• Member Since 26th Sep, 2011
  • offline last seen 1 hour ago

FanOfMostEverything


Forget not that I am a derp.

More Blog Posts1409

  • Sunday
    Friendship is Card Games: Rise of Cadence

    After they compressed The Storm of Zephyr Heights from five issues to three, I thought that was it for IDW pony comics. I am very happy to be wrong, especially when this newest issue promises to expand on one of the least explored parts of G4’s history. Let’s look into the ascension of love.

    Read More

    8 comments · 172 views
  • Saturday
    Hour of Recitation

    I was recently invited to a live reading podcast, and it's now up and running. It was a lot of fun, and now you can all appreciate it. Or put it on in the background while you clean your kitchen. :derpytongue2: Either way, here it is. (And despite the title of both the blog and the podcast, it's only forty minutes.)

    3 comments · 93 views
  • 1 week
    Friendship is Card Games: Verbal Exchange & Alternate Realities

    This contest definitely could have gone better, and it’s a reminder that prompts, like story drafts, are best looked at by someone else before they see print. It’s easy to forget how much of the story never made it out of your head.

    It’s enough to make you wonder what things might be like in alternate realities…

    Read More

    8 comments · 215 views
  • 2 weeks
    Friendship is Card Games: Tell Your Tale, Season 2, Pt. 8

    The WIPs keep coming and they don’t stop coming. There’s lots to show, so let’s hit the ground running.

    Read More

    2 comments · 130 views
  • 3 weeks
    Friendship is Card Games: Two Best Sisters Play, Pt. 4

    This week, we close out 2Snacks’s animated saga of silly alicorns playing silly games. As before, expect considerably higher levels of profanity in the source material than the average for pony content.

    Read More

    5 comments · 168 views
Jan
5th
2025

Friendship is Card Games: Rainbows, Rollercoasters, and the Hopalottas · 1:15pm January 5th

This week, we ring in the new year with the last bit of (almost) fully animated G5 media, coming to us courtesy of Doc Anubis. Let’s see what came painfully close to making the deadline.

Ah. Much of the animation may be in place, but the transitions aren’t. I expect some jump cuts out of a bad action movie.
Also, I assume Comet poked a hole in his hat, but I’m wondering if Sunny's horn just projects through the fabric.

How do you not notice your own cutie mark getting bedazzled? Are we sure these aren’t some kind of benign cosmetic parasite?

The audio balancing is also an eternal work in progress, sadly. Though there is the question of how much is interrupted post-production and how much is Doc Anubis trying to finish it.

Ah! The green blob would presumably get a ponycorn texture added in later.

It really isn’t clear how much equine oversight the Boardtrot actually needs. Plus we have a School of Friendship situation where the characters are leading double lives just to maintain the latest playset. (At least some of them either didn’t have defined jobs or are doing them on the Boardtrot. But I can only assume Mane Melody is wholly in Jazz and Rocky’s hooves.)

:twilightoops: Joyrides in a flying roller coaster car seem incredibly unsafe. It’s a good thing Hitch is distracted elsewhere.

Yeah, some of this is definitely on Doc’s part.

Ah, flying teacups. Because two dimensions aren’t nauseating enough.

Heh. Zipp’s trying to make Haven and Alhpabittle’s date into one they’ll never forget. And, in a certain sense, she succeeded.

I’m pretty sure that if Izzy showed Celestia the tea-ara, she’d get a knighthood. Or possibly a stained glass window. Onyx is just used to her.

Well. That’s unexpected. Looks like Allura took Zipp’s encouragement to heart, whether she meant to or not. Probably couldn’t get the idea out of her head and decided to go to the Boardtrot to prove that it won’t ever work.
Also, how did Sunny and Comet miss her while she was ordering? … Right. Allura. She could just compel them to fill out her order.

I can definitely see Twitch as the reincarnation of Angel Bunny.

I genuinely can’t tell whether or not Comet was deliberately trying to disgust Allura and thus get her to leave faster.

Being stuck in eternal summer is no excuse to intrude on others’ mental autonomy, Allura. Also, don’t you need to pick up Twitch before you leave?

