The Ticket Master

The Ticket Master is the third episode of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, season one. In this episode, Twilight Sparkle receives two tickets from Princess Celestia to the Grand Galloping Gala, which leads to arguments among her friends, who all want to go.

Episode summary
While helping Applejack harvest apples on her farm, Twilight Sparkle receives a letter from Princess Celestia regarding an annual ball/party in Canterlot known as the "Grand Galloping Gala". Moments later came two tickets, inviting her and a guest of her choice. Spike wasn't interested in the event, assuming it was too "girly girly fru-fru" for his tastes. Applejack, on the other hand, expressed a keen interest in the second ticket, seeing it as an opportunity to raise enough money from her apple wares to fix up the Sweet Apple Acres farm and its supplies (and even give her Granny Smith a replacement hip). Rainbow Dash, having overheard the conversation after waking from her nap, remembered that The Wonderbolts, a famous aerial acrobatic pegasus troupe, are planning to perform at the Gala, making her want to go as well. If she was lucky, she could show them her recent flying tricks and maybe, just maybe, be part of their group. The two friends hoof-wrestled for the extra ticket and then tried to convince Twilight Sparkle which goal was better than the other; The chance to support a family or one to live the dream. Unable to choose between the two, Twilight says she will think about it over lunch.

"Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me! Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me! 'Cause it's the most galarrific superly-terrific gala ever in the whole galaxy!"

- Pinkie Pie's Grand Galloping Gala song

As she entered the town, Pinkie Pie discovered the tickets and, seeing how the Gala is a massive party, is also very excited to go. Rarity and Fluttershy soon learned about the tickets themselves and also wished to go. Rarity dreamed of a Cinderella-style fantasy, ending with a chance of meeting (and eventually marrying) Celestia's nephew, Prince Blueblood. Fluttershy, while not particularly interested in the party itself, wanted to visit the flower and wildlife-filled private gardens outside the castle. All five friends arrived and an argument commenced over who should get the spare ticket. Twilight broke it up, reminding them that because she was given the tickets, it was her decision, and promised that she will figure it out. Of course, with five friends, each with their own reasons to go, she couldn't think of who deserved it more, as four of them would be left in disappointment (three, if she decides to give up both tickets). The fact that she had not eaten all day didn't help much either.

As she agonized over the situation, her friends began giving her large favors, with varying degrees of subtlety, in an effort to make her give up a ticket. Dash left a hole in a rain cloud to keep her dry. Rarity gave her a splendorous makeover. Applejack plied her with desserts. Fluttershy and her animal friends cleaned her house (the idea came from her rabbit friend, Angel). Pinkie threw a party of her own for her. The starving unicorn refused all this. The situation became chaotic when Pinkie accidentally informed the whole town about the extra ticket. Practically everypony began to ask to do favors for Twilight. She and the dragon ran off and a Benny Hill-esque chase ensued. When they were cornered, the unicorn ended up teleporting both of them away.

Managing to make it back home, Twilight Sparkle found her friends already there and breaks down, telling them she doesn't want to disappoint anyone. They apologized after realizing how much stress they put on their friend for a couple of tickets and chose to forfeit their chance to get the spare. Rainbow Dash celebrated winning the ticket by default, but soon understood what the others were doing (thanks to their glare) and gave up as well. Twilight, after relaying her report on how one's blessing can affect friendship, decided to return both the tickets, saying that she'd rather not go at all then leave out any of her friends. A swift reply letter from Celestia contains 6 tickets, saying Twilight should have just asked for more in the first place. All of the ponies were happy to go together, even after they tried to fight over just one. As he saw them leave to treat Twilight to a much, much needed meal, Spike wondered why he wasn't invited despite his insistence of the Gala being too girly... until he received a last-minute P.S. from the princess with a ticket of his own!

Major events

 * The Grand Galloping Gala is first mentioned in this episode.
 * Angel was introduced for the first time in this episode.

Quotes
Rarity: I would stroll through the gala, and everyone would wonder: "Who is that mysterious mare?" They would never guess that I was just a simple pony from little old Ponyville. Why, I'll cause such a sensation, that I would be invited for an audience with Princess Celestia herself. And the princess would be so taken with the style and elegance, that she would introduce me... to him... her nephew! The most handsome, eligible unicorn stallion in Canterlot. Our eyes would meet... Our hearts would melt... Our courtship would be magnificent. He would ask for my hoof in marriage, and of course I would say... YES! We would have a royal wedding, befitting a princess which is... what I would become upon marrying him... The stallion of my dreams!

