To Where and Back Again Part 2

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

Discord just found out Queen Chrysalis has Fluttershy. Squeamish knowin' ya, Chrysalis.

"THEY'RE Back!!"

—Starlight Blink

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

While moving boxes of books in Twilight's library, Starlight Glimmer receives an invitation from her old village to take in the Sunset Festival for the boondocks. While Twilight encourages her to go, Starlight is however haunted by the things she did equally the town'south leader, nervously wondering if the ponies there will hold a grudge. At night, Starlight dreams of the ponies from her village mocking her and insulting her, prompting Princess Luna to stride in. While Starlight is relieved that information technology'south all a dream, Luna says that the emotions it represents are real, and she should talk to her friends nigh it. The next forenoon, Starlight confides in the Mane Six that she's nervous, so they propose bringing forth a friend to assist. To Twilight's disappointment, Starlight chooses to bring Trixie with her, and the two set out.

Once they arrive at the village, the ponies are actually quite happy to see her. In fact, they begin to ask Starlight numerous questions about how the Sunset Festival should be run. Overwhelmed, Starlight panics, pushing the ponies abroad with her magic. Trixie uses her fume bombs to aid requite her a hasty get out, with a dejected Starlight saying that she doesn't want to be in accuse of anything else. Trixie quietly admits that even she makes mistakes, and the all-time thing to do in that state of affairs is forget about information technology and move on.

Back in Ponyville, Starlight notices everypony interim strangely, with the Mane Six all behaving incredibly snidely and rudely, along with none of them seeming to recall that Starlight headed back to her old village. That night, another dream has Starlight confronted by her friends, just she realizes chop-chop that it's some other dream. However, a panicked Princess Luna appears and warns Starlight that changelings have kidnapped her and the other princesses, and that she needs to get help. Though frightened, Starlight gets Trixie to spy on the Mane Six in the castle. They utilize a device to communicate with Queen Chrysalis, the changeling leader, who confirms that the princesses take been kidnapped, and fifty-fifty replaced with phonies. The queen too says that since they thought "as well small" in their attempt to claim Canterlot terminal time, they will now conquer all of Equestria.

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

TO Exist Connected

*cue happy credits music*

Continued in "To Where and Back Once again – Function 2".

---

Tropes:

• All In that location in the Manual: My Lilliputian Pony (Gameloft) explains how the changelings abducted the Mane Vi. One used a fake present to abduct and replace Pinkie Pie, then threw a party to lure and capture the rest of them.
• All Upward to You: Starlight is forced to have Trixie, Thorax, and Discord with her to rescue the Royal Family and Mane 6, and save Equestria.
• Art Evolution: Starting this episode, Trixie's eyes are at present rendered with two catchlights like everypony else, rather than a single catchlight in her before 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 notwithstanding doesn't believe she deserves to be forgiven for the things she has done, and peculiarly doesn't desire the responsibility of being a leader over again.

• Beware the Featherbrained Ones: Discord is usually goofy and mischievous. When he hears that Fluttershy was taken, he gets deadly serious.
• Large "NO!": Starlight says this when all the requests for for guidance from the ponies of her quondam village become too much for her.
• Big "WHAT?!": Trixie lets one out when Starlight tells her the changelings are back.
• Brief Accent Imitation: Thorax being a changeling, he goes beyond just imitating Twilight's mannerisms: he turns into her to echo the speech she fabricated about him in the Crystal Empire, including mimicking her voice.
• Broad Strokes: The comic series, which has always had an uneasy relationship with the show regarding its canon status, has its biggest brush with the show's canon and so far here. It had depicted some other run across with Chrysalis where she was imprisoned, just then a subsequently issue had her escape and get her power back. None of this is referenced here, merely given that she ended up back where she started, the fans are complimentary to imagine it all happened or not equally they prefer. On acme of that, the Changeling Kingdom presented in this episode is definitely different from the ane in the comics. Given the latter was more a temporary base of operations for Chrysalis and her army, however, it tin can be causeless that this Changeling Kingdom is meant to be the changeling species' homeland.
• Brutal Honesty: Rainbow Dash says Starlight was "...pretty awful" when she was a villain, prompting Applejack to admonish her.
• The Bus Came Dorsum:
  • Trixie, Thorax, and Discord all make a return after having an episode earlier in the season.
  • Queen Chrysalis and her changeling army make an official return later their defeat during the royal hymeneals and their timeline during Starlight's revenge attempt, this fourth dimension with Chrysalis seeking Revenge by making sure that Equestria's primary defenses in the Purple Family and the Mane Six, the ones responsible for her previous defeat, are out of the style early so they can't interfere again.
  • The ponies of Our Boondocks make a return after helping terminate Starlight from stealing the Mane Six'south cutie marks and their cameo at the end of flavour 5.
• Telephone call-Back:
  • The ponies from Our Town invite Starlight to the Sunset Festival, leading to some discussion most her previously leading the village, and how they had forgiven her misdeeds in "The Cutie Re-Marker – Part 2".

