Friendship is Card Games: Stranger than Fan Fiction · 11:20am Jul 31st, 2016
And so we bid adieu to the hiatus and hello to what may be an even more metareferential episode than “Slice of Life,” though with far less Derpy. Let’s dive in.
Ah, glowing crystals. The spelunking adventurer’s best friend.
Ooh, a friendship summit in Griffonstone. That sounds promising for the griffins. Also, nice to see Twilight taking on more royal duties, even if it does cut into her personal time. It’s good to see those wings mean something on the geopolitical level.
Very nice empathetic moment from Rainbow Dash in playing down the convention for Twilight’s benefit. It really shows how much she’s grown. Of course, she did it to backtrack on her own insensitive gushing, but at least she noticed that.
I still don’t care much for “Daring Don’t,” but Dash turning down the Adventucation is still pretty darn funny.
I’m probably not the first person to mention this, but Quibble Pants has a notable lack of pants. Of course, so does Fancy Pants.
Wait, does the book list the tiles’ specific order? Is there an illustration? Because listing the entire grid seems like it would take pages, and who’d want to read it?
Wow. That… is a trussed-up Daring Do body pillow.
I do like the rolling carrot dogs in the concession stand. Especially the one that’s been left there for way too long.
I have to say, Quibble Pants’s attitude towards the later books is uncomfortably realistic. And more than a little perplexing. It’s called fiction, dude. Yearling’s allowed to embellish for the sake of drama. To say nothing of decrying a lack of realism in a land of magic, where the person you’re complaining to has both defeated gods and broken the sound barrier under her own power. Multiple times. Each.
(Of course, it could just be that Quibble Pants is the canon version of Incarlsistency.)
Also, Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny is considered part of the first trilogy? Wasn’t that the one that involves Dash, thus coming after several dozen others?
… I feel like they deliberately put that in just so I end up likening myself to Quibble Pants. 
So… is Yearling’s first name just initials?
According to that map, there’s a lush jungle just outside of Manehattan. Presumably the same inexplicable one in northeastern Equestria as in “Daring Don’t.”
I do love Caballeron’s discomfort with the convention. I can’t blame him. Though I’d have loved to see him interact more with his fanbase. Also, that henchpony buying a body pillow raises more questions than I want to ask.
Best pony, best cosplay. Caballeron meets Box Gundam. Derpy does have a tendency to make costumes out of paper products, doesn’t she?
Loose lips sink ships, Dash. And by “sink ships,” I suppose I mean “get you and the pony next to you kidnapped and dragged to the jungle.”
The plan really isn’t that overcomplicated; it’s a fairly standard hostage-artifact exchange. Heck, Caballeron probably put it together within seconds of hearing Dash namedrop Daring, which is actually an impressive case of seizing an opportunity.
That said, it's interesting to see that the villains are even letting Quibble Pants complain. They don't even gag him. It's possible that his special talent is always making his voice heard, a subtle form of mind control in the same vein as Diamond Tiara's talent. It'd certainly explain the word balloon.
I assume Daring solved the Griffin’s Lock in one of the first three books. That’s the problem with puzzles; they’re only hard the first time.
Huh. I guess White Wolf’s a thing in Equestria. The comic gave us Oubliettes & Ogres, so Vampony: the Obfuscation doesn’t seem that improbable.
(Or Quibble may have said "play fanpony," but I like my idea better.) 
I can only assume that Dash is crossing the bridge for Qubbile Pants’s benefit. He may be obnoxious, but he doesn’t deserve to die.
Quibble Pants does raise a good point about the improbable coincidences. This jungle seems to be rich in narrativium.
The temple carvings are very intriguing, especially the alicorns. I definitely want to know how this civilization interacted with Celestia and Luna. Indeed, this may explain where they were and what they were doing during the Windigo Exodus.
Hmm. It seems there’s no defined Better Business Bureau in Equestria. Well, that would help explain how the Flimflams have avoided prison.
I have to give credit to the writers. Chicomoztoc, the mythical origin place of several Mesoamerican civilizations including the Aztecs, was portrayed as a cavern containing seven caves. It’s also associated with the actual settlement of Colhuacan. Very nice touches.
“The Lady and the Tiger” exists in Equestria. Interesting to see that. Heck, I could see it being a relatively recent event somewhere in the world.
It may be annoying, but sometimes genre savviness pays off… though I too have to wonder how Daring didn’t notice, beyond the needs of the plot.
