Friendship is Card Games: Rarity Investigates! · 12:22pm Sep 20th, 2015
The rain hissed down like a nest of snakes, a good match for this city. The only ponies you can trust here are the ones who’ve helped you fire rainbow friendship lasers, and Celestia knows those are few and far between. This is a dirty city, and there’s a mare here who has a thing about cleanliness. She’s trouble, but all dames are. Let’s investigate.
That was certainly a continuity-rich opening. Not only do we get the immediate return of Sassy Saddles, we also learn that there actually is a purpose to the Wonderbolts Reserve. Indeed, it’s possible that the reserve was formed in the wake of Soarin’s injury in “Rainbow Falls” specifically to have designated relief fliers in the event of injury… though it does strain credulity to think that the top stunt fliers in the nation didn’t already have a contingency in place for one of their headliners getting hurt. What about all those background Wonderbolts?
Eh, it’s getting Dash closer to her dream. I like it.
I like how Shadow Spade serves as Rarity’s Daring Do. I just hope the books aren't disguised autobiographies. It’d be nice if at least one author in Equestria didn’t write from experience.
I have to wonder if the door to Canterlot Carousel has been doing that since the enormous pony from last week came through it.
Huh. The delivery stallion knows Rarity by name. How many times has he delivered to Canterlot Carousel? Indeed, how much time has passed since “Canterlot Boutique”?
I expected Dash to wear her academy uniform at the dinner. I guess it’s full ‘Bolt flight suit or nothing, as far as she’s concerned.
It’s interesting that Dash describes herself as low endurance. I’ve seen that interpretation of her capabilities before, and supposition that Fluttershy is the opposite. Nice to see at least one part of that confirmed… sort of. I’ll get to that later.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I knew Wind Rider was the culprit from the moment Spitfire brought up Dash threatening his record. It did impact my enjoyment of the episode a little. It’s harder to enjoy a mystery when you already know whodunit. Still, I’m not sure how they could’ve better hidden the setup without making the reveal come completely out of nowhere, especially for the target audience.
Rarity’s secret chest nicely explains both her wardrobe shifts in this episode and how she was able to recover so quickly after getting Smoozed at the Gala. Nice work there.
Blaze was something of a sticking point during the practice scene. You know, the Wonderbolt who looks almost exactly like Spitfire during the scene where Spitfire is supposed to be notably absent. That could’ve gone better.
Yes, obviously the Bearer of Loyalty, who called out the Wonderbolts for their own underhoofed tactics during the Equestria Games qualifier, is going to sabotage a Wonderbolt. Obviously. Granted, we do get some reasonable evidence pointing Dash’s way, but the motive feels hollow, especially for Soarin’ of all ponies to buy it. Though, credit where it's due, he does give her chance to clear her name. He was probably well within his rights to kick her out then and there.
Actually, assuming the suites have windows and balconies, there’s no reason to assume a pegasus would need to move through the hallway. Unless there’s some sort of security spell in the castle’s airspace that disables pegasus flight for anypony who isn’t wearing guard armor, which makes sense, but wasn’t intimated in the episode. Still, headcanon considered.
It’s kind of weird to see guards that don’t follow the white-and-blue color scheme. I suppose they aren’t professional enough for it.
Dash’s voice is certainly raspy, but I wouldn’t call it deep. Certainly not as deep as a stallion impersonating a mare. (Also, crossdressing is canon, inasmuch as it can be done by habitual nudists.)
Rhinestones have been established before, but the Windsor knot is a new example of something named after a location on Earth. Interesting.
I do love how the episode presents Rarity, using her attention to detail and social acumen as effective tools in detective work. And Dash, with all the subtlety of a flying brick, doesn’t grasp the intricate nuances until they’re made clear. Nice character work on both fronts.
Apparently the Wonderbolts have been trying to clean up their act after “Rainbow Falls.” Good to see. I imagine this sort of thing is an especially sore point with Soarin’.
Remember that earlier bit about Dash not having much endurance? Yeah, apparently she can fly to the Crystal Mountains and back in a few hours, and Spitfire will be the one out of breath and sweating through her flight suit. And for the record, the Crystal Mountains run along the north edge of Equestria, between it and the Crystal Empire. Dash effectively flew the breadth of the country. Bit of an informed attribute, is all I’m saying.
On a much more impressive note, Rarity wasn’t sure about Wind Rider until she undid his scarf. That took considerable guts. So did admitting that she was using this as an opportunity to advertise her latest line.
