Over a Barrel

Over a Barrel is the twenty-first episode of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, season one. In this episode, the ponies separate and are caught in a dispute between a western town's settler-ponies and the native buffalo herd. The idiom "over a barrel" means being in a helpless position where others are in control.

Production
The crew worked with a Native Consultant and did revisions to the episode according to his notes. The episode's closed-captions misspell Appleloosa as "Appaloosa".

Prologue
The episode begins with Twilight Sparkle and her friends on a train to the recently-built western town of Appleloosa. Appleloosa is a play on the word "Appaloosa", a spotted breed of horse. Applejack plans to transport one of her trees - named Bloomberg - to her relatives' orchard. Like the train in the beginning of the episode, some early trains were pulled by horses before steam power became commonplace. (Although there would be no reason to have a steam engine on the front as well.)

Going to bed
Everyone is looking forward to Appleloosa, but during the journey, Spike and Rarity show varying amounts of discomfort - Rarity did not like the fact that Applejack's tree was placed in a private cart in the rear, forcing her to bunk with her friends and Spike was tired after cooking snacks with his fire breath, and when Rainbow Dash complained that not all the kernels were popped, Spike burned all of her popcorn and went to bed. Rainbow Dash then asks Pinkie Pie if they are going to carry the tree all the way to the apple orchard. Pinkie Pie, wondering if she was referring to "Bloomberg", is met with a sarcastic response from Rainbow Dash that they would actually be carrying Fluttershy. Failing to take the joke, Pinkie Pie tells Rainbow Dash that Fluttershy is not a tree. This leads to a rather confusing conversation with Twilight Sparkle, but in the end, Fluttershy is awake as well, saying that she would like to be a tree. Spike, frustrated with his inability to fall asleep, makes his way to the private cart to bunk with "Bloomberg". Fluttershy calls Spike "Huffy the Magic Dragon", which is a reference to the 1963 folk song "Puff the Magic Dragon" sung by Peter, Paul and Mary. However, they are interrupted by Rarity, and all of them go to sleep.

The stampede
As they wake up the next morning, they are met with a herd of stampeding buffalo charging next to the train. The buffalo in this episode have angled horns similar to bison. Bison are colloquially known as "buffalo". The buffalo begin to smash the side of the train, in an ambush attack. Due to Spike's lack of sleep the previous night, he slept through the attack. Then, Little Strongheart jumps on the train, and disconnects the caboose after outmaneuvering Rainbow Dash to get there first. The buffalo then push the disconnected caboose down the line the opposite way, with Bloomberg and Spike still inside.

Appleloosa
After arriving at Appleloosa, Applejack rushes out to tell her cousin Braeburn, who had been waiting excitedly at the station for their arrival, that they have a problem. Unfortunately, Braeburn insists on giving his cousin and her friends a tour around the new town. Finally, after going as far as to show the group the new apple orchard, Applejack finally gets Braeburn's attention. She tells him what had happened to the train before their arrival, and Braeburn sadly says that he is aware of the whole situation, and states that the buffalo are demanding for them to remove the trees, but they argue that they cannot, otherwise the town would not be able to survive in the desert.

Meeting the buffalo herd
Coincidentally, Pinkie has the same idea as Rainbow Dash to find and rescue Spike by getting to the buffalo herd, but the herd manages to get to them first. Just in time to break up a potential fight, Spike arrives and breaks it up, using his new respect that he has somehow earned from the buffalo. Rainbow Dash meets Little Strongheart again, and is told that because Appleloosan townsponies have planted the orchard, they can no longer travel along their traditional stampeding grounds. She explains that the theft of Bloomberg was to send a message. Chief Thunderhooves then arrives, confirms Little Strongheart's explanation, and says that the land the Appleloosans now inhabit was owned by his father, his father before him, and his father before him. Rainbow Dash feels sympathetic for the herd of buffalo, and makes sure to talk to the townsponies about it.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash then return to Appleloosa, along with Little Strongheart. Rainbow Dash prompts Little Strongheart to tell them why the Appleloosans should move the trees, while Applejack prompts Braeburn to tell Little Strongheart why the trees should stay. Both Braeburn and Little Strongheart are made very uncomfortable by the situation and being forced to speak, so they don't end up saying anything to each other. Instead, Applejack and Rainbow Dash begin arguing about it. Before long, Twilight intervenes and says that both sides have good reasons to keep the land.

You Got to Share, You Got to Care
Pinkie Pie tries to send out a message about sharing by singing a quick musical number alongside a line dance with some Appleloosans, on a stage being watched by both Appleloosans and buffalo. Pinkie Pie tries to encourage them to share by singing about the similarities between the ponies and buffalo. Spike plays the piano during this number. His predecessor in the My Little Pony movie Escape from Midnight Castle has a similar scene where he plays the piano.

"You gotta sha-a-are! You gotta ca-a-are! It's the right thing to do, And there'll always be a way Thro-o-o-o-ugh!"

