Friendship is Card Games: The Perfect Pear · 10:41pm Aug 14th, 2017
And so, finally, I can try to get this episode reviewed. Let’s hope the new laptop’s motherboard doesn’t also go the way of the Apple parents.
I have to say, I did not realize Grand Pear was Shatner for that first scene. Beneath all the memes, that man really can act.
Huh. Applejack can identify pear jam on sight. I wonder if that’s genetic.
I’m not sure what’s funnier, the attempt to hide the jam, or the fact that it works.
Let’s review: Granny Smith is going to wash up in an outhouse, then walk back inside across the yard on the hooves she just washed. Do I have that right?
As far as justifying the Apple siblings not knowing their parents’ backstory goes, this does make sense. When the parents passed on, none of the kids were old enough to consider them anything but eternal. They were Ma and Pa and always had been. By the time anyone was old enough to wonder, the only available source they knew about was Granny Smith, and she had her reasons for staying mum. As for the others, the siblings didn’t know to ask, and “Hey, want to hear about your dead parents?” isn’t exactly a phrase that comes up often in polite conversation.
I see the trip to Goldie Delicious is a lot easier when it isn’t central to the plot.
I’m going to interpret that “only farm in Ponyville” comment as Apple pride. Any place that doesn’t have an apple orchard isn’t a farm; it’s a garden with delusions of grandeur.
It’s official: Granny Smith is the one green woman in history who William Shatner’s character didn’t want to seduce.
Dinky is apparently a being that exists beyond our limited, temporal perspective. She often travels to this point in history to stretch her allowance further by way of time-reversed inflation.
Talking to trees apparently runs in the family. Applejack comes by it from both sides.
The pear-shaped pear trees amuse me more than they have any right to.
Huh. Seems there was a much bigger population at Sweet Apple Acres at the time. Presumably that was the center of the clan—the Apple core, if you will—and they spread out from there. It really does highlight just how efficient Applejack and Big Mac are considering the equivalent ponypower on display.
I’m assuming Bright Mac and Pear Butter’s first conversation operates on Rugrats logic: They can understand one another, but everyone else just hears baby babble. The alternative is… disturbing. Especially with the adult voices.
Hmm. So if their mother was a Pear (and their father smelled of elderberries) then how are the Apples related to Aunt and Uncle Orange?
I do love how blatantly Burnt Oak is Sam Elliot in pony form. They even threw in the Dude trotting away with a wagon full of rugs.
Interesting to see that Bright Mac did wear a hat very similar to Applejack’s. Maybe that’s the one hat she won’t wear. Or it’s one of the 67,986 hats he left her.
The last bit with Big Mac and Burnt Oak really is lovely. This is the closest Big Mac really has to a father figure anymore.
Mid-life name changes are canon, though it’s unclear whether Chiffon Swirl became Cup Cake when she got her cutie mark or when she got married. I had a discussion/argument about this at Bronycon. We couldn’t come to a mutually satisfactory conclusion.
I have to love how Mrs. Cake throws bags, bottles, stems, and shells into that mixing bowl without a second thought.
Equestria, where pointing at your own rear end while talking about how you got the tattoo there is socially acceptable in all walks of life.
Interesting to note that Pear Butter and Chiffon Swirl were doing their experimentation in Sugarcube Corner, implying that it’s Mr. Cake who married into the Sugarcube dynasty. I wonder if both spouses changed their names upon marriage…
Huh. Goldie may claim that pear butter’s not too different from apple butter, but Granny Smith could spot the difference from twenty paces.
I did the math, and the hour-versary comes out to just under fifteen years, assuming 24-hour days and 365.25-day years. The lovebirds are perhaps seventeen at the oldest. The only way this could be more Romeo & Juliet is if Pear Butter were a few years younger and the whole thing started because a Pear bit their hoof at an Apple.
Can we all agree that the long-distance dancing is one of the most beautiful moments this show has ever given us?
Very interesting to see the Freudian slip in the song. It could be seen as evidence that ponies aren’t in total control of themselves while in the throes of harmony. They are stubborn throes.
