“Sometimes ponies get so caught up in their own ideas that they forget to listen.”
Well, if there’s one thing Misty was taught throughout her life, it was not to have her own ideas.
“Never had a beach day?” says the mare who lived atop a mountain most her life. Though really, that just means she can empathize with Misty’s situation.
I do love how the notoriously social media-averse Zipp manages a smile for Misty’s sudden photo. Poor thing deserves a soft touch there.
… Who is taking the photos of them surfing, exactly? I can see all eight hooves in these shots. I can only assume that crab has Misty’s phone.
Heh. As I said, Zipp can’t stand social media, and thus her attempt to spread the word used the wrong medium and fell on deaf ears. With this crowd, you have to show, not tell. (You know you’re bad at communication when the former evil minion is better at swaying the crowd than you are.)
Even Señor Butterscotch made it! (Though I had to go back frame by frame to see it was him. For a moment, I thought that was Izzy with her eyes bugged out.)
Misty’s first cutie mark glow! Well, other than when she got the thing. Love to see it.
Great use of her in her post-Opaline period. Hopefully this is setting the tone for things to come.
And going by the thumbnail, I’ll find that out in short order!
Eh, I’d still give the race win to the mare who followed the actual route.
Look where you’re going, Hitch. You don’t have to make eye contact to give an apology on the run.
I can’t help but feel that Hitch’s cutie mark shouldn’t be glowing after causing that much of a public disturbance, but I don’t make the rules. Not for the official shorts, anyway.
Got to love Misty admiring Hitch’s cutie mark from the side where she can’t see it. Such is the cost of mark asymmetry and needing to position it such that it’s visible to the audience.
“Mine has never sparkled like that,” says the mare whose mark sparkled like that in the previous short. More continuity confusion?
That being said, I do appreciate this quest to understand both the meaning of Misty’s mark and the mechanics of them in general in this generation. Goodness knows I still have questions about them. (A shame she can’t just invoke the spirits of the Crusaders. )
Careful, Misty. Admiring a stallion’s hindquarters too much can send the wrong message. Especially when Izzy all but specializes in receiving those.
I don’t know about this plan. Sparkle school was why Season 8 was the weakest part of Friendship is Magic. 
Genuine question: Can a welding torch generate that level of kickback?
It is nice to see Misty and Sparky getting along.
I swear, ponies get covered in more glitter on this series than a five-year old’s school supplies.
You’d think a former evil minion would be a better fit for the service industry… but then, Misty was rarely a very effective minion.
So… we’re just going to brush off the legions of unidentified entities in this forest? I feel like those deserve some closer scrutiny in their own right.
Continuity and a chance for Sunny to actually do something other than blend fruit and spout empty platitudes. (Yes, there are platitudes, but they have weight to them.) I’m entirely in favor f this scene.
(Also, interesting that she still thinks of herself as “the alicorn” even after directly confronting another. I suppose Sunny doesn’t think Opaline is worthy of the name.)
We also need to go back and build on that message from Argyle and the prophecy that foretold of Sunny’s ascension.
Yeah, that’s the thing. Misty’s talent genuinely is helping others. And helping others genuinely. The reason she got that fitful sparkle earlier was because she was doing what she’s meant for, but for the wrong reasons. Same reason she never got her mark even while genuinely serving Opaline; she had her own ulterior motives at the time. As with the Crusaders, the key to reaching the goal is to stop trying so hard.
Now, the animated cutie mark outlines, that’s a whole other kettle of fish.
I see Izzy rediscovered the Lulamoon school of magical fireworks (as opposed to the Lulamoon school of alchemical fireworks, which may still be illegal.)
And we begin with an inexplicably Eastern vibe… up until the dramatic reenactment of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.
A pegasus barely in control of their flight. I’m sure it’s nothing.
Hmm. A lunar orbit with a perigee every ten years might explain a lot in terms of “moon” as a unit of time… though that would mean the Apple family reunion happens once a millennium. (Or it’s just a supermoon and it has to be the perigee coinciding with a full moon.)
“My daughters have always loved the Moon Festival.”
It’s every ten years, Haven. How many have they even experienced?
The flashback made me smile and I’m not going to apologize for that.
Ah. Looks like the moon may have a small impact on the potency of magic.
“Something seems strange.”
Equestria’s greatest detective, ladies and gentlemen.
Dare I ask why Rufus is working security at this event? Eh, he probably takes whatever he can get.
Ponies’ willingness to listen to Zipp seems inversely proportional to how correct she is.
Interesting how the stadium design is very reminiscent of Canterlot architecture.
Hmm. We’ve seen modified Wonderbolts posters in Zephyr Heights before. Would’ve been nice to for them to use the name.
“So amazed and so jealous at the same time.”
There’s definitely an element of Rainbow Dash to Zipp, yes. Hardly news, but it bears repeating.
Feel free to point out the autolevitating unicorn in the room, Zipp. Spreading awareness means more ponies can try to help.
“Pancakes wouldn’t have caused magic to supercharge.”
Try telling that to an Alolan Raichu.
And of course it’s Posey’s hat that Zipp co-opts for the levitation test, because the mare exists to suffer at the hooves of the protagonists.