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

  • Princess Luna visits the dreams of another pony to give them communication, then uses it subsequently to warn Starlight of the situation with the changelings before she is taken.
  • Princess Luna also mentions to Starlight how the Mane Six 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 back to "No Second Prances" earlier in the season.
  • Thorax straight quotes Twilight's spoken language about her decision to trust him in "The Times They Are a Changeling", even turning into her and using the audio.
• Catapult Nightmare: Starlight Glimmer springs awake from her second dream, screaming "THEY'RE Dorsum!" 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 comfy in a leadership role, as her reaction to the ponies of "Our Town" request for her advice on the festival shows.
• Changeling Tale: Taken Up to Xi with the changelings ponynapping all the Princesses and their friends and loved ones, and so feeding on everypony else'southward love for the replaced ponies and feeding that dearest to Queen Chrysalis.
• Character Shilling: The episode starts with Twilight praising Starlight's development and even challenge it's all thanks to Starlight herself. Considering her limited airtime this season and the last nosotros saw of her progress she didn't realize mind-controlling her friends was a bad matter until called out, that's either not proverb 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 merely the commencement three were shown this flavor, though it might not have been meant to exist taken seriously because only 3 episodes passed and Starlight'due south unresolved cocky-doubt over it.
• Cliffhanger: Every bit is the example with the two-parters, this episode ends with the changelings having kidnapped several powerful ponies effectually Equestria, including the Mane Half dozen and the Purple Family, significant Equestria is most defenseless and leaderless now, and leaving Starlight and her team outside the Changeling Hive to rescue everyone, with Starlight scared of what to do adjacent.
• Comically Missing the Point: Twilight is hinting that Starlight should invite her to go with her, but she decides to bring Trixie instead, to the Princess of Friendship's badgerer.
• Commonality Connexion: Princess Luna identifies with Starlight, as they both succumbed to the dark sides of their nature in the past, and struggled through redemption.

  Princess Luna: I see much of myself in y'all, Starlight Glimmer, and I can tell you from personal feel that things do indeed become better.

