Friendship is Card Games: Mirror Magic · 10:42am Jul 9th, 2017
It’s time for the Shimmy-Glimmy Power Hour! Only, you know, it’s twenty-two minutes long and doesn’t have as much Tara Strong.
Speaking of hours, the Hour of Devastation prerelease was yesterday, so I threw together most of my review the night before. Time for a liveblog!
The narrative structure of the specials is very interesting. Rather than a three-act structure, the first two act as independent prerequisites of the third. I’ve almost never seen this before.
Odd how the TVs turn on as Juniper approaches. You’d think they’d be running on a constant loop.
Look on the bright side, Juniper. Those girls might have gotten onto the movie poster—somehow—but you are too! Or at least a mysterious cloaked figure who probably isn’t Stalwart Stallion and who was likely inspired by your sabotage efforts. Six of one, half dozen of the other.
(But yeah, why are seven background humans on the poster? Did they actually get speaking roles? I can’t imagine that’s going to go over well with the local equivalent of the Screen Actors’ Guild.)
Speaking of background humans, I do love how a few people stop and boggle at Juniper’s shenanigans.
Given how she’s probably not supposed to be more than thirty feet from that popcorn popper at any given time, why does Juniper even have a radio?
Here we start to see the depths of Juniper’s self-delusion. No sweetie, you wouldn’t have played Daring Do. You would’ve just ruined the movie.
And so the leaking magic from the end of Legend of Everfree begins to pay off. Let’s just hope the other wisps don’t drift too far from Canterlot. That could end very bad indeed.
“Uh, miss? The mirror’s for customers. It’s not for sale.”
Seriously, why does a sunglasses kiosk even have a hand mirror that’s unattached to anything? That would be asking for trouble even before getting magic involved.
Hmm. Sunset already knew about the wandering magic. Had the girls already encountered it before now? There’s definitely a story to be had there.
Also, those expressions. It’s a good thing you’re writing to the princess, Sunset, because you definitely have a problem.
… Why does human Pinkie have a tray full of hayburgers? They've established that meatier options exist.
I admit, I’m surprised that Sun-Shim’s journal can run out of pages. Given an entangled link that persists across alternate worldlines, I'd expected that adding infinite pages would be a simple task. At least it’s an easy fix. I’ve never liked stories that play running out of journal pages for "last time we'll speak" drama.
So, if Sunset's out of space, does that mean that Twilight's writing her response in the margins?
Also, I do appreciate how the show acknowledges how all this quantumancy really does boil down to text messaging.
And suddenly, this special became about the perils of psychological addiction. Next thing you know, Juniper will be turning buildings into crystal.
I’m not going to harp on this too much, but seeing people hanging around Canterlot High brought it to mind: What time of year is it? Indeed, what year is it at all? The Daring Do movie is about to premiere. It has to be several months after “Movie Magic” at minimum… which makes the continued use of the “Dance Magic” video all the stranger. Ad campaigns may be relentless, but I'd at least expect some memetic mutation after all this time. (And there's the issue of when exactly these girls graduate from high school, but that would likely sound the death knell of this entire spinoff.)
Heh. Reversed reprisal of the first time Twilight went through the mirror. Nice.
I adore how Sunset forgot how to unicorn. Imagine how long it took her to remember back when she tried to steal the Element of Magic. She must’ve been in that storage room for hours. Or she had more time to mentally prepare herself before returning, but that's not as funny.
Also, if the emblem on the new journal isn’t already the icon for at least one Sunlight group, I will be very disappointed.
Oh, I suppose I should address the two-headed elephant in the room: No, Sunset sadly did not ascend at the Friendship Games. (Not permanently, anyway. Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s well on her way.) And no, we don’t get much time in Equestria for Sunset to interact with other ponies, Princess Celestia included. I’m okay with this. Nice as it would’ve been, it isn’t the focus of the story, and this one’s pretty dense as is for something only one episode long. Besides, that’s what fan fiction’s for.
I will admit that I’m disappointed by the lack of wings, but we knew it was the case by Legend of Everfree, and I suppose that too would’ve distracted from the crux of the narrative. Three minutes of screaming, panicked flapping, and blindly galloping into book piles will do that.
