Haha, they really do! Spike's snark plus Rainbow's attitude equals lots of humor. I'd like to see more conversations between them.

It's not really the 5 stages of death, it's the 5 stages of grief - my dance company director is actually doing a bible study of sorts with us older girls about grief, since our choreography piece this year to a song called "See You in a Little While." And the song actually IS about someone dying, but we've been learning all about the stages, and one thing we talked about is how you go through the stages whenever you experience loss, be that loss of an opportunity, an injury, the end of a friendship - or the loss of three months of fun with your very-special pet.

Actually, ever since then I've been able to recognize the stages in miniature form even when I'm upset about little things. It's a really natural process in response to anything upsetting. Not saying you're not allowed to criticize or dislike the episode, just putting that out there for consideration. :)

Anyone else catch the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-esque moment in the weather factory? XD

Also, was this a favorite part for anyone else?
Spike: No.
RD: I'm going to take that as a yes.
Only Rainbow Dash. XD I've already used that quote on my brothers.

Oh and I forgot to mention in my last comment: Loved the followup, Q! The rhymes made me laugh!

"So that was the '4th wall' that Pinkie broke, right?"

Aw maaaaan, I was gonna make that joke! XD

This episode has easily become one of my new favorites! ADORABLE RAINBOW DASH. ADORABLE TANK. REALISTIC DIALOGUE. HILARIOUS JOKES AND FACIAL EXPRESSIONS. RAINBOW DASH SOLO SONG YES YES YES. A GAZILLION (well, four that I caught) REFERENCES. MANE6 BEING BFFS. CONTINUITY. It had /everything/.

To people saying RD's crying was "unrealistic"- guys, girls cry more often than you think. Lots won't cry in public, or in front of most friends, but most girls will definitely cry in front of their BFFs if they have to let out stress about an emotional wound. And to put it in perspective for those saying "lighten up, Tank's not dying, he'll only be gone three months." We already know Dash doesn't like being alone, and her house is presumably also really hard for her friends to get to. So, for one thing, Dash will have to come home to an empty house, devoid of her Tortoise Friend Forever, 90 times. Not only that, but her breakdown is also perfectly set up in the beginning of the episode - she's REALLY excited for all the things she and Tank are going to do /together/ in the winter. All those fantasies were totally dashed (oh gosh, I didn't even intend to make that pun) when she found out that not only will he be asleep for the entire winter, but he will be asleep EVERY winter, which means she will NEVER get to do any of the things in her sweet dream-montage with Tank. That's pretty dang sad.

Aaaaanyway, I have to say though, I was dying with laughter during the whole crying scene because guys that is SUCH an accurate representation of what girl friends do when someone starts crying. You've got the Feelers, who are sympathy criers (that would be me, I cry every time I watch a friend cry) and then you've got like half of the group all sobbing, and the Thinkers stand at the ready for hugs and such, feeling sort of awkward because they're NOT crying. One of those "IT'S SO FUNNY BECAUSE IT'S TRUE" moments for me. XD And all the dialogue and characterization for that scene was spot-on. Like the breakfast scene in "Castle Sweet Castle."