Notice Me Senpai...OR ELSE!
Cosmos
- Story by Katie Cook and Andy Price, Art by Andy Price, Colored by Heather Breckel
This five-part story arc sends the Mane Six into space to fill in a missing constellation and pits them against Cosmos, the Spirit of Malice and a crucial member of Discord's mysterious past.
These issues contain examples of:
- Achilles' Heel: Even after becoming whole, the stars Cosmos was sealed inside contain her magic and power. As such, the heroes are able to remove them from her and destroy them, rendering her powerless.
- Aliens Are Bastards: Cosmos is from outer space, having intentionally launched herself across space before arriving in Equestria. She's also a sadistic, body stealing monster.
- Apologetic Attacker: Applejack apologizes to the Cosmos-possessed Twilight after kicking her.
- All Your Powers Combined:
- Cosmos's defeat in the Flashback came about by the combined power of the Elements of Harmony (shared between Celestia and Luna), Queen Novo's Pearl of Transformation, Aspen's Heart of the Forest, Discord's magic, and an unknown power wielded by the King of Abyssinia.
- When she regains her full power, she fuses the ponies she possessed, which included the four Alicorn Princesses, Zecora, and Big Mac, into her being, using them as envoys against their own friends and allies when she attacks them to prevent them from destroying her power sources. When her power sources are destroyed, Cosmos can not even hold her fused form together anymore, releasing Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Twilight, Zecora, and Big Mac from her and returning them to normal.
- Artifact Domination: Cosmos takes the form of gemstones that shine like stars in the sky when sealed away. In this form she is capable of possessing those powerful enough to host her, which turns out to be all of the princesses. She is later able to take control of Zecora and Big Macintosh.
- Big Bad: Cosmos.
- Bound and Gagged: After taking over Celestia as well as Twilight, Cosmos inflicts this on Raven, Kibitz, Philomena and Tibbles.
- Came from the Sky: Cosmos arrived in Discord's home like a meteor and apparently intentionally launched herself across the universe.
- Child Hater: Cosmos appears to be this, showing no qualms over burning down an orphanage full of foals in the past, and referring to the Cutie Mark Crusaders as "filthy creatures".
- Collector of the Strange: While at Klugetown, Pinkie gets distracted by the opportunity to buy accessories for a llama doll she has.
- Comically Missing the Point: Invoked when Capper chastises Pinkie for bringing Big Macintosh to Klugetown.Capper: Pinkie Pie, you know better than to bring a greenhorn to Klugetown. What were you thinking?
Pinkie Pie: ...That... he doesn't have a green horn? - Continuity Nod:
- One of the celestial bodies shown on the star map is the Secretariat Comet.
- The Cosmos-possessed Luna kisses Big Mac to distract him. The true Luna had previously kissed him on the cheek during the "Zen and the Art of Gazebo Repair" storyline.
- In the same issue, Celestia was shown to be much stronger than Big Mac when they hoof wrestled. In this story arc, when he gets into physical fight with Cosmos-possessed Celestia, she easily knocks him out with a single punch to the face.
- One of the Klugetown inhabitants offers Big Mac money for his hair, similar to how Rarity was made a similar offer in the movie.
- When Cosmos attacks Discord, horrific versions of Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Nightmare Rarity, Tirek, Ahuizotl, the Pony of Shadows, and the Storm King appear.
- When Cosmos uses her powers on Spike, she just turns him into a dog.
Spike: Eh, been here before. - Continuity Snarl:
- Queen Novo fought with Discord, meaning she's over 1000 years old. This wouldn't be outlandish, given all the other Long-Lived beings in the series, if not for her having a (presumably) normal sibling shown in "Surf and/or Turf".
- Unless it was her ancestor that looked similar to her.
- It's shown Discord was unsealed when he witnessed Cosmos's star prison knocked out of the sky. But he was sealed at the start of the series, which was far more recent than how long ago Twilight implies it was knocked out.
- Queen Novo fought with Discord, meaning she's over 1000 years old. This wouldn't be outlandish, given all the other Long-Lived beings in the series, if not for her having a (presumably) normal sibling shown in "Surf and/or Turf".
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Discord admits the conflict could have been prevented if he destroyed the piece of Cosmos' star prison, which he didn't due to still having some feeling for her, when he first found it.
- Deface of the Moon: Cosmos makes a message on the Moon calling Luna something offensive that's too small to make out when completed on the next panel.
- Demonic Possession: Cosmos takes control of others via the star fragment necklace. Then she goes a step further with fusing them into her being, turning them against their own friends while a part of her body, having their heads appear from her fingertips or her mouth when using them against Discord, the Mane Six, Spike, and the Crusaders.
- De-power: Due to how she was sealed, Cosmos' stars contain her sealed power even once she becomes whole. As a result, the heroes manage to remove them and destroy them, rendering her completely powerless.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Averted hard; the comic pulls no punches with detailing how Cosmos's abuse of Discord hurt him during and long after their relationship, and it's not until the final issue that Discord can muster up the courage to stand up to her.
