The Best Night Ever

"NO! I waited all my life for this moment! And I'm not going to let it slip by! If it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna make this... THE BEST NIGHT EVER!"

- Twilight and Friends

The Best Night Ever is the twenty-sixth episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and the final episode of the first season. In this episode, Twilight Sparkle and her friends attend the Grand Galloping Gala, but each of their experiences do not meet their expectations in The Ticket Master, much to their disappointment.

Preparing for the Party
The episode opens with Canterlot's Grand Galloping Gala about to begin. Pinkie Pie is jumping for joy and excitement, and humorously uses a trampoline to show her enthusiasm. Rarity comes by to stop her, not wanting the pink pony's dress to be stained with sweat. Once Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash met up with the rest of the ponies, Twilight triumphantly casts her latest spell into action. With an apple Spike places on the ground, she transforms it into a carriage to transport them to the gala, and turns a group of four mice (that she had asked Fluttershy to bring with her beforehand) into horses to pull it; a near perfect success, except their faces still had whiskers. Thanks to Rarity's cat, however, the "horses" are scared away. With some eyelash batting, Rarity convinces two of her stallion neighbors to pull the carriage instead. As they load in to the carriage, Spike is already making plans to show Twilight's friends the highlights of their hometown. They claim they are going to be busy, but promise to hang out with the dragon later. As they finally enter the castle grounds the Grand Galloping Gala is already underway. The fully-dressed ponies decide to split up to in order to make their dreams a reality whilst claiming it to be the 'best night ever', leaving Spike in the dust.

Joining the Party
Twilight meets with Princess Celestia, who is glad to see her star pupil and is glad they can finally spend some time to catch up. Rarity eyes what she believes to be "him", Celestia's nephew, and chases after the princely pony. Fluttershy follows the beautiful sound of a stray meadowlark into the private gardens. AJ finally opens up her booth filled with all kinds of apple snacks, and quickly sells her first item, an apple pie, to a Wonderbolt named Soarin'. However, as he drops it on the way to his partner, Rainbow Dash arrived to save the confection. Recognizing the blue Pegasus from Cloudsdale's competition, the Wonderbolt known as Spitfire asks her to hang out with them in the VIP section. Pinkie Pie arrives in the ballroom and is instantly taken in by the shiny floors, the guests, and the band.

Pinkie Pie sings and dances in her own usual fashion, expressing her love for the Gala. However, she see that all the attention she is getting is far more strict and stern look then she had anticipated, and she awkwardly becomes quiet. Rarity finally meets her dream pony, Prince Blueblood. After introducing herself, she then shows him a rose in the royal garden. The unicorn prince sees the flower, but instead of offering it to Rarity, to her surprise her prince charming places it on his suit, claiming that it complimented his eyes. Meanwhile, in the gardens, Fluttershy quickly follows the whistle, but it leads her to an elderly groundskeeper who simply loves to whistle while he worked. She apologizes for interrupting and flees in the opposite direction before finally spying a set of exotic animals. She approaches them, only to see them scurry off. Sadly, these are not like critters she has taken care of back in Ponyville. She blams herself for being such a "loudmouth" and once again tries to befriend them, but no matter how polite or quiet she is, she cannot not get close to any of them. Rainbow Dash is not faring much either, as her idols are too busy talking to other recipients of the party. Twilight attempts to converse with Celestia, but despite the Equestrian ruler's best effort to do so, her attention is focused on greeting more guests. As for Applejack, she is unable to sell the rest of her wares since the start of the Gala.

Overall, things had started out nicely, but as time passes they are quickly becoming more and more disappointed. It’s not going the way anypony had planned or expected. It is supposed to be their night, and if they plan on not making it a complete waste, they are going to have to take matters into their own hooves.

Livening up the Party
Rather than wait to talk to the princess, Twilight instead joined in greeting the arriving guests, but was tiring and aching from constant hoof-shaking. Pinkie Pie proceeded to liven up the party by any means necessary, convincing the orchestra to play a peppy song of the "Pony Pokey". When told that it wasn't that kind of party, she assumed it was less "party" and more "Par-TAY". Dash decided to perform a few more tricks, starting by staging a save, for the Wonderbolts to see. She butted an unsuspecting party guest in the air and. in a speedy fashion, caught him, but failed to get the flying troupe's attention. Applejack used some of her apples to trip a party attendee. After helping him up, she quickly advertised her snacks. The... "victim" refused. Rarity maintained her composure, hoping to see Blueblood's chivalrous side emerge. The stallion stopped her in front of a stray puddle of punch. She thought he would cover it with a handkerchief, but he used her shawl instead. As they reached the exit, she gestured him to open it for her, but it was vice-versa. At the garden, Fluttershy tried to catch the animals, to the point of actually trying to trap them, but they continued to escape her grasp and, surprisingly, she was becoming increasingly annoyed from it.

As the gala continued, Rarity and Blueblood approached AJ's booth outside. Rarity ordered two apple fritters. She once more tried to get her dream pony to do the polite thing and pay for both of them, but he expected her to. AJ saw this and decided to give them the fritters on the house. Blueblood was less than pleased, even horrified, at the many snacks he saw was of "common carnival" quality, and so he returned to the party for food of his preferred tastes.

