Points of Canon: S6x21 - Every Little Thing She Does · 6:38pm Sep 24th, 2016
The trailer for this one was quite promising in terms of worldbuilding elements. Let’s see what the real thing nets us.
A lot of interesting stuff, including a huge hammer to drive a point home.
- It is interesting that Starlight’s education is concentrating to such a degree on learning new magic spells, but even the chapter book concurs on that. The episode elaborates that the reason for this is that Starlight has been avoiding the friendship part, but I’m wondering what is the point of studying magic with her at all. She’s clearly as good at it as Twilight, if not better. What, exactly, are they not telling us?
- I am not entirely certain Starlight has been shown to be able to teleport previously. It is important to note that they are teleporting simultaneously with Twilight, and Starlight always emerges within shouting distance. Which means that it is possible, and probably not even particularly difficult to track a teleport, which is important information.
- I’m not sure the environments in the direct vicinity of Ponyville are quite that diverse, which means that they’re teleporting at least tens of kilometers in various directions, and possibly more.
- The discipline of transforming objects into other objects is canonically called “Transfiguration.”
- Twilight is capable of transforming inanimate objects into animate, i.e. an apple into eggs, one of which immediately hatches. Notably, this spell apparently also ignores conservation of mass, since those eggs have to weigh quite a bit more than an apple. Judging by the transformations performed, organic/inorganic matter is not a barrier. Seeing as how some of the objects are books, I suspect the transformation is not permanent, because, well, I can’t imagine Twilight permanently wrecking books.
- Once again, carrot takes the place of a sausage in food – this time in a transfigured hot dog.
- Shields are a discipline unto themselves, and Starlight is capable of using multiple significantly different types. Starlight’s last shield permits explosive release of absorbed energy.
1. E.g. “want-it-need-it,” “come-to-life” from early seasons, or “Mist Mane’s Material Amity,” “Rockhoof’s Rapport” and “Flash Prance’s Fellowship” mentioned in The Crystalling
Starlight knows a spell called “Accelero” which accelerates her. It is interesting to note that the spell names Starlight uses in this episode are unlike any spell names established previously,1 and probably belong to a significantly different magical tradition, though we don’t know whether it is localized geographically or temporally or not at all. Seeing as how the next spell Starlight mentions, “Similo Duplexis,” is explicitly said to be “very old,” the localization of Starlight’s spells is probably temporal. Who taught her that?
- Twilight says that Starlight did not tackle any friendship lessons since she met Trixie. That makes it impossible for any episode which contains a friendship lesson for Starlight to come between this episode and No Second Prances
- While Spike mentions a timespan “twenty moons from now” (argh) it explicitly does not refer to any actual event.
- Starlight is practicing by levitating wooden objects. Notably, they are all of different shapes – a cube, a sphere, and a tetrahedron. This lends some credence to Estee’s theory that levitation is easier if all the objects being levitated are the same size and shape.
- Starlight has, beyond the motivational poster with a crossed out equals sign, what looks like a crude portrait of Trixie next to her desk. And another one next to the bed. Shippers, that’s your cue.
- One more globe spotted! This one’s a new sprite and still does not permit us to identify continents, but it does make it seem that one of the continents goes all the way down to the south pole.
- Among other objects in Starlight’s room we can see a sextant. What exactly would be the use of one when the sun is explicitly controlled? Also, the two kites next to it are interesting…
- It’s interesting that Starlight appears to genuinely care about impressing Twilight. It is also interesting that the rest of the Mane 6 does not interest her pretty much at all.
2. …badly written…
It is also interesting that the activity Twilight assigned Starlight to do with Applejack is scrapbooking. Scrapbooking is most commonly a family activity, so it’s not unexpected that Applejack would be the expert, but why is this the Apple family scrapbook, and not the Mane 6 scrapbook? Is there another2 in-universe document on the horizon?… Applejack also refers to “80 moons worth of memories to go through,” which, depending on the value of the moon, can be anywhere between 216 and 3328 days. Which, incidentally, should cover the entire time Twilight has been in town for any sensible value of a moon. And I don’t have a clue why would Granny Smith want to make a pig do the backstroke, which is probably the joke.
