Either way, here it is. (And despite the title of both the blog and the podcast, it's only forty minutes.)
Friendship is Card Games: Beyond Equestria: Pinkie Pie Steps Up · 1:45pm Dec 29th, 2024
We close out the year by returning to the pony novels proper, and an interesting mini-series whose provenance I’m unsure of. After all, how far beyond Equestria can we get when it’s Pinkie and Songbird Serenade—Pony Sia, from the movie, with the ridiculous bangs—on the cover? Let’s find out.
We open in Manehattan (notably not beyond Equestria.) Including the Crystaller Building, which both does and doesn’t work. I imagine the etymology of the name was lost to time.
In any case, Pinkie loves getting chances to visit the city that never sleeps, because that continual energy is like a perpetual party as far as she’s concerned, especially given all the sights to see and treats to try.
She’s still on the train, which means most of the ponies in her car are commuters for whom the Big Orange is old hat, and who are ignoring the antics of a tourist. So explains “an old Unicorn in a floppy green hat” who is “using her magic to carefully knit another floppy green hat.” I appreciate the recursion.
She also acts as a convenient target for exposition: Cheese Sandwich has invited Pinkie to help with a major party-planning endeavor. She effortlessly makes her way through the hoof traffic of Maneway Station and arrives at the meetup point, Hay’s Pizza. (As opposed to Hay’s Original Pizza, Famous Hay’s Pizza, or World-Famous Original Hay’s Pizza.)
While Pinkie feels very cool being “here on Top Secret Party Business,” the only Cheese she can find is on the pizzas. (Also, on a note completely unrelated to top secret business of any kind, Lyra and Bonbon are here. Hay’s Pizza definitely isn’t an entrance to the local S.M.I.L.E. hidequarters, after all.) Asking if any tables are “reserved under ‘Cheese’? Or ‘Pie’? Or perhaps… ‘Cheese Pie’?” just gets her two plain slices.
Fortunately, Cheese arrives moments later in a burst of pizza-themed confetti, wearing a pineapple-print shirt in honor of their meetup spot. As covertly as a party pony can in a crowded restaurant, Cheese reveals what he has planned: The two of them are going to throw the “Pony Popstravaganza… a big blowout to celebrate the very special nominees of the Glammy Awards.”
Pinkie has plenty of ideas for something this big… but there’s the slight issue of the Popstravaganza being scheduled for the very next day. (Also, her thinking out loud probably alerted the entire restaurant to this secret plan, but Cheese only seems concerned about the time constraint.) And it had better be good; “if the Pony Popstravaganza wasn’t the most spectacular soiree, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich might as well forget about planning another party in Manehattan ever again.”
The next day is a glossed-over whirlwind of activity for the two, grabbing every scrap of festive material they can get their hooves on to turn the ballroom of the Foal Seasons “into a star-studded wonderland.” Emphasis on star-studded. Everything has five points, from the starfruit sculptures of each nominee to the starfish touch tank to the star-filled night sky that’s visible thanks to the clear conditions Pinkie ordered for the night. (Precisely how that works between municipal weather schedules and metropolitan light pollution is a question best left unconsidered. Goodness knows G. M. Berrow didn’t stop to think about it.)
Unfortunately, the first arrivals aren’t quite so entranced by the duo’s unique artistic vision. Pinkie reassures Cheese that they’ve just been rendered speechless by the decorations.
From there, we get both familiar and new names of ponies in the music business. Feather Bangs may be the most surprising out of the lot; heck of a rise to fame going from an Ourtowner to a Glammy nominee. Also, Pinkie spots a few Rarity originals in the crowd, a nice reminder of the growing Carousel fashion empire.
But once all the guests have arrived, nopony is enjoying what they see as an incredibly overplayed star theme. As Cheese desperately digs through his reserves for something to turn the room’s frowns upside down, Rarity rushes to Pinkie to warn her of one nominee about to leave. (No, Rarity’s presence was never indicated until now. Her dresses, yes, but not the mare herself.)
Pinkie is determined to make sure that the biggest party Cheese has ever thrown in his hometown will be a hit, and spots a glaring oversight: This Glammy party doesn’t have any music. She hits the dance floor like a ten-megaton party bomb, with Lyra and Bonbon unexpectedly joining her. Not that they’re following her or anything. That would be ridiculous.
