Lesson Zero/Gallery

Main category: Lesson Zero images

Twilight's checklist[]

What a beautiful day in Ponyville.

The Golden Oak Library during sunrise.

"Quills!"

"Check!"

"Parchment!"

"Check!"

"Extra ink!"

"Check."

"Is that everything on the checklist?"

Yep!

Spike with the checklist.

Twilight explaining the things they need to do.

Are you ready, number one assistant?

"Ready?"

What?

"Ready."

I think Twilight might be too happy.

Well, he did say he was ready.

Longest... checklist... ever!

Now, that's what you call a list.

Hmm...

"Seems like we just placed an order for those a few days ago."

Spike often questions how could he put up with Twilight Sparkle's shenanigans.

"Can't imagine why we go through so many of them."

What's next on the checklist, Spike?

"Cupcakes!"

Looking at the same thing with different perceptions.

"Uh, I only ordered twelve."

Nice balancing skills you have there, Mrs. Cake.

These cupcakes looks tasty.

What are you doing?

Twilight is serious about removing the icing.

An unsure Twilight Sparkle.

Um, I cannot help but detect a variance in frosting among the cupcakes exceeding the minimum required for visual detection.

"See?"

Twilight's smile, indicates she is satisfied.

Mrs. Cake can't see any real problems, right?

Ooh.

Twilight's nervous smile.

Careful there, Mrs. Cake.

Let's do this.

Mathematical precision is required!

How about, I move some icing here and some there.

Twilight "fixing" the cupcakes.

Icing...

...icing everywhere!

Spike with icing on his face.

Uh, Twilight? I think you should stop "fixing" the cupcakes.

A forewarning of the insanity that is to come.

Well, not too bad, I guess.

"Umm, yes... much better,"

There! Order restored and enforced! So much better!

A pleased Twilight leaving Sugarcube Corner.

Huh? Who placed this icing-covered baby dragon over here?

After this turn of events, Twilight should squeeze 'Give a baby dragon a bath' into her agenda...

...or not.

How does icing taste off your own sweaty scales?

Mrs. Cake is rather disturbed and Spike hasn't seen the impending disaster.

The clock is ticking![]

Triple checking...the list!

"Triple check checklist to make sure we didn't miss anything when we double checked the checklist!"

"Uh, check!"

Oh, what happened?

Claw cramp, that's what happened.

"Good thing we don't have anything to report to Princess Celestia this week."

"I don't think I can write another word!"

Pony what?

"We haven't sent a letter to Princess Celestia this week?!"

That bandage won't stay for long.

Wow. Twilight went crazy, even before she started talking to herself!

"Of course it's bad!"

"I'm supposed to send Princess Celestia a letter every week,..."

"...telling her about a lesson I learned about friendship!"

Spike is overwhelmed

"Not every ten days,"

"Every!"

"Single!"

"Week!"

Twilight trying to find the calendar.

"Where's my calendar? Where's my calendar?!"

Oh, he's got something.

Ah, there's the calendar!

An example of smear animation (poor Spike).

Crash!

"When did we send the last one?"

"Last...Tuesday?"

"And today is...?"

"Tuesday?"

The most popular "Eeek! face" in the whole series.

"Nononononono..."

"...nonononono!"

Tardy!

I wonder how long she could keep that face...

"Tar-dy, Spike!"

Dramatic Sparkle is dramatic.

It's still daylight, Twilight...

Spike used Point!

Spike tries to calm a panicking Twilight Sparkle.

It's super effective! Twilight woke up!

"I'm afraid I have to take that chance, Spike."

"This is the ruler of Equestria we're all talking about."

"What if instead she starts thinking I'm not taking my studies on friendship seriously?"

"Well, why wouldn't you pass-"

"She's my teacher."

"They send them back a grade!"

"But she won't just send me back a grade."

"She'll send me back to... magic kindergarten."

Twilight imagining herself being sent to Magic Kindergarten
(Is that an alicorn filly at the bottom-right corner? See also Flurry Heart)

An unimpressed Spike.

