Friendship is Card Games: Nightmare on Mane Street · 12:18pm Oct 22nd, 2023
Slightly awkward timing. This would go up on the week of Halloween if it weren’t for that two-parter. Let’s see if there’s anything intentionally terrifying to be had here.
Ooh, I do like the Nightmare Night banners. Nice work by whatever government Maretime Bay has beyond Hitch. (Clearly there’s at least a Parks and Recreation department.) Also a nice touch with including Troggles on some of the jack o’ lanterns. The Unity Crystal pumpkin isn’t quite in the spirit of things, but still neat.
I’m not entirely sure why everypony in the crowd is confused. What about this is unclear? (Also, Hitch apparently is Parks & Rec in addition to being sheriff, because heavens forbid they establish anyone else in charge of this town.)
Also, it is officially “trick or treating” as opposed to fright or biting, which went by the Twilit Era rhyme.
Ah. The crowd demands incentives in addition to their fun. Maybe the confusion was just a matter of “We could have done this anyway.”
“A treasure trove of treats dipped in gold!”
So… inedible and nearly worthless?
“I forgot to hide the golden pumpkin!”
No, Hitch, you just hid it in the sheriff’s office. There’s still time to relocate it; just do it during the theme song. 
Ah yes, the Maretime Bay Together Tree. Let’s see if they do anything with that this episode.
Interesting that Nightmare Night is one of the traditions all three tribes preserved. Almost unchanged! Between this and the Moon Festival, Luna came out on top in this generation.
A blue unicorn dressing up as a stage magician. All Misty needs is fireworks and referring to herself in the third person
If I had a nickel for every time an earth pony pirate treated a dragon as a parrot, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.
That is a good place to hide the golden pumpkin… aside from the color difference. Still, that will be a lot less obvious after sunset.
Ah. Shades of MS Paint Adventures. What pumpkin?
“What are your favorite traditions?” asks Pipp, who proceeds to explain how she’s doing something for the first time this year.
Ah. Misty is also playing the part of Luna, at least in terms of understanding recreational terror.
Also, I’m only just remembering the Tell Your Tale Nightmare Night shorts from last year, where Misty was still Opaline’s loyal henchmare. We may have a floor for the length of the G5 timeline… assuming any degree of internal consistency. Which may be a stretch.
“I always love to put up the weirdest, wildest lights display on the whole block!”
Given that this is Izzy saying this, I’m pretty sure she could achieve that with a single string of lights.
Sunny immediately goes for traditional holiday foods. Earth ponies gonna earth pony.
Huh. Jazz has somewhat prominent roles in consecutive episodes. It’s like they’re realizing that they can use characters other than the main cast. A shame they still can’t model her ears in 3D without having them clip through her mane.
Wait, so nopony knows why the pumpkins are teleporting, Opaline included? That just raises further questions. Unless the ghost of Pinkie Pie is forcing her to celebrate the holiday… which she doesn’t recognize. Despite trying to sabotage it last year. See previous comment regarding internal consistency being a big ask.
Granted, the veil between worlds being thinnest at All Hallow’s Eve is thematically appropriate. Opaline’s castle may not be the land of the dead, but she does still check off most qualifications for being an evil spirit.
Two barrels does not a maze of shadows make, Pipp. Also, I’m pretty sure that’s the storage closet, not the basement.
I like to think those cobwebs aren’t sticky; they’re made from a material that messes with pony tactile telekinesis. (It’s better than leaving what amount to pony-sized glue traps around the Brighthouse.)
I do love a good bit of mad scientist Izzy. Or at least mad engineer.
Nice touch with McSnipsalot holding up the wrong sign for each event. And yes, it does look like everypony was in the “Why did you bother organizing what we either didn’t want to do or were going to do anyway?” camp.
Also, I do appreciate the vampire bunnicorn on the sign and flyer. Fond memories of Bunnicula.
“You did an amazing job transforming the kitchen into a mad scientist’s lab, Sunny!”
“Oh! Uh, actually, this is just how it normally looks when I cook.”
Doesn’t totally line up with kitchen scenes we’ve seen with Sunny, but I like this character detail too much to care. (Look, I’ll take any scrap of characterization they deign to give the poor mare at this point.)
The legacy of the Apple family lives on in Nightmare Night traditions, I see.
