Twilight Sparkle learns that the whole class of schoolponies has come down with horsey hives, and works out her schedule with Spike to spend the day with the foals at the hospital after getting them toys, snacks, and a book to read. Just as they are about to set off, a worn-out looking Princess Cadance and Shining Armor show up at the castle. They are there to see a pop-up art show from one of Shining's friends, Spearhead, and ask if Twilight can watch Flurry Heart for a few hours. Twilight quickly takes up the mantle of "Best Aunt Ever" and starts playing games with Flurry, agreeing to watch her even though Spike points out how packed her schedule is. Twilight finds that Flurry has more control on her magic now, albeit to get things her way or to launch mashed peas at Twilight when she tries to feed her. Spike points out that they're running late, and Twilight quickly sets off with Flurry and Spike in tow.
At the toy store, while Twilight is shopping, Flurry still wants to play, and Twilight indulges her by racing a shopping cart through the store. As Twilight checks out, Flurry wants to keep playing, and uses her magic to race the cart she's in right into the middle of a stuffed animal display. Though safe, Twilight spends the extra time to put the display back correctly, losing more time off their schedule. The next stop is at the schoolhouse, where Twilight asks Cheerilee a book for the foals. Again, Flurry still wants to play, but Twilight and Spike's attention are elsewhere, and instead she sees the school's blackboard. She erases Cheerilee's lesson plan from it to draw onto it before Twilight can stop her.
Still running late, Twilight stops at Sugercube Corner, and asks Pinkie for snacks for the foals as well as an "I'm sorry" gift for Cheerilee. She leaves Flurry with Pound and Pumpkin Cake with Spike watching them. However, the Cake get into a fight over a toy, and while Spike tries to find a second one, Flurry takes it on herself to try to resolve the problem by breaking the toy in two and giving each half to the Cake twins. This infuriates the Twins, and they start throwing cupcakes and other baked goods at Flurry. By the time the others notice, the bakery has been made a mess by the food fight.
Finally, they make it to the hospital, only a few minutes behind schedule. As Twilight reads to the foals, Flurry wants attention, but Twilight can't offer it. In a small bit of rage, Flurry loses her favorite stuffed toy Whammy, and starts to panic. She goes into a magical fit, levitating anything not nailed down to try to find Whammy, and Twilight cannot keep up with her magic. Finally, Twilight is forced to yell at Flurry to cut it out; Flurry instinctively forms a shield and shuns away from Twilight. Twilight realizes that she wasn't giving Flurry the attention that she wanted and she has been a terrible aunt. However, she apologizes, and Flurry drops the shield, hugging Twilight. Twilight agrees to help Flurry find Whammy, but only after fixing up the hospital after her magical bout.
Meanwhile, Cadance and Shining visit the art show, finding most of Spearhead's art is a bit too modern. The longer they stay, the more they find that the art reminds them of Flurry Heart, and soon wish they didn't leave her. Spearhead completely understands their situation, and tells them they should be with her instead, and they race back to the castle. They return and Twilight explains what happened, and apologizes for not refusing their offer to watch over her niece with a jam pack schedule, and they apologize too for not giving Twilight more of a heads up. Cadance and Shining Armor agree to give Twilight a bit more notice ahead of time if they need her for foalsitting duties again. The episode ends at the hospital as Spike reads to the sick foals, while they enjoy an apology cake that Twilight got for them.
A Flurry of Tropes:
- An Aesop:
- Twilight learns that spending more time with a loved one isn't what's important, rather spending more quality time with them is. As in, spending time with them instead of simply bringing them along with you while you fulfill your responsibilities.
- Additionally, people of different age groups naturally require different amounts of attention paid to them and have different limits to their patience when their needs aren't met, with infants needing high amounts of caring and having a low threshold to how long it takes them to get bored. Twilight learns she can't reasonably expect Flurry not to get frustrated being ignored while she does errands all day, and her attempts to multitask were really just putting a band-aid on the problem (the Cake twins weren't good playmates for Flurry, and Flurry is too young to enjoy the book Twilight was reading to the hospital ponies, who were older children than her.)
