- Story by Jeremy Whitley, Art by Agnes Garbowska
Sapphire Shores has a big show in Manehattan, and has asked Rarity to come for last-minute help with the costumes. After Rarity drops Sweetie Belle off with Babs Seed, she goes to the theater as they prepare for dress rehearsals. Sapphire explains due to last minute scheduling changes, there's a lot of new issues and she's had to bring in extra help, including her new special effects unicorn - Trixie. Rarity is immediately distrustful, despite Trixie having noted her atonement and recent friendship with Starlight Glimmer. Sapphire reminds Rarity how she forgave Sweetie Belle, and that she should forgive Trixie, as the two must work together at this point. Rarity agrees, but delegates Trixie to work on her special effects alone while she finishes the dresses.
At the first dress rehearsal, everything seems to go off as planned, but one of Trixie's firework magic displays sets aflame the dress Rarity made for Sapphire, and there is a brief moment of panic before it is safely put out. Sapphire threatens to fire Trixie immediately, but Rarity vouches for her, admitted she didn't work with Trixie on the show. Sapphire is willing to forgive them, and the two promise to work the dresses and special effects better to assure there's no mishaps the next. The opening goes off spectacularly and Rarity admits to Trixie she was wrong to start off with bad faith against her.
Tropes
- Aesop Amnesia: Apparently Rarity forgot the last time Trixie and she had met in Manehattan which ended with Trixie proving she wasn't a bad pony.
- Call-Back: The story calls back to "Magic Duel", "Bad Seed", "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils", "No Second Prances" and "To Where And Back Again", as well as to the previous Friends Forever Rarity/Babs Seed issue.
- Continuity Snarl: The comics are generally pretty good about keeping track with it's own continuity. But apparently the writers had forgotten about the Manehattan Mysteries arc when they wrote this as that arc likewise showed Trixie was indeed trying to redeem herself. Rarity was even involved with the plot in helping Trixie prove her innocence.
- Foreshadowing: When Sweetie Belle meets up with Babs Seed, they talk about how they forgave-and-forget (with both Babs and with Diamond Tiara). This becomes the central theme for the interaction between Trixie and Rarity.
- Jerkass Realization: Rarity comes to realize she wasn't being fair with Trixie due to letting a past animosity keep her from helping Trixie when she needed it and that the accident only came about because of her own pettiness, thus making it more her fault then Trixie's. She comes to Trixie's defense when Sapphire nearly fires her for the accident.
- Reformed, but Rejected: Rarity still holds a grudge against Trixie for how she treated her and her friends and she'll never forgive her, which resulted in Sapphire's concert nearly ruined.
