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My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S2/E03 Lesson Zero: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Lesson-Zero_2541.jpg|frame| "Clock is ticking, Twilight! Clock... is... '''''ticking!!!'''''"]]
{{quote|
'''Spike:''' Why? Is that bad?
'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Bad? ''Bad?!'' Of ''course'' it's bad! I'm [[Once an Episode|supposed to send Princess Celestia a letter every week telling her a lesson I've learned about friendship!]] Not every other week! ''Not every ten days!'' '''[[Punctuated!
{{quote|
Today is a typical day for Twilight Sparkle: Order parchment, drop off laundry, pick up cupcakes for a picnic, make a ridiculous amount of checklists, the usual. Everything seems to be in order, until she realizes what she ''hasn't'' done -- send her weekly letter to Princess Celestia about what she's learned on friendship. The last letter she sent was last Tuesday... and '''today''' is Tuesday. Twilight begins to panic, convinced that missing the deadline will get her sent back to Magic Kindergarten. Needing something to put in a letter, she decides to visit her friends, trying to find one with a problem that needs solving.
{{quote|
'''Spike:''' Hum...hmm...huh...huuuh...I got nothing. }}
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With dusk fast approaching, Twilight [[Insane Troll Logic|gets an idea]] -- since she can't ''find'' a problem to solve, she'll have to ''make'' one. Taking an old doll of hers, she tries to get the Cutie Mark Crusaders interested in it, hoping to create an [[Apple of Discord]] situation. Unfortunately, the kids simply don't care for the tattered old doll, so Twilight uses a spell to [[Artifact of Attraction|make it irresistible to everyone who sees it]]. It works at first...
{{quote|
'''Apple Bloom:''' I need it!
'''Sweetie Belle:''' I ''really'' like her mane! }}
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At the library, Twilight explains that she caused all the chaos out of her fears of not being a good student; just as Celestia starts reassuring her, her friends pour in and defend Twilight, blaming themselves for not helping her sooner. Celestia decides to "forgive"<ref>Princess Celestia ''was'' concerned and worried, but not genuinely as furious as Twilight feared, but everypony else, on seeing her arrival, took it with the same exaggerated seriousness Twilight had expressed.</ref> Twilight on one condition: that from here on out, all of her friends join in the letter-writing...but ''only'' when they actually have lessons to report.
And how did Celestia know to arrive? Spike wrote her about Twilight Sparkle's anxiety, which prompts the touched pony to offer her thanks with a hug. Once Celestia's on her way back to Canterlot, the group settles down to write a joint letter about what they've learned: that you shouldn't dismiss your friend's worries even if they ''are'' blown out of proportion, and that you shouldn't let your fears turn a small problem into a ''big'' problem. Spike tries to add a paragraph to the letter lauding his having been the only one to take Twilight's concerns seriously, but Twilight makes him nix it. [["Everybody Laughs" Ending|Everypony laughs]].
----
=== This episode demonstrates the following tropes ([[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* [[Affectionate Gesture to
* [[An Aesop]]: The [[Plot Device]] du jour; instead of happening as a consequence of the plot, the plot is for Twilight to find the consequence itself.
** In addition, two [[An Aesop|Aesops]] ''were'' ultimately learned: that you shouldn't let fear and panic turn a small problem into a big one, and that you shouldn't simply dismiss a friend's concerns just because you find them to be trivial.
** Another Aesop that it seemed like it was building up to but never really hit was that things are not always as they seem.
* [[Aesop Amnesia]]: Twilight doesn't seem to get it that sweating over small problems just makes bigger problems (as seen in "Swarm of the Century" and "A Bird in the Hoof"). If anything, she's worse about it than before.
** Also like these two episodes, she's deathly afraid of disappointing the princess, even though she has absolutely no reason to fear her. Hell; if nothing else, saving the world ''twice'' should be enough to let her forgive a few mistakes.
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* [[Angrish]]: When Twilight gets no support from her friends at the picnic, she storms off with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8_ad8b1ziw a couple of loud, frustrated groans].
* [[Anticlimax]]: Twilight building up why missing a letter means her doom to the other Mane cast. Though each step of Twilight's [[Insane Troll Logic]], they lean in and ask "Yes?" more anxiously, expecting it to be something '''bad'''. Only to breathe a sigh of relief and giggle when they find out the truth.
{{quote|
* [[Apple of Discord]]: Twilight tries to use her old Smartypants doll as one of these. It actually works after she uses a "Want-It Need-It" spell on it. [[Gone Horribly Right|Far too well.]]
