Friendship is Card Games: The Parent Map · 11:35am May 6th, 2018
Going by that title, Sunburst and Starlight are twins who were separated at birth… and still lived next door to each other. Still, we only saw one mother and one father between the two of them.
Tipping the postpony with carrots is a nice touch. I also like how said postpony loathes delivering to Sunburst. Nice way to make Orange Bookhorse feel integrated in the community, if not in a particularly positive fashion.
Sire’s Hollow. Appropriate town name for an episode focusing on parents.
I’m surprised that Sunburst has such poor read-and-walk skills. You’d think he’d get a lot of practice, especially in his own home.
“WHY AM I YELLING!?” made me actually laugh out loud. There’s just something wonderful in the self-aware absurdity of it all.
It’s a good thing Sunburst was the first extra-Ponyvillian booty call. Few if any others know what it means… I assume. For all I know, Twilight included a “So Your Cutie Mark is Flashing” section in the published version of the friendship journal. Of course, he might be being called because he knows about the map. Bit of a chicken-and-egg issue.
Speaking of which, assuming that Sunburst’s mark was blinking the whole way, how did everypony else on the train to Ponyville react? That’s not exactly normal behavior for a cutie mark.
I appreciate how Twilight pointed out Spike’s track record of one map mission a few seconds after I did.
Yes, I talk to the screen at times. What of it?
Hmm. Well, that’s something Sunburst and Starlight still have in common: They both hate going home. Not exactly easy to plan activities around it, though.
Also, looks like Sire’s Hollow is in northwestern Equestria. Possibly near A. K. Yearling’s cabin.
Nice little detail during the discussion of parents on the train; when Sunburst mentions his mother, Starlight’s ear perks up before before any of the rest of her rises. We don’t see much equine body language in ponies these days, so I appreciate moments like that.
Oh no, the town’s gentrifying.
Nice beard defense from Sunburst. He’s probably had to protect the poor thing from his mother many a time.
Classic green-blue conflict between Firelight and Stellar Flare: past versus future. One says change is unnecessary, for what worked for their ancestors still works now. The other says that change can only improve things, the march of progress ever driving them to true perfection.
On a less card game-related note, the parents’ interaction with their children shows just how and why those children developed as they did. Starlight rejected her overbearing, history-obsessed father by becoming as fiercely independent as possible and trying to eliminate a part of pony society so ancient, it’s part of their very biology (though some of that nostalgia blindness still carried over, as seen in “Uncommon Bond.”) Sunburst rejected his Twilight-grade organizer of a mother by having no plan for his life beyond “Read the next book” and achieving success by happening to be in the right place at the right time. Not healthy reactions to their parents, but understandable ones.
Indeed, there’s a lot here that says that each child modeled themselves on the other’s parent, from Starlight taking Stellar Flare’s talent for aggressive social reforms even further to Sunburst adopting Firelight’s love of history and academics. The grass was always greener on the other side of the street. (Credit to Jordan179 for noting that.)
Heh. Starlight dragging the parents back marks a rare case of her using magic to solve her problems without it backfiring horribly. Doesn’t hurt that she only uses magic to get them back within earshot before going for mundane persuasion.
“In the future, all ponies will drink their fruit!” Insert WALL-E joke here.
Starlight’s room isn’t just hilarious, it also says quite a lot about her. Firelight kept it exactly as she left it, which means it’s a time capsule for Starlight’s mental state at the time. It’s an externalized look at the angry little pony who would go on and try to reshape society in her preferred image.
Also, looking at the screencap, we have an arimaspi-skull guitar (with amplifier, since ponies hadn’t yet developed omnipresent amplification technology,) a bat-winged angry alicorn plushie, two boots with toes, what looks to be a skateboard in the lower left… and what is definitely a kite’s tail in the upper right. This is still Starlight we’re talking about, after all.
Huh. Who knew that ponies had dwarf bread? Makes a great paperweight, doorstop, hammer, anvil, and it gives all kinds of alternative meal ideas just by looking at it. Pine cones. Your saddlebags. Dirt. Your own tail. You’ll never go hungry with a loaf of dwarf bread.
I am impressed that the parents saw reason when the impracticalities of their plans were shoved in their faces. That said, I’m not surprised that that didn’t mark the end of the mission. They were clearly paying lip service when it came to trying to get along with each other; if Sunburst and Starlight left at this point, I doubt the lesson would stick. That said, saving Sire’s Hollow from the parents’ good intentions probably was part of the mission, just not all of it.
