Friendship is Forever Card Games: Memories and More · 11:34am Aug 23rd, 2020
And so we come to the last bit of official G4.0 animation. Oh, there will still be Pony Life, the Season 10 comics, fan projects both serious and silly, and so forth, but this is still a rather sad moment for me.
It’s quite touching how Starlight and Spike were so focused on making sure the memory album was perfect that they forgot to include their own memories. (And that being Starlight’s mandatory overlooked detail means the whole project has good odds of success.)
So apparently Spike can remember his own hatching. Not sure what to think of that, though I imagine the moments he was enormous were more likely to stick. My earliest memory is from the day before my third birthday… because I almost choked to death on an icing cap.
It’s a bit odd to have Twilight’s narration in this context, but we are flashing back to what was already a flashback.
I do feel the need to reiterate my stance on the CSGU entrance exam; It’s a Kobayashi Maru test with no intended way to succeed. It doesn’t test magical acumen, but how a prospective student deals with not getting what they want. It may have been instituted only after Sunset fled to the human world, thus revealing worrisome hints of megalomania much earlier in a potential student’s career. Heck, the egg might not have even been real before Twilight’s incredible surge. Otherwise, we face a question that’s plagued the exam since it was introduced: If every student has to go through this, where are all the other baby dragons?
Of course, this all means that Twilight probably did get into Celestia’s school even in the doomed timelines. She just didn’t become the princess’s personal student immediately, if ever.
Mind you, none of this explains why you can see Canterlot from the window of a building in Canterlot. That you can just blame on Season 1 having to make do with what resources it had available. Same principle as cloned background ponies, only with architecture.
“If you win, you have to stay here!”
This is actually an interesting point. If Spike had accepted Dragonlordship, could he have ordered the dragons to let him go back to Equestria? He might have had to do what he ended up doing anyway, making another dragon his proxy. Every day, Ember must wake up knowing that she is but a vassal of the true Dragonlord… and then she suplexes a boulder to make herself feel better. Works every time.
“Where’s your… father?”
Wow. That may be the most loaded out-of-context line in the entire miniseries. Even if it means we have to acknowledge Sludge’s existence again. It also illustrates how Twilight and Spike’s relationship blurs the line between parent-child and sister-brother.
We get it, Celestia, your students are your surrogate kids.
“I studied that spell for years!”
The word choice here is interesting. Did Starlight spend years researching the basic magical mechanics to devise the cutie unmarking, or did she find the spell wholly designed and spend years mastering it?
I do like the transition between the two Starlight vs. Twilight scenes. It makes it seem like Starlight zapped Twilight out of the outskirts of Our Town and directly into their time battle.
Also, “The Cutie Re-Mark” does seem to be the last time we see Twilight pull the “copy a spell she’s seen once” routine.
Huh. Not sure if I noticed Screwball in the Discord triumphant timeline until now. Good to see her.
I do still love the times when Starlight screwed up the timeline by helping Fluttershy. It’s such a wonderfully devious approach. “Why don’t you want me to help her, Twilight? How am I the bad guy when you want one of your best friends to get tormented by childhood bullies?”
Twilight not being able to stop Starlight in a knockdown, drag-out fight is still frustrating, but Starlight spent pretty much every moment of Season 5 preparing for this encounter, weighing every factor in her favor. Twilight was on the back hoof the whole time, and during the only timeline where she had a chance to get her bearings, she didn't know Starlight would always get sent back along with her.
Mind you, that preparation makes Starlight's refusal to recognize that the Bearers of the Elements might be a historical lynchpin all the more aggravating. This is what happens when multiple people write parts of a story arc without comparing notes.
It’s always funny to see Katie Cook and Andy Price’s ponysonas in crowd scenes. Funny-odd more than funny-amusing, much like other times comic continuity leached into the show.
“Starlight. You have proved yourself to be a kind, loyal, strong, honest, and truly magical friend.”
You heard it here, folks. Twilight doesn’t think Starlight is funny. Or generous.
It’s actually quite clever to cut away from Twilight’s cutie surge during Spike’s flashback and go back in for Celestia’s.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a unicorn with your raw abilities.”
Looking back, it’s not clear if Celestia was being honest or not. Though I’m leaning towards this being the truth, emphasis on raw ability. Sunset might have been an amazing arcane scholar, but it's not clear if she was setting the world on fire from the word "Go."
Also, interesting to note that Twilight’s flank remains blank until after she accepts becoming Celestia’s personal student. She doesn’t get her cutie mark until she makes a new friend.
Ohhh goodness, that awkward series premiere animation with Celestia’s tail coming out of the center of her cutie mark.
“Spike? Take a note, please.”
Huh. I wonder how many times Spike acted as a royal scribe before he moved to Ponyville.
Also, it does kind of sting to see the official decree relocating Twilight to Ponyville on the final bit of the show… when she’s about to move back to Canterlot.
Whether it’s shapeshifting or illusion, we never did see more of Luna’s disguise magic. A shame.
Huh. Celestia recalls offering Twilight guidance and support… while Luna remembers Twilight offering the same to her in turn. Really says a lot.
