To Where and Back Again a Unicorns Tale by Starlight Glimmer

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E25ToWhereAndBackAgainPart1

Discord just plant out Queen Chrysalis has Fluttershy. Nice knowin' ya, Chrysalis.

"THEY'RE BACK!!"

—Starlight Glimmer

Special Invitee Star: John de Lancie as Discord
Written by: Josh Haber and Michael Vogel

While moving boxes of books in Twilight's library, Starlight Blink receives an invitation from her old village to have in the Sunset Festival for the town. While Twilight encourages her to become, Starlight is still haunted by the things she did as the town's leader, nervously wondering if the ponies there will hold a grudge. At nighttime, Starlight dreams of the ponies from her hamlet mocking her and insulting her, prompting Princess Luna to step in. While Starlight is relieved that it'due south all a dream, Luna says that the emotions it represents are real, and she should talk to her friends about it. The next morn, Starlight confides in the Mane Half dozen that she's nervous, and so they suggest bringing along a friend to help. To Twilight's disappointment, Starlight chooses to bring Trixie with her, and the two set out.

Once they go far at the hamlet, the ponies are actually quite happy to run across her. In fact, they begin to ask Starlight numerous questions about how the Dusk Festival should be run. Overwhelmed, Starlight panics, pushing the ponies away with her magic. Trixie uses her smoke bombs to help give her a hasty go out, with a dejected Starlight maxim that she doesn't want to be in charge of annihilation else. Trixie quietly admits that even she makes mistakes, and the all-time thing to practice in that situation is forget well-nigh it and motion on.

Back in Ponyville, Starlight notices everypony acting strangely, with the Mane Six all behaving incredibly snidely and rudely, along with none of them seeming to remember that Starlight headed back to her old hamlet. That nighttime, another dream has Starlight confronted past her friends, but she realizes quickly that it's another dream. However, a panicked Princess Luna appears and warns Starlight that changelings have kidnapped her and the other princesses, and that she needs to go help. Though frightened, Starlight gets Trixie to spy on the Mane Six in the castle. They apply a device to communicate with Queen Chrysalis, the changeling leader, who confirms that the princesses accept been kidnapped, and even replaced with phonies. The queen also says that since they thought "too small" in their attempt to claim Canterlot final fourth dimension, they will now conquer all of Equestria.

After slipping out of the castle thanks to a cloaking spell, Starlight suggests going to the Crystal Empire to become help from Princess Cadance. However, Thorax the friendly changeling appears, who confirms that Cadance's family has besides been taken. As they despair over who else could maybe help them now with both the Mane Vi and the Imperial Family the prisoners of the changelings, the virtually-omnipotent Discord arrives; he is initially quite uncaring about the whole situation, until he hears that Fluttershy has besides been taken, and he transports them to the Changeling Hive. Starlight looks on nervously, unsure of how to proceed...

TO Be CONTINUED

*cue happy credits music*

Continued in "To Where and Back Once again – Part ii".

---

Tropes:

• All In that location in the Transmission: My Little Pony (Gameloft) explains how the changelings abducted the Mane Six. 1 used a fake present to abduct and supplant Pinkie Pie, then threw a party to lure and capture the residue of them.
• All Upwards to You: Starlight is forced to take Trixie, Thorax, and Discord with her to rescue the Royal Family and Mane Half-dozen, and save Equestria.
• Fine art Evolution: Starting this episode, Trixie's optics are now rendered with two catchlights like everypony else, rather than a single catchlight in her earlier appearances.
• Badass in Distress: Some of the most powerful ponies in Equestria were captured by the changelings, and now they need to be rescued.
• Be All My Sins Remembered: Starlight still doesn't believe she deserves to exist forgiven for the things she has done, and particularly doesn't want the responsibility of being a leader over again.

