Episode Review: For whom the Sweetie Belle Toils.

We start off in Rarity’s design room, where she’s got a big order to fill for none other than Sapphire Shores! Remember her?

Anyway Sweetie Belle is eager to help and knows how important it is but asks Rarity to help her with some of her own designs for a show she’s doing with her fellow crusaders, tomorrow night! Rarity is a little reluctant at first as she needs to finish these designs before tomorrow night and deliver them to Canterlot the day after tomorrow! But Rarity eventually agrees to add her “expertise” to Sweetie Belle’s designs…

Well she’s getting better, at least they have the right number of legs. Before show time the crusaders are worried as Rarity hasn’t arrived with the costumes yet, and Sweetie Belle admits she only asked Rarity to fix her costumes at the last moment as she wanted to keep this to herself, she feels the play is her time to shine as she wrote, directed, and is in it. Rarity arrives just in time and gives the girls their costumes which she’s improved…

The show goes on but we only see a little of the opening scene. After the play the crusaders are eager to get feedback (Sweetie Belle in particular), they learn from Spike that the Mane Six did not see the show as they had to help Rarity with her designs for Sapphire because she lost a lot of time (most likely fixing Sweetie Belle’s dresses). In any matter the ponies who did see the show have nothing but good reviews, of the dresses, no-pony can remember anything about the writing or directing and no good review (or bad review) about anything other than the dresses. Despite the fact that Rarity’s name is never said amongst the crowd Sweetie Belle feels that Rarity stole the spotlight!...

Back at the Carousal Boutique Rarity is putting the finishing touch on the center of her ensemble for Sapphire, a headpiece…

She explains to her friends that the whole headpiece is held together by a single stitch. At this moment Sweetie Belle storms in and when she starts to show that she’s got a temper ready to erupt the others leave Rarity and Sweetie Belle alone. Sweetie Belle accuses Rarity of making the dresses too amazing on purpose to steal the spotlight saying that it was her fifth birthday party all over again, Rarity defends that she only tried to do what she thought Sweetie Belle wanted, Sweetie Belle storms out in a huff. At this point we find out that as many have guessed Sweetie Belle does indeed have a bedroom in the Carousal Boutique…

Personally I think it looks a little more lived in then her room at her parents’ house…

Anyway later that night Sweetie Belle is having trouble sleeping which she blames Rarity for, she goes into the hallway and as she passed Rarity’s room where her sister is sleeping soundly (BTW if you think that Rarity is ignoring Sweetie Belle you should know she was planning to talk to Sweetie Belle after she cooled down). At this point our little Sweetie Belle gets an idea, a horrible idea, a wonderful idea, Sweetie Belle got a wonderfully horrible idea! Remember that all important stitch? The one that holds the whole head piece together?!...

OH Sweetie Belle you wouldn’t!...

She would, Sweetie Belle removes the stitch and heads off to bed. Sweetie Belle suddenly finds that she’s at a kind of Ponyfied Oscars and she wins! Sweetie Belle goes to stage to accept her award when suddenly a giant cloud with a familiar looking head comes and rains on Sweetie’s parade (literally).

Suddenly a familiar voice cries “enough!” she Rarity cloud vanishes and from the moon emerges Princess Luna! Sweetie Belle is glad to be saved but wonders if she’s dreaming, and after realizing that Princess Luna just saved her from an evil cloud with Rarity’s head she realizes that she is indeed dreaming. Luna sympathizes with Sweetie Belle as she knows what it’s like to feel overshadowed by an older sister. Luna takes Sweetie Belle into the past in a kind of “Christmas Carol” type of “fly on the wall” situation at Sweetie Belle's fifth birthday party. Sweetie Belle watches as her younger self prepares to arrive like the Belle of the ball, now if you could possibly have a heart attack from too much cuteness beware the next image…

Meet five year old Sweetie Belle getting all dolled up with lipstick and a dress and shoes which are too big for her (don’t you just wanna take her home?) Now little Sweetie arrives at the top of the stairs and strikes various poses in an attempt to gather attention, but she sees the party is already going on and all her guests are being wooed by Rarity’s (who by the way seems to be watching over the party) homemade party favors one little pony even remarks “Who needs a birthday girl when you've got the birthday girl's amazing big sister?”…

Heartbroken, little Sweetie runs to her room and cries into her pillow whereas the present Sweetie Belle remarks that, that was when she learned never to try and shine with Rarity around. However Luna points out that Sweetie Belle only had a part of the story….

