My Little Pony LXXXVII: Horses Riding Horses!

[Emperor Ing]

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It does! I was not aware of diamonds being a measurement for ski slope difficulties. :3

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Digo, I think by now you know how ridiculous I think it is that somepony named their foal "Double Diamond" with the knowledge they'll become an expert skiier.

Ponies are wierd.

[DigoDragon]

In the world of culinary oddities, This meal here is a thing.

Well! ...okay then.

Spoiler: Not really a spoiler

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Digo, I think by now you know how ridiculous I think it is that somepony named their foal "Double Diamond" with the knowledge they'll become an expert skiier.

Ponies are wierd.

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Yes I do and I choose to ignore it in favor of my own headcanon.

[zimmerwald1915]

In the world of culinary oddities, This meal here is a thing.

Why so confused? It's just bread and butter.

[Metahuman1]

Spoiler: Spoilers.

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So, legend of Korra tried so hard to do an entire season with an enemy rooted in communist philosophy and just couldn't get it to work. MLP does a 2 part season opener and freaking nails it. I love this show!!!! (And that's not even really a dig against Korra, I love Korra.)

The facial expressions were sharp, the timing was amazing as usual, the only thing I felt was missing was a serious magic fueled smack down at the tail end for the villianess before she got away. Though, I honestly doubt if she'd gonna give up so easily. I actually expect will see her a time or two again. Which I'm ok with cause I still wanna see that smack down and she IS very good as a locked in place villianess. (Also, idea, next time, they just explain how she operates to Discord and tell him to go have some fun with her. That would be glorious!)




One last thing, the mage they mentioned is mentioned as having 8 magic artifacts and being an "Eastern Pony", and Twilight specifically mentions not having studied them as much as she should have. Let the flood gates of possibility's this opens up begin!!!!!

[Madcrafter]

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Pretty much. Even if you ignore Twilight, why did Rainbow Dash spring into action (she was literally waiting to do so the entire episode), why didn't Applejack use her crazy skills to fight back? Hell, why did Fluttershy get a swarm of bats to help protect her? Or Pinkie pull out her party cannon. We've seen them fight, and we know their abilities.

But I think it's just a matter of the writers being unable to think of a way for the Mane 6 to legitimately lose, so they just had them lose with no justification at all cause the plot demanded it.

Ski tracks are rated by skill/danger level. The tamest being 'Green Triangle' the most dangerous being Triple Black Diamond. I think Double Diamond is a reference to Double Black Diamond difficulty.

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I'm going to say surprise, and hesitation, because it was kind of sudden. Last time ponies advanced on them like that in the episode it was completely benign, and even though Twilight goes all Admiral Ackbar doesn't mean she's right. I can't remember all the fighting throughout the episodes, but I think that's the first time they've been completely ambushed as well, which is bound to cause some element of surprise. Then they all just stare in horror as Twilight is hit.

And it's a Green Circle, not triangle. Maybe there's some regional variation, but I've never seen a triangle before.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Spoiler: Not really a spoiler

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Digo, I think by now you know how ridiculous I think it is that somepony named their foal "Double Diamond" with the knowledge they'll become an expert skiier.

Ponies are wierd.

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That, or they come from a family of brewers.

Spoiler: I'm old...

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Double Diamond was a variety of beer which I am amazed to find dates back to the late 1800's.

[b_jonas]

Ok, so besides the new double episode, I used the long weekend to continue re-watching older episodes, instead of doing useful work.

First, I have re-watched S2 E4: Luna Eclipsed, a great episode.

• There's a lot of nice costumes to see in this episode, it's worth watching them. There's a nice mummy, a lion, and a bee.
• Dash's Shadowbolt costume is great for us viewers, but I don't think many of the ponies would recognize it.
• Zecora can be serious competition to Trixie in putting up a show with smokes and mirrors.
• Oh, so this is why there's fan art of Scootaloo with a wolf costume! I wondered why, when it was Babs who has worn such a costume in S3 E4.
• The Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice and all the rest of Princess Luna's behaviour and looks is brilliantly done. The epsiode also gives us a lot of memes: besides the Royal Canterlot Voice and “the fun has been doubled”, there's also “Pinkie, you're a genius” (which recurs in a later episode).
• Princess Luna is so sparkly! She's sparkling everywhere all the time.
• I like the whole concept of the episode, the way how Twilight is helping Princess Luna return to society, and then in later seasons Princess Luna can help the children with their problems. That's why I'd like my favourite princess back with more occurances in season 5.
• I guess Rarity isn't present because she's made the costume for all the children, and now she's exhausted.
• (Update:) Do you suppose we'll find out more about Starswirl the Bearded and his “amniomorphic spell” this season?

