Bridle Gossip

Bridle Gossip is the ninth episode of the first season of Legends of the Multiverse: Friendship is Universe. In this episode, Kairi Sparkle and her friends encounter Britney Akiwara, a mysterious secret agent pink mouse who lives in the Everfree Forest. The title of the episode is a play on the phrase "idle gossip".

Development
According to old notes by Amy Keating Rogers, Olaf's nickname for Kairi Sparkle was originally "Minny-mouse".

Hiding from Britney
Kairi Sparkle, Olaf and Navi arrive in Multiville's town square to find the town completely deserted. While they speculate about where everyone could be, Rapunzel fervently calls to them from Corona Sugarcube Corner, telling them to get inside before "she" gets them. Inside, they find Sally Acorn, Sheriff Mulan, Nene Amano, and Spectra Vondergeist, who nervously explain that they are hiding from a strange hooded creature named Britney Akiwara. The only animal not scared is Sheriff Mulan's younger sister Sheriff Lonnie, also present. According to the other animals, no one in Ponyville knows what Zecora's reasons for visiting the town are, except that she does so monthly. They also know that she lives in the Everfree Forest, a self-preserving environment which is almost alien to Multiville. After seeing her pull her hood down, Kairi concludes that Britney is a pink female mouse and not an "odd-looking creature". The gray and white in her strange mane are really her natural colors. According to books Kairi has read, Britney's species is from "a far away land". Rapunzel shares a song with the others, profiling Britney as an "Evil Enchantress".

Following Britney
"I am sure there's an explanation for everything Britney does, and if anybody here were actually brave enough to approach her, she would find out the truth."

- Kairi Sparkle

While the animals are busy discussing Britney's nature, Sheriff Lonnie decides to approach Britney herself and slips out of the bakery. She follows Britney to the Everfree Forest. Upon noticing Sheriff Lonnie's absence, the other animales decide to leave the house to search for her.

They find Sheriff Lonnie when she is just behind Britney, who is surrounded by many blue flowers. The mouse retreats to the forest, giving them a brief warning: "Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" Sheriff Mulan scoops Sheriff Lonnie off the ground while the other ponies, save Kairi and Spectra, taunt the mouse and ignore her warning. On their way back, Kairi tries to explain to her friends the difference between magic and Britney's "curses" but to no avail. Kairi classifies the "curses" as harmless and fictional "animal tales". However, Sheriff Mulan warns her that some "animal tales" are indeed true. As the animals leave the forest, they all trot through the "blue flowers" except for Sheriff Lonnie, who is carried out on Sheriff Mulan's back.

The animals' ailments
During the night, Kairi dreams about Britney and her friends' warnings of her evil. The next morning, Kairi wakes up after recalling everything her friends said about the strange mouse. As she brushes her hair, she is shocked to find her cat ear turned soft, wobbly, and covered in blue spots. She frantically searches for a book containing a way to fix her problem, or at least provide information on it, but she cannot find anything useful. Olaf and Navi finds a book called Supernaturals that she may have overlooked, but she insists that there's no need to even open it because it details superstitions or other useless information. Her friends arrive at the library, each with an ailment of their own. Rapunzel's now blue-spotted tongue is swollen to the point of hanging out of her mouth, and she can't speak intelligibly or without spitting. Sally Acorn's tails have been inverted and moved from her back to her lower sides, preventing her from flying properly and causing her to crash constantly. Nene's hair, fur and cottontail are messy and her coat has grown so long that she cannot see or walk properly. Sheriff Mulan has drastically shrunken in size and has to ride on Sheriff Lonnie just to get to the library. Spectra is afflicted with a deep-sounding male voice. Spike laughs himself silly at the animals and, in making good-natured fun of their misfortune, makes up nicknames for each pony:


 * "Nene Hairano" (Nene Amano)
 * "Sall Acrash" (Sally Acorn)
 * "Spitty Rapunzel" (Rapunzel)
 * "Sheriff Teeny Mulan" (Sheriff Mulan)
 * "Spectra Vonderguy" (Spectra Vondergeist)

Olaf and Navi, however, can't immediately think of a proper name to make fun of Kairi's wobbly ear.

"[Sarcastic laughter] This is no joke, Spike. Now start looking for more books so I can find a cure!"

- Kairi Sparkle

The animals, with the exception of Kairi, conclude that Britney has "cursed" or "hexed" them, and they resolve to confront her in the forest in hopes of finding a cure. But Sheriff Lonnie, the only one that was not afflicted, believes she alone is to blame for the animals' ailments and ventures ahead to find Zecora. As Apple Bloom leaves, Sheriff Mulan wonders aloud where she is going and jumps into her tail. When the others notice Sheriff Mulan is missing, they first worriedly check to see if they've stepped or sat on her. Upon realizing that Sheriff Lonnie is also gone, the ponies realize she must have gone after Britney again and set out in search of her. As the animals leave, Spectra asks Olaf and Navi if he is coming along, but he makes up an alibi to stay there to look for a cure. He manages to think up a joke-like nickname for Kairi Sparkle: "Kairi Flopple".

On her way through the Everfree Forest, Sheriff Mulan reveals herself in Sheriff Lonnie's fur and orders her to turn around. Sheriff Lonnie refuses and, realizing that her diminutive older sister can't stop her, places her on a tree branch she can't get down from before continuing on her way. When the others enter the forest later, Sally Acorn crashes into the tree Sheriff Mulan was left in, accidentally catching the tiny fox in her mouth. Sheriff Mulan pulls herself out and quickly fashions a bit and reins from leaves, a stick, and some vine. She throws it on Sally Acorn and, climbing onto her chest, helps to steer her in the right direction.

