My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Plot Synopsis

A day in the life of Pinkie Pie.

Twilight Sparkle is out with Spike practicing her magic. While this requires the full concentration of the both of them, Spike is distracted by the bizzare antics of Pinkie Pie; who, nearby, is cautiously creeping through town with an umbrella hat while making worried glances towards the sky. Twilight assures him that she's just being her 'normal' self, but Spike believes that she is acting more strange than usual. They go over and and ask her what she's doing, to which Pinkie Pie warns that something is going to fall out of the sky; something she knows simply because her tail is twitching. Soon after, a frog falls out of the sky onto Twilight.

The frog belongs to Fluttershy, who is relocating a large group of them to Froggy Bottom Bog to prevent overcrowding. After she leaves, Pinkie's tail starts twitching again. A skeptical Twilight keeps on walking, only to humorously fall into a nearby ditch. Applejack comes by and, after asking about what happened, immediately takes cover at the sheer mention of "twitchy tail". Applejack tries to explain to Twilight that, despite not making the least bit of sense, Pinkie Pie's "pinkie sense" is taken seriously by the townsfolk; something that Twilight finds ridiculous.

Well, there's your problem...

Later, after Twilight fails to heed the warning of a pinkie twitch that would've kept her from getting covered in mud, Pinkie Pie draws her a bath and explains this phenomenon. Pinkie tells her that she gets special niggling feelings that each signify that a random, but specific, event will happen in the near future. Sometimes, multiple ones happen in succession; which she calls "combos. Twilight is still not convinced; stating that, unlike her own magic abilities, "pinkie twitches" are nonsensical mumbo-jumbo and not an actual ability. Pinkie Pie argues that she doesn't believe, simply, because she doesn't understand; so Twilight decides that she should try to find some facts.

SCIENCE.

Twilight hooks Pinkie Pie up to a machine that would provide scientific data once a twitch occurs; but nothing happens. Confounded by this pony, Twilight gives up on trying to believe in the phenomenon and, instead, focuses on debunking it. She starts to follow Pinkie around town, from a distance, to study her behavior- but they yield no conclusive results and she only gets injured from predicted events. Overhearing a conversation between her and Applejack, she also learns Pinkie knew that she was being followed. But then Pinkie's whole body starts to shake violently, something that has never happened before, which she interprets as meaning that something unexpected is going to happen. It also tells her that it'll be a real doozy and, more importantly, it's going to happen at Froggy Bottom Bog; where Fluttershy is.

"RUN TO THE HILLS! / RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

The gang rush over to the bog to make sure she's okay; thought Twilight is only tagging along to prove that nothing is wrong. Upon arrival, they find Fluttershy going about her business with no problems. But as Twilight savors the moment, a real problem does rear its ugly heads: a hydra appears and starts chasing the group.The girls manage to get away from the hydra temporarily, but find themselves at the edge of a huge chasm. Carefully, the group crosses over some rocks to the other side while Twilight stays behind to buy them some time. She manages to trip it, but the hydra catches up and knocks over the rocks the girls used to cross. To save herself, Twilight makes a leap of faith; barely missing the rocks but managing to bounce back up after landing on a bubble from the bog. (Cartoon physics, people! This is a cartoon!)

In the clear, Twilight acknowledges the Pinkie Pie's prediction was definitely correct; though Pinkie Pie is still twitching. Turns out, the hyrda was "not the doozy"; enraging Twilight. Shortly after, Twilight admits defeat: despite not knowing why, pinkie sense does, in fact, make sense to her now. Suddenly, Pinkie's shaking stops: signifying that the prediction, that something unexpected would happen, has come true. As it turns out, the unexpected "doozy" was that Twilight would end up believing in pinkie sense.

Umbrella hats are making a comeback; you just watch!

Later, Twilight has Spike take a letter; though he is initially distracted by Twilight now donning an umbrella hat, since Pinkie's tail has begun twitching again. Focused, he writes down Twilight's latest report; being about how some things in the world cannot be explained, but that doesn't mean that they're not true. In her case, it took "a friend" to show her the way and that it is one's decision whether to believe in it or not. With that, the girls leave and wonder what's going to fall out of the sky: then Princess Celestia suddenly lands on the library and retrieves Twilight's letter personally, much to the amazement of Spike.

Pinkie Sense

Pinkie Pie, as mentioned at length above, has the uncanny ability to predict the future through small physical oddies. Since it is merely a plot device, one for the sake of humor, it is not given any scientific explanation: not like most of us care, anyway. Listed below are the twitches mentioned in the show, and what they mean.

Single

• Twitchy tail - Something is going to fall; usually out of the sky.
• Flopping ears- Someone is about to get dirty. May want to draw them a bath.
• Itchy back - It's Pinkie Pie's lucky day! Good for her.
• Pinchy knee - Something scary is about to happen.
• Achy shoulder - There's an alligator in the bathtub. To quote a great Internet proverb: LOLWUT?
• Itchy nose - There's a swarm of bees in the area.
• Uncontrolled body shaking - Something unexpected is going to happen.

Combos

• Ear Flop + Knee Twitch + Eye Flutter - The sky is about to be graced by a beautiful rainbow.
• Ear Flop + Eye Flutter + Knee Twitch - Watch out for opening doors.

Controversy

Pinkie Pie: Instrument of God

At the end of the episode, Twilight reports that just because you can't explain something, doesn't mean it's true. According to My Little Pony News, this statement has lead to some fans interpreting the message as a way of say that it is "bad" to find explanations to things one doesn't understand. There have even been speculations that it implied a religious undertones - which has led to such arguments and debates among fans.

Lauren Faust, the show's executive/consulting producer, has expressed disappointment from these suggestions; believing that, in the end, it was a poorly written message since it had distracted viewers from enjoying from, what she found to be, the "funniest" episode of season one.