Ah yes, the Tantabus. Because nothing says “friendly kid’s show” quite like someone creating a form of ritualistic psychological self-harm.
“You just gotta stop feeling bad” is the singularly least helpful bit of advice one can offer to someone wracked by guilt and remorse. Great work, Dash.
Oh boy. Starlight has a new idea on a broad scope. This may not end well.
One wonders what Fluttershy thought when Twilight stuck her rump in her face before realizing they were both part of the same map mission.
I do love how Applejack handles Twilight’s meltdown in “The Best Gift Ever.” One of the better AJ scenes in the whole series.
And we get another case of two episodes directly intersecting. Haven’t seen that since “Games Ponies Play” and “Just for Sidekicks.”
The snooty waiter pouring glasses of applesauce still gets me. To say nothing of the yaks happily slamming it back.
Huh. The book is open to scenes from Friendship is Forever. As in bits from “Deep-Tissue Memories” and “Harvesting Memories” that aren’t flashbacks. It’s like not editing out the bits just after you start recording.
Double huh. Luna contributed a memory from Nightmare Moon herself. This actually sheds some light on how aware she was while twisted by darkness. Yes, each of the Trials of the Elements needed to be included, but this is still a very interesting datum on the start of the series coming at the very end.
“The spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!”
Hmm. You know, when you take Discord into account, one could interpret this in a very interesting way. I’m always up for ways to make sure Twilight doesn’t outlive her friends, and this one seems quite promising.
Twilight’s recap works even better here than in the premiere, given how each mare’s great deed occurred in a different clip show.
I admit, I teared up as the Elements formed in their necklace/big crown thingy forms. And I laughed at the classic Star Trek transporter noise as the Rainbow Beam of Fix Everything™ spun up to full power.
“We’ll just have to get started on Volume 2!”
Don’t tease me like that, Spike. 
And now, at last, we come to my personal beef with the finale. Some hate the Discord-as-Grogar reveal. Some despise petrifying a child without a trial. But me? I cannot countenance how the very last moments of Friendship is Magic are a reprise of “Best Friends Until the End of Time.” I might not have that problem if the song weren’t originally intended as a satire of the show’s fluffy, feel-good friendship songs. It shows a fundamental misunderstanding on the part of the writer that sours what is otherwise a great way to close out the series, especially when “A True, True Friend” was right freaking there.
It’s actually surprising how Twilight’s ascension never even came up. Kind of a momentous event… though I suppose one could argue she’ll never forget that. Same reason why few truly Twilight-centric memories made it in. Still, you’d expect Celestia to think back on it fondly, if no one else. And there’s the matter of not including any of Twilight’s other friends in the mix, but I suppose that’s what Starlight spent most of the coronation doing. Heck, nothing says she didn’t boot up the portal and ask Sunset for some choice moments. We know magical books still work in the human world… though the memory recording spell might not.
(“Wait, Twilight’s what? Celestia’s what!?”
“Oh. Uh, I thought you already knew?”)
Ah well. Even if the last two minutes of this bothered me, that’s still ninety-one percent fantastic. Even more if we consider Friendship is Forever collectively. This definitely could’ve gone much worse. Now to see what I can make as an epilogue to Equestrian animation.
Calm the Crazed 2W
Instant
Put target creature with power 4 or greater on the bottom of its owner’s library.
Celestia had never seen such power in somepony so young, but she knew all about soothing fillyhood tantrums.
Twilight’s Arcane Ascension 2WW
Legendary Instant
(You may cast a legendary instant only if you control a legendary creature or planeswalker.)
Exile target creature you control. At the beginning of the next end step, return that card to the battlefield under your control with a divinity counter on it. It has alicorn, flying, and indestructible.
Years ago, one mare turned friendship into literal magic.
Twilight’s Observation UUU
Instant
Choose one —
• Copy target instant or sorcery spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.
• You may cast target instant or sorcery spell from a graveyard without paying its mana cost.
Celestia’s Protege 2U
Creature — Unicorn Wizard
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
As long as you control a white permanent, Celestia’s Protege gets +0/+1 and has vigilance.
The sun’s light guides many to greatness.
2/2
Crescent-Blade Corsair 2U
Creature — Pony Pirate
Hexproof
As long as you control a black permanent, Crescent-Blade Corsair gets +1/+0 and has menace.
Doers of dark deeds are wise to revere the Princess of the Night.
3/1
Curse of Lignification 2U
Enchantment — Aura Curse
Enchant player
At the beginning of your end step, enchanted player puts a growth counter on a creature they control with no growth counters on it. If they can’t, remove all growth counters from those creatures.
Each creature enchanted player controls with a growth counter on it is a green Plant with base power and toughness 0/4 and loses all abilities.
Memory Anima 3UU
Creature — Spirit
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, exile that card instead of putting it into your graveyard as it resolves.
1U, Sacrifice Memory Anima: Return all cards exiled with it to their owners’ hands.
Elephants have nothing on remembrance incarnate.
3/3
Cram Session 4U
Sorcery
Draw cards equal to your devotion to blue. (Each U in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to blue.)
