Feeling Pinkie Keen

"Magic is something you study, and practice. It only happens when you decide to do it, and it's meant to make something specific that you choose to happen happen. With you... it makes no sense at all !"

- Twilight Sparkle

Feeling Pinkie Keen is the fifteenth episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, season one. In this episode, Twilight Sparkle learns that Pinkie Pie has an unusual ability to sense happenings in the immediate future, known as a "Pinkie Sense".

Episode Summary
During another one of Twilight Sparkle's practices in magic spells on Spike, she noticed Pinkie Pie hiding all over Ponyville. At first, she thought it was another day of Pinkie being... Pinkie, until she saw her friend's tail twitch. Asking her what was the matter, Pinkie responded that her twitchy tail means that "stuff is gonna start falling". Twilight stated that the sky was clear all day, but then a frog fell on her face. The amphibian in question came from Fluttershy's cart, the caretaker pegasus carrying an excess group to Froggy Bottom Bog. While Spike was impressed about what just happened, Twilight quickly dismissed it as a mere coincidence, since the frog just happened to fall right after Pinkie called it. The pink pony caught up with her with her tail twitching again, meaning that something else was going to fall. The skeptical unicorn just kept walking... until she fell into a random ditch. Spike was wondering if it was safe to help her; Pinkie confirmed it since her tail ceased to twitch before hopping away. Applejack arrived to see the commotion, but freaks out when she hears about Pinkie's tail-twitches. She told Twilight that those who had lived in Ponyville for a while know only one thing: "If Pinkie's a-twitchin', you'd better listen". However, they saw her ears flopping. She told Twilight that she would start a bath for her. Just as the unicorn began to scoff at this random set of events, a hay cart passed by, splashing her with mud from a nearby puddle.

In Pinkie's house, the earth pony explained, while cleaning up Twilight, that her "Pinkie Sense" involved odd reactions of her body that indicate if something will happen; an itchy back means luck, while a pinchy knee means something scary. She then felt her shoulder ache, meaning that an alligator was in her tub, before she showed her friend a toothless pet alligator named Gummy... who was swimming in the very bathtub Twilight was in! As they left the house, Twilight tried to differentiate her magic with Pinkie's strange ability, saying that the latter made absolutely no sense. The pink pony then told her that different combinations of her reactions can help her predict other occurrences, exemplifying that an ear-flop/knee-twitch/eye-flutter combo means that a beautiful rainbow is about to happen. However, she ended up with a ear-flop/eye-flutter/knee-twitch one instead. Mistaking it for the rainbow prediction, Twilight didn't see her house door to slam right at her from Spike carrying a stack of books.

Determined to find some understanding to Pinkie's "power", she strapped her into a complex machine to analyze her Pinkie Sense. Minutes passed, and the skeptical unicorn became more frustrated from the lack of information. Pinkie reminded her that her twitches just happen with no warning when it will happen, and that she should just believe in things she just cannot figure out; a piece of advice Twilight refused to acknowledge. Just then, she felt something about to happen again. However, it was just her tummy rumbling. It was no twitch, just her being hungry. Twilight pulled the plug on the experiment in frustration, no longer caring about something that defies all logic, and they both went to the exit of the house. Immediately before the unicorn reached the door, she saw her friend's ear-flop/eye-flutter/knee-twitch combo again... before the door was slammed at her again by Spike, who was trying to find her. Fed up with trying to ignore this crazy chain of events, Twilight decided to find out the truth. Following the happy pony in secret, her investigation on the "Pinkius Piekus" would help her gather scientific proof behind the connection between the pony's constant twitching and the events that follow.

At the school playground, she saw her scratching her nose before rushing to find a place to hide. Twilight thought that this contradicted Pinkie's twitchy tail indicating something would fall. Before she made her immediate conclusion, she was attacked by a random swarm of bees. Next, around Applejack's farm, she saw another ear-flop/eye-flutter/knee-twitch combo from the earlier warning of opening doors. Spike, who was following Twilight, backed away, but the unicorn showed him that there was nothing to worry about. As she finished leaning on the barn door, she took off... before falling into a newly built apple cellar. Finally, she saw Pinkie's tail twitch. Something was definitely going to fall now. Spike ran for cover, while Twilight again dismissed this reaction. In quick succession, a flowerpot, anvil, hay wagon, and piano landed on her, all dropped by a careless pegasus moving crew. The only conclusion to this research expedition was that Twilight's determination was going to be the death of her. To add insult to injury (literally), she soon found out that Pinkie was aware of her presence the whole time.

