Friendship is Card Games: Friendship in Disguise #3 & #4 · 12:39pm Nov 8th, 2020
And so we cover the back half of a most unexpected crossover. Let’s see what can be seen.
Friendship in Disguise #3
Well, the cover certainly tells us what to expect. Also, it turns out the Decepticons had robotic gorillas eons before Optimus Primal made them cool.
Ah, confirmation on the spelling of “draconequus.” We’ve probably gotten it before, but it’s nice to know I’m right.
(Full disclosure: If this spelling of the word had disagreed with mine, I would’ve gone on the record as ignoring it. 
)
Pet Sounds
Okay, I have to appreciate naming a story involving Soundwave and the cassettes after a Beach Boys album. And tracks like “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “You Still Believe in Me,” and especially “God Only Knows” feel very fitting for Discord and Fluttershy.
I may be reading too much into a punny music reference, but I love a good multilayered title.
Yeah, eating fruit you find in Discord’s home dimension seems highly inadvisable.
“Oh, Discord… You make even the most upsetting things sound so fun.”
Pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?
Heh. Soundwave’s in a similar situation as Shockwave, a rational Decepticon trapped in a highly irrational world. The good news for him is that he doesn’t have to deal with Pinkie Pie. The bad news…
I’d argue that Discord has concocted things more bizarre than Shockwave. Though less “bizzare” than that typo.
That last panel. This whole exchange is perfectly Fluttershy, but the punctuation really sells her delighted enunciations as she sees the cassettes deploy.
Credit where it’s due, Soundwave doesn’t attack the obvious non-combatant. More because Fluttershy presents no threat to him than out of compassion, mercy, or any other such frippery, but that still gets some not-a-complete-tailpipe points.
Discord, meanwhile, gets a threat assessment of “significant” just by standing there, which tracks. Anything with that anatomy that can function without constant, agonizing pain is clearly more than meets the eye.
Conversely, Discord knows a trickster archetype when he sees one, and every Transformer qualifies as such to a degree.
This panel justifies the existence of the entire mini-series. This is art.
Also, I suspect Ponyville has smelled progressively more like lavender over time, starting with Twilight’s ascension. It was a slow ramp-up, such that most beings who live there never noticed. Just one of those subtle changes like the growing deposits of suspiciously Twilight-colored minerals.
“Nonsense detected.”
Buddy, you have no idea.
Now, I’m not entirely certain, but I think one of Discord’s alt modes is the infamous Applejack truck.
I’m not sure what’s better, Fluttershy actually giving the best breakdown of Equestria’s defenses that she can, her getting distracted by Ravage’s boo-boo battle damage, most of the cassettes happily succumbing to her charms, or Frenzy* incredulously watching the proceedings unfold.
* Rumble? No, Soundwave specifically called out Frenzy, and Thunderlane’s nowhere to be seen.
Oh. Oh dear. Frenzy has made an… unwise decision.
The page count constraints make the heel-face turns feel a bit sudden, but I have to appreciate Discord going full Robotnik. (I was there for the original console war. I remember the comic where Sonic was brown. He’s Ivo Robotnik to me.)
Interesting. I’m not sure if Soundwave is just paying lip service to the idea of friendship to get out of a disastrous situation, or if he’s recognizing the obvious benefits of superior numbers and loyalty born of devotion rather than intimidation. Either way, Discord’s threat of ponification definitely works well as the big stick to Fluttershy’s speaking softly.
And of course Megatron plans on raiding Equestria’s energy. It’s kind of his thing.
The Flyin’ Fox Trot
Yeah, there are two main ways for Rainbow Dash to find herself in a story: She flies into something or something flies into her while she’s relaxing.
In terms of flamboyance and conviction, Windblade does seem an apt fit for Dash.
Rainbow does find herself competing against Cybertronians frequently, doesn’t she?
So, this panel is how I learned that Battle Unicorn is a thing… though he seems to be much further along in the timeline.
Heh. Given the presence of humanoid robots, a pony wearing a foam finger makes a lot more sense here than during the Best Young Fliers competition.
Wow. I knew there were a lot of fighter jet Decepticons, but I didn’t realize they’d reached “Mortal Kombat ninja” levels of recolors.
There’s always something delightful in a character from one franchise calling out the ludicrous dialogue of the other.
I do have to wonder how a viable counter to heat-seeking missiles came to be in Equestria. I’m going to assume it involves pre-Equestrian pegasus-unicorn conflicts.
