A Rarity Episode Followup On Rarity Day! YAY! Rarity is the best pony, at least Spike used to think so.
It looks like Spike’s pedestal for Rarity is crumbling and we get a full 20-ish minutes to watch her scramble to assemble some of the pieces. What fun! Everyone hold breathless adoration, it’s follow-up time!
Rarity: Oh Spike! I’m in need of your undying devotion to my every whim!
We start the episode already knowing Rarity is coming to ask for a favor. Whether it’s the inflection in her voice or the fact she often takes advantage of Spike that tips us off is hard to say.
Rarity rambles on about fancy rocks while Spike seems to be writing something; something that requires mood lighting. Hmm.
And of course, Spike is 100% interested in every word Rarity has to say.
*Cough* I said, And Of Course Spike Is 100% Interested In Every Word Rarity Has To Say!
I SAID SPIKE IS 100% INTERESTED IN EVERY WORD RARITY HAS TO SAY!
Seriously Spike, she even went for an ego boost with the whole bodyguard compliment. Pay attention!
Quick rabbit trail: Look at that poster in the background. Are those Power Ponies? Like that’s an alicorn, what special power does it have? And is that poster tacked to a stone wall?
Okay, back to the follow-up.
Rarity explains to Spike, again, that she wants to go to the gem cave and wants his help carrying everything.
Honestly, it was almost as if he wasn’t listening at all which is silly.
Spike is always listening to Rarity; I mean, he worships the ground she walks on. Look at how much attention he's giving her.
He’s got all the time in the world to focus on Rarity: which is apparently 16 hours a day . . .
Does Celestia move the sun after 8 hours . . . Does this mean time in Equestria isn't set at 24 hrs/day!? Am I overthinking this clock with only 8 lines on it?
I Know Spike! You only have 8 hours of sunlight, so you better use it right!
Wait? Why is he running off and leaving best pony behind?
His rush was clearly because he didn’t know Rarity was going to give him a choice on baskets this time.
Just kidding, Rarity still expects him to carry the large one, but Spike has to decline the offer to be Rarity organic shopping buggy.
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| [Love the sound of the waterfall in this. The lack of music was a good choice.] |
Now don’t get me wrong, I love the post office!
You can park out front! There is a line to stand in. A little counter space no one uses and I don’t know the purpose of. And, my favorite, that leaky ceiling tile that’s been in the PO since ‘96.
But would you choose the above over Rarity? I didn't think so.
Rarity goes to the cave with somepony else. Strange since ss long as they’ve known each other Spike has never turned down an opportunity to be with Rarity.
Rarity: Do you think it's my breath?
Rarity: I mean, he breaths mail and I don't complain about his breath!
I love how the animators waited to show us who she was speaking to until after her thoughts are expressed. It gave the viewer time to really focus on Rarity’s agitation.
Also, Rarity just crushed a gemstone with her magic. Keep that in mind. We also learn AJ can’t catch worth dirt, which explains why my last order of apples all had bruises.
Rarity is feeling inconvenienced and slighted jaded that she isn’t able to get the little dragon’s attention that day.
And AJ, being the sensitive soul she is,
Yells at Rarity’s asinine complaints. Which wakens the bats!
Run! Run for your lives! Unless you’ve had your rabies shots.
Rarity: Actually Applejack, I had noticed that you haven’t the situational awareness of Spike!
On the verge of a meltdown, Rarity ends up in the company of one Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight: Whatever it is, take it back outside. I am almost finished organizing-
Rarity: Spike isn’t worshiping me anymore.
Twilight: And that’s supposed to be a bad thing?
Rarity: Don’t ask me things until I have my couch, darling.
Rarity: You know I value his friendship even though I can take advantage of his affection for me. It’s just that I grew to enjoy that attention. It felt good to have somepony invest that level of consideration in me.
He made my life better being attentive to me based on that silly crush and I’m not sure I can adjust to a relationship without that one-way commitment. It’s hard to lose the way he used to look up to me with warmth and attachment to now see me as just another friend. I feel like I’m not only losing our former friendship, I’m losing an aspect of my identity that I’ve fashioned with him over these several years . . . and all to the post office. Do you think he's starting a stamp collection?
Twilight: Look, Starlight’s gonna be back in like an hour. Maybe save this for her.
Rarity: I'm better than a stamp collection! I'll do something overdramatic to get him back!
The post office couldn’t prepare for what was to come that day.
Rarity has brought a ton of gifts to the PO hoping to find Spike and apologize for whatever she must have done to make him not want to spend time with her.
And look who showed up. Gabby is doing a mail run at just the perfect time.
Rarity decides Gabby will make the perfect audience for her apology performance for Spike. I’ll be honest, I was laughing too hard to focus again.
“And Scene!” was great.
And, in true Rarity fashion, the fashionista was too busy patting her own performance on the back to notice Spike enter with -
CHOCOLATE ICE-CREAM!
For Him And Gabby! So Sweet! It turns out Rarity hadn’t been dumped for a PO after all. YAY! Spike has been spending time with a new friend. It looks like Rarity is just going to have to share some of her Spike time is all.
No biggie; she's a mature Element of Generocity, right?
Okay, maybe not. Surely a shopping trip could make this better.
But not even the fabric store is enough to raise the designer’s spirits. Without Spike, Rarity just can’t decide what she wants. Royal Purple or Pinkest Pink? What will her new shopping companion think?
Rainbow: You know, pink doesn't have a light wavelength which is why it's not part of the rainbow and thus not in my mane. It's not there, kinda like how I shouldn't be here.
