Friendship is Card Games: Legends of Magic #5 & #6 · 1:27pm Feb 17th, 2019
We reach the halfway point of the Legends of Magic series by covering the last two remembered Pillars (as opposed to Stygian, Pillar of Logistics. Thanks, Shadow Lock.) Let’s begin.
Issue #5: Somnambula and the Snake
And, of course, we open with Sunburst never having heard of Somnambula. These are some tasty words. 
Huh. You don’t often see acknowledgement of Tiberius when Andy Price isn’t doing the art. Neat.
I knew Pinkie was mostly made of bubble gum, but… Yikes.
Heh. I do love adventurers casually namedropping their famous contacts. Also, good on Pinkie for maintaining Daring Do’s secret identity.
Yeah, Pinkie retelling anything is going to get kind of weird. That is a mind that bounces from step one to step seventeen because the rest seem like obvious connections to it.
I like how both Pinkie and Starlight insist that Sunburst does funny voices for all the characters. An unexpected bit of common ground between those two, but I like it.
Nice use of prehensile forelock. Also, Pinkie’s “Party of One” friends are apparently attending this party.
The whole exchange before Somnambula understands the magnitude is fantastic, her upbeat reaction to the real thing even more so. I know she’s proto-Pinkie Pie, but wow. Though her rationale is equally great. Panicking isn’t productive.
That seems like way too many teeth for a snake to have.
Huh. Wasn’t expecting a reference to “Join or Die.” Though I get the feeling the snake isn’t trying to declare independence from Britain.
“All of Southern Equestria is doomed!” This still bothers me. I can’t help but think that if they’d just gone with a different name for the southern deserts, it’d settle so many issues with “Daring Done?”
“The inside of a snake is there whether you see it or not.” No comment, I just really like that line.
Huh. There’s no “w” in glopaz? This is the opposite of my usual problem; normally I end up mispronouncing words I’ve only seen and never heard.
Those are remarkably intact huts for being eaten.
Ponies are apparently about two feet tall at the shoulder. At least, they were in Somnambula’s time.
“What you reckon, Ma?” Huh. When they called it Southern Equestria, I didn’t think they meant that kind of southern.
I know reptiles digest slowly, but this is ridiculous.
A wizard creating a destructive monster through short-sighted pettiness. Huh. Foreshadowing.
I have to love Somnambula’s “This is fine” face in the second panel here.
Heh. As I said, proto-Pinkie Pie. And Hisan was the Twilight of a most unusual retelling of “Feeling Pinkie Keen,” albeit with 75% fewer giant ophidian heads and 100% less spontaneous equine combustion. Though it’s not one-to-one. I’ll definitely take a lesson about good faith and good research methods working hand in hand over “I don’t understand it, ergo it can’t exist.”
Also, it’s always kind of reassuring to see Pinkie unsettle other characters in-universe. As much as she’s a cuddly bundle of joy, she is also a strange and alien mind that is thankfully still amused and fulfilled by the lesser beings around her.
Issue #6: Mage Meadowbrook and the Abandoned City
Good on Sunburst. Recreational research is all well and good, but he still has an alicorn filly to defuse every now and again. (It’s a shame he never met Moondancer, but I remain convinced that if those ever fell in love, they’d be so absorbed in each other and their research that they’d starve to death.)
I still love how Sunburst can pack so many books that Starlight struggles to lift the box. The two of them bonding over wanting to beat Twilight to something is genuinely great as well. A great bit of mutual character building. A bit ironic that they found that connection after the events of “Uncommon Bond.”
“Maybe you can find the information that leads to some grand adventure.” Heh. That’s practically fiveshadowing.
Yeesh. And we thought Rarity was bad.
“There’s nothing like a good healing spell… or a zone of truth.” Hmm. Spike’s O&O party does need a cleric.
Wait, so there actually are records of Meadowbrook curing swamp fever? I suppose the specific methods must have been lost to the ages… or, you know, only written in a few books in Star Swirl’s personal study. Same difference.
Blue flu actually existed? I suppose the real thing only bore a superficial resemblance to what Discord concocted in “Three’s a Crowd.”
Meadowbrook’s haste works in terms of missing the “Do Not Enter” sign, but at first it seemed like she didn’t notice it because her own word balloon was in the way.
Okay, I know the timeline is awfully screwy, especially when it comes to the Pillar who seems like she came out of American bayou culture rather than classical antiquity, but this town is clearly a Wild West set piece.
Meadowbrook: “This is creepy.”
Narration box: It was.