- It does not surprise me that Starlight does not know what “chillax” means, but you’d think Spike would.
- The library has a mutable number of shelves along the vertical axis. It’s 6 when Starlight is practicing with Twilight, and 9 when Starlight runs away from the Mane 6. Let’s chalk this one up to animation error…
- Twilight’s library contains mind affective spells out in the open, rather than under lock and key – “Cogeria,” “Persuadere,” “Fiducia Compelus”. Since Twilight is a princess, the issue of legality is probably moot, but lock and key is not. Ponies continue their trend of being exceedingly tolerant of mind affective magic.
- One of Applejack’s scrapbook memories includes a creature, presumably from Everfree, venturing into Sweet Apple Acres. A quadruped variation on Predator, by the sound of it. Big Mac needs a minigun.
- Twilight’s castle kitchen contains enough supplies to make a metric ton worth of cake while strictly following the instructions. And there are snakes living on the premises.
- Twilight’s books are clearly enchanted against water damage, otherwise, this incident would have wrecked the library irreparably, and Starlight probably wouldn’t survive.
- The fact that Twilight just forgives Starlight for screwing her best friends’ brains out with magic really strikes the point home: Pony culture is radically different from the one we live in. Twilight’s complaint isn’t that the spell is not permissible – it’s that the spell is not a good idea, all that she can say about it is that it’s “really bad” while in just about any human jurisdiction, it would be a very serious crime if it could be proven to have occurred, regardless of intent. For ponies, however, intent is paramount in this situation and makes all the difference. And the Mane 5 are likewise, just upset, rather than out for blood.
Starlight Glimmer needs to chillax more. But I suspect that the Mane 6 need to chillax a bit less.
Quite a world-building episode indeed, though I found it a bit too creepy to be enjoyable myself.
It looks like Starlight Glimmer really is equally powerful/knowledgeable of magic as Twilight Sparkle herself. Those teleport trips could have been part of a pre-planned list, but probably were ponies tracking each other. Actually, it looks like Starlight has forced Twilight to up her own game in the magic business, especially in sophisticated shield spells.
Now we know why we didn't see Starlight in those episodes where she had to be around the castle somewhere: She was actively avoiding the rest of the Mane 6 so she didn't have to do her friendship lessons. I feel like this episode needs to be set before the montage part of the Season 5 finale, that should be considered at the end of Season 6 or something.
At this time, the evidence is overwhelming: to ponies, mind control is a misdemeanor at best. It's not hinted, or implied, it's practically spelled out in ten foot letters. It really makes you wonder why we don't see more love potions, for example, since that is a kind of mind control ponies could claim they were using with pure intentions.
Need a list of Applejack quotes from this episode, she was great.
Interesting that Fluttershy can bond with insects and vermin, but is savvy enough not to bring those animals to the attention of other ponies, except when she is under mind control.
In conclusion: cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/71934620.jpg
4224586
Only, I don't think it can be. You see, those kites in Starlight's room? She's flying them during the montage, if my memory serves me right.
Ponies may be ridiculously forgiving, but I am not. I just could not enjoy this one. Getting away with anything as long as you say you're sorry used to be a joke in this fandom.
4225236 At some point we need a serious villain, or at least Flim and Flam, to make a big weepy apology and then immediately do something evil again, and keep apologizing every time they're caught (over and over, in the same episode). Your move, heroes!
Well, provided that Celestia keeps the sun on a strictly predictable schedule, a sextant would probably be even more reliable than ones on our own world.
Clearly Twilight's Library is interconnected with all libraries, and sometimes its internal geography shifts when you're not looking.
4225758
But she doesn't, not really, that's kind of the point of Princess Twilight Sparkle...
"Among other objects in Starlight’s room we can see a sextant. What exactly would be the use of one when the sun is explicitly controlled?"
I believe you can use them on stars as well.