• Continuity Nod:
  • Derpy wears the mail uniform she was seen wearing in "Crusaders of the Lost Marking".
  • In the starting time dream, Party Favor makes the same memetic face he did in "The Cutie Map – Function ii" after he was released from the reconditioning shed.
  • The spell Starlight uses to push button the ponies abroad is the same one she used in "The Cutie Map – Part 2".
  • 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 – Role i".
  • While proving his identity, Discord turns the footing into soap, just every bit he did in "The Return of Harmony - Office 2".
• Cover Identity Anomaly: The changelings replacing the Mane Six testify varying levels of skill in impersonating them.
  • The worst are the replacements for Rainbow Dash and Spike, who human activity like straight-upward jerkasses and show none of the traits of the characters they impersonate. They seem to hate their task, though fake Spike has good reason to equally he is the Butt-Monkey of the group.
  • Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie'southward replacements make an effort to fake some of the tics of their originals and effort to respond politely when Starlight talks to them, merely the ruse eventually breaks downwards. The fake Applejack and Rarity burst out in cheeky laughter when they hear of Starlight'south genuine and painful friendship problem, while fake Pinkie doesn't call back Starlight's name and bails rapidly 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 all-time job, successfully faking her way through a chat with Starlight and hoof-waving away the others' odd behavior. She even offers some confident friendship "advice". The only affair odd well-nigh her is the communication itself, in that she tells Starlight to forget her quondam friendships and simply observe new ones to replace them, whereas the real Twilight Sparkle encourages conclusion and maintaining friendships fifty-fifty through difficulty.
  • Collectively, none of the changelings recognize Starlight or bear witness any knowledge that she'south Twilight'south pupil. Fifty-fifty the fake Twilight never acknowledges her name or position. Queen Chrysalis later says she knows exactly who Starlight is and even considered having her replaced, but ultimately deciding that she wasn't worth the trouble (which would explicate the lack of a briefing regarding her).
• Darkest Hour: The changelings take returned, and accept kidnapped all of the well-nigh powerful ponies in Equestria, including every member of the Royal Family and all of Twilight'due south friends, replacing them with fakes to pave the style for a full-calibration invasion in Revenge for the Imperial Nuptials defeat.
• A 24-hour interval in the Limelight: Notably the first ii-parter that does not focus on Twilight or the Mane Half-dozen.
• Deflector Shields: Trixie freaks out badly upon meeting with Thorax, forcing Starlight to encase her in a chimera shield that is soundproof. Trixie spends the next few moments floating inside, screaming, panicking and slamming her hooves confronting the barrier to no avail in consummate silence.
• Destroy the Abusive Home: When you encounter the wide shot of Our Town, it appears the residents have demolished Starlight'southward onetime cottage and planted a tree in its place.
• The Drag-Along: Trixie doesn't experience she's peculiarly qualified to exist taking on the changeling horde and would much rather be somewhere else.
• Dream Walker: Princess Luna, as usual. She appears in Starlight Glimmer'due south first dream to give her some communication about how to handle her anguish of coming back to Our Boondocks. In the second dream, she use her power to warn Starlight virtually the changeling attack while struggling to fight off her captors in vain.
• Easily Forgiven: Contrary to her fears and nightmares, the ponies of Our Town don't acquit any grudge against Starlight Glimmer and want her to bring together in on their celebration. All the same, being easily forgiven once again only aggravates Starlight'due south anguish, and she assumes a Troubled Fetal Position before running abroad.
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Sense of humor: 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 true nature.
• Evil Laugh: Naturally, Queen Chrysalis indulges in megalomaniacal cackling at the end of the advice scene, and her changeling minions follow suit.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: The Changeling Kingdom Castle is a jagged and gnarled spire fortress surrounded by a wasteland devoid of any plant life. Yes, definitely not a very friendly-looking place to visit. Thorax is terrified when he looks upon it, even though he's from there.
• Eye Am Watching You: The changeling impersonating Spike, who has been the most hostile of the bunch, makes the gesture twice toward Starlight as she comes dorsum to the Friendship Castle. Not suspicious at all, nope.
• Heart Twitch: Twilight has some when Starlight brings Trixie to "Our Town" instead of her.
• Flashy Teleportation:
  • Starlight Glimmer teleports herself and a panicking Trixie back to her wagon after a close telephone call with the changelings replacing the Mane Six and Spike.
  • As before long equally Discord learns that Fluttershy is in danger, he teleports himself, Starlight, Trixie and Thorax straight to her location. Or at to the lowest degree he tries — he doesn't look a Teleport Interdiction to be in identify, leaving them outside the Changeling Hive.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Luna struggling to contact Starlight and the grouping not teleporting direct to the Hive/where Fluttershy is both atomic number 82 to an important part of the next episode.
  • Thorax'due south new wings are too a hint at what'due south coming.
  • Discord tries to directly teleport himself and the other would-be rescuers directly to Fluttershy, but to his confusion they end upwardly outside of the hive instead. The reason for this is explained next episode.
• Iv-Temperament Ensemble: The "unlikely heroes" that step upward when the Mane Half-dozen are decommissioned. Starlight Glimmer is melancholic; Trixie is choleric; Discord is sanguine as e'er; and Thorax is phlegmatic.
• Funny Groundwork Result:
  • When Starlight first sees the impostor Mane Six in the map bedchamber, the changeling bearded as Applejack is eating a pear.
  • When Thorax appears to Starlight and Trixie, Starlight is forced to seal her inside a soundproof chimera when she won't cease screaming. She remains in that location for the rest of the following conversation, pulling hilarious faces.
  • When it's Discord plow to announced, he's knitting a mock-up of Angel Bunny for... some reason.
  • When Twilight is telling Starlight that she should bring a friend when she returns to "Our Town", clearly hinting at herself, Fasten wears a Disapproving Wait, because he knows that Starlight volition chose Trixie over Twilight without any uncertainty. And then we have the Gilligan Cut...
• Gagging on Your Words: When Starlight asks Trixie to repeat what she'd earlier told her to non repeat to anypony, to brand sure she's not a changeling, Trixie'southward reply first come up out as unintelligible mumbling betwixt clenched teeth. Simply on Starlight'southward insistence does she finally admit information technology was "That even Trixie'southward made mistakes!"