• Beware the Lightheaded Ones: Discord is normally goofy and mischievous. When he hears that Fluttershy was taken, he gets mortiferous serious.
• Big "NO!": Starlight says this when all the requests for for guidance from the ponies of her sometime village become too much for her.
• Big "WHAT?!": Trixie lets one out when Starlight tells her the changelings are back.
• Brief Accent False: Thorax beingness a changeling, he goes beyond just imitating Twilight'due south mannerisms: he turns into her to echo the oral communication she made almost him in the Crystal Empire, including mimicking her phonation.
• Broad Strokes: The comic serial, which has always had an uneasy relationship with the show regarding its canon status, has its biggest castor with the testify's canon so far here. It had depicted another run across with Chrysalis where she was imprisoned, but then a later event had her escape and go her power dorsum. None of this is referenced hither, but given that she ended up dorsum where she started, the fans are costless to imagine it all happened or not as they prefer. On top of that, the Changeling Kingdom presented in this episode is definitely unlike from the one in the comics. Given the latter was more a temporary base of operations for Chrysalis and her regular army, however, information technology tin can be causeless that this Changeling Kingdom is meant to be the changeling species' homeland.
• Fell Honesty: Rainbow Dash says Starlight was "...pretty awful" when she was a villain, prompting Applejack to admonish her.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Trixie, Thorax, and Discord all make a return after having an episode before in the season.
  • Queen Chrysalis and her changeling army make an official return after their defeat during the imperial hymeneals and their timeline during Starlight's revenge attempt, this time with Chrysalis seeking Revenge by making sure that Equestria's master defenses in the Regal Family and the Mane Vi, the ones responsible for her previous defeat, are out of the mode early then they can't interfere again.
  • The ponies of Our Town brand a return after helping stop Starlight from stealing the Mane Six's cutie marks and their cameo at the end of season 5.
• Call-Back:
  • The ponies from Our Town invite Starlight to the Dusk Festival, leading to some discussion about her previously leading the hamlet, and how they had forgiven her misdeeds in "The Cutie Re-Marking – Part two".

    Trixie: At that place it is! The town where you—
    Starlight Glimmer: Magically stole everypony's cutie marks, replaced them with equal signs, and forced them all to hide their natural talents? Yes.
    Trixie: I was going to say "where you lot came from," only yours is a more... emotionally traumatic reply.

  • Princess Luna visits the dreams of some other pony to give them advice, then uses information technology later to warn Starlight of the situation with the changelings before she is taken.
  • Princess Luna likewise mentions to Starlight how the Mane Half dozen have helped her in the past, and points that they have some backstory in common.
  • Starlight's friendship with Trixie and Twilight's lingering trepidation over it harken dorsum to "No Second Prances" earlier in the flavor.
  • Thorax directly quotes Twilight's speech near her conclusion to trust him in "The Times They Are a Changeling", even turning into her and using the audio.
• Catapult Nightmare: Starlight Blink springs awake from her second dream, screaming "THEY'RE BACK!" Considering the especially spooky warning she just received from Luna in said dream, this is no surprise she's having an anguished wake-up.
• The Chains of Commanding: Starlight, after her previous mistakes with leadership, doesn't feel comfortable in a leadership office, as her reaction to the ponies of "Our Boondocks" asking for her advice on the festival shows.
• Changeling Tale: Taken Up to Eleven with the changelings ponynapping all the Princesses and their friends and loved ones, and so feeding on everypony else'southward dear for the replaced ponies and feeding that love to Queen Chrysalis.
• Graphic symbol Shilling: The episode starts with Twilight praising Starlight's development and even claiming it's all thanks to Starlight herself. Considering her limited airtime this season and the last we saw of her progress she didn't realize heed-controlling her friends was a bad thing until chosen out, that'due south either not saying much or she fabricated an implausible amount of offscreen progress ^note the next season premier supports this by having a large pile of Starlight's lesson while only the first three were shown this flavor, though information technology might not take been meant to be taken seriously considering only three episodes passed and Starlight's unresolved self-incertitude over it.
• Cliffhanger: As is the case with the 2-parters, this episode ends with the changelings having kidnapped several powerful ponies effectually Equestria, including the Mane Six and the Royal Family, pregnant Equestria is near defenseless and leaderless now, and leaving Starlight and her team outside the Changeling Hive to rescue everyone, with Starlight scared of what to exercise next.
• Comically Missing the Point: Twilight is hinting that Starlight should invite her to get with her, but she decides to bring Trixie instead, to the Princess of Friendship's annoyance.
• Commonality Connectedness: Princess Luna identifies with Starlight, every bit they both succumbed to the dark sides of their nature in the by, and struggled through redemption.

