Recap / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S1 E9 "Bridle Gossip"

Think it's bad now? Wait until you hear ''Flutterguy''!

Pinkie Pie: And that wicked Enchantress, Zecora, lives there doing her evil... stuff! She's so evil; I even wrote a song about her!
Rainbow Dash: Here we go...

Written by Amy Keating Rogers

Taking a walk through Ponyville, Twilight discovers her friends and neighbors hiding from Zecora, a mysterious zebra who lives in the Everfree Forest, visits town about once a month, and is rumored to be a witch. Twilight is skeptical, as is Applejack's little sister Apple Bloom, who decides to tail Zecora and see if the rumors are true. Applejack and the rest chase her down before Apple Bloom gets herself in trouble, and meet Zecora herself at the edge of the Everfree Forest, near a patch of blue-flowered vines. The zebra shouts, "Beware, beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" and retreats into the forest, leaving everyone but Apple Bloom and the skeptical Twilight convinced that Zecora has put a curse on them.

The next morning, Twilight and her friends find themselves afflicted by a series of bizarre ailments: Twilight Sparkle's horn is limp and covered in blue spots; Pinkie Pie is rendered incoherent by a massively swollen tongue; Rainbow Dash's wings are inverted and moved down to her stomach, leaving her unable to fly straight; Rarity's mane and pelt have become inconveniently long and matted; Applejack is reduced to a minuscule size; and Fluttershy (to her great embarrassment) now speaks in a deep, masculine voice.

Twilight tries to ignore her friends' insistence that this is Zecora's curse and find a rational explanation for their condition, dismissing Spike's suggestion of looking in a book on "Supernaturals". Apple Bloom, who blames herself for what happened, wanders off to find Zecora again (with the tiny Applejack tagging along). The Mane Five rush after them, but Apple Bloom easily ditches her not-so-big sister, and the ponies' various impairments make finding Apple Bloom in the Everfree Forest harder than usual.

The gang eventually regroups at Zecora's hut to see the zebra mixing a large cauldron and chanting strange words. By now, even Twilight is convinced Zecora really did put a curse on everyone, and is now plotting to make stew out of Apple Bloom. They confront Zecora, spilling her brew in the process, and demand to know what happened to Apple Bloom.

Turns out she's right behind them, safe and sound. Twilight's original guess was right: there was no curse. Their condition is the result of exposure to the blue-flowered vines they were standing in earlier, which are actually "poison joke", a magical plant with a weird sense of humor. Zecora was actually working on a cure, out of a copy of the same book Twilight had earlier rejected: it seems Twilight had misread the title of "Super Naturals", a book on natural home-remedies. With the lesson in not judging a book by its cover doubly learned, Zecora offers to mix up a new batch of the poison joke treatment for the grateful ponies... once they convince the other citizens of Ponyville that Zecora is not only harmless, but actually quite friendly, allowing her to buy the last few ingredients she needs in town. Now a welcome member of the Ponyville community, Zecora gladly allows the Ponyville residents to use her remedy for themselves.

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Tropes:

• Ad-Break Double-Take: "What if she's making Apple Bloom soup?" is repeated twice in a row.
• An Aesop: Don't judge someone by their appearance alone.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: "Curses don't exist" said the magical talking unicorn to her talking horse friends and dragon assistant, in the land populated with dragons, griffons, and manticores. (This is lampshaded during the episode.) Magic A Is Magic A is a major belief of Twilight's, which she has to re-think in this episode and another centered on Pinkie Pie's "Pinkie Sense".
• Aside Comment: When Spike is coming up with nicknames for the cast after the "curse" takes effect, he comments to the audience that he can't really work with Twilight Sparkle's name.
• As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Zecora's pseudo-Swahili chanting. Word of God says they wanted to get someone who could do real Swahili for Zecora, but they lacked the time and budget.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • Twilight dismisses the "Supernatural cures" book from Spike because of the title. It's not until she actually reads it that she realizes her mistake. The full title reads, "Super Natural Cures: all natural cures that are super".
  • Fluttershy isn't talking after she gets afflicted with Poison Joke, which makes her friends assume she's gone mute. But then, she starts saying "I don't wanna talk about it"...with a very manly voice.
• Body Horror: When Rainbow Dash gets affected by the Poison Joke, her wings are upside down and are moved to her stomach, making her crash constantly.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: An infamous animation error in the final shot makes it look like Pinkie Pie is staring at the camera. This was later incorporated deliberately.
• Bucket Helmet: Spike wears a pot on his head briefly.
• Characterization Marches On: This is the first major appearance Apple Bloom has with her big sister, though the chemistry is somewhat different. Applejack is rather condescending and overprotective of Apple Bloom, who is ultimately portrayed as even more of an Only Sane Mare than Twilight, compared to her much more impressionable and hyperactive persona in later episodes, with Applejack being the voice of reason between them.
• Chekhov's Gun: The book "Supernaturals", which Twilight initially dismissed as "a bunch of hooey", ends up containing the cure for poison joke.
• Comical Overreacting: Rarity faints when Twilight tells her that Zecora was born with stripes rather than them being a fashion statement.
• Comeback Tomorrow: Spike is unable to come up with a joke name for Twilight (Twilight Flopple) until she's left the house.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Had Twilight actually looked at the book Spike showed her, she would've found the cure for the Poison Joke sooner. Even she looks embarrassed when she reads the title off of Zecora's copy.
• Cross-Cultural Kerfluffle: Zecora's pawing at the ground in town is something actual zebras do when searching for water; the residents of Ponyville become scared of her for doing so, as to actual horses pawing at the ground is a sign of aggression.
• Damned by Faint Praise: Twilight's only response to Pinkie Pie's "evil enchantress" song is "Wow... catchy".
• Didn't Think This Through: When Apple Bloom goes off to look for Zecora, Applejack tags along by hiding in her mane. This seems to work until Applejack demands for her to turn around. After Apple Bloom leaves her on a branch, she plans to tell Big Macintosh on her. She then realizes she can't do so because of her size.
• The Dissenter Is Always Right: Almost all of Ponyville believes that Zecora is an "evil enchantress", fearing her so much that everyone hides indoors every time she comes to visit. When the main six all come down with mysterious maladies, most of them assume Zecora put a curse on them. Twilight Sparkle and Apple Bloom are the only ones who remain skeptical; Twilight in particular pokes holes in her friend's reasoning, and insists that curses aren't real. By the end, Zecora is proven to be innocent, and in fact, she's trying to brew a cure for the main six's ailments. Ironically, this happens almost immediately after circumstantial evidence finally convinces Twilight that Zecora really is dangerous.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • Zecora speaks mock-Swahili, wears African jewelry, has an African spiral design for a cutie mark, decorates with African masks, and is a zebra: an African species. The ponies general reaction speaks for itself, as they don't allow her to enter their stores, but there is actually more to their paranoia than what amounts to blatant rascism.^note In context, they think she's a witch for wearing a hooded cloak, her glowing eyes in the darkness, odd habit of digging, and living in the Everfree Forest. The residents of Ponyville didn't know what a zebra was, and didn't even know that that was her natural coloration until Twilight outright tells Rarity that Zecora was born that way.