The impromptu three-mare routine gets the guests’ attention, especially Pinkie’s gravity-defying moves. Those are enough to get the attention of Songbird Serenade and her assistant Crownpiece (who appears to be a timid unicorn mare rather than either of the Pulp Fiction expies.) So much so that Songbird demands Crownpiece track Pinkie down, as she’s gotten a new idea for her Glammy performance.
Like me, Crownpiece dreads the many complications that will come from this spontaneous choreography shift, but it’s still her job to make it happen. We also get a fascinating glimpse from her perspective, including a jaded attitude towards most of Equestria’s musical luminaries. Coloratura becoming far less demanding of late, for example, gets dismissed as a new flavor of ostentatiousness.
Ominously, Crownpiece reflects that “It was really important that she stick with this job, at least until the Glammy Awards night. Then she could do whatever she wanted.” I’m sure that’s nothing to worry about.
She manages to spot Rarity, who she doesn’t recognize but does peg as a mare who knows everypony. (Rarity, for her part, recognizes Crownpiece from a picture in “PegasUS Weekly.”) From there, arranging the meeting between Pinkie and Songbird is a simple matter. Songbird’s plan is simple: She’s ceding the spotlight to Pinkie because it’s different from the tired old extravaganzas of award season.
Pinkie hesitates, feating that she could cost Songbird the Glammy… even though that probably isn’t how the awards work, assuming they’re anything like their real-world counterparts. Rarity drags her aside, insisting that she could make countless ponies smile (and, incidentally, Songbird is one of the few Glammy nominees Rarity hasn’t yet designed for.) Plus, “Glammy Week is full of parties.” Given all that, Pinkie agrees… though she still has a funny feeling about all of this.
The next day, Pinkie shows up at the Stables Center bright and early… with no idea of what she’s supposed to be doing. It’s especially funny to have the multiple-time savior of the world insist “She was just a simple party pony from Ponyville.” Just as she’s ready to leave, Crownpiece arrives, citing a crisis with costuming. Pinkie, naturally, name-drops Rarity.
Also, Crownpiece brought Lyra and Bonbon on board, thinking they were Pinkie’s dedicated backup dancers. Pinkie can tell “Something was fishy here, and it wasn’t the tuna sandwich she’d brought for lunch.” (Yes, we have canonical ponies eating meat. Again, Berrow doesn’t always think things through.) Pinkie decides to go along with the agents’ claims, determined to figure out what’s going on with them later. Crownpiece is just grateful that she won’t get an earful from Jazz Hoof, the show’s director (no relation to any Maretime Bay hooficurists… I assume.)
Pinkie stays to watch the eight nominees for Pop Pony of the Year… quickly growing bored. There isn’t so much as a single streamer to be seen. We get to meet Jazz Hoof himself, “wearing a purple jumpsuit and a rainbow sweatband around his spiky yellow mane,” with a level of flamboyance and distinctive characterization rarely seen in Berrow’s novels. Also, I stand corrected. The live performances will be the deciding factor for the award rather than a group voting on it ahead of time.
Once Jazz Hoof delivers his opening monologue, Pinkie cheers… immediately drawing his ire for, as far as he can tell, crashing a closed rehearsal. She’s tempted to leave, but decides “she could teach Jazz Hoof and these pop ponies a thing or two about friendship. Pinkie Pie was here to stay, whether they liked it or not.”
May Celestia have mercy on their souls.
Shortly after that ominous declaration, though after a chapter break, Songbird vouches for Pinkie and explains her vision for a more Spartan performance, where “her dance moves will represent my words better than a flashy set can.” Rara nods along… and she’s the only one. Other reactions range from confusion to shock to schadenfreude. Jazz Hoof in particular is not having any such last-minute adjustments to his show. Especially after arranging everything for the Musical Menagerie theme he concocted, including massive golden birdcages for Songbird. (You’d think she’d be averse to that after the Festival of Friendship, but I’m not actually sure when this takes place in relation to that debacle. The cover says “Inspired by the movie,” but I’m not sure what that entails chronologically. Not yet.)
In any case, hearing that Songbird plans on forgoing the props he’s arranged has Jazz declaring “I just can’t even.” Which prompts Pinkie to ask “You can’t even what?” It’s not Abbot and Costello, but the ensuing exchange is genuinely amusing. This stallion has no idea how to handle a party pony.
Hearing others mutter about how much their chances for the award have improved, Pinkie Promises to herself that “She would dance like nopony was watching.”