Yeah, Starscream recolors will meet his fate when faced with his bane. That’s just logic.
Always nice to see things end on a high note. And Dash has a new friendly rival.
Friendship in Disguise #4
A few interesting points in the roll call:
• The Apple family’s description is simply “Yee-haw!” Make of that what you will.
• Cadence is explicitly described as co-ruler of the Crystal Empire, which I appreciate. Wings or no, she and Shining rule as equals. (And, as per my earlier disclosure, I’m ignoring that they’re spelling her name with two a’s.)
• Chrysalis’s description paints her as the legitimate queen of the changelings. I suppose it works with a new generation under her sway.
• The Young Six are simply described as… well, “The Young Six.” Doesn’t exactly explain a lot for those coming in from the Transformers end of things.
• As I noted with the first issue, the Cybertronians are simply described by faction. In the grim darkness of the wider galaxy, there is only war.
Strength in Numbers
An entire subset of Decepticons that can consume organic matter to power themselves… Yeah, Insecticons infesting Sweet Apple Acres makes a dreadful amount of sense. As does Applejack trying to get rid of them on her own. Silly pony.
At least the Acres taste so good that the Insecticons aren’t devouring the rest of Ponyville. Small favors.
101 Ways to Git ‘em Good does seem like a handy reference for Applejack to have on hoof. Though I have to wonder what the method that would kill the trees entails.
Heh. Between issues, Decepticons have gone from too bizarre for Discord to imagine to too mundane for him to have caused. Amazing how familiarity can recontextualize things.
So, I appreciate an Endgame homage as much as the next guy, but was it really necessary for Dicord to portal in Apple Bloom, Big Mac, or Granny Smith? Still, nice to see some long-since absent faces.
Ugh. Once again, I cannot recommend the cheap Kindle versions of the comics for anyone who wants to appreciate the splash panels.
The defeat sequence doesn’t seem like it should work nearly as well as it does, but I can’t argue with results.
Hang on… Ah. Thank goodness for the Transformers Wiki. Bombshell, the rhino beetle Insecticon, can fire “cerebro-shells” that can control both organic and electronic minds… and deflecting one to hit him works exactly as well as you’d think.
Well, I’m glad Discord’s having fun.
Finale
So, bit of an issue. There’s no “To Be Concluded” stinger at the end of the Apples vs. Insecticons story. We just transition immediately to the Student Six reporting to Cadence, making it seem like the bugs fled to the Empire to eat it.
I’d wonder why the combined villain forces would begin their assault in the Empire, but it actually does make sense. For one, the Decepticons want potent artifacts to convert into magic-enhanced Energon, and the Crystal Heart is a great place to start for that. For another, it’s at the northern frontier, making it difficult for for enemy forces to respond in time. And, of course, Chrysalis gets to gloat in Cadence’s face, which is a definite plus as far as she’s concerned.
That said, what’ the deal with the bizarre changeling/crocodile hybrids in the background?
“’Til everypony are one!” sounds equal parts absurd and Phyrexian.
Also, I appreciate Owloysius’s spirit, but I don’t see him contributing much to this fight. Discord, on the other hand, is clearly drawing this out for maximum entertainment.
There’s a lot to take in here, from Fluttershy bringing butterflies to a robot fight to Optimus clocking Starscream in the face, but I’d like to draw attention to Rarity riding Arcee. Because it is truly amazing.
Pinkie springing out of Soundwave’s cassette compartment to throw a pie in his face is exactly the kind of thing this crossover should be doing.
Bumblebee raises a good point. The Decepticons have allied with Chrysalis’s changelings. Given the presence of the Young Six, it's clear that this takes place quite late in the pony timeline, so by working with ponies, the Autobots have also allied with almost every other sapient species on the planet. The only reason the good guys aren’t grossly outnumbering the bad is logistics.
Also, it’s nice to see Tempest defending the palace… but it’s more than a little off-putting for the Crusaders to be there.
I’m sure that everypony blasting Shockwave out of the castle with a “FIM” noise was a deliberate choice.
Twilight putting a literal safety cap on Megatron’s cannon so she talk to him is a great touch. As is his expression as she does so.
Also, there’s that point about the uneven odds again. Megatron is not happy about that particular omitted detail.
Bold of Chrysalis to assume that changeling magic is the only way to connect different universes. Star Swirl’s still a thing, after all.
