History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagics3E12GamesPoniesPlay

* FanNickname: The mare the Mane Six mistake for Ms. Harshwhinny, while never named onscreen, has been given the name 'Chickadee' by fans.

FailedASpotCheck: The entire mane cast (minus otherwise-occupied Rarity), when they mistake the tourist for the games inspector, persists in attributing her enthusiasm and surprise at her personal welcome and tour to "mind games". Nopony stops to ask "Wouldn't the visiting official be expecting, and accustomed to, the royal treatment?"

** Even more: The Crystal Empire gets chosen because she takes the tourist's description of the Mane Six's welcome as a sign as an honest evaluation on what she missed out on.

** [[spoiler:Pinkie does an honest one later when they find out they've been entertaining the wrong pony...]]
*** BigYes: [[spoiler:...only to change it to this to respond to Rainbow Dash's rhetorical "We got the wrong pony?!"]]
* BreatherEpisode: A hilarious episode featuring mistaken identity, crazy antics, and cinnamon buns only one episode before [[spoiler:Twilight becomes an alicorn princess of Equestria]].
* BrickJoke: Rainbow Dash nearly traumatizes one of the Crystal Pony fillies with the thought of missing out on the Equestria Games. [[spoiler:When the Crystal Empire is accepted, Rainbow Dash is seen hugging the same filly while hovering over the crowd.]]

** [[spoiler:When the crystal ponies hear that they get to host the games, the Crystal Heart gives another pulse of harmony.]]

** Goes double for Rainbow Dash's comment at the end about how Spike had to miss out. It even makes very little sense when you realize how much hell the Mane 6 (save for Rarity who focused on styling Cadance's mane) went through while [[spoiler:mistaking a tourist for the inspector]].

* ForegoneConclusion: The climax of "[[SynchronousEpisodes Just for Sidekicks]]" where the Mane Six are ready to return home hints that [[spoiler:the trip ends okay,]] even if [[spoiler:Rainbow Dash's comment about Spike missing out makes little sense considering how much hell they went through while mistaking a tourist for the inspector.]]

* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler:Pinkie Pie remarks that the real inspector is probably ''not'' at the spa where Princess Cadance is getting her hair done, since that's the ''last'' place they want her to end up. Upon [[TemptingFate realizing what she just said]], the ponies rush over to the spa.]]
* GoodFeelsGood: Rainbow Dash says as much at the end. [[spoiler:Securing the Equestria Games for the Crystal Empire feels ''almost'' as good as securing them for Cloudsdale.]]

* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:It turns out Ms. Harshwhinny has seen so many other Equestrian cities put on overblown welcoming performances that she's all but sick of them, so it's probably for the best the Mane Six ''didn't'' meet her first]].
** Even more: [[spoiler:The Crystal Empire gets chosen because she takes the tourist's description of the Mane Six's welcome as a sign as an honest evaluation on what she missed out on.]]
** One that pretty much goes both ways: [[spoiler:toward the end, Rainbow Dash comments that Spike missed out on everything and would have had fun. Yes, he would have, if it weren't for what you all (except for Rarity who stayed at the spa to style Cadance's mane) went through while mistaking a tourist for the inspector. Furthermore, while Twilight and Applejack optimistically believe that Spike was having more fun looking after the pets, well... don't even ask.]]
* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler:Rainbow Dash stops Twilight from apologizing to Princess Cadance for the inspector identity mix-up so she can do it herself, since she was the one who insisted everyone keep rolling with everything the fake inspector did. The other girls still feel pretty guilty since they also made the same mistake.]]

** [[spoiler:Later, when they realize they've been attending to a random tourist instead of the inspector.]]

* QuizzicalTilt: The tourist gives one once Twilight asks her [[spoiler:if she really is Ms. Harshwhinny]].
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: [[spoiler:Ms. Harshwhinny, despite [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast her name]], everything we hear about her, and everything that does and does not happen to her, is revealed to be actually quite nice at the end of the episode]].

** Twilight takes a deep breath each time something does not go according to plan. She eventually hyperventilates when she finds out [[spoiler:they were greeting the wrong pony.]]

* WilhelmScream: Two Crystal Ponies scream one simultaneously when [[spoiler:the tourist]] Ms. Harshwinny crashes into them.

* BrokenAesop: [[spoiler:Ms. Harshwhinny eventually decides to host the games in the Crystal Empire, saying that every other place she visited tried to put on airs, while she got the story of how great the empire was from a normal pony. The problem is the only reason the tourist has such a glowing opinion of the empire is because she experienced all of the things that they were doing to specifically impress Ms. Harshwhinny, while Harshwhinny herself only got grief and frustration from the Crystal Empire citizens. So if the moral was meant to be "People will be more impressed by sincerity than by fake attempts to seem great", then it undermined its own message.]]
** [[AlternateAesopInterpretation Alternatively]], it could be seen as [[spoiler:[[TruthInTelevision "Sometimes it takes an honest opinion from a fellow tourist to make up for what you've missed, whether or not you'd want to see it for yourself."]]]]