“I want everything to be exactly as I remembered it.”
Didn’t we already go through this with Hitch and the assorted winter holidays? Eh, again, earth ponies gonna earth pony, and that means preserving traditions as much as making ludicrous amounts of food. Especially if the tradition involves ludicrous amounts of food.
I am well familiar with an experienced chef not registering an offer of help in their kitchen. Force of habit is a powerful thing.
Interesting. Naturally occurring teleportation circles?
Ah, Together Trees. My goodness, we actually got payoff for something the writers set up. At this rate, they might actually be able to write a compelling plot arc by late next year. A shame Make Your Mark is wrapping up by the end of this one. 
“Which means that pumpkins and ponies and me can travel between them!”
I admit, the delivery of this line legitimately amused me. And Together Trees being a blind spot in Twilight’s defense makes sense. She may have thought that if Opaline could cultivate one, it would mean that she’d understood friendship enough to be welcomed back into Equestria. (Or she just didn’t think about them, but I like the idea of Twilight including post-reformation escape clauses in her magical imprisonment.)
Sunny dressing up as a hippie… This has a number of implications about pony history. Yes, Tree Hugger already raised some of them, and Flax Seed and Wheat Grass before her. Given that some of the portraits of Tree survived to the modern day, the same root inspirations may apply, but I still have to wonder whether and when there was a war in pony Vietnam.
Heh. Pony skeleton placards. Hopefully these won’t come to life and demand everypony roll initiative.
The perfect is the enemy of the good, Pipp. And the enemy of the actually implemented.
Ominous mist leading to an alicorn arriving in town on Nightmare Night, but not to the reception she expected. The more things change…
That said, the triangular portal is a very nice touch.
If you’re not expecting the bats by the third time, that’s on you.
Yeah, the mare who lived an oppressive nightmare of emotional abuse for most of her life isn’t going to get much out of plastic bat jumpscares.
“The real treasure was the friends we made along the way” is definitely the kind of twist Hitch would go for.
“Take another step and I’ll banish you to the moon!”
For all she resents Celestia and Luna, Opaline’s not afraid to take pages out of their playbook. And again, why wouldn’t she recognize a celebration from Twilight’s time aside from the needs of the plot? I’m going to go with going mad from isolation. (Whether she ever went sane again is up for debate.)
A unicorn using one of the anti-mind control helmets as part of his Nightmare Night costume is a lovely symbol of how far the tribes have come.
Understandably delayed reaction from Posey; Opaline’s doing the unthinkable, after all. Still ,glad to see her break through the dull surprise after a time. And this makes the “Secrets of Starlight” special that much more intriguing…
That being said, this was in public and very much left evidence. Surely, surely Posey’s going to tell somepony. Surely the main cast will find out in short order, right?
Right?
Eh, I’ll reserve judgement until I see the rest of the episode. Though, again, this was in plain view of at least a dozen witnesses. Stealth is not Opaline’s strong suit.
I would normally say Sunny is taking traditions too seriously, but that stallion is trying to eat a stick. He deserves to be shamed for that.
Also, not at all surprised that Sprout’s the one littering in the Brighthouse.
“This isn’t anything like how it used to be when I was a filly.”
Well, yes, because you were the daughter of the town pariah. Still, understandable that Sunny thought Pipp would be managing the crowd. That is one of her specialties.
… Okay, I am convinced that several of the ponies in that kitchen are actually pony-shaped actual horses with intelligence to match. You are guests in someone’s home. Act like it.
Ah. Pipp has been distracted by the thrill of the hunt. Also, don’t interrupt the introvert while she’s getting some recharging alone time. Very rude.
I do like how the neo-Crusaders all have alicorn costumes. Though I doubt Opaline would feel the same way.
Yeah, I’m still with Sunny on this one. Yes, this was inevitably going to be different from those fondly remembered Nightmare Nights, but these imbeciles were trampling over basic, fundamental etiquette, ranging from “the floor is not a trash can” to “take one does not mean ‘take one tray.’” Pipp, you had one job.
I’m only just now noticing that Zipp’s fangs are painted on her lower jaw rather than prosthetics.
The lesson here is… Okay, perfectionism being a bad thing is valuable and somewhat applicable, but I do think some acknowledgement of inevitable change would be wise. Along with how to behave in someone else’s home. No, I’m not letting that go. G5 has yet to show any farms, so none of these ponies have the excuse of being raised in a barn.