  Princess Luna: I see much of myself in you, Starlight Glimmer, and I can tell you lot from personal experience that things practice indeed become amend.

• Continuity Nod:
  • Derpy wears the postal service uniform she was seen wearing in "Crusaders of the Lost Mark".
  • In the starting time dream, Political party Favor makes the same memetic face he did in "The Cutie Map – Part 2" afterward he was released from the reconditioning shed.
  • The spell Starlight uses to push the ponies away is the aforementioned one she used in "The Cutie Map – Part ii".
  • The changeling who had replaced Fluttershy is seen performing a Slouch of Villainy on her throne; Starlight pulled a similar pose on the very same throne in "The Cutie Re-Mark – Part 1".
  • While proving his identity, Discord turns the footing into lather, just equally he did in "The Render of Harmony - Role 2".
• Cover Identity Bibelot: The changelings replacing the Mane Vi evidence varying levels of skill in impersonating them.
  • The worst are the replacements for Rainbow Dash and Spike, who human activity like straight-upwards jerkasses and testify none of the traits of the characters they impersonate. They seem to detest their chore, though simulated Spike has practiced reason to equally he is the Barrel-Monkey of the grouping.
  • Applejack, Rarity, and Little finger Pie'southward replacements brand an effort to imitation some of the tics of their originals and attempt to answer politely when Starlight talks to them, merely the ruse eventually breaks down. The false Applejack and Rarity burst out in derisive laughter when they hear of Starlight's genuine and painful friendship problem, while fake Little finger doesn't think Starlight's name and bails chop-chop on their conversation, whereas the real Pinkie has been repeatedly demonstrated to remember every friend she's ever met and is extremely talkative.
  • The changeling taking over Princess Twilight's role does the best task, successfully faking her way through a chat with Starlight and hoof-waving away the others' odd beliefs. She fifty-fifty offers some confident friendship "communication". The only thing odd about her is the advice itself, in that she tells Starlight to forget her old friendships and simply find new ones to replace them, whereas the existent Twilight Sparkle encourages conclusion and maintaining friendships even through difficulty.
  • Collectively, none of the changelings recognize Starlight or show whatever knowledge that she's Twilight's pupil. Even the fake Twilight never acknowledges her name or position. Queen Chrysalis after says she knows exactly who Starlight is and fifty-fifty considered having her replaced, but ultimately deciding that she wasn't worth the trouble (which would explain the lack of a briefing regarding her).
• Darkest Hour: The changelings take returned, and take kidnapped all of the most powerful ponies in Equestria, including every member of the Royal Family unit and all of Twilight's friends, replacing them with fakes to pave the style for a full-scale invasion in Revenge for the Majestic Wedding defeat.
• A Day in the Limelight: Notably the offset ii-parter that does not focus on Twilight or the Mane Six.
• Deflector Shields: Trixie freaks out desperately upon meeting with Thorax, forcing Starlight to encase her in a bubble shield that is soundproof. Trixie spends the next few moments floating within, screaming, panicking and slamming her hooves confronting the barrier to no avail in complete silence.
• Destroy the Abusive Home: When you see the wide shot of Our Town, information technology appears the residents take demolished Starlight's erstwhile cottage and planted a tree in its identify.
• The Drag-Forth: Trixie doesn't feel she's particularly qualified to be taking on the changeling horde and would much rather be somewhere else.
• Dream Walker: Princess Luna, every bit usual. She appears in Starlight Glimmer'due south first dream to give her some advice most how to handle her anguish of coming back to Our Boondocks. In the second dream, she employ her power to warn Starlight about the changeling assail while struggling to fight off her captors in vain.
• Easily Forgiven: Contrary to her fears and nightmares, the ponies of Our Town don't bear any grudge confronting Starlight Glimmer and want her to join in on their commemoration. However, being easily forgiven once again but aggravates Starlight's anguish, and she assumes a Troubled Fetal Position before running away.
• Evil Has a Bad Humour: The changelings replacing Applejack and Rarity bursts into laughter when Starlight tells them she fled from the Sunset Festival in Our Town. This lack of empathy is a big hint of their truthful nature.
• Evil Laugh: Naturally, Queen Chrysalis indulges in megalomaniacal cackling at the end of the communication scene, and her changeling minions follow conform.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: The Changeling Kingdom Castle is a jagged and gnarled spire fortress surrounded by a wasteland devoid of any plant life. Aye, definitely not a very friendly-looking place to visit. Thorax is terrified when he looks upon it, even though he's from in that location.
