Friendship is Magic, part 1

"And I have an even more essential task for you to complete: Make some friends!"

- Spike (Reading Princess Celestia's letter)

Friendship is Magic, part 1 is the first episode of season one of the series. In this episode, Twilight Sparkle is tasked with going to Ponyville and make some friends. There, she meets fellow ponies Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy.

Episode summary
The episode opens with a book that reads "Once upon a time", and a narration begins telling of two regal sisters ruling together over a magical land of Equestria, shown stylistically in a series of slightly animated drawings resembling medieval illustrations. The sisters are shown as two slender unicorn pegasus ponies, one pinkish white, and the other bluish violet. The narration continues that the eldest used her unicorn power to raise the sun, while the younger would bring out the moon at night. Time went on and the younger sister became resentful, for ponies of Equestria enjoyed the day but slept through the night, One night, she refused to lower the moon. This bitterness had transformed her into a "wicked mare of darkness, Nightmare Moon", who vowed to shroud Equestria in eternal night, forcing her sister to use the magic of The Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon.

The narration switches to the voice of Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn pony, who is laying on a grassy patch in Canterlot reading the book. She finishes by narrating that the eldest sister has been responsible for both sun and moon, and maintained harmony in Equestria for generations since. Then tries to recall where she's read about the Elements of Harmony before, and the scene fades to the theme song.

As Twilight is walking along, three unicorn ponies stop her and invite her to a party for Moondancer. She politely refuses with the excuse of having to catch up on studying, and runs off, to which one of the ponies quips Twilight is more interested in books tha friends. After a run through Canterlot and up an ivory-colored spire, she barges through the door and knocks over Spike, her dragon assistant, in the process. She instructs him to find the book "Predictions and Prophecies". When she knocked him back, the gift-wrapped teddy bear he was carrying got impaled on his tail. Spike explains it was meant for Moondancer, and Twilight replies they have no time for that, to which Spike protests, "but we're on a break".

Twilight uses her unicorn magic to for the book, and angrily calls for Spike, who's already found it. She magically pulls the book, still held by Spike, and drops all the other books she was looking through, leaving them for Spike to pick up and shelve. She reads that "The Mare in the Moon", or Nightmare Moon, is to be freed from her imprisonment on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring "nighttime eternal". She instructs Spike to take a letter to Princess Celestia, warning her of the return of Nightmare Moon. When Twilight asks Spike to send the letter, he mentions that the princess is busy getting ready for the Summer Sun celebration "the day after tomorrow". Twilight replies it's the thousandth day of the Summer Sun celebration and the princess must be told right away. Spike takes a deep breath and breathes green fire on the letter, which disappears into twinkling smoke. After a brief conversation with Twilight where she asserts the princess trusts her completely, Spike belches green fire and a scroll materializes from it, which he reads to Twilight. The letter is adressed to "My dearest most faithful student Twilight", and affirms that Celestria trusts Twilight completely, but then tells Twilight she must stop reading "those dusty old books.".

The scene fades to black, and returns to Twilight and Spike being carried in a flying charriot by two pegasus ponies in royal guard armor, heading to Ponyville. Spike continues reading the letter, in which Celestia tells Twilight that there's more to life than studying and gives her the task of supervising the preparations for the festival in the town of Ponyville, as well as making some friends. Twilight is less than thrilled at the idea but goes along with the order despite not seeing how making friends is important. This is not helped when the first pony she meets gasps loudly and runs away.

Twilight and Spike arrive at Sweet Apple Acres, an apple farm where the food for the celebration is being prepared. There they meet Applejack, as well as her large family which includes her brother Big Macintosh, sister Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith. Eager to get on with the job, Twilight initially turns down the offer to stay for brunch but the disappointed faces cause her to begrudgingly change her mind.

Next, they meet Rainbow Dash, a pegasus pony in charge of keeping the sky cloud free. After accidentally crashing into Twilight and sending them both into a mud puddle, Dash's attempts to clean her up result in messing up Twilight's mane, which Dash and Spike both find hilarious. Dash informs them that she wants to join The Wonderbolts, an aerial acrobatic team. She then proceeds to clear the sky in just 10 seconds, a feat which leaves Twilight astounded.