Another six-mare friendship problem? I get the feeling that this is happening during the Season 7 finale.
“I don’t know for sure that she wouldn’t be okay with it.”
See, this is the kind of logic that leads to soul mutilation cults.
Hmm. Where are Maud and Trixie? I’ll grant that the latter may be on tour, but with the former being Ponyville-adjacent, she could give Starlight some company as she performed the journal delivery. Of course, Starlight may have planned her isolation as part of her plan to see the human world. I could definitely see that.
On the other hand, the references to Starlight’s role as Twilight’s student may indicate that this takes place before her graduation. This could be taking place during a Season 6 episode where Starlight was notably absent. Or “Not Asking for Trouble.” It’s not like the two worlds have had any temporal touchstones since the end of Season 5.
Heh. Starlight being perplexed by the complexities of parallel universes never ceases to amuse me.
Okay, Starlight must have met Trixie by this point. She’s far too good at being an endearing bad influence.
I’m really not sure what to think about Starlight’s human design. Why the beanie? And the torn pants? She seems like the last person I’d expect to tolerate distressed clothing. Maybe it’s supposed to represent her frayed sanity. That said, I do love how all humanized ponies seem to ball up their fists when they’re not actively using or examining their fingers. And the watch is a nice touch, given Starlight’s history with time travel.
(Looks down) “And what happened to—“
Remember the rating, Starlight.
“—the rest of my hooves?”
Okay then.
I’d just like to point out that while the Crusaders gape at Starlight’s attempts at quadrupedalism, Lyra and Bonbon don’t even seem to notice. Make of that what you will.
“Pick uppeth this poppage of corn.”
I am mildly disappointed that pony Luna didn’t emerge from the mirror and slap Juniper for that mutilation of Early Modern English. Equish. Wranglish. You get the idea.
Hoo boy. Let’s just hope Juniper doesn’t get enough power to tear apart spacetime, because the universe would be torn to shreds less than an hour later.
To be fair, any number of terrible things could’ve happened to those girls in Equestria. Cockatrices, hydras, Zesty Gourmand…
“Don’t stress,” says Starlight Glimmer. The pony who was so afraid of the slightest thing going wrong that she accidentally created a mass dominate pony spell. To say nothing of how her advice could very easily be seen as going too far in the other direction. Some degree of concern is definitely merited… but I admit, Starlight has a point. Worrying over things you can’t influence is a fruitless endeavor.
“Nope, no wall over here.”
I’m not ashamed to admit I laughed here. The only way it could’ve been better/worse is if Pinkie had literally winked at the audience.
The creepy music for Fluttershy’s deep-down-inside freakout is fantastic.
I like how Dash’s limbs leave rainbow contrails when they move at high speed.
Silly Pinkie. You’re not Pac-Man; you’re supposed to eat him.
Sunset’s first mistake was trying to reason with someone who’d already demonstrated a willingness to use the mirror on her enemies. Her second mistake was thinking that Juniper Montage would behave rationally.
I suppose Applejack throwing someone at the aperture would be too risky, but couldn’t Dash try a running jump? Or Rarity or Twilight could try lifting someone. I’m just saying, there are better options here than “piggyback ride.”
Huh. I suppose if Sunset knows who Starlight is, it makes sense that she’d share the news with the others. Indeed, it may have come up just after the Friendship Games, once pony Twilight had gotten over the shock of meeting her human counterpart. Still, I wonder if human Twilight’s heard about Flurry Heart.
I’m sorry. Juniper Monstar doesn’t have the most imposing design to begin with, but the completely unchanged voice just makes her seem farcical. Still, given the pettiness of her motivation as opposed to ultimate power, ultimate dominion, ultimate knowledge, or even just preserving everything she holds dear, it makes sense that she’s less than impressive.
I do love how people are recording this on their phones. “Giant monster woman! This is going to get so many hits if I survive long enough to upload it!”
That was an impressive kick for someone who’s been human for, what, about an hour? It put seven lives at risk, but it was still impressive.
Yeah… kiting the big bad around a sunglasses kiosk doesn’t exactly measure up to battles with the fate of the world at stake, though to be fair, Juniper's the one harnessing the magical deus ex machina at the moment. At least they’re not trying to make her seem like the equal of the other human world antagonists.
