Friendship Is Witchcraft: Difference between revisions

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Rather than directly parodying the show, it presents a version of the MLP universe where each character is just a bit...different. Twilight Sparkle is an obsessive fanfic author, Spike is a universally scorned target of abuse, Fluttershy is an insane cultist, and Pinkie Pie is an orphan who just wants to be loved. Oh, and Sweetie Belle is a robot, but no one seems to have noticed. The resulting show almost feels like a pony version of [[Sealab 2021]].<ref>[[Incredibly Lame Pun|Seapony 2021?]]</ref>

** Twilight to Spike.

* [[Ad Break Double Take]]: Parodies the one from 'Look Before You Sleep', where lightning strikes a tree near Twilight's house.

'''Spike:''' Not again! }}

* [[Adorkable]]: Luna/Molestia, if in a more conventional fashion (accent notwithstanding) than in canon.

* [[Affably Evil]]: Fluttershy.

* [[All Love Is Unrequited]]: Diamond Tiara is poorly hiding her [[Tsundere]] crush on Apple Bloom, while Silver Spoon has a crush on ''her''.

* [[Amazingly Embarrassing Parents]]: Diamond Tiara's mom, who gets drunk at her daughter's mark mitzvah and starts singing [[Smash Mouth]]. Badly.

* [[Ambiguously Jewish]]: Diamond Tiara, not because of surname nor mannerisms, but because of her "mark mitzvah" celebration upon getting a cutie mark. It's only really ambiguous because the finer points of pony religions are unaddressed.

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: From "Lunar Slander":

** {{spoiler|And at long last, Pinkie's parents... as babies.}}

* [[Bad Bad Acting]]: Applejack and Rarity playing "Applesack" and "Charity" in Twilight's fanfiction.

** Spike's butchering of "[[Mulan|Reflection]]" in his audition for the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant. Perhaps it's for the best that Twilight forbids him to dream.

* [[Bait and Switch Comparison]]: In "Cute From The Hip":

'''Rainbow Dash:''' Hey, who are you going to listen to? ''(does goofy 'applebucking' pose)'' Someone who does ''this'' all day? Or your sister? }}

** We also have this from Rarity: "But we have nothing in common, I come from a rich family, and you like to eat apples."

* [[Blind Without'Em]]: Rainbow Dash admits that her astigmatism made her too nearsighted to join the army during the war or the Wonderballs now. Everything's blurry from her viewpoint. She mistakes Apple Bloom for Applejack at first, and then later both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She refuses to listen to her eye doctor about getting glasses, though.

* [[Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs]]: Fluttershy's profile in "Dragone Baby Gone":

'''Dislikes:''' Clubbing, [[Butt Monkey|Spike]] }}

* [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick]]: [[Running Gag|[KIWI]]]jack giving Molestia tips to be sexier:

'''Molestia''': What? [[Lampshade Hanging|I feel like that stopped making sense.]] }}

** In "Neigh, Soul Sister", the Sentient Social activity list is as follows:

Sisterly Do-The-Apple-Family's-Chores-Extravaganza }}

* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: In "Cute From the Hip":

** The extended version of said song has Pinkie singing about ''baking'' the fourth wall as part of her plan.

** The "Elmer's bath" that Fluttershy took prior to 'Dragone Baby Gone' appears to be a part of the usual treatment that she and Rarity have at her cult's "Conversion Spa" in 'Neigh, Soul Sister.'

** In "Dragone, Baby Gone", Twilight tells the dragon her [[Gaia Online|Gaia name]], Celestia2. Later, in "Lunar Slander," a Gaia user with the name Celestia2 suggests to Celestia that her sister is trying to destroy the throne, and that she should make her most faithful student a princess instead.

** Before confronting {{spoiler|Fluttershy's father}} in "Dragone, Baby Gone", Twilight offhandedly mentions that she may have to frame Molestia again to secure her place on the throne. Later, in "Lunar Slander", it's shown that [[Villain Protagonist|Twilight was responsible for Luna's banishment]], just so she could have a chance at being a princess.

* [[Buffy-Speak]]: Regarding the mountain in "Dragone Baby Gone":

'''Rainbow Dash:''' Well it ''is'' a tall/steep thing! }}

* [[Bus Crash]]: Implied with {{spoiler|Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents}}; after leaving, the sounds of an offscreen crash are heard.

