Points of Canon: S3x05 - Magic Duel

Speaking of wheels…

• The street where Trixie locates the shop which sells her the Alicorn Amulet is definitely the same street where Tirek claims his first victim in Twilight’s Kingdom. Even the locations of individual trash items largely match. And I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be Canterlot, from the general architecture, but I can’t be definite. The wiki insists it is Canterlot – but I can’t find any statements as to why it is so sure. Any takers?

• Interesting stuff the shop contains:

  • An entire carriage – missing a few wheels and for whatever reason, indoors.
  • A lifebuoy.
  • A suspicious box with a button and a lamp.
  • Several trumpets – with valves.
  • A saddle… with stirrups.
  • A mask of a zebra, complete with the mohawk striped mane.
  • A jar of green substance marked with a skull and bones.
  • A top hat.
  • A dreamcatcher.

  Frankly, it doesn’t look like a shop so much as it looks like someone’s attic. It also clearly references Gremlins.

• It’s interesting that Trixie starts rummaging around the stuff well before she sees the “shopkeeper.” She knows exactly what she’s looking for. So what exactly would she do if she found it before the shopkeeper turned up?
• I wonder where did the shopkeeper come by his distinct Chinese-style hat.
• “Ah, you have a keen eye. The Alicorn Amulet is one of the most mysterious and powerful of all the known magical charms.” So what exactly is it doing here, I keep wondering.
• “Fluttershy, Twilight’s magic has gotten a lot better since she accidentally crushed me and Applejack with a giant snowball.” Spike is referencing Winter Wrap-Up, which gives us a chronology hard lock that I did not previously have. Also, you’d think that the events of Boast Busters made it clear Twilight is good enough.
• So why exactly is levitating a relatively small number of animals supposed to be difficult? It’s treated as a big deal, far bigger than it has any reason to be, and doing that for a few seconds gets Twilight to sweat. It’s not “levitating living things is harder” because Twilight does this often to Spike, and it’s not “levitating differently shaped things is harder” because Rarity beats this without even thinking. And of course it’s not mass, because even in this episode itself Twilight levitates a cart with two barrels and apples, which has to weigh in the hundreds of kilograms.
• “I have to be at my best when she arrives with the delegates from Saddle Arabia.” This is the only episode Saddle Arabia is mentioned in, by the way.
• “I can’t believe she’s trusting me with the entertainment.” Actually, why?
• Of course the Canterlot Friends are in the crowd watching Trixie terrorize everyone. Notably, Minuette is standing right next to the Doctor. There’s another Minuette deeper in the crowd.

• Notable spells Trixie casts during the episode while under the influence of the Amulet:

  • Creates a dress out of nothing on Rarity.
  • Reshapes Rainbow’s wing.
  • Welds Snips and Snails’ horns together.
  • Spawns a bucket out of nothing.
  • Runs a presentation.
  • Drag and drops Pinkie’s mouth to remove it entirely.
  • Telekinetically uproots the entire library tree and shakes it.
  • Spawns a bunch of pies with no obvious source.
  • Spawns a few tons of snow.
  • Spawns and despawns scissors.
  • Ages Snips while simultaneously de-aging Snails. A later use of the same spell simultaneously de-ages both of them, which suggests that there are no inherent limitations like “you must age one to de-age another”.
  • Summons a fishbowl big enough to cover Ponyville. Were this thing physical, it would weigh thousands of metric tons. Later in the episode, however, Rarity refers to it as “magical forcefield,” even though it behaves more or less like a solid object.
  • Summons two feathers.
  • Spawns dark clouds.
  • Transforms a wooden sled into a golden bed.

  Many of these spells can be interpreted in terms of telekinesis and spawning in objects. Unfortunately the exact mechanics of the spawning is never referred to.

  Notice that the amulet always glows together with Trixie’s horn, and the aura is never her usual color.

