Well, having watched it for a 2nd time, I think that I will give my thoughts instead because this one is a little bit more different than usual, not for the show but for the community.

>>4694
>what can I say about this episode?
>it's an ambivalence. The story was done for the most part fine
>I actually enjoyed it most of the time.
I could sum it up with this, you have definitely said it with these lines but I feel like I should go a little bit further before replying to your posts about this episode.

This episode by itself cannot be rated lower than The Last Crusade or be seen as a low point of the season. As far as I am concerned, I can´t find any atrocity signs in the writing (in general, I cannot find them easily for this season, it feels like a polished version of season 8).

I am typing the easier things first: this episode doesn´t have anyone out of character here, they act fairly reasonably and Rarity actually comes back to her dramatic antics (with the sofa for crying about her troubles like in the past seasons) so along with the music for practicing about her forgiveness, these moments stand out as the comedy elements for this episode.

A few relevant aspects worth mentioning is that the show keeps its consistency about reintroducing Gabby in Ponyville. It´s ironic but nobody would have bet about the post office being such an effective place to work around and use it as a plot device for the last seasons. This place has become even more relevant than the town hall or even the Sugarcube Corner and it started because of Derpy´s fame. As soon as writers figured out what she works at, her constant presences related to her job have made this place even more important than one would have expected at first.

Another detail that I should mention is that the friendship established between Gabby and Spike is because they have things in common but one detail that I have particularly liked a lot is that she said that both dragons and griffons don´t have the greatest fame out there. I´ve liked quite a lot about this acknowledgement and she admits that she is working for improving their image at what she does. Another case,besides the students, that whatever species is involved in the writing, there will be reminiscences of pony culture or at least, have an indirect influence both in the writing and in Equestria itself.

Lastly (even though this is more aimed at the writing direction in general than this episode), there are always constant references to previous material (Power Ponies, the gem cave becoming a constant place to visit, the shops and the spa of Ponyville...)and it shows how even characters like the students don´t feel all that weird these days, particularly at the scene in which Gallus receives the letter. So many new faces yet the feelings are still the same in the old settings that we have known, this episode reaffirms that the coziness still has a place until the very end of the series.