And here we see why Starlight got brought in. Juniper needed someone who she hadn’t met before, a relationship where there were no prejudices on either side. If Sunset hadn’t been part of Juniper getting fired, she would’ve worked well for the same reason that Starlight does; she understand what it’s like to rebuild one’s life from the ground up. She definitely understand the emptiness of revenge. It consumed Starlight for several months. It defined Sunset's life for at least two and a half years.
Credit where credit is due, for all I’ve ragged on her, Juniper still chose to relinquish her power. Few major villains willingly surrendered, and out of those, only Midnight Sparkle accepted disempowerment.
And so Juniper Montage rescues the Humane Seven from the actions of Starlight Glimmer.
I do love the rundown of past misdeeds. Though Starlight’s done a hell of a lot more than that. Oh, and Equestria was also at risk during Midnight Sparkle’s rampage. Who knew?
I only just noticed that they still haven’t replaced the horse statue.
In all, this was certainly nice that they ended these specials with a bang, and I do like getting to see more people make the transition between the two worlds, but Juniper isn’t exactly the most compelling villain out there. I honestly hope she doesn’t feature largely in any future Equestria Girls media. Aside from eight main characters being more than a bit much, she just doesn’t seem that interesting… though seeing the girl we briefly glimpsed under all the self-centeredness back in “Movie Magic” might be nice. I suppose I need more data to be certain. Still, at least she wasn't more creative with her mirror. Fully exercising wish magic can lead to very dangerous outcomes.
In any case, time to offer you all some more cards to reflect upon.
Rapid Reflexes W
Instant
Untap target creature. That creature gains indestructible until end of turn.
”Can’t hurt what you can’t touch.”
—Rainbow Dash
Drive to Distraction 1W
Instant
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt by target creature this turn. If U was spent to cast Drive to Distraction, that creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.
Life with Twilight had taught Starlight how to safely irritate more powerful beings.
Triple Scooper 2W
Creature — Human Citizen
Whenever you gain life, proliferate. (You choose any number of permanents and/or players with counters on them, then give each another counter of a kind already there.)
1W: Triple Scooper gains lifelink until end of turn.
1/3
Dysmorph U
Sorcery
Target creature becomes the creature type of your choice until your next turn. Detain that creature. (Until your next turn, it can’t attack or block and its activated abilities can’t be activated.)
Starlight didn’t even notice her missing horn for more than an hour.
Telepathic Probe U
Sorcery
Look at target opponent’s hand. Fateseal 1. (Look at the top card of an opponent’s library, then you may put that card on the bottom of that library.)
With a touch, Sunset dug through Juniper’s mind.
Go to Voice Mail 1U
Instant
Exile target spell. That card’s owner may cast it for as long as it remains exiled.
”I’ll get to that soon.”
—Sunset Shimmer
Starlight’s Logic 1UU
Sorcery
Draw three cards, then exile a card from your hand.
”What Twilight doesn’t know can’t hurt me.”
—Starlight Glimmer
Resonance Cascade 3U
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may cast a card with converted mana cost X or less from your hand without paying its mana cost, where X is the number of cards you own in exile.
Taking potent artifacts outside of their native plane never ends well.
Addictive Power B
Sorcery
Draw a card.
Retrace (You may cast this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)
At the beginning of your end step, if Addictive Power is in your graveyard and you didn’t cast a spell named Addictive Power this turn, you lose 1 life.
Rain of Cyanide 1B
Sorcery
Put a -1/-1 counter on each creature.
Almonds, like many seemingly mundane items, are surprisingly effective arcane catalysts.
Live in the Moment R
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has trample and “Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn.”
”What happens after can be Future Sunset’s problem.”
—Starlight Glimmer
Rogue Magic 2R
Sorcery
Each player shuffles his or her library, then reveals the top card of his or her library. Each player who revealed a land card put that card onto the battlefield. Each other player casts the card he or she revealed without paying its mana cost if able.
Internal Freakout 2RR
Instant
Target creature deals damage to itself equal to its power.
No instance of Fluttershy handles stress well. Some just handle it more quietly.