Overanalysis, enforced studying of seemingly pointless minutiae… Yeesh, being Twilight’s student must have felt like being back home for Starlight.
Stellar, making friendship problems never ends well. The Princess of Friendship could tell you that herself.
Also, part of me wonders why Sunburst never mentioned his position as royal crystaller. The rest assumes that if he did mention that, he’d only make his mother five times as insufferable as she tries to get the problem solved ASAP so he can go back before the Crystal Empress fires him for not being at the baby’s every beck and call.
… Pony armpits do not work that way. Mostly because ponies don’t have armpits.
Ooh, weird old laws. Those are always entertaining.
I do appreciate how everyone in the village can understand trying to avoid Firelight and Stellar Flare. Though when the former can apparently teleport into the antiquities section, it’s a bit of a moot point.
There’s a moment of almost weirdly smooth animation right here. It’s like they used the movie’s animation software for this moment. The flow feels so different compared to normal pony that it slips a bit into the Uncanny Valley.
It may not be a very good apology, but it is a hilarious one.
I do like the motivation for each parent’s overbearing approach, though I suspect they only exaggerated already present trends in their parenting. (Also, Sunburst straight-up flunked out of CSGU. I guess the theory courses just couldn’t make up for his utter inability when it came to practical applications.)
Spike’s bragging about his mission makes sense as a sort of symbolic foreshadowing. The second part of this mission is similar to his: Solving a self-inflicted friendship problem. Possibly by design; only when forced to stay in town to the point of exploding do Starlight and Sunburst get their parents to actually listen. By solving that problem, they manage to get their parents to get along more with each other along the way, thus ensuring the first part of the mission will stick. (And it wouldn’t surprise me if both parents were trying to bury their concerns about their kids by revamping or freezing the town. Heck, Firelight explicitly says he’s doing the latter for Starlight.)
Of course, now that since the parents are no longer fighting for control of Sire’s Hollow, they both have time to visit their kids… which makes Starlight and Sunburst frantically waving down the train at the end all the funnier.
All told, I quite liked this episode. Speaking as someone with an at-times overbearing mother, this resonated on a deep level with me. It feels targeted more at parents watching with their kids (and, incidentally, the peripheral demographic,) but it’s full of good comedy bits and some fascinating glimpses into Starlight and Sunburst’s background. There is the question of where the other parents are, but Oliver has an intriguing theory regarding that.
In any case, time for the next step of the plan: Cards!
Bizarre Bylaw 1W
Instant
Tap up to two target creatures your opponents control.
Delirium — Tap all other creatures your opponents control if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
Everything’s illegal somewhere.
Essence Vendor 1W
Creature — Pony Citizen
T: Tap target creature. That creature’s controller gains 2 life.
”Would you like to try a sample?”
1/2
Community Gate 1U
Creature — Wall
Defender
Whenever another creature enters the battlefield, its controller puts the top two cards of their library into their graveyard.
”Welcome to Sire’s Hollow.”
0/4
Ignored Inbox 1U
Enchantment
If you would draw a card, you may put a letter counter on Ignored Inbox instead.
Remove two letter counters from Ignored Inbox and sacrifice it: Draw four cards.
Sunburst knew he had a problem when he had to swim to his front door.
Crystal Courier 3U
Creature — Pony Scout
Hexproof
When Crystal Courier enters the battlefield, it explores. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
2/1
Forward Planner 3U
Creature — Unicorn Advisor
When Forward Planner enters the battlefield, scry X, where X is the number of Unicorns you control.
”I’ll leave improvisation to Discord.”
1/3
See Reason 3U
Instant
Counter target spell. Each player draws a card.
The good thing about bad ideas is that everyone can learn from them.
Regal Fiend 2BB
Creature — Demon
Alicorn (This card is also a Pony Pegasus Unicorn.)
Flying, trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a Pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn.
Ponies who reject the princesses soon find others eager for their devotion.
5/5
Morbid Guitarist 3B
Creature — Unicorn Band
Finale — Whenever you sacrifice a Song, Morbid Guitarist deals 2 damage to each opponent.
A lot of things gently weep once she gets going.
2/4
Cusp of War 1R
Enchantment
At the beginning of combat on each opponent’s turn, if that player controls four or more creatures, sacrifice Cusp of War. If you do, creatures that player controls gain haste until end of turn. Untap and goad them. (Until your next turn, those creatures attack each combat if able and attack a player other than you if able.)
Irrational Screaming X1R
Instant
If a source would deal damage to a permanent or player this turn, it instead deals that much damage plus X to that permanent or player instead.