And there it was. One speck of filth chipped off of this lump of muck clinging to the Canterhorn. It was days like this when a pony could pretend that there was such a thing as justice in this world. But there ain’t. It’s nothing but scum like Wind Rider, schmoes like me, and trading cards like these:
Wonderbolt Reserve 1W
Enchantment
Whenever a nontoken creature you control with flying dies, put a 1/1 white Pegasus creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
”no matter what the show is, it must go on.”
—Trixie Lulamoon, travelling performer
Exuberant Display 2W
Instant
Target creature gets +2/+2 and gains lifelink until end of turn.
Flashback 3WW (You may cast this spell from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
Rainbow Dash wears her heart on her wing.
Row of Ducks 2W
Sorcery
Converge — Put a 1/1 white Bird creature token with flying onto the battlefield for each color of mana spent to cast Row of Ducks.
Proverbs and idioms often take on lives of their own in Ungula.
Stabilize 2W
Instant
Regenerate each noncreature permanent you control.
Draw a card.
Years of living with Sweetie Belle had made the steadying spell almost instinctive for Rarity.
Wonderbolt Veteran 2WW
Creature — Pegasus Soldier
Flying, vigilance
Other creatures you control with flying get +1/+1.
Other Pegasus creatures you control have vigilance.
2/2
Complacent Guards 3W
Creature — Pegasus Soldier
Flying
At the beginning of combat, any opponent may have you gain 3 life. If a player does, Complacent Guards can’t attack or block this turn.
After years of protecting Celestia, many guards take on some of her vices.
3/3
Dishonorable Discharge 3W
Instant
Exile target creature that dealt damage this turn.
”I don’t think he did anything wrong. Of course, that’s probably a warning sign in and of itself.”
—Discord
Delivery Stallion 1U
Creature — Unicorn Citizen
T: Add 1 to your mana pool. You can’t spend this mana to cast creature spells.
The Equestrian postal service will accept any package that can’t move under its own power.
1/1
Emergency Notice 1U
Instant
Return target creature to its owner’s hand.
Morbid — Put that creature on top of its owner’s library instead if a creature died this turn.
Making something leave isn’t as simple as making it want to leave.
External Monologue 1UU
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature becomes tapped, you may draw a card.
”Sometimes you need a sounding board and the only pony available is yourself.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Greyscale Filter 2U
Instant
All permanents become colorless until end of turn.
Draw a card.
”The world isn’t black and white. It’s shades of slate, silver, steel, ash, charcoal…”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity
Gather Evidence 2UU
Sorcery
Choose a card type. Scry X, where X is the number of cards of the chosen type in target opponent’s graveyard, then draw two cards.
Every action leaves traces for the cunning to discover.
Mood Musician 3U
Creature — Pony Band
Whenever you sacrifice a Song, creatures you control can’t be blocked this turn.
On Ungula, stealth works better with the right soundtrack.
1/2
Take the Fall 3BB
Instant
Destroy target creature. Regenerate another target creature.
Many Equestrians are kind, honorable, and considerate, which makes it all the easier for the exceptions to exploit them.
Consuming Ego 4B
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
At the beginning of the upkeep of enchanted creature’s controller, that player sacrifices a creature with power greater than enchanted creature’s power.
The drive to excel can take you over the edge.
Planted Evidence X1B
Sorcery
Target opponent puts X cards from his or her hand on top of his or her library. For each card put in that player’s library this way, search it for a card. The player puts those cards into his or her hand, then shuffles his or her library.
Disruptive Entry 1R
Enchantment
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may destroy target artifact.
Pegasi and delicacy rarely mix.
Sleuth’s Chapeau 2
Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature has “1, T: Scry 2.”
Equip 1
Rarity’s Femme Mystique Chic line captures the insightful flair of pulp novel detectives.
Ensemble Trunk 3
Artifact
Auras you control have Aura swap 3. (3: Exchange an Aura you control with an Aura card in your hand.)
“It’s important to have an outfit ready for every occasion, and just as important to keep the ones you aren’t using somewhere safe.”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity
Sweet Talk 1RW
Sorcery
Untap target creature. You gain control of that creature until end of turn. It gains haste and lifelink until end of turn.
”Batted lashes and kind words are a magic all their own.”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity
Stylish Sleuth 2WU
Creature — Unicorn Rogue
Whenever Stylish Sleuth deals combat damage to a player, you may draw up to X cards, where X is one plus the number of permanents attached to Stylish Sleuth.
Successful detective work is often a matter of proper accessorizing.
2/3
I absolutely loved this episode: probably my favorite so far this season. These past two weeks, with their flood of great episodes and comics, have done a lot to make me feel excited for the show again, which I must admit was difficult for me the first half of the season
I kind of knew too, but...I didn't really let that get to me. If you watched KND there are several twists there that I saw coming a mile away, but I never let that get to me either. I really just enjoyed Rarity and Dash interacting.