* [[Armchair Psychology]]: Twilight attempts this with Rainbow Dash to resolve her "feud" with Applejack.
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* [[Artifact of Attraction]]: The "Want-It Need-It" spell makes whatever it is used on into this.
* [[Back to School]]: Twilight is scared that this will happen to her.
* [[Bait and Switch Comment]]:
{{quote|
* [[Big Ball of Violence]]: There are nearly a dozen ''simultaneous'' Balls of Violence. It would be easier to name characters that ''weren't'' in one in this episode.
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: Twilight ''tries'' to do this whenever she thinks one of her friends is in trouble, but they aren't. {{spoiler|Celestia does this in the end by showing up at Spike's calling to break Twilight's out-of-control "Want-It Need-It" spell.}}
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* [[Broken Smile]]: Twilight, toward the end of her breakdown, so...very...often...
* [[Call Back]]: [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Derpy Hooves]] briefly puts on her [[Fish Eyes|fish-eyed, scrunched mouth]] face from the original pilot, the exact same expression that launched her popularity in the first place.
** Rainbow Dash's first actions to demolish Applejack's barn are karate-like in nature, and thus why she likely knew of the local dojo in [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** The "spark of friendship" in Twilight's eyes, from the climax of [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* [[Cherry Blossoms]]: Several trees in the background of the picnic scene are covered with them.
* [[Cheshire Cat Grin]]: Twilight develops a particularly unsettling one during her [[Sanity Slippage]], which soon upgrades into a [[Slasher Smile]] in the latter half of the episode. [http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/view/71380 "Hiiiii girrrrrrrrls."]{{Dead link}}
* [[Circle of Shame]]: During Twilight's fantasies about being sent back to Magic Kindergarten.
* [[Conflict Ball]]: Twilight invokes the trope in order to have some situation occur that she can learn an aesop from. However, it gets a lot worse than she had intended.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: When crazed Twilight sticks her head out of the bush near where the CMCs are, the bird's nest on her head turns into the one she made in [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** The first season had a running theme of the Mane Cast freaking out when their individual special talents failed them. Twilight's talent was Magic. This episode is about her ''other'' special talent: Learning.
** The blast wave from Rainbow Dash's destruction of the barn looks very much like the one from a Sonic Rainboom.
** Applejack tells Twilight not to sweat the small stuff, the same message AJ had for Rarity in "Look Before You Sleep".
** The change where Celestia allows the other main ponies a chance to learn something for Princess Celestia ends up occuring for the first time in [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* [[Cool Shades]]: Rainbow Dash during the picnic. [[Memetic Mutation|Deal with it.]]
* [[Creepy Circus Music]]: Particularly when Twilight introduces Smartypants to the CMC.
* [[Creepy Doll]]: Smarty Pants (granted, only because [[The Un-Smile|Twilight]] is holding it).
* [[Crying Wolf]]: Rarity, even acknowledging it the last time.
* [[Cue the Sun]]: [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] and [[Playing
* [[Damned By Faint Praise]]: Stumped for something positive to say about Smarty Pants, Sweetie Belle says "I really like her... mane?" ''Twice''.
* [[Deconstruction]]: The episode is a deconstruction of Twilight's [[Once Per Episode]] 'Friendship Reports.'
* [[Defictionalization]]: It took seven hours of work for a fan to make a [http://voodoo-tiki.deviantart.com/art/Miss-Smartypants-plushie-263976603 real life Miss Smartypants doll.]
* [[Description Cut]]: Princess Celestia shows up looking [[OOC Is Serious Business|actually angry]] with Twilight after she manages to brainwash the entire town into a riot over her old doll. She tells Twilight to meet her in the library. Twilight and friends worry that she'll be sent back to Canterlot. Cut to the library, where Celestia is busy explaining to Twlight that she's gotten all worked up over nothing.
* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: Twilight, the only pony who isn't affected by the ''Want It, Need It'' spell on Smarty-Pants, can't remove it because every pony that sees it just adds another body to the brawl over it. Instead, Princess Celestia removes it herself upon her [[Dramatic Entrance]] to Ponyville. The problem was ''literally'' removed by the abrupt intervention of a ''deity''.
** [[Tropes Are Not Bad|Averted in the more common usage though]], as there is a very logical explanation for Celestia's appearance. Spike had been shown to be increasingly concerned about Twilight's [[Sanity Slippage|mental condition]] and with the rest of the Mane Six [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|firmly unconcerned about Twilight's looming deadline]], he sent a letter to Celestia instead asking for help.