“How I long for those leisurely school days.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Deep Recollection BB
Sorcery
Search your library for a card, put it into your graveyard, then shuffle your library.
Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.)
Torment the Meek 1BB
Instant
Destroy target creature with power 3 or less. Its controller loses 3 life unless they sacrifice a nonland permanent or discard a card.
The cruelty of youth is no kinder than that of their elders, only less refined.
Luna’s Penance 2B
Enchantment — Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — Create a 2/2 black Nightmare creature token with “Whenever you lose life for the first time each turn, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.”
II, III — You draw a card and you lose 1 life.
Rain of Pies 3BB
Sorcery
All creatures get -3/-3 until end of turn. Whenever a creature dies this turn, create a Food token. (It’s an artifact with “T, Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.”)
“At least it’s not more chocolate milk.”
—Princess Twilight
Form of the Nightmare 5BBB
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, Form of the Nightmare deals damage to any target equal to the number of Swamps you control.
At the beginning of each end step, your life total becomes equal to the number of Swamps you control.
Discord’s Japery RR
Instant
Change the targets of target spell at random. You may have Discord’s Japery deal 1 damage to you. If you do, repeat this process.
“If I don’t make it sting a little, I may well fall asleep.”
—Discord
Scion of Discord 1RR
Creature — Avatar
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard two cards at random or pay 3.
Flying
Her body may be pony-shaped. Her mind assuredly isn’t.
5/4
Arcane Egg 2R
Creature — Egg
Defender
When Arcane Egg dies, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an instant or sorcery card. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. Put all revealed cards not cast this way on the bottom of your library in a random order.
0/3
Cost of Industry 2RRR
Enchantment
Whenever a land you control is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, each other player sacrifices a land.
“You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few ecosystems.”
—Flam Flimflam
Causal Ripple 3RR
Sorcery
Exile target permanent. Its controller reveals cards from the top of their library until they reveal a card that shares a permanent type with that permanent. That player puts that card onto the battlefield, then shuffles the rest into their library.
Ripples of the Rainboom 4R
Instant
Each player may cast a nonland card from their hand without paying its mana cost. Spells cast this way have cascade. (When a player casts a spell with cascade, they exile cards from the top of their library until they exile a nonland card that costs less. They may cast it without paying its mana cost, then put the exiled cards on the bottom of their library in a random order.)
Might of the Herd 1G
Instant
Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
Hoofcraft — That creature gets +5/+5 until end of turn instead if you control three or more Ponies, Pegasi, and/or Unicorns.
Any angry crowd is a concern. An angry crowd of one is a large concern.
Twilight, Destiny Scrambler RWU
Legendary Creature — Unicorn Wizard
When Twilight, Destiny Scrambler enters the battlefield, for each other creature you control, a random opponent gains control of that creature for as long as Twilight is on the battlefield.
At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, gain control of a creature you own and that player controls of their choice. Then if you own and control six or more creatures, transform Twilight.
4/4
Twilight, Friendship Princess
(RWU) Legendary Creature — Wizard Noble
Alicorn (This creature is also a Pony Pegasus Unicorn.)
Flying, hexproof
At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, gain control of target nonland permanent that player controls.
Her ascension began Equestria’s diplomatic renaissance.
4/4
Friendship Studies 2GW
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control more creatures than each other player, draw a card. Otherwise, create a 2/2 green Pony creature token.
“The subject may seem simple at first, but I doubt anypony can truly master it.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Soul Cleave 3(ur)
Instant
If U was spent to cast this spell, turn target nontoken creature face down. If R was spent to cast this spell, Soul Cleave deals 2 damage to target creature. (Do both if UR was spent. A face-down creature is a 2/2.)
Art source; image created by Phil Srobeighn
Inside Baseball Alert: Form of the Nightmare is stepping on red's toes a bit, but this isn't a Maro Get Your Gun Alert because the red card it's referencing is way more of a bend.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Ripples of the Rainboom needs a "nonland" in there in order for Eli to stop screaming. In non-bolded news, make sure you're the only one with cards in hand when you cast it.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Cost of Industry horrifies me a bit because Scapeshift exists, but the color weight acts as a bit of a balancing factor. Still, the only reason to use any of FoME's cards is to have fun with friends and you're going to run out of friends very quickly if you do **** like that.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Do not try to rely on Twilight, Destiny Scrambler's innate returning effect. Either drop her on an empty board and follow up with tokens or use other cards to help. (That's two separate links, by the by)
The thing about 'Best Friends Until The End Of Time', is that the 'See You Space Pony...' VHS-decay video makes it deeply unsettling and saddening in an admittedly cliche Ozymanedius/Memento Mori sort
of bathos.
"hugs you tightly"
I think she might have meant the fancy shield spell.