Next on the list is decorations, which is under supervision by a unicorn called Rarity with whom Spike is immediately infatuated. Seeing Twilight's messy mane, she drags her off to give her a makeover. Hearing that Twilight is from the royal city of Canterlot, Rarity insists that they be friends.

The final item on the list is music, which is being taken care of by a pegasus pony named Fluttershy conducting a choir of birds. Twilight's attempts at conversation are met with muffled words and adorable squeaks until she sees Spike. Having never seen a baby dragon before, Fluttershy is full of questions and Spike ends up regaling her with his life story, much to Twilight's dismay. Arriving at the library where she is to stay while in Ponyville, Twilight is greeted by a surprise party organized by Pinkie Pie, the pony she had met when she first arrived in town. Not in the mood for partying, Twilight retreats to her room until the start of the celebration. As the Mayor introduces Princess Celestia, the crowd is shocked to find she has vanished. Instead, Nightmare Moon appears from a cloud of smoke, announcing that she will cover Equestria in eternal night...

Notable events

 * Princess Celestia tells Twilight Sparkle to go to Ponyville and make some friends.
 * Twilight Sparkle meets Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie for the first time.
 * Nightmare Moon is free from her Eternal Prison, beginning the Night that Never Ends.

Quotes

 * Twilight: I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can. Then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return.
 * Spike: Then, when will you make friends, like the princess said?
 * Twilight: She said to check on preparations. I am her student, and I'll do my royal duty. But the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends.


 * Spike: Maybe the ponies in Ponyvile have some interesting things to talk about... (sees "pink pony") Come on, Twilight. Just try...
 * Twilight: Uh... hello? (sees pony gasp and run away) Well that was "interesting" all right...


 * Rainbow Dash: I can clear the sky in ten seconds flat !


 * Rarity: We're going to be the best of friends, you and I... Emerald?! What was I thinking? Let me get you some rubies...
 * Twilight (To Spike): Quick! Before she decides to dye my coat a new color! (runs away)


 * Spike: I'm Spike.
 * Fluttershy: Hi, Spike. I'm Fluttershy. Wow! A talking dragon, and... what do dragons talk about?
 * Spike: Well, what do you want to know?
 * Fluttershy: Absolutely everything!
 * Twilight: (groans)
 * Spike (To Fluttershy): Well... I started out as a cute purple and green egg... (some time later) And that's the story of my whole entire life ! Well, up until today...


 * Twilight: All the ponies in this town are CRAZY!


 * Nightmare Moon: Am I not "royal" enough for you? Don't you know who I am?!
 * Pinkie Pie: Ooh! Ooh! More guessing games! Um... Hokey Smokes! How about Queen Meanie? No. Black Snooty! Black Snooty!


 * Nightmare Moon: Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend?! Did you not see the signs?!
 * Twilight: I did! And I know who you are. You're the "Mare in the Moon". Nightmare Moon !


 * Nightmare Moon: Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth...  THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER !!!

Trivia

 * The episode title is based on the sub title of the animated series.
 * In the associated picture, we see where Twilight lived in Canterlot. Note that "ivory" is an off-white color, not just a material. In other words, Twilight was living in an ivory tower, i.e. in an intellectual environment disconnected from the everyday world.
 * Both this and Friendship is Magic, part 2 were the only two-part episodes aired in Season 1. Also, the plot of both episodes were loosely based on the booklet bundled in the Friendship is Magic Giftset.
 * Twilight encounters five ponies while still in Canterlot. (Background ponies Lemon Hearts, Lyra, Romana/Colgate, Sparkler, and Twinkle.) All five have subsequently been spotted in Ponyville scenes.
 * At 4:49, while Spike and Twilight are discussing the threat that Nightmare Moon poses, Twilight walks past a large hourglass. in the top half of the hourglass, you can see an image of Nightmare Moon.
 * Derpy Hooves makes her first appearance in this episode. She shows up in the background several times, but her "iconic" eyes first show up at 17:32.
 * Pinkie Pie's expression "Hokey Smokes!" is a reference to Rocky the Flying Squirrel from Rocky & Bullwinkle.
 * At 20:21, you can see Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, otherwise known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. However, only Apple Bloom is introduced in this episode and Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are introduced in Call of the Cutie.