Rarity refusing to shake Applejack’s hoof when she spits on it made me chuckle. As the episode moved on, I thought to myself, would I do the same? I’ve never had someone spit into their hand before offering it for a shake – apart from the disgust, my secondary concern would be correct protocol. I’m quite aware of where I stand with an ordinary handshake, but with the spit involved, am I supposed to spit into my hand too, or simply take their hand with their spittle? It doesn’t seem an equal exchange with just one person’s spit, but on the other hand I hardly wish to impose my spit upon someone when I myself don’t wish their spit imposed upon me. And I’ve no idea whether the shake is done with the same force or length in it’s “spit-n-shake” format. Perhaps the rules are identical, but with such a strange and alien custom, I don’t feel safe to assume.

Anyways, that moment of surprising relatability in Rarity for me leads straight into a comfy outdoors shot of the storm, then the hair rollers, which sets off a feeling of sympathy for Applejack rather than for Rarity. It’s becoming a sort of see-saw episode. Whilst the overall atmosphere is still comfy, the idea of mud masks and hair rollers being fun rather than tortuous just doesn’t compute for me. It’s surprisingly rare that gender cultural divides crop up in MLP for me really, considering this scene – I don’t get the appeal of what they’re doing in this moment, and yet it stands out. Whereas in a show such as, say, Totally Spies, the “girly” activities are much more prominent and so they don’t stand out so much to me. In that show, I take it as a given that I would not want to live anywhere near where it takes place owing to factors like that, among other things. So once again I appreciate what seems like the relative uniqueness of MLP, a comfy fantasy slice-of-life in spite of, and not because of, it’s demographic (maybe worded a little harshly, but you get what I mean, I hope!).

As we get into the ghost stories, I’m realising that this dynamic is working perfectly for me. I love seeing Applejack and Rarity compete, it’s delightful to see them try to get one up on eachother for some reason, and this is balanced nicely with Twilight being blissfully unaware and just very adorably enjoying the slumber party. Moments like her getting way more into telling the ghost stories than the other two and her enthusiasm to break out one of her childhood books are particularly cute, and I think work well in making me both want to see Applejack and Rarity’s competition escalate whilst also not wanting them to burst Twilight’s bubble, which is also what Rarity and Applejack are wanting in the episode. The lantern being filled with fireflies is an interesting touch – though I have to wonder how it’s turned off, exactly. Obviously the fireflies sleep at some point – if they sleep during the day then that’s probably good enough, could always put a blanket over it or something if need be I suppose. I was thinking about how they eat, but perhaps with creatures as small as bugs, an enchantment could keep them sustained and also extend their lifespan a little so the lantern doesn’t conk out within just three days or something. Assuming, of course, that they are actually fireflies! Perhaps these are cousins of the magical Parasprites, Glowsprites if you will. Since ponies effectively engineer nature itself here in Equestria, it makes sense to me that domestication could lead to results that are almost like planned evolution.

I love the way the resolution is executed. First Twilight’s bubble is popped with the argument over the bedsheets, and it seems like that’s the worst it’ll get, then we’re hit with the tree branch disaster. Whilst ideally it wouldn’t take adversity to bring people together, given that stories thrive on conflict it works perfectly here I’d say, and Applejack gives an excellent example of a genuine and sincere apology, which I think is useful since they’re very hard things to do irl and often I find myself not knowing what to say where a genuine apology is needed.