History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E9BridleGossip

* SuspicionAesop: 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.
* StockSoundEffect: When everypony is shocked when thinking they crushed Applejack in their antidote bath, Pinkie emits her long gasp from the first episode.

* VocalDissonance: "Flutterguy", who has easily [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmGJJDL5EUA the deepest voice yet seen on the show]], being voiced by Creator/BluMankuma.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Had Twilight took a better look 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.

* TheEndingChangesEverything: 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 had the cure ''all along'' and she brushed it off without second thoughts.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Zigzagged. When Spike brings up the book on "Supernaturals", Twilight dismisses the book over the title. It's only after she actually ''reads'' the title from Zecora's copy of the book does she realize that she misheard "Super Naturals" (natural cures that are ''super'') as "Supernaturals" (as in otherworldly).
* ExactWords: 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 [[LampshadeHanging points this out]], with complimentary {{Flashback}}.

* TemptingFate: 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.

--->'''Twilight:''' "Super Natural Cures: all natural cures that are..." ''(realizes her mistake)'' "Super."

-->'''Twilight:''' "Super Natural Cures: all natural cures that are..." ''(realizes her mistake)'' "Super."

** 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 [[BadassBaritone comically deep voice]], to sing it for her.

** Twilight's horn goes limp, and because of that she apparently becomes incapable of performing something she takes great pride in her prowess and stamina in.

* WhamLine: Fluttersny's "I don't wanna talk about it". Not the line itself but her ''voice''.

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, sapping her magical powers[[note]]maybe... she was able to use her brush just fine before noticing it, [[PsychosomaticSuperpowerOutage and probably didn't bother afterward]][[/note]]; 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.

* BucketHelmet: Spike wears one briefly.

* ComicalOverreacting: Rarity faints when Twilight tells her that Zecora was born with stripes rather than them being a fashion statement.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: While some of the African imagery remains around Zecora and her home, she never speaks in the pseudo-Swahili again, sticking to her rhyming.

* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Zecora is seen with these in Twilight's nightmare.

* ScaryFlashlightFace: Pinkie Pie does this in the beginning.

* ZebrasAreJustStripedHorses: Deconstructed and examined. Zebra 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.

* OhMyGods: The point were a "cursed" Applejack gets stuck in the Everfree Forest, Rainbow Dash [[ItMakesSenseInContext crashes to save her]]. Which Applejack says [[GodEmperor "Thank Celestia"]].

* ForcedPerspective: Used to introduce the shrunken Applejack's new size.

* BlindingBangs: Rarity suffers from this after her coat and mane grow ridiculously long.

* AdultFear:
** Applejack worries about Apple Bloom when she sneaks off in search of Zecora.
** Happens twice to Applejack after she is shrunken.
*** When tags along with Apple Bloom, the rest of the Mane Six worriedly check their rear ends, thinking they may have sat on her.
*** At the end, when all the ponies are taking the bath remedy at Ponyville's spa, Applejack appears to be missing. They all panic, thinking she drowned. She was really in a tub to the side, re-grown, the tiny tub now stuck to her flank.

%%* FelonyMisdemeanor:%%Quotes aren't context.
%%-->'''Pinkie Pie:''' I've heard that Zecora eats ''hay!''\\
%%'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Pinkie, [[FurryReminder I eat hay]]. ''[[FurryReminder You]]'' [[FurryReminder eat hay.]]

* FelonyMisdemeanor:
-->'''Pinkie Pie:''' I've heard that Zecora eats ''hay!''\\
'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Pinkie, [[FurryReminder I eat hay]]. ''[[FurryReminder You]]'' [[FurryReminder eat hay.]]

* HypnoticEyes: Part of Pinkie's song about Zecora:

* IncredibleShrinkingMan: Applejack becomes "Apple Teeny," as Spike puts it.

* HypnoticEyes: Pinkie Pie has them briefly in her song.

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, sapping her magical powers[[note]]maybe... she was able to use her brush just fine before noticing it, [[PsychosomaticSuperpowerOutage and probably didn't bother afterward]][[/note]]; Pinkie Pie is rendered incoherent by a massively swollen tongue; Rainbow Dash's wings are inverted, 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.

** 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. Ponies don't allow her to enter their stores.[[note]]Although that is because they think she's a witch for wearing a [[InTheHood hooded cloak]], [[ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes her glowing eyes in the darkness]], [[FurryReminder odd habit of digging]], and living in the [[EldritchLocation 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.[[/note]]