Come the dress rehearsals, we get a fascinating bit of Equestrian schizo tech, with one of the A/V ponies providing Songbird a headset microphone rather than an amplification spell for her song “Crystal Heart.” (Also, Sapphire Shores appears to be performing a song entitled “Motion of the Ocean.” Daring.)
Pinkie’s nervous, since she’s done little to prepare and her costume consists of a wig modeled on Songbird’s mane. Also, Lyra and Bonbon have been wholly unavailable to ask about what they’re doing here, having taken a strangely arduous tour of the theater that required them to wear sunglasses for some reason definitely unrelated to national security. With Sapphire Shores still perfecting her routine, Pinkie can corner her backup dancers and, in fine “MMMystery on the Friendship Express” form, accuse them of just about everything except what they’re actually doing.
Apparently this isn’t the first time she’s cornered agents of S.M.I.L.E., but before we can get a sitrep, “a bloodcurdling shriek rang out from behind one of the backstage curtains.”
The screamer turns out to be Ritzy Rose, one of the most vocal party poopers among the nominees, whose sets have been wrecked. She immediately blames it on sabotage, but she’s “known in the music community as the pony most likely to make a mountain out of a Breezie hill,” an idiom that raises several questions on its own.
Pinkie can’t help but investigate, marveling the eight-sectioned storage room full of extravagant set pieces and likening it to her own party cave. But Ritzy’s peacock-feather curtains have been shredded and the platforms for her backup dancers have been kicked in. The others find their sets have been tampered with more subtly. Even country-pop sensation Daisy Chain has been affected; someone moved her papier-mache cow. Also, there’s rainbow glitter everywhere. And Crownpiece is last to arrive on the scene after establishing her alibi explaining where she’d been.
However, it’s Coloratura who’s first suspected. Her giant tiger’s head model is wholly intact. Jazz Hooves decries pointing hooves as amateurish, to the dismay of Ritzy and her equally caustic ally Moonlight Melody, but does agree that they’ll need to ramp up security.
The rest of the day’s rehearsal proceeds uneventfully, if exhaustingly. Pinkie already has a relaxation party drawn up for when she gets back to Ponyville. But for now, it’s time to return to the matter of Lyra and Bonbon. Who, Pinkie can’t help but note, were the only ones unaccounted for at the time of the sabotage (as opposed to when it was discovered.)
The three get dinner at the diner from “The Saddle Row Review,” because Berrow loves a continuity gag, and Pinkie accuses the best friends as soon as she’s through with her milkshake. Crownpiece makes a surprise appearance, with apparently incriminating evidence: peacock feathers with mint-green tail hairs tangled in them. She declares they won’t be permitted in the theater and dashes off, leaving glitter and lost files in her wake.
Left with no other choice, the couple admit that they’re secret agents working “to save the Glammy Awards from monstrous doom.” But with their security clearance revoked, they pass their intel and mission to Pinkie, with grave danger awaiting everypony at the Glammies if she can’t find their target.
A quick taxi ride to the Foal Seasons and Pinkie’s ready to try to clear Lyra and Bonbon’s names with Songbird… but first she’ll need to get past the Pulp Fiction expies. Should’ve known Vinny and Whinnyfield would show up eventually.
Fortunately, Songbird vouches for her, and the two discuss Pinkie’s earlier hasty accusations over hot cocoa. Pinkie reads her into the classified information: The agents were looking for a “Pondora Box,” a device used to secure, contain, and transport monsters to Tartarus. One’s gone rogue and has been tracked to the Stables Center. Songbird reluctantly agrees to work with Pinkie to save the show; she certainly can’t just sit on her wings and let the Glammies be ruined. (Also, I can’t help but wonder where Cheese has gotten off to, but he doesn’t have access to the theater.)
Days of spending every spare moment looking for the Box come up empty, not helped by the intensifying rehearsals and media coverage as the Glammies approach. Pinkie stumbles upon several performers complaining about Jazz Hoof going even more overboard than usual, likely because this will be his last year hosting the Glammies since his sense of spectacle has grown stale over his tenure. Ritzy Rose makes a snide comment about the three of them “thinking out of the box” which immediately makes Pinkie suspicious.
She goes to report her findings to Songbird, but she’s with Crownpiece, who they’ve agreed to keep out of the loop since she’s already on the verge of a breakdown as it is. Crownpiece also takes the opportunity to exposit the voting mechanism to Pinkie: Very heavily enchanted ballot boxes magically rendered as tamper-proof as possible.