Then I watched S2 E5: Sisterhooves Social, another great episode and big tear-jerker.

• What's the big deal with the sapphires in first place? Can't they be removed from the drawing and re-used?
• Rarity's acting is just great in this episode.
• What are the pigs doing with the blue ribbons?
• It's memorable how Sweetie Belle hops in the tubs on all fours during the race, then later she does it together with Rarity.

Finally, I watched S2 E6: The Cutie Pox.

• We never find out how ponies are supposed to throw the bowling ball without hands, do we?
• When Apple Bloom shows her ring cutie mark to her classmates the first time, Tornado Bolt and three other background fillies around her are shown without cutie marks. Funny.
• The book about Cutie Pox shows a skiing pony. That seems familiar, where have we seen such a pony lately? :-)
• Two background ponies put on hazmat suits with gas masks. Now that's excessive!

This leaves one of my favourite episodes next, but that's not for today.

[Pokonic]

Spoiler: Yet another S5 comic

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The speech at the end by one of the village ponies pretty much nails that it was supposed to be some sort of sect village. "I was lost and empty but when I came here charismatic leader enlightened me"? This is pretty much 100% textbook definition of one. If not for ahem, you know what, I could name a few dozen examples.

Frankly, I have no idea why US teenage audience repeats the mantra it was supposed to be 'communism'. The plot had literally nothing to do with any form of government or ideology even remotely close to actually exist, you'd need to find some ignorant parody written by someone who never saw or experienced it to find something similar, IMHO.

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I'd say it probably had to with a strange melding of 'communism' with 'juche' in the mindset of many Americans, with Starlight being the 'inherent' all-powerful dictator who has managed to create a cultist atmosphere around herself based on equality for all. Probably simple ignorance, really.

[DigoDragon]

Why so confused? It's just bread and butter.

With a slice of toast in the middle! If I show this to my low-carb dieting friends, I think they'd hiss and recoil into the shadows.

[Yet another S5 comic]

Semi-spoilery so...

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I hope they nulled Starlight's magic in some way before putting her in that prison.
Otherwise it's going to be X-Men 2 all over again.


[Guard comes to Starlight's prison with a tray of food]
Starlight: "Wait a moment. There's something wrong here."
Guard: "Eh? Look I had a rough night. So just hush."
Starlight: "I know what it is. There's too much magic in your cutie mark." *Sucks out Guard's cutie mark, then uses it to break out of prison*

[t209]

Spoiler: Yet another S5 comic

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I'd say it probably had to with a strange melding of 'communism' with 'juche' in the mindset of many americans, with Starlight being the 'inherent' all-powerful dictator who has managed to create a cultist atmosphere around herself. Probably simple ignorance, really.

To be fair, Equestria monarchy did have elements of democratic government (Mayors and town councils) and Germanic tribal system* (presiding as a mediator in flea market episode). To be fair, your later's descriptions kinda summarized every ideals that were twisted in the hands of bad people (believe me, I've seen worse and got lucky in my country is a bit better than other examples).
* come on, even the "barbarians" had to file a lawsuit over everything, or I am mistaking it for King of the Dragonpass.

[Deadly]

A random day-after thought

Spoiler: S5 Cutie Map

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I think this is actually the first song of the entire show (!) that I've managed to get stuck in my head. Also one of the few I've listened to repeatedly. It's really quite catchy for a bunch of supposedly talentless ponies

It feels good to think equine thoughts again. Pony pony pony


Two older comics, no spoilers. I really like Twilight's expression in the last panel of the second one

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[DigoDragon]

I just got done playing a game of Hi Ho Cherry-O with m daughter and her ponies. For a simple counting game that lasts just 5-10 minutes, I somehow turned it into a 15-minute epic battle to the death with a three-way between myself, Rainbow, and Pinkie for who'd be on top as the second place winner of the game.

[Rater202]

Thousands, maybe even millions of people know who Twilight is, her name, her likes, her dislikes, where she comes from.. Know her, love her.

The average person only has, at best, a few dozen people who know that kind of thing about them, and very few have more than a few people who know all about them and love them.

To some philosophies, She's more real than many of us.