- Dwindling Party: In the final issue, as the ponies remove the stars from Cosmos, she transforms them into objects or animals to incapacitate them, eventually leaving only Discord and Spike.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Discord broke off from Cosmos because her idea of chaos wantonly threatened lives. He might enjoy causing chaos but he draws the line at killing bystanders.
- Fanboy: Griffonstone turns out to have two griffons who are this for Twilight, gladly giving the CMC and Zecora a lift to Canterlot after Apple Bloom mentions that they're on a mission for her.
- Forceful Kiss: When the Cosmos-possess Luna is told to distract Big Mac, she grabs him by his yoke and pulls him into a deep kiss.
- Forced Transformation:
- Capper is turned into a kitten after Cosmos defeats the heroes.
- Soon after, the entirety of Canterlot have been transformed into ladybugs by Cosmos.
- During the final battle, she turns Pinkie into a toy pony (complete with the original pony look), Applejack and the CMC into a carousel, Rainbow Dash and Rarity into fish, Fluttershy into a statue (ironically mirroring how Discord was imprisoned) and Spike into... a dog. The last one ends up backfiring since Cosmos didn't incapacitate him, it allowed Discord to feed him the final gem and depower Cosmos.
- For the Evulz: Cosmos doesn't seem to have any specific goal outside of spreading destruction and chaos for the sake of it. Thus, it isn't that much of a surprise when it is revealed that just like Discord is the personification of Chaos, she is the personification of Malice.
- Fusion Dance: After gaining hosts for all six star fragments, Cosmos merges Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Big Mac, Zecora and Cadance with herself to form a new body. After that,
Nightmare Fuel kicks in when the ponies she possessed and fused with herself are seen emerging from her mouth or fingertips when using her powers against their friends and allies as they try to destroy the sources of Cosmos' power to free them and force Cosmos to defuse them from her when she can no longer hold the fusion together. - God of Evil: Cosmos reveals in the final issue that she's not a Spirit of Chaos like Discord (or at least that's not her primary portfolio) but rather the Spirit of Malice.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Big Macintosh, Zecora, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are recruited to help look for the other star fragments. In Issue #76, Capper joins Pinkie and Big Macintosh.
- Hammerspace: When the Mane Six prepare for their quest, Pinkie pulls out a giant comb from out of nowhere, prompting Applejack to ask where she was keeping it.
- Horrifying the Horror: You know Cosmos is bad news when even pre-Heel–Face Turn Discord is terrified of her. Then take it up to eleven once she has fused with those she possessed to become an even more powerful abomination than before.
- I'm Not Doing That Again: Rainbow Dash following Cosmos's defeat.Rainbow Dash: No more Pinkie Pie plans. Never again. I was a fish.
- Informed Attribute:
- Discord states he still did enough chaos after defeating Cosmos to get himself sealed away. What he did to warrant this is suspect given they established his unwillingness to cause any real harm.
- A major point of the story is how it proves Discord has changed for the better. But it also portrays him as unwilling to commit truly harmful wrongdoing with Cosmos doing all the harmful wrongdoing he was accused of. Even if it's referring to his willingness to stand up to Cosmos, even back then he opposed her and helped stop her when it mattered. This suggests Discord was Good All Along as opposed to having changed for the good.
- Cosmos is revealed not to be a Spirt of Chaos like Discord, but Malice, hence her being more evil. But her methods are identical, if more extreme, to Discord's chaos and are only shown to spread fear, not anger or ill-will.
- Jumped at the Call: The CMC are all too eager to join in on the world-saving shenanigans, calling it "moving to the big leagues". Scootaloo even hopes to get her own seat at the Cutie Map.
- Kiss of Distraction: The Cosmos-possessed Luna distracts Big Mac by pulling him into a deep kiss, until the Cosmos-possess Celestia knocks him out.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: After Cosmos was defeated, Discord erased the memory of her from the rulers minds, letting them think he caused all the trouble.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Twice in the final part.
- When Applejack asks who Cosmos is, Discord asks if she's been paying attention for the last few issues.
- Pinkie Pie acknowledges that the Mane Six saving their friends and Equestria is what they do at "the end of every season".
- Mad Love: Cosmos chooses to still pursue Discord, even after he makes it clear he's reformed and not interested in her anymore.
- My Instincts Are Showing: Capper hisses like a regular cat when confronted by the Cosmos-possessed Luna.
- Mythology Gag: Cosmos turns Fluttershy into a Flutter pony to distract Discord from attempting to thwart her too soon. Additionally, Pinkie spends the arc fawning over a Cha Cha the Llama from the Pony Friends toyline.
- Never Say "Die": Discord nearly says "kill" in issue #76, but is cut off by Cosmos.Discord: Now listen here, Cosmos, you know how I feel about kil—
Cosmos: Dear one... You dropped my new scarf. - Nightmare Face: Ponies possessed by Cosmos, apart from their strange behaviour and pink-tinted eyes, look fairly normally most of the time, thus drawing no suspicion until it is too late. However, when Cosmos gets angry, their faces turn into disturbing amalgamation of the host's original visage and the one of Cosmos herself.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: Discord invokes this when he finally stands up to Cosmos, demanding that she restore his friends.