* [[Came Back Wrong]]: Possibly, depending on how much Granny Smith's skin was falling off before her death. {{spoiler|Definitely the case with Pinkie's parents.}}

* [[The Cameo]]: Defied. Doctor Whooves in this series is instead named Doctor American.

* [[Catch Phrase]]: Applejack's "What in the name of Lee's ghost..." and "Gravy!"

* [[Character Blog]]: The non-canon [[Ask a Pony]] blog [http://sweetiebotreplies.tumblr.com/ Sweetie Bot Replies.]

* [[Characterization Marches On]]: In the first episode, Princess Celestia seems to actually '''like''' Twilight Sparkle -- albeit in more of a "celebrity and [[Big Name Fan]]" way than their close relationship in the actual show -- and actually asks her for a friendship report. Later episodes show Princess Celestia to consider Twilight obnoxious at best and creepy at worst, and establishes the letters as something Twilight took it upon herself to send and Celestia wishes would just stop.

** This may have something to do with the massive shipfic about two of her friends that Twilight sent.

* [[Cloudcuckooland]]: You'd be hard pressed to pick which character in Ponyville is the ''farthest'' off the deep end.

** As of the second episode it seems that Twilight Sparkle is at least a little crazier than Applejack and Rarity. Though not by much.

* [[Companion Cube]]: Diamond Tiara gets a gift box, and declares it her new best friend. While Silver Spoon is right next to her.

** In the same episode...

'''Diamond Tiara:''' Hey! Cakey is ''my'' best friend! I get to decide when she dies! }}

** Mocked by Sweetie Belle:

'''Applejack:''' Moonshine gravy! }}

* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: As mentioned above, it's made as a Bizarro version of the series, with all the awfulness and strangeness such a description implies.

* [[Cross-Dressing Voices]]: Anypony voiced by Griffin Lewis. Silver Spoon in particular sounds a lot like [[Adventure Time|Lumpy Space Princess]]. And Celestia sounds more like a [[Drag Queen|queen]] than a princess.

* [[Curse Cut Short]]: Just barely audible in 'Read it and Sleep.'

* [[Cute Is Evil]]: Fluttershy, the soft spoken, aggressively [[Moe]], {{spoiler|half dragon}} leader of a ''doomsday cult''.

* [[Deal with the Devil]]: [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] with Molestia offering her title to Twilight for assistance making friends.

** [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Fluttershy seems to be honestly trying to talk Rarity ''out'' of donating Sweetie Belle's college fund to her cult.

* [[Disney Owns This Trope]] / [[Clumsy Copyright Censorship]]: Parodied in "Lunar Slander", right from the beginning:

The word "apple" and the image of an apple are legal copyrights of the Dole corporation. This episode has been modified from its original version to keep within good legal standing. We thought that DOLE would be a BRO about this, but clearly there is no BRO in DOLE. We hope you enjoy the episode regardless. }}

** Through the rest of the episode, any apple-related imagery is blurred out, and any mentions of apples is [[Sarcasm Mode|subtly changed]] to [[Sound Effect Bleep|other fruits]]. This includes {{smallcaps|Cherry}}jack's name.

* [[Everything's Better with Princesses]]: Along with Princesses Celestia and Molestia/Luna, in "Dragone Baby Gone" Twilight claims Celestia has named ''her'' a princess along with being the leader of Team D.E.S.U.

** And as of "Lunar Slander" {{spoiler|Luna gave her title to Twilight Sparkle}}.

* [[Extreme Omnivore]]: Applejack has eaten mud (pretending it's chocolate) and an old sandwich on the floor ("It's still good!").

** It seems to run in the family; Apple Bloom eats paper.

* [[Eye Scream]]: Half the time a character says "Talk about eye candy" it's because something is in or on their eyes.

** Subverted in "Lunar Slander".

'''Twilight''': Talk about holiday spirit. }}

* [[Fan Nickname]]: Sweetie Belle gets called Sweetie Bot. [[Captain Obvious|No points]] for [[Robot Girl|guessing why]].