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: A group of children are playing normally when suddenly they are approached by [[Adult Fear|a disheveled, mentally-unstable figure obsessed with "friendship" and offering them toys]].
* [[
{{quote|
''*ponies go flying*''
'''Big Macintosh:''' Nnnnope! }}
* [[Dutch Angle]]: Used when Twilight enters Rarity's boutique, probably to accentuate the over-the-top nature of Rarity's freakout.
* [[Editorial Synaesthesia]]: Twilight's rage, illustrated by her getting red in the face, is also accompanied by the whistling sound of a teakettle coming to a boil.
* [[Empathic Environment]]: A windmill and ''the sun'' tick and move like the hands of a clock.
** And this only starts happening the moment Twilight realizes she'll be tardy; at least two establishing shots before show the windmill moving normally.
* [[Escalating Brawl]]: Twilight puts a love spell on a ratty old toy to get the {{spoiler|Cutie Mark Crusaders to fight over it. But because Twilight's in the middle of a freak out, the spell is so strong that anypony who sees the toy wants it and gets into the fight. By the end of the episode there's a [[Big Ball of Violence]] involving everyone in Ponyville except the core cast}}.
* [["Everybody Laughs" Ending|Everypony Laughs Ending]]
* [[Everything Makes a Mushroom]]: When Rainbow Dash decides to apply the Sonic Rainboom as a ''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|demolition charge]]''. The cloud is ''rainbow-colored''.
* [[Everything's Better
** Double Subverted thanks to Big Mac.
* [[Everything's Better
{{quote|
** Rainbow Dash bursts in to stop the Princess from punishing Twilight and somersaults for no apparent reason other than to look awesome.
* [[Everything's Worse
* [[Evolving Credits]]: The opening sequence gets its first significant change in this episode. The background in the scene where Twilight lands in her balloon now has a train (one that is actually self-powered, at that), the music is slightly altered even though the lyrics remain the same (some parts have been rerecorded), and Celestia magically opening Twilight's letter at the end uses her new yellow glow. It fails to update Twilight's teleportation, though, using the same basic white flash as in the first season.
* [[Face Palm|Facehoof]]: Twilight does an exasperated variation once Big Macintosh gets hypnotized by her Smartypants doll.
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* [[Foe-Tossing Charge]]: Big Macintosh breaking out of the dogpile of ponies.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: When Twilight is messing with the frosting on the cupcakes, her face temporarily gains the crazed expression she'll be wearing later in the episode.
* [[Freak
** Parodied by Rarity, who performs absurdly over-the-top ones for the most minor things possible.
* [[Freudian Couch]]: Twilight has to substitute a bench for an actual couch, but otherwise pulls it off exactly.
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* [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|Get A Hold Of Yourself, Mare!]]: Spike does a [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|thought-bubble popping]] variation to Twilight.
* [[Gone Horribly Right]]: Twilight hopes to create a friendship problem. She does. Only trouble is, it spreads to all of Ponyville.
* [[Gross Up Close
* [[Hero Syndrome]]: Twilight falls victim to this, though she recovers upon realizing the harm she's caused.
* [[Hypocritical Humor]]
{{quote|
''[Everypony else stares at Rarity and her fainting couch]''
'''Rarity:''' [[Hypocrisy Nod|Ahem. Relatively speaking.]] }}
* [[Imagine Spot]]: Twilight has several throughout the episode, all of which are interrupted by Spike.
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* [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope]]: What Twilight did as a result of her fit of [[Insane Troll Logic]] (See above). She is so intent on averting her mentor's wrath that clearly it's okay for her to drive a wedge between the Cutie Mark Crusaders if she's there to fix it right away. And when that fails, it's also justified for her to put a spell on her doll that makes people fight over it, right? It's all in the name of learning a valuable lesson <ref> Yes, this is a Villain Trope, but really: Twilight Sparkle ''was'' acting on ill-mannered intentions.</ref>
* [[Large Ham]]: Rarity, given the fact she actually doesn't faint until she magically acquires a chaise longue to faint onto.
{{quote|
** Furthermore, her "I have searched high! and I have searched low!" is accompanied by some [[Milking the Giant Cow]].
** Even she finds Twilight's [[Super OCD]] nature melodramatic.
* [[Leaning
* [[Let Us Never Speak of This Again]]: Unspoken but palpable among the background ponies when the "Love It, Need It" spell is broken.