• Gilligan Cut: Twilight is telling Starlight that she should bring a friend when she returns to "Our Boondocks", clearly hinting at herself, and the cut shows that she's chosen Trixie.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: With the Mane Six, Fasten, Shining Armor, and the Princesses captured, Starlight gets the assistance of Discord, Trixie and Thorax. She would like to call for the Crystal Empire but patently they were hitting first.
• Good Costume Switch: Although non a costume, Thorax has new wings that shine like crystal, something that both Starlight, and Thorax himself discover.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: Thorax has new, hole-less sparkly wings compared to his old ones, something Starlight noticed correct abroad.
• Hellish Pupils: Discord'southward goofy, mismatched pupils narrow into snake-like slits when he hears that Fluttershy was one of the ponies captured past the changelings.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • When the ponies of Our Town bombard Starlight with requests for her guidance, she screams "No!" and pushes them away with her expanding shield spell. Immediately afterward, she is shown lying on the ground, hooves over her eyes, trembling in anguish.
  • Trixie is terrified of the changelings and panics the moment she hears most them. She doesn't even want to be close to Thorax, despite believing Starlight when she says that he is on their side.
• Hey, You!: These are the faux Pinkie Pie'southward beginning words to Starlight one time she returns to Ponyville.
• Hope Spot: Starlight suggests going to get Cadance and Shining's help, but Thorax reveals that they were captured already, and Sunburst sent him to go aid from Twilight.
• Leaning on the Quaternary Wall: Discord describes the trio of Starlight, Trixie and Thorax equally "a combination of secondary characters".
• Let'due south Get Dangerous!: The moment Discord learns that Fluttershy has been captured past the changelings, he instantly drops all pretense of goofing off and becomes deadly 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 can also be heard... until Starlight cuts him, at which point the music falters and peters out.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Not the verbal phrase Trixie used, just this is definitely what she was feeling when she admitted that even she makes mistakes. Naturally, information technology gets brought upward for Trixie's Something Only They Would Say moment.
• Literary Allusion Title: To The Hobbit, whose total title reads The Hobbit, or In that location and Back Again.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Save the Twilight impersonator, none of the Changelings seem to know Starlight exists. Apparently they accept not fully followed history since the Royal Hymeneals. Although the next episode reveals that Chrysalis herself is well aware of who Starlight is and considered not the trouble of replacing.
• Lower-Deck Episode: Lampshaded by Discord before the team 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 as well seems to be more intelligent than the average drone. He's doing a improve job impersonating the princess than his goons are doing with their respective roles — information technology's even so off, but at least he tries giving believable pretexts to Starlight for the discrepancies. He's also the only one seen to talk while in changeling class when Chrysalis contacts them, and nearly sniffs out a hidden Starlight and Trixie.
• Morality Pet: Fluttershy remains this to Discord; he only reacts to the changeling situation when he learns that she was taken.
• Mordor: The Changeling Kingdom is a bleak and arid-looking land surrounding a large spire of nighttime stone.
• Mythology Gag: Before Starlight wakes her, Trixie is mumbling about peanut butter crackers in her slumber, a snack of which her Equestria Girls cocky is besides noted to exist fond.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Queen Chrysalis is dorsum, and wasted no time at all disposing of not only Princess Cadance this fourth dimension around, but Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, Flurry Eye, and the Mane Six likewise, the simply heroes she believes would stand in the way of stopping her program, and to take Revenge on all of them for her previous defeat at their hooves.
• The Nose Knows: The changeling posing every bit Twilight stops for a moment in the castle hallway to sniff around while searching for Starlight and Trixie and follows the trail to where Starlight and Trixie are hiding. However, since Starlight has cast 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'due south but a matter of fourth dimension before she realizes they were replaced with Changelings.
• No Sympathy Between Mooks: The changelings are seen mocking i of their own (the Spike impersonator) for being slapped around.
• Not What I Signed Upward For: Trixie has a major freak-out when she and Starlight only barely escape being caught past the changelings and says she can't deal with "princess-level stuff" because she is just a performer.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The changelings somehow capturing the Mane Six and all of the Royal Family in the time it took for Starlight and Trixie to travel to Our Boondocks and back.
• Old Shame: Starlight's stance of her deportment in "Our Town", which she at present deeply regrets.
• OOC Is Serious Concern: The goofy and empty-headed Discord turns on a dime when the others inform him that the changelings accept taken Fluttershy likewise. He becomes utterly pissed .
• Out-of-Graphic symbol Alert: Starlight notices this most the "Mane 6" after coming home, eventually discovering they're not her friends afterward all — they're Changelings in disguise.
• Overly Long Scream: Trixie is somewhat taken ashamed by Thorax, to the bespeak where Starlight has to trap her in a bubble to stop the racket from giving them away.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Trixie gleefully rubs Starlight inviting her to come to Our Town with her in Twilight's confront, while smugly "complimenting" the Princess of Friendship on her "wisdom" and emphasizing how she'southward Starlight'due south all-time friend.
• Plot Hole: Starlight Glimmer's first dream is strangely up-to-appointment virtually 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 instance during her terminal visit (at the end of "The Cutie Re-Mark – Function two") and she makes quite clear she hadn't been there back since, and thus she shouldn't have memories of the updated village.
• The Punishment Is the Criminal offence: Despite being Easily Forgiven by all the ponies effectually her and wanting to exist friends with her, Starlight Glimmer is all the same too self-absorbed to accept information technology and doesn't experience she deserves information technology for all the bad things she did.
• Ragtag Agglomeration of Misfits: Starlight Glimmer has to salvage Equestria with her ain makeshift team of one-time villains and social misfits: Trixie, a blowhard wizard with a bad public image as a ane-time evil overlord; Thorax, a friendly changeling who has faced prejudice from the very ponies he wants to get along with; and Discord, a not-quite-reformed prankster of nigh-omnipotent power who only helps when he feels like it.