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: In addition to the cast's utter contempt for Spike, adult dragons are apparently kept in cages in Equestria, for children to throw things at. Twilight all but directly states that the only reason baby dragons don't suffer this fate is because they're considered too small of targets.

** Applejack is apparently a huge xenophobe:

'''Apple Bloom (cheerfully stomping grapes)''': Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! }}

* [[Finishing Each Other's Sentences]]: In "Neigh, Soul Sister."

'''Applejack:''' Hundred dollars. }}

* [[Flat Character]]: Rainbow Dash, proudly so.

'''Applejack:''' ''Almost'' all of us have some depth to our characters... }}

* [[Freudian Excuse]]: Fluttershy's evil seems to be the product of her hellish childhood.

'''{{spoiler|Fluttershy's father}}:''' Is it like a fire? For... bunnies? Are you still angry because I threw your velveteen rabbit in a fire? }}

* [[Fun with Acronyms]]: Team D.E.S.U.: "Dragon Euthanization Specialty Unit."

* [[Gilligan Cut]]: Applejack in 'Dragone Baby Gone.' Apparently rattle snakes just aren't that fast in July.

** Also in 'Cute From The Hip.'

* [[The Glomp]]: In "Lunar Slander."

* [[Gratuitous Japanese]] Twilight introduces herself to Luna with watashi wa and is quickly cut off, suggesting the makers never got beyond the first chapter of their learn Japanese text book.

** Earlier their dragon destruction team was called team D.E.S.U. although the u in desu is silent when pronounced.

* [[Great Offscreen War]]: "Read It and Sleep" and "Neigh, Soul Sister" contain numerous references to "the war" and what happened in it. Despite this, all we know is that Applejack considers Rarity a deserter, and [[I Did What I Had to Do|has done things she wouldn't otherwise do]], including at least one war crime. Meanwhile, Rarity [[Shell-Shocked Veteran|was traumatized by her time in the trenches]].

''"[[What the Hell, Hero?|I'm sure that's what you said while you were driving that stampede into a school house!]]"'' }}

* [[Hair-Trigger Avalanche|Hair Trigger]] [[ABBA|ABBAlanche]]: Invoked by Fluttershy. For that moment, the falling rocks (and mountainside) {{spoiler|play a music video of the song ''SOS''}}.

* [[Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad|Pony Mom, Non-Pony Dad]]: {{spoiler|Fluttershy}}, whose normal appearance is justified.

* [[Hurricane of Puns]]: Can be seen as faithfulness to the source material dialed [[Up to Eleven]].

* [[Insurance Fraud]]: Applejack's [[I Need to Go Iron My Dog|excuse to leave]] when she sees Twilight's [[Shipper on Deck|fanfiction.]]

* [[Ironic Echo]]: Sweetie Belle practices a song early in 'Neigh, Soul Sister' about how much she loves her sister Rarity. Compare to the song she sings during the race, after rejecting her.

* [[Irony]]: Despite being an ostensibly soulless robot, Sweetie Belle [[Ridiculously Human Robot|is the only character besides Spike and Pinkie to have any emotional depth.]]

* [[Just for Pun]]: Twilight Sparkle tries numerous puns for the name of her book fort for Princess Celestia.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJoYq0wKc4I Spike's Big Day]."

* [[Law of Disproportionate Response]]: {{spoiler|Fluttershy}} seems more upset with her father over his refusal to come to her softball games or not putting pictures on the fridge as opposed to {{spoiler|his setting her velveteen rabbit on fire, or pretty much everything else about her childhood.}}

* [[Leeroy Jenkins]]: Twilight.

'''Twilight''': I'm going in alone! }}

* [[Lighter and Softer]]: Possibly due to [[Crap Saccharine World|the]] [[World Gone Mad|standard]] [[Planet Eris|inversion]] of the source material, Molestia's backstory is considerably less tragic than Luna's.

* [[Lock and Load Montage]]: 'Dragone Baby Gone' uses the one from 'Dragonshy' for the most part, substituting a stat list after each freeze-frame (and adding one for Twilight, who wasn't part of the original).

* [[Loser Protagonist]]: Apparently shaping up to be {{spoiler|Pinkie Pie.}} In fact, every appearance of hers after "The Perfect Swarm" more or less involves her attempts at [[Meaningful Name|witchcraft.]]

