Read It and Weep | |
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Season №: | 2 |
Season episode №: | 16 |
Overall episode №: | 42 |
Original airdate: | February 4, 2012 |
Written by: | Cindy Morrow |
Storyboard: | Raven M. Molisee & Dave Wiebe[1] |
Featured characters: | Doctor Horse Daring Do Ahuizotl |
See also | |
credits • transcript • gallery • allusions animation errors • statistics • speculation | |
Episode guide | |
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Read It and Weep is the sixteenth episode of the second season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the forty-second episode overall. In this episode, Rainbow Dash discovers a love of reading during a hospital stay but tries to hide it for fear of being seen as an "egghead". The title is a play on the phrase "read 'em and weep", used to flaunt a particular victory or advantage over someone else.
Development[]
The episode was storyboarded by Raven M. Molisee and Dave Wiebe. Molisee stated that the working title for the episode was "Reading Rainbow", which is the name of the classic PBS children's educational television series.[2] Writer Cindy Morrow said that the episode had other suggested working titles, such as "A Dash of Fiction", "Speed Reader",[3] "A Need for Read", "Book Before You Leap", and "Every Trick in the Book".[4] She also referred to the episode as "Read'em and Weep".[3]
This episode was nominated for a 2012 Leo Award for "Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series".[5]
The scene when Rainbow Dash admits her love for Daring Do to Twilight reappears in Deep Tissue Memories.
Summary[]
The crash landing[]
Twilight Sparkle joins Rarity and Pinkie Pie as they watch Rainbow Dash perform a series of aerial stunts. Moments after the three remark how dazzling she is, Rainbow begins flying out of control before crashing into the ground.
Sometime later, Rainbow Dash wakes up in a hospital bed surrounded by her friends. Doctor Horse indicates that she broke her wing and will need to be in the hospital for a few days, causing her to sulk in spite of her friends' attempts to cheer her up. Twilight Sparkle sees a nurse passing by with a cart of books and brings one called "Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone" over to Rainbow, who reacts by asserting that reading is only for "eggheads". Her friends laugh and insist that reading is for everyone, and as the nurse ushers them out so Rainbow can rest, Twilight suggests that she would like Daring Do given their similarities.
Rainbow the egghead[]
Rainbow tries to entertain herself but quickly runs out of ideas, whereupon she hesitantly picks up the novel Twilight left her and starts reading. She finds an instant connection with the main character, Daring Do, when she reads that her wing was injured in a crash landing. After being chased through a jungle by feline predators, Daring comes across an ancient temple that she had long been searching for. Rainbow suddenly realizes her sincere interest in reading the story before concern sets in about being an egghead.
Rainbow continues reading: Daring Do enters the temple and encounters a long series of traps before arriving at a cavernous room with a sapphire statuette situated on a pedestal in the center. As Daring lays eyes on the statuette, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle suddenly enter the hospital room, causing Rainbow to hide the book under the bedsheets. The two visitors try playing a board game with Rainbow, though she intentionally lets them gain a quick victory and then pretends to be too tired to continue. Rainbow watches Twilight and Fluttershy leave before pulling the book out and picking up where she left off.
After solving a floor tile puzzle, Daring Do arrives at the pedestal and takes the sapphire statuette, setting off a mechanism that starts filling the room with lava. Daring manages to escape by jumping through a hole in the ceiling and getting catapulted by a blast of hot air, though she ends up landing at the feet of a menacing four-legged creature. Just as Daring sizes up the figure before her, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity appear at the hospital room door.
Rainbow quickly hides her book as her friends enter the room for a visit. When a nurse comes in with a tray of food for her dinner, Rainbow takes the opportunity to eat sloppily so that her friends grow disgusted and leave, whereupon she retrieves the book and continues reading. Ahuizotl, the four-legged creature, brings Daring Do to a dungeon and straps her to a stone table before pulling a lever and exiting. As the walls begin closing in and various hazards pour into the room, Doctor Horse interrupts and informs Rainbow Dash that her hospital stay is finished while nurses pull her into a wheelchair and cart her outside.
Getting the book back[]
Distraught over losing access to the novel, Rainbow Dash reenters the hospital a short time later pretending to be in pain, though Doctor Horse quickly calls her bluff and turns her away. She returns to the hospital at night and sneaks into her former room, where she finds a new patient sleeping atop the bed and the book lying beneath it. Rainbow begins reading but is soon interrupted when the patient sees her and calls for help, leading hospital security to chase after Rainbow as she flees the building.