* [[Big Brother Instinct|Little Brother Instinct]]: Spike constantly tries to calm Twilight over her [[Super OCD]] breakdown, and ultimately calls Princess Celestia after her neurotics worry him more and more.
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* [[Medium Awareness]]: Spike, three times -- [http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x433/TheGerkuman/spikeground2a.gif pushing a backdrop from behind Twilight, rolling up one of Twilight's imaginary scenes like a shade, and popping one of Twilight's imaginary scenes.]
* [[Megaton Punch|Megaton Buck]]: The exact nature of what happens is left offscreen, but there's no denying that after the townsponies pile on Big Macintosh due to the "Want It, Need It" spell, he escapes from the swarm of ponies by sending most of them airborne in a single stroke, as well as smacking some of them ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO_GaNrTkcM over the horizon.]''
{{quote|
* [[Mundane Utility]]: Rainbow Dash seems to have developed a variation on her Sonic Rainboom that can be used for doing work around town.
** Twilight uses her teleport more and more as she becomes more unhinged, at one point using it to save merely a few steps.
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* [[Not What It Looks Like]]: Rainbow Dash is seen trashing an old barn on Sweet Apple Acres while Applejack hides in a nearby ditch, but {{spoiler|it turns out Applejack has ''asked'' Rainbow Dash to tear down the barn so she can build a new one}}, and Fluttershy seemingly beating down then ''killing'' a bear turns out to just be {{spoiler|a chiropractic/massage session}}.
* [[Oh Crap]]: Twilight, first when everypony goes nuts for her doll after she casts her spell on it, then again when she sees an angry Princess Celestia.
{{quote|
** A more minor one afterwards, Spike's expression after Celestia blabs about him bringing her to check up on Twilight practically reads "Uh oh, busted!" [[Heartwarming Moment|As it turns out however]]...
* [[Once Per Episode]]: Twilight sends a letter at the end of every episode about the lesson of friendship she learned. Except this week she hasn't learned one yet... so she will ''make it happen.'' [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* [[OOC Is Serious Business]]: When your blunder is big enough to get Princess Celestia to actually show up in Ponyville to yell at you, you know you've massively screwed up.
** Although we learn Celestia came over at Spike's request, it sure doesn't look like it at first.
** Done more comically to the annoyance of Twilight, since any of her usual locations for friendship problems are absent; [[Vitriolic Best Buds|Applejack and Rainbow Dash]] are getting along blissfully, [[Lovable Coward|Fluttershy]] has ([[Not What It Looks Like|supposedly]]) hardened into a beast slayer and Ponyville for once isn't a [[Weirdness Magnet]] for feuds and disasters.
* [[Pet the Dog]]: In a way...Rarity's the only one who asked Twilight if something was bothering her and seemed pretty concerned.
* [[Pun-Based Title]]: "Lesson Zero" = "Less than zero."
** Compare with "Party of One": Looks like the creepier it gets, the lower the number in the title.
* [[Punctuated!
{{quote|
** Twilight's "Every! Single! WEEK!"
*** And Twilight's "Clock! Is! TICKING!"
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* [[Real Men Wear Pink]]: Even after the "Want It, Need It" spell has been removed, Big Macintosh makes off with Smartypants.
* [[Recursion]]: After completing a checklist of the things necessary to create a checklist, Twilight Sparkle and Spike create a checklist of things Twilight has to accomplish that day. The first item on that checklist is ''creating'' that checklist. The last item is [[Obsessed Are the Listmakers|triple-checking it to make sure they didn't miss anything when they double-checked it]].
{{quote|
* [[Reverse Psychology]]: Twilight in attempting to get the CMC to fight over Smartypants before engaging her magic spell on the doll.
* [[Running Gag]]: In ''spades''. Twilight has one (her fantasies of going back to magic kindergarten), Rarity gets one (dubbing things the! WORST! ''POSSIBLE!'' '''THING!''' and crying, "why me"), and Sweetie Belle has her own, too (saying, "I really like her mane." about Twilight's Smartypants doll). {{spoiler|Sweetie Belle's and Rarity's gags eventually turn rather…dark; the latter when Sweetie says, "I really like her mane!" and showing that she's under Twilight's "Want It, Need It" spell; and the former when Rarity thinks Twilight is leaving to return to Canterlot.}}
** Rarity pulls up a chaise longue to fall onto during her "Worst! Possible! Thing!" sessions, first in her boutique, then again in the middle of an open field. In the second instance, she explains that she didn't want to sit on the grass.