Reality Fracture 3RR
Sorcery
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Target player exiles two permanents he or she controls.
With the right magic, a plane is as fragile as glass.
Combo Meal G
Sorcery
You gain 5 life. If you cast another green spell this turn, you gain 10 life instead.
”What? I’m a growing girl.”
—Pinkie Pie
Crystalline Wisps C
Instant
Until end of turn, target creature becomes colorless and gains “Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles the top three cards of his or her library.”
Draw a card.
In the light of magic, Juniper saw her dreams come true.
Saturated Media 2
Artifact
Imprint — When Saturated Media enters the battlefield, you may exile a Song card from your graveyard.
Enchantments you control have the exiled card’s activated abilities.
1, T: Put a verse counter on each non-Song enchantment you control.
Mirror of Wishes 3
Legendary Artifact
As long as there are five or more charge counters on Mirror of Wishes, you may cast cards you own from exile.
T: Each player exiles the top card of his or her library. Put a charge counter on Mirror of Wishes.
8, T: Exile target creature. Put a charge counter on Mirror of Wishes. This ability costs 1 less to activate for each charge counter on Mirror of Wishes.
Vendor’s Kiosk 3
Artifact
Imprint — When Vendor’s Kiosk enters the battlefield, you may exile an artifact card from your hand.
At the beginning of each player’s end step, that player may pay X, where X is the exiled card’s converted mana cost. If that player does, he or she creates a token that’s a copy of that card.
Twinstar Journal 4
Artifact
5, T: If target opponent has more cards in hand than you, draw cards equal to the difference.
Pooling the wisdom of two worlds into a greater whole.
Delusional Usher UR
Creature — Human Citizen
T, Exile the top two cards of your library: Add C to your mana pool.
1(ur)B: Transform Delusional Usher. Activate this ability only if there are seven or more cards in exile.
Without magic, she’s harmless. With it…
1/2
Juniper Monstar
(UBR) Legendary Creature — Giant Reflection
Trample
Juniper Monstar’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in exile.
Whenever Juniper becomes blocked, each creature blocking it has base power and toughness 1/1 until end of turn. Prevent all combat damage Juniper would deal to those creatures this turn.
*/*
Idealized Idol 2WU
Creature — Reflection
Hexproof
Idealized Idol’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control.
Juniper immediately preferred what the mirror showed her to anything reality had to offer.
*/*
Mirror Void
Plane — Mundus
If a creature would die, exile it instead.
Whenever you roll chaos, you may return target exiled card you own to your hand.
Ooo, neat exile mechanics.
I still need to corral my Oldest long enough to watch the Shimmy-Glimmy Power Hour but this makes it sound pretty decent. Perhaps not high art, but at least a passable take on those two meeting.
I'm also disappointed that ShimSham doesn't have wings. That's one bit of torpedoed headcanon.
Once again, I'm left with this impression after watching:
"Man, I really wish I liked Starlight Glimmer more than I do."
I just can't seem to drum up more than mild interest whenever she's on screen. I think the most interesting she's been (post-villainy that is) is during the Maud episode where we learn she likes kites. At least there she shows an interest in something outside of the main six.
I think my problem with her is that she appears in these high-concept, unique episodes but oftentimes comes across as the least interesting part. It's the characters around her that seem to shine, such as Trixie, the sister princesses, and in this case, Sunset Shimmer. My interest piqued when Sunset returned to Equestria, only for her to drop off and become irrelevant in her own series.
The non-alicorn thing didn't bother me much. It just gives us fans more to work with!
I would like to see an episode, or a fic really, of Starlight tracking down the EqG version of Trixie and trying to become friends with her. She's got the time to do it!
I still haven't been able to find this episode. I'll just hope it streams on Netflix eventually.
4596451
I agree. I liked Starlight best in "Rock Solid Friendship" where she had more of a supportive role and showed a personality quirk that no other character in this show has. If she's going to be integrated into the show more, I'd prefer to see more episodes of her simply interacting one on one with a character other than Twilight or Spike.
After watching this, I've decided I'd be more than happy to watch a movie of just Sunset and Starlight friendshipping. No big bad villains. Just wandering about the human world for a while and maybe Equestria, too.