* SequelHook: A season four episode about the Equestria Games themselves seemed inevitable at the time the episode was originally aired, especially in light of Twilight and Rainbow's conversation about coming back to watch the Games. Show writer Meghan McCarthy later hinted in a tweet (https://twitter.com/HubTVNetwork/status/403970748257021952) that there would be an episode focusing on the Games at some point during the fourth season.

* SequelHook: A Season 4 episode about the Equestria Games themselves seems inevitable at this point, especially in light of Twilight and Rainbow's conversation about coming back to watch the games.

* BrokenAesop: [[spoiler:Ms. Harshwhinny eventually decides to host the games in the Crystal Empire, saying that every other place she visited tried to put on airs, while she got the story of how great the empire was from a normal pony. The problem is the only reason the tourist has such a glowing opinion of the empire is because she experienced all of the things that they were doing to specifically impress Ms. Harshwhinny. So if the moral was meant to be "People will be more impressed by sincerity than by fake attempts to seem great", then it undermined its own message.]]

* BrokenAesop[=/=]CluelessAesop: [[spoiler:Ms. Harshwhinny eventually decides to host the games in the Crystal Empire, saying that every other place she visited tried to put on airs, while she got the story of how great the empire was from a normal pony. The problem is the only reason the tourist has such a glowing opinion of the empire is because she experienced all of the things that they were doing to specifically impress Ms. Harshwhinny. So if the moral was meant to be "People will be more impressed by sincerity than by fake attempts to seem great", then it undermined its own message.]]

** The tradition of weaving crystals into the royal headdress is superficially similar to threading beads in the hair, which goes through phases of popularity among the show's target demographic. The most common kind of beads used are usually called "pony beads".

* StealthPun: To something that happened in the real world. As stated multiple times already, Vancouver, the location of Studio B, hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. The motto of this year's games was "With Glowing Hearts". Well, [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130210103039/mlp/images/thumb/5/58/Rainbow_Dash_hugging_the_Crystal_filly_S03E12.png/640px-Rainbow_Dash_hugging_the_Crystal_filly_S03E12.png look at the glowing Crystal Heart and Crystal Ponies]].

* FreezeFrameBonus: When the train causes Fluttershy to crash into the wall you can see that she has [[SpecialEffectFailure Twilight's cutie mark for some reason]]. Same goes for Pinkie when the Mane Six do their cheer at the castle.* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Twilight and Cadance's usual dance and rhyme greeting gets relegated to this trope, both by the animators and by Rarity, who pretty much ignores the whole thing while looking around Cadance's private spa, while the rest of the Mane Six watch Twilight and Cadance.

* BrickJoke: Rainbow Dash nearly traumatizes one of a couple of Crystal Pony fillies with the thought of missing out on the Equestria Games. [[spoiler:When the Crystal Empire is accepted, Rainbow Dash is seen hugging the one of those fillies while hovering over the crowd.]]

** Even more: [[spoiler:The Crystal Empire gets chosen because she takes the tourist's description of the Mane Six's welcome as a sign of how they treat ''everyone'', unaware it was meant for her.]]

* FreezeFrameBonus: When the train causes Fluttershy to crash into the wall you can see that she has [[SpecialEffectFailure Twilight's cutie mark for some reason]]. Same goes for Pinkie when the Mane Six do their cheer at the castle.
* FridgeLogic: ...how did Cloudsdale think they could host the Games when two thirds of the population can't stay up there? Were they going to hire hundreds of unicorns to provide cloudwalking spells for all the spectators and participants?
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Twilight and Cadance's usual dance and rhyme greeting gets relegated to this trope, both by the animators and by Rarity, who pretty much ignores the whole thing while looking around Cadance's private spa, while the rest of the Mane Six watch Twilight and Cadance.

After giving a spectacular introductory dance routine for "Ms. Harshwhinny", Twilight checks to see if Princess Cadance is ready to meet the "inspector". Rarity is having her own problems trying to nail down Cadance's headdress, though, so the others try to buy time by giving the "inspector" the grand tour of the Crystal Castle--or at least the best one they ''can'' give, seeing they know their way around the castle as well as their guest, who turns out to be pretty claustrophobic. Twilight goes to see if Shining Armor can help, but this doesn't seem to do much good, since the "inspector" gets so pent up from being in the castle for so long that she bursts outside and has a good charge through the empire. After finally calming down and getting to meet Prince Shining Armor, the "inspector" compliments everypony for giving an ordinary tourist like herself such a wonderful time. Suddenly it dawns on everypony:

->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' [[OhCrap You...]]''[[OhCrap are]]'' [[OhCrap Ms. Harshwhinny, the Equestria Games inspector, aren't you...?]]\\
({{beat}})\\
'''Tourist:''' [[ParrotExpoWhat Inspector what-now?]]

