YMMV / Sophistication and Betrayal

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Is Rarity acting in Fluttershy's best interests when she suggests including Fluttershy in their relationship, or is she taking advantage of the vulnerable and naive pegasus to act on her long-time crush. Or is she doing the right thing but for the wrong reasons? Or is it a case of Believing Their Own Lies?
• Fridge Brilliance: Why does Rarity not take advantage of her status as a national hero and connections to the princesses, when Cashmere threatens her business? Because that would mean not succeeding on her own merits and hard work, something she strongly believes in!
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The author's reasons for writing the story, given that the show's own writers struggled with writing Rarity's character in season 3, forcing Spike at Your Service to be rewritten from a Rarity-centric episode to an Applejack one.
  • Horn rings, which are considered to be a somewhat tacky way of proposing to a unicorn. And then A Canterlot Wedding aired...
  • Cashmere's appearance is surprisingly similar to Sunset Shimmer, as this post by the author points out.
  • Rarity having her work copied by an old acquaintance in Rarity Takes Manehattan is quite reminiscent of how Cashmere steals Rarity's special fabric design for use in a fashion show.
• Jerkass Woobie: Cashmere, when she admits just how heartbroken Rarity left her after turning her down.
• Love to Hate: It would be hard for anyone to deny that there's something satisfying about seeing Slate take a well deserved punch to the face, when the full extent of his stalking is revealed.
• Romantic Plot Tumor: The inclusion of Fluttershy into the relationship between the protagonist and Rarity was not received well by some readers, who criticised it as a needless distraction from their existing relationship, while spending most of the time not really going anywhere. Indeed, the author himself agrees with this assessment.
• The Woobie:
  • The protagonist, after having his hopes of returning home dashed.
  • Rarity, when she gets stalked, which is portrayed as a deeply disturbing violation of her privacy and personal life, and as upsetting as you would expect.