Friendship Is Magic, Part 1

Friendship is Magic, Part 1 is the debut episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which premiered to coincide with the debut of its airing television channel, The Hub. In this episode, Twilight Sparkle is tasked by Princess Celestia with going to Ponyville to make some good friends. There, she meets fellow ponies Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. The episode is referred to as 'Mare In The Moon (another name for Nightmare Moon) on Hasbro's viewing guide.

Summary
The plot of the storybook Friendship is Magic, included in the Friendship Is Magic Gift Set and Pony Friends Forever Pony Scooter Friends Daisy Dreams & Rarity bundles, is similar to the plot of the series' 2 opening episodes.

Prologue
The episode opens with a brown book with a unicorn on it that reads "Once upon a time," and a narrated prologue 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 Alicorn ponies, one pinkish white and the other bluish violet. The narration continues that the eldest used her powers to raise the sun, while the younger would bring out the moon at night. As time went on, 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.

Studying in Canterlot
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 has maintained harmony in Equestria for generations since. She then tries to recall where she's read about the Elements of Harmony before, and the scene fades to the theme song.

As Twilight Sparkle is walking along, three more unicorn ponies - Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Minuette - 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 Twinkleshine remarks that Twilight is more interested in books than friends.

Twilight continues running through Canterlot, passing Lyra Heartstrings and Amethyst Star, also unicorn ponies. Lyra smiles and waves to Twilight, but Twilight shows no signs of noticing her or Amethyst. Lyra stares at her with a deadpan expression, while Amethyst doesn't seem to care. The ponies that Twilight passes will also make appearances in Ponyville later on.

After a run up an ivory-colored spire, Twilight barges through the door and inadvertently knocks over Spike, her dragon assistant, in the process. The gift-wrapped teddy bear he was carrying gets impaled on his tail. She instructs him to find the book "Predictions and Prophecies." Spike explains that the gift 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 search for the book, and angrily calls for Spike, who has 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 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 "night time eternal." This day is also the day of the year's Summer Sun Celebration. From this information, Twilight draws the conclusion that the Mare in the Moon and Nightmare Moon are in fact one and the same. Spike falls off his ladder right on Twilight Sparkle's back, and she instructs him to take a letter to Princess Celestia, warning her of the return of Nightmare Moon. While she's dictating the letter, Nightmare Moon's visage can be seen through a giant hourglass on a similarly shaped statue as Twilight passes it. 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 by saying that 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 as it is sent to the princess. 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 addressed to "My dearest, most faithful student Twilight," and affirms that Celestia trusts Twilight completely, but then tells Twilight she must stop reading "those dusty old books."

Meeting ponies in Ponyville
Twilight Sparkle and Spike are being carried in a flying chariot 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, set up this year in the town of Ponyville. The letter ends with one other task for her to complete...

"Make some friends!"

- Spike, reading Princess Celestia's letter

Twilight groans at the idea, and Spike tries to cheer her up by telling her she'd be staying in a library. She surmises she will check on the preparations as fast as she can, then head to the library to find proof of Night Mare Moon's return.

Shortly after landing, Spike talks Twilight into trying to make friends with another pony, believing that some of the residents may have something interesting to talk about. A pink pony with a curly pink tail and mane walks up to the two, and when Twilight says "hello," she gasps, springs into the air, and zips out of frame.

"Well, that was interesting alright."

- Twilight

Applejack
"Soup's on, everypony!"

- Applejack

Twilight and Spike arrive at Sweet Apple Acres, where they see Applejack kicking a tree to harvest its apples. She vigorously shakes Twilight's hoof and, when she hears Twilight is there to supervise the preparations, offers her to sample some of the food. Applejack rings a rusty triangle and summons her large family, which includes her brother Big McIntosh, sister Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith. Twilight is pleased to see the food situation is handled and politely says she'll be on her way. Apple Bloom then invites her to stay for brunch. Twilight turns down Apple Bloom's invitation for brunch, but the disappointed reaction of the entire Apple family causes her to begrudgingly change her mind.