Okay, if Quibble can’t shut it off even when death approaches, he’s definitely canon Carl.
Huh. I guess it does belong in a museum.
Very good lesson at the end. There’s more than one way to be a fan, and no one way is inherently the best one. Also, go easy when gushing. Though I have to wonder how Twilight, egghead that she is, would react to Quibble’s assessment of the later books.
Also this does raise the question of why the books changed tone after the third one. Maybe at that point, the villains started deliberately targeting Daring Do, leaving fewer opportunities for her to delve into puzzle-filled ruins and forcing her to fight for her life more often.
This had some discomforting moments, especially for someone as prone to overthinking as me, but it was fun overall. Still, I can’t say it lived up to the title; I’ve written fan fiction stranger than this, much less read stranger.
Now, on to the cards, including a “reprinted” Caballeron and his goons, since it’s been quite some time since I first posted them:
Concession Stand W
Enchantment
2: You gain 1 life. Any player may activate this ability.
”Yeah, it’s high prices for low quality, but what are you going to do, leave the convention?”
—Rainbow Dash, Bearer of Loyalty
Noncanon Decree 3WW
Enchantment
As Noncanon Decree enters the battlefield, name a nonland card.
When Noncanon Decree enters the battlefield, exile all permanents with the chosen name for as long as Noncanon Decree is on the battlefield.
The named card can’t be cast.
Borrowed Appearance U
Instant
Escalate 2 (Pay this cost for each mode chosen beyond the first.)
Choose one or both —
• Target creature’s base power becomes equal to another target creature’s power until end of turn.
• Target creature’s base toughness becomes equal to another target creature’s toughness until end of turn.
Steal Away 1U
Instant
Return target creature to its owner’s hand.
Conspire (As you cast this spell, you may tap two untapped creatures you control that share a color with it. If you do, copy it and you may choose a new target for the copy.)
Doctor Caballeron 1UU
Legendary Creature — Pony Rogue
U, T: Target opponent gains control of target artifact you control. You draw two cards.
”After all I went through to get this, I expect better compensation than some museum’s gratitude.”
1/3
Privileged Information 2U
Sorcery
Each player other than target player draws two cards.
A great deal of knowledge is on a need-to-know basis in Equestria, including just how much knowledge that is.
Incessant Quibbler 3U
Creature — Pony Advisor
T: Counter target spell unless its controller pays 1.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, you may pay U. If you do, untap Incessant Quibbler.
”Excuse me. I’m still talking.”
1/1
Into the Rapids 3U
Sorcery
Choose target creature. Its owner shuffles it into his or her library.
”You can survive them easily enough, but good luck guessing where you’ll end up.”
—Daring Do
Overcomplicate 4U
Instant
Overcomplicate costs 1 less to cast for each spell your opponents have cast this turn.
Counter target spell.
”Well, the plan made sense to me.”
—Doctor Caballeron
Cavern Cobras 3B
Creature — Snake
Deathtouch
When Cavern Cobras dies, put two 1/1 black Snake creature tokens with deathtouch onto the battlefield.
”If you don’t like snakes, you really shouldn’t become an archaeologist.”
—Daring Do
2/2
Puzzling Potency 1R
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
When Puzzling Potency enters the battlefield, enchanted creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Enchanted creature has prowess. (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
Sandstream Trap 3R
Instant — Trap
If an opponent cast two or more spells this turn, you may pay 4RR rather than pay Sandstream Trap’s mana cost. If you do, copy Sandstream Trap for each other spell cast this turn.
Sandstream Trap deals 2 damage to each creature and player.
Caballeron's Thugs 3RR
Creature — Pony Warrior
Trample
Whenever Caballeron's Thugs deals combat damage to a player, gain control of target artifact that player controls for as long as you control Caballeron's Thugs.
”Like any wise stallion, I know when to delegate.”
—Doctor Caballeron
3/3
Dramatic Dispute G
Sorcery
Dramatic Dispute deals damage to target creature an opponent controls equal to the number of cards in your hand and damage to target creature you control equal to the number of cards in that opponent’s hand.
Hidden in Plain Sight 2G
Enchantment
Each creature with the same name as another creature has hexproof.
”Conventions are just another jungle, and cosplayers are the camouflage.”
—Daring Do
Adventucation 3G
Sorcery
Search your library for two basic land cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then shuffle your library. You may play an additional land this turn.
Some ponies need to buy their adventures.
Temple Cipactli 3G
Creature — Crocodile
You may cast Temple Cipactli as though it had flash if a player has cast a Trap spell this turn.
