My Little Pony XCVIII: Still Haven't Caught Up on Season 7!

[Adderbane]

Spoiler: Clover Fridge Leftovers

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Okay, I can buy that explanation. Limited time and possibly not having a big hammer to break the artifact. I suppose leaving it in another dimension that had next to no magic meant it probably won't cause problems... but I agree that whatever instructions were left are kind of silly.

"Warning, may cause memory loss."
"Tell me more..."

Spoiler: On leaving instructions

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In a world without magic, he may have been more concerned about someone discovering it and accidentally harming themselves or someone with it than a malicious user. Ponies seem to be rather optimistic and trusting.

Spoiler: Other thoughts...

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This was great. I really liked Trixie and Sunset bonding. Lots of good moments, particularly most of the sequence where Sunset goes home. Kudos to Tara Strong for the library scene. The franchise seems to be lampshading its songs and the "friendship is magic" speeches quite a bit lately.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Spoiler: EG5 E4…5

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But Wallflower wasn't the only one. The human world had the Sirens specifically looking for Equestrian magic around the Canterlot high school, and I'm sure Adaggio would have known how to use a magical forgetting stone effectively to cause chaos she could feed on. Sunset Shimmer in EG1 was also looking for Equestrian artifacts, and she could have used the stone to foil Twilight's plan even at the last moment. Human world Twilight even had a magic detector machine that was sensitive enough that she found the statue portal based on the unusual radiation coming out of it, yet she didn't find the memory stone. I think even Trixie could have used the stone to improve her stage magic without botching it up.

Spoiler: About the stone

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Hmmm...

The Sirens weren't actively looking for Equestrian magic, and were visibly surprised when it appeared in front of them (so to speak).

I don't recall Sunset being shown as looking for Equestrian artifacts - she wanted an Element of Harmony, specifically Magic.

As to the rest of them, it all comes down to range and power. I doubt that the stone has a particularly big power source, so you might not have much to detect unless the stone is actually being used.

Twilight was never close enough to detect the stone (although I agree that if she had gone into the wooded area she might have been, and that would have been one way to deal with it...). However she did walk close to the statue, and we can assume that the girls ponying up (the only other thing she is seen to detect at any range) gives a significant pulse of magic. I imagine that she pinpointed the school itself from the initial event via power spike and any news reports (which would note the destruction of the front of the school).

Even if she found it, I can't see why Trixie would want the stone for her act - short of erasing embarrassing memories (which Trixie does mention, and interestingly is the mistake Wallflower makes)

You could make the same comment about the Elements of Harmony - surely things that powerful should be detectable the other side of the Everfree? Nope - only if they are active.

Spoiler: LOTR stuff

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The Ring had to choose a somewhat greedy fisherman who could find it at the bottom of the riverbed and fish it out, and then that fisherman used the ring to catch fish invisibly and live in a cave for hundreds of years until a slightly more suitable ringbearer would acquire the Ring. And the Ring killed its previous owner to be able to lie in a river for thousand of years. The stone actually had good choices, competent villains who knew how to use such an artifact to gain power effectively, but it chose the least competent one. I feel there might be some logic to this, but I just don't understand what it is.

Spoiler: More LOTR stuff

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The ring never had much of a choice, and never a choice of competent villains. As far as I can tell from the books, the ring really only had the power to corrupt its wielder according to the wielder's power, and the - rather limited - power to slip off it's wielder's finger.

After its master was defeated, Isuldur and the Elf Lords. Only Isuldur was fool enough to take it.

After Isuldur was killed by Orcs while swimming a river. The ring was lost and the next we person we know to find it was Deagol, who was promptly murdered by Smeagol. It is possible that the ring hoped to be picked up by the Orcs who killed Isuldur, but that seems unlikley.

Smeagol/Gollum ended up under a mountain, carefully avoiding Orcs and keeping the ring in a safe place, coincidentally away from the Orcs. The ring only managed to get to Bilbo by pure chance.

Bilbo (and later Frodo) turned out to be rather tougher to corrupt (and had little power, and didn't care much for power in the first place). They also got round the ring slipping off by keeping it on a chain.