- Don't volunteer for something if you don't have time to do it properly, however worthwhile it may be. Conversely, don't give someone an important and demanding task without notice, particularly when that someone is known to be very busy. It's best to give someone a heads up.
- Twilight learns that spending more time with a loved one isn't what's important, rather spending more quality time with them is. As in, spending time with them instead of simply bringing them along with you while you fulfill your responsibilities.
- Affectionate Nickname: Twilight refers to Flurry as 'bug' at one point.
- Arc Words: "Best aunt ever." Twilight first proclaims it with confidence, citing it as why she'll have no trouble looking after Flurry. When things start getting hectic, Twilight claims she can make it work because, again, she is the best aunt ever. It is after Flurry's meltdown at the hospital that Twilight admits that she has actually been a terrible aunt today and should have looked after Flurry more.
- Babies Make Everything Better: Zig-zagged. Twilight loves Flurry Heart very much and has fun with her but her unexpected arrival causes some complications to Twilight's already packed schedule, and when Twilight needs to focus on other things Flurry causes trouble trying to entertain herself or look for her toy. But Twilight learns because of this that she needs to pay more attention to Flurry and the two end the day happily together.
- Baby See, Baby Do:
- When Twilight makes her bear dance like a ballerina, Flurry gets excited and attempts to copy her - she doesn't have enough experience with levitation to really pull it off though.
- When Twilight winks at Flurry Heart, Flurry tries to wink back.
But she finds herself unable to do it so instead she just blinks.
- Babysitting Episode: This episode focuses on Twilight agreeing to babysit her niece in addition to her other plans for the day, and trying to juggle both things at the same time until she learns that she shouldn't agree to watch over her niece if she doesn't have time to do it properly.
- Baby Talk: Shining Armor indulges in this while speaking for Flurry Heart:Shining Armor: I was hoping my favowit aunt could watch me fow a few houws.
- Badly Battered Babysitter: Twilight and Spike are run ragged trying to keep an eye on Flurry Heart while getting their errands done, with Flurry Heart making a mess everywhere they go.
- Barrier Warrior: Not quite "warrior" yet, but given that Flurry encases herself in a magical shield a few times in the episode (something Twilight describes as being advanced magic for her age), it would seem Flurry Heart's inherited the ability from her father.
- Brainy Baby: Flurry shows a surprising amount of intelligence. She's able to understand most of what Twilight says and what others are doing around her, and she mounts a quick and thorough search of the hospital once she realizes she's lost her Whammy.
- Brick Joke:
- In the library, Spike suggests a book about a dragon hero, which Twilight dismisses as something only Spike would like. At the end of the episode, Spike is in the hospital, reading the book to the children, which ends up being a big hit for them.
- Pinkie Pie has a specialized "sorry" stamp for Twilight which looks like a sad version of Twilight's face. At the end, after Spike finishes reading to the sick children, they have a cake with said image stamped on top.
- The Bus Came Back: Nurse Redheart, absent even from backgrounds since early season 2, returns during the hospital scenes. However, her cutie mark has changed from a filled red cross to an open one with a heart within it, likely to avoid issues over the trademark owned by The Red Cross.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": "Chicken pox" is called "horsey hives".
- Call-Back: Pinkie retrieves some files from her "Secret Party Cave", first appearing in "Party Pooped"; in this case, the information is about the favorite snacks of every pony in town.
- The Cameo: Doctor Hooves and Octavia appear in crowd scenes.
- "Cavemen vs. Astronauts" Debate: Referenced in the title Alien Alicorns vs. Space Pirates recommended by Cheerilee, which Twilight dismisses with "Well, the science there is preposterous."
- Character Development: Flurry Heart is still a rambunctious baby with powerful magic, but she's now more on the level of the Cake twins: not so wantonly destructive, empathetic to others' sadness, and can be reasoned with after a fashion. As the Cake twins reached that point at only a month of age, and Flurry is surely that old by now, it makes sense.
