| "Ponyville Confidential" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode | |||
 Diamond Tiara demands more compelling materials for the school newspaper. | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 2 Episode 23 | ||
| Written by | M.A. Larson | ||
| Original air date | March 31, 2012 (2012-03-31) | ||
| Running time | 22 minutes | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magicseason 2 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Ponyville Confidential" is the twenty-third episode of thesecond season of theanimated television seriesMy Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The episode was written byM.A. Larson. It originally aired onThe Hub on March 31, 2012. In this episode, theCutie Mark Crusaders join their school newspaper and begin writing a gossip column under thepen name "Gabby Gums".
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Ponyville Confidential (full episode) — Official upload of the episode ontoYouTube |
TheCutie Mark Crusaders discover a new path to earning theircutie marks whenApple Bloom suggests they try writing for theschool newspaper, the Foal Free Press. They discover thatCheerilee has appointed Diamond Tiara as the neweditor-in-chief, who immediately demands that the publication abandon its wholesome content in favor of more sensational material. The Crusaders submit their initial batch of innocent stories about school activities, and Diamond Tiara rejects them outright and insists they produce something with more drama and excitement to capture readers' attention.
The Crusaders adopt thepseudonym "Gabby Gums" and begins writing about minor mishaps aroundPonyville, starting with a harmless story about Snips and Snails getting stuck in chewing gum. The column becomes an unexpected sensation among both students and adults, with demand growing so high that the school paper begins selling copies throughout town. Encouraged by their success, the Crusaders expand their scope beyond the schoolyard and begin investigating increasingly personal stories about ponies in the community.
The pressure to maintain readership intensifies, which leads them to publish embarrassing stories about each member of theMane Six, but the situation reaches a breaking point when they publish excerpts fromRarity's privatediary. Rarity confrontsSweetie Belle about the diary theft and asks her whether earning a cutie mark through hurting others is truly worthwhile. The Crusaders attempt to resign from their positions, but Diamond Tiara refuses to let them quit and threatens to publish humiliating photographs that Featherweight captured of them. Trapped by blackmail but no longer able to conduct interviews due to their exposed identity, the girls craft a public apology acknowledging their mistakes and expressingremorse for the pain they caused.
Diamond Tiara unknowingly sends the apology letter to print, assuming it contains another scandalous story, but realizes her error too late to prevent its publication. Herabuse of power finally comes to light when Cheerilee reviews the situation and strips Diamond Tiara of her editorial position and promotes Featherweight to lead the newspaper instead.
Sherilyn Connelly, the author of the 2017 bookPonyville Confidential, gave the episode a "B" rating for the story, and an "A+" for the title of the episode.[1] In her review of the episode inSF Weekly, Connelly compared Diamond Tiara toCharles Foster Kane taking overThe New York Inquirer, aCitizen Kane reference she was happy to talk about as a former film student.[2]
In a critical analysis of the episode, author Jen A. Blue described "Ponyville Confidential" as "an extended riff onLouise Fitzhugh's classic children's novelHarriet the Spy" and argued that the episode explores themes ofself-definition and power rather than a simple critique ofjournalism. Blue analyzed the core conflicts as violations of "the right to define oneself" as the common thing betweenblackmail,libel, andinvasion of privacy. Blue argued that the episode had to feature the Cutie Mark Crusaders specifically because "the Crusaders' own quest is to figure out who they are, they are the perfect characters for a story about how easy it is to gain power by defining for others who they are allowed to be." Blue connected the Gabby Gums persona to theonline disinhibition effect and explained thatanonymity enables toxic behavior, but also examined the balance betweenprivacy rights andaccountability.[3]
Jamie Kingston ofWomenWriteAboutComics praised how the episode dealt with the theme ofgossiping.[4]
The episode was part of the Season 2DVD set, released byShout Factory on May 14, 2013.[5]
