Sweet and Elite

Dear Princess Luna...

Let's see what's going on in this episode. Looking at my paused video, I see this:

It turns out Rarity was visiting Canterlot, and Twilight Sparkle hit up Princess Celestia to offer a room for Rarity to stay in while she's there. Rarity is overwhelmed and ends up kissing the Princess' hoof guard things. One of the palace's bellhops enters the doorway with Rarity's luggage.

Rarity looks really pleased to see this guy getting crushed under her clothing.

Now, if you're one of our readers here, you'll probably guess at the problems I have with that. We see he is a Unicorn. Okay, so why isn't he using magic to levitate the luggage. Secondly, not only is he a Unicorn, stupidly not using magic, he looks frail as hell. If he isn't allowed to use magic, shouldn't the innately strong Earth Ponies have this job?

Princess Celestia casually walks past this struggling bellhop, not even taking the 10 seconds to use her magic and help the poor guy. He somehow makes it into the center of the room, asks where Rarity wants her stuff, and collapses under the weight. Rarity says, 'That's perfect.' either she wanted her luggage haphazardly put in the middle of the room, or she wanted to see that poor bellhop get squashed.

Rarity is out at a cafe, talking to that evil cal Opalescence in public. Her Canterlot trip was apparently to buy some fabrics, but she is still so giddy about getting to stay in the castle that she wants to make a dress for Twilight's birthday. A couple of upper class-y ponies approach and ask about Rarity's hat. As she starts to explain, a hillbilly window washer interrupts. He mentions a 'hoedown in Ponyville'  and the two upper-class ponies are put off. Apparently to Canterlotians, Ponyville is some redneck village.

Some folks'll never eat a skunk, but then again some folks'll, like Hayseed Turnip Truck, the Slack-Jawed Yokel!

Rarity looks almost ready to cry as the upper-class ponies walk off, I'm not sure if it's because she lost some customers, strangers looked down on her for where she was born, or because Hayseed Turnip Truck smells terrible. Probably all three.

It was definitely the first two for sure, as Rarity retreats to her room, raging.

Hmm, I wonder if Unicorns can prevent access as easily as they can gain access? We've seen they have forcefields, but could another unicorn just waltz right through if they wanted to? Perhaps there's an arms race in the Ponyverse, the 'good' unicorns constantly trying to make protection spells the 'bad' unicorns can't bypass.

She designs a really elegant dress she wants to make to prove she is worthy of Canterlot

That's what you are supposed to do with magic and multiple bags, unknown bellhop.

Rarity is talking to herself/Opalescence in public again. She runs into someone I recognize. In Part 2 of A Canterlot Wedding, at the very end, there were some photos, one had Rarity looking kind of flirty with a Unicorn. I wasn't sure if it was her dad, or if she was a gold digger, she is apparently a gold digger.

Each night they pray to angels for their daily bread, I mean the kind of angels who give cake instead. Dig a little deeper, dig a little deeper, don't you get them wrong! Just a lot of good kids, trying to get along.

This Unicorn is some guy named Fancypants, so well known that Rarity knew him on sight. He is with a supermodel looking Unicorn. Go figure, the wealthy, older looking pony has a young, super thin companion pony.

See, Princess Celestia? Even Gold Digger uses her magic to help others..

Fancypants and Gold Digger are super impressed Rarity is staying at the castle and knows the Princess. He is so impressed, he invites Rarity to join them at his VIP box to see a Wonderbolts Derby. Now we know why the Wonderbolts never accomplish anything, they're too busy entertaining the upper crust at Canterlot. I guess pink-haired Unicorns might be the 'dumb blonde' stereotype in the Ponyverse, as Gold Digger is so caught up posing and crawling all over Fancypants, she looks scared when he walks away without her.

"Oh, crud! He's not going to trade me in for a younger model, is he????"

Back at her room, Rarity has to think real hard about whether she should blow off working on Twilight's dress, or go to the derby with Fancypants. She, of course, chooses the derby.

So this is why the Wonderbolts are never around when you need them, too busy moving clouds around to build race tracks.

Rarity arrives at the derby and heads up to the VIP box. She passes those two upper-class ponies that look annoyed that she is there. Fancypants has his own Canterlotian guard outside his door.

Who is this Fancypants guy, just some obscenely wealthy pony? Whatever he is, he was so well-known that Rarity knew him, and has his own royal guard to keep riffraff out of his VIP box.

The two upper-class ponies' eyes pop and jaws drop as they see Rarity go into Fancypants' box. Inside, a swarm of well-to-do ponies immediately surround Fancypants and all are talking at once. He starts introducing Rarity, they pay no heed until he says she is staying at the castle.

Take a good look at the pony wearing pink, notice she is not a unicorn..

The derby begins, Fancypants thinks Rapidfire will win, Rarity says Fleetfoot, and gets embarassed as all the other ponies stare at her. Fleetfoot wins. They ask how she knew, she says Rainbow Dash knows all about the Wonderbolts, then lies and says Rainbow is their trainer. As Fancypants proclaims Rarity his new favorite party guest and the other ponies cheer for her, those two upper-class ponies look on in disbelief.