That's why I said that the ring had limited agency.

[Aotrs Commander]

Spoiler: EG5 E4…5

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But Wallflower wasn't the only one. The human world had the Sirens specifically looking for Equestrian magic around the Canterlot high school, and I'm sure Adaggio would have known how to use a magical forgetting stone effectively to cause chaos she could feed on. Sunset Shimmer in EG1 was also looking for Equestrian artifacts, and she could have used the stone to foil Twilight's plan even at the last moment. Human world Twilight even had a magic detector machine that was sensitive enough that she found the statue portal based on the unusual radiation coming out of it, yet she didn't find the memory stone. I think even Trixie could have used the stone to improve her stage magic without botching it up.

Spoiler: Forgotten Friends

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No, you have that backward: in this instance, Wallflower WAS the only one, the others are completely unsuited. The Sirens specifically have diameterically opposite goals - they want EVERYONE to know who they are and worship them, and did Sunset initially. Same for Trixie - while she wants people to forget her mistakes, that's only because she wants everyone to think highly of her. None of them are good candidates to use the stone's primary power and get corrupted into using it more and more.

Twilight MIGHT have been the most likely after Wallflower, but her exposure during the period was too brief. And you assume the stone isn't WAY more subtle than the portal - it may well not radiate much magic at ALL in a dormant state, nevermind any protections that might have been on where it was buried.

Fluttershy might have been another obvious target, but Sunset's disruption to her friendships likely would not have been long enough for the stone to work with - and with her animals friends to, she probably wasn't isolated enough to be a viable target.

No, Wallflower was the most obvious and best target, because her personality was most easily molded to get her to use the stone (which is what the stone wants in this supposition).

[Aotrs Commander]

Ah, frack it.

So, first panto performance passed adequately...



A random thought occurred to me regarding Forgotten Friends.

Spoiler

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It was as I read another story about Sunset coming back to Equestria that I paused to remember Sunset's line in the show about "who'd have thought, Princess Celestia has a sense of humour?"

The more I thought about it, the more that line paints a bleak picture of her and Sunset's relationship. Perhaps Celestia, having locked herself out from relationships too long and badly stressed by the impending arrival of Nightmare Moon (only years away after centuries), perhaps was too distant, too remote and maybe that partly was wh Sunset cracked.

One can imagine that maybe Celestia, having made that terrible error, forced herself to make a better effort with Twilight?


Food for thought, yes?

[zimmerwald1915]

Spoiler

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One can imagine that maybe Celestia, having made that terrible error, forced herself to make a better effort with Twilight?

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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That or Twilight herself, whether by her own qualities or by returning Celestia's sister to her, brought the sense of humor [back?] out of Celestia.

[DigoDragon]

Leapfrog is a bad idea.

Spoiler

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Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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That or Twilight herself, whether by her own qualities or by returning Celestia's sister to her, brought the sense of humor [back?] out of Celestia.

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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That's my assumption. Twi (and possible to an extent Spike) helped Celestia find her humor. You can tell throughout the pony series that no one seems used to it, so it is a recent development.

[Alabenson]

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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That's my assumption. Twi (and possible to an extent Spike) helped Celestia find her humor. You can tell throughout the pony series that no one seems used to it, so it is a recent development.

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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Put me down for another "Celestia found a sense of humor after Luna returned". Personally, I think the idea that Princess Celestia used to be the stern and humorless type would explain a great deal about Twilight's tendency to freak out whenever her mentor is involved in something, especially in the earlier episodes like Bird in the Hoof and Lesson Zero.

[Aotrs Commander]

Panto 2/5 completed...



I was going to ask which make character would ponythread think would make the bast pantomime daem, but it'd obviously be Big Mac, wouldn't it?

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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Put me down for another "Celestia found a sense of humor after Luna returned". Personally, I think the idea that Princess Celestia used to be the stern and humorless type would explain a great deal about Twilight's tendency to freak out whenever her mentor is involved in something, especially in the earlier episodes like Bird in the Hoof and Lesson Zero.

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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I would attribute it perhaps more to stress/desparation in the last few years coming up to crunch time than perhaps a longer duration (being stern and humourless for a thousand years would have worn too great a rut to be so easily put aside, I feel).