- Covered in Gunge: Twilight and Spike end up getting covered in mashed peas while trying to feed Flurry Heart. Cadance remarks that this usually ends up happening to her and Shining Armor.
- Cuteness Proximity: Twilight is very happy to see her niece, and this is her reaction to her when she first arrives.
- A Day in the Limelight: For the first time, Shining Armor and Cadence have a subplot that doesn't directly or indirectly revolve around one of the main characters. Namely, it is visiting an art gallery to support a friend of theirs.
- Deflector Shields: Flurry Heart hides in a bubble-shaped one a few times when she gets scared.
- Double Take: "Spike, you're floating...YOU'RE FLOATING?!"
- Episode Tagline: Twilight keeps talking about how she'll be the "best aunt ever" when babysitting her baby niece.
- Exhaustion-Induced Idiocy: Cadance and Shining Armor are both frazzled and desperate for a break when they ask Twilight to babysit. They admit at the end of the episode they should have given her advanced notice rather than spring it on her when she was too busy (even when Twilight admits that she shouldn't have accepted their offer of watching her niece with a busy schedule).
- Eye Pop: When Pinkie sees desserts all over the bakery after the baby fight.
- Faint in Shock: Nurse Redheart passes out once Twilight gets Flurry Heart to end the mass-levitation of everything and everypony in the room.
- Forgot About His Powers: Twilight is never seen teleporting to save time on her errands (though she could have done it offscreen, which would explain how she made up all that lost time), nor does she make use of her "freezing" spell to immobilize the objects Flurry Heart is frantically levitating.
- Furry Reminder: Twilight makes horse-like snorts twice in this episode: the first time when she's informed the toys she rearranged after Flurry knocked them down were originally arranged by color, and again when Cadance supposedly asks her if she's free to babysit next Tuesday.
- Goo-Goo-Godlike: Despite Sunburst having come up with a remedy for Flurry Heart's Power Incontinence at the end of the season 6 premiere (Granted, that was mainly to prevent any more sneezing-induced cataclysms), Flurry Heart still displays very powerful magic for a baby pony; she's able to teleport, levitate multiple objects at once (including objects as large as a bed), and create a solid, protective barrier around herself.
- Growling Gut: Flurry Heart makes her hunger known with a growling tummy.
- Handshake Substitute: Spearhead greets Shining Armor and Cadance with hoof-bumps (which seems to confuse Cadance somewhat).
- High-Pressure Emotion: When Flurry Heart gets upset about being ignored at the hospital and throws a tantrum, her face turns red with anger.
- Impact Silhouette: Flexed: While Twilight and Spike are covered in peas, the camera pans, before showing cutouts of their outlines.
- It's All About Me: Twilight agreed to take care of Flurry Heart despite her busy schedule was because she couldn't bring herself to refuse spending time with her adorable niece or not being (in her eyes) "the best aunt ever". She accepted the offer without considering how Flurry herself would feel being dragged along to Twilight's chores all day.
- It's All My Fault: Twilight admits that the trouble Flurry Heart caused was all her, Twilight's, fault for not giving her the attention she needed.
- It's the Best Whatever, Ever!: Twilight repeatedly claims that she's the "best aunt ever" throughout the episode. After messing up with babysitting Flurry Heart, though, by the end she admits that she wasn't that great and calls herself the "worst aunt ever".
- Judgment of Solomon: Attempted by Flurry Heart to get Pound and Pumpkin to stop fighting over a toy. Unfortunately, this just leaves them with two useless halves, making them rather upset at Flurry.
- Messy Hair: Cadance and Shining Armor have this when they show up at Twilight's castle with Flurry Heart, showing that they've had a rough time taking care of her.
