Friendship is Card Games: The Traditional Unicorn Sleep-Over

Back in the saddle, and just in time to get out, get a sleeping bag, and have some snacks.

Apparently flowers are no longer considered a foodstuff among ponies. At least not unicorns. At least not Izzy.

Hi, Sprout. Since you’re on screen, you have to suffer. Part of your metafictional sentence.

“You’re acting like there’s some mysterious and scary presence lurking in the shadows directly behind me!”
Izzy is clearly still adapting to her meta-awareness.

And so, heroes and antagonists finally meet face to face… and Misty clearly has no idea what she’s gotten herself into. For one, she’s using her actual name. at leas she’s also gotten herself a fake cutie mark to avoid awkward questions.

“I remember when I was new in town.”
Don’t worry, Izzy, I’m… oh, 70% sure Misty’s presence in Maretime Bay won’t lead to any rampaging mecha.

Sparky can apparently detect evil, or at least villainy. I didn’t know he’d taken paladin levels.

Izzy can apparently bodily lift another unicorn. Turns out all that dumpster diving is surprisingly good exercise. Especially when she finally has a chance to get a friend of her own tribe for once.
Also, her meta-awareness may be unpolished, but her inescapable teleportation is on point.

“You’re my first official unicorn friend here in Maretime Bay!”
Hmm. Did Izzy have a wider social circle than I’m giving her credit for, or is she just determined not to think about her bad old days. Could go either way, really.

“The trees! The teas! Even the jinxies. ”
Not sure how many of the superstitions have persisted, but Izzy being homesick does make some degree of sense. She’s certainly had less connection to home than Pipp or Zipp have.

And, of course, the primary conflict: As an alicorn-raised foundling, Misty has precisely zero of the shared cultural touchstones Izzy’s hoping for. And it’s not like she can get away from the madmare. Mind you, it’s not clear how many unicorn “traditions” are the product of Izzy’s own fevered imagination. Not like we have many other perspectives to confirm them.

I do love how the next scene is literally just Misty asking her mom permission to go to the party. Not that Opaline would ever tolerate such an idea if she ever heard it.

Given Izzy’s excitement over a unicorn with hooves and a face, I have to wonder what else she’s encountered over the years.

This isn’t about you, Pipp. Let her have this.
Also, I’m surprised Sunny’s able to contain herself given the opportunity to see unicorn traditions firsthoof. (Of course, she may have come to similar conclusions as i have regarding the reliability of her primary source.)

Hmm. Tea lights made out of lightbulbs in teacups. I feel like this particular tradition got its start with Trixie.

Of course the doorbell plays the iconic MLP jingle. Obvious in hindsight.

Flawlessly executed, Misty. Nopony will suspect a thing. (Interesting that pony naming traditions have stabilized enough that everypony is assumed to have a last name. Makes me wonder if Misty’s actual last name has some incriminating connection to Opaline, but it seems more likely that she just doesn’t have one.)
Also, it’s a good thing Sunny doesn’t remember the unicorn who was encouraging her to exercise her alicorn to the fullest a while back.

“You’re hoofin’ it up the wrong hill here.”
Nice idiom. And after that introduction, I can hardly blame Zipp for prodding Misty. Still, leave that to Sunny for now. I’m sure she has enough questions for a full interrogation.

Ah, fake horn creation. But this time without needing to worry about the entire village trampling them if their disguises get blown. Also, some impressive self-bedazzling on Izzy’s part… and, frankly, on Pipp’s.

Hmm. Misty causing a delicate, carefully crafted structure to collapse without meaning to. I sure hope that isn’t foreshadowing anything.

I have the distinct sense that someone who wrote this episode has had some bad experiences with complicated board games.

Ah, hoofistry. Frogistry? Whatever the case, unicorns preserving whatever mystic traditions they could through the Ebb of Magic makes sense, even if they grew disillusioned with the supernatural by the end of it. Likewise the tea leaves. Also, more on Auntie Buttons.
And yeah, Misty does not deal well with ponies actually noticing her presence.

I do like the theme of Misty finding wonderful food in Maretime Bay. Physical sustenance to parallel the emotional nourishment that Opaline has denied her for her whole life.