And that is why I love this episode so much. Rarity was on fire today with her performance and showing off all that she can do. I also love Dash being modest for once and saying that she isn't good on edurance. I've noticed that, for all of her bragging, that if she has someone that is better than her (Daring, Wonderbolts) she will downplay her raw talents and skills. Its really shown here, where if this were her friends, she would be like
But she isn't. I also love her outstanding loyalty here.
I'm honestly surprised at people pointing out the delivery guy knowing Rarity's name: Her name is right there in the package.
Also since he apparently works for some kind of supplier and not for a general mail system (otherwise why send the supplies back with him) they've probably met and had proper introductions before.
It was a really fun episode, even is the plot was predictable. Not sure I'll be able to keep complaining that Rarity doesn't gey enough love from the writers after this season.
'ing'
This was a great episode
SO much Rarity lately
Rainbow is the cheetah of pegasi
The noir aspect was awesome, and its one of those things that there target audience wont get. The way the reference things that the majority of viewers would have no understanding of is hilarious.
Also who is Wind RIder based on, his look is familiar but I cant remember, and its going to bug me.
Since when do we get two episodes of fashion horse in a row? Not that I'm complaining, they were both fun and fashion horse is best horse.
I dunno about you, but I found Rarity's "sweet talking" to both the delivery guy and the guards to be painfully transparent (I guess it has to be obvious for the kids). Sassy's sweet talking Rarity, ironically, was a lot more skillful.
I think Dash isn't as much "low endurance" as "low endurance at record-setting speeds". An great sprinter can definitely run a marathon faster than me, even if she'd lose the marathon to a great marathon runner.
I didn't spot the culprit until the end, so I don't think it was too too obvious.
If the letter was found outside her door, you would definitely need to enter the hallway to deliver it. And if there's any unlocked windows that are closer to the guest suites than the guards, then the guards are stationed in the wrong place.
I noticed that even though these guards aren't the same color as the ones we've seen before, they are all about the same color. Maybe the army groups its guards by coat color to look more professional?
So you have no coment on Rainbow Dash's rather... impressive aerial victory dance? By which I mean hilariously physics-defying.
---
Wonderbolt Reserve: Very nice in a themed deck. Especially with a Favorable Winds or three (or any of your pegasus lords). Or maybe a pheonix-themed deck.
Row of Ducks: Is that a keyword for the next expansion? I guess it makes sense, it's like sunburst without as much design limitation. Anyways the card looks strong and would be overpowered if not for the lousy creature type (Captain's Call is a monocolored version with a good creature type for 3W).
Stabilize: Regenerating noncreature permanents? That seems pretty useful... especially if you somehow manage to combo it with a board wipe. (Sadly it won't work with the "turn all lands into creatures" variant)
Complacent Guards: Cute. If you can productively attack or block with them, keeping them locked down would cost 6 life per turn (more in multiplayer?) which will add up.
Dishonorable Discharge: The sad thing about white removal is that it's so all-over-the-place that this spell seems bad at a glance, but is actually exactly the power level that I think they try (and sometimes fail) to print.
Delivery Stallion: There's a mistake in the flavor text--it should say "can't move".
Emergency Notice: At it's best, it's instant speed Time Ebb/Griptide for 1U. Yikes! It is conditional, but Unsummon for 1U as your backup plan is hardly "bad". The only thing holding it back is that you usually won't be able to get the morbid effect before the combat phase.
External Monologue: What's that? I can't hear you over the sound of me updating my hypothetical enchantress deck.
Greyscale Filter: This is one of those cards that's just asking for Jhonny to make a ridiculous combo out of it. As it should be.
Gather Evidence: Used late in the game or in a mill deck, that's a LOT of card advantage. You're adding X scry (which might be 3-4 late in the game for a control deck and in the teens for a mill deck) onto Divination for only U extra.
Consuming Ego: Interesting card. You can't cast it on a creature that's too strong, or they'll stop sacrificing pretty fast, but if you cast it on something too weak they can sacrifice weaklings. Then again, even forcing them to sacrifice 1-2 of their best creatures is pretty effective.
Planted Evidence: This should probably force you to search for nonland cards, just so you can't replace their whole hand with land drops. Otherwise an interesting card.
Disruptive Entry: I know this is getting old, but: Mycosynth Lattice. That is all I have to say on the matter.
Sleuth’s Chapeau: Nice. Great on creatures that you don't want attacking, or those weirdos with the untap symbol in their ability costs.
That bugged the heck out of me too! I thought they'd made a mistake at first.
