Friendship is Card Games: Better Together, Part 4 · 12:13pm Mar 11th, 2018
Two bits of breaking news to take into account. Firstly, another round of Better Together shorts just came out on Discovery Family’s app, and an enterprising soul already has them on Dailymotion. That means it’s time for another round of human shenanigans, with the animators taking full advantage of those swimsuits they made for “Forgotten Friendship.”
Also, there was a regrettable leak for the next Magic set, Dominaria (Bigger than the previous leak, but not nearly as early relative to the release, so a mixed bag.) This includes some formatting changes that I’ll be instituting henceforth, aside from the divider line between rules and flavor text that just doesn’t play well with this format. See Zennistrad's blog here if you’re interested and want to avoid spoilers for the set.
With that out of the way, time for a little summer in March... which I will sorely appreciate, since I'm between nor'easters right now. 
Before we begin the beach episodes, there are two older shorts to get out of the way. This one’s been around since the second wave of the things back in November, when Discovery GO was still a thing on PCs. I just haven’t been able to fit in into the schedule until now.
“Canterlot City”? So Canterlot High School is named after the city in whose suburbs it lies? I’m not buying it. Indeed, I have a standing theory about this short that I’ll get to at the end.
Pinkie frolics in so many ways that she’s made it into a homophone.
The puffcake: Half creampuff, half cupcake, all cronut trademark dodging. 
Don’t worry, cartoonishly distressed jeweler! Seven transforming teenagers with attitude are here to save the day!
I quite like the idea of Rarity riding one of her constructs. Cheesily proclaiming “The puffcakes will have to wait.. for justice!” I can take or leave. The instant transformation into the Legend of Everfree outfits? I’ll get to that.
The problem with either Dash’s super speed in a chase scene is giving a reason for why she doesn’t catch the target in a matter of seconds. “Movie Magic,” for example, justifies it by way of Juniper Montage knowing the terrain. With “Shadow Play,” even Dash knew better than to directly confront the Pony of Shadows? Here? … Yeah. Same story as why the super-strong Applejack can’t open museum doors that by all rights should be unlocked.
I do love Sunset’s horrified expression as Applejack throws an old woman (and park bench) at the thief. I love said old woman’s complete nonchalance. “Ah, to be young and using the elderly as projectiles. Why, back in ’46…”
Heh. They couldn’t fit in the sugar bombs in any safe way, so Pinkie blows up a bush.
It’s very nice to see what Sunset’s mind reading looks like without following her into the exposition zone. No wonder no one tries to throw her off.
This story goes in two very different directions depending on whether the crook tried to steal the jewels to impress his would-be girlfriend on his own initiative, or if she told him to do it.
And the ending shows why I can’t take as much issue with this as I might: It’s fictitious in-universe, a comic made by Sunset rather than anything that actually happened. Hence the hearts and punctuation that crop up her and there, the action panels, and making the girls almost laughably incompetent now and again. The story demanded that they each get a chance to demonstrate their abilities. Given that, I can live with a lot of the foibles and enjoy the spectacle.
Huh. The tour bus is still a thing. Good to know. Also, is it just me, or is it really easy to imagine Granny Smith in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?
Heh. Applejack. Also, good thing Twilight practices using her telekinesis for fine manipulation so much. Also also, Granny Smith is apparently used to the girls’ magical shenanigans.
“Sprinkeblast” is a good word. Especially when it comes from Zen Pinkie.
“Hold on to your horses, girls!” And then everyone grabbed Sunset. Actually, I’m kind of disappointed they didn’t do a shot of that.
Twilight, I don’t think they’re going to mind if you’re a few seconds…
Wait, sorry, forgot who I was talking to for a bit there.
Ah yes, the world of magical, self-amplifying instruments, where a band only needs a few seconds of setup before they can begin.
Also, I see both Goldie Deliciouses are crazy cat ladies, though the human one seems a bit less isolated. Makes sense; the internal combustion engine did a lot to shrink the world.