Once they can get a quiet moment to share intel, Songbird reveals that Ritzy has been bitter since last year’s Glammies, which Coloratura swept. Pinkie can see the dots, but she only has a day left to connect them; she goes to investigate Ritzy’s dressing room while Songbird plans on questioning Jazz Hoof as subtly as she can, in case he’s bringing the show down with him.
However, Songbird is interrupted by the sound of ripping fabric. She goes to see and finds everypony’s costumes except Rara’s shredded, covered in rainbow glitter, and stamped with hoofsies. She can only conclude that Coloratura is trying to stop the show, because she apparently has never heard of a frame job. (Well, it’s consistent with how humans handled Anon-a-Miss…)
Rarity manages to save the day offscreen with the aid of Coco, Charity Sweetmint (from another novel) and several of her other Manehattan contacts. Most of the nominees are looking forward to the winners finally getting announced, along with the afterparties. Pinkie and Songbird are just worried sick, especially since they’ve never been able to question Rara.
Speaking of whom, Cheese shows up on the night of the awards ceremony, thinking he’d been invited by Rara. His invitation may not have her mouthwriting, but it does have a hoofsie. Before Pinkie can try to place the writing, a line of stallions carrying the ballot boxes bustle by.
Ballot boxes that are identical to the Pondora Box.
Pinkie and Songbird go into hot pursuit… only to be stopped by Rarity gushing over her hoofiwork. (Horniwork?) Pinkie can’t escape the pull of a friend, but Songbird follows the stallions into the secure room containing the ballots… which means that either they’ve already had the live performances or those don’t matter for the purposes of who wins what. 
In any case, Crownpiece is just outside the room and ushers Songbird backstage. So yes, the performances are completely immaterial. Fantastic consistency, Gillian.
With the audience unaware of the chaos backstage or awaiting them, Songbird and Pinkie both worry about how the ballot boxes are effectively one big game of Russian roulette… which makes no sense, unless awards are announced completely at random. Otherwise, there has to be some way to distinguish the boxes from one another, which means somepony should have noticed a doubled-up category. Unless one box got switched out for the Pondora Box, but again, that requires nopony to notice the conspicuous blank.
I know, I know, children’s novel. But the whole scheme falls apart when you think about how the awards have to go.
In any case, it’s showtime, and Pinkie’s been too occupied with saving the day to think about stage fright. Her performance goes great… until she spots Crownpiece moving through the crowd with a box in hoof, nervously looking around with every step. Pinkie tackles her, and nopony’s entirely sure if this isn’t some avante-garde piece of performance art.
Not until Crownpiece opens the box with a complicated series of twists and turns, releasing a beam of red light that terrifies her as much as anypony. Swirling glitter emerges from the Pondora Box, coalescing into an enormous figure made of the stuff, with glowing red eyes and massive fists.
Lyra and Bonbon appear on the scene, identifying the threat as a “Glitter Golem.” Songbird stands equal parts paralyzed and captivated, until she thinks to hum a lullaby. This soothes the beast into quiescence, leaving nothing but sparkly piles on the stage.
With that taken care of, Pinkie triumphantly accuses Crownpiece, the only pony with the access to the theater and the multitasking capability to fit in a scheme to destroy the Glammies in her already packed schedule. The motive is revealed in a twist worthy of a daytime soap opera: Crownpiece is Svengallop’s sister, as Pinkie inferred from both her hornwriting on the bogus invitation and how she could have gotten a hoofsie stamp.
Crownpiece tearfully confesses, including the part where “a pony at a magic shop sold [Svengallop] this box. The pony said that it held a spell that would make it look like there was a fearsome beast.” Amazingly, Svengallop himself emerges from the shadows to corroborate this. No idea where he’s been all this time.
To her immense credit, Songbird is willing to forgive this; Crownpiece is just that good of an assistant, and Equestria is a land of second chances.
The rest of the Glammies go off without a hitch, and the audience convinces themselves the Glitter Golem was just part of Songbird’s performance. Ritzy Rose takes home her first career Glammy (Best Live Summer Sun Celebration Performance,) Feather Bangs comes away with half a dozen (as Hoity Toity said, never underestimate the filly vote,) and Songbird takes home Pop Pony of the Year.