[b_jonas]

Thousands, maybe even millions of people know who Twilight is, her name, her likes, her dislikes, where she comes from.. Know her, love her.

The average person only has, at best, a few dozen people who know that kind of thing about them, and very few have more than a few people who know all about them and love them.

To some philosophies, She's more real than many of us.

Hah, that sound sort of like what Rényi says in his book Dialógusok a matematikáról.

[Aotrs Commander]

So, an evening unexpectedly spent corrupting the next generation.... My sister's husband's former missus' kids (and my niece's half siblings) come around for Easter... Aformentioned sister's husband's former wife and her partner are also gamers, and the kids are just starting to get into it (they're playing their own sort of D&D-ish game, which they'd broguth along to show me). So I said "right, well, we've got maybe an hour (and a bit more 'cos I can milk it for abit), so letsee what I can crib together and let's do this proper-like. End result, dug out Aotrs HeroQuest rules mods (created exactly for this sort of occurance), had a quick think, and realised, "I know, I'll do 'em in space, because I've got floorplans fo a Manta Explorer from Space Master I used for a party a while back, they can be flying around in that and run across the disabled wreck of the ship belonging to my group's Favourite Spacemaster party (a) floor plans and b) ready-populated with unusual flavour...) and get attacked by some Yrgynela who killed the crew!" further, because my niece and her sister said they wanted to be elves, and the little lad said he wansted to be a Dwarf I said to the older lad, right, you can be an Elf, and the three of your are escorting this Dwarf back to Elven space in the fallout of the war between the Ziragthgum Divinity and the Royal Elven kingdoms (using current events, neatly seguing in...!) I then said to the lad, it was his chocie, then, whether he was an innocent bystander, who didn't really believe in the war and was co-operating, a defector, or a religious zealot (he chose the first one, actually...)

We had a nice little bit where, once they'd boarded the ship, the Elf wizard said to the Dwarf they'd give him his axe if he promised not to kill them (or they "kill him back")... "Okay," says the Dwarf... Which, despite the childish phrasing, is exactly what you get in all the movies and things where this happened.

(Also, the lass playing the Wizard picked a not-Gandalf figure, so we said clearly that was how they'd got the Dwarf out - the female Elf had clearly disguised herself as a Dwarf by the application of a fake beard and a silly voice...)

Just about had time to get them to kill the two Yrgynela (the wizard showed a fair bit of cleverness, using a sleep spell to put them out, and, upon seeing that worked, repeated it when it wore off and on the other target!)

(My sister was very grateful, because the oldest lad (who's fifteen) suffers from various things and he's not allowed to be around the others without adult supervision (unfortunately, since he's a lovely, well-behaved lad at heart), so she said it was really nice to be able to have them all play together.)



Also, Ziragthargum assualt shuttle 6mm scale - after nearly a week of porinter issues, finally was able to start printing it... one part done (three hours), second part... five hours (still going) four hours, fifty-five minutes and I've got the mirror of that part and the rear to go... I told my mate, he's only having one of these...!



Also... chocolate! Muhahahahahahahahaha! Mine! All mine! Aaaaaahahahahahahahahahahaha!

[t209]

A random day-after thought

Spoiler: S5 Cutie Map

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I think this is actually the first song of the entire show (!) that I've managed to get stuck in my head. Also one of the few I've listened to repeatedly. It's really quite catchy for a bunch of supposedly talentless ponies

It feels good to think equine thoughts again. Pony pony pony


Two older comics, no spoilers. I really like Twilight's expression in the last panel of the second one

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Behold.

Spoiler: Animal Man but subject is relevant

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[DigoDragon]

The following post is 100% Spoiler Free.

My sister's husband's former missus' kids (and my niece's half siblings)

Spoiler: Relevant?

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OMG, this just blew my mind.

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Adorable "Beauty and the Beast"--

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Discord: "But if anyone else calls you a beast, my dear, I'm ripping their lungs out."

[Forum Explorer]

Spoiler: The Cutie Map

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I agree with the general point, but I think it's important to keep three things in mind. First, a straw ideology needn't bear any resemblance to the real thing in order to be attacked as if it was the real thing. Second, McCarthy hasn't experienced "really existing socialism," so we shouldn't expect her to know any better. Third, a lot of left-wing groups operating today are at least regularly accused of behaving like cults. Given this, it is perfectly reasonable to see The Cutie Map as an attack on straw communism.

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Why assume the worst? I can understand why people get to that point of view, but I think an attack on straw communism is worse then a portrayal of a cult (which they didn't do a bad job of really, even if it was a rather simplified and compact job).

