Griffon the Brush Off

Griffon the Brush Off is the fifth episode of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, season one. In this episode, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash bond by playing pranks on the other ponies, but when Rainbow's old friend, Gilda the Griffon, shows up for a visit, Pinkie Pie gets left out.

Summary
The episode starts with Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle spending time in a park, with Pinkie Pie enthusiastically relaying some story about Rainbow Dash's aerial acrobatics to Twilight, who is reading a book and not paying Pinkie much attention. Pinkie spots Rainbow Dash flying up above and calls to her, but Dash tells her "not now". Pinkie pursues Dash and calls out to her, until Dash slams into a mountainside and slides down next to Pinkie, who tells her she was going to warn her about it.

Pinkie Pie starts asking around Ponyville for the whereabouts of Rainbow Dash. Once she finds her, Dash tries to escape, but Pinkie Pie catches up with her instantly whenever she stops. After several failed hiding spots, Dash gives up and asks what she wants. Pinkie reveals that she was trying to find her so she could help in playing a prank on Spike. Using a nearby thundercloud, they wait for the baby dragon to exit the town square pavilion. Once he was out, upon a signal from Pinkie, Dash kicks the cloud to ignite a thunderous boom, scaring him. The scare causes him to hiccup repeatedly, making himself breathe his magic fire at a set of scrolls and transporting them to an unsuspecting Princess Celestia.

After making sure he was okay, the two commence a pranking spree on the rest of their friends. They use water colors on the apples in some of Applejack's apple trees, switching Twilight's pen ink with disappearing ink, and using sneezing powder on Rarity. The "victims" are annoyed, but still amused by the good-natured practical jokes. At a nearby lake, when she learns that Dash sees Fluttershy as their next target for a fake squirting turtle toy, she immediately stops. She warns Dash that Fluttershy is too sensitive for even the most harmless of pranks. The two end the day by pranking each other instead.

The next day, Pinkie Pie arrives near Rainbow Dash's cloud-house in the sky, where she meets Gilda, Dash's old griffon friend (a bird/lion hybrid) from Junior Speedster Flight Camp. Pinkie Pie has prepared another series of pranks for her and Dash to pull. Gilda reminds Dash about a promised flying session, and Dash excuses herself, promising to hang out with Pinkie Pie later. Pinkie accepts this, but as she tried to catch up to the two in the clouds later, she is intercepted and rebuked by Gilda, telling her to buzz off now that she is around to keep Dash company.

"Don't you know how to take "get lost" for an answer?! Dash doesn't need to hang with a dweeb like you now that I'm around. You're dorkin' up the skies, "Stinkie Pie". So make like a bee. BUZZ OFF!"

- Gilda

Pinkie Pie goes to Twilight Sparkle at the library for advice about Gilda's mean behavior, but Twilight believes that Pinkie Pie is simply jealous of Gilda. The only advice she could give was to try and improve the griffon's attitude. Pinkie is upset at Twilight's refusal to take her side, but reflected that maybe Twilight's assessment is true, and enjoys a milkshake alone at Sugarcube Corner.

Rainbow Dash and Gilda show up in town and, not noticing Pinkie Pie, part ways briefly so Rainbow Dash can attend to some weather jobs. When Pinkie observes Gilda scaring Granny Smith and stealing an apple from a produce stand, she tries her best to justify the situation. The last straw falls when the griffon roars at and drives away a well-meaning Fluttershy to the point of tears, who was guiding a family of ducks. Tired of the bird-lion's mean streak, Pinkie Pie vows to fix the problem "Pinkie Pie-style."

This entails throwing a welcoming party at Sugarcube Corner in Gilda's honor. At the party, the griffon is greeted by Pinkie's joy buzzer handshake. Gilda warns Pinkie that she knows what the pony is up to, but the latter simply brushes it aside and officially starts the party by having everyone in the party welcome Gilda. After the party starts, Gilda falls for most of the pranks set up for the party, to which she hides her growing irritation from the other ponies, including Dash. The griffon strongly suspects that Pinkie Pie was the mastermind behind the party pranks. The pink pony then preps the griffon for "Pin the Tail on the Pony". As she guides the guest of honor to the picture, Gilda suspects this is yet another prank and goes the other direction, resulting in slipping over a fallen piece of cake and having the 'tail on the other end'.

