Lukington17

Did anyone else notice Apple Bloom's voice actor changing frequently? Sounded like the voice of Babs Seed sometimes...

I found it very annoying and lazy of the writers to completely overlook the fact that Applejack was raised in Manehattan, and thus shouldn't really have been that nervous at all. Coco Pommel came out of her shell a bit as well, which was nice. So a lot of ponies going out-of-character!

No, I hadn't but fair play to you for noticing them! Awesome! I personally found this episode lacking, most probably because we saw so few of the main cast ('mane' cast, even...). The mystery, as people are saying, was way too predictable. I knew it was him as soon as the problem was first addressed. The concept of mystery / case-solving episodes is a good one, but I feel they just need to get us thinking a bit more. Now okay, this isn't Agatha Christie reincarnated or anything, it's still MLP and they obviously can't go into any serious crimes, but the culprits should surely be kept more subdued than this. MMMystery on the Friendship Express had a relatively unsatisfying ending as well. The Rarity detective scenes were amusing in their observing of classic detective films, but they did drag on a bit. It felt like the solving of the case was just suddenly thrown on us by Rarity at the end, and we saw relatively irrelevant endeavours in the detective scenes - ideally we should be invited to 'think along' with Rarity, as opposed to watching her and moaning Rainbow Dash carry out meaningless acts and then having the verdict delivered at the end with us clueless. Maybe people disagree; it's just how I felt watching it. I also don't feel like the Wonderbolts would so willingly be prepared to kick Rainbow Dash out from any affiliation with them at all after everything she's done for them, and how proven she is to them, instead giving her a rash ultimatum. Talk about a fair judicial system in Equestria... Nevertheless, as a Rainbow fan myself , it was great to see her get an episode focus. She seemed unlike herself though, almost too dependent on Rarity's help and unwilling to take matters into her own hands - like she might normally and arrogantly do. Character development, I guess...anyway Keep going, MLP, we still love you!

I found this episode so-so overall (can't vote in the poll 'cos I'm new, I think). I thought this episode did develop Rarity's character a lot, like people are saying, and it was nice to have a smooth re-introduction to the series after the intense last episode with Luna. There were several flaws, like Music Chart Fan said, such as the unexplained survey result that Twilight is somehow Equestria's favourite pony despite appearing to do very little; Rarity seemed a bit of a pushover despite finally securing her dream boutique. If your store manager is giving you a hard time, give them a talking to; don't sit and suffer in silence. Sassy and Rarity came across as obviously having completely different attitudes to running a boutique. As a result, their making-up at the end felt rushed and artificial - I personally wouldn't have left Sassy in charge of the shop in my absence! Lastly, Sassy implied this was not her first attempt at running a good shop: wouldn't it have been nice if there'd been a brief sequence showing Sassy's failed stores in the past? Hell, they put Rarity through so much in that infamous nightmare sequence in 'For Whom the Sweetie Belle Tolls', you'd think we'd see that it happens to others as well! Anyway, they pretty much could have done anything in this episode and, I think we'd all agree, it wouldn't have mattered that much - it's just nice to have MLP back!