My Thoughts on "Hearthbreakers"

How inappropriately Christmas this episode is, though that's not actually a bad thing. I rather enjoyed this one, regardless of how hilariously out of place it was. So, without further ado, here are my thoughts on this week's inappropriately-themed episode, Hearthbreakers.

Spoilers. You have been warned.

I was excited for this episode, for no other reason than to see Pinkie's family. Frankly, I'm finding it harder and harder to like and/or care about Applejack as time goes on, but it's always fun to see Pinkie do anything. If Twilight and Fluttershy weren't such godly characters, Ms. Pie would be at the absolute top of my list. Pinkie's confusion about their relation is hilarious, and I rather enjoy that recurring joke (although it brings up an issue that I will address later). I find the fact that Applebloom can identify Applejack's "boring, sisterly lecture" voice to be a hilarious idea.

I think, in order to save any character, just put them on screen with Pinkie. Pinkie makes everything better. Applejack's best scenes in this episode were when she was interacting with Pinkie. I'm sad to say that, after all these years of being a stagnant number 5, Aj has officially dropped to the bottom of my list of favorites. It's a shame, really, because she could've been a thing, but she's just not. Double ironic, considering that she's the older sister of best Crusader. Hm. Second worst pony is older sister of second best Crusader, and third worst pony is older sister to worst Crusader... what a coincidence...

Yay, Maud Pie! I didn't like Maud very much at first, but she's most certainly grown on me. Her rock jokes are best jokes. As for the rest of her family... Eh... Not a fan of Ma and Pa Pie. Limestone is probably my favorite of Pinkie's sisters, which is ironic, because it seems like she's Pinkie's least favorite. Holy fudge, Pinkie is a twin?!?! This changes everything! Also, Marble is adorable, and, if she were to have spoken more than Sombra, she might've beaten out Limestone for the rank of Best Non-Pinkie Pie.

The following is a very dumb, very miscellaneous gripe: WHY WOULD THEY PUT BIG MAC ON A BUNK ABOVE GRANNY SMITH?!?! If the bed were to collapse under his weight, which is very possible, fall, Granny would freaking die! Put Bloom above Granny (To make matters worse, they later put Granny on the top bunk, which is also a recipe for disaster)!

This episode actually seems to shed a lot of light on how Pinkie turned out the way she did. She's super excitable, because Maud is not. She's mouthy to compensate for Marble. She's so nice and sweet to counteract Limestone's harsh and, forgive the pun, rocky personality. During the dinner scene, I found myself contemplating the potential for a real life rock soup. I also wanted to know why Limestone looks like she's constantly plotting to do something nasty. Then, after dinner, they went about their weird doll tradition, which was pretty fun.

Applejack's rock was almost dickbutt, and I am okay with this. The idea of finding a good rock and shaping it into your doll actually sounds like a fair bit of fun. I wonder if I can come up with a realistic equivalent for my own holiday season...

Remember earlier when I said that them pushing the Pie/Apple relations would cause problems? Well, that's because they seemed to be heavily pushing Big Mac X Marble. As cute as this ship has potential to be, them possibly being cousins adds a wrinkle that I don't think the guys down at The Bro will be too fond of. But, people are going to ship Marble and Big Mac, and there's just nothing to be done for that.

Oh my god, the Pie's are super weird, and OH MY GOD, Granny Smith be thirsty for them stallions. That bit about the arranged marriage via rock is absolutely absurd, and, if I hadn't so much work on my plate already, I'd totally do a story around it. Frankly, I still might. I actually really liked Maud and Applebloom's interactions. I think that this might be the only time we ever actually see these two talk, so I'll enjoy it while I can.

The Pie's family traditions are as absurd as they are ridiculous and probably actually really fun if done properly. Things were going smoothly, albeit it a little bumpy at times. Some might even say the road was a little rocky at points (didn't I already use that pun?). I thought this episode might not actually have any complications.

Aaaaaaand, here comes Applejack being intolerant. Subtle references to religious tolerance. Why would Aj think this was a good idea? What was her plan? What did she expect to happen? This is why people call Applejack worst pony, because she does dumb things like this because she just can't accept things that are different. Still, the episode was good enough, and I hope this doesn't mark the end of the Pie family's tenure on the show. I want to see more sisters in the future, if you don't mind terribly.

Overall, I rate this episode at 9 out of 10. There wasn't actually anything all that wrong with it, but there was never a moment that just floored me. It did fill in some holes in my headcanon, and it finally killed the last semblance of the theory that maybe, just maybe, Octavia was a Pie sister. Oh well.

Those are my thoughts, be sure to share yours with me. For those of you who care, I'll be posting my thoughts on the RWBY Vol. 3 premier later today (if I can stop from exploding until it's released). If not, I'll see you next week, next Spooky Saturday, with my thoughts on the episode Scare Masters, and, hopefully, a new story and chapter to celebrate the Night of Nightmares.