  • Applejack shrinks to the exact size of an original My Little Pony toy.
• Don't Tell Mama: Subverted. Applejack warns Apple Bloom to stay away from the Everfree Forest or she'll tell Big Macintosh. Since she has shrunken, Apple Bloom ignores her.
• Double Aesop: Don't judge a book by its cover — even literally. Twilight was skeptical about the poorly informed negative assumptions about Zecora from the start almost to the end, but the book was slyly put in as something that made her (and potentially us) make the same sort of mistake all the same.
• Dramatic Thunder: Subverted. It was just Spike, accidentally dropping pans in the kitchen.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Two In-Universe examples. First, Twilight not taking kindly to Spike's joking nicknames for the ponies' Poison Joke-afflicted ailments. Of course, it's later deconstructed at the end when the Mane Six learn that the effects are just harmless, even if somewhat ironic, jokes played on them. Second, albeit unintentional, when Twilight realizes that the effects of the Poison Joke are just little jokes played on them, the shrunken Applejack takes great offense to the "little" part, most likely due to being overly sensitive about being small.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: While some of the African imagery remains around Zecora and her home, she never speaks in the pseudo-Swahili again, sticking to her rhyming.
• Easily Forgiven: Despite being shunned and accused by the ponies of witchcraft and cannibalism, Zecora forgave them all fairly quickly when she sets the record straight.
• The Ending Changes Everything: We're led to believe that the "Supernaturals" book was a bunch of bologna. It's not until Twilight reads the full cover that she realizes that Spike was holding their cure all along and she brushed it off without a second thought.
• "Everybody Laughs" Ending: After Applejack grows back to normal size, and Fluttershy gains her normal voice again, the mane six laugh it up, along with Zecora and Apple Bloom.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Zigzagged. When Spike brings up the book on "Supernaturals", Twilight dismisses the book solely over the title. It's only after she actually reads the title from Zecora's copy of the book does she realize that she goofed up. She misheard "Super Naturals" (natural cures that are super) as "Supernaturals" (as in otherworldly).
• Exact Words:
  • If you pay attention, Zecora's words to the Mane Six when they meet at the forest for the first time explicitly warn them of the flowers they're standing on. Nothing about curses or any sort of consequence from her. Zecora herself points this out, with complimentary Flashback.
  • Played with the title of Supenaturals book. It is about Super Naturals...super natural cures.
• Fantastic Flora: Poison Joke is a wild flower that causes humorous, often ironic afflictions on those who come in contact with it.
• Fantastic Racism: Zecora is feared by the ponies of Ponyville, who close their shops and get off the streets when she comes to town once a month. Very slightly softened by the fact that the primary reason for this isn't because she's a zebra, but because she lives in a creepy forest and thus is thought to be a witch (in fact, only one of the mane cast even knows what a zebra is at the start of the episode). But while this is not really intentional, the "don't judge people by their appearance" lesson is given loud and clear. Subverted with Twilight, who knows what a zebra is perfectly well and doesn't judge her based on that. It's how Zecora's actions appeared that tricked her.
• Felony Misdemeanor: Pinkie Pie says that she's heard Zecora eats hay, in a tone like it's another creepy and suspicious thing the zebra does. Twilight retorts "Pinkie, I eat hay. You eat hay."