- Pinkie Pie

Unfortunately, Thunderhooves and the town's sheriff Silverstar are not impressed. The only thing they could agree on was that Pinkie's performance was "the worst they had ever seen". After calling out a time for action, the buffalo chief gives a clear ultimatum: the townsfolk must uproot all of the trees by high noon the next day, or the herd will be forced to destroy them, along with Appleloosa in the process. Silverstar, in response, simply states that the town will be waiting for them.

Appleloosans vs the buffalo herds
Twilight and the others try to talk both the Appleloosans and the buffaloes out of the fight, but no one is listening. High noon the next day finally arrives, and the buffalo appear on a ridge overlooking the town. Strongheart gestures to the chief softly to back down, and it almost works, until Pinkie Pie appears, singing a reprise of her number from the day before in a last-ditch, last-minute, and horrendously ill-timed, effort to stop the fight before it even begins. This is the second episode to have a reprise of the same song after the first original performance after Suited For Success. Thunderhooves, now enraged, finally launches the attack, using nothing more or less than their own brute strength. The townsponies fight back the buffalo with an ample supply of apple pies, which are surprisingly effective at confusing and stopping the buffalo. Both groups manage to take out some of their opposition, also damaging the town in the process. The scene shifts to Silverstar making a final stand next to his saloon, and once he runs out of his apple pies to throw, he takes off his hat respectfully, as Thunderhooves makes a charge at him. However, a stray apple pie hits Thunderhooves square in the face, disabling him. Lying on the floor immobile, Thunderhooves licks the apple pie off of his face, and enthralled by its delicious taste, says they could come to an agreement.

Resolution
Allowing the town of Appleloosa to keep the land, the herd would be allowed to have some of the fruit (or more specifically, the pies) during their stampeding. The townsponies, meanwhile, create a road through the orchard so the herd can continue their tradition. Both parties find this to be agreeable and the dispute has finally ended. In addition, Applejack is finally able to plant Bloomberg.

Twilight learned that with compromise and understanding, to share and to care, sometimes the worst of enemies can become the best of friends.

Quotes

 * Rarity: Applejack! Were you reading a bedtime story to... an apple tree?


 * Rarity: Hmph! You talk about it as if it's your baby or something.
 * Applejack: Who you calling a baby?! Bloomberg's no baby! Don't wet widdle Rarity make you all saddy-waddy. Bloomberg's a big and strong apple tree. Yes, he is. A-coochie-coochie-coo-coo-coo!
 * Rarity: It's widdle Rarity who's all 'saddy-waddy'! Urgh!


 * Rainbow Dash: When we get to Appleloosa, you think we'll have to carry that heavy tree all the way from the train to the orchard?
 * Pinkie Pie: What tree? You mean Bloomberg?
 * Rainbow Dash: [sarcastic] ...No, Fluttershy.
 * Pinkie Pie: Fluttershy's not a tree, silly!
 * Twilight Sparkle: What's going on?
 * Pinkie Pie: Rainbow Dash thinks Fluttershy's a tree!
 * Rainbow Dash: I do not think she's a tree! I was just–
 * Twilight Sparkle: Did you say she was a tree?
 * Rainbow Dash: No! Well, yes. But not exactly–
 * Twilight Sparkle: Ya know she's not a tree, right?
 * Pinkie Pie: She's not a tree, Dashie!
 * Fluttershy: I'd like to be a tree...
 * Spike: Oh, for pete's sake!
 * Twilight Sparkle: Well that was kind of huffy.
 * Fluttershy: Huffy the magic dragon!
 * Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy: [giggles]
 * Rarity: Would you all be quiet... NOOOW!


 * Braeburn: And here are the horse-drawn carriages!
 * Brown Carriage Puller Pony: Okay, you pull now.
 * Noteworthy: Aww, we just switched!
 * Braeburn: And here are the horse-drawn horse-drawn carriages!


 * Rainbow Dash: Nobody tricks Rainbow Dash and gets away with it.
 * Pinkie Pie: Boo!
 * Rainbow Dash: Yah! ... Pinkie Pie!


 * Rainbow Dash: Shhshh! What do you think you're doing?! You gotta get out of here!
 * Pinkie Pie: I do?
 * Rainbow Dash: You're gonna blow my cover.
 * Pinkie Pie: I am?


 * Chief Thunderhooves: Hmmh. We have a long and winding stampeding trail, that we have run upon for many generations. My father stampeded upon these grounds... And his father before him. And his father before him. And his father before him. And his father before him. And –
 * Little Strongheart: I think they get the idea, Chief.


 * Chief Thunderhooves: It appears that Sheriff Silverstar and I have come to... an agreement.
 * Sheriff Silverstar: We have.
 * Chief Thunderhooves: That was the worst performance we've ever seen...
 * Sheriff Silverstar: [tisk] Abso-tively.


 * Twilight Sparkle: [voiceover] You've got to share. You've got to care.
 * Pinkie Pie: Hey! That's what I said!