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Spike keeps showing confusion at Pinkie’s tangents, but I think all of them are generally really good announcing. It keeps the flow going and avoids odd pauses in between the action – in particular I think the ketchup pun and the aside about hot dogs was fantastic, it makes it feel conversational. I almost felt like a pony spectating the race, grinning along to the announcing in that moment. In that sense it ever so slightly annoys me that Spike seems confused and/or exasperated by Pinkie’s announcing, but that is in character for him I suppose. Maple syrup is being harvested further along in Whitetail Wood, which probably implies something about Ponyville’s climate, but I’m not sure what it would be. It mainly makes me hungry thinking about how good pancakes in Ponyville would taste with all these locally-grown ingredients and local maple syrup to boot. As they reach the finish line, the ending twist is satisfying, even if it’s not a big surprise. I like that Celestia’s turned up, it shows that she drops in for visits that aren’t just major events, the note about her enjoying autumn is interesting, and probably my favourite little note of the episode is when she directly addresses Applejack. I don’t know what it is, but somehow referring to Applejack by name sounds much more familiar and less formal than when she declaratively refers to Twilight by name. And the fact that she actually knows Twilight’s friends, whilst not surprising given Twilight’s regular reports, is still a humanising detail I think. Applejack isn’t just “loyal subject” to Celestia, she’s Applejack, Celestia is not above talking to her directly. I’ve personally interacted with authority figures who will not use my name, will talk to one of my superiors in order to indirectly address me and talk to me, all that carry-on, so it is notable I think that Celestia is not that type of authority figure, although again this isn’t necessarily surprising. I think it’s just that the moment makes this assumed reality both confirmed and more visceral for me. 

So, in terms of rating this episode, there’s some superficial elements that make it a bit less enjoyable for me. During the race, Applejack and Rainbow Dash engage in some reality-bending and slapstick-esque tactics that just really take me out of the story, like Applejack slingshotting herself ahead with a branch, Rainbow dash doing the same with the maple syrup, the two of them becoming a tornado, that sort of thing. I’m really not a big fan of this sort of thing in general, as the best reaction you can hope to get out of me towards it is not minding it, for example I don’t really mind reality-breaking slapstick in Spongebob, but I don’t LIKE it either, it’s doing nothing for my enjoyment. And shows that primarily consist of it like Road Runner or Ren and Stimpy cannot hold my attention, I just totally lose interest within minutes if not seconds. This does bring down the enjoyment a fair bit for me, but there’s still strong positive elements, like the comfy autumn, Pinkie and Spike’s interactions, Twilight being adorable throughout, and Celestia’s appearance at the end. With that in mind, I’m going to rate this at 6.2. I liked it a bit more than Call of the Cutie, but not as much as Ticket Master, so I’ve put it bang in the middle.

On a different note, now that we're coming up on halfway through Season One, I was thinking back to: 
 >>/8889/
Since it was mentioned that we've got a realistic goal of season 1, I was thinking it might be a good idea to make a new thread for season 2 in case Bridge needs a break but also so it's clearer how the thread works in case anypony wants to join in!