Huh. Why did one of the Nova Charm pieces detach from its socket?

That’s not even a joke. It’s just a reference. Also an indication that Maretime Bay had a Semisonic equivalent in the ‘90s.

I’m going to guess that the pieces reuniting isn’t a common occurrence.

“Maybe we need a rule that super-evil powerful snow leopards aren’t allowed on the Boardtrot?”
On the one hand, you’d think they’d have put that into place when Izzy first revitalized the old abandoned amusement park that had definitely been there the whole time. On the other, how would they enforce that rule?

Ah. Sunny applying her principles of open-armed inclusion to their logical extreme. I do appreciate how it’s Misty who nods along with her. Reformation has worked for this group in the past… but they do need to consider Allura’s unique circumstances. (Of course, that’s not easy when she refuses to mention most of them.)

“It can’t be easy feeling like such an outsider” says the former town pariah who was only tolerated because of her smoothies.

You know it’s bad when Izzy isn’t enthusiastic for an idea. Also, when is this happening relative to “Ooh a New Friend”? Or the recent “Mystery of Missing Time,” where Zipp tries extending a hoof herself? At this rate, they may just manage to get Allura to smile and nod her way to community acceptance through sheer attrition. That or she goes on a bloody rampage through town, but that may be a bit much for the target audience.

Sunny espousing her ideals while everypony else brushes her off. The more things change…

Ah. The park was expanding overnight, recreating Rainbow Falls in the process. Again, how much does it actually need ponies?
Thank you, Misty. Spontaneous generation is the kind of gift horse that merits a dental exam.

“Why is it always me?
Because the legacy of Homer Simpson has done almost as much damage to father figures in pop culture as The Simpsons has to American perception of nuclear power.

Good to see Posey with friends again… though how long has the main cast been looking at the new features if they’ve already run through all of their pre-opening prep time?

“Everything is going to be totally fine” is right up there with “What’s the worst that could happen?” in terms of statements that seal your doom.

“Nervous” is certainly one way to describe “tormented by a manifestation of my darkest impulses,” but Misty probably figures that Posey neither wants nor cares to hear the details.
As for that “Not too fast” comment, I’m not sure if this thing has more than one speed.

It is interesting to see the variably animated background details. Sad it is to have the plug pulled on G5, getting to see the special mid-production is a fascinatingly unique opportunity. (Goodness, imagine if they were still doing 3D animation for this generation. That stuff can be nightmare fuel when they’re still working out the kinks.)

I figured something like this would happen. Rainbow waterfalls are not a toy… but they do appear to be Omenpaths. Also, the sudden cutoff of the cheering crowd is comedy gold.
Also also, poor Rocky. That is the face of a covert bodyguard who just watched the crown princess vanish.

Allura may be shocked, but she also likely sees an opportunity. After all, she may not be stuck on this plane anymore.

I’d say this is a very quick turnaround from “We love the Boardtrot and want to go every day” to “This is a place of nightmares that we never trusted,” but we’ve seen some of what the place has gotten up to. The skycoaster getting eaten by a waterfall is just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I’ll happily take a magical girl-grade transformation sequence if Sunny doesn’t use her cutie mark mantra.
Also. yes. the horn does project through the hat. And there’s something very funny about an alicorn still in her smoothie uniform. Regalia? In this economy?

“There’s got to be a reasonable explanation.”
“The Boardtrot is cursed!”
I mean, for given values of “cursed.” And of course it’s a unicorn who goes for superstition immediately, as opposed to Rufus simply expressing paranoia.

Hey, Hitch? You want to help reinforce public order at all? Do your actual job?

Oh my. It really is an Omenpath, a tunnel of conventional spacetime bridging two different universes. (Or at least two different locations in the same one; let’s see.)

Heh. Orientation is not necessarily conserved between worlds.

Ah. Grass-type Pokémon. Between the cuteness and the strength, they may have stumbled upon a Shaymin grove.
In all seriousness, after all the species we’ve seen with horns or wings, it’s nice to see something else with plant magic.