3406210
Yeah, these past two weeks have been the polar opposite of the Amateur Hour that was the one-two punch of "Princess Spike" and "Party Pooped."
3406235
Dash's sense of proportion is very nice to see. When she knows she's outclassed, she's not afraid to admit it. It makes her boasting much more tolerable; she only brags if she thinks she can back it up.
3406239
What suprprised me was the amount of familiarity on display. The guy didn't hesitate, glance at the address label, or even tack on a "Miss." She's already just Rarity to him.
3406390
Rarity's manipulation has mostly been honed on the stallions and dragon of Ponyville, not Canterlot couturiers. Sassy has a definite edge on her in that department.
The thing about the cross-country flight was that, judging by Soarin's concerns, Dash would need to move vast distances at high speeds in order to find and retrieve Spitfire. I have no problem with her being able to do that, it just seems to clash with her self-assessment. Of course, that could just underscore how Wind Rider really did have something to worry about.
Pegasi spit in the face of aerodynamics every time they take to the air. I'm more than willing to let Dash's victory dance slide.
Row of Ducks: Converge will indeed be in Battle for Zendikar. There's actually a full spoiler for the set available here. (There's a lot that can take advantage of Greyscale Filter.)
Delivery Stallion: Fixed. It got caught between two different phrasings.
3406414
Right? I suppose making a new background Wonderbolt would've raised the question of why Dash hadn't been inducted.
Maybe the "poor endurance" is by Dash's own self set standards. Or she might just be good at pure distance flying. Pure distance marathoning and acrobatics use very diffent muscles in humans after all, and great endurance in one doesn't necessarily translate to the other. Flips, spins, and the like might be much more draining to Dash than pure speed or distance.
3406441
Well, Rarity was being rather... friendly towards him. I don't know about you but if a lady I like is being forward towards me I usually try to return the favor.
3406441
I think that is something people who hate Dash forget, when she says something...she usually means she can do it.
3406441 Holy crap that whole set looks so awesome, from top to bottom. Well, other than replacing perfectly functional Eldrazi Spawn with new tokens that serve the same purpose but don't interact with the old cards. Besides that, though, wow.
Anyways, I find it amusing that a version of Ducks in a Row which does "the same thing" in that set for one more mana (in a better creature type naturally) is actually significantly different.
It's like how the bad guy on the rubber mask shows is always someone harmless-looking introduced after Dog and Hippie Boy make asses of themselves.
We are stealing from an episode of Scooby Doo just a little. Idiotically accusing a hero when there's a flashing neon sign pointing to the villain is simply par for the course. That being said, I'm glad that a certain animation error didn't turn into a riff on "Team Service Announcement: Fake Players."
3406485
Huh. I hadn't considered that possibility. It does make sense. Dash's mark seems to be for pure speed; agility is something she's had to learn (often painfully,) while sheer velocity is something that comes naturally to her.
3406678
That's the weird thing about sunburst and converge: As you make the spell more expensive, it automatically becomes more powerful. Granted, there's a ceiling at five mana, but up until that point, there's an unintuitively direct benefit from greater cost.
As for Eldrazi Scions, don't forget that you can actually kill things with them even if you don't have a Broodwarden out.
3406781
Which error would that be?
3408280 The fact that you couldn't kill things with them actually made the Eldrazi Spawn more unique and thus cooler, in my opinion. But like I said, it's not about what's stronger--it's just odd that they intentionally made the new Eldrazi cards not interact with the old ones when the mechanic has the same purpose and is, in the most common use case, going to do the same thing.
As for the converge, I especially like the converge card with the X in its cost and no X in its effect. So cool.
3408280 Raindrop's cutie mark is on the inside of her leg; this means that at some point, somepony could have pointed at her, shouted "CHANGELING!!!" and we'd spend the rest of the episode listening to Mercy by TV On The Radio.
3408719
)
Nah, that would've only worked if everyone but the accuser were a changeling. And it's hardly the first time the inner thigh cutie mark phenomenon has been on display. It's possible that ponies have similar cutie chromatophores there as on their hips. (Or that the Flash puppets just have the darn things on top of the rear legs regardless of orientation, but what fun is that explanation?
3408850 Great. They'll be referring to her as an innie.
At first, I had thought Spitfire was the culprit. I figured she just didn't want to do the show. That suspicion dried up once it became clear there was a frame, though.
One of my favorite things about the episode? The backgrounds. Those, and the other artsy things they did this time.
And dat cold open.
My buddy and I were watching the episode together, and we both burst into raucous laughter when RD first used that door... along with every other time it was used.
3406390
Mycosynth Lattice 6
Artifact – Johnny Bait
Combo with any and every card in the game except Fleshmad Steed.