Remember Canon!Sunset in Transmission Spectrum? On some level, she did know that it was all real, but was so excited about the prospect of having that much power/control that she just didn't care. So she made an excuse. And then kept making them. Anything to keep her from realizing she had to go back, including what she did to the Humane 6, until Oversaturated!Sunset found a way back and gave herself her geode. At which point she realized just what she did to keep her fantasy alive and, well "shrugs"
I think it's the same thing with Starlight, just instead of giddiness over being a ruler, it's replaced with the vindication of writing her nemesis' happiness out of existence, therefore making them 'even'. It wasn't until she made a timeline with nopony left alive that she couldn't deny it anymore. Revenge through perceived equality is one thing, kickstarting a planet-wide genocide is another.
"hugs you tight"
Dangit, stop making me feel things! I still need to watch Season 9, spoiled as it is by now. Also...
The story trilogy currently in Development Hell offers answers to both. So wait for that cold day in Hell when it's finally ready for publishing
And so, an era ends. Much like Twilight herself, we'll always have our memories.
Do you know where I can find all of those last animations? Like, this whole 'memories' series? I lost access to Discovery Family a while ago.
I was waiting for Celestia and Luna to passive-aggressively point out that Starlight and Spike didn't ask them for their memories, either.
Including the part from before he was outside the egg!
Huh... I interpreted that line as referring to the death laser that she just shot and that Twilight put up a shield against. I suppose that could have been a concentrated version of the cutie mark removal spell rather than a death laser. Although Starlight had already lost the residents' allegiance at this point -- removing their cutie marks again wasn't going to get that back.
Starlight's sarcastic clapping reaction when Twilight accidentally encases filly Rainbow Dash always makes me chuckle.
I don't have a problem with Starlight having slightly more raw magical power than Twilight. After all, before she got wings, Twilight was never able to self-levitate, right? And as Twilight points out in the clip, they're closely matched enough that Starlight was never likely to outright defeat her.
Ah, there's the princesses asking for inclusion in the book. They were more polite about it than I would have been in that situation.
It depends on which fanfic you read.
Good animation on Fluttershy's reaction. And that marks the second time in the show's history that Twilight has outright presented. Girl never did learn all of the social skills, did she?
Starlight assembles five ponies, collects two flashbacks, then declares that she has successfully acquired all of the memories she needs. I know it's because of the episode's allotted runtime, but still.
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And, much like Twilight has, a collection of video clips of favorite moments.
Starlight's I think referring to the fact that Twilight copied her shield spell that she saw earlier and used it against her, stopping her attack.
Starlight was probably not going for the Cutie Unmarking spell at that point; the coloring for the Unmarking spell was different, so she was, optimistically, going for the crystallization spell, pessimistically, she was trying to seriously hurt them at the very least. It was the same color as when she was collapsing the snowbank on her pursuers to slow them down, or shooting the bridge, since it lacked the green tint of the Cutie Unmarking spell.
It also ties well into the fact that Starlight genuinely believed she was doing the right thing, in her mind, at that point. She wasn't trying to destroy Equestria.
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Twilight could actually self-levitate, albeit she only did it once in S3. I don't think it's inherently that difficult of a feat to pull off, if you're practiced/talented enough at telekinesis, considering Twilight Velvet can do it, and Snails could do it. (Star Swirl most certainly can, too, but hey, he's a Master Mage, either way)
I'll note that Twilight was arguably pulling off wasteful maneuvers against Starlight, like that flashy flight loop that she missed half of her shots with, and she managed to get hit once because she had her eyes closed, talking to Spike, and on another occasion, Starlight dodged (which she's really good at), meaning Twilight disobeyed the
gun safetymagic safety rule of "know what lies beyond your target," resulting in Rainbow Dash being crystallized.I'm not sure Starlight actually had to possess more raw power to fight Twilight (though I'm not arguing she was lacking in that, considering how her emotions amplify her magical power [which is a general rule of magic, it seems like]), considering that she seems to have better reflexes on a regular basis, and generally better skill than her in actually fighting. Starlight generally doesn't lose focus in a fight, whereas Twilight has done it in S5, Best Gift Ever (to the point Shining Armor called her out after saving her), and the S9 premiere, after Sombra broke the Elements, resulting in him trapping the six of them in an anti-teleport/magic crystal prison (hence why she didn't try to teleport out; anti-teleporting aspect established in S3).
It's notable that Starlight has never once gotten through one of Twilight's shields in a fight.
Well, now I gotta go back to that detail and write a fic about it.
Wrong season there.
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Except that's not what happened in the episode. That's how people remember it, because they removed how bad the writing was there. She did continue to deny the consequences of her actions, and called it all a trick by Twilight. Then she showed Twilight her past. Then Twilight did the same friendship speech she'd already tried before and since the runtime for the episode was almost over it worked. I personally think the show never handled its reformation scenes well, and it's why I'm glad there wasn't one with the trio in the last season.
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As others have pointed out, it actually refers to Twilight's shield, a copy of the one Starlight used before.
I agree with AC97 Twilight is just bad at fighting. Some more examples:
During the changeling invasion despite having a vast array of spells at her disposal apparently the best thing Twilight could think of was blasting individual changelings one at a time until Pinkie Pie stepped in.
Against the hydra, Twilight had several seconds to equivocate about “what would a brave pony like Rainbow Dash do,” before charging in to distract it, the thought of using a spell to distract it from the safety of range never even occurring to her.