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

• Reality Warper: Discord demonstrates his powers past distorting things when Starlight asks for proof that he's the real Discord.
• Red Eyes, Take Alarm: Discord's pupils flash an angry red very briefly when he asks, with a growling tone of voice, where they've taken Fluttershy.
• Cerise Herring: Trixie's line about pretending something bad never happened, immediately followed by a scene where Little finger Pie tin't remember Starlight'due south proper name, may accept been an attempt to fool the audition into thinking that the episode was going the way of It'due south a Wonderful Plot.
• Revenge: Subsequently her previous defeat regarding the Regal Wedding, Chrysalis attempts to conquer Equestria again, this time covertly kidnapping everyone involved in her original defeat, the Mane Half dozen and the Majestic Family, and then they tin't end her once more.
• Screw This, I'chiliad Outta Hither!: When Starlight has a breakdown at her one-time village, Trixie notices the problem and uses her trademark smoke flop exit technique to get herself and Starlight out the village.
• Shout-Out:
  • In add-on to the Literary Allusion Title to The Hobbit, the concept of a rag-tag group of heroes and anti-heroes traveling to a mountain belonging to their joint nemesis besides borrows from The Lord of the Rings, with the Changeling Kingdom existence a decent counterpart to Mt. Doom.
  • The arrival of Derpy parodies some classic Superman lines:

    Twilight Sparkle: Is information technology a bird?
    Starlight Glimmer: Is it a parasprite?
    Fasten: It's... it'southward... incoming!

  • When Discord makes a demonstration of his Reality Warping, he turns Trixie's wagon into a pumpkin jitney.
• Slouch of Villainy: The changeling posing as Fluttershy invokes this while sitting on her throne, putting its rear hooves upwards on the map tabular array. It 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 Boondocks, and it actually works: Trixie now uses a more powerful bomb so that the smoke stays for longer, both covering the exit much better than before and making the other ponies to cough and close their eyes for a few moments, and therefore Trixie is already far away when they can finally encounter again.
  • Trixie seems unable to NOT use her smoke bombs for drama, which gives u.s. one funny moment before they reach Our Town.