Enhance. Enhance. Enhance!
(I’m going to assume Zipp’s connecting to a camera in the Brighthouse rather than zooming in to such a ludicrous degree.)
“It couldn’t be…”
Think like a scientist, Zipp. What variable has changed to cause such a dramatically different result?
For one brief, horrible moment, I thought Zipp’s plan actually was to shrink the moon rather than eclipse it.
I suppose, when compared to her base alicorn capabilities, Sunny doesn’t even notice the boost from the moon. Alternatively, the boost could have something to do with other alicorns. After all, Luna must be somewhere…
Speaking of whom, it’s not quite raising the moon, but Sunny is certainly manipulating the heavens.
There’s something amusing in Posey being resigned to her role as fate’s chew toy. Though really, somepony actually secure that moon.
In all, some fun stuff and intriguing deeper questions… though the latter only get hinted at. Still, it’s a bit more depth in a setting that’s been sorely lacking it. I’ll take what I can get and do what I can with it:
Practicing Prancers 2W
Creature — Pegasus Performer
Flying, vigilance
Daybound (If a player casts no spells during their own turn, it becomes night next turn.)
Every trial run of the routine went more smoothly than the last…
2/2
Overcharged Aerobats
(R) Creature — Pegasus Performer
Flying, trample, haste
At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice Overcharged Aerobats unless it’s tapped.
Nightbound (If a player casts at least two spells during their own turn, it becomes day next turn.)
… but none took the moon into account.
4/1
Harmony Restored 3WW
Instant
Return to the battlefield all permanent cards in your graveyard that were put there from the battlefield this turn.
Foretell 1WW (During your turn, you may pay 2 and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
Public Disturbance 6W
Creature — Avatar
This spell costs 1 less to cast for each creature controlled by the opponent who controls the most creatures.
Vigilance
Public Disturbance’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control.
*/*
Shoot the Curl U
Instant
Target creature you control gets +1/+0 and gains hexproof until end of turn. Untap it.
Conspire (As you cast this spell, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that share a color with it. When you do, copy it and you may choose a new target for the copy.)
Zephyr Heights Balloonist U
Creature — Pegasus Scout
Flying
Whenever Zephyr Heights Balloonist attacks, another target attacking creature with power 2 or less can’t be blocked this turn.
Pegasi tried to reclaim the sky even without magic. Results were mixed.
1/1
Supply Appropriator 3U
Creature — Unicorn Rigger
Flash
Whenever a player draws their second card each turn, assemble a Contraption. (Put the top card card of your Contraption deck face up onto one of your sprockets.)
“Oh, relax. You can spare it.”
3/3
Trotting Disaster 2B
Creature — Pony Citizen
Whenever Trotting Disaster attacks, sacrifice it unless you sacrifice an artifact, enchantment, or token.
Some ponies leave a path of destruction with every hoofprint.
5/5
Scorned Prophet 2BB
Creature — Pegasus Wizard
Flying
Whenever Scorned Prophet deals combat damage to a player, look at the top card of your library. You may reveal that card and put it into your hand. If you do, you lose life equal to its mana value.
ZBS rarely airs portents of doom.
3/2
Royal Box Security 4B
Creature — Pony Soldier
When Royal Box Security enters the battlefield, you become the monarch.
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you while you’re the monarch, destroy that creature.
“If you’re not on the list, we have a problem.”
4/4
Frenetic Sparkle 1R
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +3/+3 and has menace.
At the beginning of your upkeep, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, Frenetic Sparkle phases out. (Treat it as though it doesn’t exist until your next turn.)
Festive Mortar 2R
Sorcery
Festive Mortar deals 4 damage to target creature.
Celebration — As long as two or more nonland permanents entered the battlefield under your control this turn and Festive Mortar is in your graveyard, it has flashback 2R. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
Tomato Squad 2R
Creature — Pony Guest
Whenever an opponent activates an ability that isn’t a mana ability, Tomato Squad deals 1 damage to that ability’s source if able. If it can’t, it deals 1 damage to that player. (Creatures, planeswalkers, and battles can be dealt damage.)
No earth pony is unarmed.
2/2
Hoofprint Harvest 3G
Instant
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to a player this turn, search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Some moonlight-boosted earth ponies got lost in jungles of their own making.
Call to the Stage 3GG
Sorcery
Each player may put a creature card from their hand onto the battlefield.
The most important pony at a music festival isn’t the organizer or the headliner. It’s the mare running the PA system.
Empowering Moonlight XGG
Sorcery
This spell costs 2 less to cast if it’s night.
Creatures you control get +X/+X until end of turn. If X is 5 or more, those creatures gain trample until end of turn.
The moon has always represented the greatest mysteries and dangers of magic.
The Truly Everything Bagel 1
Legendary Artifact
Untap The Truly Everything Bagel during each other player’s untap step.
T: Target player exiles a card from their graveyard.
5, T, Sacrifice The Truly Everything Bagel: Each player loses 1 life for each different name among cards exiled with The Truly Everything Bagel.