[Manga Shoggoth]

I was going to ask which make character would ponythread think would make the bast pantomime daem, but it'd obviously be Big Mac, wouldn't it?

Panto Dame? Big Mac? Not really - He can camp it up with the best of them, but I don't really think he has it in him. Too quiet and competent for the most part. (Although I imagine he would give it a try if Applebloom asked...)

Grubber, perhaps? He's the right shape and has most of the competencies.

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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I would attribute it perhaps more to stress/desparation in the last few years coming up to crunch time than perhaps a longer duration (being stern and humourless for a thousand years would have worn too great a rut to be so easily put aside, I feel).

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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I find myself agreeing - I can believe that she was investing hopes in Sunset Shimmer, and then when she failed, Twilight, and slowly getting more panicky as the deadline approaches and Twilight is not making friends.

[Spamotron]

There were a few observations and comments on the EQD Follow-up that got my attention and made me appreciate Forgotten Friendship more.

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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Regarding Sunset's cunning:

Awesome follow-up! Just to respond to one small thing where you say that you "wish they'd gone the extra mile to show Sunset hitting record in the background": Sunset actually does turn on the camera (it took a very close re-watching since the same thing bothered me at first as being too convenient) -- just before she stands up to ask about the photograph of the garden, she reaches off-screen for a second and fiddles with something. That's her turning on the camera.

followed by

It even makes a noticeable beeping sound! It's right before she says: "Can I ask you a question?" and she goes up to Wallflower to ask her about her screensaver.

and

To add to that, you see a red light flashing on the drone during Wallflowers song.

It's nice to know the animators took the time to reward viewers who paid attention.

Regarding Trixie's magic trick:

The one i truly enjoy about this special: Trixie's teleport.

It's a weird scene at first because why she can teleport goes unexplained but once you think about it, the pieces fall into place.

The reason why the teleport worked for the first time is because of the dialogue Sunset and Trixie had beforehand, Sunset cheered Trixie up by telling that has she at least one friend left, Trixie also lets it slip that she considers Sunset a friend.

And boom, the magic trick worked, because Friendship is magic.

I agree if you think about it that one off gag actually encapsulates the whole ethos of the series.

[zimmerwald1915]

Panto Dame? Big Mac? Not really - He can camp it up with the best of them, but I don't really think he has it in him. Too quiet and competent for the most part. (Although I imagine he would give it a try if Applebloom asked...)

... Brotherhooves Social. That is all.

[Aotrs Commander]

Panto 60% Completed.

... Brotherhooves Social. That is all.

Precisely!

[DigoDragon]

There were a few observations and comments on the EQD Follow-up that got my attention and made me appreciate Forgotten Friendship more.

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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Regarding Trixie's magic trick: I agree if you think about it that one off gag actually encapsulates the whole ethos of the series.

Spoiler: Forgotten Friendship

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So if Trixie befriends the Mane6+1dog, she would possibly have their level of powers?

Precisely!

I'll agree.

[Pendulous]

Them's Fightin Herds is out (though still in early access), and if you want to see some gameplay footage, Super Best Friends have a video up playing it (NSFW due to language, they curse and stuff) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWSML-xZnmI

[Manga Shoggoth]

... Brotherhooves Social. That is all.

Precisely!

I'll agree.

That's why I agree that he can camp it up if required, especially for Applebloom's sake. However he is not normally like that.

He could certainly act as a pantomime dame, but he wouldn't be one. If you want someone who could act the part then you could also suggest Discord.

Bleakbane: What was the panto this year? I can't remember if you said...

Them's Fightin Herds is out (though still in early access), and if you want to see some gameplay footage, Super Best Friends have a video up playing it (NSFW due to language, they curse and stuff) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWSML-xZnmI

I'm really pleased they got this far. I don't like the game (and didn't expect to - I dislike the genre and the gameplay is overcomplicated for my taste), but I do not regret sponsoring it back in the day.

[Aotrs Commander]

Bleakbane: What was the panto this year? I can't remember if you said...

Puss in Boots.

There are literally no prizes for anyone guessing what sort of role I'm playing.

