I think you're being a tad harsh. Yeah, it focuses on the parody quite a bit, but this accurately reflects how obsessed Rainbow Dash has become with the book.
I agree with the above commenter. I happened to thoroughly like the episode.
Not to mention this will likely be known as "The Episode That Spawned a Thousand Fanfics"
I thought the episode had significant depth about Rainbow's insecurities. She throws her favorite board game, eats like a pig, and breaks into a hospital to keep her secret obsession going. Admittedly the logic on that last bit is a little weak (does Twilight live in the only bookstore/library in Ponyville? Rainbow Dash HAS to get the hospital's copy?) but these actions do show how far she will go to protect her image.
Also Warrior Sparrow, I think quite a few episodes can claim that title.
I thought the two all-too-brief scenes where Rainbow has to hide her hobby from her visiting friends were the highlights of the episode, actually, and I wanted the whole thing to be like that. I was quite looking forward to the scene where she tries to take the book from Twilight's library without actually letting on that she's trying to take it, but the writers chose to do Jewel Heist Parody #67,912 and WWII-style Chase Through the Woods Parody #89,114 instead and missed a great opportunity.
I really liked those scenes as well. They provided a nice contrast with the admittedly over-the-top Jones story. I maintain that this whole dilemma of getting back to the book could have been easily resolved by going to another bookstore, but for the episode's sake, let's consider the ending scenes if they played out as you suggest.
Really the heist/chase thing could have been just as easily done if Rainbow Dash were stealing from the library, and the only reason it came to that at all is that Rainbow's acting doesn't fool anypony. But what if she just decided to go to the library, without the heist or chase scenes? There's also the issue that Rainbow Dash is new to reading, and thus probably has no idea how to browse the shelves of a library which would make the book pretty hard to find without Twilight's help. Even if Rainbow Dash got lucky and managed to take the copy without Twilight or Spike knowing, the way that Twilight keeps her books meticulously organized suggests that she would find out about the missing copy, and I can't imagine what Twilight would do if she found out a pony stole from the library. (Fanfic recommendations anyone?) On top of that, trying to take a book from a friend as opposed to a hospital would probably be a tad more morally questionable, and if Twilight or Spike caught her she would face their judgment as personal friends instead of the hospital staff who don't care if she likes reading or not. She ends up confessing to her friends in the episode anyway, but the difference is that she has not wronged any of them by going behind their backs.
Of course, that is all assuming she even has a moderate level of success while trying to take the book. Perhaps you're suggesting that Twilight catches on to what Rainbow Dash is trying to pull, and confronts her about it. Then I might be able to get behind your version of events. Rainbow Dash might try to convince Twilight to keep her new reading habit a secret, though I don't know if that would be necessary; the pony Rainbow Dash wanted to hide the truth from most was probably Twilight. Twilight could assure Rainbow Dash that it doesn't need to be a secret and the aesop could remain as it is. I'd be fine if it was just this, but there are issues of runtime and audience interest to consider; I'm not sure how you would pad out Rainbow and Twilight's scene to the entire third act, and even if you managed it, remember that this is a cartoon and such minutia does not attract new audiences. Perhaps your version could work as a Revised Ending fanfic meant for people who are already fans of the show.
tl;dr I'm not sure what you're suggesting could work in the context of the show.
Rainbow Dash is new to reading, and thus probably has no idea how to browse the shelves of a library which would make the book pretty hard to find without Twilight's help.
And awkwardness is a comedy goldmine.
Basically, I thought this episode would be a Fawlty Towers Plot like Green Isn't Your Color. Which is sort of what happened, but it was....less complicated....than I expected. By which I mean, instead of a tangled web of lies, desperation, and facade, it was more like a knotty shoelace that was too easily sorted out.
I'm not sure what you're suggesting could work in the context of the show.
I don't do fanfiction, but if I wrote this episode, I'd rework the entire story structure. Have RD already laid up in the hospital for the Cold Open, with Twilight leaving the book and ending on Rainbow declaring she'd never be an egghead who reads. Act I would be her getting discharged and moving in with another pony (because she can't fly) and have her acting suspicious and secretive, then end with the reveal that she has a secret stash of books (from the hospital bookstore) inside her suitcase. Act II starts with the sole Imagine Spot of the episode, then moves on to treating her reading a bit like a drug addiction— wants to be alone, disappears mysteriously to buy books, gets nervous whenever her housemate almost stumbles on her collection. Act III would be a big get-together for the other five (book club, maybe) where RD's paranoia and tangled web of lies builds and builds until her facade collapses around her (I'm thinking of Inferno from Coupling for this bit).
But that's just what I'd do.
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Does Not Fly Twice as High, Unfortunately
An amusing, although ultimately disappointing episode.
Like The Mysterious Mare Do Well before it, it eschews the show's true strength, which is the complex relationship between the characters and their interactions, in favor of a gimmicky conceit. In Mysterious Mare Do Well, it was superhero tropes, and here it's an extended Indiana Jones parody. By spending so much screentime on Daring-Do, rather than going into more depth about how Rainbow Dash's Guilty Pleasure affects her and forces her to keep up her macho facade for her friends, what could have been a poignant character-driven story about a young mare and her insecurities (like, for instance, Winter Wrap-Up or Green Isn't Your Color) is boiled down to, as Twilight remarks, petty theft.
It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, and as always it's well-written, well-acted, and a delight to watch, but it doesn't have the emotional resonance of the show's better episodes.