May the Best Pet Win!

May the Best Pet Win! is the seventh episode of the second season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the thirty-third episode overall. In this episode, Rainbow Dash decides to hold a competition to determine which is the best pet for her after realizing that she's the only one of her friends without one. The episode title is a play on the idiom "may the best man win," which is said in the spirit of sportsmanship. This episode was fifth in the We Heart Ponies Fan Favorite Mare-a-Thon, in the lead up to Hearts and Hooves Day.

Production and reuse of assets
The sunglasses worn look similar to the same sunglasses Rainbow Dash wore in Lesson Zero, while the pink scarf is the same one worn by Rarity in Dragonshy and Twilight Sparkle in Winter Wrap Up.

This episode marks the first appearance of Owlowiscious since Owl's Well That Ends Well, and the first appearance of Winona since Applebuck Season, as well as being Gummy's first appearance in season two. This is the first episode for Rainbow Dash to have a pet.

Dream sequence
The episode starts with Rainbow Dash in a dream flying around in the sky, when suddenly Owlowiscious comes up and starts flying with her. Strangely, Owlowiscious' head turns into Winona's head. Then, the body turns into Gummy's body and the head turns into Angel's head. Suddenly, Opalescence pops out of Angel's mouth, scaring Rainbow Dash into falling, which wakes her up.

Pony Pet Playdate
When Rainbow Dash wakes up, she is met by Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Twilight Sparkle, all of whom are in the park with their pets. They tell her that they always come down to the park at the same time every week with their pets to play with them. The ponies try to make Rainbow Dash understand why they don't invite her, but Rainbow Dash, who is the only pony without a pet, exclaims that she understands and sees no reason for them to invite her if she doesn't even have a pet.

"Hey, now wait a minute! Just because I don't have a pet now doesn't mean I never want a pet!"

- Rainbow Dash

However, after hearing the noise from the ponies playing with their pets, Rainbow Dash flies back down from her tree to them, and says that she would like a pet at some point. Thrilled, Fluttershy brings her to her home to show off her collection of animals. Fluttershy and Rainbow break into song, dubbed the Find A Pet Song, as Fluttershy shows Rainbow her wonderful choices of pets. Some of the pets seen at Fluttershy's house are originally from the episode The Best Night Ever, where Fluttershy met them in the garden of Canterlot. The kitten Fluttershy offers to Rainbow Dash resembles the cats from Hasbro's Littlest Pet Shop toy line. The song sequence features the only appearance of background ponies in the episode, specifically Derpy who pokes her head out of the chicken coop at the end of the song. Rainbow insists she wants a "cool pet that will be able to keep up with her," and selects a group of flying animals but is unable to decide. To make a firm decision, she holds a series of contests to determine which pet will be hers. As she prepares to begin, Fluttershy brings in a tortoise who she says wants to compete. Rainbow reluctantly agrees.

Let the games begin
"So! You all think you've got what it takes to be my pet, do ya? Well, we'll just see about that! If any of you don't think you can handle it, bow out now before you humiliate yourself in front of your peers. This competition isn't for the weak. You'd better be prepared to step up your game!"

- Rainbow Dash

The first test is that of speed, a race around a track which a falcon wins. The rainbow-colored trail made by Rainbow Dash, complete with sharp turns, is similar to the race sequence from Tron. The second test is a test of agility across an obstacle course in which a hummingbird wins. The third test is of guts, where the pets have to get Opal's favorite mouse toy away from her. The butterfly easily achieves this by mesmerizing Opal into a daze, then stealing her toy. The fourth test is of style, which is done by having Rainbow pose in a snapshot with each of the animals. It is not revealed which animal passes this test. The fifth test is of coolness, where Rainbow judges the animals by their calls, of which the eagle wins. The sixth test is of awesomeness, which the owl wins because of his ability to rotate his head. The seventh test is of radicalness, in which the bat plays the My Little Pony theme song on a glass harmonica, among feats by the other contestants. At this point, the tortoise has completely failed every test and Rainbow urges him to go home.

Ghastly Gorge
Still unable to decide, Rainbow holds a race in Ghastly Gorge. Pitting the last four contestants, the eagle, the falcon, the owl, and the bat, against her, with the tortoise tagging alongside the other contestants. The flying pets are together during the race, while the tortoise is last, sweating as he tries to catch up with Rainbow. During the race, a re-arrangement of Ride of the Valkyries plays in the background, and Rainbow Dash whistles a few bars of the tune to herself. The falcon gets stuck in bramble bushes, but the bat, eagle, and owl make it through. The falcon catches up later with his wing curled up. Near the caves with the quarray eels, the bat is almost devoured but manages to get away. There is a rock slide, and the racers suddenly get ahead of Rainbow while she falls behind with her wing stuck underneath a large rock.