I’m honestly surprised that Bridlewood even had a movie studio going by the state of the place and Alphabittle’s DDR machine. And that the Notting Hill parody didn’t go with “I’m just a filly standing in front of a colt,” but I guess that’s part of emphasizing how this is all unicorn culture and Misty knows none of it. Omitting “love” is another eyebrow raiser, but that may have been an executive decision.

Yeah, this is more than just a few months of unicorn friend withdrawal. Izzy’s is getting a lifetime of isolation out of her system.

Oh no. Misty hearing about dragonfire’s effect on cutie marks gave her an idea. Unicorns getting ideas about cutie marks historically has not ended well.

I have no idea how Izzy is getting notes out of what appears to be a solid hunk of crystal. I’m not sure if this is budgetary limits or just unicorn nonsense.

Oh dear. Zipp’s edging into jerk territory. Being right is one thing, but ruining everyone’s fun should also be a consideration.

I’d chastise Misty for missing something left out in the open, but I’ve done that far too many times myself.

Ah, Opaline’s items really don’t get reception in the Brighthouse. I was never sure if that was actually the case or if they’d just never tried.

“Think, Misty!”
Because it’s not like you’ve belittled her every time she’s tried to think for herself before now, Opaline.
Also, wonderful example of an arrogant character assuming something and expecting the universe to match their expectations. Opaline thinks the lantern is the source of the larger prisbeam, ergo it must be.

Hmm. That evil laughter criticism was almost nice. Still, Opaline couldn’t resist twisting the knife.

Oh good, they actually put security in the brighthouse elevator.

Of course Sunny’s going to give a history lecture. It is interesting to see what details get glossed over. In particular, the idea that a unicorn harming an earth pony with magic being the inciting incident for creating the crystals and separating the tribes feels like a bowdlerization for something far worse. By that logic, the Want-It Need-It Spell should’ve led to world war. Plus, this still does nothing to address all the other species that had integrated into Equestria.

Misty’s version, on the other hand, says volumes. Not about the history of Equestria, but Opaline. She sees all magic as rightfully hers, Twilight as a meddling busybody, and all ponies as conniving thieves. Moreover, she doesn’t even see herself as a pony. She is the Überpferd, with a will to power that puts her above the petty concerns of mortal morality. And she may have just heard about the Unity Crystals. (Never mind that she mentioned them earlier.)

Ah. Sunny’s version is cobbled together from contemporary accounts and what little of her father’s research she either remembers or that survived the initial lighthouse getting demolished.

Izzy being obsessed with jinxes does feel off given her indifferent attitude to bad luck in the movie, but the language of one’s culture will almost inevitably impact one’s vocabulary.

What exactly is the judged quality in a critter contest?

Misty, poster foal for social anxiety.

Ah, glowpaz is still a thing, with deposits found in Bridlewood. Possibly brought up from Southern Equestria.

Double ah. Those are just supposed to be armadillos. I’ve never been sure.

Why should Opaline care if her minion has fun with her future subjects? Aside from worrying about losing her grip on what appears to be her only minion.
… Okay, yeah, that’s a good reason. The problem with loyalty won through emotional dependency is that it’s a delicate grip.

And then Misty learned that talking to your mom when everyone else is trying to sleep is a party foul. Or she will.

The plot’s definitely gearing up as we approach the end of the season. The thing about a villain who works from the shadows is that direct confrontation has to wait until the climax. Plus, the series did have a fair amount of exploration to do as it looked the continuing impact of magic on a community poorly prepared for it.

Popcorn Gorger 1W
Creature — Unicorn Guest
Whenever you place a sticker, create a Food token. If it’s a name sticker, create two Food tokens instead. (They’re artifacts with “2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.”)
“Stopping a unicorn is bad luck. Stopping a guest is bad business.”
—Myra the Magnificent
2/2

Glowpaz Polisher 2W
Creature — Unicorn Artificer
When Glowpaz Polisher enters the battlefield, create a tapped Powerstone token. (It’s an artifact with “T: Add C. This mana can’t be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.”)
Eternalize 6W (6W, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that’s a copy of it, except it’s a 4/4 black Zombie Unicorn Artificer with no mana cost. Eternalize only as a sorcery.)
2/2

Sinburner Paladin 3W
Creature — Dragon Knight
Banishing Smite — When Sinburner Paladin enters the battlefield, choose target creature an opponent controls, then roll a d20.
1-15 | Exile that creature until Sinburner Paladin leaves the battlefield.
16-20 | Exile that creature.
3/3

Hoof Reading 1U
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals their hand. Look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the number of cards revealed this way. Put one of those cards into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.