They can lie in wait for centuries, dreaming of the unwary morsels that will open their cages.
4/3
Undeniable Presence 3G
Enchantment — Aura
Flash
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and has hexproof.
For once, Quibble Pants had nothing to say.
Crumbling Bridge 3
Artifact
Vanishing 5 (This artifact enters the battlefield with five time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from it. When the last is removed, sacrifice it.)
When Crumbling Bridge enters the battlefield, remove a time counter from it for each card in your hand.
Creatures can’t attack.
Puzzle Lock 3
Artifact
You may choose not to untap Puzzle Lock during your untap step.
1, T: Tap target creature. That creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s untap step for as long as Puzzle Lock remains tapped.
4 or 1U: Untap Puzzle Lock. Any player may activate this ability, but only any time he or she could cast a sorcery.
The Amulet of Colhuacan 4
Legendary Artifact
Artifact spells you cast cost 1 less to cast. Legendary artifact spells you cast cost an additional 1 less to cast.
Activated abilities of other artifacts you control cost 1 less to activate. Activated abilities of other legendary artifacts you control cost an additional 1 less to activate.
T: Untap target artifact.
Terrifying Tower 5
Artifact
Creatures can’t attack you or planeswalkers you control unless attacking player sacrifices a permanent. (This cost is paid as attackers are declared.)
“And I thought Ahuizotl had terrible taste in home decor.”
—Daring Do
The Chest of Chicomoztoc 7
Legendary Artifact
The Chest of Chicomoztoc enters the battlefield tapped.
T, Exile The Chest of Chicomoztoc: Each player shuffles his or her hand and graveyard into his or her library, then draws seven cards.
Vampony Archaeologist 1WB
Creature — Vampire Pony Artificer
T, Sacrifice another creature: Return target artifact card from your graveyard to your hand.
”I can’t just leave it empty. That would be rude.”
2/2
Head 4U//Heart 1R
Instant//Instant
Head: Draw two cards.
Heart: Discard a card. Target creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the converted mana cost of the discarded card.
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)
There appears to be some form of typo here. Can't tell if it's a missing word or just a wrong word, though.
Still, excellent as always. Too bad these are unlikely to be real MtG cards, I'm fairly sure sales would skyrocket if they were...
I freaked out the moment Quibble started talking. This, admittedly, was one of the first times I was unaware about a celebrity guest voice actor. Me being me, I imidiately recognized who the celebrity was.
Geeks would pay hand over fist for this power.
That was Derpy?!
I enjoyed this episode a lot more than "Daring Don't." I think it has a lot to do with the other M6 not being shoehorned in and then given nothing to do. And as an RD episode, it's definitely a step up from "Newbie Dash."
It's fascinating how this lesson was aimed at teens and adults more than young kids. That seems to be a pattern this season.
I didn't notice the pony with the cardboard box mask was Derpy. Good eye.
Headcanon: plausible.
I wanna say the novels gave her a full name, not that I can remember what it is.
Most likely like me when I meet someone like this.
"Ok, I get it, you don't like the later stories...waht to talk about the ones you do like and what about it we both enjoy?"
Hey Fan, did this episode give you thoughts about the "Fearless Ferret" episode of Kim Possible? For some odd reason that eppie was on my mind when i case Callebreon in the con.
Wait, what's this about a vampony archaeologist?
Also, as for the tone shift, there are two kinds of adventurer archaeologist: The kind that takes the fight to Ahuizotl, and the kind who finds out how quiet a jungle panther can be. What Quibble sees as an inexplicable genre shift, Daring Do would probably explain as a change of M.O. necessary for her survival, the survival of the world, and continued revenue.
Hooves should be pants. So yeah a rare misprint card. Also yeah I think I like your thoughts on Quibble's talent. And speaking of talents, I wonder what that one Hench-pony's talent of a pocket really is?
I also think that Quibble's denial is something ponies have to leave in a world where if their main ruler had died before Luna's return, so would everyone else. In fact with monsters and dark magic everywhere is would be saner in some ponies minds not to think how fragile their lives are. Kinda like the nuclear bombs during the cold war.
4124306
I'm pretty sure FoME's talking about when Quibble Pants said "...play fanpony archaeologist," but the word "fanpony" sounded an awful lot like "vampony."
4124137
Missing m. Should be "survive them." Thanks for the correction and the compliment.
4124254
Indeed it was.
