Episode [1.17] – “Stare Master”
This week, on My Little Pony…
“Those girls have really done it this time! They’ve really bitten off more than they can chew! Oh, just like me… I never should have offered to watch them…”

My Little Pony Rewatch Project
Deconstruction is Magic
“Those girls have really done it this time! They’ve really bitten off more than they can chew! Oh, just like me… I never should have offered to watch them…”
“Rainbow Dash, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be okay? Everyone’s so in love with Rarity’s wings that they won’t even notice when I totally BLOW IT in the Best Young Flyer’s Competition.”
“What’s she doing now?”
“Smelling a flower.”
“HOLY GUACAMOLE! I wonder what that means!”
“… Probably that the flower smells good.”
“I’m never coming out! I can’t show my face in Ponyville ever again! I used to be somepony… I used to be respected! I made dresses… Beautiful, beautiful dresses! But now everypony is laughing at me. I’m nothing but a laughing stock!”
“You’re not a laughing stock, Rarity…”
“She kind of is.”
“Shhh! Come on out and talk to us.”
“Leave me alo~one! I want to be alone! I want to wallow in… whatever it is that ponies are supposed to wallow in! Do ponies wallow in pity? Oh, listen to me, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to wallow in! I’M SO PATHETI~IC!”
“Welcome to the official coverage of the Running of the Leaves! You know, Spike, despite its name, the leaves don’t do any of the actual running. No, that’s left to my little ponies.”
“Why, yes, Pinkie, it’s the running of the ponies that causes the leaves to fall.”
“Ugh, those lazy, lazy leaves. But this year, the run is about more than the weather. It’s about the race to the finish and the two ponies who want to win it: Applejack and Rainbow Dash.”
“You know, Pinkie, these two ponies have a bit of a grudge match they’re trying to settle. Trying to prove who’s the most athletic.”
“Yes! And grudge rhymes with fudge!”
“Yes it… does. What?”
“And I like fudge! But if I eat too much fudge I get a pudge and then I can’t budge.”
“So… no fudge?”
“Oh, no thanks, I had a big breakfast.”
To settle an argument over which of them is the most athletic, Rainbow Dash and Applejack hold a series of physical contests to prove once and for all who’s the best. Rainbow wins by a landslide, but Applejack isn’t satisfied, claiming Dash used her wings to cheat her way through most of the competition. The two decide to use the annual Running of the Leaves race as a rematch, but will their hyper-competitive nature get in the way of what the point of the run is supposed to be?
“Well, now that we’re friends, what if the three of us work together to find out who we are and what we’re supposed to be?”
“Ooh! Ooh! We could form our own secret society!”
“I’m liking this idea.”
“A secret society. Yeah. We need a name for it, though.”
“The Cutie Mark Three?”
“The Cutastically Fantastics?”
“How about… The Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
“It’s perfect!”
“This is gonna be so great!”
“We’re gonna be unstoppable!”
“Come on Spike, this is serious business. Winter needs to be wrapped up, and I’m determined to do my part. Somehow…”
“Okay! Here’s the plan. Rainbow Dash, you distract them. Good! Everyone else, we need to build an exact copy of Ponyville right over there. We’ve got less than a minute!
…Zecora was right. We’re doomed.”
“Well, I heard that Zecora eats hay.”
“Pinkie, I eat hay. You eat hay!”
“Yeah, but I heard it’s the evil way she eats hay.”
“Oh yeah? Well, I’m the get-alongin’ist pony yer ever gonna meet!”
“That’s not even a word.”
“This is going to be the bestest slumber party ever! Yay!”