In the world of culinary oddities, This meal here is a thing.

Well! ...okay then.

Because everything is better between two pieces of bread. Everything.

Spoiler: E1

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I'm going to say surprise, and hesitation, because it was kind of sudden. Last time ponies advanced on them like that in the episode it was completely benign, and even though Twilight goes all Admiral Ackbar doesn't mean she's right. I can't remember all the fighting throughout the episodes, but I think that's the first time they've been completely ambushed as well, which is bound to cause some element of surprise. Then they all just stare in horror as Twilight is hit.

And it's a Green Circle, not triangle. Maybe there's some regional variation, but I've never seen a triangle before.

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She called out the trap before it happened. And she had time to cast a spell. That isn't to say you are wrong, but that it's poorly portrayed if it was meant to be shock and hesitation that let Starlight win.

It might be Green Circle. It's been a while since I went skiing.

Adorable "Beauty and the Beast"--

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Discord: "But if anyone else calls you a beast, my dear, I'm ripping their lungs out."

That line is absolutely perfect.

[Madcrafter]

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She called out the trap before it happened. And she had time to cast a spell. That isn't to say you are wrong, but that it's poorly portrayed if it was meant to be shock and hesitation that let Starlight win.

Spoiler: E1

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I went at watched the scene again. Your right, it doesn't look like they are surprised really (at least everyone but Rarity), but more waiting for the enemy to come to them. After all, they are surrounded, so it doesn't make sense to spread out, so they put on their angry (and in AJ's case, fighting) poses and ready themselves, only to see Twilight hit the ground and immediate get zapped themselves.

[Rater202]

Spoiler: Thoughts on Review

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Up until now, Twilight's been using a Bubble shield.

The Shield she used against Cultist Pone at the end of part two doesn't use the bubble shield's effect. It does however have a isimilar effect to the shield Cultist Pone used to escape when the crowd turned on her.

Cultist Pone complained about studying magic for years when Twilight blocked.

Twilight's Talent of "Magic" lets her learn spells easily, sometimes even copying them after seeing it done once, and she's demonstrated on at least one occasion that she can cast copied spells better than the original(As Demonstrate in Dog and Pony Show when she did Rarity's gem spell real good), which presumably has something to do with her raw power level.

So, did she Copy Cultist Pone's shield and use it against her?

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler: Thoughts on Review

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Up until now, Twilight's been using a Bubble shield.

The Shield she used against Cultist Pone at the end of part two doesn't use the bubble shield's effect. It does however have a isimilar effect to the shield Cultist Pone used to escape when the crowd turned on her.

Cultist Pone complained about studying magic for years when Twilight blocked.

Twilight's Talent of "Magic" lets her learn spells easily, sometimes even copying them after seeing it done once, and she's demonstrated on at least one occasion that she can cast copied spells better than the original(As Demonstrate in Dog and Pony Show when she did Rarity's gem spell real good), which presumably has something to do with her raw power level.

So, did she Copy Cultist Pone's shield and use it against her?

New Ep discussion.

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Um... not sure they're all that different. They're bubbles... and they shield...? Maybe if I saw screen caps to visualize it better.
*Wanders into the Interwebs for screen caps*

[zimmerwald1915]

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Why assume the worst? I can understand why people get to that point of view, but I think an attack on straw communism is worse then a portrayal of a cult (which they didn't do a bad job of really, even if it was a rather simplified and compact job).

Spoiler: The Cutie Map

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There are a number of textual and subtextual cues. That Starlight harps on equality by itself raises - heh - red flags. If the point was to critique cultish behavior pure and simple, why go for the equality angle at all? There are plenty of cults that don't preach it, after all. On the other hand, it is a common criticism of egalitarian politics that they fail in their stated aim of raising anyone to parity with a standard and instead merely drag the high-flyers down, exactly what the "cutie unmarking" does. It does this not as a sad, unintended consequence, but intentionally, and by force. There are symbols and tropes in play as well. In Our Town is choreographed to look like a parade through Red Square. The lyrics call Grover's Corners a "utopia." The loudspeaker is strongly associated with methods of public address in the Eastern Bloc. The way Starlight didn't even have to keep everyone in line by herself, but could rely on ponies like Double Diamond to self-police as it were, is also reminiscent of those countries. And if any of these things is also reminiscent of cults, all the better! What better way to discredit something than to conflate it with something else that everyone agrees is bad?