Three of the Fancypants party guests are hanging out with Rarity. She is really getting into the whole Canterlot, high-class persona. The guests invite Rarity to an art gallery, charity auction, and dinner party. She at first declines, so she can work on Twilight's dress, then agrees as they beg her.

It busts out into a musical bit, Rarity singing about how she's the pony every pony should know. At the art gallery, the ponies are indifferent, until Rarity nods in approval, and they all follow suit.

Is that supposed to be a pony on the left? It looks more 'human' seeing how it has lips, do ponies wear lipstick? Probably just further proof humanity was destroyed by ponies in the Ponyverse, this painting a relic of a bygone age.

At the charity auction, a fancy vase was up for bidding. No one was interested in it except Rarity, after seeing her bid, they all bid, stunning the auctioneer.

Hmm, is Rarity actually wealthy? I'm not sure if she could really bid against any of these seemingly super-rich ponies.

Hahahahahahah! Yes! The next scene is of course the dinner party. If you look two images up, you see the pony left of Fancypants in the pink dress. She is the dinner hostess. Notice how she isn't a unicorn? At the dinner party, they are presented with two appetizers, Rarity picks one, and uses magic to bring it to her, the other guests, all unicorns, do the same. The animators or whatever must have had an 'Oh, hell...' moment, as the dinner hostess suddenly becomes a unicorn.

Unicorns/Magic uber alles.

Also, I don't think she was doing it at the other events, but she was singing the song at the dinner party. Considering she is always talking to herself/Opal, I guess they figure she's just some kooky royal or something.

Okay, so she did the events she promised she would attend, now she can get back to Twilight's dress, right? Nope. She then goes to an opera, sails on Fancypants' yacht, attends some kind of party, and christens another yacht, which are apparently massive airships.

Oh, look, right above Rarity. She's back to a non-unicorn.

At the end of the night, she arrives back in her room and immediately tries to work on Twilight's dress, but is too tired. The next morning, all her luggage is packed and that bellhop is struggling under it, again.

She was planning to go back to Ponyville to finish the dress, as she is about to leave, a letter arrives. She has been invited to the Canterlot Garden Party, an event second only to the Galloping Gala. I believe those two upper-class ponies from the cafe/derby invited her, too. She then once again starts debating the pros and cons out loud to herself, and once again, chooses the Canterlot life over Twilight's dress.

She writes to Twilight, claiming that Opal is sick and she won't be able to make her birthday party. The dress is one thing, she chose to make that herself, and foolishly wrote to Twilight saying she was making it, but Rarity was going to completely snub her friend's birthday? That's some cold shit, coyote.

Rarity gets dressed all fancy-like to go the party, and as she is about to leave, enter Twilight and co.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Rarity faints. When she comes to, luckily her friends just left her in the doorway and didn't enter and see Opal wasn't sick.. Twilight says she got Pinkie Pie to move the party to Canterlot so Rarity wouldn't miss it. Aww, Twilight is so nice, well, sometimes, moving her own birthday party just so one of her few friends can attend. Rainbow demands to know why Rarity is all dressed up. Gee, I don't know Rainbow, maybe because she's in Canterlot? Canterlot castle, no less? Rarity lies and says she always gets dressed up when Opal is sick.

The 'Opal is sick' excuse is looking to not have been such a good idea, since Fluttershy is there, and as we have seen, is all about animals, even being able to talk to them. Rarity slams the door in their face, magic's Opal into the bathroom and dunks her in a hot bath, apparently, as steam is seen coming out of the room. Somehow, this is able to fool Fluttershy. The other ponies enter, Twilight is impressed with her dress (what little of it Rarity completed), stating it is simple, practical, just like her, and hugs Rarity.

I'm not sure what clout Twilight has with the Princess, but she was given the Canterlot castle ballroom to host her birthday in. Pinkie busts out that cannon we saw in A Canterlot Wedding and decorates the room. I imagine it's been in other comedies, but it looks like Rarity will be recreating that Mrs. Doubtfire scene, as the Garden Party is right outside, where she'll try to go between both parties and eventually get caught acting Ponyvillian at the Garden Party or something.

Aww, look how happy Twilight looks. Remember, she didn't have any friends, I guess, before her exile to Ponyville.

Twilight uses magic to serve her birthday cake, Rainbow decides to start a food fight.

"Uh...it was Spike?"

Rarity starts weaving a web of lies as she flits between the two parties. The constant excuses and running back and forth starts to wear her out. Eventually, she returns to Twilight's with a croquet mallet in her mouth. Her friends put two and two together. Rarity is freaking out as Twilight questions her about it. Fortunately for Rarity, Twilight for some reason thinks Rarity was just trying to sell her clothing to the 'posh ponies' since the Grand Galloping Gala is coming up.