Gilda finally loses her temper, calling all the attendees at the party "dweebs" and proclaiming Pinkie Pie as "Queen Lame-o" for setting up all the pranks. She then attempts to bail the party with Dash at her side, but Rainbow Dash didn't move at the sight of seeing Gilda's true behavior. To everyone's surprise, Rainbow Dash revealed that she was the one who set up all the pranks (not all meant for Gilda). Contrary to the bird's accusing the party as a way to get back at her, Pinkie revealed that it was meant to improve the griffon's sour attitude. Disappointed over her old friend's mean behavior towards her new friends, Dash tells Gilda to go find some "cool new friends" if being cool is all she cares about. Rather than apologize for her behavior and having no proper response to do this, Gilda calls Dash a 'flip-flop' and storms out, slamming the door behind her. Rainbow Dash then apologizes to the party attendees for Gilda's behavior, and she and Pinkie Pie make up with a joy buzzer handshake.

Twilight Sparkle apologizes to Pinkie Pie for accusing her of misjudging Gilda, and learned that there are behaviors that can reveal who one's true friends are. In sending her report at the end of the episode, Twilight plays a prank of her own by tricking Princess Celestia into trying to write with disappearing ink.

Quotes

 * Pinkie Pie: Is someone over there? Who are we gonna squirt? Who are we gonna squirt?
 * Rainbow Dash: Fluttershy...
 * Pinkie Pie: WHAT?! Nonononono! We can't prank Fluttershy; I mean, she's so sensitive! It'll hurt her feelings; even our most harmless prank...


 * Rainbow Dash: Pinkie, this is my griffon friend, Gilda.
 * Pinkie Pie: What's a griffon?
 * Rainbow Dash: She's half-eagle, half-lion...
 * Gilda: And all awesome!


 * Rainbow Dash: Hey, remember the chant?
 * Gilda: Yeah... They made us recite it every morning. I'll never get that lame thing out of my head.
 * Rainbow Dash: Soooo...?
 * Gilda: Only for you, Dash...


 * Pinkie Pie: Hi! It's later! And I caught up!


 * Pinkie Pie: Maybe Twilight is right. Maybe Gilda isn't a big meanie grumpy mean-meanie-pants. Maybe I'm just a big jealous judgmental jealous-jealousy-pants.


 * Pinkie Pie: Don't you worry your pretty little head about mean old Gilda! Your auntie Pinkie Pie has it all taken care of!
 * Fluttershy: I'm a year older than you.


 * Gilda: I know what you're up to.
 * Pinkie Pie: Great!
 * Gilda: I know what you're planning.
 * Pinkie Pie: Well I hope so! This wasn't supposed to be a surprise party.
 * Gilda: I mean, I got my eye on you.
 * Pinkie Pie: And I got my eye on you!


 * Gilda: Hey. I'm watching you... like a hawk.
 * Pinkie Pie: Why? Can't you watch me like a griffon?


 * Gilda: This.. is your idea of a good time?! I've never met a lamer bunch of dweebs in all my life! And Pinkie Pie... YOU! You are "Queen Lame-o" with your weak little party pranks! Did you really think you could make me lose my cool? Well, Dash and I have ten times as much cool as the rest of you put together! Come on, Dash. We're bailing on this pathetic scheme... Come on, Rainbow Dash, I said we're leaving!
 * Rainbow Dash: You know, Gilda? I was the one who set up all those "weak pranks" at this party...
 * Gilda : ...What?!
 * Pinkie Pie: Ooh...
 * Rainbow Dash: So I guess I'm "Queen Lame-o"...


 * Rainbow Dash: You know, this is not how I thought my old friend would treat my new friends. If "being cool" is all you care about, then maybe you should find some "new cool friends" someplace else.
 * Gilda: Yeah? Well... You... You... You are such a-a-a "Flip-Flop"! Cool one minute, and lame the next. When you decide not to be lame anymore, give me a call...
 * Rainbow Dash: Not cool.

Gallery

 * Griffon the Brush Off image gallery

Trivia

 * The title is a play on the phrase given the brush-off, which is an abrupt and rude dismissal.
 * The game of "Pin the tail on the Pony" is the same one that Pinkie played in her fantasy from The Ticket Master.
 * Fluttershy states she is one year older than Pinkie Pie in this episode.
 * At the beginning of the episode, when Twilight Sparkle is reading, she turns the pages from left to right.
 * When Pinkie Pie is chasing Rainbow Dash, she uses the same bounding gait as Pepe le Pew uses in chasing his unwilling paramour in Warner Brothers cartoons.
 * Comcast's On Demand television guide misspelled Gilda's name as Grielda when this episode was first scheduled to air.
 * When Spike is gathering the scrolls, he can be heard humming the My Little Pony theme song.
 * When Fluttershy runs away from Gilda, two background Pegasus ponies ("Gum / Dizzy Twister" and "Cloud Kicker") are making strange faces. An animator on the show described these expressions as a "derpy-sorta look".
 * Pinkie Pie wears mustache glasses in this episode, different from the Groucho Marx ones she wears in Party of One.
 * When Pinkie Pie rings Rarity's doorbell, the noise it makes sounds very similar to the Westminster Chimes.