Again. How could she keep a face that long?

Spike uses Distract!

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"

"You're not going to be sent back to magic kindergarten."

Spike being proud.

"Because I'm going to solve a friend's problem..."

"...and get that letter to Princess Celestia..."

"...before sundown!"

Twilight keeping a face for a long time must run in her family... and Spike is unamused.

"So..."

"...got any problems, troubles, conundrums,..."

"...or any other sort of issues, major or minor,..."

"...that I as a..."

"...good friend can help you solve?"

Spike thinking.

Still thinking.

Still thinking.

Well I'm not entirely sure how to help a friend cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Err, whatever...

Because I'm going to find somepony who has a friendship problem.

And off I go!

And she goes...

"Ugh..."

"This won't end well."
YOU THINK?!

Finding a friendship problem[]

Looking for problems? How often do you get to hear that?

"You still have plenty of time to get that letter to Princess Celestia!"

"Has to be somepony..."

"...who needs the help..."

"...of a good friend.

That screaming sounds familiar.

I found it!!!

Twilight comes to the rescue.

"Don't worry, Rarity! I'm here!"

"Why me-e-e-e-e-ee..."

"Why?!"

"Why"?!

"Why-y?!"

"Of all the worst things that could happen!"

"This is..."

"The!"

"Worst!"

"Possible!"

"Thing!"

Yes, a problem!

"What happened?"

"Are you alright?"

"I lost my diamond encrusted purple ribbon!"

"I have searched..."

"...high..."

"...and I searched low."

And low again.

Hmmph... I can't live without it.

The floors are not clean enough to lie on.

"Anywhe-e-e-e-ere!"

An opportunity knocks for Twilight Sparkle, or in this case, cries for her.

Of all the things I lost.

Whyyyyy!

"Never fear, Rarity."

"As your friend, I will do my best to help you fi-"

"Oh, there it is..."

Looks like the search won't be necessary.

Rarity recovers her, oh, so precious ribbon.

"So, you just lost your ribbon?"

"And now you found it?"

"Yeah". Or as Big Mac says, "Eeyup."

"And nothing else is..."

"...bothering you?"

"Nothing that I..."

"...as a good friend can help you solve."

That face means "Please".

"There is one thing."

That's a nice duck face Rarity.

Twilight: excited at the chance to help.

The measuring tape is right there, can you get it?

"Um, okay."

Sigh.

Here you go.

"Is there something bother-"

Wait, Twilight?

Where did she go?

Four friends still remain to be "helped".

Everypony was Kung-Fu Fighting!

That's a nice looking hole.

Raze this barn/Raze this barn/One/Two/Three/Four...

OSHA regulations always require the use of eye protection.

Shaking herself.

I got you, barn!

Take cover, Applejack!

Applejack takes cover.

Is it safe to look?

Demolishing the barn.

Rainbow Smash!

Even her teeth are lethal!

Rainbow Dash smashing the Sweet Apple Acres barnyard like a flying Hulk.

A missile is born.

Twilight comes within inches of death.

"What in the world!"

"Rainbow must be angry..."

"...with Applejack."

"She must hate her guts!"

"How wonderful!"

Apparently hitting a barn travelling faster than sound does not hurt you.

What happened?

I'm hanging here...

"I know you're upset..."

"...with Applejack..."

"...but don't worry!"

Your tail looks better this way, Rainbow.

"...that I as a good friend..."

"...could help you resolve your problem!"

"Uh, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, Rainbow Dash."

"You don't have to hide your feelings from me."

"I can tell you two must've had a terrible fight."

Tell me about your mother.

"Now, why don't you tell me all about your issues with Applejack?"

I don't have issues with Applejack.

"You don't?"

"Then why are you destroying her property?"

"Because she asked me to."

"Right, Applejack?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I want to put up a new barn, but the old one's got to come down first."

"Get back to it, RD."

"You got it, boss!"

I'd take cover if I were you!

Dashing through the clouds.

Ready... Set...

Uh-oh.