It began as a cheer. It ended as panicked, wordless whinnies.
Historical Significance 1G
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant permanent you control
Enchanted permanent has hexproof.
4G: Return Historical Significance from your graveyard to the battlefield attached to target historic permanent you control. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.)
Unwashed Masses 1G
Creature — Pony Citizen
Kicker 2R (You may pay an additional 2R as you cast this spell.)
Deathtouch
When Unwashed Masses enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, it deals damage equal to its power to target creature.
2/1
Antiquities Section 1GG
Enchantment
When Antiquities Section enters the battlefield, put the top four cards of your library into your graveyard.
At the beginning of your upkeep, return a card at random from your graveyard to your hand.
Ancient Grains 2G
Sorcery
You may put a land card from your hand and/or a land card from your graveyard onto the battlefield tapped.
Awaken 3—3GG (If you cast this spell for 3GG, also put three +1/+1 counters on target land you control and it becomes a 0/0 Elemental creature with haste. It’s still a land.)
Sire’s Hollow Historian 3G
Creature — Unicorn Advisor
Whenever you cast a historic spell, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.
”How can you look to the future if you know nothing about the past?”
2/3
Preservation Society 3G
Creature — Unicorn Advisor
Lands you control have indestructible.
”History is a foundation. Without it, everything else collapses. I’m doing this for all our sakes.”
—Firelight, society chairpony
3/3
Spike Monument 3
Artifact
T: Add R or W.
4RW: Spike Monument becomes a 4/4 red and white Dragon artifact creature with flying until end of turn.
Spike may not live in the Crystal Empire, but they venerate him all the same.
Gentrify UB
Sorcery
Destroy target creature an opponent controls. That player may put a noncreature permanent card from their hand onto the battlefield.
The dragon hovered over the town, ready to set it aflame. The next thing he knew, he was selling frozen yogurt.
Transmogcerebration 1UR
Sorcery
Target player shuffles all cards from their hand into their library, then draws that many cards.
Overload 2UR (You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change its text by replacing all instances of “target” with “each.”)
Development Committee 2UR
Creature — Unicorn Advisor
T, Sacrifice a land: Draw a card.
”History is a foundation. You don’t live on a bare foundation, you either build on it or tear it up to put down a better one.”
—Stellar Flare, committee head
2/3
Hate to be that guy, but I don't think the plush is a baticorn. It just looks like its mane is curling around its neck and happens to look kind of like a bat wing.
Also I'd run the HELL out of Community Gate.
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cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/366319736134303744/442687351685382204/baticorn.jpg
Contrast adjusted for your viewing pleasure.
It’s difficult to see the wings, but I’m pretty sure they’re there.
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Look again. The wings kind of blend into the curtain. They are there, situated just behind the portion of the mane you are describing.
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Well damn. Yeah they really blend in unless you look at the zoomed in version. My bad!
4854759 It's BatMare! NaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNaNa
4854847
To be precise.
This was another very interesting episode. It seems to me there have been quite a lot of those in rapid succession this season.
...I don't even know where this one falls on the social-personal map spectrum. Maybe this is their way of telling me to lay off the map already.
:raises hand: Same.
This episode was "Parental Glideance" done right. I'm strangely proud that I guessed that Starlight has an anxious, overprotective father.
I really want to see Stellar Flare and Firelight again. Besides the fact that Stellar and Twilight would get along like a house on very thoroughly organized fire, I kinda want to see the "tradition versus modernization" conflict expanded upon a little bit.
That was my first thought right then, too. Firelight and Stellar Flare's feud is a perfect example of Green traditionalism clashing with Blue's love of progress.
Something interesting I noticed: Sire's Hollow's population seems to have been fairly evenly split between unicorns and earth ponies, but there were no pegasi to be seen. I tend to see the pegasus ponies as the ones who never integrated into Equestrian society as throughly as the other tribes (unlike unicorns, which seems the more popular headcanon in the fandom) -- being able to fly off and live in the clouds makes it very easy for a divide to form between yourselves and the people who cannot walk on diffuse vapor, especially when you can build entire cities the rest of the equine population cannot physically access without seemingly rare magic. The demographics of Sire's Hollow certainly play nicely with that headcanon.
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In the shot of Starlight's room, in the bottom left quarter, there's a (likely fake) single eyeball lying around. Do you think that's suppose to slide into the arimaspi guitar? Isn't that a piece of equipment that guitarists insert when travelling or something?