Long pull ahead, as it's two today; the matinee and final performance.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Puss in Boots.

There are literally no prizes for anyone guessing what sort of role I'm playing.

Long pull ahead, as it's two today; the matinee and final performance.

Two to go? Break a leg!

[Aotrs Commander]

Two to go? Break a leg!

Yo! Hopereaver, come here a sec, would you?

Sure, boss what is it you-

*snap*

-aaaaaaargh! THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS!

...

I must have been watching too much Rock Lee's Ninja Pals, because I swear you sounded just like Tenten, then.

[zimmerwald1915]

That's why I agree that he can camp it up if required, especially for Applebloom's sake. However he is not normally like that.

He could certainly act as a pantomime dame, but he wouldn't be one. If you want someone who could act the part then you could also suggest Discord.

There is no distinction between [good] acting and being. Or rather, good acting and living truthfully ("to be" is a bad verb). "Camping it up," or "playing up" any emotion, is at best a barely-acceptable shortcut/substitute.

[Aotrs Commander]

And panto done.

Dang, it's a long haul that last performance...

Pestbag was allowed a special treat, as he'd come with his Dad to watch the final performance, and was allowed to come onto the stage to dance in the finale (ye gods, that doesn't get any easier after twenty-eight years, I am NOT a dancer) to the amusement of all and sundry.

[Rater202]

There are literally no prizes for anyone guessing what sort of role I'm playing.

I'mma guess anyway.

Since you've previously stated that you usually play bad guys in the Panto... The Ogre is the most obvious one.

Other options are Puss's master, who gets everywhere by piggybacking on the cat, who is a liar and a murderer and considered killing the catto make gloves despite knowing it was a talking cat as smart as a man,or the cat himself forbeing a liar and a murderer.

[Aotrs Commander]

I'mma guess anyway.

Since you've previously stated that you usually play bad guys in the Panto... The Ogre is the most obvious one.

Other options are Puss's master, who gets everywhere by piggybacking on the cat, who is a liar and a murderer and considered killing the catto make gloves despite knowing it was a talking cat as smart as a man,or the cat himself forbeing a liar and a murderer.

Lord O'ger in this case but, yes. I mean, I don't even have to ACT.



Guys guys guys! (I don't think any of you read Generation X but for the sake of anyone who might, spoiler fo #86:)

Spoiler

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Jubilee

IS

NOT

A VAMPIRE ANY MORE!!!!!

Powers back any everything!

HUZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

[zimmerwald1915]

EqG Movies, Shorts, Choose Your Own Adventure, and Music Video guide

[Aotrs Commander]

EqG Movies, Shorts, Choose Your Own Adventure, and Music Video guide

*tips helmet to Seth, for compiling it*

*tips helment to zimmerwald1915 for bringing it ip*




Question: Does ponythread think it is worth (assuming that keeps being updated) adding that as a permenant link in the OP when we start a new thread?

[Rater202]

*tips helmet to Seth, for compiling it*

*tips helment to zimmerwald1915 for bringing it ip*




Question: Does ponythread think it is worth (assuming that keeps being updated) adding that as a permenant link in the OP when we start a new thread?

That seems reasonable enough.

[zimmerwald1915]

That seems reasonable enough.

To me as well. Even if it doesn't get updated, the link could be "EqG media up to February 27, 2018," and then more specific links to newer media could be added as they appear.

[Forum Explorer]

*tips helmet to Seth, for compiling it*

*tips helment to zimmerwald1915 for bringing it ip*




Question: Does ponythread think it is worth (assuming that keeps being updated) adding that as a permenant link in the OP when we start a new thread?

Please do.

[DigoDragon]

I agree, adding the list to the op is a good idea.


Sunset rocking out to her tunes.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Well, Death Battle just did Twilight vs Raven...

Not bad - managed to make a few good points, and was as always enjoyable.

[Adderbane]

Well, Death Battle just did Twilight vs Raven...

Not bad - managed to make a few good points, and was as always enjoyable.

Was it just me or did this one seem like way more of a punch fight than interactions between their unique abilities? It seemed way less varied than the other two mlp battles...