During the season 4 premiere, she demonstrated near-effortless split-second teleports in rapid succession while simultaneously maintaining a water walking spell, but when ambushed by the cragodile mere hours later she froze up completely and would have been eaten if not for her friends' last-second rescue.
The one time she fought deadly seriously against Tirek she didn’t display any real creativity, finesse, or tactics, she just blasted him with raw power over and over.
Now if Twilight thought and fought like a versus forum debate character or RPG murderhobo she has a ton of spells that would be super deadly if weaponized. But, she doesn't think that way. She's a peaceful scholar mage with no warrior's instincts what-so-ever. She's the Princess of Friendship not fighting.
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(oh, and forgot to mention, Trixie briefly showed she learned self-levitation in S8, presumably as a result of Starlight teaching her)
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Honestly, I think Cadance is possibly a better fighter than Twilight is, with her track record. She was the one who leapt into action to shield Celestia and Luna in the movie, which only did not work because the thing ignored shields, was basically meant to be used against them... while Celestia froze up while telling Luna to go seek help, and Luna, to her credit, attacked a minion, and flew... but we know she can teleport as per S5 (Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep, where she arrived absurdly fast after a scroll was sent to her, and you hear a muffled teleport sound) and S9 (Between Dark and Dawn), and we know both of them aren't really proactive with shielding, like when Twilight shielded them both in S9.
Here's an example of Cadance paying more attention than Twilight, in a fight, and she does seem to have good reflexes.
If Cadance learned how to teleport (which given she seems interested in magic herself, wouldn't be that implausible [Twilight cares about her input for spellwork, and she thought a Star Swirl themed museum was a fun way to spend time... just like Twilight]), she'd be an even more outstanding fighter, when you consider her powerful shields that can hold Sombra off for extended periods of time, and that she does have it in her to kill without hesitation, going by Sombra (most likely the second time as well, if she had a good chance [they knew they sent help successfully, to be fair to them standing down when he had their daughter]), quite possibly Chrysalis. All the more impressive, since she was originally a pegasus. Love can be versatile.
The closest Twilight's shown to being a good fighter is in S9, when she was directly fighting Sombra, and Tirek in S9, even if the primary motivation was to draw aggro with the latter, not defeat him in a straight fight... and even then, it's still notable that she showed a failure in situational awareness at the start of S9, so she probably didn't get over that flaw, and she notably panicked here, and would've died if coolheaded Rarity didn't make it count. (on the topic of villains, Chrysalis would never admit it, but she isn't actually a good fighter, even more so than Twilight, the way that weaker opponents noticeably inconvenienced her multiple times)
Twilight tends to do better when she's had a chance to think over what she's going to do, which in combat, isn't a luxury that you can usually afford, so I think she's a better strategist than she is a tactician, whereas Starlight's the opposite, being oriented well to quick thinking.
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I had forgotten about Trixie and season three Twilight. I remembered Snails (which I dismissed as a joke) and Twilight Velvet (which I just like to pretend didn't happen).
I suppose I was going off of the end of the "The Cutie Re-Mark," where Twilight says that Starlight "obviously has more talent for magic than almost anypony I've seen." Self-levitation would make for a good indicator of exceptional magical power... were it not for later writers who decided "we saw a unicorn do it once, so all unicorns must be able to do it." See also teleportation, which had been limited to exceptional magic practitioners until Sweetie Belle did it in "Growing Up Is Hard to Do."
...What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, who would win in a fight. I guess it depends on what the story requires.
Maybe magic is naturally better suited for defensive purposes than offensive purposes? Starlight created a really impressive shield at the beginning of "Every Little Thing She Does."
Shouldn't the token created by Luna's Penance be a Theros-style enchantment creature?
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Snails actually did have an episode making it a plot point before S9 back in S6 that he was rather talented/dexterous with telekinesis, in Buckball Season, so he might be a savant in that regard, and I've mentioned this before, elsewhere, regarding Sweetie Belle, but S4 actually did establish that Twilight's mentored the CMC... including Sweetie Belle in magic, with what was a Sorcerer's Apprentice reference (it was made by Disney, what it's a reference to... and it referenced The Empire Strikes Back, by Sweetie Belle saying "it weighs a ton" at one point), and she showed signs of wishing to improve her magic after that, in S5... and it was never indicated that "Twilight Time" stopped, and it's noteworthy that Sweetie Belle's cutie mark has a star on it, as a unicorn... which tends to point to magical abilities being above average.
She showed decent control over telekinesis in both S5 and S6 (a lesser pony would've dropped both halves, probably, and for the first part, she didn't lose her focus when Scootaloo shook her).
As for the last three seasons especially, Sweetie Belle's magical prowess was shown (S7, shield; she also contributed to pulling back the giant slingshot Scootaloo launched into Cloudsdale with in another episode [the other two CMCs pushing, one of whom is an Earth Pony]) getting greater as time went on (S7-S8 likely had a decent timeskip, with the school being built and all), to the point that she subtly casted Accelero in a way a casual viewer will miss (note how the other three seem confused after she zooms off), and the only time Accelero was mentioned or seen before or after that (to my memory), it was explicitly described as a difficult spell by Starlight.