I suppose when you’ve grown up in an orchard managed by Granny Smith, you’re going to carve rocks rather than defile one of her apple trees. Granny probably could’ve sensed the disturbance from the other side of the Acres.
I adore how the Apple siblings gasped when Grand Pear announced the move. They’re just so enthralled by the drama.
Hmm. Vanhoover’s pretty far north. What’s the growing season like? Of course, between pegs and earth ponies, that may not be much of an issue.
I’m not sure why they needed to see the mayor. Mrs. Cake was the maid of honor, after all.
Nice continuity with Mayor Mare’s hair color. And the Mare in the Moon, for that matter. Also, Mayor Mare was still the mayor even a few decades ago. I suppose a special talent for politics makes it more than a little unfair.
Major points to Granny for taking in Buttercup after that impossible choice. And that name choice is intentional. Nopony called her Pear Butter after that. Her family abandoned her, and she abandoned them in kind. At least Grand Pear worked to make things right as best he could before his own time ran out.
While this episode collapses the Apple parent waveform in the best way possible, it never touches on two other dead ancestors. The siblings’ maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather are apparently gone and forgotten.
At the risk of ruining the moment, how did no one notice the magical hybrid app-pear tree until now? Ah well. Again, it’s a beautiful moment.
This is easily one of the best episodes of the series, much less the season, and it has almost pained me to be unable to get my thoughts on it out in my usual timely fashion. Still, much as with Grand Pear making amends, better late than never. The same applies to the cards:
Slip Under the Floorboards 2WW
Sorcery
Put target artifact, creature, or enchantment on the bottom of its owner’s library.
The only difference between planting and burying is what you expect will come of it.
Scion of Integrity 3W
Creature — Pony Rebel Warrior
Soulbond (You may pair this creature with another unpaired creature when either enters the battlefield. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them.)
As long as Scion of Integrity is paired with another creature, both creatures have protection from instants.
3/3
Courier Jay 2U
Creature — Bird
Flying
Whenever Courier Jay deals combat damage to a player, you draw two cards and that player gains control of Courier Jay.
Communication is a two-way flightpath.
2/1
Cold Feud 2UU
Enchantment
As Cold Feud enters the battlefield, choose two players.
Whenever one of the chosen players casts a spell, the other chosen player may draw a card.
The Apples and Pears fought not with weapons but with feats, each seeking to shame and outdo the other.
Overflowing Lore 5UUU
Sorcery
Exchange your hand and library. Then shuffle your library.
Shelf space is Goldie Delicious’s primary concern. Living space is somewhere around number twelve.
Burden of Regret 2B
Sorcery
Choose a card type. Target player loses 1 life for each card of the chosen type in his or her graveyard.
Even earth pony strength can’t carry a heavy heart.
Last Legacy 4B
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast Last Legacy, exile a creature card from your graveyard.
Draw cards equal to the exiled card’s power.
A final gift to those who seek it.
Talent Scout 1R
Creature — Pony Rebel Scout
Soulbond
As long as Talent Scout is paired with a creature, both creatures have “Whenever this creature attacks, scry 1.”
2/1
Forbidden Love 1RR
Sorcery
Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn. You may pair that creature with a creature you control with soulbond. (They become unpaired when you lose control of one.)
Firewood Salespony 2R
Creature — Pony Monger
Sacrifice a land: Add RR to your mana pool. Any player may activate this ability but each player may only activate it once each turn.
"I just sell the stuff. You're the one who has to be careful not to burn your house down."
2/1
Runaway Plowing 2R
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +3/+0 and has trample.
Whenever enchanted creature deals combat damage to a player, you may sacrifice Runaway Plowing. If you do, destroy target land that player controls.
Heartfelt Love Song G
Enchantment — Song
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a verse counter on Heartfelt Love Song.
G, Sacrifice Heartfelt Love Song: Target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of verse counters on Heartfelt Love Song. If that creature is paired with another creature, that creature also gets +X/+X until end of turn.
Helical Hybrid 1G
Creature — Plant
Soulbond
As long as Helical Hybrid is paired with a creature, both creatures have “T: Add G to your mana pool.”