Oh! Or a multiversal spacebridge. That works too. Also, Spike gets to punch Megatron. This is a good mini-series.
Ooh. Twilight harnessing the Matrix of Leadership. That’s going to leave a mark. And may explain her stature post-timeskip.
And Shockwave still has the coordinate data for Equestria. Plenty of fodder to work with in the future, both officially and un-.
In all, this was a fun series of vignettes, though I can’t help but wonder what might have come of a somewhat more serious continuous storyline. Of course, the ravages of eon-spanning interplanetary war are a bit heavy for Friendship is Magic’s main timeline. I suppose that's where we step in.
In any case, let’s see what I can convert this data into:
Ravage, Devoted Cassette 2W
Legendary Artifact Creature — Cat
1W: Target commander you control gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.
Partner (You can have two commanders if both have partner.)
In the Decepticons’ backstabbing ranks, one spark of loyalty shines.
3/1
Flying Fox Trot 2WW
Instant
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to creatures you control with flying this turn by sources you control. If damage is prevented this way, you may have Flying Fox Trot deal that much damage to target creature.
Mechanized Assault 4W
Instant
Until end of turn, creature you control get +2/+2, gain indestructible, and become artifacts in addition to their other types.
Discord is merciful in a sense. Those who inspire him usually live to regret it.
Avatar of Karma 4WW
Creature — Avatar
Flying, lifelink
Avatar of Karma enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the life you’ve lost since your last turn ended. (Damage causes loss of life.)
Do unto others as they have done unto you.
0/0
Matrix Pulse 5WW
Instant
Fateful hour — This spell costs 4 less to cast if you have 5 or less life.
Exile all attacking creatures. You gain life equal to the total power of those creatures.
“Light our darkest hour.”
—Rodimus Prime, Autobot leader
Laserbeak, Snooping Cassette 2U
Legendary Artifact Creature — Bird
Flying
Whenever a commander you control deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
Partner
Always assume someone’s watching.
1/3
Chromatic Aberration 2U
Creature — Shapeshifter
You may have Chromatic Aberration enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature you control, except it’s the color of your choice.
“Change your coat. Even ponies will notice perfect copies eventually.”
—Queen Chrysalis
0/0
Lavender Seer 3U
Creature — Unicorn Wizard
2U, T: Reveal any number of blue cards in your hand. Creatures target player controls get -X/-0 until end of turn, where X is the number of cards revealed this way.
1/1
Technorganic Unicorn 3U
Artifact Creature — Maximal Unicorn
2U: Target Maximal can’t be blocked this turn.
“I see visions of a green Cybertron. I remember a Prime the size of my hand. What wonders lie ahead?”
—Optimus Prime, Autobot leader
3/4
Twilight, Core Scholar 4UU
Legendary Creature — Unicorn Praetor
Hexproof
If a player would draw a card, instead you look at the top two cards of that player’s library and choose one. That player puts the chosen card into their hand and the other into their graveyard.
4/3
Scuffed Plating B
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature or Vehicle
Whenever enchanted permanent attacks or blocks, put a -1/-1 counter on it.
“One untreated scrape is all corrosion needs to get started.”
—Ratchet, Autobot medic
Ratbat, Siphoning Cassette 2B
Legendary Artifact Creature — Bat
Flying
Commanders you control have lifelink.
Partner
No fluids are safe from his steel fangs.
2/2
Chitinous Mucklord 3B
Creature — Insect Crocodile
Mutate 2BB (If you cast this spell for its mutate cost, put it over or under target non-Human creature you own. They mutate into the creature on top plus all abilities from under it.)
Lifelink
Whenever this creature mutates, you may sacrifice another creature. If you do, put two +1/+1 counters on this creature.
3/3
Insecticon Sky Sweeper 3BB
Artifact Creature — Decepticon Insect
Flying
Whenever a nonartifact creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Insecticon Sky Sweeper.
Only weather magic and delicious apples kept robotic locusts from sterilizing Equestria’s skies.
3/3
Cerebro-Shell Launcher 1R
Artifact — Equipment
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, put a chip counter on target creature that player controls.
3R: Untap target creature with a chip counter on it. Gain control of that creature until end of turn. It gains haste until end of turn. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
Equip 2
Frenzy, Reckless Cassette 1R
Legendary Artifact Creature — Decepticon
1R: Commanders you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
Partner
Sometimes the simple solution is best.
2/2
Heat-Seeking Barrage 3RR
Sorcery
This spell can’t be countered.