The noisy pursuit through Ponyville draws the attention of the rest of the Mane Six, who arrive at the Golden Oak Library just as the hospital team catches up to Rainbow in front of it. When asked to explain herself, Rainbow hesitantly admits her intense interest in the novel and attempt to finish reading it, causing her friends to reassure her that there's no need to be ashamed.
Inside the library, Twilight offers access to her collection of Daring Do novels to Rainbow, who apologizes for making a big deal of the situation and remarks how you shouldn't fault something until you try it. Twilight suggests that she feature the idea in a friendship report to Princess Celestia, though Rainbow passes the task to Spike and heads off to finish the novel.
As the walls close in and sand pours into the dungeon, Daring Do launches her hat such that it ricochets around the room and hits the lever back to its original position, reversing the hazards and opening the door at the same time that Daring breaks free from her bonds. Outside, while Ahuizotl holds the sapphire statuette and revels in his presumed victory, Daring swings past on a vine and snatches the artifact from his hand, sending him into a fit of crying. The story ends, prompting Rainbow Dash to retrieve another book from the stack on her bedstand and continue reading.
Quotes[]
- For more quotes, see the episode's transcript.
- Rainbow Dash: You guys have gotta get me out of here! I'm gonna climb the walls!
- Pinkie Pie: Ooh, just like a spider! Did the crash somehow give her super-duper spider powers?
- Rainbow Dash: I so don't read. I'm a world-class athlete. Reading's for eggheads like you, Twilight. Heh, no offense, but I am not reading. It's undeniably, unquestionably, uncool.
- Rainbow Dash: I hate to admit it to myself, and would really hate to admit it to my friends, but... I love this story! I, I... I love reading! ...I'm an egghead.
- Twilight Sparkle: But yesterday you were desperate for things to do!
- Rainbow Dash: Do? Who said anything about Daring Do? I told you I'm not interested in reading. [yawns] It's nap time for me!
- Fluttershy: Glad we could... cheer you up?
- Doctor Horse: Rainbow Dash! What are you doing here, a-anything wrong?
- Rainbow Dash: Well, uh, my wing! It's still hurtin', Doc. Oh, ouch! Right there.
- Doctor Horse: I was touching your good wing.
- Patient #1: Someone's trying to steal my slippers!
- Rainbow Dash: I'm not trying to steal your slippers, I'm trying to steal this book!
- Twilight Sparkle: Wow... I knew the book was good, but I didn't know it could drive a pony to petty theft!
- Applejack: There's no reason to go around causin' a ruckus—
- Pinkie Pie: Fracas!
- Applejack: ...causin' a fracas just because you like to read.
- Twilight Sparkle: Rainbow Dash, just because you're athletic doesn't mean you aren't smart.
- Spike: Yeah, just look at me!
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Raven Molisee's DeviantArt journal (2012-02-23). Retrieved on 2012 February 23.
- ↑ Raven Molisee discussing the episode on her deviantArt journal (2012-02-02). Retrieved on 2012 February 5.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cindy Morrow on Twitter. Retrieved on 2013 March 15.
- ↑ Cindy Morrow on Twitter. Retrieved on 2013 March 15.
- ↑ 2012 Nominees by Name. Leo Awards. Retrieved on 2019 January 7.
Episodes, films, and animated shorts |
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Pony Life | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Make Your Mark | |||
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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 |
Feature films | |||
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Equestria Girls | Rainbow Rocks | Friendship Games | Legend of Everfree |
My Little Pony The Movie | A New Generation |
Specials | |||
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Dance Magic | Movie Magic | Mirror Magic | Forgotten Friendship |
Rollercoaster of Friendship | Best Gift Ever | Spring Breakdown | Rainbow Roadtrip |
Sunset's Backstage Pass | Holidays Unwrapped | Make Your Mark | Winter Wishday |
Bridlewoodstock | Secrets of Starlight |
Animated shorts | |||
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Rainbow Rocks shorts | Friendship Games shorts | Summertime Shorts | Equestria Girls: Better Together (season 1) |
Equestria Girls: Better Together (season 2) | Equestria Girls: Choose Your Own Ending (season 1) | Equestria Girls: Choose Your Own Ending (season 2) | Equestria Girls Minis |
Baby Flurry Heart's Heartfelt Scrapbook | Rarity's Peek Behind the Boutique | Fundamentals of Magic | My Little Pony Established 1983 |
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Tell Your Tale (season 2) |