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First off, great cold open. The classic ‘perfectionist faced with chaos’ scenario, with Rarity and Sweetie Belle here, and it sets up the conflict nicely and concisely, as many of these cold opens do. An interesting detail is that Sweetie Belle tries to grab the ribbon Rarity wants with her hoof, and her leaning precariously on the sewing machine then causes the mayhem – she did not use her magic to get the ribbon. Perhaps Sweetie Belle’s magic is still tenuous in range or grip at her young age. Then, after the intro, we have Fluttershy returning Opalescence– in a rather fancy basket, presumably the one Rarity usually uses when Opalescence needs transporting. I’d forgotten that Opalescence actually gets on better with Fluttershy than with Rarity, slightly heartbreaking given how much we know Rarity loves and provides for her cat. And an interesting introduction to ‘the stare’, although arguably we might have seen Fluttershy use it on the dragon, and I don’t personally see that Opalescence would be all that nice around Fluttershy if she had been subject to the stare, given that animal reactions to the stare tend to be fearful. Then we have the great gag with Opalescence slicing off some of Sweetie Belle’s hair. Rarity mentions that the robes she’s making are due in Trottingham tomorrow morning, so Trottingham must be fairly nearby, even if it’s going by train or Pegasus. And it SOUNDS like Rarity even uses the British pronunciation of the -ham suffix, though it was kind of hard to tell even on replay whether she says “Trotting-UM” or “Trotting-HAM”. I love how the arrival of Scootaloo and Apple Bloom immediately cheers up Sweetie Belle and the three quickly descend into loud excitement, it’s very authentically kid-like. The over-the-head conversation Rarity and Fluttershy have also very much reminds me of the adult conversations adults would have over my head when I was young. Then, as the CMC race outside with Fluttershy in tow, they run into Twilight, with a creepy musical sting for the mention of the Everfree Forest. Twilight mentions getting her favourite tea from Zecora – I wonder if it was her favourite tea before meeting Zecora, or whether Zecora introduced it to Twilight?

When the group arrives at Fluttershy’s cottage, the realism continues as they rampage around the house in overexcitement, looking at everything and messing with their surroundings. I would venture to say that they aren’t even being especially rambunctious, it seems to me more as though it’s Fluttershy’s shrinking-violet tendencies that’s failing to really take charge of the situation. The way the genuine suggestion of becoming creature-catchers quickly turns into a simple game of pretend also strikes very true to me, even as I fret about Fluttershy’s rug. My parents and grandparents all had rugs that we had to be very gentle with growing up, so seeing a rug mistreated so does shock me a little, even if I really don’t care one way or the other what happens to any rug. The momentary apology followed by the table operation (now that I’m writing it out, is that a pun on ‘operating table’?) got a chuckle out of me, I’ll admit. Also noteworthy in the background is that the door still isn’t shut – although it is just the top half, and it could be summer. 

As the CMC go into the Everfree forest, I chuckle at the name of the chicken ‘Elizabeak’, and pause to ponder why Fluttershy lives next to the forest if she’s afraid of it, as she reacts to the Everfree with fear as she discovers the CMC are gone and spots their tracks leading away from the cottage. It must be that her love of animals, who afterall live near to and sometimes within the forest, overcomes her fear of that same forest, which is a neat little way for her location and home to reflect her character and core motivation of overcoming her fears. The reveal that Twilight has been petrified by the Cockatrice is neatly done, as well as being set up earlier with Twilight’s mention of going into the Everfree earlier in the episode.