Common Ground

Common Ground
Season №:	9
Season episode №:	6
Overall episode №:	202
Original airdate:	May 4, 2019
Written by:	Josh Haber
Storyboard:	Carrie Mombourquette and Dave Wiebe
Featured characters:	Quibble Pants Clear Sky Wind Sprint
See also
credits • transcript • gallery • allusions animation errors • statistics • speculation
Episode guide
Previous The Point of No Return	Next She's All Yak

Common Ground is the sixth episode of season nine of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the show's two hundred and second episode overall.

In this episode, Quibble Pants asks Rainbow Dash for help to bond with the daughter of his new special somepony because, like Dash, she's a real sports pony.

Production

Patton Oswalt's wife Meredith Salenger first teased this episode in an Instagram post on March 16, 2018, saying she, Oswalt, and their daughter Alice Rigney Oswalt recorded an episode of My Little Pony that is "all about family".

Oswalt later talked about his and his daughter's time recording the episode in the April 9, 2019 broadcast of Conan O'Brien's self-titled late-night talk show.

Summary

Quibble's special somepony

Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Snails are popular athletes.

The episode begins with a newsreel: since the events of Buckball Season, the sport of buckball has grown into a popular phenomenon, and a giant stadium and museum have been established in Appleloosa in recognition of the sport's popularity. In addition, the Ponyville team of Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Snails has gained a lot of fame as the sport's current champions. Snips takes advantage of Snails' newfound fame by charging his fans bits for autographs.

As Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Snails get ready for an upcoming buckball tournament game, Rainbow Dash goes to the newly built museum to check out the exhibits as a favor to Applejack. In front of the museum, she discovers her old friend and fellow Daring Do fan Quibble Pants camping out to be first in line for when the museum opens. Quibble claims to be a big fan of buckball, but his knowledge of the sport is clearly lacking.

Quibble Pants has a special somepony whose daughter doesn't like him.

Suddenly, a unicorn mare and a Pegasus filly arrive, and Quibble introduces Rainbow to his girlfriend Clear Sky and her daughter Wind Sprint. Quibble is excited to go to the museum with Wind Sprint, having camped out all night for her, but Wind appears uninterested in his efforts to bond.

What makes a sporty pony

Quibble is not the most graceful of ponies...

Inside the museum, Quibble, Rainbow, Clear Sky, and Wind Sprint split up to check out the exhibits. Quibble explains to Rainbow that Wind Sprint is a big sports fan, her birth father being a famous athlete, and he is trying to bond with her over what she likes, but he is utterly clueless about sports and very unathletic.

Rainbow Dash talks with Wind Sprint, mentioning that she is a member of the Wonderbolts, and tries to convince her that Quibble is a very sporty pony. Wind is skeptical of this, though, especially after Quibble gives her a large buckball almanac as a gift. Clear Sky tells Quibble that he does not need to try so hard to get Wind Sprint to like him. As Quibble starts to lose hope, Rainbow Dash decides to help him bring out his sporty side.

...or the fittest.

On a practice buckball field, Rainbow tries to figure out if Quibble possesses the speed, strength, or agility expected of a typical athlete. Unfortunately, after several attempts, it becomes clear that Quibble possesses none of these qualities. As a buckball game gets underway in the nearby stadium, Rainbow Dash comes up with one last idea to "sportify" Quibble Pants.

Humiliation at halftime

Quibble tries to impress Wind Sprint by introducing her to her favorite buckball players...

In the stadium, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Snails win another game to advance to the next round in the buckball tournament. With Rainbow Dash's help, Quibble sets up a meet-and-greet for Wind Sprint to hang out with the Ponyville team, much to Wind's excitement. However, even with Rainbow, her friends, and Clear Sky vouching for Quibble, Wind Sprint is still dismissive of him.

In an effort to change this, Rainbow arranges for Quibble, Clear Sky, and Wind Sprint to play an exhibition buckball match against the Ponyville team during the tournament's halftime show. Quibble is nervous about embarrassing himself in front of not just Clear Sky and Wind Sprint but also a packed stadium of buckball fans, but Rainbow Dash assures him that Pinkie and Fluttershy agreed to make him look good.

...but his lack of athleticism ruins an exhibition match (and Wind Sprint's fun).

Wind Sprint proves to be very talented at the game, but Quibble is so lacking in athleticism and coordination that he unintentionally scores points for the opposing team. He gets into an argument with the referee over the game's rules and tries to keep the match going, but Wind Sprint gets fed up and leaves. Clear Sky gets similarly frustrated with Quibble after she told him to stop trying so hard, and she also leaves, saying she and Quibble have to "rethink all of this".

Forging a connection

Wind Sprint reveals why she won't give Quibble a chance.

Later, outside the stadium, Rainbow Dash approaches Quibble Pants with some more ideas to turn him into a sporty pony. However, Quibble refuses and gives up, convinced that Wind Sprint will never like him no matter what he does. Plus, after the last thing Clear Sky said to him before she left, Quibble believes she is going to break up with him. Deciding to abandon their previous plans, Rainbow Dash realizes Quibble should have gone to someone else to teach him about sports.