• Eye Am Watching You: The changeling impersonating Spike, who has been the most hostile of the agglomeration, makes the gesture twice toward Starlight as she comes back to the Friendship Castle. Non suspicious at all, nope.
• Middle Twitch: Twilight has some when Starlight brings Trixie to "Our Town" instead of her.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Luna struggling to contact Starlight and the grouping not teleporting straight to the Hive/where Fluttershy is both atomic number 82 to an of import function of the next episode.
  • Thorax's new wings are also a hint at what's coming.
  • Discord tries to directly teleport himself and the other would-be rescuers directly to Fluttershy, simply to his confusion they end up exterior of the hive instead. The reason for this is explained next episode.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: The "unlikely heroes" that step up when the Mane Six are decommissioned. Starlight Blink is melancholic; Trixie is choleric; Discord is sanguine every bit ever; and Thorax is phlegmatic.
• Funny Background Event:
  • When Starlight start sees the impostor Mane Half-dozen in the map chamber, the changeling disguised as Applejack is eating a pear.
  • When Thorax appears to Starlight and Trixie, Starlight is forced to seal her inside a soundproof bubble when she won't stop screaming. She remains there for the rest of the post-obit conversation, pulling hilarious faces.
  • When it's Discord plow to announced, he's knitting a mock-upwards of Angel Bunny for... some reason.
  • When Twilight is telling Starlight that she should bring a friend when she returns to "Our Town", conspicuously hinting at herself, Fasten wears a Disapproving Look, considering he knows that Starlight volition chose Trixie over Twilight without any doubt. And then nosotros have the Gilligan Cut...
• Gagging on Your Words: When Starlight asks Trixie to repeat what she'd earlier told her to not repeat to anypony, to make sure she's not a changeling, Trixie's answer first come up out as unintelligible mumbling between clenched teeth. Only on Starlight's insistence does she finally acknowledge it was "That even Trixie'southward made mistakes!"
• Gilligan Cut: Twilight is telling Starlight that she should bring a friend when she returns to "Our Town", clearly hinting at herself, and the cut shows that she's chosen Trixie.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: With the Mane Half-dozen, Spike, Shining Armor, and the Princesses captured, Starlight gets the help of Discord, Trixie and Thorax. She would like to call for the Crystal Empire but manifestly they were hit first.
• Good Costume Switch: Although not a costume, Thorax has new wings that shine like crystal, something that both Starlight, and Thorax himself find.
• Skilful Wings, Evil Wings: Thorax has new, hole-less sparkly wings compared to his former ones, something Starlight noticed correct away.
• Hellish Pupils: Discord'due south goofy, mismatched pupils narrow into snake-similar slits when he hears that Fluttershy was one of the ponies captured by the changelings.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • When the ponies of Our Boondocks bombard Starlight with requests for her guidance, she screams "No!" and pushes them abroad with her expanding shield spell. Immediately after, she is shown lying on the basis, hooves over her eyes, trembling in anguish.
  • Trixie is terrified of the changelings and panics the moment she hears about them. She doesn't fifty-fifty desire to be shut to Thorax, despite believing Starlight when she says that he is on their side.
• Hey, Yous!: These are the fake Little finger Pie'southward showtime words to Starlight one time she returns to Ponyville.
• Hope Spot: Starlight suggests going to become Cadance and Shining's aid, but Thorax reveals that they were captured already, and Sunburst sent him to get assist from Twilight.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Discord describes the trio of Starlight, Trixie and Thorax as "a combination of secondary characters".
• Let'due south Get Unsafe!: The moment Discord learns that Fluttershy has been captured past the changelings, he instantly drops all pretense of goofing off and becomes mortiferous serious.
• Letting the Air Out of the Band: When Thorax turns into Twilight to repeat her speech from "The Times They Are a Changeling", the same solemn music from this scene tin also be heard... until Starlight cuts him, at which indicate the music falters and peters out.
• Permit United states of america Never Speak of This Again: Not the exact phrase Trixie used, but this is definitely what she was feeling when she admitted that even she makes mistakes. Naturally, it gets brought upward for Trixie'due south Something Simply They Would Say moment.
• Literary Allusion Title: To The Hobbit, whose full title reads The Hobbit, or At that place and Back Again.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Salvage the Twilight impersonator, none of the Changelings seem to know Starlight exists. Evidently they have non fully followed history since the Royal Wedding. Although the next episode reveals that Chrysalis herself is well aware of who Starlight is and considered non the trouble of replacing.
• Lower-Deck Episode: Lampshaded past Discord earlier the squad sets out on a rescue mission to save the Mane Six and the Royal Family.