Crystal Speaker 2U
Creature — Unicorn Wizard
When Crystal Speaker enters the battlefield, create a tapped Powerstone token.
U, T, Tap X untapped artifacts you control: Scry X.
Centuries later, the gems finally speak back.
1/2

Tea Leaf Tattletale 3U
Creature — Unicorn Wizard Rogue
When Tea Leaf Tattletale enters the battlefield, scry 2, then Tea Leaf Tattletale connives. (Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
“The juiciest gossip hasn’t happened yet.”
—Alphabittle, teahouse owner
1/3

Said Too Much 4UU
Instant
This spell cost 1 less to cast for each card your opponents have drawn this turn.
Counter target spell. Draw a card.
Information raced out of Misty’s lips. Her body soon followed suit out of the Brighthouse.

Warped Remembrance 2B
Instant
Exile any number of target players’ graveyards.
Draw a card.
“An immortal’s memory is shaped by her character as much as her deeds. May Twilight look back more fondly than I do.”
—Celestia, journal

Shadowy Presence 3B
Creature — Unicorn Spirit
Ward — Discard a card. (Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player discards a card.)
1B: Shadowy Presence gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
2/2

Aimless Panic 2R
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, return a land you control to its owner’s hand.
Creatures target player controls can’t block this turn.
Misty’s thoughts and legs both ran in circles, driven by fear and indecision.

Skip to the Good Part 2R
Sorcery
Put five lore counters on each Saga.
Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
“Too long, didn’t listen.”
—Princess Pipp Petals

Heavy-Duty Hugger 3R
Creature — Unicorn Citizen
When Heavy-Duty Hugger enters the battlefield, choose one —
• Target creature gets +3/+0 until end of turn.
• Heavy-Duty Hugger deals 3 damage to target creature.
An emotional boost can still break bones.
3/2

Inescapable Enthusiasm 1G
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and must be blocked if able.
R: Target creature can’t block enchanted creature this turn.
Zipp didn’t know how Izzy did it, and she was afraid to find out.

Glitterhorn Adept 2G
Creature — Unicorn Druid
Whenever Glitterhorn Adept or another Unicorn enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
It is in the nature of unicorns to make things more sparkly.
2/2

Bridlewood Tealights 3
Artifact
XXX, T, Sacrifice Bridlewood Tealights: Create X tokens that are copies of target artifact. They gain haste until end of turn. Exile them at the beginning of the next end step.
Unearth RR (RR: Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield. Unearth only as a sorcery.)

Cultural Touchstone 3
Artifact
T, Tap two untapped creatures you control that share a creature type: Draw a card.
Not all shared experiences are quite as literal as Bridlewood crystals.

Bridlewood Tradition 2(gw)
Sorcery
Destroy up to one target artifact or enchantment if G was spent to cast this spell. Return up to one target artifact or enchantment card from your graveyard to your hand if W was spent to cast this spell. (Do both if GW was spent.)

Rising Bar 2GU
Enchantment
As Rising Bar enters the battlefield, note 0.
Whenever you cast a spell with mana value greater than the last noted value, draw a card and note that value.
8: Exile Rising Bar, then return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control. This ability costs X less to activate, where X is the last noted value.

Faceless Woodwraith 3BG
Creature — Elemental Horror
Vigilance, menace, deathtouch
Whenever Faceless Woodwraith becomes blocked, it gets +0/+2 until end of turn for each creature blocking it.
The depths of the Bridlewood hide truly unspeakable nightmares. After all, none have returned to speak of them.
3/4

Damning Evidence XWB
Sorcery
Investigate X times, then destroy each creature with power less than or equal to the number of artifacts you control. (To investigate, create a colorless Clue artifact token with “2, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.”)

Comments

[The Voice in the Water]

I didn’t know he’d taken paladin levels.

At least they're not in Ravenloft, because that sh*t don't work there.

I miss Ravenloft. Such a good campaign setting. Too bad it died in 3rd ed.

Given Izzy’s excitement over a unicorn with hooves and a face, I have to wonder what else she’s encountered over the years.