(taking cover)

Rainbow Dash before the impact.

Rainbow Dash demolishing the barn

Atomic Rainboom

A pile of broken wood.

Good work Rainbow Dash.

The first stage of her messy mane.

Happy that she gets to facehoof?

Scary. And irrelevant to my conundrum.

Her mane's starting to get messy.

Twilight walking over to Fluttershy's cottage.

Now where is Fluttershy?

Huh?

Oh, there she is...with a bear?!

Fluttershy versus bear.

Growl!

Where is she?

Back-Breaking Pegasus Kick!

Fluttershy? What happened to your soft side?

Flexibility-Straining Leg Pull Technique!

The new ECW (Equestria Championship Wrestling) champion of the world. Winning by tapout! Fluttershy!

What is going on?

Merciless Aerial Stomping Method!

Stop it, please.

Twilight pretty much mirrors our reaction to the whole scene.

Finish Him!

Neck-Snapping of Psychotic Violence Kata!

Fluttershy wins! Fatality.

Why would she..?

Twilight's getting worried.

Fluttershy has fully mastered the Path of The Chiropractor Style.

Worrying[]

"It's fine."

"It'll all be fine! The day isn't over yet."

[gasps] "But it WILL be over soon!"

[groans]

Splash on my horn's reflection

"It will all be over! My time in Ponyville, my advanced studies!"

Mental Twilight: "No, no, you're a good student."

"You can do this!"

Telling her doubtful self to have some confidence... in herself.

Doubtful Twilight: "Oh, but what if I can't?"

Mental Twilight: "You can! You just have..."

"Keep it together!"

Again, Twilight keeps a weird face for an abnormally long time.

"Are you talking to... yourself?"

The twilight stare or the Twilight Zone

Spike: "Twilight?"

!

I hear something.

Fillies at a distance.

Spike, leave the fourth wall alone, will ya? That's my job -Pinkie Pie

"Snap out of it!"

"Huh?"

"Are you OK?"

Fillies playing jump rope.

Woe is me.

I guess something's wrong with my eyes.

Quit freaking out and go to the picnic already!

You forgot about the picnic.

"The picnic!"

Spike's reaction is pretty much how the fans reacted to Twilight's craziness.

"I should go see my friends!"

"Glad you've come to your senses!"

Twilight goes cuckoo[]

Pinkie just doing what she does everyday.

Pinkie Pie's food is a lie.

I wonder what's under that cloth.

I got a surprise!

Pinkie's brought a basket with lots of balloons.

...and what does this mean...?

I guess there was no meaning after all.

Oh where is that thing?!

"I did!"

Its missing!!

Deal with it.

Oh, here we go again. "This is!"

"The!"

"Worst!"

"Possible!"

"Thing!"

Where does she get all of these?!

So this is whining?

When will somepony appreciate my drama?

...what?

"You didn't expect me..."

"...to lay on the grass, did you?"

Dash turning on her swag.

Dude, check out these rad shades!

Doh!! You crushed those cupcakes!

Hee-haw!!!

Are the ponies giving up? NO!!!

What happened to you, Twilight?

"You all right, hun?"

Twilight: "No!"

"I am not all right!"

I need your help! Without you, I'm more doomed than a G3 pony in Tambelon!

The baffled crowd.

"It's just terrible."

“Yes?!”

"Simply awful."

"Yes?!"

It's the most horrific trouble I've ever been in and I really really really need your help!"

"Yes?!"

"My letter to Princess Celestia is almost overdue..."

"...and I haven't learned anything about..."

"...friendship!"

Worried over nothing-right?

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought something really awful had happened."

Twilight can't comprehend why her friends are so dense.

"Something awful has happened!"

Pufferfish Rarity.

"...I'll be tardy!"

"Tardy!"

[giggling]

[Twilight growls like a savage dog]
Applejack: "No offense, sugar cube..."

"...but it looks like somepony's gettin' themselves all worked up over nothin'."

"This is not nothing!"

"This is everything!"

"I need you guys to help me..."