This was fun, and arguably did a better job of demonstrating some of the girls’ powers than the previous one.
And so we begin the newest shorts. And… is there supposed to be any kind of play on words with this title, or is it just the hoped-for audience reaction?
Fluttershy can hear the cries of suffering animals from that far away? Given the ongoing struggle of life and death all around us, how does she even sleep at night?
Also, she can identify species based on what she hears through her geode. Huh. Not sure how that works.
Good thing Dash brought Tank to the beach today. Also, tortoises apparently have turtle sense.
You know it’s bad when your shenanigans are too silly for Best Human.
I have to love how Fluttershy is utterly horrified by all the perilous obstacles the baby turtles face… when the ocean is clearly visible right behind the girls.
Still, the baby turtles do have to face a weapon to surpass Metal Gear.
Holy crap. Not only is that crab absurdly strong, it also has a razor.
Applejack apparently has no concern whatsoever about those pillars collapsing on her.
Tank: The true hero of this short.
The hugs are cute, but I can’t help but think about how the turtles’ actual mother abandoned their eggs months ago. I mean, I’m not judging; not many reptiles care for their young. But still.
A fun little mini-adventure, though I can’t help but wonder what Twilight, Sunset, and Pinkie were up to on this day…
Hmm. Given how many days the girls spend at the beach over the summer, they’re definitely a lot closer to a coast than I thought. I realize it’s a little late for this observation, but still.
Is that a thing? To people just refer to sunscreen as “SPF” without giving a number?
Uh, Rarity? Ears don’t usually wear clothes.
I love how Rarity took the time to bedazzle her metal detector.
Okay, how did an ice skate get buried at the beach? I feel like there’s a story there.
Uh, super strength is one thing, but sand does not work that way, even if the tide’s going out and it’s wet. I know, cartoon logic, but I have to wonder if this may indicate how Applejack’s strength magic works. It may be a form of tactile telekinesis conducting through the sand grains and forming a massive clump.
What? Not like I’m going to get a lot of deep analysis opportunities with these.
The horseshoe… actually makes slightly more sense. Someone might have wanted to play the game with the genuine article. At the beach. For some reason.
I did say slightly more sense.
So. Over the course of the day, the girls manage to dig up a Royal Legion helmet, several hopefully empty hazardous waste containers, actual buried pirate gold, a flying saucer, Discord’s cane from the Grand Galloping Gala, and a kitchen sink. Among other things. I’m beginning to suspect there’s one heck of a spacetime anomaly at this beach.
Ha! I was right. Rainbow Dash has no conception of technology before the cutting edge.
“Darn,” thinks Rainbow Dash. “This sapphire-studded gold earring isn’t what we’re looking for. Better bury it again.” That mentality may explain how some of that stuff ended up under the beach in the first place.
So… was Rarity beachcombing before she went apoplectic? Because otherwise we have a paradox where she loses the earring in that headphone, then rents the metal detector to find the earring.
A lot of questions raised by the background gags in this one. Yes, I’m overthinking it, but that’s half the fun for me.
Well. That’s quite a… distinctive title card. 
Is the Adopt-a-thon really necessary? I don’t see pet crabs being a huge hit. Still, Fluttershy’s going to do Fluttershy things.
Rarity dressing a tiny crab. Not usually how the meme goes, but it’s always weirdly funny to see her interacting with crustaceans.
Also, nice to see the return of Pinkie’s crab costume.
Oh hey, the boy who was horrified by Juniper Monstar. That kid just can’t win, huh?
Wait, was Pinkie not wearing sandals in anything before? … No, she definitely was, including while wearing the crab costume. The Rule of Funny giveth, and the Rule of Funny taketh away.
Okay, anyone else get Animaniacs flashbacks at the “Boingy, boingy, boingy”?
Hmm. Did Pinkie faceplant because reality finally caught up to her shenanigans, or because it was the funniest way for her to return? The ways of the transcendent are mysterious to those not initiated into such mysteries.
I’m willing to forgive tortoise tears, but sweating crabs is where I draw the line.
