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Episode 13 is off to a fun start with Applejack and Rainbow Dash showing their common interest in sport. In previous gens stuff like this wouldn’t have been possible, but here we’ve got a world where ponies engage in whatever activities take their fancy, not just parties and dress-up. Fleshes out the setting and our two characters here. When Applejack and Rainbow Dash are agreeing on their iron pony competition, they spit on their hooves, kind of like a handshake, but go in for the brohoof. This made me wonder if a truly correct brohoof would involve spitting on one’s fist first? Somehow it seems less hygienic than a spit-handshake, even though logically the handshake would surely be worse for hygiene. 

After the theme song, we get a shot down across Sweet Apple Acres showing autumn has arrived. I actually had to go back and check that it was autumn in the cold open – it was. For some reason it escaped my notice there. But it makes for more or less perfect timing, as it’s just about bang in the middle of autumn as I’m watching this! I don’t dislike Nightmare Night, but I certainly feel like autumn is much comfier in this episode, as I like autumn but have never been a fan of halloween. Applejack’s consternation with Rainbow Dash interrupting and talking over her as Twilight sets up the situation with her questions actually potentially foreshadows the plot development later in the episode, as I rewatch. It’s a fairly simple structure but I think it works quite well, where Rainbow Dash starts out irritated at losing, and Applejack grows irritated over the course of the episode at Rainbow’s arrogance. It’s a bit like Griffon the brush-off, where the first half of the episode is set-up for the second half. Spike mentions “first annual Iron Pony competition” just as part of pretending to be an announcer, but it would be kinda comfy if the mane 6 sort of did that every year as a small activity just between them I think. Idk. Seeing Rainbow Dash nervous before she does the barrels is intriguing – I feel like she grows less nuanced in her confidence as time goes on. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I certainly can’t remember many times that I’ve seen Rainbow Dash feeling nervous in the show. It’s also notable that although we begin to see Rainbow Dash unquestionably cheating, Applejack begins to get annoyed after losing the arm-wrestle, so it’s not purely from indignation at Rainbow cheating. But even as annoyed with eachother as they are, they’re still able to laugh with one another during the scene transition, which is a cute detail.

I’ve heard the Running of the Leaves be derided almost every time I’ve seen this episode reviewed, specifically in terms of it not making sense. While I concede that the Running is not as thoroughly explored as Winter Wrap-Up, I don’t think it’s fair to dismiss it entirely. Magic explanations may be seen as lazy, but fundamentally the idea of ponies taking part in the change of seasons for autumn as well is one I really like and the Running itself is a neat implementation of that idea. I would suggest that the explanation is essentially Earth-pony magic, with the actual cause being a sort of synchronicity between the thumping of hoofsteps and the readiness of the leaves to fall, which then evolved over time to include Pegasi and Unicorns in the tradition too even though their magic wouldn’t really apply in a practical sense in this theory. 

Pinkie Pie inviting Spike to join her as a co-announcer is a great showcase of the empathy she’s been showing through season 1. Just like last episode with Applebloom, she’s good at reading emotions and knows just how to cheer people up, with her comedic obliviousness more being for her own amusement than an actual indicator of her state of mind, seemingly. And in other character details, Twilight taking her time to enjoy the race and taking in the scenery is adorable. I think you could make this episode and more or less write her out of it whilst keeping the message intact, but I’d find it much less enjoyable, she balances it out very nicely for me.