** Spike repeatedly [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]] in order to pull the plug on Twilight's fantasies. Each time, he gets more invasive and agitated, culminating in him finally [[Aside Glance|looking directly at the audience]].
* [[Sanity Slippage]]: Twilight Sparkle puts [[
* [[Skewed Priorities]]: From Twilight's perspective, she sees Fluttershy attack and [[Neck Snap|snap the neck]] of a bear before walking away. Twilight's conclusion? ''[[Comically Missing the Point|Fluttershy doesn't have any friendship problems]]''.
** Rarity also had a case at the picnic. Forgetting the plates is the [[Punctuated!
* [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy]]: So basically, Twilight disappoints and angers Celestia with her attempt to avoid disappointing and angering her?
** She worries about not delivering a report on a lesson, but by the end of the day, she has not one, but ''two''.
* [[Shout
** Twilight emulates [[The Lord of the Rings|Gollum]] at one point when she starts talking to herself, even more so because she's talking to her reflection in a puddle, which has a sad expression in contrast to the fierce one of Twilight herself.
** Rainbow Dash appears to be wearing the "Deal With It" sunglasses during the picnic. (Or possibly the Rainbow Glasses from ''Epic Cupcake Time'')
** The "ticking" sun [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpAwbmeug_A&feature=related is reminiscent of] ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** Pinkie Pie strikes a classic "[[Superman|Up, Up and Away]]" pose when she speaks about Princess Celestia saving the day.
** Twilight's menacing pose when bending over Scootaloo seems to be referencing old
* [[Spit Take]]: Rarity at the picnic when Twilight teleports beside her.
* [[Stealth Pun]]: In the old days, stunts in airplanes were called barnstorming. Guess what Rainbow Dash does in this episode?
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* [[Super OCD]]: Just a bit, Twilight?
** Even her ''toys'' reflect it. See [[This Explains So Much]] below.
* [[
* [[Tele Frag]]: Twilight pops a beach ball by teleporting into it. She technically expands inside of it, which is good since the ball was a lot smaller than her.
* [[Teleport Spam]]: Twilight does this while ranting to her friends about turning in her friendship report late.
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* [[This Explains So Much]]: Twilight explains how her favorite toy, a Smartypants doll, has "her own notebook and quill, for when you want to pretend she's doing her homework," to which the Cutie Mark Crusaders (and the audience) react in this manner.
* [[This Is Gonna Suck]]: As Twilight Sparkle trots off in search of a friend to help, Spike predicts, "This won't end well." {{spoiler|Which is why he alerts Princess Celestia.}}
* [[Took a Level
** Even so, her moves are pretty impressive for her.
** Big Macintosh also shows how strong he can be, [[Let's Get Dangerous|if he really wanted to.]]
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* [[We Could Have Avoided All This]]: Part of the episode's Aesop is the other ponies realizing that the situation could have been resolved much better if they'd taken Twilight's feelings seriously and moved to help her sooner.
** Even more so if Twilight had taken Spike's sound advice that missing one letter wasn't the end of the world...
* [[Wham! Episode]]: The story is largely an excuse to shake up the formula by allowing any character to write a letter to Celestia, so that the writers would no longer have to shoehorn Twilight into a major role in every single episode.
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: Despite her obvious [[Sanity Slippage
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?]]: The whole episode! Twilight thinks being tardy is the worst thing ever and Celestia will [[Disproportionate Retribution|send her back to Magic Kindergarten]]. And then there's [[Large Ham|Rarity]] overreacting to ''everything'', starting with a missing ribbon.
* [[What the Hell, Hero?|What The Hay, Twilight Sparkle? ]]: She doesn't say it ''out loud'', but Celestia's angry glare and stern [[Full Name Ultimatum]] to Twilight when she shows up pretty much serves as this. Doubly so considering this is only the ''second'' time we've ever even seen Celestia angry. <ref>The first being when Discord was freed.</ref>
* [[Wingding Pupils]]: Everypony who falls under the effect of the "Want It, Need It" spell gets hearts in their eyes. Derpy even gets derped-heart eyes.
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* [[Would Hurt a Child]]: When Twilight seeks to create a friendship problem to solve, she targets the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Who were, just before Twilight appeared, laughing and playing with a beach ball and generally being the most innocent and adorable fillies in Equestria. The [[Mood Whiplash]] when Twilight shows up is quite disturbing.
----
{{quote|
What's all the commotion about?
They're [[Edit War|edit warring]] over that trope!<br />
That incredible, amazing trope! }}
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[[Category:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
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