0/3
Moonclutch Tree 1G
Creature — Plant
Reach
Whenever Moonclutch Tree blocks a creature with flying, put a +1/+1 counter on Moonclutch Tree.
”At least there is something that appreciates my night.”
—Princess Luna
0/3
Branch Blanketer 2G
Creature — Pony Druid
Lands you control have hexproof.
”I shelter the boughs as they shelter me.”
2/3
Feuding Bear 2GG
Creature — Bear
When Feuding Bear enters the battlefield, you may have it fight target creature you don’t control.
”Sometimes you massage the bear, and sometimes the bear massages you.”
—Fluttershy, Bearer of Kindness
3/3
Historian’s Cheetah 3G
Creature — Cat
If an opponent drew two or more cards this turn, you may cast Historian’s Cheetah without paying its mana cost.
Flash
Borrowing books from Goldie Delicious is strongly discouraged.
4/2
Hoarder’s Clowdersphere 3GG
Creature — Cat Construct
Hoarder’s Clowdersphere enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each other Cat you control.
Whenever another Cat enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on Hoarder’s Clowdersphere.
When Hoarder’s Clowdersphere dies, create X 1/1 green Cat creature tokens, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Hoarder’s Clowdersphere.
3/3
Lovers’ Petroglyphs 2
Artifact
T: Add C to your mana pool.
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast a spell with soul bond or to activate an activated ability of a paired creature.
Earth ponies inscribe their devotion on the land itself.
Sudden Sneeze (gw)
Instant
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn. Each attacking player and defending player gains 2 life.
”The right joke at the right moment can make all the difference.”
—Pinkie Pie, Bearer of Laughter
Breakfast for Dinner 3GU
Enchantment
At the beginning of your postcombat main phase, you get an additional beginning phase after this phase. (The beginning phase consists of the untap step, upkeep step, and draw step.)
There is magic in all things earth ponies make, including pancakes.
Four-Season Promenade
Land
When Four-Season Promenade enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.
T: Add C to your mana pool.
1, T: Add G, W, or U to your mana pool.
Works nearly impossible on any other plane are easily crafted on Ungula.
RAMBLING LINK! RAMBLING LINK!
4634666
Link has been properly chastised. Silly silent protagonists.
I'll take four!
Or is it a talent for Civics?! :D
The bear has no P/T. Makes fighting rather difficult.
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Scion of Integrity, either.
Even though it's more g/u commander untap sheanigans, my favorite's definitely breakfast for dinner.
I have some things to say about this.
That WAS a bit odd, wasn't it?
Eh, Granny probably figured Winona finally died and they just buried her in the kitchen for apple reasons.
The animators either threw that in there deliberately to dick with us, or somebody at DHX just has absolutely no idea what an outhouse is for.
Or maybe he did, and the feud started because of a love affair gone sour...?
It checks with Granny's story in "Family Appreciation Day" where the Smiths were settlers looking for a place to homestead. That's pretty much how pioneer families worked: stake a homestead, farm it, pop out a bunch of kids, they pop out their own kids, and pretty soon the one family is larger than the population of the rest of the town, so they start spreading out.
Probably by way of one of Granny's siblings who went off and married an Orange, I reckon.
My take on it: She became Mrs. Cake when she married Carrot, and took the name 'Cup' to honor her best friend.
It's far more likely that Chiffon Swirl just worked for the previous owners/that was just a house and not a store until after the Cakes got married. (Or, y'know, lazy animators.)
I've actually researched Vancouver's climate for one of my stories (I think you know which one). It's actually quite temperate, but really freaking rainy. Basically, it's Canada's Seattle.
As for Aunt and Uncle Orange, did the episode say Bright Mac was Granny's older child? I only saw it the once and don't recall. If not, as was suggested, it's possible they're using Aunt/Uncle in place of cousin-- I have a cousin who's significantly older than my Mom, and just out of respect, I called her aunt, for example.
In my own fic, I've disregarded this-- my ponies in general are matrilineal, and the earth clans especially so. This doesn't really bother me; I didn't expect to see that much horse-behaviorness in a children's cartoon show anyway. Though I have been surprised from time to time by how much horse body language (with exceptions in certain leg places) do show up. I am wondering whether or not I should genderflip the names when I do bring them up.
