Friendship is Card Games: My Little Pony: The Manga, Ch. 3-7 & 3-8 · 11:31am May 23rd, 2021
This week, we close out Volume 3 of the OEL manga, finishing up the Scavenger Hunt of Harmony. And oh boy, did they save the weirdest for last…
Chapter 3-7
“GEE, WONder Where I’ve Seen This Before?”
Yeah. Twilight didn’t end up in any alternate Equestria. She went all the way back to Dream Valley. And knocked out her distant ancestor in the process.
Given her personal experiences in a Nightmare Triumphant timeline, it’s no surprise that Twilight would appreciate the carefree atmosphere of G1… though monster attacks never stopped being a thing.
Scorpan: The original pony collector.
Even after years(?) of torment and toil, Twilight has the instincts of a hero. Which are a rare commodity at this time in pony history.
Oh dear. Tirek doubled up on MacGuffins. He’s almost at D&D adventurer levels of kitted out. And now we’re really leaning in on Twilight feeling responsible for the disaster.
Nothing tears away the temptation to graze and let the world go by for Twilight like giving her a Spike to save.
… Yeah, without Megan getting involved, these ponies are kind of doomed the next time some monstrosity comes around. Maybe. We’ll see how Twilight leaves them.
The Moochick: Phenomenal cosmic knowledge, itty-bitty attention span.
I appreciate the sea ponies being treated as the big-lipped alligator moment that they are.
Yeah, the Tiara of Magic doesn’t exactly match original Tirek’s aesthetic.
… And then Twilight created a Tirek-sized, Spike-shaped golem. Well then. Sadly, it didn’t do much.
I admit, seeing Twilight wield the Rainbow of Light is pretty awesome… once she figures out how.
And yeah, rainbows do tend to explode in My Little Pony, don’t they?
Heh. Without Megan, the purified Scorpan may be the first human these ponies have seen.
Ah, avoiding awkward questions by leaving the universe. Sometimes I wish I had that option.
And given that statue, the local Twilight may face some unrealistic expectations when the Smooze comes calling… 
Chapter 3-8
Heh. Discord has a point. There were quite a few contests and competitions to get back Elements. Twilight did help establish that precedent, but this one doesn’t remember that.
If different parts of the same universe don’t have the same time flow, expecting it across the wider multiverse is just silly.
Discord truly is a transcendent intellect. Mere mortal minds could never be smart enough to be that stupid.
I do love how both Rarity and Fluttershy are still a little shaken from their trips to their personal worst nightmares.
Really not a fan of “ponyverse” as the next step of existence above universe. Just going to ignore that, thank you.
Interesting that Nightmare Moon knows the names of the other Bearers. I may just chalk that up to narrative expedience.
… Oh, that is an amazing big damn heroes moment. Especially Spike’s beard. Though there are a few more details to glean from this. The presence of only one Flimflam brother speaks volumes.
Spike really went Greatest Story Never Told, huh? This is post-timeskip Spike, after all. All that diplomatic experience works wonders for building a resistance movement, even if he didn’t mean to.
Also, Nightmare Moon’s proving very restrained. Only the Bearers seem to merit lethal force, and even then, I’m not sure if that’s the plan. Yes, this is official MLP fiction, but still, she wasn’t shy with the lightning in the premiere.
Well, Applejack was given a scroll that would summon powerful allies. No one said who they’d be.
… Okay, so much for the nonlethal tactics. Bugbears as a response to ninjas makes sense. And it might have worked if it weren’t for Fluttershy being Fluttershy.
There we go. A good boss knows when to delegate and when step in personally. Unfortunately, the good guys have ridiculously specific intel on future events.
Ah. I was wondering how the ninjas would get back home. Limited time on the summon definitely works.
Nightmare Moon was indeed being deliberately merciful until now. Relatively speaking. Point-blank sonic booms are enough for her to break out the Force Choking. Given how it was enough to crack her helmet, I can’t blame her.
And there’s the brick joke. I love it when a plan comes together, even if no one actually planned it per se.
And so we close with another origin theory for Pony Life: Discord meddling with the timeline. It’d explain a lot, honestly. 
And we close with a happy moment with Star Dancer. With this mess sorted out, they can leave temporal shenanigans to the professionals.