Okay, good to see Sunny admit that she hyperfocused on the past. It does tie in nicely with her costume.
“Even though holidays are about traditions, they’re also about surrendering to the surprise of what this moon will bring!”
I was wondering how much of the original reason for the season had been retained. And the answer seems to be “Not much.”
There’s the key. You have to hit them when they don’t expect it, like during the dramatic denouement.
Huh. Leaves of a Together Tree having similar magical capacitance to Starlight’s cutie mark vault… Yeah, I can see that.
The older dragon design is… interesting. Definitely less focus on prehensility in the foreclaws… which is weird, given Sparky’s bipedalism. It does seem like they took the basic pony model and added more draconic bits and textures. Especially when one of them still has a mane. 
Ah. Convenient map-dragon interactions are convenient.
The Isle of Scaly? A reference to one of the Daring Do novels? (reviews credits) Yup, G. M. Berrow’s handiwork. Though it certainly does explain why the map reacted to Sparky.
… Okay, Posey is just suffering in silence, apparently. I suppose losing her cutie mark actually made her more well-adjusted and less likely to complain about everything. Also, the Rocky/Jazz pumpkin hunt never went anywhere.
In any case, this wasn’t so bad that it was frightening, but as far as payoff for the chapter goes, it definitely could’ve been better. Not least because this could have been the beginning of a thrilling multi-part race against time as both sides try to get to the Dragonlands first, to say nothing of having that first cutie mark theft hanging over their heads. But apparently they are on a very tight budget and deadline, so much so that they couldn’t even make room for eight episodes in this content drop. This episode was bursting at the seams with everything it tried to do at once, and it shows.
That being said, let’s see what horrors I can craft with this fodder:
Belfry Beckoner 2W
Creature — Pegasus Warlock
Flying
Coven — At the beginning of combat on your turn, if you control three or more creatures with different powers, create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying.
Some animals take to pony caretakers better than others.
2/2
Conscientious Objector 2W
Creature — Pony Rebel
Revolt — When Conscientious Objector enters the battlefield, if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn, each opponent skips their next combat step.
Planeswalker duels aren’t the best place to give peace a chance, but some still insist.
1/3
Lamplight Troggle 3W
Creature — Spirit
Flash
When Lamplight Troggle enters the battlefield, destroy target tapped creature.
Those troggles who can resist the urge to eat their lanterns get to lead far tastier meals astray.
2/2
Lunar Warden 3WW
Creature — Cleric
Alicorn (This card is also a Pony Pegasus Unicorn.)
Flying, vigilance
When Lunar Warden enters the battlefield, for as long as you control it, target creature or planeswalker an opponent controls becomes a colorless land with “T: Add C” and loses all other card types and abilities.
3/3
Hat Snatcher 2U
Creature — Bird Warlock
Flying
Whenever Hat Snatcher deals combat damage to a player, create a Sorcerer Role token attached to target creature you control. (If you control another Role on it, put that one into the graveyard. Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has “Whenever this creature attacks, scry 1.”)
2/2
Kami of Glitches 2U
Creature — Spirit
Ward 2 (Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless its controller pays 2.)
Channel — 1U, Discard Kami of Glitches: Counter target activated or triggered ability.
There’s a system in the bugs.
3/2
What Pumpkin? 3U
Instant
Exile all artifacts, then return them to the battlefield. Scry X, where X is the number of players who controlled a token exiled this way.
Certain gourds have notoriously low onotological inertia.
Trixie’s Disciple 4U
Creature — Unicorn Wizard
Flash
When Trixie’s Disciple enters the battlefield, choose one —
• Great — Return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.
• Powerful — Copy target instant or sorcery spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.
3/3
Unsettling Asymmetry 1B
Enchantment
At the beginning of combat on your turn, each creature you control whose power and toughness aren’t equal gains menace until end of turn.
“I like to think of it as a daring fashion statement, thank you very much.”
—Discord
Juice Siphoner 2B
Creature — Rabbit Vampire
When Juice Siphoner enters the battlefield, create a Blood token. (It’s an artifact with “1, T, Discard a card, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.”)
Juice Siphoner has lifelink as long as you sacrificed a token this turn.