So, in my opinion, her pulling off a sloppy (ended up in a hay bale on her part) short-ranged, kinda desperate teleport that obviously hurt (much like it did when Twilight did it in S1 after learning it off Nightmare Moon doing it to her, more than once, regarding "pain"/"disorientation") isn't actually out of left field, considering just who she's had to learn magic off of, for what is most likely an extended period of time.
Should they have dedicated an episode or three to her having magical shenanigans/progress, or brought it up more in passing? Honestly, probably, but I don't think that in particular is actually a sign of careless writing. The ponies listed are all presumably outliers from the norm, including how Rarity (as her sister) has had her raw power show signs of being noticeable before in S3, and in the comics, long before S9.
I think it makes sense, the thought of Sweetie Belle wishing to work at having an advantage in her magical abilities over her sister, since she has felt like she's in Rarity's shadow before (For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils), in addition to how she seems like the type that would wish to stick up for herself, not be pushed over, know how to defend herself, aside from finding it interesting.
I'm not sure why Twilight Velvet self-levitating would be hard to believe, since she's literally Twilight's mother (Shining Armor is also not a slouch at all in power, considering his power helped stomp Chrysalis and her army, with Cadance's help, and his love allowed Chrysalis to defeat Celestia off that temporary power boost; he only looks weak next to Sombra and Third Form Tirek).
...as for "more talent than almost anypony I've seen," that came down to how during S5, since Starlight's debut, she: manipulated cutie marks (which is not usual magic whatsoever), pulled off time travel (which even if she said Star Swirl did the "hard part" for her...), used shields, can self-levitate well enough to possess the agility to be viable in combat (which Twilight showed no evidence of having the ability to do), casted a cloudwalking spell (since she didn't sink through the clouds), teleported the backpack off of Spike to get the scroll, and showed the ability to use a freeze spell (crystallization, and the old fashioned "they can't move if I do this" spell, which Twilight can also do).
There were things a lot more inherently impressive than self-levitation on Starlight's part, including in her sheer variety, and one of the top ones was in her debut, and her opening move in her return, and you'll notice none of those aforementioned spells were ones we first saw her do after S5.
Edited to add:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/10/19/1565112__safe_screencap_pound+cake_pumpkin+cake_baby+cakes_baby_baby+pony_cake+twins_crib_foal_levitation_magic_pony_self-dash-levitation_telekinesis.png
...also I'll note Pumpkin Cake self-levitated back during S2, in addition to phasing through an object (which I can't remember anypony else doing), during her magical surges.
5341641
In any case, using a crystal to block was a decent use of innovation on Starlight's part... and Starlight was explicitly trying to overachieve at the beginning of that episode to distract Twilight, manipulating her into ignoring Starlight's friendship lessons, per her exact words.
...and perhaps it's not the most practical thing, the way it moved her while blocking, hence why it doesn't seem to be her standby for "block."
But that could be an interesting/plausible thought, it being easier to put forth a good defense than a good offense.
5341714
I always figured it was a matter of training.
An insanely dedicated and wandering Starlight mastered impossible feats because no one was around to tell her they were impossible. Twilight read Starswirl (apparently some of regular curricula is from a millenium ago) and never went beyond that (Except once with the unfinished spell). Sure, Equestrian magic probably advanced during that time, but did anyone have that much pressure to innovate? They heard "Ask a pegafriend to get things off the roof if they get stuck" and didn't think to try.
Not arguing that peace is a bad thing, just that madness gets results. Sometimes the results are large explosions.
(Oh, and Mrs. Velvet learned it from Starlight sometime in a skip because she's an adrenaline junkie.)
I also remember a crack theory
>Denying cutie marks is speculated to stress ponies into insanity
>The dragon egg test was a bundle of plaster
>Spike functions nothing like other dragons we've seen
>Twilight going full hikki is from denying her cutie mark (also supported by Lesson Zero)
>She's good at magic, sure, but as the tagline says, friendship=magic
>The mark is for making friends Literally, in Spike's case.
Later seasons kind of screw it up, but it still amuses me, like the old Starswirl-Discord bit.
"Also, interesting to note that Twilight’s flank remains blank until after she accepts becoming Celestia’s personal student. She doesn’t get her cutie mark until she makes a new friend."
Oh, wow; thanks for pointing that out! :D
Oh, I'm sorry the finale song works so poorly for you, though.
And I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank you for doing these blog posts over the years. :)
(And a nice way to end this post, there. :))
5341817
I do not doubt the value of training hard, especially when the magic rules lean on being soft rules.
I'm not entirely sure Starlight believes in limits, in some ways, and in any case, Starlight's powers are fueled by emotion, and she is very, very emotional, per canon, whereas Twilight probably leans less strongly on emotion when casting magic, not to say she doesn't benefit from being angry or determined.