• Foreshadowing: When each character first comes into contact with the poison joke, the flowers bend and a tinkling sound is heard, providing an early clue that this contact will be important again later.
• Forgot I Could Fly: Inverted. Rainbow Dash never seems to realize she doesn't have to keep flying around with her messed-up wings.
• Furry Reminder: Zecora digs at the ground with a forehoof, and the townsponies mistake it for a threat display. In real life, zebras paw at the ground to dig for water (although specifically why Zecora was doing so isn't elaborated on in the episode), while horses use that same motion to display aggression.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Zecora is seen with eerie glowing eyes in Twilight's nightmare.
• Helium Speech: Applejack's voice is much higher when she gets herself shrunk.
• Humble Pie: The moral of this episode ties in with the Mane Six realizing how horribly they have misjudged Zecora; and while Twilight is the only one to outright apologize to Zecora, the other five's meek expressions following said apology make it clear that they feel the same way.
• Hypnotic Eyes: Part of Pinkie's song about Zecora claims that she can entrance people by looking into their eyes.
  And if you look deep in her eyes, she will put you in trances!
• I'm a Humanitarian: Pinkie Pie mentions that Zecora eats ponies. Later on, the Mane Six fear that she is making Apple Bloom into soup.
• Idiot Ball: Held by basically every member of the Mane Six, but especially Twilight. After spending half the episode reassuring everyone that Zecora is not an evil witch and their afflictions aren't a curse, she suddenly just decides to go along with everyone else's unfounded rumors after observing nothing other than extremely shaky circumstantial evidence. And this isn't even counting how none of them took time to bother putting two-and-two together regarding Zecora's warning and the bright, blue flower they were all practically bathing in. Or the fact that Twilight refused to look at the "Super Naturals" book Spike had in his hand, meaning the cure was literally with her all along.
• Incredible Shrinking Man: Due to the poison joke, Applejack shrinks to the size of a mouse. Spike dubs her "Apple Teeny" as a result.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: Apple Teeny, when Twilight refers to the effects of the Poison Joke as "little jokes".
• It's All My Fault: Apple Bloom blames herself when she see the poison joke effects on the Mane Six.
• It Was with You All Along: That cure for the Poison Joke Twilight wanted? Turns out Spike had it in his hands the entire time.
• Jerkass Realization: The resolution of the story's conflict revolves around the Mane Six realizing how unfairly they've been treating Zecora, simply because she looks and acts differently.
• Know Your Vines: The main characters through a patch of bright blue flowers to stop Apple Bloom following Zecora. The next morning they wake with embarrassing changes, such as Pinkie having a swollen tongue and Applejack being shrunk to miniature size, all of which they blame on a curse cast by Zecora. It's eventually revealed that the flowers were from a magical plant called "poison joke", and the girls' ailments were a side effect of the plant.
• Literal Metaphor: In the subplot, Twilight rejects the book Super Naturals without reading it, insisting that "the supernatural" categorically doesn't exist. At the end, she learns from Zecora that Super Naturals is actually a reputable text about natural remedies. So in the episode where the mane six learn not to jump to conclusions based on superficial evidence (i.e. "Don't judge a book by its cover"), Twilight also learns a lesson about judging literal books by their covers.
• Magic Pants: Applejack's hat and rope shrink with her.
• Mama Bear: This episode is the earliest example of Applejack being one to Apple Bloom. It helps that the rest of the Mane Six are as protective as she is of her.
• Mind-Control Eyes: Pinkie Pie has them briefly in her song, though not actual mind-control.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Everfree Forest is considered particularly dangerous. When Apple Bloom heads there to find Zecora, Applejack and the others try to catch her.
• The Nicknamer: Spike gives all of the mane ponies nicknames to fit their embarrassing conditions. (After the girls leave, he manages to come up with "Twilight Flopple.")
  Spike: This is hilarious! Look at all of you. We got "Hair"-ity, Rainbow "Crash", "Spitty" Pie, Apple-"teeny," Flutter-"guy", and... (turns to Twilight) I got nothin'. "Twilight Sparkle"... I mean, seriously. I can't even work with that.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Pinkie, when looking through Rarity's hair for "Apple Teeny". Rarity even asks Pinkie if she's ever heard of personal space, to which she bluntly answers "nope!"
• Not Helping Your Case: While it's suggested that Zecora wasn't aware of the prejudice towards her, a lot of her cryptic behavior only serves to fuel Ponyville's suspicions.
• Not Now, Kiddo: Apple Bloom gets this repeatedly from Applejack, much to her annoyance.
• Not What It Looks Like: Almost everything Zecora does sends the ponies into a frenzy, albeit even mundane stuff like eating hay. And when she digs for water, the ponies mistake it for a threat display.
• Not So Above It All:
  • Twilight goes from being perfectly reasonable and scolding the others for being silly to thinking Zecora really is a wicked witch on remarkably little evidence.
  • Applejack is actually the most paranoid of Zecora, to the point she's actually trembling in fear from Pinkie's song (which even Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash respond to with bewildered glares).
• Occam's Razor: Twilight suggests that Zecora might just be making soup in the cauldron... then assumes differently when Zecora wonders aloud where Apple Bloom is.
• Oh, My Gods!: The point were a "cursed" Applejack gets stuck in the Everfree Forest, Rainbow Dash crashes to save her. Which Applejack says, "Thank Celestia."
• Once More, with Clarity: When Spike finds the book, he reads it as "Supernaturals" before Twilight ignores how it would help. She then reads the entire title and learns it's a book about natural cures
• Poor Communication Kills: More or less drives the plot of this episode. No one speaks to Zecora and assumes the worst. Applejack ignores Apple Bloom, who in turn sneaks off without telling anyone. Twilight Sparkle dismisses a book as hokum without even opening it. And Zecora, who could easily have made her warning explicit ("Those leaves of blue are Poison Joke"), keeps it cryptic enough that everypony interprets it as her curse. At least Twilight finally realizes they "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot...
  • At the same time, if Spike just read the subtitle of the book instead of leaving the matter alone, he probably would've gotten Twilight's attention.
• The Problem with Pen Island: Twilight misreads the title of Super Naturals as "Supernaturals".
• Psychosomatic Superpower Outage: Wow, Twilight Sparkle is sure able to use her brush with her magic just fine before she notices her horn is floppy...
• Pulling Your Child Away: Everyone in Ponyville is afraid of Zecora, a zebra who is rumored to be an evil witch. Berryshine is shown pulling Ruby Pinch indoors when Zecora is outside, though it's unknown if the two are related.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Pinkie uses these on Fluttershy, to get her to sing Pinkie's song about Zecora, since she can't anymore.
• Rearrange the Song: "Evil Enchantress", Flutterguy jazz club edition.
• Rhymes on a Dime: All of Zecora's dialogue.
  • Zecora always speaks in couplets which
    do not help her reputation of being a witch.
  • Lampshaded by Applejack of all ponies:
    Applejack: Will somepony please talk normal?
• Rule of Three: Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie when they accuse Zecora of cursing them.
  Rarity: You made me look ridiculous.
  Fluttershy: You made me sound ridiculous.
  Pinkie Pie: You made me speak ridiculous!