Posey, you’re right to be upset, but this is not even remotely helping. Also, “surrounded by some new kind of magical bunnies” does not work as an expression of terrible circumstances nearly as well as your neophobic keister makes it out to be.

Oh dear. The hopalottas are capable of far more than just growing plants. And they operate by magnocracy—rule by the largest—as many MLP species tend to.

I hope we get a wider-angle shot of Pipp’s full information warfare rig. Even from the close-ups, it looks like that thing could put the Bat-Computer to shame.

“Where My Besties App.” Someone probably felt very proud of themselves with that one.

Ah. So the hopalottas are in a remote part of this world, but not so remote that it doesn’t get cell coverage. Even though the network explicitly doesn’t cover the Isle of Scaly. Magic performing as the plot demands is one thing, but I draw the line at network infrastructure defying common sense.
Also, I can’t help but feel that this is a victory dance celebrating the conquest of invading titans. It just looks adorable to our eyes.

I suppose using the post’s geolocation metadata might be a bit too advanced for the target audience. Even if I do like the idea of Pipp being a capable hacker.

Okay, the second transformation sequence is just gratuitous.

The “pending FX” notice did make me snort a bit. Again, great chance to see the magic as it happens.

Oh. I think I see where Sunny’s going with this. Allura probably does know more about interplanar travel than Comet.
Of course, that doesn’t explain why she’s frightened when encountering the creatures she knows will be here.

“I am bad.”
Brilliant display of moral complexity. No notes. :ajbemused:

And of course, Sunny comes in with a faith in all sapients that directly confronts that simplistic view moments later.

Allura, you are literally looking at proof that the Nova Charm’s portal capabilities are still working. I can’t help but think that she genuinely has no idea how to socialize beyond threats and compulsions and tries to cut all conversations short before anyone else realizes that. (And, of course, the resentment doesn’t go away just because there’s no reason for it to persist. If emotions were wholly rational, they wouldn’t be emotions.)

I do love how Sunny clearly doubts the idea that Posey would try to help them if the circumstances were reversed. But she’s not going to let a little transparent falsehood stop her rhetorical momentum.

When in doubt, throw magic at the problem and hope it sticks. Because it’s easier on the writers than actually thinking of a solution for the specific problem.

The hopalottas are not willing to negotiate and know only war… or they needed to secure the new invaders and consult with the elder.

Ah, the justified paranoia of a prey species surrounded on all sides by those who wish them ill. Hitch is very familiar with this.

And apparently the elder hopalotta could speak fluent Ponish this whole time. And has heard of the fall of Old Equestria, but not the reunion of the tribes. I have many questions.
Ah. They fled pony lands long ago. There’s a potential story here. (And again, as far from ponykind as they could get apparently wasn’t far enough to escape cell towers.)

Yes, there’s peace now… aside from the one angry snow leopard who hates everyone and everything.

Okay, this transformation sequence was merited.

Ah, the ineffable will of Harmony in action. When the world is poorly mapped, it has to take a more direct approach to getting its emissaries where they need to go.
Hmm. I thought the Nova Charm was a piece of the Crystal Heart, but it could well be some outgrowth of Harmony crystal. That would explain a lot…

I do appreciate the message of “It’s never too late to rejoin the world” with Allura sulking in the background. Also, I do have to wonder how many other isolated communities are out there wondering why their magic came back. I’m honestly amazed they didn’t dip into G4’s sizable bestiary for this one. Goodness knows there’s precedent with the Breezies. (And yes, I know they were originally G3.)

And Rufus has apparently decided he trusts the Boardtrot enough to sweep up. I’m amazed nopony tried to dismantle the place while the main cast was getting captured.

I’m going to guess that the big splash was meant to be the rainbow waterfalls collapsing now that their task is done.

There is something especially surreal about Allura having a smartphone. Did she steal it or what?

And only now does Allura even consider that the Nova Charm wasn’t wholly disintegrated. It would be an interesting continuation of the plot… if G5 had been allowed to keep going. As is, it’s a tragic reminder of what tales remain untold.
Still, this was definitely an interesting bit of plot progression.