Rainbow Dash
"HEY, I can clear the sky in 10 seconds flat."

- Rainbow Dash

Spike walks down a path with Twilight Sparkle following behind with her stomach swollen, groaning about having eaten too much pie. Spike mentions a Pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash is supposed to be clearing the skies, but after a quick look Twilight quips that she's not doing a very good job. Dash accidentally crashes into Twilight, sending them both into a mud puddle. She giggles and apologizes, then brings over a cloud to rain-wash Twilight. The rain soaks Twilight, and Dash attempts to dry her with a small twister which frizzles Twilight's mane and tail. Dash and Spike fall down on the ground laughing at the sight. Twilight concludes that the Pegasus pony is Rainbow Dash and introduces herself, saying she's here to check on the weather. Dash nonchalantly shrugs it off, and informs Twilight that she'll get to it once she's done practicing for the Wonderbolts, an aerial acrobatic team. Twilight scoffs at the idea, challenging Dash to demonstrate her claimed aerial abilities and astound Twilight with her speed and agility. Rainbow Dash claims that she can clear the sky in "ten seconds flat," and exactly ten seconds elapse between Twilight's "prove it" response and the last cloud being kicked away. Dash chuckles and invites Twilight to hang out some more sometime, then flies away.

Rarity
"Quick! Before she decides to dye my coat a new color!"

- Twilight

The scene fades into the inside of the town square pavilion. Spike utters in awe "she's.... beautiful," and Twilight agrees the decor is coming along nicely. "Not the decor, her." Spike points to Rarity, and little pink hearts start bubbling out of his head. Twilight rolls her eyes and greets Rarity, who finishes some decorating and turns to her. Upon seeing Twilight's messy mane, she drags her off to her boutique to give her a makeover. Once Rarity decides on Twilight's look, she asks Twilight where she's from. Twilight starts saying she's from Canterlot, and Rarity cuts her off, glamorizes Canterlot, and cozies up to Twilight. When Rarity turns away to get a different jewel for the dress, Twilight makes her "escape."

Fluttershy
Spike is riding Twilight on the way for the next list item to inspect—music, the last one. A choir of birds is heard from a short distance, and Spike and Twilight investigate from the bushes. A yellow Pegasus with a pink mane, soon to be identified as Fluttershy, is orchestrating the bird choir, quietly and politely telling one of the birds that he's a tiny bit off. Twilight introduces herself with a loud "hello," which makes the birds fly off.

Twilight apologizes for frightening the birds and compliments Fluttershy on the music, but Fluttershy shyly stares at the ground and says nothing. Twilight tries to break the awkward silence by asking Fluttershy for her name, but her replies are too quiet and timid to clearly make it out. After another awkward pause, Twilight hesitantly concludes that everything is in order and turns to leave.

Fluttershy catches a glimpse of Spike, flies into the air, and exclaims "A baby dragon!" She knocks over Twilight and tells Spike she's never seen a baby dragon before. She fawns over Spike, but Twilight magically pulls him onto her back and starts walking off, with Fluttershy following them and conversing with Spike. She introduces herself as Fluttershy, and keeps questioning Spike on the long way to the library, much to Twilight's dismay. Spike tells Fluttershy that he hatched from a "cute little purple-and-green egg," though later in the series, in The Cutie Mark Chronicles, the egg he hatches from is only purple, with no green at all.

By the time they reach the library, a very large and living hollow tree, that' Spike has finished talking about his entire life story up until their arrival in Ponyville. Twilight tries to brush off Fluttershy, claiming she needs to put Spike to bed. She rudely blocks her way inside and wishes her goodnight.