Rarity realizes once again how great a friend Twilight is as Twilight gives 'permission' to go and mingle at the other party. Rainbow decides they should all go and show them how to party 'Ponyville style.'

"We're going to rip out their living god damned guts, and use them to grease the treads of our tanks! We're going to murder those lousy pony croquet-suckers by the bushel!"

Ponyville's 'redneck' reputation is apparently well deserved. They start blaring music, doing a conga line or whatever, as Pinkie fires her party cannon.

Rainbow tries to play croquet and totally fails, her mallet flies off and rips the wig off some female pony, the male she was talking to is disgusted and flees.

Fluttershy goes up in a tree and birdseed, we hope, rains down on ponies chatting below.

The gluttonous Pinkie dives headfirst into a cake, she seems confused that the nearby pony was grossed out.

Applejack starts pulling weeds, and asks why no one else is doing gardening at the garden party.

Twilight dances in the Ponyverse equivalent of the Elaine dance. Meanwhile, Rarity is chugging down drinks.

Now we just need Pinkie to bust out that 'Oink Oink Oink' bit and the revulsion shall be complete.

Fancypants wisely decides the only way to stop Twilight's atrocious dancing is to engage her in conversation. He asks who made her dress, Twilight says her 'very, very close' friend from Ponyville made it for her. Rarity of course tries to interrupt her and get Fancypants away, but to no avail. Twilight implies Rarity made the dress, and all of the garden party ponies stare in disbelief.

Fancypants puts Rarity on the spot, asking if she knows the 'mane 5', Rarity confesses she does, and that they are her best friends and the most important ponies she knows, even if they aren't anywhere near as sophisticated as Canterlot ponies.  The two upper-class ponies laugh at this, until Fancypants says he finds them 'charmingly rustic' and that every 'mare in Canterlot' will want a dress like Twilight's. All the garden party ponies change their tune, including the two upper-class ponies, who immediately try to place an order for a dress.

Fancypants then asks to be introduced to her friends, Rarity says 'With pleasure.' Now, a few things here. First of all, I don't remember if Rarity lied to Fancypants, or anyone, about not being from Ponyville. She just let them assume she was from wherever, someplace they didn't assume was full of hillbillies. Secondly, now she is going to have to introduce Rainbow Dash, who is obviously not the trainer of the Wonderbolts. I'm actually not sure what she does, as most episodes she is just lying around on a cloud it seems. And finally, if all the Canterlot ponies were freaking out over Rarity, wouldn't they freak out as much or more so for Twilight, who is a direct 'pen pal' with the Princess? I think we all know why they don't, though, (ahem, outcast to Ponyville).

Rarity starts writing a letter to Princess Celestia, who then appears behind her. Rarity says she learned that you should never forget that 'you're a product of your home and your friends.' I'm not sure how true that is, considering Rarity seems to act more Canterlot, and not so much Ponyville. Regardless, the Princess says that was a very valuable lesson to learn.

That poor bellhop unicorn is back, once again being crushed by Rarity's luggage. He gets smashed once again. I'm not sure if I pity him, considering he is a unicorn and should just use magic.

Rarity and Celestia share a look, almost as if saying "Hah! Oh, you enjoy this too?"

What I learned from this episode:

• Canterlot is a harsh world, even if you're a Unicorn, you can get ostracized for not being born in a 'proper' region.
• Twilight is really trying to be an amazing friend. I think this may be the first episode I've seen where she didn't have any rage face frames.
• Rarity is kind of confusing. On one hand, she is very eager and quick to throw her friends under a bus, so to speak. On the other, she does seem to care about them. Or at least, wants them to care about her.
• In the Wedding episodes, Celestia and Luna are mostly seen atop a tower, scanning for threats. It seems like the daytime might be the best time to attack Equestria, since Celestia tends to wander around.
• Every pony secretly desires to be a Unicorn, or 'royalty' ponies I would imagine, as evidenced by the Dinner Party Hostess using a magic lamp she won at the charity auction or something to become a unicorn for one blessed night.

Update -  This episode ended up being in my top 10 overall favorites, write-up copied from my Triumphant Return post:

Rarity travels to Canterlot to buy some supplies and gets to stay at Canterlot Castle. Ponyville ponies are seen as hillbillies by the Canterlot ponies, Rarity hides her shame of her birthplace and is soon the talk of the town, mingling with the crustiest of the upper crust, Fancy Pants. Her fantasy life comes crashing down around her on the day of the big Canterlot Garden Party, which is also Twilight's birthday, as Twilight's party takes place right next to the Garden Party. Rarity's secret shame, that she was born in Ponyville, gets revealed, but no one really seems to care at this point, they instead are impressed by who she is, not where she is from. Also has lots of unicorns.

This episode's song also made my top 5 song list:

Rarity has the time of her life after suddenly becoming a sensation amongst the Canterlot elite, attending all sorts of social functions as the guest of honor. She even gains the interest of Prince Blueblood, who didn't seem all that interested in her at the Gala, and by the end of the night gets to christen a new zeppelin airship alongside him.