Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth; The Root of It

Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth; The Root of It
Season №:	1
Season episode №:	19
Overall episode №:	19
Original airdate:	January 16, 2021       August 30, 2020[aired in Canada] September 4, 2020[aired in UK]
Written by:	Katie Chilson (Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth) Dave Horwitz (The Root of It)
Storyboard:	Francesco Cipolla & Akis Dimitrakopoulos
See also
credits • transcript • gallery • allusions animation errors • statistics • speculation
Episode guide
Previous Zound Off; Unboxing Day	Next The Mysterious Voice; The 5 Habits of Highly Effective Ponies

Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth and The Root of It are the nineteenth episode of My Little Pony: Pony Life. The title of Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth is a reference to the idiom "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" and the GIF image format.

In Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth, Applejack gets inside Pinkie Pie's head to figure out what to get her for her birthday.

In The Root of It, Applejack tries to shake up her mundane day-to-day routine by getting a new haircut.

Production

This episode aired on August 30, 2020, on Treehouse TV in Canada and on September 4, 2020, on Tiny Pop in the United Kingdom.

Summary

Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth

At Sugarcube Corner, the Mane Six celebrate Pinkie Pie's birthday, and Applejack is unsure of what to give her for a present. She is under additional pressure from Twilight Sparkle and Rarity to choose something that is worthy of Pinkie's expectations and that she does not already own. Wanting to "get inside" Pinkie's head to find out exactly what to give her, Applejack drinks a magic potion that sends her own consciousness into Pinkie's mind.

Inside Pinkie's mind, Applejack explains her dilemma to Pinkie's inner consciousness, and she tells Applejack that her gift must come from herself. When asked why Pinkie's mind is so unexpectedly empty and quiet, Pinkie's inner consciousness says "sometimes nothing is everything you need". This gives Applejack the idea to give Pinkie nothing for her birthday present, and Pinkie interprets this to mean she already has everything she needs to be happy.

The Root of It

At Sugarcube Corner, Applejack feels she and her friends have fallen into a predictable rut, doing the same things day after day, and wants to do something drastic to shake things up. When she walks through Ponyville and passes by a hair salon, she decides to get a new hairstyle. However, when she returns to Sugarcube Corner, she discovers that her friends have all gotten the exact same hairstyle.

As the ponies start to argue when they are unable to tell each other apart, Pinkie breaks up the argument. She points out that they have successfully broken out of their previous rut by doing something as silly as getting the same hairstyle. The ponies follow up on this by having fun near a water fountain (in the style of the opening sequence to Friends), and Applejack realizes all she needed to shake things up was having fun with her friends.

Quotes

For more quotes, see the episode's transcript.

Don't Look a GIF Horse in the Mouth

Pinkie Pie: It's my birthday!

Rest of Mane Six: Happy birthday!

Twilight Sparkle: [gasps, sobs] My first clipboard! All the to-do lists to be done!

Rarity: A diamond necklace, designer sunglasses, or my great-great aunt's china set.

Applejack: Uh, I don't know, Rare. Those sound a little pricey.

Rarity: Oh, [scoffs] Fine. Let's be practical and un-fun. How about a sink? Or a light bulb? Or this fancy mirror?

Applejack: Uh, that's a toaster.

Rarity: Oh, well, I don't know how to help you!

Rarity: If the inside of her head is anything like the outside...

Twilight Sparkle: ...it's bound to be a party in there!

Inner Pinkie Pie: Sweet Applejack, you're not gonna find any ideas for the perfect gift here. The magic of birthday gifts is that they have come... from you.

Applejack: B-But it's not about me. It's your birthday.

Inner Pinkie Pie: Sure, but the gift is about us. It's about our friendship.

Pinkie Pie: [gasps] Nothing?!

[record scratch, music stops]

Pinkie Pie: [gasps] Oh! When you already have everything you need in the friends around you, a little nothing goes a long way. Thanks for nothing, Applejack.

The Root of It

Fluttershy: Pinkie, what are you doing today?

Pinkie Pie and Applejack: Oh, you know, the usual. Baking a fresh batch of cupcakes, making sure they get delivered, mixing a potion or two together to see what happens... Who knows? Hey! Stop saying what I'm saying! I knew you'd say that. I knew you'd say that! Stop copying me! Stop it!

Rarity: Applejack, darling, we get it. We're a bunch of has-beens who never do anything new.

Twilight Sparkle: A massive immersive virtual reality simulation that you can escape into whenever you want but will maybe cause you to disassociate and become stuck in a creation of your own design that you won't be able to escape from, making it more real than reality?!

Applejack: Hey, y'all! Take a good long look at the new, excitin', not-your-everyday-average Applejack!

Rarity: I pioneered this manecut when I did a brief stint on a very fun show about a group of companions. The show I refer to, of course, was called Chums.

Fluttershy: I'm sorry, Applejack.

Pinkie Pie: I'm not Applejack!

Rainbow Dash: Of course you're not, Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight Sparkle: I'm Twilight Sparkle!

Rarity: Please. Even with my eyes closed, I'd know you were... Fluttershy?

Fluttershy: I'm Fluttershy! At least I think I am.

Pinkie Pie: Okay, okay, okay, STOP!

Rainbow Dash: Applejack's right.

Pinkie Pie: Ugh! I'm Pinkie!

v • e Episodes, films, and animated shorts