Twilight's emphasis on formally learning (although I think Starlight probably had a decent supply of magic books, as needed, and perhaps her father had some good magic talent as well, if this wasn't just cartoon comedy, or representative of them failing a spot check) in a lot of ways probably restrained her proclivity for throwing her power around, whereas Starlight tends to be a lot flashier in her effects, less restrained, more inclined to innovate.
...I think it might be worth wondering if Starlight had someone like this pony as a teacher, like Snowfall Frost did.
That is a good thought. How many innovations came about as a result of wartime in our world, especially both World Wars? A lot, actually. That might be part of why Star Swirl was so prolific: he was active during a more cynical, chaotic era, had to deal with a lot of things back then, less peaceful times, things like Windigos happening.
Those two parts above all probably held true, all in all. Mean Twilight, in contrast to Twilight, lacked the inner light that friendship gives, per her cutie mark lacking a light side in the center.
What's also noticeable is that both Sunset and Starlight have cutie marks with similar symbolism as Twilight (two of whom's white parts in the center are kinda washed out on a light theme, so either go dark mode, or open in another tab).
derpicdn.net/img/view/2018/11/13/1881568__safe_artist-colon-mandash1996_editor-colon-axal-dash-5_starlight+glimmer_sunset+shimmer_twilight+sparkle_cutie+mark_cutie+mark+only_magical+tr.png
5341846
Given his characterisation, I'm half convinced he came up with at least half of his advances because someone told him it was impossible and he wanted to spite them.
>Starlight and books
She did run away at some point, and I question her father letting her near high octane magical shenanigans as well. A teacher probably would (or should) have been elaborated on. Not likely to get a straight answer at this point either. "Angry enough to want, crazy enough to try, and powerful enough to force the issue" is the simplest way.
The real fridge horror question:
>Our Town is likely a few years old (i think, it's been a while)
>She had the spell ready to go when she showed up
>Who was she practicing on for the years it took her to perfect
5341714
>edit response
Proving that it's probably not that hard, just needs a horn carrying capacity of at least your weight, the knack for how to do it, and the practice to not slam yourself into the landscape at high speed.
5341902
Lol, yeah, I think that would check out for Star Swirl's gruff side, to be honest. He's not a complete jerk (especially past S7)... but he has his pride.
If she needed to, she could've just broken into some libraries, and stolen some magic tomes... she presumably did just that for the time spell, actually, broken into the Canterlot Library's Restricted Area.
Honestly, we don't know if it took years to practice the Cutie Unmarking spell in particular... she could've been practicing it on herself... or she was some cloaked creep practicing it on some poor strangers, for all we know.
As far as how old Our Town is, Rock Solid Friendship established it was set up after S4's "Maud Pie," where Maud set off to get her Rocktorate after that episode.
- Maud Pie
- Rock Solid Friendship
...So ultimately, the village was likely established S4-S5, so it was probably up for a few months at most, before the Friendship Map sent them the Mane Six there. It was still under construction when we saw that flashback.
When I get focused on a topic... I tend to edit a lot, to add information, and such, lol...
I should maybe have just made another comment at that point, since I quite possibly added something when you were writing that comment, regarding S5-S6 Sweetie Belle.
shrug
I imagine that as someone's described it in a story (think it was... Surviving Sand Island), you've gotta get past the disorientating sensation of having your magic aura running over your active horn (we know that unicorns probably get some kind of tactile feedback from what's in their levitation field), know/practice how to prevent that sort of thing from causing interference (discipline yourself), and proceed from there in the learning process. If you're a baby, or you are good at staying in a constant zen state of mind (Snails), so you don't think about it, then that gives you an advantage in doing so.
At least, that's a headcanon I like, and I think it ties into how Star Swirl was seen self-levitating, seemingly meditating, when we first saw him in the last S9 two-parter, rather well.
A lot of unicorns, however, are not liable to practice their magic that much, learn how to self-levitate, learn much magic beyond their special talents, whatever the exact reason may be (lack of interest, it not coming naturally to them, so it's too frustrating, having better things to do in their eyes, and/or their potential is hindering them), and in any case, the show tends to focus on the Mane Six.
5341905
>demarking spell
If it came out of a book, it's a book Twilight Sparkle never heard of or saw referenced. Taboo subject matter might cover that, or it might not. Also noteworthy that (unless I'm completely misremembering) Glimglam mentions hearing of the time spell from the stalking.
>Our Town timeline
Still, she either pulled off her own in private repeatedly and using the untested versions or, as implied, did it to some other poor bastard until perfected, then swanned into Our Town with the completed version. It's not shown to be a particularly pleasant process, either.
>Self levitation
Exactly my points. No pressure to learn it, there's some kind of unintuitive trick at the start, you need to be x strong to even start, and it likely doesn't affect your job as a whatever. I totally also forgot to make a "Throwing yourself at the ground and missing" joke, I apologise to the thread.
If it wasn't an old trick and he learned it after limbo, it's nice to see him looking into new magic. Honestly, that would have been a nice contrast in an episode after Shadow Play, Starswirl excitedly getting a look at magic advancements while he was out.