She desperately calls for help, stuck in the middle of nowhere with no one to help her. But soon, she spots the tortoise slowly approaching her, and laments about how she'll have to spend the rest of her life with the tortoise as well as being trapped by a rock. The tortoise digs a small hole under the rock and sticks his head in it. A now crying Rainbow Dash completely gives up hope. The tortoise, however, lifts up the rock with his head, freeing Rainbow Dash.

At the finish line, Rainbow Dash's friends await her arrival. Noticing that only the four racers finish the race, they begin to worry about Rainbow Dash. Applejack spots a rock slide through Twilight's binoculars, but also spots Rainbow Dash riding on the tortoise with her right wing bandaged. Rainbow Dash and the tortoise finish the race, and the other ponies exclaim for Rainbow Dash to meet her new pet, the falcon.

However, Rainbow Dash doesn't feel right with the falcon as her pet, even if it is everything she wanted. She says that her pet would be the one that finished the race with her, and the tortoise is the only one who did so. With this in mind, she accepts the tortoise as her new pet, thanking him for saving her. The sad falcon shakes hands (so to speak) with the tortoise and leaves. Rainbow then asks Spike to take a note for Princess Celestia, telling her that she learned the most important quality in a pet, or in any friend is not how cool they are or how much they can do, but is a kind of spirit that will stand by her, reflecting of the story of The Tortoise and the Hare, where the "slow and steady wins the race".

"You just can't stop that little guy. He's like a... like a... Tank!"

- Rainbow Dash

Epilogue
At the end of the episode, Rainbow Dash now joins the rest of her friends in their pet playdate. Rainbow's tortoise is then shown wearing a helicopter hat, flying to the park after Fluttershy points out that Rainbow Dash wanted a pet that can keep up with her, and she names him Tank.

Quotes

 * Rainbow Dash: Um, is this weird, or is it just me?


 * Rainbow Dash: Okay, this is officially beyond weird now and moved right on down to freaky town.


 * Twilight Sparkle: Well we had initially planned on inviting Rainbow, of course, except–
 * Pinkie Pie: We were totally gonna invite you, Rainbow, then Twilight remembered that you don't even have a pet, and Rarity remembered that you really like to take naps in the afternoon, so Applejack figured you wouldn't be missing out on anything anyway, and Fluttershy and I nodded our heads in agreement like this.
 * Fluttershy: Oh, please don't be mad at us.
 * Rainbow Dash: Oh, I'm not mad. You all are right. Not much point of a pony-pet playdate for me if I'm a pony without a pet, right?
 * Applejack: Exactly.


 * Rainbow Dash: This competition isn't for the weak. You'd better be prepared to step up your game!


 * Rainbow Dash: Any questions?
 * Applejack: I got one. Does she understand what a pet really needs?
 * Twilight Sparkle: Yeah, like care and attention, love and affection- ugh! And breath mints!


 * Rainbow Dash: Alright, now these games will determine which one of you has the most important qualities I'm looking for in a pet. Speed, agility, guts, style. Coolness. Awesomeness. And radicalness.
 * Twilight Sparkle: Aren't those all the same thing?
 * Rainbow Dash: You would think that, Twilight. And that's why you would never qualify to be my pet.


 * Rainbow Dash: That's just sad.


 * Rainbow Dash: Wanna know the opposite of agility? That.


 * Rainbow Dash: Listen, turtle...
 * Fluttershy: Tortoise.
 * Rainbow Dash: Whatever!


 * Rainbow Dash: Pause for dramatic effect...


 * Rainbow Dash: ''DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!
 * [eagle cries]
 * Rainbow Dash: Gesundheit.


 * Rainbow Dash: Wahoo! My prayers have been answered! Oh, thankyouthankyoutha- You?! Oh no! Now I'm not only going to be stuck here forever, I'm gonna be stuck here with the most annoying turtle in the world! Gyh, I'm doomed. DOOMED, I tell you!


 * Pinkie Pie: Wait! Look
 * Fluttershy: It's the turtle!
 * All: TORTOISE!
 * Fluttershy: Oh whatever...


 * Fluttershy: Yay?


 * Twilight Sparkle: Tenacity!
 * Rainbow Dash: Gesundheit.