• Twilight, in turn:

  • Spawns one parasprite and then despawns two.
  • Melts all the snow Trixie spawned – that had to take a lot of energy!
  • Grows Trixie a mustache.
  • Remains standing on water for an extended period.
  • Levitates water with no container – maintaining bubbles of air inside the bubble of water.
• “We’ve got to get her in a nice, soothing pink, stat!” Notice that instead of getting Rarity out of a horrid dress first, Applejack chooses to wrap her in a pink blanket, dress and all.
• So why exactly is Twilight angry at Trixie the moment she sees her?
• “Everywhere I went I was laughed at and ostracized.” It’s interesting that the scene shown at the time depicts Trixie with a defaced wagon, in a town that otherwise looks exactly like Ponyville, and in the company of Berry Punch and Carrot Top laughing at her, later joined by Bon-Bon, Cherry Berry and a few other Ponyville citizens. This isn’t possible after the Ursa Minor incident, unless Trixie came back to Ponyville between these two episodes with a new wagon. That said, we can’t know if what Trixie is showing is truthful.
• “I even had to take a job on a rock farm just to earn a living! A rock farm!” Pie family rock farm, at that, because the stallion giving Trixie orders is definitely Igneous Rock Pie. If the statement about the rock farm is truthful at all, it had to have been the Pie family farm.
• “If I lose, I won’t set hoof in Ponyville again. But if you lose, you’re the one banished from this one-horse town!” I wonder if there is any legal or traditional basis behind this. The episode is quite inconclusive by itself in that.
• “Draw!” …wait, draw what? A wand? They don’t use wands.
• “An age spell? But… how could you do an age spell? That’s only for the highest level unicorns!” Age spells are a thing. The notion of the “highest level unicorn” is pretty unique to this episode and I don’t think it ever comes up again.
• Twilight can attempt the age spell, even if she cannot actually succeed. Presumably, she saw it done before, or at least read about it. Notice that she also practices it on flowers, implying that it works on things other than ponies.
• “Without Spike, I can’t get a message to the Princess in Saddle Arabia.” Saddle Arabia probably isn’t part of the telegraph network. Also, this is the earliest we heard of Celestia actually leaving Equestria for any length of time.
• “When it comes to magic, it would be tragic if somepony licked me, especially Trixie.” While Zecora is doing that, she mysteriously refills her cup that Twilight just spilled by waving her hoof over it. Hmmmm…
• Notice that Zecora’s cups don’t have handles.
• When the Cakes drag in Trixie’s throne, – mostly made from cookies – Pumpkin Cake is riding it, giving us a hard chronology lock.
• Notably, Trixie keeps Mayor Mare in a cage from there on and until the end of the episode.
• “And you, how long do I have to wait for my applesauce facial?” <insert clopfic> Actually, why would this be considered desirable? Or is it the early sign of Trixie going crazy?
• Rarity is sewing multiple banners. Notice the use of her usual red sewing machine.
• Rarity manages to stab her hoof with a needle, getting it to redden, which is only possible if pony hooves have a frog. Yes, some people doubted that.
• “Unlearn what you have learned. Only then can victory be earned.” I am wondering if this means anything. And while Twilight is training, Zecora is balancing on one hind leg.
• The statue of Trixie does not have the Alicorn Amulet on it, but rather, her usual gem clasp. Why?
• “Twilight has every magic book there is!” I’m sure Spike is exaggerating, but Twilight does have a book describing the Alicorn Amulet. Unfortunately, nothing allows us to determine if it is a unique item or not based on this.
• “Even though it provides great power, it also corrupts the user!” Notice the specific term.

• The list of deranged things Trixie is clearly implicated in doing is rather short:

  • She orders that Applejack must grow apples with no peels.
  • She “doesn’t trust wheels,” no explanation why.
• Actually, Sweet Apple Acres is far outside Ponyville proper. How did all the Apples end up inside Trixie’s fishbowl, and how does Trixie expect Applejack to grow anything at all?
• Trixie addresses the beavers, clearly expecting them to understand her. I’m not sure whether to count this as a derangement or not, and notably, beavers answer, expecting her to understand. And it looks like she does. Hm. Is that a spell?
• Rarity’s dangerous mission outfit includes bunny ears and is probably the cutest thing Fluttershy ever wore.
• Either Equestrian birds are ridiculously strong, or Fluttershy engages pegasus anti-gravity instinctively, permitting just six birds to carry her.
• Notably, Fluttershy is still afraid to go to the Everfree forest.
• “I wanna be brave at home, locked in my closet, with my teddy bear!” Fluttershy has a teddy bear. Or is that a bear named Theodore?…
• “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize the Alicorn Amulet!” Twilight both remembers the book and thinks she should have recognized the amulet.
• “Cheated? Moi?” Trixie speaks français too, to some degree.
• “It’s from beyond the Everfree Forest, and it’s way more powerful than your measly little Alicorn Amulet! … But I guess you’ll never see the totally awesome magic from beyond the Everfree Forest.” Wait. What is beyond the Everfree forest? Appleloosa? Dodge City? The mysterious land of zebras that, according to Amy Keating Rogers, is “beyond Everfree” like Narnia? This little phrase is a lot more important than it sounds.
• Trixie is using a nail file on her hooves.
• “That’s… That’s impossible!” Apparently, Trixie believes it is impossible for anyone to cast multiple age spells in quick succession, which suggests the limits on the power of the Alicorn Amulet.
• Lyra is watching the duel while slurping on a smoothie. Yes, I’m pretty sure she has seen this sort of thing happen before. :)
• “Ever see one pony play ten instruments?” Actually, I only see five at most, maybe six. So how exactly is Pinkie playing the tuba without a mouth? Considering she has had problems eating cupcakes without a mouth before.
• Even with the Alicorn Amulet, Trixie does not have a genderflip spell.
• When relieved of her amulet, Trixie is using some manner of pain generating spell. “That was supposed to make you writhe in agony!”
• “It’s one of Zecora’s doorstops.” Why would Zecora even need multiple doorstops when she only has one door?
• “That’s not magic. That was just Pinkie Pie.” Trixie has never had an occasion to see the one-Pinkie band before.
• The final scene has Celestia, together with the two Saddle Arabians, seated in one VIP lodge, but poor Mayor Mare is sitting in the other one, alone.
• This frame is the only depiction of Saddle Arabians. Who look like horses, are about Celestia-scale, and wear tack.
• Notice that the fireworks at the conclusion of Twilight’s routine – I really don’t get what is supposed to be impressive about it – are Trixie’s work.
• The ending of this episode is the only case where not only Pinkie breaks the fourth wall, but Twilight explicitly joins her. However, you’d think she would have gotten her mouth back much earlier than after the show for Celestia’s guests.

This episode introduces a huge list of questions, not the least of which is… so who told Trixie where she might acquire the Alicorn Amulet – an artifact that, according to the Journal of the Two Sisters, had books written about it well over a thousand years ago?

And what is “beyond Everfree?!”

Comments

[Mitch H]

Trixie speaks français too, to some degree.

I wonder if this is the source of the common fanon that Trixie is culturally Cajun, and from 'Neigh Orleans'.

Why would Zecora even need multiple doorstops when she only has one door?

That we've seen, maybe? Maybe she has a back-door to Zebrica in her wardrobe, again, Narnia-style. Or maybe she has multiple door-stops for aesthetic or ritual purposes, and swaps them out as appropriate.

This frame is the only depiction of Saddle Arabians.

Well, in this episode. They show up again in 'Equestrian Games' in the VIP seating section. The interesting question is - is Saddle Arabia part of Equestria or not?

While Zecora is doing that, she mysteriously refills her cup that Twilight just spilled by waving her hoof over it. Hmmmm…

This is the most magical we've seen Zecora being in a physical, casting sense, I think. Everything else has been pixie dust and alchemy.

It’s interesting that the scene shown at the time depicts Trixie with a defaced wagon, in a town that otherwise looks exactly like Ponyville, and in the company of Berry Punch and Carrot Top laughing at her, later joined by Bon-Bon, Cherry Berry and a few other Ponyville citizens. 

This is Clonesdale, the refuge on the far side of the Macintosh Mountains for Ponyville clones fleeing the heavy-hoofed domination of their creators and masters! Of course they're going to be kinda salty at the best of times.

[Eruantalon]

Spike has a plushy Rarity; I think Fluttershy can have a plushy bear. Why it's called a teddy bear, though, is another question.

[Oliver]

4670148

This is the most magical we’ve seen Zecora being in a physical, casting sense, I think. Everything else has been pixie dust and alchemy.

Which is why I think this is probably sleight of hoof.

[Lurks-no-More]

4670314
My headcanon for Zecora is that her tricks are one-third sleight of hoof, one-third Zebra alchemy, and one-third out-and-out magic.

[howard035]

Why the animal levitation thing was tricky: Levitation may be less than gentle on the objects it holds, leading to bruises. Unless that is, you're covered in dragonhide.

I believe the Zebra homelands are supposed to be west, over the land bridge that splits the North and South Luna seas.
4670204 Fluttershy had a Teddy Bear in Scaremaster.

