YMMV / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S2 E9 "Sweet and Elite"

• Accidental Aesop: Sometimes, less is more. Rarity plans on adding more into Twilight's dress, but got too caught up with other things to finish it. She dismisses it as unstylish, but both Twilight and Fancypants likes it anyway.
• Alternate Aesop Interpretation:
  • There's an undercurrent of "friends before yes-men" in this episode.
  • Friends should support a friend's dreams even when it's inconvenient for them (such as during their birthday party).
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Did Twilight really not realize that Rarity had twice tried to blow her off for the Canterlot elite (once with the dress, once at the party)? Or did she know all along, and feigned ignorance to help Rarity save face? Or was the boorish behavior of her and the rest revenge?
  • Were the Mane Six socially clueless at the Garden Party, or were they serving alcoholic drinks at Twilight's party and had gotten slightly inebriated? Maybe that's why Spike wasn't present…
  • Did Fancypants recognize Twilight Sparkle for who she was? He gives a mysterious wink when he refers to her as "this lovely young filly from Ponyville..." If this is true, he may even know a little bit about her personality — particularly that she dislikes special treatment and that she wouldn't appreciate him announcing her identity.
  • Is Fancypants helping further Rarity's social career from sheer good nature and altruism, or is he just enjoying the way she gets under the skin of obnoxious social-climbers like Jet Set and Upper Crust?
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • This episode introduced several new minor and background ponies. Fancypants has become quite popular in the fandom, and his unnamed female companion (later given the name Fleur Dis Lee) spawned a bunch of fanart within a day of the episode airing.
  • There's a funny case with Wonderbolt Fleetfoot. A few days before this episode aired, someone created an O.C. Stand-in out of an Off-Model Wonderbolt that appears briefly in "The Best Night Ever", giving her the name Echo. The premise of a blind Wonderbolt was popular enough to get fanart within days... and in this episode "Echo" returns, gets the name Fleetfoot, and wins the race. Said blog adopted it as Echo's surname, and now she's one of the most popular Wonderbolts.
  • Also the case for an inanimate object, as the party cannon instantly became so popular that from here on, it’s Pinkie’s most common prop.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Jet Set and Upper Crust laugh at the idea of Rarity's friends being "important ponies." A couple seasons later, one of those same friends will be an alicorn princess and indisputably one of the most important ponies in Equestria.
• So Bad, It's Good: Twilight Sparkle's dance is bad enough to drive the elite away, yet it makes Twilight look adorkable. Much like its inspiration, Julia-Louis Dreyfus doing "The Elaine" in Seinfeld.
• Spoiled by the Format: "Hearth's Warming Eve" originally aired before "Family Appreciation Day" and "Baby Cakes", so its plot synopsis was known prior to this episode's airing. As a result, the synopsis that mentioned the *six* friends going to Canterlot to do a play suggested that Rarity would choose her friends over her important business connections.
• Strawman Has a Point: With the exception of Fancy Pants, The Canterlot Elite are depicted as smug elitists for treating the ponies from Ponyville as boorish hicks. But considering the fact Fluttershy ruined the highest profile national annual party, the Grand Galloping Gala (and her friends not helping matters with their own antics that day), and that Rarity's friends crash and trash the Canterlot Garden Party (the second highest profile national annual party), it makes one wonder if the reputation for being boorish hicks is at least somewhat deserved. Indeed, for the Gala, Celestia deliberately invited the main characters in hopes of "livening up" the party, and afterwards claims it was the best one in a long time BECAUSE the party ended in a disaster because of their antics.
• Suspiciously Similar Song
  • A modified take on Ravel's "Boléro" is used during the scene where Rarity dunks Opal in water.
  • In addition, the music played during Twilight's party is a sound-alike of the 1981 Stray Cats song "Rock this Town."
  • When Hilarity Ensues, the backing music borrows thematically from Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance".
• The Woobie: It's hard not to feel sorry for the bellhop pony for breaking his back just to do his job.

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