Realizing they've been entertaining the wrong pony, the five desperately search for the ''real'' Ms. Harshwhinny, only to find her in the very last place they want her to be: the spa where Rarity is working on Cadance's headdress! Rainbow Dash thinks she's blown the empire's chances and guiltily admits their folly to the princess. Fortunately, all is not lost: Rarity has perfected Cadance's mane in time, and the tourist, who's also there, has just told Ms. Harshwhinny about the most wonderful (albeit unintended) reception she's ever had, which also turns out to be the most sincere appraisal in the history of the Equestria Games. Ms. Harshwhinny is impressed, meaning Cadance gets to proudly announce that the Crystal Empire will be hosting the Equestria Games! The six friends return home, eager to return for when the Equestria Games begin--[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E8JustForSidekicks as well as to see how well Spike's been looking after their pets while they were away, unaware that the sidekicks are all hiding in their train car]]...

* BrokenAesop / CluelessAesop: [[spoiler:Ms. Harshwhinny eventually decides to host the games in the Crystal Empire, saying that every other place she visited tried to put on airs, while she got the story of how great the empire was from a normal pony. The problem is the only reason the tourist has such a glowing opinion of the empire is because she experienced all of the things that they were doing to specifically impress Ms. Harshwhinny. So if the moral was meant to be "People will be more impressed by sincerity than by fake attempts to seem great", then it undermined its own message.]]

* DramaticIrony: A somewhat unique example: everything that happens here makes it evident that Cadance's reasons for not inviting Spike (as mentioned back in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E8JustForSidekicks "Just For Sidekicks"]]) are more understandable and justified.

* ForegoneConclusion: The climax of "[[SynchronousEpisodes Just for Sidekicks]]" where the Mane Six are ready to return home hints that [[spoiler:the trip ends okay,]] even if [[spoiler:Rainbow Dash's comment about Spike missing makes little sense considering how much hell they had to endure while mistaking a tourist for the inspector.]]

* ForegoneConclusion: The climax of "[[SynchronousEpisodes Just for Sidekicks]]" where the Mane Six are ready to return home hints that [[spoiler:the trip ends okay.]]

* DramaticIrony: A somewhat unique example: everything that happens here makes it clear that Cadance's reasons for not inviting Spike (as mentioned back in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E8JustForSidekicks "Just For Sidekicks"]]) are more understandable and justified.

* BreatherEpisode: A hilarious episode featuring mistaken identity, crazy antics, and cinnamon buns only one episode before [[spoiler:Twilight fulfills her destiny.]]
* BrickJoke: Rainbow Dash nearly traumatizes one of a couple of Crystal Pony fillies with the thought of missing out on the Equestria Games. [[spoiler:When the Crystal Empire is accepted, Rainbow Dash is seen hugging the other of those two fillies while hovering over the crowd.]]

** Bonus points for how she optimistically contradicts Rainbow Dash's worries about Spike missing out on everything, especially since most of them went through plenty of hell [[spoiler:mistaking a tourist for the inspector.]]

** Goes double for Rainbow Dash's comment at the end about how Spike had to miss out. It even makes very little sense when you realize how much hell the Mane 6 (save for Rarity who focused on styling Cadance's mane) went through while [[spoiler:mistaking a tourist for the inspector.]]

-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Come on, how bad could it be?\\
'''Rarity:''' Imagine her mane turned into a porcupine.\\
'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Oh.

* GoodFeelsGood: Rainbow Dash says as much at the end. [[spoiler: Securing the Equestria Games for the Crystal Empire feels ''almost'' as good as securing them for Cloudsdale.]]

* NoodleImplements: One of the tools Rarity uses to try and create Cadance's headdress is a ''power drill''. As in, the kind used in construction.

* SanitySlippage: [[AvertedTrope Avoided, thanks to Cadance teaching Twilight a breathing trick.]] It stops working as well as things drag on, but at least it keeps her sane.

* SeriousBusiness: Both Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash treat the welcoming of the inspector very seriously both as a favor to Princess Cadance and the Crystal Empire and, in Rainbow Dash's case, to not have the Crystal Empire suffer the same disappointment she felt when she was a filly. Hosting the games is a huge honor for any city, so there is no reason not to treat the matter seriously.

* ShownTheirWork