Just a few moments before Little Sweetie comes down stairs her guests are bored to death, Rarity assures them that Sweetie Belle would be down any moment, one little pony is ready to leave and the others soon follow and prepare to leave remarking that Sweetie Belle would never get any pony to come to her parties again (BTW this little pony is not a younger Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon). Rarity is able to draw the pony’s attention with her party favors which she states were meant for the end of the party. After Little Sweetie runs upstairs after hearing the one little ponies preference of Rarity over Sweetie Belle, however what Little Sweetie didn’t hear was Rarity saying (and she seems to be lying in my opinion) that the party favors were Sweetie Belle’s idea and she just helped. Current Sweetie Belle realizes that Rarity was just trying to save her party not steal her spot light. Now Luna takes Sweetie Belle to a scene of Rarity just a few hours ago, Rarity is worried about her designs for Sapphire worrying that they weren’t perfect enough. Sweetie Belle remarks that she thought she was the only one to worry about things like that, Rarity manages to convince herself to calm down as she has done her best and left nothing to chance and all she needed now was a good night sleep. As Sweetie Belle states that she hopes things go well for Rarity tomorrow, suddenly a door opens and Luna tells Sweetie Belle to “Go. Go see what the future holds if you fail to rein in your worst instincts, as I once did.”

Rarity is presenting her work to Sapphire and her dancers when she goes for the head piece! Rarity places the headpiece on Sapphire only for it to completely fall apart! Rarity is humiliated, heartbroken, and fired as Sapphire’s costume designer. Believing she must’ve over looked something Rarity becomes even more detail oriented…

“Check, recheck, recheck, then recheck!” As for Sapphire…

“Who all wants to hear a funny story about my ex-costume designer?”

“Make me a dress, Rarity, please?”
“Go away! You know I don't do that anymore!”

And finally…

At this point Sweetie Belle wakes up and rushes to Rarity’s room to fix her mistake but finds that Rarity’s already left! Sweetie Belle takes the crusaders by train to Canterlot, Scootaloo and Applebloom seem more interested in meeting Sapphire and begin to name the artists songs, Sweetie Belle points out that they’re there to save Rarity from a horrible future, when Scootaloo remarks “Servers her right” Sweetie Belle is shocked but Scootaloo corrects her that “Serves her right” is one of Sapphire’s songs and is surprised she didn’t know that and inquires as to whether Sweetie listens to Sapphire’s music, Sweetie Belle states that she prefers show tunes...

Rarity begins to show her costumes to Sapphire and her dancers as Sweetie Belle and the others try to get in and are eventually successful, they manage to snatch the box containing the headpiece and Sweetie manages to hide in a room where she finds….

Luna’s presence relives Sweetie Belle as she believes it means she’s dreaming, but Luna informs her that she is quite awake but Luna is ready to help Sweetie Belle fix and improve the headpiece. After finishing Rarity finds Sweetie Belle and the little unicorn confesses to what she did. Rarity presents the headpiece to Sapphire who finds it beautiful but fears it might be unlucky until she sees the stitching in the center…

A dolphin, apparently Sapphire thinks they’re her lucky animal because they appear often in her dreams. Rarity thanks Sweetie Belle and inquires as to whether she can catch an encore of Sweetie’s play but Sweetie Belle admits that her play was not that good and the costumes were the best part….

Things this episode clarifies: Rarity is still working for Sapphire Shores, Sweetie Belle has a second bedroom at the Carousal Boutique, Luna is not only to enter a ponies dream but can manipulate dreams as well, we learn that Sweetie Belle likes show tunes, and there’s also a hint that Sweetie Belle might have OCD like Rarity as she apparently worries that things aren’t perfect enough.

Review: I think this one might be my favorite Sweetie Belle episode and definitely one of my favorites so far of season 4 the theme of the episode may be to see things from another ponies eyes before getting angry at them and never let jealousy and anger rule your choices. Overall A+.

Next week: Next weeks show is abou..... wait, do you hear that? it sounds like music! it sounds like the theme song of, could it be? it is it's the return of The Flim Flam Brothers. Now are they back to ruin Sweet Apple Acres again? It seems no, they've entered a new business, now they sell a cure all type medicine which seems to work on Granny Smith so have the Flim Flam brothers gone honest? Maybe but AJ is skeptical, who knows maybe the Flim Flam Brothers will give AJ her Key! Personally I think the episode will be about giving ponies a chance no matter who they are.