In all, this was a delightful romp from start to finish. If you don’t read the OEL manga, I can’t recommend it enough. And hopefully these cards help entice you:
The Rainbow of Light W
Legendary Artifact
X, T: Put a charge counter on The Rainbow of Light for each color of mana spent to activate this ability.
T, Remove X charge counters from The Rainbow of Light: Exile target nonland permanent with mana value X.
Light a prism to curse the darkness.
Resistance Veteran 3W
Creature — Pegasus Rebel Soldier
Flying, first strike
6, T: Search your library for a Rebel permanent card with mana value 5 or less, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
Surviving Wonderbolts gladly joined Spike’s cause.
2/2
Neon Trauma 1U
Sorcery
Target player mills three cards for each color among permanents they control.
Forecast — U, Reveal Neon Trauma from your hand: Target permanent becomes the color of your choice until end of turn. (Activate only during your upkeep and only once each turn.)
Timely Preparations 1U
Instant
Exile target nonland permanent. For as long as that card remains exiled, its owner may cast it and may do so as though it had flash.
“I just get the pieces in place. Harmony takes care of the timing.”
—Discord
Seapony Songstress 2U
Creature — Pony Merfolk
Flash
When Seapony Songstress enters the battlefield, target creature an opponent controls gets -2/-0 until end of turn.
“Well. That happened.”
—Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of Magic
2/2
Twilight the First 2UU
Legendary Creature — Unicorn
1U: Exile Twilight the First. Return it to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step.
When Twilight enters the battlefield from exile, you may pay 1U. If you do, learn. (You may reveal a Lesson card you own from outside the game and put it into your hand, or discard a card to draw a card.)
2/3
Mutsu-Clan Chainbinders 4U
Creature — Pony Ninja
Ninjutsu 2U (2U, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
Whenever Mutsu-Clan Chainbinders deals combat damage to a player, tap target permanent that player controls. It doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.
3/3
Captured Pony 1B
Creature — Pony
Defender
At the beginning of each end step, if a player lost 4 or more life this turn, transform Captured Pony. (Damage causes loss of life.)
Tirek’s captives never suffered for long.
2/2
Savage Stratadon
(B) Creature — Dragon
Flying
B, Pay 2 life: Savage Stratadon gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
Once twisted by the Rainbow of Darkness, they lacked even the capacity for pain.
4/3
Resistance Mascot 1B
Creature — Crocodile Rebel
Lifelink
4, T: Search your library for a Rebel permanent card with mana value 3 or less, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
Adorable creatures always help with recruitment.
2/1
Choking Tyranny 2BB
Sorcery
Creatures target player controls get -2/-2 until end of turn.
“I tried being nice. I tried keeping the atmosphere from freezing. And still you deny me the slightest bit of gratitude.”
—Nightmare Moon
Flight of the Stratadons 2BB
Sorcery
Destroy target creature. Creatures you control gain frenzy 1 until end of turn. (Whenever a creature with frenzy 1 attacks and isn’t blocked, it gets +1/+0 until end of turn.)
The horrors’ descent marked yet another loss for the defenseless herd.
Power of Darkness 3BB
Sorcery
Power of Darkness deals X damage to any target and you gain X life, where X is your devotion to black. If a permanent dealt damage this way dies this turn, create a 4/4 black Dragon creature token with flying. (Each B in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to black.)
Neurotoxic Bugbear 4BB
Creature — Nightmare Insect Bear
Flying, deathtouch
When Neurotoxic Bugbear enters the battlefield, each opponent gets two poison counters. (A player with ten or more poison counters loses the game.)
When Neurotoxic Bugbear leaves the battlefield, each opponent loses two poison counters.
3/3
Discord’s Hideout RR
Instant
Flip a coin. If it comes up heads, prevent all damage that would be dealt by creatures this turn. If it comes up tails, if a creature would deal damage this turn, it deals double that damage instead.
“Fifty percent of the time, it works every time.”
Hypersonic Rush 2R
Instant
Choose one —
• Double target creature’s power until end of turn.
• Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to target creature you don’t control.
Entwine 1R (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)
Scorpan, Twisted Vassal 2RR
Legendary Creature — Gargoyle Minion
Flying
R: Target creature you control gets +1/+0 until end of turn. Scorpan deals 1 damage to itself.
W: Scorpan gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
At the beginning of each end step, if creatures you control have dealt 10 or more damage this turn, you may transform Scorpan.
