Lesson Zero

Lesson Zero is the third episode of the second season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, and the twenty-ninth episode overall. The episode is the first to use the remastered theme song, and the first to dispense with the "educational and informative" e/i rating.

Summary
The episode starts off with Twilight and Spike walking through Ponyville, collecting items for a checklist for a picnic. Twilight goes to pick up her order of cupcakes, and finds out that Mrs. Cake added one extra cupcake whose icing was touching another cupcake's icing. Worried that her friends might get jealous of whoever gets the cupcake with the "extra" icing, Twilight hastily tries to "fix" the icing problem, leaving only a tiny amount of icing on each cupcake. Spike is left covered in frosting, which he licks off. Afterwards, they head home, with their checklist complete. Spike points out that Twilight has not written a letter to Princess Celestia this week, causing Twilight to panic. Spike wonders aloud why Twilight is panicking and she panics even more.



Twilight checks her calendar and finds out it has been exactly one week since her last letter to the Princess, and is terrified of the possibility of being tardy. In a state of extreme anxiety, Twilight speculates that the Princess could punish her with an exam to prove she has been taking her studies seriously, which Twilight fears she would fail, prompting the Princess to send her back to Magic Kindergarten. Spike believes Twilight is over-exaggerating, saying that the Princess would never send her back to Magic Kindergarten. Twilight becomes determined to solve a friendship-problem and have a letter written to Princess Celestia before sundown.

Twilight first asks Spike if he has any problems. Spike says he has nothing, so Twilight goes out to find a friend in need. An exasperated Spike groans and states, "This won't end well."

While looking around Ponyville, Twilight overhears Rarity crying at her shop after she lost her diamond ribbon she requires for a dress. Before Twilight can help her, however, Rarity finds the ribbon she needed, much to Twilight's disappointment.

While searching for her other friends, Twilight finds Rainbow Dash, destroying an old barn on Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight, thinking that Rainbow Dash and Applejack are fighting with each other, stops Rainbow Dash. However, Rainbow Dash informs Twilight that Applejack asked her to destroy the old barn to make room for a new one, which Applejack confirms before Dash finishes off the job by diving into the barn and creating a colorful mushroom cloud explosion.

Still determined to find a problem, Twilight decides to visit Fluttershy. However, when arriving at her cottage, Twilight sees Fluttershy fighting a bear and decides to back off, exclaiming, "of all the days she [Fluttershy] had to stop being such a scaredy-pony, it had to be today". As the unicorn leaves in despair, it is revealed that Fluttershy was aiding the bear with a tense shoulder and giving it a massage.

Twilight, growing more worried and rapidly becoming unhinged starts to tearfully talk to her own reflection in a puddle, adopting two seperate tones, one terrified that she will not make the deadline, the other insisting that it is still possible to solve a problem in time. She starts imaging small filly ponies laughing at her before Spike intervenes revealing that the "laughing ponies" are just some fillies playing jump rope nearby. Spike then reminds Twilight about the picnic and she heads off to meet up with her friends.

A clearly agitated Twilight arrives at the picnic and explains to her friends that she needs them to help her find a lesson about friendship to write about to Princess Celestia. The other five ponies respond with laughter, claiming Twilight has nothing to worry about, and she runs away to continue her search for a problem.

With the sun about to set, a mentally teetering Twilight decides the only option left is to create a problem so she can solve it. She spots the Cutie Mark Crusaders playing with a ball, and approaches them to try and get them to take her doll, Smarty Pants. When they don't immediately fight over the doll, she casts a "want it need it" spell on it, making the Crusaders want the doll so badly they begin fighting over it. She tries to break up the fight, but is unable. She asks Big Macintosh, who is passing by, to get the doll. However, upon retrieving it, he too falls under the spell and runs away with the doll. Eventually, nearly all of Ponyville falls for the spell and begins to fight over the doll. The day finally ends as Princess Celestia intervenes to undo her student's spell, returning all of the ponies to normal. She sternly instructs Twilight to meet her at the library. Twilight bids farewell to her friends, who realize they may never see her again.