Rainbow: I want to go home now; you didn't even offer to buy me an ice-cream.
Spike was always the one to brighten up Rarity’s trips. He was a good companion because he genuinely wanted to make Rarity satisfied. While AJ and RD want to be good friends, they aren't going to notice all the intricate details of what makes Rarity happy.
It's not that they don't care, it just not who they are. Spike had a pretty strong crush, that's why he was constantly trying to anticipate Rarity's wants.
But right now, Spike has found a friend that not only reciprocates the attention but also loves ice-cream as much as he does . . ; I mean, picks activities he likes too.
Unable to bear doing things alone, Rarity heads home to enlist the companionship of yet another one of her friends that just can’t seem to get the whole, “Do exactly what I need without me telling you” thing.
Fluttershy: I’m probably not as highly attentive as Spike, and I’m sorry for that, but maybe the fact that you haven’t said thank you to me for standing her for the past 6 hours until you want me to leave has something to do with why he left.
And like always, Fluttershy is right! Rarity just needs to say thank you. RIGHT NOW! In the middle of the night. Nothing Creepy Here!
Ah yes, the tried and true method of buying friendship.
Rarity is gonna take Spike on a day trip to the Great . . . Crystal Crevice, in a mountain . . . I missed the name. I was cringing too hard.
Spike breaks off his plans to hang with Gabby for the day to join Rarity.
Honesty moment: I was cringing for most of the rest of the episode. This is all a great lesson in friendship, but it makes me have so many feelings.
But you know who was okay with it, Gabby. She wants Spike to have fun and she doesn’t want to hold him back from that.
In Fact,
When Rarity shows back up to bribe Spike away from Gabby again, the griffon is supportive of Spike getting things he wants.
My heart. Why Rarity!? Why must you resent such a beautiful friendship! Does your greed know no end!?
So the two go to a Power Ponies convention and it looks like Rarity got Spike a little merch. Also, love her cosplay. Rarity would be a great cosplayer, don’t you think? All her drama and costumes!
Also, she can crush a gemstone with her magic so she should be able to carry all her props, or at least a wagon full of merchandise up a few steps without nearly passing out!
And after a convention, everyone knows the best way to recuperate is with board games all day, not riding a Grayhound bus for over 26 hours just for them to run out of drivers and leave you stranded out of state!
Rarity capitalizes on Spike’s downtime by tempting him with one of his favorite games.
Little did they know Gabby would be stopping by to offer Spike some soup to a tired dragon. What must she think after receiving a letter from Spike saying he was too tired to do anything all day?
Maybe that it was a free invitation to just walk into Twilight's castle?
No, she drew the only conclusion one could, Spike must have just been tired of hanging out with her. Gabby leaves the soup which is a nice touch (I have a heap more respect for her character no).
And, I’m very disappointed with Rarity. She’s so lost in her own victory (over Spike’s former distraction) that she completely ignores Spike’s mood change.
Or at least she tries to. Rarity can see Spike is unhappy, but she drags him to all the usual haunts anyway. She wants things to be as they were.
Twilight: What did you do? Spike is so unhappy even I noticed it.
Rarity: I don’t know why you assume it’s my fault when clearly it’s Gabby’s, but let me get my couch and I’ll explain.
Rarity: I was miserable without Spike, so I monopolized his time with a bunch of his favorite activities that Gabby couldn’t provide and then watched as my scheming lead to the inevitable break up of their friendship. She can’t be with him if he’s got no time for her, right?
Twilight: Friendships changed, but just because Spike made a new friend doesn’t mean he stopped being yours.
Rarity: I feel like this lecture’s familiar.
Twilight: Yeah, well either you learn it now or I’m revoking your title as the Element of Generocity. How’s that?
Rarity: I’ll go correct this error immediately!
Twilight: Wait! Take this trash with you!
Twilight: Sigh, well I might as well get some use out of these chairs.
Back at the PO Rarity finds Gabby and confesses to her evil plan to steal Spike back for herself.
Gabby is surprised and confused. Rarity is far from being an evil mastermind, but it is still unsettling to hear someone is plotting against your friendships.
And then strawberry ice-cream shows up. Oh, and Spike comes too, I guess.
Rarity explains that she missed her time with Spike.
Whether you ship/shipped them or not, your heart could melt realizing that this is the end of the relationship we came to be familiar with between Rarity and Spike.
Gabby forgives Rarity saying she understands why somepony would miss hanging out with Spike. He’s pretty awesome and a great friend, though I think her 'friendship' with Spike will look very different from Rarity and Spikes old one.
I think Spike is happy to hear Rarity values her time with him as much as he did with her though.
Of course, I can’t say how Spike values his time with Gabby just yet. It's too hard to tell. if only there were some clues as to how things might progress.
Rarity: I give it a month.
Rarity: I suppose Twilight is right, friendships do change. Of course, Spike and I will always be friends and I can get used to sharing him.
Pinkie: Yeah, well, I've had a crippling fear of bats since season 1 episode 3, could you please stop spitting on every one of these? It’s making them hard to catch and it's slowin' us down.
In the end, Spike reminds Rarity that he will always look forward to their time together.
New friendships can seem super exciting, and I don’t blame Spike for momentarily shrugging of time with Rarity to be with Gabby, but he’s learned to make time for everyone who’s important to him.
Such a beautiful friend-
Pinkie: Bronies are gonna keep shipping you two regardless of this episode.
And thus we conclude yet another fun episode! Plenty of memories, and Bats, and Ice-Cream!