I mean, it's Izzy. Chances are her reality doesn't exactly intersect with everyone else's more than 5% of the time.

Unicorns getting ideas about cutie marks historically has not ended well.

Noo? What? Noo, never. That has never ended badly.

[Ghost Mike]

I think by now everyone has hashed out, or agrees on, why the backstory Sunny relates on how G4 got to G5 is infuriating and depressing (and confirms what Discord told in #2 of the comic), so I won't waste energy there. It makes the pack of lies that is Opaline's version of the tale, and what that says about her and her worldview, comforting in its delusional schtick. And all the Mane 4* material is the typical pile of whiffy nothing that struggles to stay in the brain after the episode's over, beyond it just being a mush.

* Mane 4, because Hitch is excluded from the sleepover on the grounds that a heavily politicised PC-pandering series like this is only allowed to be progressive in the ways the executives deem it financially beneficial to be.

Instead, let's talk about Misty. By this point, and especially after the following two episodes, she is just about the only thing holding interest in this show, between an actually compelling arc in concept, the best voice acting give or take Zipp's replacement, and by a wide margin the best design of any new show characters (though the rendering engine was not ready for her wavy hair in this many close-ups, with all the glitching between frames off the high fidelity needed not being reached).

Yet this episode still has a long way to go to make that satisfying; the "Misty is a bad infiltrator" joke is funny once, but repeated this much, and taking the place of the moments of Misty visibly having fun and enjoying herself that is the whole point of an episode like this, just further shows how they can't even write a winning concept. To say nothing of how next episode appears to be a direct continuation of this one, yet has conflicting evidence both ways and Is a mess on that front (and others, but we'll get to that for that episode). Let's just say I wouldn't hope for the stinger of Zipp overhearing Misty talking to Opaline at the end to mean anything going forward…

The alternate art style for the backstory is nice, feels like it's been years since we had one of those. Probably because it has been years.

[Polychromatic]

Misty deserves cuddles and food. I was about to be very angry at the provided backstory for how the tribes got separated, until they saved it by clarifying how much of it was speculation on the ponies' part rather than hard evidence. There's enough material in the movie to suggest things didn't go quite that way. I do also think it's this episode that confirms my interpretation of one of the things that happened in the comics.

[FrostTheWolf]

“Stopping a unicorn is bad luck. Stopping a guest is bad business.”
—Myra the Magnificent

That sounds exactly like something Myra would say. I'm all for it

[Herald of Opera]

Given Izzy’s excitement over a unicorn with hooves and a face, I have to wonder what else she’s encountered over the years.

Slenderpony has stayed canon despite being the animators screwing around? They really don't know whether they love or hate bronies, do they?

I have no idea how Izzy is getting notes out of what appears to be a solid hunk of crystal. I’m not sure if this is budgetary limits or just unicorn nonsense.

Or even just Izzy nonsense. That should theoretically be a separate category even though we don't see enough of other unicorns to really differentiate it.

Ah, Opaline’s items really don’t get reception in the Brighthouse. I was never sure if that was actually the case or if they’d just never tried.

Given what the Brighthouse is on a metaphysical level, this should probably be the "are we the baddies?" moment for Misty.

[Arkonfleight]

>Skip to the Good Part
How does this interact with Triumph of Anax? If they get placed in a lump, it would be +13/+0, right?
Favorite this time around is Hoof Reading, not for power but for just perfect setup.

[_Undefined_]

The fact that they incorrectly hyphenated "sleepover" in the title does not bode well for the rest of the episode.

Granted, animation budget restrictions have severely limited the number of background ponies, but has there been no other unicorn anywhere in Maretime Bay that Izzy could have randomly decided to aggressively befriend since the events of the movie?

I'll grant that amid the chaos, they may not have remembered exactly where they saw the lantern, but you'd think either Opaline or Misty would at least remember from the previous episode (you know, the one where they decided to steal the lantern in the first place) that it's on the second floor or in the room with all of the beds. Perhaps Misty should start there in her search?

Ah, fake horn creation.

I'd be worried that that's cultural appropriation if Izzy weren't the one encouraging it. Actually, that practice still may be frowned upon in other social circles.

FOME, I'm surprised you didn't rant about the misguided neologism "ponycorn."