Rarity: Twilight, I simply cannot believe you would invite Pinkie Pie so she can... party... and prevent me from meeting my true love. How could you?!

Twilight Sparkle: QUIIIET!

Pinkie Pie: And then I said "Oatmeal? Are you craz--?!"

Spike: Do you have any rubies? ...No? OK. I'll have the hay fries. Extra crispy!

Rarity: We will be the belles of ball, you and I. Everyone will be clamoring for our attention. All eyes will be on us! And then everyone will finally know the most beautiful, most talented, the most sophisticated pony in all Equestria is Rarity the unicorn! And Twilight Sparkle, of course.

Applejack: I got apple pie, apple fritters, apple tarts, apple dumplings, apple crisps, apple crumbles, ANNND Apple Brown Betty! Uh, the dessert, not my auntie...

Twilight Sparkle: Fluttershy, not you too!

Fluttershy: Oh! Well hello, Twilight. I hope you don't mind. We're all doing a little spring cleaning for you.

Twilight Sparkle: It's summer...

Fluttershy: Oh... Well, better late than never, right?

Twilight Sparkle: You're not doing this for the ticket, are you?

Fluttershy: Oh no... I'm doing this because you're my very best friend, right Angel? [Cut to Angel, giving a stern look]

Fluttershy: Oh... yes. We are just doing this for the ticket.

Twilight Sparkle: PIIINKIIIE!!!

Pinkie Pie: Yes, Twilight?

Twilight Sparkle: At least the other ponies tried to be subtle about the ticket.

Gallery



 * The Ticket Master image gallery

Trivia

 * Applejack refers to the apples she and Twilight picked as being "Golden Delicious", however the golden delicious variety of apples are yellow or light green, not red like the majority of apples the ponies were carrying.
 * The title of the episode is based on the word "ticketmaster". A ticketmaster is a place where one is able to purchase tickets for shows, theater and other entertainments. The episode's plot however was very similar to the My Little Pony Tales episode "And The Winner Is..." which both involve a pony receiving two tickets to an event and having problems giving one to only one of her friends.
 * The Grand Gallopping Gala takes place in Canterlot, which is likely a play on words of Camelot.
 * When Rainbow Dash is fantasizing about showing off to The Wonderbolts, a Flash animation error appears in the crowd of ponies. It can be seen when Rainbow Dash breaks through the three smoke trails, as a red box (with the text "THIS FRAME" readable) in the very back of the crowd.
 * While Twilight is at the cafe, she plucks petals from a flower in the centerpiece. She plucks five petals, one for each of her friends. But while the flower is initially shown to have eight petals, it's depicted as being completely lacking any later. The rearrangement of the flowers in the vase is minor by comparison.
 * Spike's "hay fries" are visible on the café's table at first, however, when Rainbow Dash closes up the clouds and rain then pours on Twilight and Spike; neither the hay fries nor the plate they were served on are on the table.
 * When Fluttershy is explaining why she wants to go to the gala, she excitedy explains that there will be "loons and toucans and bitterns, oh my!" echoing the quote "lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" of The Wizard of Oz.
 * During the chase scene in the last third of the episode, a sound-alike of Yakety Sax from The Benny Hill Show plays.
 * The argument scene is very similar to the ones from Jim Henson's movies The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan, where the title characters stop arguing and Janice talks about herself which is unrelated to the plot.
 * Once every pony in Ponyville knows that Twilight Sparkle has the tickets, a mob gathers and offers Twilight favors. One pony goes so far as to shout "I'll do your taxes!"
 * During the scene in which Twilight is being mobbed by the citizens of Ponyville, Twilight teleports herself and Spike back to the library. Viewers may notice that Spike is burnt and charred by the spell, but Twilight is not. This may be a subtle tip of the hat to a running gag in the online machinima series Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicals in which only one specific character suffers a similar ashy residue after each teleportation.
 * In the final scene, when the ponies are all leaving Twilight Sparkle's house with the tickets they are shown to carry them using magic yet only Twilight's and Rarity's horns are glowing, as they are the only ponies of the group who can preform any magic. This is seen again immediately after, when Applejack lags behind the group when she hears Spike receive another message from the princess with his ticket, as she is holding the ticket with magic without Twilight or Rarity nearby.
 * When Pinkie Pie has the ponies tossing Twilight in the air, the ponies doing the tossing change each time.
 * This episode appears in a promotional DVD distributed by Hasbro in multiple countries, which comes with a small, fully-molded Twilight Sparkle toy. Consequently, many of the show's language dubs were introduced via The Ticket Master, instead of the first episode.