"...find somepony with a problem I can fix..."

"...before sundown!"

"MY WHOLE LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!"

"Oh, ho! Twilight, you're such a crack-up!"

Can Pinkie's randomness really compare to Twilight's paranoia?

Applejack: "Have a seat and stop sweatin' small stuff."

[groaning]

Screw you ponies!

[groaning even louder]

"Wow. I've never seen Twilight so upset before."

"Ugh! What a Drama Queen." (Says the one who's a drama queen herself)

Pot, you need to stop talking smack about kettle.

It takes one to know one.

"...relatively speaking." *Smug*

Creating a friendship problem[]

"Clock is ticking, Twilight!"

"Clock..."

"...is..."

"...ticking-guh!"

Would Twilight get over with her fears and stop looking crazy?

Twilight Sparkle is on the verge of going cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs

"Keep it together."

"If I can't FIND a friendship problem..."

Transformation complete!

"...I'll MAKE a friendship problem!"
Ooh-ah, Celestia will not be pleased.

This is the perfect plan.

Oh look, a nice bird's nest! (sarcasm)

Twilight and her weird looking grin.

"Eeheeheehee..."

Ooooh! The perfect targets!

The CMC aren't trying to get their cutie marks for once.

The ball seems heavier than usual...

What is going on with the ball?

Why is the ball getting bigger?

Oh, because of Twilight

"Hi, giiiiirls!"

"Oh, hi, Twilight."

"How's it--"

"Gur-rate!"

"Just great."

"You three are look like you doing great too!"

"Looks like three good friends who obviously don't need the help of another..."

"...good..."

"...friend!"

"This is Smarty Pants."

"She was mine when I was your age..."

"...and now I want to give her to you!"

Run away! She's gone mad!

"Uh, she's, uh... great."

"Yeah... great."

"I really like her..."

"...mane?"

"She even comes with..."

"...her own notebook..."

"...and quill..."

"...for when you want to "pretend" she's doing her homework."

Didn't know a pony's neck could bend that way...

"That's, um... great."

"I really like her..."

"...mane?"
You already said that, love.

"I just hope the fact that there are..."

"...three of you and only one of her doesn't become a problem."

"I'd "hate" to cause a riff between such good friends."
This was your plan all along, you crazy sicko!

Cuckoo, cuckoo!

Mental Twilight: "So, who wants to play with her first?!"

"Uh, you should play with her first, Sweetie Belle, you know, 'cause you like her mane so much."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

"I think Scootaloo should get to play with her first."

"I'd love to..."

"...but, um..."

"You take her, Apple Bloom."

Hey, look! Manebiting instead of tailbiting!

"Applejack says it's important to share."

"I gotta think of something. Think, think, think, think, think, Twilight, think!"

"That's it!"

"Ooh, you're going to LIKE Smarty Pants..."

"...and you're gonna like her more than anything."

Twilight Sparkle, use Attract!

By the magical power of Twilight Sparkle, you will love her even more than everything!

What's happening to me?

"I want it!"

"I NEED it!"

"I REALLY like her mane!"

The CMC fall under the Smarty Pants spell

Five, four, three, two, one...

"I want it! I saw it first! No, I saw it first!"

"The Want-it Need-it Spell."

"Works every time."

Twilight Sparkle is here to save the day!.... That she ruined.

"I think we can all see that there is an important lesson to be learned here about-"

What? Not going insane? Not being impetuous?

I need to start checking just how effective my magic can be.

"C'mon girls."

"Don't you think we need to share?"

"No way!"

A frustrated Twilight.

Give me back that doll, you girls!

Thrown into Big McIntosh

Big McIntosh, I need your help.

You have to get that doll from those girls!

Eeyup...

Big McIntosh about to take the doll

Easy In...

... Easy Out.

Thank you.

Back to magic kindergarten?[]

Now you can give me that doll back and everything will be fine.

Big McIntosh is charmed.

"Stick a cupcake in my eye!"

Why are ponies running around with hearts in their eyes?