I’ll be honest; I’d have given the crabs the sandy ice.
Moral of the story: Send the speedster on snack runs. And pretty much any other kind of run. In all, fun bit of Pinkie zaniness. And thankfully devoid of sunburnt Big Mac.
Hmm. Given the grouping here, this could’ve been going on at the same time as “Lost and Found.”
Also, that first line raises the question of whether Cheese Sandwich exists in this world.
I love the contrast between Sunset and Twilight. Sunset’s always eager to find something unexplained or supernatural in this world. Twilight doesn’t let go of Occam’s Razor so easily.
Nice move by Fluttershy to search for cryptids by sound.
What are you doing here, Timber? I thought you lived on that camp your entire life. Though I suppose if the beach is on the other end of Camp Everfree, that might explain a few things.
You got a real winner there, Twilight. Sure, he’ll grab an axe to confront his own sister, but a sea monster? Hide behind the nerd! I love how Twilight is utterly displeased with him afterwards, because this is one case where the shipping goggles are fused with my eyes, and I will freely admit that.
Also, how many times is Fluttershy going to pull the “sea monster emerging from the deep” routine? At this rate, she’s going to be known as the girl who cried Cthulhu.
A frothy bit of fun, with Timber Spruce presence at acceptable levels.
Maybe don’t walk and play at the same time, Sunset.
Huh. A sand-Spike. I’m impressed. Also, it looks like I’m getting my answer on what happened while the others were helping baby turtles.
Crabs are apparently the bane of all existence going by these shorts.
MFBO to PIER? It’s Rot-3, Sunset, I think you could’ve cracked it without the ring.
Octavia, Lyra, and Ditzy in the same shot. It’s a fandom trifecta.
Holy crap, the sushi truck is canon. Not Sunset-customized, but still. Didn’t see that one coming.
… Okay, Tara Strong is a very talented voice actress, but that really does just sound like Twilight trying to do a pirate voice.
Also, certainly an… interesting marketing strategy. I don’t see it paying off all that much, though.
Water won’t help, Pinkie. That burn’s gonna last a while.
In all, these were nice, light fun. Interesting how Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash form one block, Twilight and Sunset the other, and only Pinkie and Fluttershy seem to go between them. Not sure what the story is there; probably just an emergent property of the low sample size.
(That isn’t what the goggles say, but I’m paying them little heed.)
Now, time to follow up this taste of summer with some treats of my own.
Crystal Bonds W
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can’t attack.
Fabulosity 2W (2W: If this Aura isn’t fabulous, put a gem counter on it and it becomes fabulous.)
As long as Crystal Bonds is fabulous, enchanted creature can’t block and its activated abilities can’t be activated.
Call to Action 2W
Instant
Creatures you control get +1/+1 and gain indestructible until end of turn.
Victims call. Heroes answer.
Experienced Driver 2W
Creature — Human Pilot
Whenever Experienced Driver crews a Vehicle, that Vehicle gains absorb 2 until end of turn. (If a source would deal damage to it, prevent 2 of that damage.)
“Don’t worry, that’ll buff right out.”
1/3
Excavate 1U
Sorcery
Target player puts the top five cards of their library into their graveyard. Create a colorless Treasure artifact token with “T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.”
Buried treasure never stays that way for long.
Scuttling Blademaster 1U
Creature — Crab Warrior
2R: Scuttling Blademaster gains double strike until end of turn.
As magic spread through the world, so did intelligence.
2/1
From the Depths 1UU
Sorcery
Creatures you control can’t be blocked this turn except by blue creatures.
”Dad served on a ship once. He won’t tell me what he did, but he’s never touched calamari since.”
—Bonbon, entirely normal student
Hatchling Waveseekers 2U
Creature — Turtle
Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Hatchling Waveseekers can’t be blocked this turn.
Though slow and clumsy on land, in the water they dart about like minnows.
2/2
Veiled Kelpie 2U
Enchantment
1U: If Veiled Kelpie is an enchantment, it becomes a 3/4 Beast creature with hexproof until end of turn.
