Picking Apart "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", Season 2 Episode 5

Sisterhooves Social

This episode fixates more on the rather rocky relationship of Rarity and her little sister Sweetie Belle.  It all starts when we're introduced to Rarity's parents, who are dropping off Sweetie Belle at the Carousel Boutique before leaving for a week's vacation.  Rarity doesn't seem the least bit thrilled. 

Now Sweetie Belle wants to help out in order to feel important to her older sister, but she inadvertently makes a mess of things, or rather does so from Rarity's point of view.

Rarity: This wasn't a mess! It was organized chaos!

Gee, that's a new one.  I'd say Rarity's just being ungrateful.  I mean, Sweetie Belle even does a nice drawing for her (we don't see it just yet), and all Rarity does is complain that her precious jewels were used up. But seriously, how could a whole box be used when it looks like Sweetie Belle didn't use all that many?  It's kind of disturbing how many times parts of this series seem to run out of proportions.

Sweetie Belle then meets up with Apple Bloom, who suggests that the sisters take part in the annual Sisterhooves Social, but when she shows Rarity she refuses simply because the event is held at Sweet Apple Acres, where she deems just about everything as uncouth.

Sweetie Belle gets so furious that she decides to disown herself and Rarity agrees.  She rejoins Apple Bloom at the farm where Applejack tries to assure her that Rarity will see the light eventually, much to her doubt.

Of course Apple Bloom, awkwardly enough, has to ask for the definition of uncouth when she makes perfect demonstrations.

Like that.

Back at the Carousel Boutique, Rarity ends up taking a second look at Sweetie Belle's design and we get to see it.  Seems that it actually gets through to her heart. 

Well, never mind the animation error of the now flat sapphires because there's plenty of superior animation in this show itself to more than make up for it.  Rarity realizes she made a terrible mistake and resolves to get her sister back, rewording a phrase from the romance novel Gone with the Wind.

Rarity: As Celestia is my witness I shall never be sister-less again!

She finds Sweetie Belle on the farm, but of course she refuses to come back with her.  And that's when Rarity makes the mistake of offering to do things she wants to do with her.

Sweetie Belle: You want me to go home with you, so we can do what you wanna do?

Rarity: Uh... yes?

*sigh* No wonder things didn't end well.  It's like she doesn't know anything about being a sister.

But that's when good ol' Applejack gives her a few pointers and tries to tactfully explain just what being a sister means.

Applejack: Bein' sisters is like... apple pie. You can have amazin' apples, and you can have a wonderfully crispy crust, but only together you can have a perfect apple pie.

Rarity then realizes the only way to make things up is to enter the Sisterhooves Social alongside Sweetie Belle, but with her in a huffy mood and all but dissing her, it's lot easier said than done.

So Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Rarity all devise a plan and during the day of the competition, they put it into motion.  It starts when Applejack decides to have Sweetie Belle compete with her instead of having Apple Bloom, but only under the condition that they are sisters for one day only.

Apple Bloom: One. Day. One. Day.

So the event begins and Applejack deliberately falls into the first mudhole as part of the plan.  When she emerges, we can immediately tell she's not Applejack because her eyes are blue instead of green.

That means Rarity is now in the competition wearing Applejack's hat, covered in mud, and remains silent for the rest of the event.  Ah, the things she'll do for sisterhood.

Well, they don't win the competition, but Sweetie Belle is unfazed by their loss and in her excitement, she accidentally knocks off Applejack's hat and it is eventually revealed that Rarity had been participating this whole time and Applejack had been left behind right from the very beginning.

Okay, how long was Applejack holding her breath in that mudhole?

Never mind.  Rarity and Sweetie Belle make up and the next friendship report is done by both of them.

Well, this wasn't all that bad as an episode, but just mediocre like most of the others.  Mind you, I'm still biting my tongue waiting for some episode or an event within an episode to start sending this series down the tubes.  But if there's anything really capable of that, it's definitely the season finale.  Of course, that doesn't mean nothing bad is gonna happen before then, so I'm just gonna have to brace myself from here on out.