Inside the library it's pitch black, and only Twilight and Spike can be dimly seen, their eyes kept bright despite the darkness. Spike sarcastically complains about Twilight's rudeness, and Twilight apologizes and explains she needs to be alone to study about Nightmare Moon, without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. The light flicks on, showing dozens of ponies standing all around, who yell "surprise!" Streamers and balloons drop everywhere, and a party whistle blows right in front of Twilight's face before the scene fades to black.

Pinkie Pie
The pink pony from earlier introduces herself as Pinkie Pie and says she threw the party in honor of Twilight. She's very talkative, barely letting Twilight get a word in, explaining that she gasped when she saw Twilight because she got the idea to throw her a party when she saw her and realized she's new in town. Twilight pours herself a drink which turns out to be hot sauce, and comically whisks out of the room with her mane on fire. Pinkie adds some of the sauce over a cupcake before eating it, causing the others to look at her awkwardly, however, Pinkie asserts that "It's good."

Derpy Hooves
During the party scene, a gray Pegasus pony with straw-colored hair is standing in the background in several shots. During the hot sauce sequence, her face is initially obscured, but after Twilight finishes pouring herself hot sauce, her entire face is visible, and she's making an odd face with her nose scrunched and her eyes crossed. This pony was eventually popularized by fans and named "Derpy Hooves."

Twilight's Room
"All the ponies in this town are CRAZY!"

- Twilight

Twilight is lying in her bed, annoyed, checking the clock. Spike enters the room and invites her for a party game. She snaps at him, and he explains it's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration, and that "everypony" has to stay up or they'll miss the raising of the sun. He tries to soothe her and leaves. Twilight mockingly repeats his last sentence, and dramatically complains to herself about all the "ridiculous friend-making." She remembers the few words about the prophecy from the book: Night Mare Moon would return during the longest day of the thousandth year. Twilight assumes that she was sent to Ponyville because Princess Celestia would think the Mare in the Moon is just an "old pony's tale." Just then, Spike barges in again and invites her to watch the sun rise.

The Return of Nightmare Moon
At the town hall, Pinkie Pie meets up with Spike and Twilight and goes on about how excited she is. Fluttershy's bird choir plays, and the mayor gives a short speech announcing the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration, Near the end of the speech, Twilight nervously watches the moon undergo a transformation. The mayor introduces Princess Celestia, who is mysteriously absent. Rarity announces the princess is gone, and the sound effect of Pinkie Pie's gasp from earlier in the episode is heard. Pinkie Pie yelps when she spots an eerie glowing fog, out of which emerges a dark, swarthy Alicorn, and the crowd gasps. Twilight recognizes the dark figure as Nightmare Moon, making Spike faint. Nightmare Moon addresses the crowd of cowering ponies:

"Am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?"

- Nightmare Moon

Rainbow Dash gets furious and tries to charge at Nightmare Moon, only to be stopped by Applejack grabbing and holding her back by her tail. Pinkie Pie takes Nightmare Moon's question literally and throws out several guesses in rapid succession before getting a cupcake shoved in her mouth by Applejack, still restraining Rainbow Dash. Nightmare Moon continues, confronting Fluttershy and Rarity with accusing questions, which prompt Twilight to answer her:

"You're "The Mare in the Moon," Nightmare Moon!"

- Twilight

Even though none of the ponies recognize Nightmare Moon, a later episode revolves around an annual festival called Nightmare Night where tales of Nightmare Moon are told and candy is offered to a statue bearing her image. Among the ponies in this scene are Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, who are huddling under a table, but they only introduce themselves to each other in Call of the Cutie. A layout artist working on the show explained that this was an oversight on his part.

After Twilight reveals Nightmare Moon's name, the crowd gasps and Nightmare Moon tells Twilight she's impressed with her knowledge. She asks Twilight if she also knows why she's here, but Twilight is too scared to answer. The episode ends with Nightmare Moon proclaiming that this will be the ponies' last day, and that the night will last forever. She laughs maniacally with a lightning storm gathering around her, and Twilight realizes that things are about to become worse, "a lot worse."