  Discord: Well, isn't this quite the combination of secondary characters!

• Mook Lieutenant: The one changeling turned into Twilight Sparkle is ordering around the others, and likewise seems to exist more intelligent than the average drone. He'south doing a amend task impersonating the princess than his goons are doing with their respective roles — it'southward yet off, simply at least he tries giving conceivable pretexts to Starlight for the discrepancies. He'southward also the only one seen to talk while in changeling form when Chrysalis contacts them, and near sniffs out a hidden Starlight and Trixie.
• Morality Pet: Fluttershy remains this to Discord; he but reacts to the changeling situation when he learns that she was taken.
• Mordor: The Changeling Kingdom is a bleak and barren-looking land surrounding a large spire of dark stone.
• Mythology Gag: Before Starlight wakes her, Trixie is mumbling about peanut butter crackers in her sleep, a snack of which her Equestria Girls cocky is also noted to be fond.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Queen Chrysalis is back, and wasted no fourth dimension at all disposing of not only Princess Cadance this time around, merely Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, and the Mane Six besides, the only heroes she believes would stand in the way of stopping her programme, and to take Revenge on all of them for her previous defeat at their hooves.
• The Nose Knows: The changeling posing equally Twilight stops for a moment in the castle hallway to sniff effectually while searching for Starlight and Trixie and follows the trail to where Starlight and Trixie are hiding. However, since Starlight has bandage an invisibility spell on them the changeling continues searching somewhere else.
• Not Himself: Starlight is confused when the Mane Six and Spike either don't recognize her or otherwise admonish or insult her for either reason. It'south only a matter of time before she realizes they were replaced with Changelings.
• No Sympathy Betwixt Mooks: The changelings are seen mocking one of their ain (the Spike impersonator) for beingness slapped around.
• Not What I Signed Up For: Trixie has a major freak-out when she and Starlight just barely escape being defenseless by the changelings and says she tin't deal with "princess-level stuff" because she is merely a performer.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The changelings somehow capturing the Mane Six and all of the Royal Family unit in the time information technology took for Starlight and Trixie to travel to Our Town and back.
• One-time Shame: Starlight's opinion of her actions in "Our Town", which she now deeply regrets.
• OOC Is Serious Business: The goofy and dizzy Discord turns on a dime when the others inform him that the changelings have taken Fluttershy also. He becomes utterly pissed .
• Out-of-Character Alert: Starlight notices this about the "Mane Six" after coming home, somewhen discovering they're not her friends after all — they're Changelings in disguise.
• Overly Long Scream: Trixie is somewhat taken ashamed past Thorax, to the signal where Starlight has to trap her in a bubble to stop the noise from giving them away.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Trixie gleefully rubs Starlight inviting her to come up to Our Town with her in Twilight's face up, while smugly "complimenting" the Princess of Friendship on her "wisdom" and emphasizing how she's Starlight's all-time friend.
• Plot Hole: Starlight Glimmer's first dream is strangely upwards-to-appointment almost the appearance of Our Boondocks, including the exact banners used for the Sunset Festival, and the fact that her cottage has been replaced by a tree. This wasn't the example during her last visit (at the end of "The Cutie Re-Mark – Part two") and she makes quite articulate she hadn't been at that place dorsum since, and thus she shouldn't accept memories of the updated village.
• The Penalization Is the Offense: Despite being Hands Forgiven by all the ponies around her and wanting to exist friends with her, Starlight Glimmer is nevertheless too self-absorbed to have it and doesn't experience she deserves it for all the bad things she did.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Starlight Glimmer has to salvage Equestria with her ain makeshift team of former villains and social misfits: Trixie, a blowhard magician with a bad public paradigm as a one-time evil overlord; Thorax, a friendly changeling who has faced prejudice from the very ponies he wants to get forth with; and Discord, a not-quite-reformed prankster of nearly-omnipotent power who simply helps when he feels similar it.