* [[Lost Aesop]]: The original episode lesson always gets shoved aside by things that distract Twilight.

** Episode 1 "The Perfect Swarm":

'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Oh, right! Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that it doesn't matter if you can slide two feet, or even five or six feet. What's important is that you look cool no matter what. }}

** At the end of Episode 2 "Read It and Sleep" Twilight's friendship report is actually {{spoiler|her 70 chapter ship-fic, which she sends to the Princess}}.

* [[Mythology Gag]]: The Smooze was a villain the 1986 movie.

* [[Narcissist]]: Along with a touch of [[Cloudcuckoolander]], Twilight's reaction to seeing her own face (as Apple Bloom's cutie mark)?

* [[Never My Fault]]: Twilight manages to blame every mistake she makes on Spike.

* [[Nice Hat]]: While she's still a designer, giant hats are Rarity's specialty. She also has a "hat scarf."

* [[No Waterproofing in the Future]]: Water makes Sweetie Belle "{{smallcaps|feel funny.}}"

* [[One of the Kids]]: Played for tragedy.

'''Pinkie Pie:''' ''[[Little No|No]].'' }}

* [[Only Sane Woman|Only Sane Mare]]: Oddly enough, Pinkie, despite her [[Cloudcuckoolander|canon personality]]. Her friends ''still'' insist on treating her as an evil gypsy witch.

** Sweetie Belle is the only one to call out other characters on their callousness, when she's not busy "{{smallcaps|contemplating the fragility of life}}" and declaring her love for her sister. Despite being a robot.

* [[Original Character]]: [[In-Universe]]. The bat-winged pegasi are Molestia's OCs.

* [[The Other Darrin]]: Rainbow Dash is voiced by Keesha Bush-Trenerry in "The Perfect Swarm" and Jenny Nicholson in later episodes.

* [[Out of Character]]: Rarity's decision to attend the Sentient Social instead of the return of [[Eldritch Abomination|Lord Smooze]] is one of the ''only'' endearing moments in the series.

'''Rarity:''' Cry? [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|That's not a war face.]] }}

* [[Overly Long Gag]]: {{spoiler|Fluttershy}} recounting her [[Hilariously Abusive Childhood]].

* [[Pet the Dog]]: Rarity missed the eclipse and the attempted return of [[Religion of Evil|The Smooze]] in order to attend the Sentient Social with Sweetie Belle. Even her reasoning for doing so is a little heartwarming. "I wanted to save your soul". She cared enough for Sweetie Belle that she wanted to make sure she got through the apocalypse, when it did arrive.

* [[The Philosopher]]: Sweetie Belle.

** To Twilight, Apple Bloom sounds like she only says the word 'apples.' She thinks she's speaking "Applenese."

* [[Poor Communication Kills]]: Parodied in "The Perfect Swarm"; Pinkie Pie repeatedly tells the others ''exactly'' what she's doing and asks for help, only to get completely ignored.

* [[Prophetic Name]]: From "Cute From The Hip":

* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: When Sweetie Belle declares Applejack is her new sister, she displays these.

* [[Religion of Evil]]: Rarity is in a cult led by [[Devil in Plain Sight|Fluttershy]]. They worship "Lord Smooze", a monster from the G1 movie. Oh, and they attempted to summon him during a solar eclipse with the intention of ending the world.

* [[Ridiculously-Human Robots|Ridiculously Equine Robots]]: Cheerilee starts episode 4 by giving a lecture about the dangers of robots, who are indistinguishable from, and believe they are, actual ponies. Then Sweetie Belle appears and starts talking in [[Robo Speak]] and nopony bats an eye.

* [[Rhymes on a Dime]]: Subverted with Zecora, who is introduced as "the whimsical rhyming zebra" and proceeds to screw up her first chance:

...Hey, kids, who wants to follow me to the creepy statue? }}

** She later botches what should be an easy rhyme while trying to console the children over the cancellation of Molest Fest as well:

And then you won't feel so sad! }}

* [[Robo Speak]]: Sweetie Belle at times drops into stilted speech. Even when she's talking about heartfelt emotions or life and death, it still sounds heavily synthesized.

* [[Self-Made Orphan]]: In all fairness, though, {{spoiler|Fluttershy's father}} had it coming.