Crashing the Party
AJ saw this as a chance to bring high-quality apple cake to the ballroom, but the dessert was accidentally catapulted by Pinkie Pie in her continuous attempt to add flair to the boring festivities. Rarity and Blueblood walked in. As the cake flew right towards him, he used Rarity as a shield to save his clothes from being tarnished. It was the last straw, and Rarity had enough. She finally lost her temper and berated him for his lack of manners and non-chivalry; being a "royal pain". Seeing him back away from the cake-covered mare to protect his ensemble, she shook off the cake pieces and dirtied him. Blueblood toppled over to the room's centerpiece statue, causing to it fall. Rainbow Dash found this the perfect opportunity to be noticed and successfully caught it. Unfortunately, it was too heavy for her and she dropped it, causing a set of stone columns to topple over as well.

The dust cleared from this domino effect before Twilight and Princess Celestia walked in to see the ballroom a huge mess. The very moment the student muttered that things could not get any worse, the garden's animals rushed into the room, traumatized by a completely enraged Fluttershy, who screamed at all of them to love her. With the ballroom in absolute chaos, Celestia told her student to run, prompting Twilight to call her friends to follow her. On the way down the stairs, Rarity dropped one of her glass slippers. After Pinkie told her that her prince would find her with it, the horrified unicorn instead destroyed the slipper, hoping to leave behind her fantasy once and for all.

Epilogue
Exhausted and their gala dresses in tatters, they meet Spike at a nearby donut shop, explaining to him everything that had transpired. In the end, they looked back at it all and ended up laughing. Twilight had hoped that Princess Celestia was not too mad about ruining the party. On the contrary, she arrived saying that it was the best Gala in a long time. According to her, the Grand Galloping Gala was "always awful", which was why she hoped Twilight and her friends' involvement would able to liven it up. It worked as far as she was concerned, even if it wasn't what any of them had expected. What had mattered was that they were together now, hanging out as suggested by Spike before the start of the event. They all learned that even a terrible situation such as this can be enjoyable with friends.

It truly was their best night ever.

Notable story points

 * Twilight Sparkle and her friends finally attend the Grand Galloping Gala. The event has been referenced throughout the season, starting with episode three.
 * It first appears that the gala will go precisely as the ponies expected it, but their expectations are soon dashed.
 * Twilight's five friends destroy the gala in an absurd chain of events:
 * Applejack only manages to make one sale at her apple stand during the night, so she decides to cart a cake into the ballroom and sell it there. Pinkie Pie, in her continuous attempt to add flair to the boring festivities, accidentally stage-dives into the cart and flings the cake into the air. The cake flies right towards Blueblood, who uses Rarity as a shield to keep himself from being hit by it. Rarity finally loses her temper and shakes off the cake pieces onto Blueblood. He retreats and accidentally bumps into the room's centerpiece statue, which begins toppling over. Rainbow Dash tries to use this opportunity to get noticed by the Wonderbolts and successfully catches the statue. Unfortunately, she can't balance it and it bumps into one of the ballroom's stone columns. It topples over and takes down the rest of the columns with it. When the dust settles, the centerpiece statue cracks and breaks. As Celestia and Twilight enter the ballroom and see the destruction, Twilight (the only one of the six who had nothing to do with this chaos) resignedly comments that things cannot get any worse. At that moment a stampede of the royal gardens' animals bursts through the door with Fluttershy behind them, enraged and ordering the animals to love her. The ponies run for safety and leave the gala.


 * The episode concludes with the six main ponies, Spike, and Celestia sitting in Spike's favorite donut shop, realizing that even a terrible night such as this can be enjoyable with friends.

Notable events

 * Two of The Wonderbolts members were named in this episode: Soarin' and Spitfire.
 * Princess Celestia's nephew, who was mentioned in one of Rarity's fantasies in The Ticket Master, is formally introduced here as Prince Blueblood. To Rarity's shock, he's nothing like she expected him to be.
 * Hayseed, a recurring background character who was originally set to be formally introduced in "The Ticket Master" but had his scene removed, finally receives his first speaking role.
 * Fluttershy ultimately goes into a psychotic rage after failing to approach the frightened animals. Fans considered this to be Fluttershy's most shocking and unexpected trait, despite many prior hints in previous episodes that Fluttershy is capable of surpassing her usual overly tender personality.
 * This is the first appearance of the Disney Chorus.

Quotes

 * Rarity: Heavens no! We're getting dressed!
 * Applejack: Dressed? Uh, beg 'pardon Rarity, but, uh, we don't normally wear clothes.


 * Spike: Great! Cause I planned out my insider's tour of Canterlot. I've gotta show Rarity the crown jewels. And Applejack the Princess's golden apple tree. And Pinkie, we gotta go to my favorite donut shop. Then let's get moving! Hyah!
 * Caramel: Excuse me?!
 * Spike: Um... I...
 * Clover: If you weren't friends with our neighbor Rarity... Hah.


 * Twilight Sparkle: I can't believe we're finally here! With all that we've imagined, the reality of this night is sure to make this the best night ever!