  Trixie: I tin can't deal with this! I'm just a performer! This is... This is princess-level stuff!

• Reality Warper: Discord demonstrates his powers by distorting things when Starlight asks for proof that he's the real Discord.
• Ruby-red Eyes, Take Alert: Discord's pupils flash an angry cerise very briefly when he asks, with a growling tone of voice, where they've taken Fluttershy.
• Red Herring: Trixie's line about pretending something bad never happened, immediately followed by a scene where Little finger Pie can't call up Starlight's proper noun, may have been an attempt to fool the audition into thinking that the episode was going the mode of Information technology'south a Wonderful Plot.
• Revenge: After her previous defeat regarding the Royal Nuptials, Chrysalis attempts to conquer Equestria again, this time covertly kidnapping everyone involved in her original defeat, the Mane Vi and the Royal Family, then they tin't stop her again.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: When Starlight has a breakdown at her old village, Trixie notices the problem and uses her trademark smoke bomb exit technique to get herself and Starlight out the village.
• Shout-Out:
  • In addition to the Literary Allusion Championship to The Hobbit, the concept of a rag-tag group of heroes and anti-heroes traveling to a mountain belonging to their articulation nemesis also borrows from The Lord of the Rings, with the Changeling Kingdom existence a decent analogue to Mt. Doom.
  • The inflow of Derpy parodies some archetype Superman lines:

    Twilight Sparkle: Is it a bird?
    Starlight Glimmer: Is information technology a parasprite?
    Spike: It'southward... it'due south... incoming!

  • When Discord makes a demonstration of his Reality Warping, he turns Trixie's wagon into a pumpkin coach.
• Slouch of Villainy: The changeling posing equally Fluttershy invokes this while sitting on her throne, putting its rear hooves up on the map table. Information technology couldn't look less like Fluttershy without abandoning her image entirely.
• Smoke Out:
  • Trixie uses her trademark exit method to go Starlight and herself out of Our Town, and it really works: Trixie now uses a more powerful bomb so that the smoke stays for longer, both roofing the leave much improve than before and making the other ponies to cough and shut their optics for a few moments, and therefore Trixie is already far away when they tin finally see again.
  • Trixie seems unable to NOT use her fume bombs for drama, which gives us i funny moment before they accomplish Our Town.

    Trixie: Not just a hope, a not bad and powerful promise! [smoke bombs the expanse, cue some coughing]

• Something Only They Would Say: Starlight asks something from all 3 of her allies to confirm they aren't changelings: Trixie reveals a undercover she shared with Starlight earlier in the episode, Thorax recites the speech Twilight fabricated after she accepted him, and Discord shows off his powers.
• So Much for Stealth: Starlight and Trixie manage to spy on the changelings without being noticed while they are contacting Queen Chrysalis, but at the terminate of the magic conference Starlight makes the mistake of pushing the door to the throne room a piffling, causing it to creak. The changelings are immediately alerted and hiss menacingly.
• Spiking the Camera: When the Changeling impersonating Twilight tries to explain why Fasten was acting and so off today, her eyes look direct at the viewer audience when she says "I think he missed a repast or something."
• Spoof Aesop: What Trixie has taken away from her by misadventures is apparently that everyone makes mistakes but that the important thing is to motility on from them and pretend they never happened. Starlight admits that that'due south almost a good lesson...
• Stranger in a Familiar Land:
  • Starlight is agape to return to Our Town because she fears she won't be accustomed there anymore.
  • Thorax likewise seems terrified to return to the Changeling Kingdom.
• Talking in Your Slumber: Starlight hears Trixie talking in her slumber most performing for Princess Celestia for peanut butter crackers.
• Teleportation:
  • Starlight Blink teleports herself and a panicking Trixie back to her wagon after a close call with the changelings replacing the Mane Six and Spike.
  • As soon equally Discord learns that Fluttershy is in danger, he teleports himself, Starlight, Trixie and Thorax direct to her location. Or at least he tries — he doesn't expect a Teleport Interdiction to be in place, leaving them exterior the Changeling Hive.
• Teleport Interdiction: Discord tries to teleport himself, Starlight, Trixie, and Thorax to where Fluttershy is, but instead just brings them to outside the Changeling Hive. Next episode shows why. This likewise explains why Luna simply could non teleport away from her captors while alert Starlight earlier.
• Tempting Fate: When Discord appears, Starlight has the "slap-up idea" to call him out and openly question his identity. While there was a massive non-lethal Replicant Snatching invasion of Equestria past the changelings going on, it's even so a bad idea to challenge a Mad God to bear witness himself given Discord'southward level of power. After all, if he'south an imposter, Starlight, Trixie, and Thorax would be able to handle one changeling, but if it actually is Discord, you've just invited him to mess you up in many weird and impossible ways.