Carrots are only the start.
3/2
The Squizard, Osteomaniac 4B
Legendary Creature — Squid Wizard
Ward — Pay 2 life, Mill four cards.
Whenever one or more creature cards are put into a graveyard from a library, create a 4/1 black Skeleton creature token with menace. This ability triggers only once each turn.
Choose a Background (You can have a Background as a second commander.)
3/5
Heralds of Aclazotz 5B
Instant
Create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying.
Gravestorm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each permanent put into a graveyard this turn.)
“An otherworldly bat god escaped his prison,” said Twilight. “Tuesday already?”
Flay the Soul R
Instant
Kicker 2U (You may pay an additional 2U as you cast this spell.)
Flay the Soul deals 2 damage to target creature. If this spell was kicked, turn that creature face down. (It’s a 2/2 creature.)
“It’s not like you were using it.”
—Opaline, the last alicorn
Negative Stimulus 1R
Sorcery
Up to two target creatures can’t block this turn.
Jump-start (You may cast this spell from your graveyard by discarding a card in addition to paying its other costs. Then exile this card.)
Pipp’s “social experiments” are rarely academically sound.
Brazen Recruiter 3R
Creature — Pony Pirate
Trample
Raid — When Brazen Recruiter enters the battlefield, if you attacked this turn, create a 1/1 red Pirate creature token with menace.
Getting pirates to sign on for permanent settlements took a lot of cajoling. Free ponies helped, once the ponies agreed.
3/3
Bleeding-Edge Engineer 5R
Creature — Pegasus Vampire Artificer
Improvise (Your artifacts can help cast this spell. Each artifact you tap after you’re done activating mana abilities pays for 1.)
Flying, menace
When Bleeding-Edge Engineer enters the battlefield, you may discard your hand. If you do, draw a card for each tapped Blood you control.
4/4
Self-Sufficient 1G
Legendary Enchantment — Background
Commander creatures you own have vigilance and “As long as you control no other creatures, this creature gets +2/+2, has indestructible, and can’t be sacrificed.”
You’ve been able to make it on your own for as long as you can remember, subsisting on your wits and the bounty of nature.
Apple Family Caterers 2GG
Creature — Pony Druid
When Apple Family Caterers enters the battlefield, create a Food token for each Forest you control. (They're artifacts with “2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.”)
No meal is complete without some Apples.
4/3
Gourd Guru 2G
Creature — Unicorn Druid
Coven — At the beginning of combat on each turn, if you control three or more creatures with different powers, untap up to one target land you control. That land becomes a 4/4 creature with haste until end of turn. It’s still a land.
“We carve faces so they know where to go.”
1/4
Hoofed Recluse 4G
Creature — Pony Spider
Reach
Hoofcraft — When Hoofed Recluse enters the battlefield, if you control three or more Ponies, Pegasi, and/or Unicorns, destroy up to one target creature with flying.
Some ponies aren’t social, but even they like having company for lunch.
3/5
Treat Trove 1
Artifact — Food Treasure
Whenever you sacrifice another artifact, put a charge counter on Treat Trove.
T, Sacrifice Treat Trove: Add X mana of any one color, where X is the number of charge counters on Treat Trove.
2, T, Sacrifice Treat Trove: You gain 2 life for each charge counter on Treat Trove.
Arboreal Bypass 1GU
Sorcery
Choose one —
• Creatures you control can’t be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less this turn.
• Creatures you control can’t be blocked by creatures with power 3 or greater this turn.
Entwine 2 (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)
Thin the Veil 2BG
Sorcery
Each player may put a creature card from their hand or graveyard onto the battlefield.
As the days grow shorter and the shadows grow long, the lines between past, present, and future blur.
Mimetic Dracokeet 3UR
Creature — Dragon Bird
Flying
Whenever you activate an ability of a creature that shares a creature type with Mimetic Dracokeet, Mimetic Dracokeet gains that ability until end of turn.
“Polly wanna chrysolite.”
4/3
Yeah, this kinda just… exists? Almost anything would be a relief after "Mane Smelody", and this passes that by a not-insignificant margin. But when the most you can really say about it is too many things that nearly all went nowhere (quite literally for the Rocy/Jazz pumpkin hunt, which I still can’t decide if it was meant to be a ship tease or not), at a point when the chapter and series really needed to be ramping up… yeah.