4596470
This Bookish Delight blog has links at the bottom that may prove useful.
4596451
Honestly?
Starlight Glimmer is a manipulative bitch.
She's not a villain any more, because she's (at least provisionally) accepted moral limitations on her actions. And she means well, because she's always meant well, even when she was hoping to start a Leveller Revolution. (Which end I don't think she's entirely abandoned; she's just decided to do it through more ethical and less violent means).
But she's a manipulative bitch.
This is largely out of fear of abandonment, of course. The pattern of behavior that she has demonstrated throughout her career, as villain and hero, is that she gathers together damaged people around her and makes them dependent on her friendship and approval. This makes her feel safe, because people who are dependent on her won't want to leave her.
She formed the Ponies of Our Town into a literal cult, who did her bidding as much as she thought she could get away with long-term (and she miscalculated in the long-term). She reconnected with Sunburst (and may have become his lover) only after she realized that he'd been something of a failure at life -- but a very useful failure. (Mind you, this doesn't mean that she doesn't really love him -- just that she feels more comfortable dealing with him when she is firmly dominant). Remember how Twilight Sparkle and Spike had to push her to do that?
(The instant-erection-off-the-edge-of-the-panel scene between Starlight and Sunburst in Legends of Magic # 4 was hilarious. Don't tell me that she didn't do that on purpose to mess with Sunburst's head. She knew exactly what the effect of her leaping into his bed and posing like that would likely be).
(I'm not saying that she was just teasing him. She very obviously loves Sunburst. I'm saying that she's domineering and manipulative, especially toward those whom she loves).
Notably, though all of the Mane Six -- and especially Twilight Sparkle and Spike -- have shown her friendship, she hasn't gotten that close to them. This actually disappoints Twilight Sparkle. The reason, I think, is that while she likes them, none of them is likely to be dependent on her for friendship. Twilight has Spike and the Mane Six as her best friends. Spike has Twilight and Rarity. The others of the Mane Six have their own preferences. They have accepted and befriended Starlight (and forgiven her some abusive behavior from time to time), but they don't need her.
Starlight's best friends aside from Sunburst appear to be Trixie and (now) Maud. Trixie is a lonely misequinic misfit who yearns to be a great mage like Starlight; it's not hard for Starlight to fascinate her by teaching her magic and giving her basic social acceptance. Maud is similar, though far less concerned with being admired than is Trixie. In both cases, Starlight is now their main friend.
Note that Starlight also became friendly with Discord and Thorax, but not to the same degree of intensity. Discord, of course, loves Fluttershy and is already friends with the rest of the Mane Six, Spike, Big Mac and other Ponies. Thorax, of course, now leads a Changeling Hive and only occasionally has time for Starlight. Hence they aren't emotionally dependent on Starlight.
Starlight is charismatic, cunning and her default method of getting somepony to do what she wants is to dominate, force or trick them, if a simple request doesn't work. She's learned to limit herself to legally-acceptable methods, because she now fully grasps that there's Always A Bigger Fish, but her reform is only partial, and she'll probably always be exceedingly domineering.
Which isn't to say I don't love Starlight Glimmer. She was a great villain, and she has the potential to be a great hero.
Or antiheroic hero, to be precise.
4596554
Ooh, that was a very interesting look at Starlight's psychology. And it makes a lot of sense... Just for the sake of it, how do you see Sunset, then? She's got some of the same manipulating and controlling ex-villain vibe going on, but not to the same extent. (Sunset, if pushed to a limit, might explode at her friends, possibly frighteningly literally; she wouldn't accidentally mind-control them.)
(Apologies to FoME for the drift...
)
I like to believe that Starlight's sudden tendency towards joyriding is due to her having learned to loosen up from hanging around Trixie, rather than because the writers didn't know the character.
Ultimately, I'm sad to say, none of these specials made much of an impression on me. I was very much looking forward to seeing human Starlight hanging out with Sunset, but then they hardly get any time to interact because a literal D-list movie villain tries to steal the spotlight. The disintegrating mirror dimension was actually quite creepy, and Fluttershy's deep down freak-out gets the trophy for best single line.