  Starlight: How do we know you are who you say you are?
  [cue Discord turning the unabridged landscape into something from Willy Wonka's nightmares]

• Too Fast to Stop: Derpy'southward mail delivery organisation. She crashes through a window of the Castle.
• Tranquil Fury: Discord gives the impression of beingness utterly unconcerned with the changeling invasion... until he hears Fluttershy's been captured. So he drops all pretense of being bored and demands to know, in a deadly serious tone, where she's been taken.
• Visible Invisibility: Starlight uses an invisibility spell to hide Trixie and herself from the changeling impersonating Twilight and company. The eyes, and the outline of their bodies, are all the same slightly visible. It's likely for the audience's benefit as the changeling neither sees nor smells anything.
• Vocal Noise: The changelings, in improver to not knowing how the ponies they kidnapped act, don't seem to get the voices correct, either. The most obvious one is Rainbow Dash, whose vox is noticeably higher and less scratchy than is normal for her.
• Volumetric Oral cavity: On seeing Thorax, Trixie starts screaming her caput off for a comically long time, which is expressed several times by her wide-open oral fissure occupying the whole face up, complete with a full view of her glottis and natural language twirling like a mad snake.
• Wake Upwardly Fighting: Of a sort. Trixie accidentally sets off several of her magical fireworks while getting out of bed when Starlight wakes her up; luckily, Starlight was outside Trixie'due south wagon, so doesn't get striking.
• Weirder Than Usual: Starlight is puzzled by the manner the fake Pinkie is acting, despite reminders that Pinkie Pie is ever weird.

  Starlight Glimmer: That was... strange...
  Trixie: Isn't she ever strange?
  Starlight Glimmer: Yeah, just... non like that.

• Wham Line: After Starlight has seen all of the Mane Six interim suspiciously for no apparent reason, Luna'south appearance in her dream, struggling against her captors, finally gives abroad the game.

  Princess Luna: The changelings have returned!

• Whole Plot Reference: The plot of this two-parter seems to be 1 for the premiere of the series, in which the protagonist is a unicorn who leads a ragtag team to fight an evil force threatening the land.
• The Worf Event: The Regal Family and the Mane Vi are put out of commission by the changelings to underscore just how bad the situation is and ratchet up the pressure on the 2d-string heroes. We don't see how but it'southward heavily unsaid to have something to do with The Reveal of Chrysalis having a Power Nullifier throne which can block their magic that led to being kidnapped then easily. Thorax besides mentions that a mutual Changeling tactic is to utilise a disguise to lure a target into an ambush, so both were probably used.
• Worldbuilding: The Changeling Kingdom, previously mentioned by Thorax in "The Times They Are a Changeling", finally makes an appearance.
• Would Hurt a Kid: The changelings have kidnapped both Spike and Flurry Heart, both of whom are merely babies to their respective races. (To be fair, it wouldn't have been much meliorate to go out Flurry Heart behind after abducting her parents.)
• You Are in Control Now: Trixie, Thorax, and even Discord expect at Starlight for leadership since all four princesses (ane of which is her teacher) have been kidnapped. Information technology'due south something she definitely doesn't feel comfy with.

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Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E25ToWhereAndBackAgainPart1

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