Hope for the Better W
Instant
Untap target creature. It gets +1/+X until end of turn and can block an additional X creatures this turn, where X is your devotion to white. (Each W in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to white.)

Delayed Opening 1W
Enchantment
Artifacts and nonbasic lands your opponents control enter tapped.
Sometimes prep time takes a bit longer than expected. Sometimes the Boardtrot grew a new attraction overnight and now Hitch needs to inspect it.

Hopalotta Throneguard 2W
Creature — Rabbit Warrior
As long as you’re the monarch, you and permanents you control have ward 2.
Between the violence they fled and centuries of isolation, hopalottas don’t respond well to any new visitors.
2/3

Hypnotic Hopping XW
Instant
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for 1 or one mana of that creature’s color.)
Tap X target creatures. Choose a number of those creatures equal to the number of Rabbits that convoked this spell. Put a stun counter on each creature chosen this way.

Compelled Consensus 1U
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant opponent
You may look at enchanted player’s hand and the top card of their library at any time.
You choose how enchanted player votes.
Allura can make friends, but ponies don’t seem to appreciate her methods.

Genericize 1U
Instant
Until end of turn, target creature has base power and toughness 0/1 and loses all abilities and creature types.
The Boardtrot’s thaumic waste is as disgusting as it is unidentifiable.

Frozen Moment 2U
Instant
Return target nonland permanent to its owner’s hand.
Time travel. (For each suspended card you own and each permanent you control with a time counter on it, you may add or remove a time counter.)
Savor the moment and watch it dissolve.

Hopper Overload 3UU
Instant
Copy target instant or sorcery spell you don’t control. You may choose new targets for the copy.
Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.)
Even Misty thought it was a bit much.

Allura’s Insight 2B
Snow Sorcery
Draw two cards. You lose 2 life unless SSS was spent to cast this spell. (S is mana from a snow source.)
Asking Allura for help is risky at the best of times. Doing so in the height of summer is asking to get your face scratched off.

Acceleration Sickness 2BB
Sorcery
All creatures get -X/-X until end of turn, where X is 2 plus the number of Attractions you’ve visited this turn.
The Boardtrot may be magical, but even it needs the occasional mop swabbing out a roller coaster car.

The Disenchanted Era 2BB
Enchantment — Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — Destroy all non-Saga enchantments and all creatures with alicorn.
II — Choose Pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn. Creatures that aren’t of the chosen type get -3/-3 until end of turn.
III — Exile all graveyards.

Ceaseless Analysis 3B
Sorcery
Surveil 3. Each opponent loses life equal to the greatest mana value among cards put into your graveyard this way. (To surveil 3, look at the top three cards of your library, then put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest on top of your library in any order.)

Prancing Point Expedition 1R
Enchantment
Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, put a quest counter on this enchantment.
Sacrifice this enchantment: Creatures you control get +X/+0 and gain trample until end of turn, where X is the number of quest counters on this enchantment. Activate only if there are three or more quest counters on it.

Glitter Mites 2R
Artifact Creature — Treasure Mite
T, Sacrifice this creature: Add X mana of any one color, where X is the number of counters on this creature.
Modular 2 (This creature enters with two +1/+1 counters on it. When it dies, you may put its +1/+1 counters on target artifact creature.)
0/0

Kernel Crash 4RR
Sorcery
Split second (As long as this spell is on the stack, players can’t cast spells or activate abilities that aren’t mana abilities.)
Kernel Crash deals 1 damage to each creature and planeswalker for each artifact that permanent’s controller controls.
“Not again.”
—Misty Brightdawn

Induced Antipathy 5RR
Sorcery
Assist (Another player can pay up to 5 of this spell’s cost.)
Target creature fights another target creature.
Twitch is the only creature sadistic enough to make Allura smile.

Bountiful Hopalotta 2G
Creature — Rabbit Druid
Flash
At the beginning of your end step, if you cast no spells this turn, search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Far from the turmoil of ponykind, hopalottas live in harmony with nature.
2/2

Revelation at the Boardtrot 2G
Instant
Destroy target artifact or enchantment. Create a tapped Powerstone token. (It’s an artifact with “T: Add C. This mana can’t be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.”)
By ignoring the concert, Allura was the only one who noticed the fragments of the Nova Charm reabsorb their power.

