Starlight and Maud were the highlights here, without question.

After really bad performances in Every Little Thing and To Where, this is Starlight's third consecutive good appearance, and her growth continues. Trixie's and Starlight's friendship's very energetic, but Starlight's and Maud's friendship is very casual. You can tell she's grown a lot since she first arrived in Ponyville one-plus season ago. More self-assuring than before.

Maud was really good, too. One of her better performances of the show. Her anti-humor was dry when it needed to be, but sincere and serious when it needed to be, too. Maud isn't nor should be merely a vessel for dry humor. She should be more than that to round out her character and not make her one-note.

Their bond was fantastic. Something about Maud Pie the episode that clicks poorly is how much the RM5 tried to get acquainted to Maud, but never do, and try to force a resolution out of it. There was never any genuine growth nor understanding between Maud and the others. When Maud is with a ReMane character, there's some sort of friction. There was a little bit of friction to start here, too, but what this episode does right in comparison to the S4 episode is how the between Maud and Starlight evolves over the course. They have something in common, and, no, it's not the kite. It's how Starlight and Maud not only listen to each other, but understand each other, too. They can imagine the other's point of view — see in each other's shoes. Maud's reasoning for being so close with rocks is very personal, which the show didn't do until today. I'm not sure why it's the case. For a show writer's point of view, could be because Maud's passion for rocks is mostly gag-centric. But for a canonical point of view, it implies that Maud will only do it to those who can relate to her, which Starlight shows.

That said, this episode could've done more to help Maud get better acquainted. Remember, she only became friends with one Ponyville resident. Ponyville's a pretty big village with all sorts of personalities. There are a lot of characters that she can acquaint and have something in common if you can arrange the time. Unfortunately, RSF doesn't delve into that, and it leaves Maud's transition into Ponyville only half-full.

Pinkie's obnoxiousness is understandable. In the beginning, she's super-excited because her sister officially became a doctor, which is very difficult to do. And it's understandable why she butted into Maud's business when trying to explore Ponyville and bonding with others in Ponyville. Nevertheless, that doesn't change the fact how nosy and obnoxious she is. Sure, she may not be completely observant, she's still very sensitive and should understand how Maud needs time to adjust to Ponyville. She should remember how butting into other people's business caused a great deal of problems: Look no further than A Friend in Deed. Rather than try to force a friendship, let it build. Yes, the lessons are different, but the secondary theme remains. Furthermore, her actions suggest that Pinkie doesn't completely trust Maud, even though they're supposedly very close. It's like the episode doesn't completely understand Pinkie. This semi-break of continuity hurts Pinkie's character and bogs down the episode.

The moral itself — "There's no one true way into making friends — is fine. However, this episode feels like there could be an entirely different moral with maybe a more direct theme. Remember the theme of this episode: Maud is trying to decide which place to move to, the Ghastly Gorge or Ponyville. But there's also a side-theme of Pinkie trying to convince her to move to Ponyville over the Ghastly Gorge. Perhaps the theme of the episode could be only trying to convince Maud to move. But rather than Pinkie getting in the way, she just watches from afar and hopes everything moves swimmingly. Use Pinkie's growth over the seasons, her instinct, and trust of Maud to help forge friendships and influence her decision to relocate to Ponyville.

Is it good? No. But is it bad? No. It's above-average.