Heat-Seeking Barrage deals 4 damage divided as you choose among any number of targets.
To the missiles, the only difference between pony and Autobot is size.
Rolling Chaos 3RR
Artifact Creature — Juggernaut
Whenever Rolling Chaos attacks, exile the top card of your library. You may play that card until the end of your next turn.
Encore 6RR (6RR, Exile this card from your graveyard: For each opponent, create a token copy that attacks that opponent if able. They gain haste. Sacrifice them at the beginning of the next end step. Activate only as a sorcery.)
5/3
Bombardment Seeker 4RR
Artifact Creature — Decepticon
Flying
Whenever Bombardment Seeker attacks, it deals 1 damage to each creature defending player controls.
Encore 6RR
4/4
Discord’s Transmogrant 4RR
Sorcery
Exile target creature. That creature’s controller reveals cards from the top of their library until they reveal an artifact creature card. That player puts that card onto the battlefield, then shuffles the rest into their library. If a creature didn’t enter the battlefield this way, that player creates a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token.
Acidfang Orange 1G
Creature — Plant Mutant
Kicker 2G (You may pay an additional 2G as you cast this spell.)
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters.)
When Acidfang Orange enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, it deals damage equal to its power to target creature you don’t control.
2/1
Apple Family Wrecker 3G
Creature — Pony Warrior
Whenever Apple Family Wrecker deals damage to an artifact creature, destroy that creature.
1G: Target artifact creature blocks Apple Family Wrecker this turn if able.
The Flimflams soon had to drop their ten-second warranty.
3/3
Beastbox, Brutal Cassette 3G
Legendary Artifact Creature — Ape
Each commander you control has trample and can’t be blocked by more than one creature.
Partner
Violence is a universal language.
4/3
Remote Detonator 1
Artifact
XX, T, Sacrifice Remote Detonator: Choose one —
• Remote Detonator deals X damage to target creature.
• Destroy target artifact with converted mana cost X or less.
Combat Exosuit 4
Artifact — Equipment
When Combat Exosuit enters the battlefield, attach it to target creature you control.
Equipped creature gets +3/+3.
Equip 5
It gives anyone a fighting chance.
Soundwave, Mass Deployer 6
Legendary Artifact Creature — Decepticon
Whenever Soundwave, Mass Deployer attacks, you may pay X. If you do, you may put an artifact creature card with converted mana cost X or less you own from your hand or the command zone onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.
Partner
6/6
Two-Headed Draconequus 2RG
Creature — Chimera Warrior
Menace
Two-Headed Draconequus can block an additional creature each combat.
“Fluttershy’s busy.”
“Make an appointment next time.”
4/4
Ruinous Struggle 3WB
Sorcery
Choose one —
• Destroy all artifact creatures.
• Destroy all nonartifact creatures.
Both sides knew Equestria could not survive the warring Cybertronians for long.
Devour Biomass 4(rg)
Sorcery
If R was spent to cast this spell, destroy up to one target nonbasic land. If G was spent to cast this spell, distribute three +1/+1 counters among up to three target creatures. (Do both if RG was spent.)
Kindred Reunion 5BG
Sorcery
Choose a creature type. For each creature you control of the chosen type, you may put a creature card of that type from your hand or graveyard onto the battlefield.
Blood is thicker than death.
The idea that Alicorns bring forth matter of their respective color (and properties) is a delightful idea in need of exploration
I'm glad to see you uber happy and yeah, the comic pics you've shown show a good reason to be so. Rarity riding Arcee was COOL
Would you say this would tie into your own Transformers xover story somehow?
I like the movie's approach the best.
FoME, they're a toy commercial. Of course there'd be recolors out the rear orifice.
Tempest is never seen outside of her armor so she likely has one Tartarus of a cutie mark problem, potentially including the lack of one.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Chromatic Aberration will be the single color you chose, no matter how many or which colors the creature it's copying is. Well, unless you decide not to copy anything, in which case it has zero toughness and will usually die instantly as a state-based action.
Inside Baseball Alert: Twilight, Core Scholar is from the New Phyrexia crossover that FoME will probably never get around to finishing. The non-Fluttershy Mane 6 all become replacements for the canon praetors, although the story only made it to Pinkie Pie's transformation before canon had moved on to the point where the story would need major reworks.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: "Commanders you control" and similar can include both of your partners if you pick two different cassettes, as well as any commander you happen to steal. As such, Soundwave is better off sending them away in pairs than sticking around as one of the partners, never mind that he doesn't contribute to color identity. Or you can use Morophon naming... crap, they don't actually share a creature type. Yeah, this is a gimmicky cycle of uncommons.