As she confronted the pink pony about this, with Spike and Applejack with them, Pinkie's tail was no longer twitching. Suddenly, her entire body began shaking. This was an entirely new reaction that even she didn't know about. All she knew was that something unexpected was going to happen, a real "doozy", near none other than Froggy Bottom Bog. Realizing it was where Fluttershy was heading, they rushed to the place. Twilight tagged along, positive that nothing was going to happen when they reached the bog.



It seemed that Twilight was right. Fluttershy had just finished guiding all the frogs into the swamp. Just as the unicorn was gloating about Pinkie being wrong, she was told to turn around. In complete horror, they all saw something indeed unexpected: a gigantic four-headed hydra! As they ran for their lives, Twilight took a page out of Rainbow Dash's book and charged at the monster head-on, or in this case right under it, in an attempt to distract it while her friends crossed the canyon rocks. Before she had a chance to cross herself, the hydra lashed out and collapsed most of the stepping-stone pillars over the swamp. Prompted by Pinkie to take a "leap of faith" across the gap, Twilight hesitantly jumped, only to miss the remaining rocks. However, she fell onto a huge swamp bubble, which bounced her up to the other side with her friends. They were safe from the hydra.



Unfortunately, Pinkie's body was still shaking. The hydra, as it turns out, was not the "doozy" she was referring to. Twilight completely lost it. What could possibly be "doozy-er" than a giant hydra? She instantly calmed down, having literally no choice but to accept the fact that Pinkie's "ability" just makes sense, even if she will never understand it. At this point, the pink pony stopped shaking. Twilight finally believing Pinkie's ability was the unexpected event at the bog.

And it was sure a "doozy".



Twilight learned that just because some things cannot be explained does not mean they are not true, and a good friend, like Pinkie Pie, can help her choose whether to believe them.

As Pinkie's tail twitched once more, Spike took Twilight's report out to the balcony. Before he could send it, though, one last thing fell out of the sky - Princess Celestia herself, who took the scroll from him before immediately lifting off again.

Major Events

 * Pinkie Pie revealed that she can predict the future with her "Pinkie Sense".
 * Gummy, Pinkie's pet alligator, is introduced in this episode.

Quotes:

 * Pinkie Pie: It's my tail! It's my tail! It's a-twitchin' twitchin'! And you know what that means...
 * Twilight: Actually, Pinkie, I haven't the slightest idea.
 * Pinkie Pie: The twitching means my 'Pinkie Sense' is telling me stuff is gonna start falling.


 * Pinkie Pie: Um, Twilight? You got a little something on your face there...
 * Twilight: (sarcastic) Oh really? Did your "Pinkie Sense" tell you that, too?
 * Pinkie Pie: No, I can just see it.


 * Twilight: OK. Take this down: Twitchy... Tail...
 * Spike: "Twitchy tail"? *gasp* TWITCHY TAIL!!!


 * Pinkie Pie: Hey, Applejack. What'cha doin'?
 * Applejack: Taking more apples to my new apple cellar. How about you, Pinkie? What'cha doin'?
 * Pinkie Pie: Oh, letting Twilight secretly follow me without me knowing...
 * Twilight: You mean you knew all along?! Why didn't you tell me?!
 * Pinkie Pie: *giggles* Silly. That would've spoiled the secret.


 * Pinkie Pie: What if she exploded? And then... and then exploded again?!
 * Spike: Can you do that? Can you explode twice?!
 * Applejack: Of course not!


 * Twilight: WHAT?! The Hydra wasn't the doozy?! How could it not be the doozy?! What could be "doozy-er" than that?!!

Trivia

 * The title of this episode is a pun on the phrase feeling peachy keen, which means to feel great or exuberant, and also a play on the word "keen" which means aware and perceptive.
 * The episode's director incorporated Derpy with her derp-eyed expression into the movers' truck shot. All of Derpy's appearences from this episode feature her at least once with a cross-eyed expression.
 * When Fluttershy has to jump to safety, she repeats a line from Pinkie Pie's song from Dragonshy. She's also the first pony to cross!
 * When Twilight comically bursts into flames from anger, she looks surprisingly reminiscent of Rapidash from the Pokémon franchise.
 * The inkwell Spike uses to write the letter to Princess Celestia has the same label as the disappearing ink seen in Griffon the Brush Off.
 * Continuing Pinkie's theme of classic cartoon gags and comedy props, Twlight is hit on the head by several random falling items, including an anvil and a piano.
 * When Twlight makes her speech about Pinkie's ability making no sense, she literally climbs onto a soapbox first. The expression "being on one's soapbox" refers to a person who is engaging in unofficial public speaking, usually in a self-serving or overly dramatic manner.
 * The pony pulling the cart which splashes Twilight is the castle gardener seen in The Best Night Ever.