Harmless flotsam lies in wait for prey who will investigate.
Rainbow Ice 2U
Sorcery
Converge — Tap up to X target creatures, where X is the number of colors spent to cast this Rainbow Ice. Those creatures don’t untap during their controllers’ next untap step.
So delicious that no one who tastes it can focus on anything else.
Swooping Gulls 3U
Creature — Bird
Flying
Whenever Swooping Gulls deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
The scavengers welcomed humans to the beach, for they offered so many new opportunities to feed.
2/2
Ship’s Cook 3B
Creature — Human Pirate
Whenever another attacking creature dies, you gain life equal to that creature’s power.
”Chop it up fine and add enough spice and no one can tell what it used to be.”
3/2
Breaching Blast 1R
Sorcery
Destroy target creature with defender.
Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
Pinkie’s powers are exactly as destructive as she wants them to be.
Searing Sands 1R
Enchantment
Whenever a creature without flying enters the battlefield, Searing Sands deals 1 damage to that creature.
One sun is enough to turn sand into a torture device.
Sprinkleblast 2R
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, remove X counters from among permanents you control.
Sprinkleblast deals X damage to any target.
”Pinkie’s potential for destruction is one of those things I try not to think about.”
—Twilight Sparkle
Archaic Find 2G
Sorcery
Return target permanent card from your graveyard to your hand. If that card is historic, draw a card. (Legendaries, artifacts, and Sagas are historic.)
“Are those actual buttons? When was this made, the Stone Age?”
—Rainbow Dash
Road Blockers 3G
Creature — Ox
Protection from Vehicles (This creature can’t be blocked, targeted, or dealt damage by Vehicles.)
Those who don’t stop when they see the herd soon wish they had.
3/3
Ponderous Trailblazer 4G
Creature — Turtle
You may exert Ponderous Trailblazer as it attacks. When you do, creatures with power 2 or less can’t block creatures you control this turn. (An exerted creature won’t untap during your next untap step.)
Slow and steady clears the place.
3/4
Decorated Detector 3
Artifact
Fabulosity 4
2, T: Scry 2. If Decorated Detector is fabulous, create a colorless Treasure artifact token with “T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.”
Interstellar Transport 4
Artifact — Vehicle
Flying
Interstellar Transport can block only creatures with flying.
Crew 3
Crew with Artificer 1 (Tap any number of Artificers you control with total power 1 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
5/5
Intrepid Captain 1(ur)B
Creature — Human Pirate
Raid — When Intrepid Captain enters the battlefield, if you attacked with a creature this turn, Intrepid Captain explores twice. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard. Then repeat this process.)
2/1
Wasabi Overwhelming 2BR
Instant
Target creature gets +5/-5 until end of turn.
”Of course it’s the horseradish that has magical properties. I don’t know why I’d expect anything different.”
—Twilight Sparkle
Scarred Crab 3UB
Creature — Crab
Scarred Crab enters the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it.
1UB, Remove a -1/-1 counter from Scarred Crab: Return target creature to its owner’s hand. That player discards a card. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
3/4
Sand Citadel
Land
Sand Citadel enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add R.
T, Sacrifice Sand Citadel: Add WU.
Its crumbling towers still stand proud. For now.
Was not expecting beach shorts but I'll take any excuse to continue seeing the girls in those swimsuits.
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That crab with the knife really made me laugh especially when it used the knife to halt Rainbow's advance.
Timber was a surprise but I appreciate the relationship not being forgotten while also not getting shoved down our throats. Lets be honest the man hiding behind the woman is a cheap gag nearly every cartoon uses but damn if it won't end up fueling more Timber bashing.
Rarity using the word naked made me laugh more then it probably had any right to.
I thought that Rarity's impossibly styled curls had caught the missing earring, not the metal-detector headphones.
More shorts? I'm not complaining, but I don't know if I'll have time to watch all of them today. Hopefully I'll get caught up in the next couple of days.
*dies*
...