• Spell My Name With An S: Zecora's name is spelled as "Zakora" in closed captions.
• Stock Sound Effect: When everypony is shocked when thinking they crushed Applejack in their antidote bath, Pinkie emits her long gasp from the first episode.
• Suspicion Aesop: Nearly all of Ponyville believes Zecora is some kind of "evil enchantress", because of her odd behavior and home in the Everfree Forest. Even the skeptical Twilight eventually gets convinced by circumstantial evidence that Zecora's up to no good. But upon confronting Zecora, the mane six find she's perfectly friendly, and is actually working on the cure for their Poison Joke-inflicted maladies.
• Tempting Fate: When Spike finds the "Supernatural" book, Twilight brushes it off as hokey. She eats her words when she finds a similar copy of this book in Zecora's hut and finally reads the cover.
• That Poor Cat: Heard when Rainbow Dash crashes into some bushes.
• That Reminds Me of a Song:
  • Lampshaded.
    Pinkie Pie: And that wicked Enchantress, Zecora, lives there doing her evil... stuff! She's so evil, I even wrote a song about her...
    Rainbow Dash: Here we go...
  • Later in the episode, when Pinkie Pie has lost her ability to speak due to a curse, she asks Fluttershy, who has been cursed to have a comically deep voice, to sing it for her.
• Town with a Dark Secret: It's more of an unconscious thing, but for a town that is that consumed with unjustified prejudiced fear of a zebra, it's likely not a fact they would spread around about themselves after their collective Jerkass Realization.
• The Unintelligible: Pinkie Pie, who gets a swollen (and spotted) tongue after being exposed to the "poison joke" flower.
• "The Villain Sucks" Song: Pinkie Pie's "Evil Enchantress" song, which accuses Zecora of doing "evil dances" and eating ponies.
  Twilight Sparkle: ...Catchy.
• Vocal Dissonance: "Flutterguy", who has easily the deepest voice yet heard on the show, being voiced by Blu Mankuma.
• Warning Mistaken for Threat: When approached by the Mane Six and Apple Bloom at the edge of Everfree Forest, Zecora shouts, "Beware, beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" The next day, the Mane Six come down with various afflictions and seek out the zebra, hoping to convince her to undo her curse. It turns out that Zecora wasn't threatening them with a curse but warning them about the plants they were standing in, which led to their illnesses.
• Watch Out for That Tree!: Rainbow Dash crashing into trees, walls, windows... well, crashing into everything.
• Wham Line:
  • Fluttershy's "I don't wanna talk about it". Not the line itself but her voice.
  • When Twilight asks where Zecora got the recipe to cure Poison Joke, Zecora shows her the cover of the book. Twilight notes that it's the very same one that Spike gave her, but then she reads the title.
    Twilight: "Super Natural Cures: all natural cures that are..." (Beat as she realizes her mistake from earlier) "Super."
• Word, Schmord!: Twilight, waking from a restless night, dismissively mumbles "curses schmurses."
• Wrong Context Magic: Twilight denounces curses as impossible until affected by the poison joke, which she mistakes for a curse by Zecora.
• You Need a Breath Mint: When Twilight and Spike see that the streets are completely empty, he asks if his breath smells, with the obvious implication. Twilight replies that not more than usual.
• Zebras Are Just Striped Horses: Deconstructed and examined. Zebras are a type of equine, so Zecora does have a lot in common with ponies, but at the same time she is noticeably different than a pony as well. Zebras have a different culture than Equestrian ponies.
• Zombie Apocalypse: Discussed by Spike when he starts wondering why the town looks so deserted.

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