 * Spike: Yeah! This is gonna be the best night ever. You know why? Cause we're all gonna spend time at the Gala to...gether. Or not.


 * Spitfire: Wanna come hang out with us?
 * Rainbow Dash: Sure. Why not? (to herself) I'm... hanging... with the... Wonderbolts! (squee)


 * Prince Blueblood: Well, hello. I am Prince Blueblood.
 * Rarity: I am... Rarity. Oh my, what a lovely rose.
 * Prince Blueblood: You mean... this rose? Thank you. It goes with my eyes.
 * Rarity: *groan*


 * Applejack: First minute, first sale... Second... Fourth... Sixth... Sixtienth minute? No sale...


 * Applejack: This ain't what I expected atall.
 * Pinkie Pie: I'm at the Grand Galloping Gala... and it's not what I dreamed.
 * Rarity: This isn't at all what I imagined.
 * Twilight Sparkle: This isn't what I hoped.
 * Rainbow Dash: This isn't hanging out.
 * Fluttershy: This isn't what I wished for.


 * Lyrica: Young lady, this is not that kind of party!
 * Pinkie Pie: Ooooohhhhhh... They don't want to "party". These ponies want to PAR-TAY!


 * Fluttershy: I'll catch you yet, my pretties. Oh yes. As soon as one of you little birds or monkeys or bears touches this net... you'll be MINE! MINE!!! (laughs maniacally then trips) Whoa!


 * Applejack: OK, all you high-class ponies! Here's a highfalutin apple pie for all your hoity toity taste buds!


 * Rarity: You, sir, are the most un-charming prince I have ever met! In fact, the only thing "royal" about you is that you are a royal pain !
 * Prince Blueblood: EW! Stay back! I just had myself groomed!
 * Rarity: Afraid to get dirty?!


 * Fluttershy: *enraged* You're... going to LOVE ME!!!


 * Pinkie Pie: OOH! Rarity. Your glass slipper. Now your prince is sure to find you.
 * Rarity: *horrified* AAH! NO! (destroys glass slipper)


 * Spike: Hey, Pony Joe. Another donut.
 * Pony Joe: Don't you think you've had enough?
 * Spike: Another donut! Extra sprinkles!

Gallery



 * Complete image gallery for The Best Night Ever.

Trivia

 * The predictions that the ponies made in The Ticket Master are shown during the musical sequence of the episode. The eponymous tickets, which were so fussed over during that earlier episode, were nowhere in evidence during the Gala, nor was there any apparent effort to identify or control who was attending.
 * The Galloping Gala could be a reference to Prom Night, a similar affair for high school students, or Debutante Balls, a similar affair for young high society females.
 * The musical number "At the Gala" is a sound-alike for Sondheim's "Ever After". This is the second musical number that takes after Sondheim's work, the other one being Rarity's Dressmaking Song. The song also may or may not have been thematically inspired by the musical number, "A Night to Remember", anticipating Senior Prom, from Disney's High School Musical 3: Senior Year.
 * A picture referencing this episode appears in the game My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Discover the Difference, which debuted on Hubworld two weeks before the episode's premier. The image shows the ponies wearing the dresses from Suited for Success, seated around a modest table with a plate of half-eaten donuts and they appeared untidy.
 * The episode has several fairy tale references:
 * The magical apple carriage, the mice being turned into horses, and Rarity accidentally leaving her glass slipper are elements from Cinderella.
 * Hayseed maintaining the garden says he likes to "whistle while [he] works", a reference to Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The whistle is the same tune Snow White sings into the well.
 * The golden apple tree Spike mentions at the beginning of the episode that he wants to show Applejack could be from a number of fairy tales, The Golden Bird by The Brothers Grimm being an example. Interestingly, golden apples are seen as a divine fruit and a source of immortality in Norse and Greek mythology and are a symbol of chaos.
 * Fluttershy's plan to catch the animals, complete with maniacal laughter, somewhat echoes the Wicked Witch of the West from the 1939 film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.
 * Fluttershy's freakout scene is reminiscent to Darla Dimple from the animated film Cats Don't Dance, which was Lauren Faust's first job in the professional animation industry.
 * animation_glitch_best_night_ever.jpg approximately 1 minute, 35 seconds into the episode, there is a very brief animation error with the face Blues to the far right of the screen.
 * There was plenty of foreshadowing for the main cast's disappointments in this episode throughout the season: Rarity's slight knowledge of the Gala from her past gown sales, the snootiness of various visiting Canterlot characters, and even Applejack's own foalhood experiences with her relatives, the Oranges of Manehattan.
 * Scott McNeil voices one of the stallion ponies pulling the carriage.
 * While the ponies were getting their hair done, Pinkie Pie's mane was straight like in The Cutie Mark Chronicles, and Party Of One. It almost immediately exploded back to its normal curly state when she took her head out of the hair dryer.
 * Accounting all animation errors, Pinkie Pie was apparently the only pony who has not lost any of her shoes.
 * Rainbow Dash was not seen with the other ponies as they ran out of the Gala.
 * Pinkie Pie`s "Pony Pokey" song is a version of Hokey Cokey dance.