I don’t know why this amuses me, but it does. The narration seems to interact with Meadowbrook a lot more than the earlier issues. I suppose it’s a way to heighten the atmosphere. I have to say, it is, working… though looking away from the comic every five seconds to write these comments rather lessens the impact. 
Oh. Wow. Now that’s what I call an impactful splash panel. The piano player performing Thriller is a bit on the nose, though.
“This is bad!”
It was.
Ah, the healer’s dilemma. You have to be close enough to treat the disease, but not so close that you end up contracting it.
Meadowbrook may not be a traditional swashbuckler, but darn if she doesn’t make it work.
That panel on the stairs… Derpibooru has already captured my thoughts on the matter.
The modern barn doesn’t help the sense of flagrant anachronism.
Ah, better magic through chemistry. And frog squeezing.
I don’t know, I’d say “I’m the cure for what ails you” works better than “I’m the remedy” in that particular context.
So is Sunburst imagining the funky ninja action music, or did Star Swirl see fit to embed some in the book?
Good to see that Meadowbrook stuck around long enough to make sure the town didn’t starve.
Given Sunburst’s skepticism, I think Star Swirl really did embed the action music. Which makes the siren Fiendship issue seem distressingly close to canon.
And there. We. Go. The stage is set for “Shadow Play,” and in three weeks, we’ll begin our look at the Tragedy of Stygian.
Not much of a moral to this one, though I can certainly get behind Meadowbrook as a Cajun science ninja. On that note, time to reveal what I’ve brewed up this week:
Hisan’s Guard 1WW
Creature — Pegasus Warrior
Flying
You may exert Hisan’s Guard as it attacks. When you do, create a 1/1 white Pegasus creature token with flying that’s tapped and attacking. (An exerted creature won't untap during your next untap step.)
2/2
Quarantine Protocol 1WW
Instant
Creatures you control gain first strike and lifelink until end of turn.
The optimal distance between healer and patient depends on how accurately the former can kick the treatment.
Additional Guests 2W
Instant
Create a 1/2 colorless Construct artifact creature with defender for each creature attacking you and planeswalkers you control.
Pinkie makes sure every party is properly populated.
Hisan, Prince of Oases 3WW
Legendary Creature — Pegasus Advisor
Flying
Other creatures you control get +1/+1 as long as you control a Desert.
Other creatures you control get +1/+1 as long as there is a Desert card in your graveyard.
2/2
Overeager Scholar 1UU
Creature — Unicorn Wizard
Overeager Scholar doesn’t untap during your untap step if you have four or more cards in hand.
U, T: Draw a card.
His eyes are bigger than his lifting capacity.
1/1
Calm Analysis 2U
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, if an opponent controls the creature with the greatest power or tied for greatest power among creatures on the battlefield, draw a card.
“The only good panicking does is give you a decent workout.”
—Somnambula, Pillar of Hope
Dumbfounding Discovery 2U
Sorcery
Draw three cards. If it’s your turn, end the turn. (Exile all spells and abilities on the stack, including this card. Discard down to your maximum hand size. Damage wears off, and "this turn" and "until end of turn" effects end.)
Sunburst’s jaw dropped. His mind raced. This would change everything.
Insight Brewer 3U
Creature — Unicorn Wizard
T, Remove a +1/+1 counter from a creature you control: Draw a card.
The only knowledge the potion won’t provide is how to make it.
2/2
Nilson Swamp Frog 1B
Creature — Frog
Whenever Nilson Swamp Frog deals combat damage to a creature, put a -1/-1 counter on that creature.
”They’re harmless as long as you don’t ingest their skin secretions, but those secretions get everywhere.”
—Meadowbrook, Pillar of Healing
1/2
Acrobatic Alchemist 3B
Creature — Pony Ninja
Ninjutsu 1B (1B, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
Whenever Acrobatic Alchemist deals combat damage to player, remove all counters from target permanent.
3/2
Launch Title 3B
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card.
Launch Title deals X damage to each opponent and you gain X life, where X is the discarded card’s converted mana cost.
Pinkie guarantees at least one pony will enjoy any event.
Plague Zombies 3BB
Creature — Pony Zombie
Whenever a creature dealt damage by Plague Zombies this turn dies, create a token that’s a copy of Plague Zombies.
Even in death, a pony’s first instinct is to make friends.
4/3
Belly of the Beast 2R
Instant
Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to target creature or planeswalker. If a permanent dealt damage this way would be put into a graveyard this turn, exile it instead.
King or commoner, everypony tastes the same.
Experimental Treatment 1G
Instant
You gain 4 life.