Cold Feud is a beautiful card. It's even more delicious politicking than the red feud spells!
Breakfast for Dinner is fun, too, especially the flavor text.
I think the red trample land destruction is a wee bit OP, unless you're counting Stone Rain.
About died of laughter when I got to Hoarder's Clowdersphere. It'd be amazing in the upcoming cat commander deck, too.
Did you notice that Felicia Day (Penny from Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) was Pear Butter? Fun fact: both she and Patton Oswalt star as the villains of the new MST3K.
Loved the episode, even if I can't call it best-of-season. "Rock-Solid Friendship" takes that spot for me (for personal reasons).
They didn't bring Pinkie the Spacewarper along this time, or have conflicts over the route. (And they've probably had time to refine it in between.)
It's reeeal good at doing its dis-ap-pear-ing act.
Just.. such a perfect episode.
And one amazing review.. that "Green woman" line just... I lost it.
As to how they didn't find the tree sooner, it was said ti was at the edge of the farm, the area is highly overgrown, so it's in a part of the farm they haven't actually used in years, possibly after all the apples started leaving and they couldn't work quite as much anymore.
I did think it was weird that Pear butter was surprised, as she had to have prepared the song herself.
I know others have said this, but the simplest explanation is that Aunt Orange is Granny Smith's daughter. She may have been left out of this episode for simplicity's sake, similar to Bright Mac's father and Pear Butter's mother not being mentioned.
I swear that scene made me say “aww” out loud all four times I watched it.
I've been researching apples for a story I'm working on, and apparently Washington State is a big producer of apples. Growing pears in Vancouver seems like it would be in the same ballpark.
Anyway, this was a beautiful episode. It shattered my headcanon and I don't even care.
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Can you tell I put this one together in a hurry? I'd also missed Talent Scout before I went back and checked.
4634734
I want to ask for a definition of "apple reasons," but I'm not sure if I want to know.
Certainly a possibility.
... Huh. That works on a surprising number of levels.
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No word on which of their clansponies were Bright Mac or Pear Butter's siblings, nor any relative ages. Though given the sheer quantity of Apple cousins, you'd think he had some siblings.
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You know it's a good story when you don't even mind the headcanon massacre.
Overall note: I do like how you've used Soulbond for this set, very thematic.
I don't think you need the reminder text on Forbidden Love, since Soulbond's own reminder text has "They remain paired for as long as you control both of them." in it already but then again having said reminder on the gank card doesn't hurt anything.
Since I'm making comments: normal comment about Heartfelt Love Song's name and the naming of Song cards.
<Insert 'Soviet Request' joke here>
As much as I like the mental image of a bunch of bunches of cats (the name makes me think it's more than one clowder grouped into a ball instead of a clowder in the shape of a ball) all in a ball I think Hoarder's Clowdersphere should probably be a base 0/0 creature.
Breakfast for Dinner is bonkers with any of the various cards that give you additional combat phases followed by an additional main phases, Getting the extra draw is nice enough, but also getting another untap is powerful, yet not outside of what Green has done before anyways. Now you just need to make use of upkeep abilities, maybe even run the Haze that broke time to make even more use out of upkeep abilities. Lot of combo potential and it's also just a really good card even if you're not doing anything else with it.
It also does something new, since we've not had any cards that give additional beginning phases before.
I'm glad you got through that drama with your computer. I know I wasn't in the comments of those blogs, but I was following along with them. At least you're done with all that now.
Going with the Bright Mac's sibling route. Just makes the most sense to me. Though, I can't decide which of the Oranges I want it to be, because their designs are pretty similar, and neither of them have Apple-related marks.
I like 4634734's take here.
There was so much implied motivation and choices here. I was actually really surprised at how subtle some of this was.
Does lead a further air of tragedy to Granny Smith. She not only outlived (at least one of) her children, but apparently her husband also died young.
I'm not sure about the series as a whole yet, but this is definitely the highlight of the season so far for me. I've made no secret of the fact that I haven't been enjoying season seven on the whole, but this was a breath of fresh air for me, and a sorely needed one.