4124298
I'm afraid I've never seen Kim Possible.
4124306
Equally plausible reason for the tonal shift. Also, see my response to Bugsydor below.
4124355
All the rarer now that I've corrected that card. I don't know why I keep wanting to call him Quibble Hooves, but I do.
Also, good point about the willful disbelief. Understanding how horribly fragile one's life is in Equestria could be traumatic at minimum. No wonder cosmic horror works well in this setting.
4124356
Is that what he said? Oh. Whoops.
Well, I'm leaving in the mondegreen. I like the design too much.
4124365
I certainly wasn't meaning to Quibble. After all, who doesn't love Lady Mondegreen?
Cavern Cobras would be stupidly good in limited. Like, you first pick it every time, even if you aren't in black.
4124295
If they started the show aimed at young kids, well, it's been five or six years. Some of those young kids are tweens now.
Wow. There are probably kids who've never known a world without MLP.
4124365 I highly recommend Kim Possible; a lot of the things to love about FiM can be found there; there's even an argument to be made for having at least four of the Six rolled up in one body. It's not even the differences of time, too; it's just that Kim's show was focused on Kim, to a lesser extent Ron, rather than an ensemble main cast. The background was very definitely wide-ranging and fun.
Now, to find my quibbling pants. Ordinarily I'd hold out for the alicorn panels/sections to be references to the throwaway line in the Journal of the Two Sisters about pre-existing alicorns, except for one thing: both of the panels I saw that were verifiably alicorns* looked very, very much like Nightmare Moon. Not just the one in the Seven Doors room that might have been a ref to the pilot if the others are early season refs**, but the one that they pass as they're first walking in, prior to meeting the cipactli.
Makes for interesting fanbait; in my own series, because of the prior solar references and Huitzilopochtli, I wrote in a distaste to the point of horror for worship into Celly stemming from the mesoamareican references. And this doesn't directly contradict that of course. But it also means that you could get some good ol' Smoking Mirror, Tezcatlipoca references in for Luna, either in reference specifically to Nightmare Moon or as a part of a very embarrassing adolescence for one or the both of them. Which she clearly just went back to when she went NMM, or there was prophecy involved, or etc.
Actually, all these clear references to Mesoamerican mythology is making me (a) nostalgic for when I was working on my master's degree; I was more focus on the Pacific Coast of North America, but I had a good friendship with a prof who was big in the Mayan Cave archaeological world, and (b) wanting to go back and change all my thestral references to Camazotz. Though Itzpapalotl would be more Aztec, the symbology is less clear. Maybe mythological first thestrals? Or the titles of thestral leaders, perhaps.
*I thought the ponies circling the disc might have been a ref to the Equestrian Flag but they don't have horns.
**Boast Busters and Griffon the Brush Off seem like possibilities, but the earth pony and serpent/dragon doesn't seem to fit Dragonshy and I'm not sure what else it'd be except maybe the chimera?)
I would be completely fine if, to paraphrase Pterry, AK Yearling was not so much named as initialed.
Wait, that was one of the henchponies and not a random convention-goer?
Hah, Daring Do and the Dance confirmed as canon.
Well, I didn't notice it myself - then again, I didn't have much time to, and the camera was focused on Daring's face for most of that scene until Quibble revealed the answer. *shrug*
Yes, he was hilarious, but also a bit too annoying.
Hah, I was thinking the same thing!
I'm gonna go ahead and say... destiny-magic micro-management. Not sure who's destiny-magic, or just a general "destiny-ness" field of the area, or simply "Equestria" as a whole.
Destiny magic tweaking the situation just right for Dash to catch Quibble just in time, for them to not get injured, for them not to fall victim to some coincidental bad timing involving whatever predators live in that jungle or whatever unfortunate fate may befall one in a jungle usually, etc, etc.
And just as a bonus, depositing them right in front of the temple.
. . .
It feeds into my pet-headcanon that Equestria has this whole "long-term optimization process" going on with its cutie mark-distribution, Friendship = Magic incentive, and the Tree of Harmony at the center.
Ironic. Just a season ago, Twilight wanted to go there.
Though I'd imagine Twilight getting some funny comments showing up at the con.
"Those are some fairly convincing horn and wings ya got there."
"Are you cosplaying as your own OC?"
"Pfff, an alicorn? How unoriginal can you get?"
I'm not sure how I feel about this episode. Overall it was entertaining. But, it was a Special Guest Star Episode where the new character stole the spotlight and didn't tell us anything new about Dash. And while Patton Oswalt did a good job, the character was obnoxious and unlikable, which just feels like a waste.