Big Mac is pursued

Did somepony say there's free barbeque?!

More can join the party!

That incredible, amazing doll!

Where do they all appear from?

Maybe next time, Big McIntosh

Now you see it,...

...now you don't!

You ponies will never get this doll!

"Gimme that!!"

Mayor loves Miss Smarty Pants

This is mine!

Now to escape!

Big McIntosh causes an explosion of ponies.

"...NOPE!"

Whoa, Twilight's getting old.

A rustic and relaxed look.

Umm...

What's up there?

"Y'all hear that?"

Stampede!

"What in the name of all things oats 'n apples..."

"...is going on here?"

Intercept!

Contact!

Flight!

Incercept #2!

Contact #2!

For an old raggedy doll, Smarty Pants is remarkably resilient.

ಠ_ಠ

Uh oh...looks like Rainbow Dash's gonna be infect—

"Don't look at it!"

"Don't look at what?"

"My Smarty Pants doll!"

Brawl all over Ponyville.

Your hair.. is so... SOFT

"I had nothing to report to Princess Celestia!"

"The day is almost over!"

"Not almost."

Oh I'm doomed...

"Twilight Sparkle!!!"

Now look what you've done, Twilight! Princess Celestia is mad at you!

Oh mah stars...

By the power vested in me as Celestia Invictus, I declare an end to this!

The pairings after the fight.

Epic Stare Off

Well, this is awkward...

We were fighting over... this?

How red can my face get?

Let us never speak of this again.

How can I better show my disdain?

Nopony's looking, right?

Big McIntosh and Smarty Pants re-united.

Twilight is a limbo boss.

This ain't gonna be good...

"Meet me in the library."

Goodbye everypony...

"If you care to visit, I'll be in magic kindergarten."

"Back in Canterlot."

So there really was a problem?

"We're never gonna see Twilight..."

"...again."

"What are we gonna do, y'all?"

"How could this happen?!"

Well, that's the third time. "This is!"

"The!"

"Worst!"

"Possible!"

"Thing!"

"What?" (You really are a drama queen, Rarity)

"I really mean it this time!"

Twilight's apology[]

Oh no, Twilight is going to get busted.

"I'm supposed to send you a letter about friendship every week. I missed the deadline."

"I'm a bad student."

"I'm...tardy."

"I don't have to get a letter every week to know that."

So I went crazy for nothing?

Just in time!

Entering the library, Rainbow Dash style!

Now it's Rainbow Dash's turn to save the day!

Twilight's friends realize their mistake and come to help her

"I'm listening."

"Please, your Highness. We all saw that Twilight was upset."

"But we thought that the thing she was worrying about..."

"...wasn't worth worrying about."

Well...

It was my fault.

And mine as well.

I'm listening...

See? It was all our fault.

Well, it is decided.

A little proposition for you all...

"Mmhmm."

That is quite a shadow.

"On one condition."

"From this day forth, I would like you all to report to me your findings on the magic of friendship, ..."

All of us?

"When, and ONLY when, you happen to discover them."

This changes everything.

Yay!

Equestria's shortest runway.

"Your friend Spike made me aware that you were letting your fears get the best of you."

She sees me?! Better go away.

The art of eavesdropping.

"I'm expecting some mail."

And everything is good.

Let's write that letter, shall we?

"Spike, take a letter."

All set.

Aww, how cute.

Storytime...

"Dear Princess Celestia..."

"We learned that you should take your friends' worries seriously."

"Even if you don't think that she has anything to worry about."

"And that you shouldn't let your worries turn a small problem..."

"...into an enormously huge..."

"...entire-town-in-total-chaos..."

"...Princess-has-to-come-and-save-the-day problem."

"Signed, your loyal subjects."

Is anyone going to see this?

Spike showing off he's the better pony friend... er... dragon friend.

You have horrible writing, Spike. Keep up the good work.

Erase it!

Seriously? Even Fluttershy is unamused.

Oh well, guess I should just cross this, because you can't erase pens.

The best way to end an episode.

Spike's not pleased.