- Not Me This Time: In the Flashback, Discord told the rulers that he had nothing to do with the current damage to reality, as Cosmos was behind it.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Cosmos' rampage in the past could've potentially destroyed the fabric of the existence itself.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The usually goofy, silly, and haughty Discord immediately panics once he hears about the fallen star, knowing exactly what it entails.
- Poor Communication Kills: Discord chooses not to inform the search teams about what were they really hunting the moment he found out about the gem hunt from Fluttershy and/or saw Twilight and Celestia's possession while deciding to hide with Fluttershy for 3/4 of the story. This gave Cosmos back her powers on a silver platter.
- Reality Warper: Cosmos is implied to be even more powerful than Discord in this regard, to the point where it was feared her initial rampage could have destroyed the very fabric of existence.
- Retcon: Discord's reign of terror from "The Return of Harmony" was revealed to be Cosmos' doing with Discord preventing the worst of it and ultimately drawing the line and helped seal her. Discord then erased all memories of Cosmos, even taking blame for her actions, to keep anyone from finding or releasing her.
- Right Behind Me: Discord invokes this in Issue #77. Right after calling Cosmos "the worst", he's made aware that the new Cosmos is directly behind him.
- Sarcasm-Blind: Pinkie Pie, as usual.Rarity: Oh yes, let's run toward the giant monster in a blind panic and see what happens.
Pinkie Pie: That's the plan!
Rarity: I was being sarcastic. - Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After getting Fluttershy away from Cosmos, Discord plans for the two of them to flee Equestria entirely (under the guise of a "vacation"). Fluttershy manages to convince him to stay and help their friends.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Cosmos was trapped within the stars of the Andalusian constellation, until a shooting star sent the constellation crashing down to Equestria. Once her power sources are devoured by Spike, thus costing her all her power, Discord pulls a Ghostbusters move with trapping her and then leaving her stranded on the moon to suffer.
- Shout-Out:
- The star map created by the necklace has several:
- Spike eats from a box of "Soylent Emerald".
- When Discord suggests he and Fluttershy go scuba-diving, he carries a door with the words "reserved for Rose" written on it.
- When Discord and Cosmos plan their next chaos-spreading venture, their former options include Wonderland, "616" and "Prime, 1, 2, 3, C, Z, 52, Fawcett, etc."
- During the Montage of Cosmos terrorizing ponies in #77, she and Discord are shown on a flying carpet, and she takes on the same terrifying face as Barbara Maitland in Beetlejuice.
- In part 3, a certain mask can also be seen in Celestia's secret room.
- At the beginning of part 4, Cosmos's narration references Star Trek with "Space: the boring frontier". At the climax, when she describes herself as the Spirit of Malice to Discord, she has the words "Beratis Kesla Redjac" projected onto her body.note
- Pinkie's rousing speech, uses elements from the Star Trek: The Original Series Star Trek episode "Return to Tomorrow", Braveheart, and Independence Day. Apple Bloom responds by saying "Oh captain, my captain!"
- Issue 77 has Discord and Cosmos scaring some poor ponies through what seems to be the door to the Twilight Zone.
- Discord contains the powerless Cosmos with a ghost containment unit.
- Slasher Smile: Fittingly, Cosmos is in love with this trope. She strikes a particularly menacing one after finally realizing that Discord had changed, when she replies "I haven't".
- Take That!: The reference to Earth 616 (the main Marvel Comics reality) is labelled "played out", while the one for the DC Comics multiverse is labelled "confusing".
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
- Rarity gives the star fragment necklace she just bought to Twilight, thinking it will look better on her. This allows Cosmos to possess her.
- She plays this role again in Issue #77; in trying to prise the final star from its place on a tiara, she causes it to go flying off, with Princess Cadance catching it - and thus, becoming Cosmos's final host.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Luna complains to Discord about leaving Cosmos on the moon, which pretty much makes Cosmos her responsibility now.
- Would Hurt a Child: In the past, Cosmos set an entire orphanage ablaze (with the orphans inside) for her own amusement. After her Fusion Dance with the Princesses, Zecora, and Big Mac, she even turns her wrath on the CMC when they try to save everyone by destroying Cosmos' power sources.
- Yandere: Cosmos tends to give off this Vibe whenever speaking to Discord, usually in a very possessive manner. She's also very displeased when she finds out that Fluttershy is the reason he's reformed. She goes full Berserk Button once Discord tells her off in the final part, but this was merely to get her to let down her guard and not see his move to distract her so he could get the last star fragment for Spike to devour and destroy Cosmos' power for good. At her core, she doesn't genuinely love him at all, rather she finds Chaos and Malice as things that go well together and while preferring to have him as her king, is more than willing to have him as her dog.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Fluttershy encourages Discord to stand up to Cosmos this way.Fluttershy: Everything you've learned has led to this moment. You've got this. You're so brave. I'm So Proud of You.