* [[Self-Serving Memory]]: In "The Perfect Swarm", Twilight Sparkle's recollection of the scene with Spike from the beginning of the episode.

* [[Shell-Shocked Veteran]]: Rarity and Applejack did some dubious things during a previous war.

* [[Shipper on Deck]]: Quite literally: Twilight Sparkle has written a 70 chapter ship-fic involving "Applesack" and "Charity".

* [[Shout-Out]]:

** Among the cutie marks Twilight gives Apple Bloom are [[Beanie Babies|the Ty Inc. logo]], [[Code Lyoko|the eye of XANA]], and [[Past Sins|Nyx]].

** The use of "plot" in [[Unusual Euphemism|the sense]] [[Memetic Mutation|fans of the show have come to use it]].

** Spike singing "Reflection" from ''[[Mulan]]''.

** "[[The Killers|I've got soul, but I am not a soldier.]]"

*** The same sound plays when the day of the eclipse starts.

** Twilight's [[Rurouni Kenshin|Rupony Kenshin]] cosplay.

* [[Sound Effect Bleep]]: Played straight in episode 1. Starting in episode 4, it's replaced with a sound clip of Apple Bloom saying 'Buy some apples!' with an apple and a "censored" bar covering the offending muzzle.

** Parodied in "Lunar Slander", where due to a cease and desist letter prohibiting any depiction or mention of apples, the apple image over the muzzle and Applejack's Cutie Mark is blurred and the sound clip of 'Buy some apples!' is censored accordingly.

* [[Standard Snippet]]: "Neigh, Soul Sister" briefly uses "The Syncopated Clock".

* [[Stealth Insult]]: Done ''incredibly'' subtly with Applejack and Rarity in Episode 2.

* [[Stealth Pun]]:

** Rarity's sleep song -- based on "Art of the Dress", itself a parody of the song "Putting It Together" -- prompts Applejack to remark that she doesn't "care much for covers."

* [[Stepford Smiler]]. Pinkie. Oh, dear God, Pinkie. She learned to pretend to be happy while growing up in an orphanage, and her skills are listed as baking, smiling, and ''facades''.

** And Rarity. Poor, shell-shocked Rarity.

* [[Strange Girl]]: Does not even ''begin'' to describe Twilight Sparkle.

* [[Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion]]: There isn't a lot of actual rhyming in "Sweetie's Big Race", but two parts have clearly subverted rhymes:

Having a good time]] }}

** and

Because I am a good racer!]] }}

** The first line of her earlier song might also qualify, depending on where she was going with it:

Does not mean you have to yell...]] }}

* [[Suspiciously Similar Song]]: Pinkie's Parasprite Polka song is replaced by [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJESDE62PbE a polka version] of [[Rebecca Black]]'s "Friday".

** In "Pinkie's Brew" (see Lyrical Dissonance, above), her parents tell her to "please [not] bake a portal, just accept it and move on". So... [[Fridge Logic|how exactly did they anticipate that possibility?]]

*** [[A Wizard Did It|Gypsy Magic]].

** Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon also share the same voice actor.

* [[Throw the Dog a Bone]]: {{spoiler|as of Episode 6, Pinkie's parents have come back.}}

** And from Diamond Tiara to Apple Bloom.

* [[Unsound Effect]]: Used repeatedly along with [[Saying Sound Effects Out Loud]] in the [[Cold Open]] of "Read It And Sleep".

* [[What the Hell Is That Accent?]]: Molestia. She sounds not entirely unlike [[The Room|Tommy Wiseau]].

** She sounds remarkably like Dexter from [[Dexter's Laboratory|Dexter's Lab]].

* [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: Diamond Tiara believes that since her talent is [[Ms. Exposition|exposition]], she and Silver Spoon must be the main characters.

* [[Yangire]]: Sweetie Belle starts treading close to this in "Neigh, Soul Sister" when she attempts attaching herself to Applejack.

** Twilight is... words fail me.

* [[You Can't Fight Fate]]: Everyone fully expects Apple Bloom's cutie mark to be apple-related, even after Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle rant how they could have any cutie mark they wanted.

* [[Your Answer to Everything]]: "C'mon, DT, let's wrestle!"

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Abridged Series]]

[[Category:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Fan Works]]