    Trixie: Not only a promise, a great and powerful promise! [smoke bombs the area, 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 secret she shared with Starlight before in the episode, Thorax recites the speech Twilight made subsequently she accepted him, and Discord shows off his powers.
• Then Much for Stealth: Starlight and Trixie manage to spy on the changelings without beingness noticed while they are contacting Queen Chrysalis, simply at the end of the magic conference Starlight makes the fault of pushing the door to the throne room a little, causing it to creak. The changelings are immediately alerted and hiss menacingly.
• Spiking the Photographic camera: When the Changeling impersonating Twilight tries to explain why Spike was acting and so off today, her eyes look directly at the viewer audience when she says "I think he missed a meal or something."
• Spoof Aesop: What Trixie has taken away from her past misadventures is plain that everyone makes mistakes but that the of import thing is to motion on from them and pretend they never happened. Starlight admits that that'southward almost a proficient lesson...
• Stranger in a Familiar Land:
  • Starlight is afraid to return to Our Town considering she fears she won't be accepted in that location anymore.
  • Thorax too seems terrified to return to the Changeling Kingdom.
• Surprisingly Realistic Effect: In stark dissimilarity to the Mane Six facing various threats with gusto, Starlight and Trixie are much more than prone to self-doubt and fear, realizing how in over their heads they are at the threat of Changeling invasion.
• Talking in Your Sleep: Starlight hears Trixie talking in her slumber almost performing for Princess Celestia for peanut butter crackers.
• Teleport Interdiction: Discord tries to teleport himself, Starlight, Trixie, and Thorax to where Fluttershy is, but instead only brings them to outside the Changeling Hive. Adjacent episode shows why. This also explains why Luna simply could not teleport away from her captors while warning Starlight earlier.
• Tempting Fate: When Discord appears, Starlight has the "not bad idea" to call him out and openly question his identity. While there was a massive not-lethal Replicant Snatching invasion of Equestria by the changelings going on, information technology's still a bad idea to challenge a Mad God to bear witness himself given Discord'due south level of power. After all, if he's an imposter, Starlight, Trixie, and Thorax would be able to handle ane changeling, but if information technology actually is Discord, you've but invited him to mess y'all upwards in many weird and impossible ways.

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

• Also Fast to Stop: Derpy'south postal service delivery system. She crashes through a window of the Castle.
• Tranquil Fury: Discord gives the impression of existence utterly unconcerned with the changeling invasion... until he hears Fluttershy's been captured. Then he drops all pretense of being bored and demands to know, in a deadly serious tone, where she'south been taken.
• Visible Invisibility: Starlight uses an invisibility spell to hide Trixie and herself from the changeling impersonating Twilight and company. The optics, and the outline of their bodies, are still slightly visible. It'southward probable for the audience'southward benefit as the changeling neither sees nor smells anything.
• Vocal Dissonance: The changelings, in addition to not knowing how the ponies they kidnapped act, don't seem to become the voices right, either. The nearly obvious i is Rainbow Dash, whose vocalisation is noticeably higher and less scratchy than is normal for her.
• Volumetric Rima oris: On seeing Thorax, Trixie starts screaming her head off for a comically long fourth dimension, which is expressed several times by her broad-open rima oris occupying the whole face, complete with a full view of her glottis and natural language twirling similar a mad ophidian.
• Wake Upwards Fighting: Of a sort. Trixie accidentally sets off several of her magical fireworks while getting out of bed when Starlight wakes her upward; luckily, Starlight was exterior Trixie'south wagon, and so doesn't become hit.
• Weirder Than Usual: Starlight is puzzled past the way the fake Pinkie is acting, despite reminders that Pinkie Pie is e'er weird.

  Starlight Glimmer: That was... strange...
  Trixie: Isn't she e'er foreign?
  Starlight Glimmer: Yeah, but... not like that.

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

  Princess Luna: The changelings accept returned!

• Whole Plot Reference: The plot of this two-parter seems to be one for the premiere of the serial, in which the protagonist is a unicorn who leads a canaille team to fight an evil strength threatening the land.
• The Worf Effect: The Regal Family and the Mane Six are put out of commission past the changelings to underscore simply how bad the situation is and ratchet up the force per unit area on the 2d-string heroes. We don't come across how just it's heavily implied to take something to do with The Reveal of Chrysalis having a Power Nullifier throne which can block their magic that led to being kidnapped so hands. Thorax too mentions that a common Changeling tactic is to use a disguise to lure a target into an deadfall, so both were probably used.
• Worldbuilding: The Changeling Kingdom, previously mentioned past Thorax in "The Times They Are a Changeling", finally makes an advent.
• Would Injure a Child: The changelings have kidnapped both Spike and Flurry Heart, both of whom are only babies to their corresponding races. (To be fair, it wouldn't have been much improve to leave Flurry Middle backside after abducting her parents.)
• Y'all Are in Command At present: Trixie, Thorax, and even Discord look at Starlight for leadership since all four princesses (i of which is her teacher) have been kidnapped. Information technology'south something she definitely doesn't experience comfortable with.

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

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