Discord’s Transmogrant isn't really a red card, I think, as it's too close to hard creature removal, but at six mana I think it's fine. For one more, you can just use Scour from Existence.
Transformers fans are just as obsessive as Pony fans when it comes to latching on to minor background characters and making them a thing.
As much as I hate that it isn't the spelling of the actual word, the merchandising and credits have been consistent enough on the "two A" front that I have to concede that her name is correctly spelled "Cadance." (Same goes for the species known as "griffons.")
Rise, Sparkimus Prime.
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That to me looked like it was probably a solo Cadance attack, because of the magic coloring basically lining up with hers (for a couple examples in the show), not really anything in the way of purple (Shining Armor) pink/purple (Trixie) or turquoise (Starlight) mixed into it (the purple blur being Shockwave). It looked like her cutting herself off from finishing the sentence with an attack, to catch him off-guard.
She is an alicorn, and her powerful daughter blasted holes through the castle, herself.
No one should realistically claim she's an expert on everything magic. I mean, she didn't seem to grasp the concept of "Cadance can recharge Shining Armor's power with that love spell of hers, since emotions can fuel power, and the Windigos regretted this sort of thing before," she's ignorant of pony cultural customs ("how many holidays do you ponies have?"), and in the first comics arc, it was a plot point that Twilight got more out of the power boosting comet than she did despite the boosts being equal, because Twilight had more finesse over it, had more knowledge of magic.
5394564
Yeah, whenever it is spelled "Cadence" in official media, it's an anomaly in comparison to the cases it's "Cadance." It's personal choice, but it's impossible to convince me that "Cadance" is not more correct. It's like how "Apple Bloom" is more correct than "Applebloom;" it's used far more.
"Cadence" was used in the credits like twice, in the S3 premiere... "Cadance" was used at least eighteen times in EQG and FiM, including "Games Ponies Play" in S3.
5394815
It doesn't matter which is more correct, only which is less stupid.
5394443
I never actually saw the movie. How'd Carrey-botnik handle it?
5394579
And now I have a new nickname for post-timeskip Twilight.
5394407
It does. And leads to some interesting thought processes. With Twilight confirmed as earth, it follows that Celestia is fire, Luna water (opposing Celestia and the moon-tide connection,) and Cadence, the former pegasus, is air. You'd think Flurry Heart would break this elemental symmetry, but she's the final component needed to summon Captain Planet.
This is definitely how logic works.
No, that one's using the Transformers/G. I. Joe crossover for its canon... though given the end bit, I could definitely see the two timelines interacting later on. Hmm...
5394445
Yes, but I didn't expect that many recolors of the same model. Thanks to 5394523 for providing the metalore video.
I have seen more than a few great stories with that premise, but it's one thing for occupational therapists to help an ex-child soldier, and it's another to bring three children to an active war zone.
Also, for janky fun, you can always call Ramos Beast Wars-era Megatron and have Soundwave and all five cassettes provide support for him.
5394564
The "griffin" spelling's grandfathered in when working with the card game, but I have no issue with it outside of that context. Heck, I'll accept "gryphon," especially if the story's set at least a few centuries prior to the Twilit Era.
5394815
I imagine Flurry gets some juice from her father's side, but that's still a good point. Underestimate alicorns at your own peril, especially when the plot doesn't need them out of the way so the heroes can save the day.
Also, very good point on Chrysalis's changeling supremacist take on magic. Her assumption may not be technically accurate, but it is brilliantly in character.
5395226
She probably gave up on trying to get them to stop following her into the aforementioned warzone when they showed her what they used to get up to in their spare time. Assuming they didn't get there before the siege even started.
5395226
or she's the Avatar, master of all four elements.5395233
I'll be fair and say Shining Armor is without question very high tier, and the ones he's lost to changes absolutely nothing about that fact (and reinforces it in one case). He's lost against Chrysalis (who went for slowly brainwashing and draining his power, being able to beat Celestia as a result), he's lost against Sombra (who beat Starlight offscreen, and unlike her, he got away), and he lost against Third Form Tirek, lastly getting defeated by shapeshifters with whatever trap they pulled (not playing fair, not a straight fight), and a hostage tactic when he knew for sure Cadance summoned help (cheap trick). Sombra, Star Swirl is very likely incapable of defeating in a straight fight, and it's confirmed with Tirek (who may or may not have been a little weaker than when he faced Shining in S4, facing the Pillars), at their levels of power. He's also really physically strong for a unicorn, with how hard he threw/launched Cadance to enable Sombra's defeat, and the biting strength (and acrobatics) needed for this maneuver.
