SPOILERS
We start out with Spike checking in on Twilight to see if she's going to bed, because she has been studying for the Trivia Trot competition. Of course she's more than enthusiastic, and regales us with the most Twilighty of Twilight nerdities, which I love by the way, and tells Spike that yes she is going to bed because she has to have 8 hours of sleep for optimum brain efficiency. Twilight in a DJ-Pon3 t-shirt is just too much, by the way. I am already overwhelmed by adorkableness.
The next thing we see, they are en route to the Trivia Trot contest, one which Twilight has won several times in a row (of course). She reads the rules to Spike because you have to fill in travel time and boring poor Spike has become a favorite practice, and Spike is surprised when he finds out that they don't choose their partners, but are instead given a random partner.
They arrive moments later, and Twilight pulls out her chart of possible partner combinations. She talks about how when Rainbow Dash and Applejack are teamed up, they're unbeatable, calling them Team AppleDash (shout out to "shippers" here, I am certain), and is relieved to see the two ponies on different teams. Her plans are thrown for a loop, however, when Pinkie Pie arrives and signs up for the competition. Twilight hasn't allowed for this possibility because Pinkie has never played, never shown any interest.
Of course, Twilight is assigned Pinkie Pie through a random name draw, Twilight has already started stressing, and the fun begins as Pinkie gives them a name: Team TwiPie (and this is why I'm so certain about shipping names, because both AppleDash and TwiPie are fandom ship names). Still, Twilight is confident that they can win.
The game starts, and Twilight's excited because the first category is literary figures. Before she can answer the question, however, Pinkie rings in and gives a sweet but wholly incorrect answer to the question.
As you can guess, this becomes a problem. Twilight convinces Pinkie to sit completely still, say nothing, and do nothing, and Pinkie, simply wanting to help her teammate, does so. As we all know, though, that's a mighty huge task for the Pink One, and it doesn't help that Twilight's so afraid of Pinkie moving, she's missing question after question.
Side note here: I love watching Applejack and Rainbow Dash trade barbs. They're so competitive that shouts of "rigged" are not uncommon, and it's great. These two have always been one of my favorite team-ups in pony.
Back to Twilight and her coaching of Pinkie Pie, a solid question comes, and it's about apples. Of course, everyone expects Applejack to nail it, but Rainbow Dash manages to fire off a remark that distracts Applejack, and she forgets the question. Meanwhile, Twi is trying to get Pinkie to answer the question (she clearly knows but Twi is clearly trying to coach her along).
Fluttershy rings in and answers correctly.
The first half of the competition is complete, and everyone takes a break. Twilight is high on stress (like me!) and is worried she's not going to get her second wind to win this time around. She's afraid that if Pinkie can't pick up the slack, Twilight will have to just answer all of the questions herself, and she knows that will make Pinkie Pie feel bad, which is something she wants to avoid entirely.
Spike offers the sound advice of "just focus on your own playing," and Twilight ignores it (of course) in favor of her own idea: watch how everypony else is playing. Surely this will end in a win, right? Hm.
So the first question of the second half comes up, and Pinkie tries to ring in, but Twilight stops her. Instead, Sunburst rings in and answers correctly. Now seriously unhinging (as she does ♥ ), Twilight points out that Sunburst's partner, Cranky Doodle Donkey, is sleeping. This is against the rules, which would disqualify the Sunburst/Donkey team from the competition.
So they are disqualified. Twilight is now inspired, and we see a montage of disqualifications and points of order from Twilight as she cites passage and verse from the rule book. Before long, everypony has been the subject of Twilight's gatekeeping and goal tending, to the point where she actually tries to establish a new rule banning "expressionless contestants."
Finally, a new category comes up: "Cupcakes." This is Pinkie Pie's wheelhouse, but Twilight is too far gone. She distracts Pinkie Pie long enough to hit the bell in order to answer a question Pinkie Pie clearly knows by heart, and Twilight answers it correctly.
As the contest continues, Twilight dominates the field, but she does it by taking the bell from Pinkie before she can ring it. Twilight has become a bell hog, and it's depressing Pinkie, who only wants to participate in the fun (though we know for Twilight it's not about fun, it's about winning).
Twilight is crazy with answers. Her shouts of each answer are hilarious as she pushes Pinkie away from the bell, slaps her hoof, distracts her with a cupcake, and every other tactic to get the upper hoof and answer before she can. It has wholly consumed her.
Finally, we're down to the last questions, and Pinkie's sitting sullenly against the seat while Twilight has taken complete control of the bell. A new category causes trouble, however: Sticks and stones. To Pinkie's delight (and Twilight's chagrin) it's the perfect question for one of the opposing teams: Maud and Mudbriar.
Twilight doesn't know much about sticks and stones, so she has started hyperventilating. Pinkie Pie assures Twilight that since she grew up on a rock farm, she will know at least some of the answers. This does nothing to assuage Twilight.
The question comes and both Maud and Pinkie ring in at the same time. They're both correct, but Pinkie didn't give the exact name of the stone, and so Maud gets the point. Sunburst, being the one who had to point out this rule, apologizes wishing he could help her because he knows quite a bit about this category. Twilight, getting an awful idea, coyly asks Pinkie to ask Maud the name of the rock that makes up the Griffinstone.
Pinkie does so out loud, and everypony gasps because that's against the rules. Pinkie is disqualified (which breaks her heart), as Twilight makes a play for Sunburst to be on her team instead. She succeeds, but you can see it's hurting Pinkie because she's now completely out of the competition, and has been replaced.
Of course, not all is utopia as Twilight finds herself on the receiving end of Sunburst's own ego, who also has a score to maintain. Twilight makes a minor mistake on an answer, and Sunburst begins treating her like she treated Pinkie Pie. Before she realizes it, Sunburst pulls the same tactic she pulled on Pinkie when he asks her to check an outside reference to a question (it's also against the rules).
Sunburst apologizes and Twilight realizes what she's done, and she sets to making things right. Twilight uses the rule book to get everyone reinstated, and she apologizes to Pinkie Pie, who responds affirmatively in her own sweet and chaotic fashion.
In the interests of starting fresh, Twilight is allowed to bring Pinkie Pie back into the game as long as they start from zero, and Pinkie is touched by Twilight's willingness to start from the bottom in order to prove she's learned her lesson.
The next question, they both answer at the same time and are both wrong. They start giggling and the episode ends with warm fuzzy friendship feelings.
This one is fun. I love Twilight the super competitive nerd who hits every logic point, and Pinkie Pie, who answers from the heart. They make a great team, more specifically, they make Team TwiPie, and I know full well that's the script writers tossing the TwiPie shippers a bone, and I'm very cool with that.
This episode gets a solid
A.