4225987
Yes, you can. But the question is also why would you need to keep one in a permanent residence that doesn't move. For any time-keeping purpose, surely a chronometer would be more precise?
4225989
Probably magic. Considering that we know that stars and the moon are somewhat important for certain kinds of magic (exiling sisters to the moon/freeing them and dimensional travel) a sextant may be useful to determine the right time for casting stuff.
This was an amusing episode to me, but I can see it being unpopular with a general audience. I've long made my peace with ponies being fine with mind control, but not everyone has.
4225989
They are - apparently - used for astronomy as well as navigation. They are really just devices to measure angles, so she could be using it for any form of surveying.
4225989
It could also just be a nick-nack.
4226701
Or a thingamajig, but that's no fun. :)
I know this's a week late, but my guess is that it's mainly just fun for them.
Plus, Starlight's probably using it to try to keep Twilight's mind off the absence of friendship lessons.
Considering it was Pinkie, I'm not sure at all we can conclude that.
4235279
That latter is probably it.
4235281 Alternate explanation: Friendship Is Magic, so studying magic is the same as studying friendship, right?
(And did you see my edit blaming the quantity of foodstuffs on Pinkie, not whoever's doing the normal grocery shopping? For that matter, who does do Twilight's shopping? Hopefully not all Spike.)
4235290
Now that’s just a cop-out. :)
I expect that she’s getting them delivered. We do know from The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows that deliveries are a thing in Ponyville, even deliveries of minor quantities of food. Twilight, with her castle where many of her friends occasionally eat – occasionally, eat breakfast, even – and who, at times, entertains much of Ponyville, probably has a standing delivery arrangement.
What is somewhat surprising is that all the raw materials were kept somewhere in that kitchen, because Pinkie barricaded her way out with cake.
4235311
Yep, and Twilight of all ponies would recognize it as such.
Again, it's Pinkie. You can't reason like that with her. She has three dozen other ways out you can't see.
4235312
…Idea.
1. Mind control Pinkie.
2. Order her to fetch something from a human world.
3. Profit.
4235323 Let's take a few epicycles out of that idea. We know Pinkie can pop up anywhere, so:
1. Mind-control Pinkie.
2. Order her to fetch ten million bits / a locked-up magic book / the Dragon Lord's scepter / the Elements of Harmony / the Crystal Heart.
3. Profit.
The combination of Pinkie Pie and this mind-control spell is fundamentally broken. It's a very good thing no other villain tried this, isn't it?
4235342
Yet. :)
I was expecting a reshelving joke, possibly a "joy of reshelving" and use of autoduplication spellcombo. Guessed wrong!
This is how she knows where the books are on the shelves for those three Enchantment spells.
" Spell Mastery.
Also, there does seem to be a subtlety here in that one can cast spells from books; knowing it by heart is a different matter entirely…this puts a better meaning to Twilight's "twenty spells, one of which is
Y'think Pinkie would teach him how to crank up Twilight?
❧
long-distance teleportation in spades.covered❧❧puts both as really high-level or outside the Vancian D&D paradigm
❧…a spell combination is just called a spell.
❧Starlight can resist Pinkie's heartsong…but so could Appleloosans. Perhaps intentionally trying to start one, as here, is more likely (/possible) to fail.
It also implies that Pinkie knows about musical numbers and their usual efficacy. But is that really new?
Yes, well, she was cleared to learn or study dark magic waaaay back in Sombraland. Besides, at the end…
❧Holy crap, mind control was called out as bad for once. At all.
4235342
Problem: even secondary canon has had her as Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth. I expect being asked for a million bits unless you are very precsie in your phrasing will result in a Return of Jafar wish 1 result (taken to a still-sunken pirate treasure…with no life-support.)
She's also a grandmaster prankster. I wonder if she actually failed her save this episode.
4522156 That's a very good point about Pinkie and mind control. But, I wouldn't think she'd fail her save against anyone save maybe Discord.
My guess: Pinkie looked ahead and saw that everything was going to work out fine, and it'd be more fun and more funny if she went along.