Festival Statuary 6
Artifact
Whenever this artifact enters the battlefield or transforms into Festival Statuary, create two 1/1 white Pegasus creature tokens with flying.
The first spell you cast each turn has flash and convoke.
Daybound
Lunar Battlesphere
Artifact Creature — Construct
Trample, haste
Whenever Lunar Battlesphere attacks, you may tap X untapped creatures you control. If you do, Lunar Battlesphere gets +X/+0 until end of turn and each opponent mills X cards.
Nightbound
4/7
Cool Rotary Device
Artifact — Contraption
Whenever you crank Cool Rotary Device, roll two six-sided dice. Target creature you control gets +X/+0 and gains flying until end of turn, where X is the difference between those results. If X is 2 or greater, sacrifice that creature at the beginning of the next end step.
Immunize WU
Instant
Target creature you control becomes the color of your choice in addition to its other colors until end of turn, then gains protection from each of its colors until end of turn.
Draw a card.
Know thyself, know thy enemy, know no fear.
Opening Act 2UB
Creature — Pony Performer
When Opening Act enters the battlefield, exile up to one target creature card from your graveyard.
Opening Act has all activated abilities of the exiled card.
When Opening Act dies, return the exiled card to its owner’s hand.
2/3
Souls United 3GW
Sorcery
Put three +1/+1 counters on each of two target creatures. If either of those creatures has flying, the other gains flying until end of turn. The same is true for first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, menace, reach, trample, and vigilance.
Draconequus Nihilist 4BR
Creature — Chimera Horror
Menace
Whenever Draconequus Nihilist attacks, defending player exiles a permanent they control at random.
“Puberty is as rough for my kind as any other. Arguably more so.”
—Discord
6/5
Zoom R//Enhance 2G
Instant//Instant
Zoom: Target creature gains first strike and haste until end of turn.
Enchance: Target creature gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn.
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)
Restless Marina
Land
Restless Marina enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add W or U.
1WU: Until end of turn, Restless Marina becomes a 2/4 white and blue Crab creature with vigilance. It’s still a land.
Whenever Restless Marina attacks, tap target creature defending player controls.
Technically autumn does indeed not actually start until a few days before the end of September. At least according to the calendar.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Royal Box Security is eternally too late; the crown has already been hoofed over to your opponent by the time their ability kills the thief.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: The Cool Rotary Device is not optional. You will choose somebody to be yeeted.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Because Opening Act is drawing exclusively from your own graveyard, it doesn't need the color wash. That's for things that can steal opponents' abilities (to ensure that you can actually use them).
Dog surfing is a thing. It's worth two minutes of your time checking out the YouTube videos. But I was disappointed that horse surfing is not what it should be
Almost as intriguing as the wishing star. If we get technical, the festival is at the closest point to Equestria. Assuming Equestria is not a planet, but a region on a planet, then there is another periodic function that has to be the correct phase... Although there is probably a better explanation involving a bored princess, bureaucratic meddling, and the plotting of an evil alicorn.
The first one of these was still in Bridlewoodstock? Lord, that forgettable slog of a special feels like a lifetime ago… all I remember from it, prior to this recap's help (
) was the green pegasus OC that became a show character getting an incidental voice line.
The two Misty shorts were pretty good for TYT, though the second one suffers from being a redo of Sunny's alicorn self esteem one back in the 10-20 short range that's less interesting and slacker on the writing, and doesn't know what to do with her. The former's better, though, taking small but agreeable steps with Misty and Zipp, and boasts some of the best storyboarding and layout thus far, eclipsing almost anything in MYM (there's a shot of Misty and Zipp happily taking where their positions and heights n the screen really capture their personalities), if still obviously a far cry from what FiM did in its sleep. If I hadn't packed in trying to rank these shorts after the first twenty, it would probably be quite high on the list.
And as for the last one… it should be great that we finally have a non-Anglosphere holiday as the basis for a G5 one after numerous cut-and-paste jobs of ones the writers grew up with (this from the "diverse and inclusive" generation, uh huh), and Moon Festival doesn't make any of the obvious writing mistakes that have absolutely killed many a TYT short. But neither does it do anything with it. What do we learn about this holiday? That it happens once a decade and involves vaguely Chinese decorations. And neither does it read as there being subtext of the Chinese roots in the background that Westerner would miss. It feels like exactly what it is: the writers going "…out of Western holidays? What's that? MLP is popular in China? What's their biggest holiday? Good: artists, put a bunch of paper lanterns in there, kay thanks."
Preferable to the alternative, of course and an alright short when considered the writing, but I couldn't distract myself from how phoned in that part was.
Considering we only have four months left, and the fortnightly schedule would only cover 9 of Season One's remaining eleven, I wonder when they'll switch back to weekly. Probably for the first one in December, both to be right on time and right after MYM has concluded its initial (and only) episode order. All about timing, fellas!
It's very topical though.
And after a certain point some anvils need to drop. 115 degree weather is a good time as any to remind people it's hot.
Beaches have a subconscious association with heat so it makes sense. Even if the water is there to cool it off, and the cliffside behind you may or may not act as a windbreak keeping those ocean breezes contained in the area, it's a fair assumption.