Picking Apart "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", Season 1 Episode 25

Party of One

This episode wastes no time at all getting into the thick of things.  In seconds flat, Pinkie is already singing a song, which we learn is her way of delivering personal invitations to a birthday party... for her pet alligator Gummy.

[Pinkie Pie]

This is your singing telegram

I hope it finds you well

You're invited to a party

'Cause we think you're really swell

Gummy's turning one year old

So help us celebrate

The cake will be delicious

The festivities first-rate

There will be games and dancing

Bob for apples, cut a rug

And when the party's over

We'll gather 'round for a group hug

No need to bring a gift

Being there will be enough

Birthdays mean having fun with friends

Not getting lots of stuff

It won't be the same without you

So we hope that you say yes

So, please, oh please R.S.V.P

And come, and be our guest!

I'm gonna guess that based on the montage in this scene, that she sang this song five times.  So Pinkie throws the party and of course her friends come.

I mean, they do love Pinkie parties, do they not?  Who cares about the occasion?  Just show up and get your party on!  Pinkie will love you!  She just loves to bring smiles.

You know, I've really started taking quite a liking to Pinkie Pie since she was first introduced in the series.  Who cares if she's a chatterbox?  Who cares if she bounces around?  Who cares if she's somewhat ditzy or maybe even somewhat oblivious?  She has by far the best intentions for her friends in the whole series and she's certainly not stupid.

Now I know a good question might be this.  If she throws parties too frequently, isn't that too much cake and ice cream?  Never mind the sugar rush because for Pinkie it seems to be permanent.  In any case, parties are certainly the definition of carpe diem for Pinkie.  She certainly won't miss out on an opportunity in which she thinks it calls for a party.

Pinkie Pie: I mean, duh, bo-ring!

So this episode is all about delightful Pinkie Pie.

After Gummy's party ends, Twilight makes the suggestion that they should have another one sometime soon.  Now if she knew Pinkie well enough, then she probably should have guessed that she defines soon as the very next day.  Either that or she can't get enough parties.

So Pinkie swings round to the library early the next morning and hands out a written invitation to an after party for the afternoon.  It turns out when Twilight hears when the party is, she declines, claiming that she has some studying to catch up on, which of course is a flat-out lie.

We don't know this yet, but Twilight had somehow touched base with her friends to plan their own party for Pinkie Pie's birthday.  Now, can you grasp this for a minute?  Assuming Pinkie knows when Gummy's birthday is, seeing as she mentioned that he was a year old and that she might have seen him hatch from his egg and had taken care of him since, then the following day is Pinkie Pie's birthday.  This means two parties back to back, one that she plans for Gummy and one that her friends plan for her.

But here's the deal.  When Pinkie tries to invite her friends to Gummy's after party, every single one of them politely turns her down while trying to lie their way out once they learn that it just happens to be held at the same time they're planning her own birthday party.

Oh, and let's sidetrack to this for a minute.  We have Spike taking out the garbage for Rarity and he tries to impress her with his sweet talk.

Spike: Anything else I can do for you, most beautiful one?

And he wanted to keep his crush on Rarity a secret.  So much for that.  Now it's obvious that Rarity knows, even though she later confirms this to Spike in Season 2.  But never mind that.  Is Rarity again using Spike because of his crush on her?  Or did he just volunteer to take the trash out?  Well, no matter because this episode isn't about them.  It's about Pinkie.

See, she figures out on her own that her friends are making up these ridiculous excuses and decides to spy on them to get to the bottom of things.  This being because she sees Twilight out and about instead of studying.

And here's a funny part.  When Twilight gets a tin can caught on her face and it comes off, the following animation gets all Tom and Jerry with her now cylindrical mouth.

Anyways, Pinkie resumes going undercover with a Groucho Marx disguise and by misinterpreting what her friends are saying, she assumes that her friends are deliberately trying to avoid her parties.

Her disguise isn't enough to fool Rainbow Dash however, so they have yet another chase scene like back in Episode 5, with Pinkie demanding Rainbow to tell her what's going on.  She refuses and takes shelter in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, where Applejack somehow manages to steer her away again.

But now Pinkie's infuriated, so she interrogates Spike, who apparently doesn't seem to have the foggiest idea what Pinkie is talking about, which leads to this.

Spike: W-What you wanna hear? Tell me what you want me to say, and I’ll say it!

Pinkie Pie: Tell me that my friends are all lying to me and avoiding me because they don’t like my parties, and they don't want to be my friends anymore!

Spike: Your friends are all lying to you and avoiding you ’cause they don’t like your parties and they don’t want to be your friends anymore!

And that's that.

Pinkie decides to continue with Gummy's after party using a bunch of makeshift friends.  She goes mental and becomes slightly deranged over believing the most irrational worst-case scenario, never mind that she wanted Spike to say it for some odd reason.  The scene is almost like something out of an obscure 1960s film and it certainly brings out Pinkie's rather creepy side.

That's when Rainbow Dash shows up and offers to take her to Sweet Apple Acres.  Of course, Pinkie refuses to go, so Rainbow has to drag her all the way from Sugarcube Corner to Sweet Apple Acres and push her inside the barn to see what her friends had been planning this whole time.

Taking a second look at the decor, Pinkie realizes she forgot her own birthday and fretted over absolutely nothing at all.  I mean, who doesn't like Pinkie parties anyway?  You know, besides Gilda.  Now she knows her birthday is after Gummy's.  Hopefully, she'll never forget that again.

And the friendship lesson learned is to always assume the best coming from your friends because they have good friends.  That's a bit hard for me to grasp to be honest because sometimes in this world, when you always assume something good, what happens when you're wrong?  Is it better to be severely crushed in disappointment, or to be pleasantly surprised?  Well, since the lesson regards friends, I suppose it's okay to expect the best.  Well, that's it for this episode.  The season finale is next!