2/4
Scorpan, Restored Prince
(W) Legendary Creature — Human Noble
Other creatures you control get +1/+1.
1RW: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
“Before, I was forced to serve a tyrant. Now, I am honored to serve a people.”
3/4
Disestablishmentarian 4R
Creature — Pegasus Rebel
Flying, trample
Whenever Disestablishmentarian or another Rebel enters the battlefield under your control, destroy up to one target artifact.
He makes sure the resistance’s message is heard.
4/3
Pastoral Idyll G
Instant
Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn. Each player gains 1 life for each creature they control.
Between monster attacks, Dream Valley was a paradise.
Survey the Multiverse 2GG
Sorcery
Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonland card. Put that card into your hand and the rest onto the battlefield tapped. If you put no lands onto the battlefield this way, return Survey the Multiverse to its owner’s hand.
Twilight’s Avenger 4
Creature — Dragon Golem
As Twilight’s Avenger enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
Twilight’s Avenger’s power is equal to the number of cards of the chosen type in your graveyard.
Twilight’s resolve hardened, then punched Tirek in the face.
*/4
The Chariot of Midnight 6
Legendary Artifact — Vehicle
Flying
Crew 7
Crew with Dragon 4 (Tap any number of Dragons you control with total power 4 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
Its flight marks the end of light.
11/10
Firefly’s Wild Ride GW
Legendary Sorcery
(You may cast a legendary sorcery only if you control a legendary creature or planeswalker.)
Search your library for a legendary permanent card, reveal it, put it into your hand, and shuffle. The next legendary spell you cast this turn costs GW less to cast.
Centuries ago, one mare crossed a rainbow to find help her world couldn’t offer.
Increasing Hilarity 1RW
Sorcery
Lifelink
Increasing Hilarity deals 3 damage to any target. If this spell was cast from a graveyard, it deals 6 damage to that permanent or player instead.
Flashback 5RW (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
Megan, Young Stablehand 1GW
Legendary Creature — Human Citizen
GW, T: Create a 2/2 green Pony creature token. If you control five or more creatures, exile Megan, Young Stablehand, then return her to the battlefield transformed under her owner’s control.
2/2
Megan, Ponyland Champion
(GW) Legendary Planeswalker — Megan
+1: Create a 2/2 green Pony creature token.
-2: Exile target tapped creature.
-6: You gain life and draw cards equal to the number of creatures you control.
4
Spike, Resistance Leader 1RWB
Legendary Creature — Dragon Rebel
Rebels you control have haste.
Whenever another Rebel enters the battlefield under your control, add RWB. Spend this mana only to cast Rebel spells or activate abilities of Rebel sources.
X, T: You may put a Rebel permanent card with mana value X or less from your hand or graveyard onto the battlefield. Put it on the bottom of your library at the beginning of the next end step.
2/2
Summoning Arts 2UB
Instant
Cast this spell only during the declare blockers step on your turn.
As an additional cost to cast this spell, return X unblocked attacking creatures you control to their owners’ hands.
You may put up to X creature cards from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.
Mister Moochick 2UR
Legendary Creature — Gnome Wizard
Magecraft — Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn.
Spells you cast from anywhere other than your hand cost 2 less to cast.
“I’ve got just the thing… somewhere.”
1/4
Applejack, Silly Pony 2RG
Legendary Creature — Pony
Vigilance
Prevent all combat damage Applejack, Silly Pony would deal while attacking. Whenever damage is prevented this way, choose a target at random from among defending player and creatures and planeswalkers that player controls. Applejack deals that much damage to that player or permanent.
5/5
Resistance Blastmage 2RW
Creature — Unicorn Wizard Rebel
Flash
When Resistance Blastmage enters the battlefield, choose one —
• Resistance Blastmage deals 2 damage to each attacking creature.
• Resistance Blastmage deals 2 damage to each blocking creature.
2/2
Spacetime Flux 2GU
Instant
All creatures have base power and toughness 3/3 until end of turn.
“This had no discernible long-term effects on the timeline. I’m definitely not seeing any signs on social media.”
—Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of Magic
Tirek, Midnight Overlord 4BR
Legendary Creature — Centaur Warlock
2B, Sacrifice another non-Dragon creature: Create a 4/4 black Dragon creature token with flying.
2R: Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Tap it. It loses all abilities until end of turn. Activate only as a sorcery.