Investigate (Create a colorless Clue artifact token with “2, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.)
“It’ll work. The question is how well.”
—Meadowbrook, Pillar of Healing
Engorgement Stone 2
Artifact — Equipment
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature.
Whenever Engorgement Stone becomes unattached from a permanent, remove all +1/+1 counters from that permanent.
Equip 1
Glopaz Necklace 3
Artifact — Equipment
Whenever equipped creature dies, exile that card from its owner’s graveyard. If you exiled a creature card this way, create a token that’s a copy of that card, except it’s a 4/4 black Zombie.
Equip 2
Hope is eternal, as are other forces.
Too Quiet WBG
Instant
Cast this spell only during combat.
You may put a creature card from your hand or graveyard onto the battlefield. Put that creature on the bottom of your library at the beginning of the next end step. (Put it there only if it’s on the battlefield.)
Solar Inquisitor 2WU
Creature — Unicorn Cleric
Vigilance
When Solar Inquisitor enters the battlefield, draw a card for each tapped creature target player controls, then discard that many cards.
Forecast — 1(wu), Reveal Solar Inquisitor from your hand: Tap target creature. (Activate this ability only during your upkeep and only once each turn.)
2/3
Phoenix Fever 2BR
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +3/-2 and has haste.
When enchanted creature dies, return Phoenix Fever to its owner’s hand.
“There’s no fever. The pony literally burns up.”
—Meadowbrook, Pillar of Healing
Devour the Village 3BR
Sorcery
Target player sacrifices a creature and a land.
The snake carved a swath of destruction just by keeping its mouth open.
Palace Eater 4GW
Creature — Snake
Trample, lifelink
5GW: Monstrosity 4. (If this creature isn’t monstrous, put four +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes monstrous.)
When Palace Eater becomes monstrous, exile target permanent until Palace Eater leaves the battlefield.
4/4
These were both fun issues, but I particularly enjoyed the Somnambula story. As I put it back then, things are being eaten by a giant snake, so Somnambula figures out how to deal with it by getting eaten by a giant snake herself and learning from the experience
It's just fun.
Meadowbrook is acting like a Ninja while trying to doctor people and there wasn't a single Doctor Mcninja refrencre? For shame.
If there was a Bronies React to IDW, I can't imagine all the jokes about Prince Hisan wanting Sommi to come with him so he can show her his giant snake.
5015239
In the comic or in this little recap?
I loved both of these issues, and the Somnambula comic greatly influenced the way I wrote her in "So You Escaped From Limbo" (which I really should finish someday). I'm just going to ignore the anachronisms and consider the main plot points canon . . . And I suppose some of the anachronisms could have been Sunburst's imagination, such as the Old West setting.
Both of these comics were pretty great. I really like Somnamubula's issue, just because of how sunny and confident she was in such a bizarre circumstance (though I will admit, it's a bit jarring to imagine her talking with the voice they chose to use in the show). Meadowbrook's issues is fine too, though I'm not sure about the lemony narrator and actionized retelling by Star Swirl. It's definitely amusing, but I'm not sure it quite works with the super-stern characterization Star Swirl had in canon (unless maybe it's going back to his goofier portrayal back in the early comics like the Reflections arc?). But it's still a lot of fun, and it was nice to see the comics finally tie into the main show.
Launch Title implies that the best possible addition to a Pinkie Party is a gigantic tentacle monster from beyond existence. Seems legit.
5015247
I didn't catch any in either.
5015282
Star Swirl may have been a bit grim following the whole betrayal thing.
5015381
The one with Stygian in the show or the one with Celestia in the comics?
5015680
I only know the show one. But I figure dourness and bitterness came from that.
5015705
Maybe, though he still comes off as rather stern and serious in the stories set before Stygian's betrayal. It's like his original comic book portrayal sneaked into the Meadowbrook issue and nowhere else. It's not necessarily bad (I was definitely entertained by it), but it's still a bit jarring to see that side of him after all the serious portrayals he's been given recently.
I don't know what it was about them, exactly, but the Meadowbrook and Somnambula issues just lost me in a way that the first four issues never did. The anachronisms bothered me more, I couldn't take the story premises seriously like I could with the others, and I just didn't find myself liking the central characters as much. Maybe I'm just biased, because I hated Daring Done and Health of Information so much, and Meadowbrook's mere existence as a walking continuity error actively annoys me, but it's not like I was that fond of Campfire Tales either, and that didn't stop me from liking the first four issues. Then again, I think I read those issues before I saw the episode, while I'm pretty sure it was the opposite case for these two...