Februpony Day 4: Friendship Lesson.
 

 
Honest Apple. You can definitely interpret this episode as “Applejack doesn’t understand how to give constructive criticism,” but I think there is something deeper here. Applejack is being confronted as being hurtful even though Applejack believe she is doing the right thing. While it seems silly that Rarity got a pony in her contact that seems to exist just to anger Applejack, the goal is clear. Applejack is learning empathy and need to temper her values with it. And I think teaching Applejack to problem solve by using empathy is a better message than explaining what proper criticism is.