Once in the library, Twilight explains her actions to Princess Celestia while Spike overhears. Princess Celestia shows her immense faith in her student, and says that she does not require a letter every week. Twilight's friends barge in and plead for the Princess to be merciful to her student, explaining that they were wrong for denying Twilight help when she needed it most. In lieu of a punishment for Twilight, Princess Celestia requests that all of Twilight's friends write her letters about friendship from now on, but only when they actually find one. Before she leaves, she tells Twilight that Spike made her aware of Twilight's fears getting the best of her, and after she leaves, Twilight gives Spike a loving hug.

The episode ends with all the ponies, as well as Spike, offering a collaborative report, showing that they learned about taking a friend's worry seriously, even if it does not seem serious. Twilight contributes that she learned not to blow problems out of proportion in order to fix them.

Quotes

 * Twilight Sparkle: Bad? Bad? Of course it's bad! I'm supposed to send Princess Celestia a letter every week telling her a lesson I've learned about friendship! Not every other week! Not every ten days! EVERY! SINGLE! WEEK!


 * Twilight Sparkle: She's my teacher. Do you know what teachers do to students who don't pass? They send them back a grade! But she won't just send me back a grade. She'll send me back to... magic kindergarten.


 * Rarity: Out of all the things that could happen, this is THE! WORST! POSSIBLE! THING!


 * Twilight Sparkle: [Watching Rainbow Dash destroy barn] Rainbow must be angry with Applejack! She must hate her guts. How wonderful!


 * Twilight Sparkle: Now, why don't you tell me all about your issues with Applejack.
 * Rainbow Dash: I don't have any issues with Applejack.
 * Twilight Sparkle: You don't? Then...why are you destroying her property?
 * Rainbow Dash: Because she asked me to.


 * Twilight Sparkle: [Looking at sun starting to set] Clock is ticking, Twilight. Clock, is, TICKING!


 * Sweetie Belle: [Looking at Smarty Pants doll]: I really like her... mane?


 * Twilight Sparkle: Big Macintosh! Thank goodness! You gotta help me get that doll away from those girls!
 * Big Macintosh: Eeyup.
 * Twilight Sparkle: Oh, thank you so much! Now, if you could just give her to me—
 * Big Macintosh: [muffled] Eenope.


 * Princess Celestia: Looks like you all learned a pretty valuable lesson today.
 * Twilight's Friends: Uh-hm.
 * Princess Celestia: Very well. I'll forget Twilight's punishment, on one condition: from this day forth, I'd like you all to report to me your findings on the magic of friendship, when, and only when, you happen to discover them.
 * Twilight's Friends: [cheer]

Trivia

 * The title of this episode is a pun on the phrase "Less than zero."
 * This is the first episode where Princess Celestia is visibly upset for Twilight's irresponsible use of magic.
 * The ponies going gaga over Twilight's doll, Mr. Smartypants, appears to be a reference to the similar brouhaha over the Cabbage Patch Kids in 1983.
 * In one scene, Derpy and the Mayor fight over Twilight's doll. When Princess Celestia breaks the spell that Twilight cast on the doll, Derpy goes back to her familiar wall-eyed expression.
 * Cheerilee's name is mentioned by Spike; this is the first mention of the name on-screen.
 * In Twilight's imagination of Magic Kindergarten, there is a winged unicorn filly at the back of the class. The combination of having wings and a unicorn horn is an animation error.
 * Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Princess Celestia have new colors for their magic horn glow in this episode. Twilight's magic glow has changed from purple to red, Rarity's from blue to vivid blue, and Princess Celestia's from light blue to gold. The new glow colors more closely match the colors of the characters' cutie marks.
 * This is the first time a friendship report was submitted to the princess by a pony other than Twilight Sparkle, in this case, all her friends.
 * The scene in which Princess Celestia confronts Twilight and her friends shares a musical score similar to The King's Speech from the film of the same name.

Gallery



 * Lesson Zero image gallery