As the afterparty starts to kick off with sparkling juice toasts, Songbird and Pinkie spot Lyra, Bonbon, and Crownpiece slipping out the back. They need to report back to hidequarters for a debriefing, Crownpiece included. They can’t let Pondora Box operation out into the open… which is why Lyra hits both singer and party pony with her neuralizer Reflection Deflection mirror.
Unable to remember why they were near the service exit, the two new friends happily rejoin the afterparty, ready to dance the night away.
This was pretty fun, though as noted, there are some irreconcilable contradictions at work. And again, Manehattan is not beyond Equestria. Still, it’s nice to see something be done with Songbird Serenade. Haven’t seen her outside of scifipony’s Knight of Equestria series. Let’s see what accolades I can present for this:
Rabbit Reinforcements 2W
Instant
Create a 1/1 white Rabbit creature token.
Gravestorm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each permanent put into a graveyard this turn.)
Even those who would never raise a paw against another creature will eagerly do so to avenge family.
Pondora Box 2W
Artifact
When this artifact enters, exile target creature or planeswalker an opponent controls until this artifact leaves the battlefield.
3W: Exile this artifact, then return it to the battlefield.
Your own little slice of Tartarus.
Titanic Swan 3WW
Creature — Bird
Flying
5W: Monstrosity 2. (If this creature isn’t monstrous, put two +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes monstrous.)
This creature has vigilance and first strike as long as it’s monstrous.
All of Celestia’s grandeur, none of her mercy.
4/4
Season of Foals 4WW
Sorcery
Choose up to five Ω worth of modes. You may choose the same mode more than once.
Ω — Create a 1/1 white Pony creature token.
ΩΩ — Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature token you control.
ΩΩΩ — Destroy all nontoken creatures.
Frame Job 1U
Instant
Target creature you control gains hexproof until end of turn. Suspect up to one other target creature. (A suspected creature has menace and can’t block.)
An airtight alibi can leave someone else suffocating.
Mission Failed 1UU
Instant
This spell costs 1U less to cast during your turn.
Counter target spell.
“Lyra? Lyra!? Lyraaaaaa!”
—Sweetie Drops, agent of S.M.I.L.E.
Seer’s Aquarium 2U
Artifact
When this artifact enters, scry 2.
Whenever you scry, you may create X 1/1 blue Starfish creature tokens, where X is the number of cards looked at while scrying this way. Do this only once each turn.
Few touch tanks offer the chance to reach into the future.
Expanding Influence 5UU
Enchantment
At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, if you control more artifacts than that player, gain control of an artifact that player controls of their choice for as long as you control this enchantment. Repeat this process for creatures, enchantments, and planeswalkers.
Covert Viper 1B
Creature — Snake
Deathtouch
Ward — Pay 3 life.
“Calling an agent ‘a snake’ isn’t an insult. Subtle, patient, effective… Sure, I’m a snake. One of Celestia’s pet ones.”
—Sweetie Drops, agent of S.M.I.L.E.
1/1
Lunch Meeting 1B
Instant
Target creature you control connives. (Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card this way, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.)
Create a Food token. (It’s an artifact with “2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.”)
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.)
Glammy Director 2B
Creature — Pony Advisor
When this creature enters and at the beginning of your upkeep, choose a card type.
Whenever a player casts a spell of the last chosen type, that player loses 1 life.
“No, no, who told you to put out the sets now!?”
2/3
Lunar Court Crooner 2BB
Creature — Pony Bard
Finale — Whenever you sacrifice a Song, each opponent sacrifices a creature.
Nightmare Moon appreciates displays of artistry, shows of fealty, and information on rebel strongholds. Managing all three at once is a quick way into her dark heart.
2/4
Eclectic Detective 2R
Creature — Pony Detective
When this creature enters, investigate. (Create a Clue token. It’s an artifact with “2, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.”)
T, Sacrifice an artifact: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card until the end of your next turn.
A hunch is just high-speed deduction.
3/1
Notable Absence 2RR
Sorcery
Suspect up to one target creature. Notable Absence deals 3 damage to each other creature.
By the second time she was spared from sabotage, everypony suspected Coloratura.
Climactic Manticore 3RR
Creature — Manticore
Flying
Whenever this creature enters or attacks, create a Monster 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 trample.)
3/3
Case of the Sundered Sets 4R
Enchantment — Case
When this Case enters, each opponent sacrifices a nonbasic land.
To solve — There are six or more land cards total in all graveyards. (If unsolved, solve at the beginning of your next end step.)
