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 currently the final episode of the first season. In this episode, Twilight and her friends attend the Grand Galloping Gala, but it doesn't meet with their expectations as shown in The Ticket Master, much to their disappointment.

Summary
Canterlot's Grand Galloping Gala was about to begin in just several hours, and Pinkie Pie was already hopping for joy and excitement. In fact, she was using a trampoline to show said excitement. Rarity came 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 had put her latest spell into action. She transformed an apple into a carriage to load them all in, and turned a group of mice into horses to pull it. Thanks to Rarity's cat, however, the "horses" were scared away. Rarity convinced two male ponies to pull the carriage instead. Along the way to Canterlot, Spike was already making plans to show Twilight's friends the highlights of their hometown. They claimed they were going to be busy, but promised to hang out with the dragon later. They finally entered the castlegrounds as event soon went underway, and the fully-dressed ponies had split up to make their dreams a reality and their night the 'best night ever', leaving Spike in the dust.

Twilight met with Princess Celestia, who was glad to see her star pupil and was hoping they could spend the time catching up. Rarity saw what she believed was "him", Celestia's nephew, and went after him. Fluttershy followed the beautiful sound of a stray meadowlark into the private gardens. AJ finally opened up her booth filled with all kinds of apple snacks, and had already sold her first item, an apple pie, to a Wonderbolt named Soaren. However, as he dropped 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 asked her to hang out with them. Pinkie Pie arrived in the ballroom and was instantly taken in by the shiny floors, the guests, and the band.

She sang and danced in her own usual fashion, expressing her love for the Gala. However, she saw that the attention she was getting was more of a strict and stern look, and she awkwardly became quiet. Rarity finally met her dream pony named Prince Blueblood. Introducing themselves, she showed him a rose in the garden. The unicorn prince saw this and placed it on his suit, saying that it complimented his eyes. Rarity was surprised by this, but because her prince charming did not offer her the flower. In the gardens, Fluttershy quickly followed the whistle, but it led her to an elderly groundskeeper who loved to whistle while he worked. She apologized for interrupting and went the opposite direction before finally gazing a set of exotic animals. She approached them, only to see them scurry off. These were not like critters she had taken care of back in Ponyville. She blamed herself for being such a "loudmouth" and tried to befriend them, but no matter how polite or quiet she was, she could not get close to any of them. Rainbow Dash was not faring much either, as her idols were too busy talking to other recipients of the party. Twilight attempted to converse with Celestia, but the Equestrian ruler's attention was focused on greeting more guests. As for Applejack, she was unable to sell her wares since the start of the Gala.

Overall, things had started out nicely, but as time passed they were becoming disappointed. It was not going the way they had planned or expected. It was supposed to be their night, and if they planned on not making it a complete waste, they would have to take matters into their own hooves.

Rather than wait to talk to the princess, she 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". Dash decided to stage a save for the Wonderbolts to see by butting an unsuspecting party guest in the air. In a speedy fashion, she 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 hers 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 her annoyance was slowly getting to her.

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.

AJ saw this as a chance to bring an 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 an insane and 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.

Exhausted and their gala dresses in tatters, they meet Spike at a nearby donut shop, explaining to him everything that had transpired. Their time at the party was so terrible, they had no choice but to start 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", but the Twilight and her friends' involvement was able to liven it up, even if it wasn't what any of them had expected. What had mattered was that they were together now, hanging out as friends as suggested by Spike before the start of the event. They learned that even a terrible situatuion 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.
 * It first appears that the gala will go precisely as the ponies expected it, but their expectations are soon dashed.
 * The six main ponies 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 save his clothes from being tarnished. 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. Celestia and Twilight enter the ballroom and see the destruction, then Twilight resignedly comments that "they can't 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 a 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: Soaren 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.

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!
 * Cart horse: Excuse me!?
 * Spike: Um... I...
 * Second Cart horse: If you weren't friends with our neighbor Rarity... Huh.


 * 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? 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*


 * 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!


 * Rarity: You, sir, are the most uncharming 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!

Trivia

 * The predictions that the ponies made in The Ticket Master is shown during the musical sequence of the episode.
 * The Galloping Gala could be a reference to Prom Night, a similar affair for high school students.
 * 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 Stitching it Together.
 * The musical number is as elaborate as the one from Winter Wrap Up if not more so.
 * 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.
 * The horse maintaining the garden says he likes to "whistle while [he] works", a reference to Disney's Snow White. 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 mythology.
 * Fluttershy's freakout scene is reminiscent to Darla Dimple from the movie Cats Don't Dance.
 * animation_glitch_best_night_ever.jpg approximately 1 minute, 35 seconds into the episode, there is a very brief animation error with the face of the blue pony to the far right of the screen.