Meanwhile, in the museum, Wind Sprint expresses to Clear Sky that no matter how much she likes him or how many ponies care about him, he is never going to replace her real father. Clear Sky assures Wind that Quibble is not trying to make her stop loving her real dad; he just wants her to like him. When Quibble catches up with them, he apologizes to Wind for pretending to be good at sports and trying so hard to make her like him. He asks if they can start over and for Wind to teach him about sports while they watch the tournament together, and Wind agrees.

After understanding each other, Quibble and Wind Sprint find some common ground.

During the next game, Wind Sprint teaches Quibble the rules of buckball, and Quibble teaches her about the Ponyville team's plays using the almanac he gave her. Quibble tells Clear Sky that if she still wants to break up with him, he is fine with it, but Clear Sky says she does not want to break up, with Quibble having misinterpreted her words from earlier. As Quibble finally makes a connection with Wind Sprint, the three enjoy the rest of the game together.

Quotes

For more quotes, see the episode's transcript.

Pinkie Pie: [whispering loudly] Do you think they know we're here?

Rainbow Dash: I think they have a pretty good idea.

Snails: A pretty good idea about what? [chomps]

Snips: [whispering] Snails, you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?

Snails: What is the sound of one hoof clapping?

Snips: Yeah! I mean, uh, no! How many of you would pay for an autograph from my best friend Snails?

Quibble Pants: Rainbow Dash, fancy meeting you here.

Rainbow Dash: Fancy meeting me? I'm a sportspony. Of course I'd be here. What's fancy is you being here. If "fancy" meant confusing.

Quibble Pants: There's nothing fancy or confusing about it. Y-You can't keep me away from that... that buckball rink. I'm... I'm the biggest fan there is.

Rainbow Dash: Uh, it's a buckball field. And you are?

Quibble Pants: Oh... sure. What w-with all th-the bucking and the balling, uh, uh, on the buckball field, w-which is where they play buckball. I-I-I wanted to be first inside to experience the grand history of the sport. I-I mean, I guess only a real fan would understand that.

Quibble Pants: See this? I-I don't know what it is.

Rainbow Dash: A ball?

Quibble Pants: W— And this? I-I— No idea!

Rainbow Dash: It's a basket. How do you not know what these are?

Quibble Pants: I'm not even a hundred percent sure what bucking is.

Rainbow Dash: Maybe you're not the best athlete in Equestria, or the most coordinated, or the fastest, or... even a little bit strong.

Quibble Pants: I-I'm sorry, wait. Is this supposed to be making me feel better? Because it's not.

Pinkie Pie: Ooh, so this is Quibble Pants. Rainbow Dash told us all about how you two spent a whole Daring Do convention geeking out together about books!

Fluttershy: And even though at first she thought you were the most annoying fanpony she ever met, you two eventually became friends.

Quibble Pants: Uh...

Quibble Pants: [sighs] Wind's already made up her mind, and so have I. Time to throw up the towel.

Rainbow Dash: It's "throw in the towel". And that's ridiculous! You can't just give up!

Quibble Pants: Wind and Sky deserve a pony they both like in their lives. Besides, Sky wants to "rethink things", so I'm just beating her to the lunch.

Rainbow Dash: It's "beating her to the punch", and it's barely a sports reference. How do you not know that?

Wind Sprint: Okay. That's their ball.

Quibble Pants: I'll try to remember that if I ever decide to play buckball again. But I probably won't. Oh, look. Pinkie Pie's gonna flip and triple bounce the ball into the goal.

Wind Sprint: How did you know that?

Quibble Pants: It's right here. Pinkie flips and triple-bounce bucks over eighty percent of her shots from the northwest section of the field when the wind is blowing from the east.

Wind Sprint: Huh. I guess this book's kind of cool after all.

Clear Sky: Yeah! Things like having your friend help you pretend to be a sportspony so Wind would like you.

Quibble Pants: Wha— I-I don't— I— Oh! I-I didn't... What?!

Rainbow Dash: Say wha—? [nervous laugh] Wha...?! Hah! Nah!

Gallery

Common Ground image gallery

References

v • e Episodes, films, and animated shorts

Make Your Mark
Episode 1 Izzy Does It	Episode 2 Growing Pains	Episode 3 Portrait of a Princess	Episode 4 Ali-Conned
Episode 5 The Cutie Mark Mix-Up	Episode 6 The Traditional Unicorn Sleep-Over	Episode 7 Hoof Done It?	Episode 8 Have You Seen This Dragon?
Episode 9 Top Remodel	Episode 10 The Jinxie Games	Episode 11 Sunny Side Up	Episode 12 The Manesquerade Ball
Episode 13 A Little Horse	Episode 14 Missing the Mark	Episode 15 Cutie Blossom Bash	Episode 16 Family Trees Pt. 1
Episode 17 Family Trees Pt. 2	Episode 18 Father of the Bridlewood	Episode 19 Mane Smelody	Episode 20 Nightmare on Mane Street
Episode 21 The Isle of Scaly‎‎	Episode 22 Roots of All Evil Pt. 1‎	Episode 23 Roots of All Evil Pt. 2