Confronting Britney
When the others finally reach Britney's hut, they watch through her window as she mixes a strange concoction in her cauldron, chanting something in an unknown language. Pinkie gets Spectra to sing her "Evil Enchantress" song to point out that Britney fits the profile in it. Kairi starts to wonder whether Britney might be "bad" after all. When she overhears the zebra mentioning Sheriff Lonnie, she concludes that Britney is preparing a soup to eat her with. The four animals scream in horror. Sally Acorn and Sheriff Mulan barge in and the other animals follow suit in a rescue attempt, upsetting the cauldron and spilling its contents onto the floor. The hut is further wrecked by Sally Acorn's uncoordinated flying. As the animals loudly confront Britney about her "curse", Sheriff Lonnie arrives from behind them with packed saddle bags and tells them she is assisting Zecora by gathering ingredients. They both reveal that the brew Britney had been making is a remedy for poison joke, a poison ivy-like plant that causes "laughable" results to anyone who touches it. They had never been cursed but had been affected by the blue plants, and were too stubborn to heed Britney's warning the previous day when they saw her. The cure is from one of Britney's books, another copy of the book that Olaf and Navi found in the library. Kairi admits she didn't bother looking past its weird title. It turns out that the Supernaturals in the book's title were natural remedies and cure-alls that are simply super. After apologizing to Britney for not bothering to "look inside", Kairi asks if Britney could make another batch of the remedy. Britney is happy to do so, but she tells Twilight they need a herb from Multiville, which she could not obtain because the shops are always mysteriously closed.

Epilogue
The ponies escort Britney back to town, where the other animals are still afraid of her. Kairi talks to the concerned animals and the scene cuts to the main characters having a bath at the spa, with Kairi giving her friendship report in a voiceover. One of the spa animals asks Britney for the recipe of her "luxurious" herbal bath, and the episode ends with all the animals cured of their poison joke afflictions, after briefly panicking over not finding Sheriff Mulan.

Quotes

 * Kairi Sparkle: What? Where is everybody?
 * Olaf: Is it some sort of animal holiday?
 * Kairi Sparkle: Not that I know of.
 * Olaf: Does my breath stink? [belch]
 * Navi: Really?
 * Kairi Sparkle: Not more than usual.
 * Olaf: Is it... zombies?!
 * Navi: Not Maybe!
 * Kairi Sparkle: Uh... not very likely.
 * Olaf: Not likely... but possible?


 * Sheriff Mulan: The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow...
 * Spectra Vondergeist: Animals care for themselves...
 * Sally Acorn: And the clouds move...
 * Sheriff Mulan, Spectra Vondergeist and Sally Acorn: All on their own!
 * Nene Amano: [faints]
 * Rapunzel: And that wicked enchantress Britney lives there doing her evil... stuff! She's so evil, I even wrote a song about her!


 * Sheriff Lonnie: I am a big fox...


 * Rapunzel: Well, I think Britney eats... monkey's banana.
 * Kairi Sparkle: Rapunzel! I eat banana! You eat banana!
 * Rapunzel: Yeah... But I heard it's like the evil way she eats hay...


 * Britney Akiwara: Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!


 * Sheriff Mulan: Good gravy, girl! What's wrong with you?!
 * Spectra Vondergeist: [deep male voice] I don't want to talk about it.


 * Olaf: This is hilarious! Look at all of you. We got "Nene Hairano", "Sally A-Crash", "Spitty Rapunzel", "Sheriff Teeny Mulan", "Spectra Vonderguy", and... I got nothin'. "Kairi Sparkle"... I mean, seriously. I can't even work with that.
 * Kairi Sparkle: [sarcastic laughter] This is no joke, Olaf!
 * Navi: Wait a Minute... is not a Joke! This Joke is April Fools Day!


 * Sally Acorn: Little help here?
 * Spectra Vonderguy: Oopsie. Sorry.


 * Spike: "Kairi Flopple"!


 * Sheriff Mulan: Stop right there! Turn around right now, missy!
 * Sheriff Lonnie: No.
 * Sheriff Mulan: No?! You can't ignore a direct order from your big sister!
 * Sheriff Lonnie: Hehehe. Sorry Applejack, but I'm the big sister now.
 * Sheriff Mulan: Apple Bloom, you come back here right this instant! I'm gonna tell Li Shang on you! Aw, birdie feathers!


 * Sally Acorn: I'll bet we'll find a cure to this curse at Zecora's place.
 * Kairi Sparkle: It's not a curse!
 * Sheriff Mulan: I agree with Dash. We'll go to Zecora's and force her to remove this hex.
 * Twilight Sparkle: It's not a hex, either!


 * Sally Acorn: It's time to 'pony up' and confront Zecora!


 * Nene Amano: Oh! OH! Pinkie, what are you doing? Ah, really. Aah! You ever hear of personal space?
 * Rapunzel: Nopth.


 * Sheriff Mulan: Easy, Rainbow Crash!


 * Britney Akiwara: How dare you! You destroy my home, destroy my work, then rudely accuse me of being a jerk?!


 * Kairi Sparkle: [reading aloud] "Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-alls That Are Simply Super".


 * Britney Akiwara: Maybe next time you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book.


 * Rapunzel: Oh my gosh! I never realized how horrible it is not to be able to talk! I love talking so much that I couldn't talk anymore and my tongue was all "eeeeeeehhhh". It was the worst! Don't you agree, Fluttershy?
 * Spectra Vondergeist: ...Yes.