History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E14CanterlotBoutique

As "Canterlot Carousel" is set to open, Rarity hires Sassy Saddles, a veteran manager of many clothing stores, to help her get everything ready. Sassy has a multi-point plan to get Rarity's new boutique as much business as possible, starting with a line of brand new dresses, the most prominent being a collection inspired by the Equestrian Princesses. At the opening, Sassy takes charge of the opening, even butting Rarity out of the way to do it. But, Rarity still manages to show off her collection with Sassy's help, including a signature dress shown off by Twilight Sparkle. Rarity dubbed this dress "Reign in Stain," but Sassy advertises it as "the Princess Dress." After the opening, Rarity becomes even more frustrated when Sassy takes one hundred orders for the Princess Dress. But, her "Rules of Rarity" say that every dress needs care.

The Princess Dress becomes an instant success, and soon, every mare in Canterlot wants one for themselves. While initially quite excited at all of the business, Rarity is soon feeling burnt out at making the same dress over and over. While resting from her work, Rarity sees a few gemstones shining their light on the dress, giving her an idea to make up the Princess Dress with new gemstones. However, a customer who ordered the dress dismisses it, because it wasn't what she ordered, a Princess Dress ''exactly'' like the one Twilight wore. Dejected, Rarity returns to making the Princess Dress, feeling heartbroken that her creativity is all but gone.

After completing two hundred Princess Dresses, Sassy enters with a hundred more orders. Rarity argues that this isn't what she wants to do, but Sassy is too caught up in her own success, even taking credit for the whole boutique. Rarity finally puts her hoof down, saying that if this is what it means to be successful in Canterlot, then she wants no part of it, telling Sassy to prepare a "going out of business" sale. Rarity pulls all the Princess Dresses off the showroom floor and displays the other outfits she has in stock, and the customers take a liking to them. After seeing how much the customers like the variety of dresses, Rarity decides not to close Canterlot Carousel after all, and Sassy comes to realize what Rarity's rules really mean. Sassy apologizes to Rarity and prepares to leave, but Rarity allows Sassy to stay. While Rarity loves her new boutique, she'd always intended Ponyville to be her "home base," so she keeps Sassy on to run Canterlot Carousel in her stead. Sassy enthusiastically agrees, promising to follow the "Rules of Rarity" from now on.

* UnusualEuphemism: Sassy has a tendency to do this with fashion-related items, like "buttons and bowties!"

* NonStandardCharacterDesign: At the end of the episode, a morbidly obese pony enters the shop looking for a Princess Dress. Like all such characters, she immediately got the community trying to name her, with the more popular suggestion being "Whoa Nelly". Her sclera are also slightly yellow (which usually isn't a healthy color for eyes).

** Similarly, anyone who's ever conducted a job interview would probably spot an incoming problem with Sassy as soon as she's mentioned to have worked at so many boutiques; if someone has several past but similar jobs like that, especially in a short period of time(Sassy doesn't appear that old), odds are it's because of one of two things: either they were frequently fired for one reason or another, or they have some loyalty issues and will jump at a better paycheck at first opportunity. Sassy ends up being a variant of the former scenario.
* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: Pinkie Pie delivering a letter to Rarity in the cold open marks the third time in the entire series where the two have been seen alone together onscreen (The previous two being in the Season 2 episodes "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E14TheLastRoundup The Last Roundup]]" and "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E19PuttingYourHoofDown Putting Your Hoof Down]]").

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Rarity mentions that Sassy "worked in all the finest boutiques in Canterlot". From Sassy's comment about [[NoodleIncident being "a part of another failed boutique"]], it's clear they weren't all successful boutiques.

** Invoked again when customers fawn over [[FrillyUpgrade how nice they look]] in some of Rarity's unique designs. I.e. "This makes me feel like a princess".

** Invoked again when customers fawn over [[FrillyUpgrade how nice they look]] in some of Rarity's unique designs.

* HonestCorporateExecutive: Despite clearly overstepping her position, Sassy is a well-meaning business pony trying to bring Rarity profit for her store. She even makes it a point to satisfy the customers and her business partner as best she can.

* KarmaHoudini: Sassy Saddles almost ruins Rarity's dream of owning her own store in Canterlot, and Rarity lets her stay on board anyway. Even [[https://twitter.com/TheBiggestJim/status/642729317370339328 the]] [[https://twitter.com/mktoon/status/642729287150276608 show]] [[https://twitter.com/WheelOfCheese/status/642729307379404800 staff]] cried foul on this. Well, she is the Element of Generosity for a reason. However, given Sassy nearly reaching the DespairEventHorizon when recalling her past failures, she's not exactly as scot-free as, say, Suri Polomare. It helps that Sassy does have a genuine desire to be a better manager, even when she thought she was getting fired. Also, the show wasted no time showing that the lesson really did stick, as the very next episode features her and Rarity getting along fabulously.
* {{Keet}}: Fashion Plate definitely seems to have this personality.

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: Sassy collects a hundred orders for the princess dress on the first day, all of which are left to Rarity to sew. Naturally, Rarity gets burned out since she is doing all the dress work herself. Obviously, hiring a production crew immediately should have been in order. Sassy does eventually suggest that, but only after Rarity has completed two hundred orders. Rarity does imply that she sees mass-production of dresses as an affront to her, but this is after she's already pretty depressed about the direction of her business.

* PetTheDog: Despite making Rarity complete a hundred dresses in short order, Sassy planned to use the business's profit to pay for an assembly line to sew the dresses so Rarity would never have to sew again.