It just feels weird that in an episode that has a major guest role by a popular comedian, the most entertaining character was actually Caballeron.
Why doesn't Doctor Caballeron write his own series of books ?
For Borrowed Appearance, could you get power and toughness from two different creatures, respectively, instead of the same creature for both?
*Sees Sandstream Trap. Sees that the 'Trap Cost' is more than the base mana cost. Reads card effect.* That's a nice spin on the 'Trap' mechanic, not something I had thought of before. Well played.
On Dramatic Dispute: I have a problem with this sort of removal in Green. It doesn't really fit with the type of removal that Green gets; anti-flyer or fight. Mister Rosewater has said that Green shouldn't get any sort of creature removal outside of those two and certainly not any sort of direct damage effect (outside of damage to flyers that is).
This card feels more White to me, with the "it's fair" sort of cards White has, since you can play it when an opponent has no cards in hand and all.
I like how Temple Cipactli works with any player's Trap spell, you could be breaking into someone else's temple and get a croc on your side... .
On Puzzle Lock: I don't think I've seen a card with an "or" in the activation cost. Not sure if that can be done or if you'd need to do the ability twice, once for each cost.
4124565
Dude, MLP has been around since 1981. You mean a world without Friendship is Magic.
It just gets a bit annoying when people don't differentiate between the generations.
4124702
For each instance of the word "target" on the spell you can pick a different creature. So if there are Creatures A, B, 1 and 2 on the battlefield C-A can get C-1's power while C-B can get C-2's toughness, or any various combination therein that does not involve a creature being targeted twice in one ability (C-1 getting C-1's power for example, since it says "another target").
4124566
Sadly, my own knowledge of Aztec mythology is quite lacking when compared to yours. Still, here's hoping this provides you with plentiful fic fodder.
4124653
At this point, using his own identity might qualify as plagiarism.
4124788
Dramatic Dispute: Much as with the grand argument on the show, this is meant as different kind of fight effect, dipping into green's "cards in hand matter" end of things. If all of the components are green, can you produce something that isn't?
Puzzle Lock: I take it you're unfamiliar with the Shard cycle from Mirrodin.
4124634
Why, yes. Yes it was.
That's disturbingly plausible, though I'd say Caballeron's values went thoroughly unsatisfied.
True, but that was before she knew it was a collapsing second-world nation-state. Hopefully the summit itself is a sign of improvement and not a cry for help.
Well, it did appear to be in Manehattan, the city that refuses to acknowledge alicorns. Though I'm pretty sure there were a few unicorns cosplaying as Daring; hopefully the stigma wouldn't be quite so bad.
4124986
Greze, Mirrodin was a long time ago and they haven't used that layout in a while so no wonder I forgot about it.
I guess Green does have a sub-theme of "number of cards in hand", but the card still doesn't feel very Green to me.
Indavidual preference and view of the color pie, subject to different interpretations.
If the one in the series ever writes her bio, it'll be "Build A Better Life By Stealing Office Supplies." This is because it's kinda obvious that instead of enduring Rarity's non-stop ranting about things that bore her when she needs a costume, she just grabs onto something from work and saves time, money and her eardrums.
If you're going to advertise what you do where anypony can read it, you have to be prepared for them anticipating your moves. If she'd shut up about her adventures, she wouldn't draw her opponents' fire so damned much. THIS is what QP should have been saying, not being Pony Jeff Albertson.
Puzzling Potency's reminder text should probably say "Whenever its controller...", for the unlikely case of it being on an opponent's creature.
Hidden in Plain Sight is cool, but is it supposed to say "you control"?
4124986
...So, I wonder how Princess Luna's first trip to Manehatten went.
Clearly, the Tree of Harmony has a different directive than CelestAI.
No idea how one could twist that into an interesting story, though.
Well, asides from maybe the plundervines doing enough damage to alter its core-directive in some seemingly minor way, or removing some important restriction previously present, with a long-term ripple effect.
Or Twilight visiting some alternate Equestria with a slightly different incentive/reward function for its Optimization-algorithm than the six virtues Twilight is familiar with.
Dunno, there's always people going about a "7th Element of Harmony". Or what, if instead, there were only five?
Ah. Clearly Quibble is an heir presumptive of House Pants, a nephew of Fancy's perhaps; he is obliged to take the family name if he wishes to be in the running to inherit his uncle's lands and titles.