Bridge the Gap 2GG
Instant
Look at the top six cards of your library. Reveal up to two permanent cards from among them. Put all land cards revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped, all other cards revealed this way into your hand, and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.

Magnocracy 3GG
Enchantment
When this enchantment enters and the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. Then if you control a creature with the greatest power among creatures on the battlefield, you become the monarch.
The large are often in charge.

Zipp’s Skycoaster 4
Artifact — Vehicle
Flying, menace
Whenever you visit one or more Attractions, you may have this Vehicle become an artifact creature until end of turn.
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.)
5/4

Multiverse Showcase
Artifact — Attraction
Visit — Choose one.
• Planeswalk.
• Chaos ensues.
• Scry 2.
“What do you mean ‘We have to rename the Kaladesh pavilion’?”
—Myra the Magnificent
(2 lights)

Spiteful Denial 1UB
Instant
Counter target spell. Each player loses 3 life.
“I don’t want your help. I don’t want your sympathy. I don’t even want to be here, but you’ve trapped me and now I’m your problem.”
—Allura, to Sunny

Shaymin, Myth of Gratitude 1GW
Legendary Creature — Plant Beast
Lifelink
Whenever you gain life, you get a panacea counter. This ability triggers only once each turn. (A player with ten or more panacea counters wins the game.)
2GW: Transform Shaymin. Activate only if your life total is greater than your starting life total.
2/2
Shaymin, Soaring Purifier
(GW) Legendary Creature — Plant Beast
Flying, vigilance, lifelink
Whenever you gain life, you get a panacea counter.
In the language of flowers, the only stronger “thank you” than a Gracidea bouquet is one delivered via Shaymin.
3/3

Cageblossom 3GW
Artifact
When this artifact enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until this artifact leaves the battlefield.
T: Add CGW.
Seclusion is far from the hopalottas’ only defense.

Comments ( 9 )

A quick note on panacea counters: I can't claim credit for their creation; I've seen the concept bouncing around the Internet for years. Also, poison and panacea counters remove one another matter-antimatter style just like +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters. If a player somehow manages to get ten of each at the same time, they lose the game per CR 104.3f. ("If a player would both win and lose the game simultaneously, that player loses the game.")

This second special would have undeniably been a better outing that the first one had it been completed: still not nearly enough story for one, but it's not so brazenly episodic in stringing together noodles to get up to 22 minutes, and it certainly seems like it is (or was) making progress on both Allura's plotline (which otherwise interacts with the main story so little you could strip her out and make this only 10 minutes, really) and further Magic as the Plot Demands. I did quite like the voice given to the lead Hopalotta.

And watching this with only some sound effects, the odd missing final visual effect, most wall and non-dialogue sounds from voice actors not in yet (they typically get added in post from batch sessions of the actors making all those sounds), no music outside of the songs, and poor mixing and balancing during said songs… yeah, it's a bit of a trip!

Though it does kind prove my take on the webseries' background music being so ADHD-addled: if one can account for the incomplete sounds and mixing, there are several scenes here that play undeniably better with the lack of music, like the early chat about Allura where many doubt her in their sleeping quarters at the Brighthouse. Obviously some moments feel empty without music, but others get towards that anime trend of letting the quieter moments be silent, and therefore halfway towards respecting the audience. Something this generation, let's be polite, could have done a lot more of.

Ah, 'mantra'. Yes, that was the word I was looking for to describe the Captain Pasture spiel during the magical anime mare dance thing. Thanks! Vocabulary is hard!
It's not just the roller-coaster and the teacups, it looks like all the rides on the Boardtrot run on levitation magic, but without the glow.
The Nova Charm is like Siri, eavesdropping and using that information to create a new attraction overnight. The ponies should sue.
These AI crystal overloads are everywhere now, The Unity crystal manipulating the mares in the Brighthouse (and training Misty to cast spells... one day), rogue crystals in the forest waiting to make bunzillas, the Nova Charm building Skinner boxes for ponies... Note that the rainbow falls portal was in essence an escape room where an act of unity between all three pony types was key to getting out. The way in also required all three pony types engaged simultaneously.
Harmony was Old Equestria witchcraft. In New, Post-Apocalyptic Equestria, the bar is lower, it's now Unity.
For a prey species, these ponies sure like to gleefully gallop blindly up a rainbow ramp and into the unknown.
True Unity can not be achieved until the five mares allow unhoused Hitch (and Comet) to stay at the Brighthouse.