4596478
Thanks for the link!
That's bothering me more than it should. Is this the latest health food craze in the EG-verse? Or is the hay actually fries? That would make a bit more sense, though you'd think there should still be some meat on the buns.
Too bad we can't blame these time inconsistencies on Starlight or Star Swirl . . . Or can we?
I, too, want Sunset to ascend at some point, but it will have to be during another epic adventure.
Also, why did the color of Sunset's unicorn magic change? It was aqua like her eyes in the first movie, but here it's red like half of her cutie mark. Did the animators forget?
Yeah, I think it's the 50s hairdo that doesn't seem to go with the torn pants.
There was a wall, but Pinkie broke it.
Juniper's “I just wanted people to like me” motivation is extremely weak. No, she just thought her uncle should give her the lead role in a major movie simply because they're related. Juniper seems to realize on some level that she doesn't have enough talent to get a part without her uncle's help. She never mentions auditioning for other movie roles, and near the end of the episode, she says, “Your friends stole my one chance at being famous!” (Emphasis added. I think.)
Like you said, Juniper is unimpressive as both a villain and a supporting protagonist so far. The Dazzlings remain the most threatening villains and their story had the highest stakes. A lot of people thought Gloriosa was unremarkable because she was “just a hippy,” but I think she's a very compelling character even though she wasn't the most threatening villain. At least she got a really cool magical demon design, and I sympathized with her adult problems and motivations. Juniper doesn't even have that going for her.
4596554
If ya say so. I'm not so hung up on that kind of stuff. There's a lot I can forgive if the character is interesting enough. Just look at the pony half of my avatar to get an idea of that.
4596715
Pretty sure that was deliberate due to Starlight having a magic color shade very similar to Sunset's. Personally, I kinda like it.
4596807
Meh, they should have thought of that as they were designing Starlight if they wanted the magic to be different hues.
Well...Any plan I had for Starlight going through the portal just got swept away.
4596475
That does sound like it'd be a lot of fun. Especially if it somehow led to the Trixies meeting one another. And presumably trying to out-Trixie one another.
4596554
And now I find myself wondering if she's going to try to lure Juniper to Equestria. Or end up doing so accidentally.
4596594
On the one hand, we got to see the Shadowbolts again and Sunset at least briefly returned to Equestria. On the other hand, by this point, fanwork has done both far better than the show has. And in far greater detail than the show can, for that matter. Still, these were enjoyable fun.
4596715
Maybe it's chicken?
Of course we can. It's just a bit trickier to do it in the human dimension.
Sunset's magic has been red since Rainbow Rocks. Note the color of the seventh stripe of the harmonious rainbow just before they summon the giant alicorn construct. It's possible that her demonic transformation and/or taking a rainbow to the face altered her soul in some indelible way that shifted the visible frequency of her magic.
Given how Juniper blames the Humane Seven for getting her fired, it's clear that she has little attachment to historical accuracy. (And that's assuming that she has any idea how the acting part of the film industry actually works, which I don't believe for a second.) What matters is that she believes that was her motivation, and given her volatile nature, it soon became so. More importantly, it became so at the right time to coincide with Starlight's attempts to talk her down.
Girl be crazy, is what I'm trying to get at.
Is it just me, or did Human Starlight look more like Tara Strong's character in Littlest Pet Shop, than Starlight Glimmer.
Starlight's Grunge outfit was hilarious. And it makes sense - I mean, consider everyone's original EQG outfits. All 6 are in skirts, all wear giant boots, Fluttershy wears a tank top, Rainbow Dash has skirt for no reason...really I'd argue only Pinkie and Rarity's designs fit at all.
So Starlight dressing like a bohemian hipster totally makes sense to me.
And yea what this special proved is I want to see Starlight x Sunset hangouts. That was great.
Because she's Pinkie.
4598380
There is also the theory that the two switched places at some point, hence her total vegie diet of late.
The answer to this is OMG human Starlight is adorbsable
I liked Mirror Magic a lot. ^^ I'm so glad that we finally got some crossover between the two worlds, and the execution was spot-on. Also, it amuses me to no end that Starlight has figured out she can get away with anything if she just says "It's for my friendship studies". XD