I have to wonder if they had a mandate to do a Halloween episode, given all the stuff primarily to do with that is yet another instance of TYT nothingburgers. Unlike the majority of such in this show, this isn't one such story was padded out, but many sharing space – preferable to the usual lethargic slog, but thus none get enough oxygen or feel coherent. Hitch, who appears enough early on that you'd assume he'd be a key focus, vanishes for like half the episode. Sunny's bit of tradition (which feels more of a Hitch thing when it's this intense, least after "Winter Wishday"; she's all about advocating for change, after all) is resolved with some quick insensitive townsponies (the part that came closest to breaking FoME here
). Even Misty not being scared by any of this, which is both interesting AND gives something involving her and Zipp that doesn't paint the latter in a terrible light, just kind of dissipates without comment.
And while Opaline being presumed to just be a costume is erring on the right side of banality, the threat and worry level not skyrocketing after she steals Posey's mark (something all the starker with the most recent TYT short where she still has it AND Opaline nicks Onyx's too) really sticks out. I too fully expected, even for MYM, for the episode to end with Posey running up saying she can't find the mare who took her mark last night as a prank, and for the Mane 6 to realise with horror that Opaline's found a way inside Equestria, and they need to get to the Dragon Lands fast. But, nope, just a vague "hint at the events of the next chapter" bit.
Considering more "happened" in this chapter than most, this final episode being more of a nothingburger than all the prior episodes, "Mane Smelody" excepted, really is a weak ending note. And now they have only 106 minutes to wrap up everything next month. Anyone wants to take bets on how many plot threads will not be done so in a remotely satisfying manner? Odds are one-to-ten-thousand on "all of them". Perfect way to make a spare cent for every 100 dollars you're willing to invest!
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Damage stays on creatures for the rest of the turn; even though a kicked Flay the Soul technically happens in written order, the lethal damage state-based action doesn't actually care. That creature's going to die if it doesn't have some kind of toughness boost.
I've commented before on MYM episodes that feel like a TYT one-note gag stretched over 22 minutes. The good news is this wasn't one of those, the bad news is it felt like several at once. So while it wasn't boring, neither did it feel coherent.
It still oddly felt stretched. Hitch's giving managerial instructions on the proper way to have fun felt forgotten shortly into the episode, trotted out now and then just for the cringe. The "nothing is allowed to change ever" sub-plot/moral was done already at Christmas, and could be said to date all the way back to the movie. While I guess we could generously say "change can be good" is a theme of the show, it really instead comes off as a recycled conflict that didn't fit with the characters. Sunny is literally an activist, she's all about changing the norm.
Then there's Opaline - my favorite dumb hot alicorn villain. While villainous intimidation being mistaken for merry Halloween antics is an old trope, it's new enough to the show that I was amused. And the 'Banish to the Moon' gag did make me laugh. Unfortunately, the joke was stretched across *three* identical scenes with no escalation. In a better universe she may have come to enjoy the festivities and lost sight of her goal, made herself sick eating candy, or fled from a mob of enthused ponies looking to ogle her costume.
And I, too, noticed the lack of any gravity behind the theft of Posey's cutie mark. Maybe next season one character will offhand mention Posey told them about it. To have such weighty moments happen off-screen would fit with MYM's history.
Opaline and Misty remain the highlights. While the joke was stretched, it was still fun to see Opaline interacting with non-gaslight ponies. And the overwhelmed introvert Misty who just wants to get away for a while was as relatable as the show gets.
You are such a generous and optimistic guy! My thought on seeing it was that an animator had rummaged through old asset files looking for things they could re-use as costume bits.
Hitch's inspiration board includes a drawing of a pony in costume with a revision of the head drawn on a sticky note. Which I believe is an animation in-joke for the storyboard team.
Or else Sparky already won. Unnecessary subplot introduced and resolved in less than two minutes.
I wonder whether the staff/crew had to produce all of these episodes before seeing online reaction to them. Because if they end up doing something like a scene where Pipp announces a plan for Mane Melody, Jazz says "I'm all ears," and Rocky gives her a confused look... well, it wouldn't forgive all of this series' sins, but it would definitely earn some brownie points.
When a pony and a dragon love each other very much...