...plus, y'know, he's Twilight's brother. I wouldn't be surprised if he could take on Starlight, knowing he has city-level magic.
In short, Flurry Heart has two highly powerful parents, him, and the one keeping up a shield over a city while sleep-deprived.
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(not reliable of course, her as an authority for "more powerful", but it's revered by at least somepony in-universe, her power)
It lines up perfectly with her arrogance/narcissism, that it's just too unique to be replicated by those lesser unicorns/ponies.
5395226
He was the best part of the movie, though it's not like he got a lot of depth on-screen. I kinda wish they had, Carrey in an interview mentions a backstory he gave Robotnik where he grew up in an orphanage and believes everything is a system, leading him to want to control everything around him. It explains why he's provoking people beyond simply being quirky, explains why he eventually wants to rule the world without having to bog down the Mad Scienctist with Reason and explains why his robot sidekicks are dumber than him and love him even though he constantly abuses him. It even helps fuel his hatred for Sonic. I hope he gets more development.
Thanks for making me realise the third and fourth comic were out! There were a lot of delightful moments in this. Some big hits (the Fluttershy+Discord/Soundwave episode was probably my favourite) and some misses (the Apple Family episode was so nothingy, and I remember Bombshell being much scarier than that).
I was somewhat surprised to see Discord say he hadn't seen Decepticons before. In retrospect I shouldn't have been - I think it's actually just a common piece of fanon that Discord can see across the whole Multiverse into all the parallel universes, and I don't think either Equestria Girls nor the silly manga with the multiverse-hopping featured Discord at all anywhere. So I think this is actually a more likely approach for Hasbro to take. But I still prefer the take where he exists across all the universes and hops between them as he wishes.
I like the cycle of Cassette partners. Clearly inspired by the Commander Legends uncommon monocolour partner familiars but there's nothing wrong with that. It's just a pity you need to use a five-colour commander to get them all in the same deck, at which point none of them themselves can be commanders. I guess Soundwave can work on Golos from the command zone, or you could get him plus four of his cassettes into a Breya deck.
And yeah, having come into the fandom in season 5 I've never seen anything official refer to Cadance by anything other than the two-A spelling. Sorry.
5395501
He is quite possibly a dimension hopper of some sort per canon, judging by how he tore a hole into a puppet dimension in Make New Friends But Keep Discord, and how he seems to make references the ponies probably wouldn't know, between Harry Potter and Star Wars (both in Three's a Crowd, but there's many more examples, like for Bob Ross in What About Discord), but just because he can travel to them, doesn't mean he has done it to there/obtained the knowledge of that world, with how vast the multiverse is. It just means he has blind spots in his knowledge, for whatever reason.
He isn't omniscient, or omnipresent, in any case.
5395615
Yeah, the references to Steve Buscemi, Harry Potter and so on were the reason I (and presumably many others) took that interpretation of him in the first place. I'd forgotten the puppet dimension, that's quite fun. The other time like that was with Gummy and Boneless, wasn't it? Pinkie having comparable powers to Discord certainly checks out, though I hadn't pegged Cheese as being like Pinkie in quite that way.
But yes, there's certainly no question of Discord being omnipresent or omniscient, given the several ways he's been outwitted, including by characters who discuss their plans openly when he's not immediately nearby. Okay, that take seems reasonable, then: he can peer into any dimension he likes, but there are an awful lot of dimensions, and so it only stands to reason that there'd be plenty of "more distant" ones he's never seen.
5395226
[Stan Bush's The Touch intensifies]
5395776
Plus, now that I think about it, Transformers is basically said in this comic to be a world that's rather lacking in magic, and Discord, being who he is, would likely generally prefer to travel to worlds that have copious amounts of it in some sense, whether they resemble our world or not (not saying it'd be universally true, and he might have seen some of those sorts of worlds as fiction).
I definitely couldn't tell you all the references Discord makes off the top of my headMeet the Rainmakers, Acid Storm, Ion Storm and Nova Storm.