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

• Accidental Innuendo: 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. Spike's nickname of "Twilight Flopple" doesn't help.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: When real life zebras paw at the ground, it's usually either to search for water or as a nervous tic. Seeing as Zecora didn't appear to be nervous, she was likely searching for something. However, was it water (just like a real zebra) or was it potion ingredients (which would be more in-character for Zecora to be searching for).
• Fanfic Fuel: The Poison Joke. Fans have come up with all sorts of side effects in case other ponies come in contact with it.
• Genius Bonus: All of Zecora's oddities are eventually explained away in the episode... except her tendency to paw at and dig small holes in the ground. This is a habit of actual zebras.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Spike nicknaming the cursed Rainbow Dash "Rainbow Crash" probably brought up some bad memories for her, as we learn a few episodes later that it was a cruel nickname she was labeled with in flight school. Especially in "Newbie Dash" where she actively tries to get over that nickname.
    • Fortunately, though, it does regain its humorous value by "Read It And Weep".
  • Everyone in Ponyville who gossiped about Zecora ended up getting a taste of their own medicine in the next season.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Pinkie's song is retroactively an accurate description of Queen Chrysalis.
  • A common fanfic thread after this episode was that Poison Joke could be specifically used to cause an opposite effect, most notably changing Fluttershy to Flutterguy essentially on command. The main plot of "Filli Vanilli" is centered around this concept.
  • At one point, Rainbow Dash says "It's time to pony up and confront Zecora". Years later, the term "pony up" would be used within the fandom to refer to the half-pony forms their human counterparts take after My Little Pony: Equestria Girls came out, and later became an Ascended Meme.
• Informed Wrongness: The viewer is supposed to find the cast's suspicions of Zecora to be unfounded and based on misconceptions. The problem is that while they go overboard, their suspicion isn't entirely baseless. 1) Zecora lives in a forest that's infamous for being full of dangerous creatures, 2) Zecora is a zebra, a species that none of the cast members have ever seen before and have no frame of reference for, 3) Later episodes confirm that there are all sorts of dangerous creatures and persons in the setting, 4) Zecora's behavior doesn't exactly help her case; she shows up wearing a cloak with Glowing Eyes of Doom and when she comes around, she just sort of walks around aimlessly rather than making any attempt to communicate. In light of that, it isn't really that odd that the townfolk are a bit wary of her. It's especially true in AJ's case; it's not exactly surprising that she'd want to keep her little sister from following a stranger into a dangerous forest.
• Memetic Mutation: WELCOME TO THE HERD,◊ associated with a screencap of Pinkie Pie with swirly eyes.
• Never Live It Down: Even though they learn their lesson at the end and are shown to have good relationships with Zecora in future episodes, some fans will always see the mane six as absolute racists and use this episode to justify Ron the Death Eater fics.
• Nightmare Retardant: Pinkie Pie's "Evil Enchantress" song is creepy but Flutterguy's reprise softens it by a wide margin.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: There's a reason this episode is sometimes used to convince older generations about this show's worth, and it's because it can be seen as a surprisingly relevant political allegory, despite the aesop being a more general "don't judge something based on their appearances alone".
• What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: A Southern-accented character is the most scared of the African character. It really isn't, since, on the other side of the spectrum, the other Southern character is the most understanding of Zecora.

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