I admit this episode was pretty lawl (Rarity's face, Spike's appetite for apple pie and RD's penchant for "frou-frou"... erm... stuff), but then I realized something. This season's had some good episodes but I can't help but feel there's something lacking in this episode.
"A Hearth's Warming Tail" was probably one of my fave episodes this season and that's because it was an episode that added something to character development (albeit for Starlight). Another episode that struck a chord with me was the episode "Gauntlet of Fire" because, you guessed it, character development (and the introduction of a new "love interest" for Spike in Princess Ember but that's another discussion). Oh and RD's acceptance into The Wonderbolts was a pretty big one.
To me, this episode felt like filler. It didn't fit in with the theme of the season, which I will now christen "Big Developments". I mean, we go from all of the above to this? How did we do that?