5341934
I never meant to say I thought that in particular came out of a spellbook, I meant that regarding some of the other spells she's learned, "studied for years," like the shield Twilight seemed to copy after seeing it once, and presumably other things, like the cloudwalking spell, and other combat oriented stuff (you don't blow up a bridge without actually knowing what you're doing, most of the time, one presumes).
And you're right, Starlight was stalking the Twilight at multiple points in the season (including in Amending Fences
and maybe she had Moon Dancer help her with spellwork, regarding the time spell, lol... or would it be too much of a retread like with Maud?)She got the idea for time travel at this point in What About Discord? (in video form).
...I'm not sure if Starlight outright said it (I don't think she did), but it's true that she got it there.
5341905
We do know that the Cutie Mark Vault had a lot more than twelve cutie marks in it. Which is rather terrifying actually - I'd never wondered where the others came from until now...
Oh yeah, there were some cards! Good cards. I particularly like Twilight's Ascension: you did need to edit the flavour text pattern down to "Years" in this case, but it is nonetheless a truly legendary event; there's nothing wrong with identifying the definitely legendary events of the modern era :)
Oh, and about this:
I basically agree with you. It's telling that they had to cut the interstitial counterpoint of panicked Trixie and exhausted Starlight. But I'm not actually sure that "A True, True Friend" would have been much better. I know the fandom made that song an iconic representation of the spirit of the show, but in its own right it seems a bit weird: the chorus is lovely but the verses talk about various weird out-of-character problems that three of the Mane Six are having.
Okay I'm gonna ask the stupid question: what are y'all doin' cards for, here?
(I'm just going to flash my 2020 card as for why my brain isn't picking up what you're putting down.)
5341370
I mean, you can't cast lands... but looking around Gatherer, the only two cards that use "cast a card" without the nonland rider either use that rider earlier or are a Mystery Booster test card. So fair enough.
And yeah, "Grave Pact for lands" is definitely a phrase that shouldn't even be in the same state as Wizards R&D. Could definitely use a once-per-turn rider.
Also, I can't tell if using Brand to get back your friends after Twilight mixed up their cutie marks is a flavor win or a horrifying alternate timeline where she helped Applejack first.
5341393
I mean, you could do that with just about any upbeat pony song. Imagine it with, say, the opening of "Pinkie Pride."
5341403 5341471
Re: studying the spell for years: Behold, the power and danger of vague pronoun references.
5341409
Looking forward to it! (And remember, according to Dante, it's always a cold day in Hell if you go deep enough.)
5341436
Same. It's the "Good job!" expression that gets me most of all.
I view it as more combat skill than raw power, but goodness knows you've already had that conversation.
Well, she already got a bunch from the rest of the Mane Six. Presumably she was doing something while everypony else was gearing up for the coronation/working through separation anxiety. I still think this is how Sunset found out Princess Celestia was abdicating.
5341526
Hmm. Thinking about the concept, I can't help but imagine Lovecraft learning about fractals (for the Lovecraftian value of "learning," i.e. getting a vague, surface-level understanding and refusing to look deeper out of fear,) and writing about the infinitely recursive towers of Canterlot.
You mean Starlight wasn't the swole, silver-tongued centaur?
5341542 5341625
Yeah, Twilight isn't exactly the sort to research exotic new forms of magical destruction or improvise violent plans. (She can improvise effectively, but in more constructive ways. Consider the time in the movie where she cobbles together a hot-air balloon out of scraps while in freefall.) The Princess of Love is far more suited for war. All's fair, after all.
5341674
There's certainly an argument for it, but there's precedent for non-enchantment nightmarish psychic entities. Plus, I didn't make the Tantabus's original card an enchantment creature either. It ultimately boils to whether you consider Luna a god, and she certainly isn't one in the Theros sense of the term.
5343351
Fair point, though it'd hardly be the only case of a bizarre lack of context. I still think the song they went with was one of the worst possible choices. Maybe cut to Luster Dawn looking through a copy of the memory album?
5343978
I'm not sure I understand the question. Did you only just notice the thing I've been doing just about every Sunday for almost seven years?
5344111
And Grim Reminder cares about casting a card rather than letting you, so the rider would be even more redundant in context.
5344114
Hey now. It wasn't so much fear that kept him from learning some things as it was his distaste for mathematics. Though admittedly it would apply here too.
Or maybe you're just bad at picking up on details I mean I used a name three times in three chapters before you made any comment on it.5344114
No sir, just asking which episode, special, or whatnot this is for. You say “last bit of G4 animation,” and I know for sure that I’ve missed some of the later stuff.
(Oh for a comprehensive Blu-Ray release or something like that. Just lay out all of G4 for me in chronological viewing order so I don’t have to work so hard to track down the stragglers!)
5344190
Ah. There's a six-part clipshow miniseries called "Friendship is Forever" that use the creation of a plot element from the finale as a framing device to celebrate each of the Mane Six in turn. It appears to have only aired in Australia for some reason.
Also, the link in my previous reply actually does list each of the episodes in chronological order. Also the EqG stuff, the comics, the other assorted animated offshoots, Pony Life...
It's pretty comprehensive.