How do you not notice your own cutie mark getting bedazzled? Are we sure these aren’t some kind of benign cosmetic parasite?

If we aren't, it's the "benign" we'd be taking issue with.

Also, how did Sunny and Comet miss her while she was ordering?

"My sworn enemy's money will spend just as well as anyone else's, and I'm not going to point out how foolish it was for them to give it to me." :trollestia:

Because the legacy of Homer Simpson has done almost as much damage to father figures in pop culture as The Simpsons has to American perception of nuclear power.

For what it's worth, the latter was merely going along with how it was already perceived when the show started. That having been literally decades ago is just the reason why nobody really pays attention to The Simpsons anymore. Come to think of it, the only difference between Homer and his contemporaries is that the narrative occasionally notices how terrible a father and person he is.

I’m honestly amazed they didn’t dip into G4’s sizable bestiary for this one.

That would require giving the writers time to watch their own show, something we know they don't do. (Explaining is not condoning)

I’m amazed nopony tried to dismantle the place while the main cast was getting captured.

I'm sure somepony tried. :pinkiecrazy:

If a player somehow manages to get ten of each at the same time

Stupid Complicated Game Alert: doing this is actually nontrivial, as the inherent win and loss conditions are state-based actions that can end the game between ability resolutions. It's the same reason you can save yourself from incoming lethal by killing your opponent first.

Oh yeah, the G4 bestiary question. There are none of the MLP:FiM fanatasy creatures for the same reason the MLP:FiM ponies are rarely seen. Using them would require paying Discovery for the privilege. Spike is a gen 3 creature, as are the Breezies, so no money to Discovery for using Spike or Breezies. It looks to me that the creatures are all Pony Life creations. I notice that there are no dogs, cats, tortoises, owls, toothless alligators or even fireflies. I don't think any pony generation had pets until Gen 4, putting a kibosh on pets in TYT.

5824714
Clearly the ponies are on their last chance. One more misstep and I'm sure the crystals will take more direct action...

5824980
I have heard about the IP issues G5 faced, but the concept of owning pets is in the public domain. Cloudpuff exists, for example, though there is the question of whether they gave him wings to make him more copyrightable. Still, Twitch is definitely performing a dark reprise of Angel's role.

The same applies to the mythological basis of G4's bestiary. Judging by the dragons, the biggest obstacle stopping them from using variations on the themes of hydras, manticores, griffins, etc. was a lack of budget for the 3D rigs. (To say nothing of actually extant species like zebras. Hell, even G1 had a zebra, if a deeply unflattering one.)

5824989
Cloudpuff! I'd forgotten about that critter! But perhaps I should have specified normal critters (Cloudpuff has wings). Still, it's true that are many breeds and as long as it doesn't look like Winona, Opalescence, Tank, Gummy or Owlowiscious, real pets should be OK. Maybe it's a puppet rig costs thing. In 3D especially, as you pointed out.

That zebra is awful! Bipedal and fully clothed. Stripes, grinning scowl and stubble used as a visual shorthand for 'criminal'. Maybe from the 90's Pony Tales?

That zebra is awful! Bipedal and fully clothed. Stripes, grinning scowl and stubble used as a visual shorthand for 'criminal'. Maybe from the 90's Pony Tales?

Actually, it's from the very first show from the '80s. The storyline is question is called 'Bright Lights,' if you're interested.

5825178
Bright Lights, got it. Thanks! Between Hanna-Barbera and Filmation, most of 80's cartoons are really bad. Except when Scootertrix Studios takes the micky out of 80's MLP, like this one!

Login or register to comment