Presumably Teddy Bears were named after Theodore Bully, one of Celestia's Ministers a century ago, the famed photographer of rare and exotic creatures, leader of the "Rough Chargers" in the EUP, and the establisher of the Everfree Forest as a national park. Eventually forced to resign his position after he was accused of ruining friendships in Canterlot with his paranoia, as they wanted no more trust-busting.

[Meta Four]

So why exactly is levitating a relatively small number of animals supposed to be difficult? It’s treated as a big deal, far bigger than it has any reason to be, and doing that for a few seconds gets Twilight to sweat.

Perhaps it really isn’t that big a deal. Fluttershy’s just more anxious than usual that day, and her hovering makes Twilight nervous as well.

• Twilight can attempt the age spell, even if she cannot actually succeed. Presumably, she saw it done before, or at least read about it. Notice that she also practices it on flowers, implying that it works on things other than ponies.

And a few seasons later, Twi finally masters that spell and uses it to make the yak crops grow in “Not Asking for Trouble”.

“Unlearn what you have learned. Only then can victory be earned.” I am wondering if this meansanything.

It makes sense as a summary of the whole episode’s conflict: “You can’t best Trixie with your usual approach.” But in this specific scene, it sort of comes across as a platitude that’s not terribly relevant to the immediate exercise.

• Rarity’s dangerous mission outfit includes bunny ears and is probably the cutest thing Fluttershy ever wore.

Yet it doesn’t have holes for her wings.

• Either Equestrian birds are ridiculously strong, or Fluttershy engages pegasus anti-gravity instinctively, permitting just six birds to carry her.

Remember in ”Parental Glideance”, when Sweetie Belle suggested that Scootaloo could use a flock of birds to get up to Cloudsdale?

• Trixie is using a nail file on her hooves.

It looks a hell of a lot like an oversized emery board, but I could also see that being a real hoof rasp simplified by cartoon resolution.

• This frame is the only depiction of Saddle Arabians. Who look like horses, are about Celestia-scale, and wear tack.

And they lack cutie marks.

4670148

Trixie speaks français too, to some degree.

I wonder if this is the source of the common fanon that Trixie is culturally Cajun, and from 'Neigh Orleans'.

The one place I recall seeing that particular fanon was in the Lunaverse story Longest Night, Longest Day, which looks like it was published in March 2012. “Magic Duel” came out December 2012.

[Eruantalon]

4670457
I've seen that fanon a couple places later.

(And wow, I had no idea the Lunaverse was that old!)

[Meta Four]

• She “doesn’t trust wheels,” no explanation why.

You can never trust wheels, because everypony knows that sooner or later they’ll turn on you.

[QueenMoriarty]

“Unlearn what you have learned. Only then can victory be earned.”

Considering that, even as late as Season 3, what Twilight has learned is 'all magical knowledge comes from books, books are definitely always right, and Celestia is a horrible pony who should be expected to place cold, heartless limitations on her students'... I think she could stand to unlearn the stuff she considers relevant to magic.

[Cursed Quill]

So why exactly is levitating a relatively small number of animals supposed to be difficult? It’s treated as a big deal, far bigger than it has any reason to be, and doing that for a few seconds gets Twilight to sweat. It’s not “levitating living things is harder” because Twilight does this often to Spike, and it’s not “levitating differently shaped things is harder” because Rarity beats this without even thinking. And of course it’s not mass, because even in this episode itself Twilight levitates a cart with two barrels and apples, which has to weigh in the hundreds of kilograms.

Her magic's attuned to Spike, and he's a single locus.
Rarity's talent is involved.
The animals have to enjoy and not be nauseated or crushed, while moving at high speed.

Levitates water with no container – maintaining bubbles of air inside the bubble of water.

This, meanwhile, does seem like a much harder feat.

Runs a presentation.

Televisual projector spell.

Either Equestrian birds are ridiculously strong, or Fluttershy engages pegasus anti-gravity instinctively, permitting just six birds to carry her.

I suspect she has a talent branch in being easy to catch, given the butterfly incident "Cutie Mark Chronicles"

[Blue_Paladin42]

• “And you, how long do I have to wait for my applesauce facial?” <insert clopfic> Actually, why would this be considered desirable? Or is it the early sign of Trixie going crazy?

Honestly I feel like she was acting increasingly deranged basically from the moment she appeared in Ponyville.

[Meta Four]

4670966
See also: the fact that Trixie took over Ponyville, in spite of showing no prior interest in ruling anything.