Solved — At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, this Case deals 1 damage to that player for each land card in their graveyard.
Groundling Partisans 1G
Creature — Pony Faerie Warrior
Flash
Whenever a player casts a spell during another player’s turn, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
Breezies trapped on Ungula survive through guerrilla raids on termite mounds and other insect nests.
2/1
All Part of the Show 2G
Instant
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn. Open an Attraction. (Put the top card of your Attraction deck onto the battlefield.)
“And for our next great presentation, the egress!”
Experienced Pedestrian 2G
Creature — Pony Citizen
Creatures with power less than this creature’s power can’t block it.
You don’t have to be an earth pony to move against Manehattan hoof traffic, but the other options usually involve flight or teleportation.
3/3
Musical Menagerie 3G
Enchantment — Song
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a verse counter on this Song.
1G, Sacrifice this Song: Create X X/X green Beast creature tokens, where X is the number of verse counters on this Song.
Glowing Hay Bale 3
Artifact
T: Add one mana of any color. Each player gets a rad counter.
“Yes, I’m sure it does taste ‘tingly.’ That’s a warning sign.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Winnow Existence 7
Sorcery
Destroy all nonland permanents with even mana values. (Zero is even.)
Adamant — If at least three colorless mana was spent to cast this spell, your opponents can’t cast spells with even mana values until your next turn.
Some things are simply unfathomable.
Glitter Golem X
Artifact Creature — Golem
This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
When this creature dies, distribute its counters among creatures you control.
A party cannon fired in anger is more terrible than most ponies will ever know.
0/0
Debrief UB
Instant
Return target creature to its owner’s hand. Then that player discards a card.
A successful S.M.I.L.E. mission ends with nopony aware it ever happened.
Dream Dolphin 2WU
Creature — Whale
You may cast enchantment spells as thought they had flash.
Constellation — Whenever an enchantment you control enters, this creature gains hexproof until end of turn.
They dart through the dreamscape, evading all attempts to corral them.
3/2
Is a hefty amount of continuity nods and callbacks (as many to Berrow’s own novels as the show) plus fast-paced showbiz glamour an acceptable tradeoff for internal story and plot logic of this whodunnit, plus red herrings and threads being dropped left, right and centre? Eye of the beholder, I suppose, though I think this summary will do me, no need to seek the actual book out.
Still, these chapter novels have done worse, and as our first movie spinoff one, it felt like a waste of time yet. Not let’s hope Berrow’s problematic tics in the Daring Do books don’t intrude on the Rainbow & Sky Pirates adventure story next time…
To the point that, if we believe the showrunners over the show itself, streetlights aren't supposed to exist to create metropolitan light pollution in the first place. Since we know that deadlines ensure writers for the show couldn't possibly have time to watch the show, Berrow probably took him at his word there.
Berrow can only realistically reference stuff she previously wrote, but she does so at every possible opportunity and then several more. The world doesn't actually have continuity, which frees her to stuff in more continuity nods than will technically fit.
Appears to be a timid unicorn mare. I'm not saying that the Japanese L/R confusion is relevant here, but I am saying that our narrator isn't conventionally sane.
Again,
(And yes, the strikethrough is absolutely the reason for the difficulty spike she represented. The prior few games had contained more explicit usage of powers on the player, so ZUN had to have been doing it on purpose)
danmaku patternsa torch that drives ponies mad is an option that came to my mind unbidden.I mean, none of those exploits are really relevant to the matter at hand. She'll bring them up if the breezie attack I've been referencing actually pans out or something.
Given the timescale involved, such a relationship is borderline guaranteed and totally irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
With Coloratura, the actual Lady Gaga expy, separately present, it might not be daring enough.
There's explicitly an inequine menace intending to attack the awards show? I was half-joking about Crownpiece, but now the text is clearly agreeing with me! (I use this wording with the intent to get Neighsay and his ilk transferred and eaten)
Feels like he's deliberately laying low until he can pull a Big Damn Heroes with the tank he happens to own. Because if Berrow knew that's a thing, she would definitely contrive a reason to use it.
I think you may have misplaced a bracket there.
Protection From Editors Alert: Did you mean for Glitter Golem to be an artifact creature? Glitter seems like it should fall under the domain of artifacts.
Also, here are the comic solicitations as of 12/18:
1/29: Rise of Cadance
2/19: Skye’s Secret
3/19: Case of the Missing Puff