4/4
Castle Midnight
Land
Castle Midnight enters the battlefield tapped unless you control a Swamp.
T: Add B.
2BB, T: Target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn. You lose 3 life.
Without Midnight, ponykind flourished into a power unimaginable.
We'll get back to that one in... a couple of weeks of PL-related blogs, if memory serves right. Not the next time you'll cover it, but the one after that.
I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll ever be able to take G1 Tirek as seriously again after seeing him wearing that tiara.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Some of the most terrifying monstrosities in the game are tokens or back faces of transform/meld cards, because that's how you stop players from cheating their costs. The Rainbow of Light can therefore exile them without having to charge up first, because they have a mana value of 0.
Inside Baseball Alert: Even G1 Twilight was associated with teleportation. Given the chant she uses when doing so, I'm not surprised that Twilight the First combines it with a keyworded wish variant (which may not even have been deliberate on FoME's part). Likewise, less than 1% of wizards (8/837) can survive being punted off a cliff by G1 Applejack without buffs, and she's in the two best colors for those while most wizards are in the single worst. Even better, she can only consistently hit them if it's in self-defense.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Captured Pony doesn't actually care who lost life or how, or even if it was on the battlefield yet when it happens. The most hilarious corner case: if you use its transformed side's activated ability twice and it gets flickered back to normal in response to the second (or you chained it to itself), it'll transform back at the end of the turn on that basis alone.
Stupid Complicated Game Alert: Firefly's Wild Ride can reduce generic mana costs if the next legendary spell you cast isn't green and white. I bolded this because, despite being how the rules work, every card that would otherwise invoke it specifically says that it doesn't reduce colored mana except Khalni Hydra, who requires additional cards that give it a generic mana cost for this to come up.
Inside Baseball Alert: With the reveal of Lolth, dimensional travelers from other IPs are officially permitted to be planeswalker cards even if they don't otherwise fit the mold of what that means. Setting this precedent was important for Universes Beyond, although LotR is still going to have trouble.
I think Crew with Dragon's reminder text should specify total power, as otherwise it would imply you could make the Chariot an artifact creature by tapping zero 4+/X dragons.
Also, am I understanding right that Firefly's Wild Ride shuffles the legendary permanent back into your deck after revealing it?
5523925
Emphasis mine.
5524020
Either it was edited or I somehow accidentally a whole phrase.
5523600
Yeah, it barely worked with Sunspot Shimmer, much less the original big bad of Ponyland.
5523688
Do note that the back sides of TDFCs have the mana value of the front, and melded cards have the sum of their components' mana values, as per CR 202.3b-c. Mind you, the Rainbow can still smack Ormendahl and Marit Lage around with minimal effort.
And yes, Twilight's wishes and Applejack's wizard-kicking are both very intentional design choices.
5523925
Good call on both; I edited them shortly after you pointed those out but didn't say anything until now. Thanks for the catch.
5524118
Good to know I wasn't imagining things.
This comic was fantastic overall, wasn't it?
I was sort of expecting a reference to Pinkie defeating a villain by dropping a gigantic pie on her. Maybe that was back in the Somber Twilight card blog though.
Wow, the Neurotoxic Bugbear is a deep cut :) I have fond memories of playing with the Nightmares from Torment, and that's a very fun take on the mechanic.
I don't really know G1 at all, but the very little I do know makes me appreciate you casting Megan as a planeswalker.
Spike, Resistance Leader (with Beard) was rather awesome in the comic, and I like the idea of him as a redder take on Lin Sivvi.
Beautiful flavour text on Twilight’s Avenger too.
But I, uh, don't think Castle Midnight should be able to repeatedly kill creatures. 3 life is a tickle on the toenail to a black control deck.
5534972
Increasing Hilarity is meant to represent the pie. The first cast is a pie to the face. The second one's a pie to the everything.
I needed to do something with the Torment Nightmares when Nightmare Moon herself was involved. I still remember back when Vanishing/Wormfang Manta was an infinite turn combo because of how wonky the phasing rules were at the time.
Castle Midnight probably does need a rework, but paying five mana for an Ulcerate probably isn't what the black deck wants to do. Still, this is why actual Magic sets aren't made by one guy.
And yes, the manga is consistently fantastic.
Ahh, Increasing Hilarity is the pie! Makes sense. Art would make that clear, I'm sure.