But, as for why I see The Cutie Map as an attack on straw communism … someone mentioned last thread that a person's criticism tells you more about them than about the criticized work. SiuiS and Porthos can corroborate, if they haven't forgotten, that I am very sensitive when it comes to seeing attacks on straw communism in fictional works. There are three reasons for this. I sincerely believe that humanity needs for the working class be liberated. I also believe that the Eastern Bloc was the murderer, undertaker, gravedigger, and pallbearer of that project. Finally, I believe that any other assessment of the Eastern Bloc represents the Big Lie of the past hundred years. Any attack on straw communism, which inevitably draws on Eastern Bloc tropes for its portrayal of the thing it means to attack, merely reinforces the Big Lie.

New Ep discussion.

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Um... not sure they're all that different. They're bubbles... and they shield...? Maybe if I saw screen caps to visualize it better.
*Wanders into the Interwebs for screen caps*

Spoiler: The Cutie Map

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Unlike all the shield spells she's used previously, and unlike Starlight's uses of the spell, for that matter, the spell Twilight used did not form a hemisphere the edge of which touched the ground all the way around her. It formed something like a quarter-sphere, that touched the ground halfway around her, then arced to a point above her. It looked like Zz'dtri's shield spell, half-buried in the ground.

[Rater202]

Spoiler: Episode

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not the shape, but the construction of the shield is different from what she normally does.

I can't find a cap of Cultist pone's shield, but the effect is rather similar to most of her spells.

[Forum Explorer]

Spoiler: The Cutie Map

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There are a number of textual and subtextual cues. That Starlight harps on equality by itself raises - heh - red flags. If the point was to critique cultish behavior pure and simple, why go for the equality angle at all? There are plenty of cults that don't preach it, after all. On the other hand, it is a common criticism of egalitarian politics that they fail in their stated aim of raising anyone to parity with a standard and instead merely drag the high-flyers down, exactly what the "cutie unmarking" does. It does this not as a sad, unintended consequence, but intentionally, and by force. There are symbols and tropes in play as well. In Our Town is choreographed to look like a parade through Red Square. The lyrics call Grover's Corners a "utopia." The loudspeaker is strongly associated with methods of public address in the Eastern Bloc. The way Starlight didn't even have to keep everyone in line by herself, but could rely on ponies like Double Diamond to self-police as it were, is also reminiscent of those countries. And if any of these things is also reminiscent of cults, all the better! What better way to discredit something than to conflate it with something else that everyone agrees is bad?

But, as for why I see The Cutie Map as an attack on straw communism … someone mentioned last thread that a person's criticism tells you more about them than about the criticized work. SiuiS and Porthos can corroborate, if they haven't forgotten, that I am very sensitive when it comes to seeing attacks on straw communism in fictional works. There are three reasons for this. I sincerely believe that humanity needs for the working class be liberated. I also believe that the Eastern Bloc was the murderer, undertaker, gravedigger, and pallbearer of that project. Finally, I believe that any other assessment of the Eastern Bloc represents the Big Lie of the past hundred years. Any attack on straw communism, which inevitably draws on Eastern Bloc tropes for its portrayal of the thing it means to attack, merely reinforces the Big Lie.

Spoiler: The Cutie Map

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Unlike all the shield spells she's used previously, and unlike Starlight's uses of the spell, for that matter, the spell Twilight used did not form a hemisphere the edge of which touched the ground all the way around her. It formed something like a quarter-sphere, that touched the ground halfway around her, then arced to a point above her. It looked like Zz'dtri's shield spell, half-buried in the ground.

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A cult generally needs something to preach about. And the whole episode was built around other ponies and the mane 6 being saved by them/saving them by friendship. So equality works as well.

And everything else is pretty much 100% for a cult.

[DigoDragon]

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not the shape, but the construction of the shield is different from what she normally does.

I can't find a cap of Cultist pone's shield, but the effect is rather similar to most of her spells.

New Ep Discussion

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I found a screen cap of Starlight's shield. The texture is similar, but thing is there's noting that would indicate Twilight's usual shield couldn't block that spell. Her usual shield is quite solid and strong in its own right. One possibility: Animators recycling textures. Possibility #2: Simply an art upgrade from the last time animators used it.

That would be one way to fix that lame fight earlier though! Twi puts up her shield and Starlight's spell pierces it. Ah well, what if's and theories.

I DO like how Starlight uses her own shield to shove ponies away from her when she escaped from being surrounded. That was a nice utility use.