- Mind over Matter: Despite the wards found by Sunburst to reduce her magic powers (albeit mainly to prevent sneezing-induced Power Incontinence), Flurry Heart is still capable of telekinetic feats far beyond the capacity of most adult unicorns. At the hospital, she frantically levitates everything in sight looking for her lost toy, maintaining the spell on all of them without even paying attention, and every time Twilight tries to set an object down Flurry just levitates it again before Twilight can finish.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Twilight feels this way after Flurry moves away from her in fear after she yelled at her.Twilight: You're scared of me. Because I yelled at you. Like a big scary bear.
- Mythology Gag: Twilight reads a story to some sick foals about "Gusty the Great" and her encounter with "the treacherous Grogar". Gusty was a G1 pony, and Grogar was the villain of the My Little Pony 'n Friends episode "The Return of Tambelon". We even see the cover of the book, and the protagonist really is accurate to the G1 character. Also, there are leaves similar to the ones in Gusty's cutie mark.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Flurry Heart tries to solve the problem of Pound and Pumpkin fighting over a toy — by breaking the toy in half and giving one piece of it to each sibling. This only makes them furious at her and escalates the fight to a dessert-based one.
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: Once again, the Cake twins are still just babies.
- Oh, Crap!: Flurry's antics tend to cause these expressions.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: How stressed is Twilight? She neglects to and is actually annoyed by having to organize something.
- Parents as People: As much as they love their little foal, Shining and Cadance occasionally need some time away from her because taking care of her is messy and exhausting. Then they quickly miss her and return.
- Picture Day: Naturally, the horsey hives outbreak had to happen on school picture day, resulting in a class photo of sick foals covered in skin rashes, with Cheerilee wary of being even close to them.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Being an alicorn, Flurry has an amazing amount of talent and skill for a baby pony. Even with Sunburst's wards in place (admittedly for the primary purpose of preventing any more Power Incontinence via sneezing), she can still perform Telekinesis, Flashy Teleportation and create Deflector Shields. Twilight is rather impressed by the latter, calling it an advanced spell.
- Polka-Dot Disease: Several foals fall sick with the "Horsey Hives", whose only visible symptom in the episode is them being covered in red spots.
- Remember the New Guy?: Lampshaded. Shining asks Twilight and Spike if they remember his old friend Spearhead from the royal guard, and after a moment of silence Spike says that all of Shining's friends have similar names.
- Right Behind Me: Twilight realizes Flurry is causing some serious mischief from seeing Pinkie's Oh, Crap! expression.
- Security Blanket: Flurry Heart has a plush snail she calls "Whammy". Hilarity Ensues when the snail goes missing during Twilight's visit to the hospital and Flurry Heart turns the place upside down looking for it.
- Shopping Cart Antics: In order to save time while buying toys and amuse Flurry while doing so, Twilight races their cart up and down the aisles. Unfortunately, Flurry decides to replicate this on her own and crashes into a display, wasting even more time.
- Shout-Out: How much darker could nights in a hallway be? None more dark.
- Surfer Dude: Spearhead talks like one, such as referring to Shining and Cadance as "dudes".
- Teleport Spam: Flurry warps herself around the hospital looking for her toy while levitating everything she can see.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Spike, whose portrayal has improved but is still normally Twilight's beleaguered assistant, is successfully entertaining the sick foals at the hospital in the end.
- True Art Is Incomprehensible: Invoked when Princess Cadance and Shining Armor visit the gallery where Spearhead is exhibiting his artwork; they mistake an overflowing garbage can for one of the exhibitions, and Spearhead's works include a pure black canvas and a floor tile covered with horseshoe marks. Lampshaded when Spearhead says that art is whatever speaks to you.Shining Armor: Is this art... or a mistake?
- Unhand Them, Villain!: A non-villainous variant when Twilight realizes Flurry is levitating everyone and everything in the hospital room. When she demands she put them all down, Flurry, being an infant, simply drops everything, and Twilight has to use her own magic to keep everything from crashing onto the ground.
- Was Too Hard on Her: Twilight feels this way after she gets angry at Flurry and yells at her and when Flurry distanced herself from her because she (Twilight) scared her.