...........
OH GODDAMMIT.
Pretty sure it's just the cuteness reaction.
The Baby Turtles and "X Marks the Spot" shorts probably coincide.
Eh, Canterlittle is only an hour's drive out from Canterlot. It's the "cheap beach" which is why everybody goes there.
Pretentious AF people like Rarity, I guess.
Derpy tried to invent sand skating. It didn't go so well.
There's an outflow current from the Bermuda Triangle. If the girls aren't careful, they're likely to end up aboard the Chaos with Zak Storm.
I think it was in her hair, then ended up in the headphone.
Well after all, so far only the male viewers have gotten any real fanservice out of the EG beach stuff. The girls needed some eye candy too!
And always going to look damn cute doing it.
Only peripherally; Pony Pinkie did the "Boingy, boingy, boingy" thing in "Games Ponies Play".
Simple explanation: Twilight texted him she was spending time at the beach with her friends. Beach=swimsuits, Timber wanted to see that, so he signed up for a lifeguard gig.
Hell, it's what I'd do.
Fluttershy: "I am a sea monster." *evil giggle*
All the crabs in these shorts are either a shout-out to the Rarity meme, a shout-out to me, or both. It's far from the first time we've caught blatant references to my fics in canon. Not just mine, either--Wallflower Blush is basically a GIANT wink and nod to SS&E.
I need screencaps, good quality screencaps, of Octavia from this short. For...research purposes. Yes.
These are wild animals. The baby turtles are going to have to fend for themselves as soon as they reach the ocean anyway. Fluttershy should know this (and Tank shouldn't really care about anything that isn't feeding him).
I've heard in the past that sea turtles just leave their eggs buried on beaches and then return to the ocean leaving the baby turtles to hatch and enter the water on their own, so this isn't unexpected. Honestly surprised the seagulls and weren't more of a factor judging by the trouble Pinkie had with snow cones. Speaking of which, I can only assume she took off her crab costume in some changing room and switched to her swimsuit, completely forgetting to bring her flip flops since it looked a lot like the crab costume was on top of her normal costume.
I did love that the shipwreck turned out to be tiny. For a moment, I was thinking I was in an NCMares art piece (or whomever does giant human AJ art) and that Applejack was huge! Then it turned out to be forced perspective with Fluttershy.
I wonder if the sushi episode takes place before or after Sunset gets a job at the sushi restaurant at the mall? Could this be the moment that Sunset discovers her love of raw fish? Looks to be a slightly larger version of temaki zushi (hand rolled sushi) done up in a way that mimics a soft serve ice cream cone, which we don't see at all during the episodes (though plenty of snowcones!). Contents appear to be fish, avocado, salmon eggs, nori (seaweed), and possibly lettuce. Judging by how it looks identical to Twilight's, I do wonder if this changes anything regarding what we know about Sunset's diet as a human?
I too had an Animaniacs flashback when Pinkie was bouncing. When she was flying high with the kite, I was reminded of the story of Icarus since the kite doesn't come apart until she "flew into the sun" as it were. I guess Celestia was having some fun at her expense.
I have to wonder if anyone noticed the sea mine that AJ and RD dug up? I mean, all the other stuff kinda makes sense (Derpy and the ice skate makes as much sense as anything else)
Anyone spot Lily Pad on the beach from the Pinkie Sitting episode?
I'm surprised to see Pinkie can't handle her fake wasabi. I assume it's fake wasabi, since it's almost impossible to get real wasabi outside of Japan, and this seems to be in a pseudo-America.
Also, it speaking of goggles, it looks like Ditzy and Bulk Biceps may be an item. At the very least they appear together more than once in this set.
Am I reading Ship's Cook correctly when I understand it as having to be an attacker itself for its effect to trigger?
5168060
it doesn't have to attack itself. It just doesn't trigger its own ability if it dies while attacking. After all, how do you cook your own body?
And yeah, judging by the later shorts, Bulkderp seems to be a thing. I personally prefer Flashderp, but it's still a cute couple.