[Rater202]

New Ep Discussion

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I found a screen cap of Starlight's shield. The texture is similar, but thing is there's noting that would indicate Twilight's usual shield couldn't block that spell. Her usual shield is quite solid and strong in its own right. One possibility: Animators recycling textures.

That would be one way to fix that lame fight earlier though! Twi puts up her shield and Starlight's spell pierces it. Ah well, what if's and theories.

I DO like how Starlight uses her own shield to shove ponies away from her when she escaped from being surrounded. That was a nice utility use.

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The similar texture coupled with Cultist Pone's comment about studying magic for years and Twilight's previously demonstrated ability to cast certain spells after seeing them once? There's pretty good evidence for "She copied Starlight's spell and used it against her".

[MCerberus]

The first ramble of the season

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the town is slowly pushing the eyesore out of town into a lake
Rarity is going gemcrazy again
Geoscape activated. Welcome back, commander
Alien terror attack in progress at rock farm
Seriously. This is the geoscape from the new Xcom. AND HOW MANY FIT IN THE SKYRANGER?! SIIIIIXXXXXXX
Fluttershy is just worried she'll start (another) hoofball riot. Like last tiem.
Base this is big sky. Op team has reached the AO.
Plonkie best pone
No Dashie, utopian communism IS the horrific monster.
The most Pleasantville place in Equestria.
What's not welcome in town: dentists. Got some overbites.
OH GOD I FEEL THE WAVE OF FAN ART AND SHIPS WHEN SHE OPENS THE DOOR
Pinkie: "This year, yes this year the best face award is mine"
"Dare not compete" RD: I must burn this place to the ground
Duckface the first.
Soooo I think Fluttersh seriously needs to get to a therapist. She's a little too into this.
Rarity: Burlap doesn't burn. I don't know how to cleanse this town
Cooking confirmed for magic.
Somepony's going to summon the NKVD on dissident outsiders.
Bad touch.
BAD PLONKIE.
dun dun dunnnn
Drama pone
*twitter joke* but they never made sense
Wait, without farming cutie marks, everypony's going to starve.
Getting more of a Giver vibe than Orwell from the speaker.
Wait, did they just reference the holocaust with that "will set you free" thing. SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH
Subtle metacommentary on recruiting pony fans.
ONE OF US. ONE OF US.
GAME OVER MARE, GAME OVER.
I want literal Pinkie to be a meme.
Okay there's the Orwell. War is peace. Ignorance is blah blah
See they wouldn't have this problem if they remembered to equip Fluttershy with a plasma pistol.
Knowing the fandom, the towel is going to be a meme.
I wanted to see that not work in any media ever. Fluttershy wins and subverting tropes.
Hey there's the animal animal farm.
THE PROLETARIAT IS REVOLTING
buttmarks cause hair growth
THERE! First ship of the season. Blue Pegasus is clearly Dash OTP
Take that, jar!
*potential ships intensify*
Nope, she's clearly seasonal villain.
Good job team, everything by the book. Pinkie has been promoted to Major.

Verdicty stuff

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I liked it as it was, but I can see why people were wanting more intense openers. People are used to HIGH ADVENTURE bookends, but last season they may have gone too far. This season looks quieter.

Also, XCOM: Friendship is canon.

Commander
"Celestia, what's with the weird voice and not calling me by name"
We appreciate your... discretion in this matter.

[DigoDragon]

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The similar texture coupled with Cultist Pone's comment about studying magic for years and Twilight's previously demonstrated ability to cast certain spells after seeing them once? There's pretty good evidence for "She copied Starlight's spell and used it against her".

New Ep

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Still, no evidence that her usual shield doesn't block spells. Could just be recycled animation textures.

Scratch & Tavi art

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[Rater202]

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Still, no evidence that her usual shield doesn't block spells. Could just be recycled animation textures.

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Her normal shield is very simple-i'ts just a shaped filter really.

If it was her normal shield, they could have just used that.

Could Be Twilight deciding that the Cultist Pone's shield is better than the one she normally uses.

Or maybe using her own spell against her better makes a point?

[MCerberus]

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Her normal shield is very simple-i'ts just a shaped filter really.

If it was her normal shield, they could have just used that.

Could Be Twilight deciding that the Cultist Pone's shield is better than the one she normally uses.

Or maybe using her own spell against her better makes a point?

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She was previously using her brother's shield spells and he's notably incompetent. Trade up.