Zipp, who has been deeply mistrustful of Misty from the outset, completely fails to notice that she's disappeared long after Misty has begun her search in earnest.

When Sunny prepares to tell the tale of the unity crystals, Pipp says "I love this story." She loves the story of how a wedge was driven between the three races and of how they became isolated from and prejudiced against the others?

Misty is really bad at being evil. Maybe don't have a long, covert conversation with your boss within earshot of other ponies when you don't know how light of sleepers they are.

And the episode doesn't so much end as just hit its running time and stop. Welcome to the age of binge-watching.

5696570

Instead, let's talk about Misty. By this point, and especially after the following two episodes, she is just about the only thing holder interest in this show, between an actually compelling arc in concept, the best voice acting give or take Zipp's replacement,

I agree that Misty is currently the most interesting character (Sunny and Zipp should be in the running, but the writers refuse to explore Sunny's efforts to learn about the similarities/differences of other ponies while spreading harmony and Zipp's destiny as the heir apparent of Zephyr Heights), but I disagree on Zipp having one of the best voice actors. When Zipp has to emote beyond deadpan or annoyed, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan struggles.

Of the main five, I'd have to give best voice acting to Ana Sadi (Izzy), with second place possibly going to AJ Bridel (Pipp). Granted, neither character has gotten to express much range, but Izzy is appropriately energetic, and she did a decent job being disappointed at how the sleepover turned out. And -- whether you like the character or not -- Pipp is believable as a shallow internet celebrity. We haven't gotten to see AJ Bridel do anything else, but at least she's nailing that aspect of Pipp.

[Herald of Opera]

5696609

She loves the story of how a wedge was driven between the three races and of how they became isolated from and prejudiced against the others?

Shallow internet celebrity, remember? If it bleeds it leads, and never mind if you have to stab the truth yourself.

[Ghost Mike]

5696609

but I disagree on Zipp having one of the best voice actors. When Zipp has to emote beyond deadpan or annoyed, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan struggles.

In retrospect, after a second approximation, when looking purely at the voice acting, ignoring the material the actor of having to say and comparisons to the actors that originated the roles (as one invariably does on instinct, myself included), this is true. Part of my statement there had to do with Ramakrishnan being the only one that wasn't a downgrade from the film (more on Liza Koshy's botched job there than anything, but you know). And yes, she struggles with stuff outside her range, but as the only not putting on a voice, but only adjusting her natural voice slightly, it's not hitting irritating pitches, or having the inexplicable lurches Koshy had.

I'll concede Ana Sadi is trying her heart out, but I feel even outside of the material's downgrade drawing max attention to how Kimono Glenn played the role, Sadi's take on the high-pitched squeaky female voice (the "baby voice", as it's often called) actively irritates during the highs, and I don't find the energy all that, well, engaging. That's more a voice direction thing, though, and as the Mane 5 VA with the longest resumé, she clearly is talented, no doubt there. That said, fair point on AJ Bridel; Pipp may be so irritating and a disaster at making a relatable and likeable shallow internet celebrity, but she is committing to the bit. It would be a compliment that I feel all the distaste for her I do for many shallow internet celebrities, were it not for the fact they intend for us to like her still. But I can think of other examples of a voice actor putting their all into nailing a part that's meant to be funny annoying and is just annoying too, so it is a thing (Corey Burton's Mole from Atlantis: The Lost Empire springs to mind, though obviously Bridel is nowhere near the voice actor he is).

I agree that Misty is currently the most interesting character (Sunny and Zipp should be in the running, but the writers refuse to explore Sunny's efforts to learn about the similarities/differences of other ponies while spreading harmony and Zipp's destiny as the heir apparent of Zephyr Heights

For sure; the consistency of this series thus far to dangle character threads and arcs openly that it then deliberately and cheekily ignores is certainly another heavy irritant, and not least why Sunny is a bland pile of nothing currently when onscreen, with Zipp not faring much better.

[Lurks-no-More]

5696609

I agree that Misty is currently the most interesting character (Sunny and Zipp should be in the running, but the writers refuse to explore Sunny's efforts to learn about the similarities/differences of other ponies while spreading harmony and Zipp's destiny as the heir apparent of Zephyr Heights)

That does make for excellent fanfic fodder, though!