* QuantityVsQuality: Sassy is all for the former, first by expertly creating the demand for a single dress and then reaping in huge profits on mass-producing that one product. Rarity is, of course, all for the latter, preferring to put as much originality and effort into each individual design.

* StatusQuoIsGod: Downplayed; as it turns out, Rarity doesn't close this venture in Canterlot, but will still live in Ponyville as usual with regular errands to this satellite boutique with the local work delegated to Sassy Saddles.

* ValleyGirl: The pony who purchases the Celestia-themed dress is both blonde and speaks in this manner.

* BitingTheHandHumor: Rarity [[MerchandiseDriven is forced to market a line based on the newly-crowned Princess Twilight]], and focus on nothing but that. It ends disasterously.

* BitingTheHandHumor: Rarity [[MerchandiseDriven is forced to market a line based on the newly-crowned Princess Twilight]], and focus on nothing but that. It ends disasterously. Also see TakeThat below.

* BrickJoke: Back in "Twilight's Kingdom", Twilight lamented that there wasn't anything for her to do "unless of course one of you needs me to [[AuthorityInNameOnly smile and wave]]". She ends up doing just that to help promote the "signature dress" of Rarity's new boutique, only she's the model wearing said dress.

* BreatherEpisode: A rather low-key episode compared to "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?"

* CallBack: Twilight's mention of Rarity's costume design job for Sapphire Shores is a nod to "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils".

** Sassy tends to put one or both forelegs across Rarity's shoulders, or even shake her bodily, when her enthusiasm runs away with her.

->'''[[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRarity Rarity]]:''' I'm the ''Cosmare'' cover pony... I have the most successful shop in Canterlot... I've gotten everything I ever wanted... but I'm miserable!

* BitingTheHandHumour: Rarity [[MerchandiseDriven is forced to market a line based on the newly-crowned Princess Twilight]], and focus on nothing but that. It ends disasterously. Also see TakeThat below.

->''"I'm the ''Cosmare'' cover pony... I have the most successful shop in Canterlot... I've gotten everything I ever wanted... but I'm miserable!"''
-->-- '''[[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRarity Rarity]]'''

* ShownTheirWork: Someone on the writing staff clearly knows, or at least consulted with, someone in the fashion industry. Sassy and Rarity both refer to pieces of fabric in an unfinished dress as "panels," and Sassy's {{unusual euphemism}}s include references to fabric types and tools (e.g. bobbins and bodkins) that are not well known outside the industry.

** While Sassy Saddle may have had a point in her criticism of the dress name (which Rarity admits to), Rarity is entirely correct when she says that Sassy shouldn't have gone behind Rarity's back and changed it without discussing it with her first.

** Surely a successful small business owner like Rarity should have realized that she would be working on an entirely different scale of market opening a branch studio in a major city like Canterlot and at least inquired about temporary help and/or hired a production crew. Then again, she probably just thought it'd be "bigger" than Ponyville, to some extent. Considering her "Rules of Rarity" song number she could easily have thought she might have to adjust for more designs, expecting more or less to make new individual dresses, not mass production. Similarly, she probably didn't expect her manager to take such huge amounts of orders. When she does... it is too late to get any real help, and she is swamped.
** Sassy also doesn't seem to realize that they could probably make just as much money selling fewer dresses at a higher markup, because of their, ahem, rarity.

** While Sassy Saddle may have had a point in her criticism of the dress name, Rarity is entirely correct when she says that Sassy shouldn't have gone behind Rarity's back and changed it without discussing it with her first.

* BrickJoke: Back in "Twilight's Kingdom", Twilight lamented that there wasn't anything for her to do "unless of course one of you needs me to [[AuthorityInNameOnly smile and wave]]". She ends up doing just that to help promote the "signature dress" of Rarity's new boutique.

* AbsenteeActor: Even though Spike appears, he doesn't have a single line of dialogue.

* SiblingYinYang: The "Goth Pony" and "Bright Pony", who are identified as sisters by WordOfGod, have quite opposite personalities and tastes in dress. They have a respective SolarAndLunar theme inspired by Luna and Celestia.

* ShownTheirWork: Someone on the writing staff clearly knows, or at least consulted with, someone in the fashion industry. Sassy and Rarity both refer to pieces of fabric in an unfinished dress as "panels," and Sassy's {{unusual euphemism}}s include references to fabric types and tools (such as bodkins) that are not well known outside the industry.

* TakeThat: This episode might be a big one for corporations in general. Many of Sassy Saddle's risk-averse business practices reflect the main criticisms that big corporations face from both creators and consumers. From changing stuff from the creator's original vision without consent, focusing on a single product to the detriment of other ideas that are just as good, to saturating the market with that product to the point where it loses its original value and meaning. Even Hasbro itself is guilty of these practices, which makes it a bit of SelfDeprecation.

* CallBack: Twilight's mention of Rarity's costume design job for Sapphire Shores is a nod to "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils."

* DeathGlare: Opal gives one in response to Rarity seeing the bell she heard was Opal's cat toy and not the mail pony she was waiting for.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: While Rarity is telling Sassy she'll eventually come back to the boutique in Canterlot, Sea Swirl sees a dress she likes but when she sees the price her face scrunches and she walks away whistling nonchalantly.

* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Sassy tends to put one or both forelegs across Rarity's shoulders, or even shake her bodily, when her enthusiasm runs away with her.