Oh boy, "Sweet and Elite", hmmm... remember how I said back in my "Sisterhooves Social" review that I have a love-hate relationship with Rarity's starring roles in Season 2? Well, that applies to this episode as well just as much, if not more so, than it did in "Sisterhooves Social". So, rather than focus on the good in this episode first, let's look at just what the devil is wrong with Rarity in this episode.

Well, to be frank, like Rainbow Dash in "The Mysterious Mare Do Well", Rarity is kind of a jerk, albeit far less obviously than RD was in that episode. Rather than being far too boastful, Rarity's biggest flaw in this episode is that she's extremely deceptive! She lies or deliberately withholds information from pretty much everypony she interacts with in this episode, both her friends and the Canterlot elite whom she befriends, all in order to simply climb in her social status. She does her best to hide her Ponyville roots from Fancy Pants and the rest of the Canterlot social elite, she flat out lies to her friends and tells them that she has to miss Twilight's party because Opalescence is sick (which she's not), a lie which she keeps up with and says to their faces once they come all the way to Canterlot just so they can celebrate Twilight's own birthday with her (seriously, bless their hearts), she tells dozens of lies at Twilight's Birthday Party/the Canterlot Garden Party to both her friends and the Canterlot elite, the list goes on and on and on. I know that on the one hand she's trying to not hurt her friends feelings, but on the other hand you know that she's looking out for herself just as much if not more in her deception. She doesn't want to lose the social status that she's acquired in her time in Canterlot, and at the same time she doesn't want to come across as an insensitive jerk to her friends (which quite frankly she behaves like more and more as the episode continues). Basically, she unabashedly is looking out for herself for very petty reasons from start to finish with her friends a secondary concern, and that rubs me the wrong way because that's simply not Rarity, at least not the Rarity I grew to love in Season 1! Heck, she's not even looking out for her business interests as Twilight thinks she is once the latter realizes she's been sneaking back and forth between her party and the Canterlot Garden Party!!! I mean it, not once does she say something like, "Oh Opalescence, I just HAVE to become best of friends with the Canterlot elite because it'll be great for my business", not even as justification!!! But the reason this really ticks me off more than Rainbow's behavior in "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" is because Rarity, unlike Rainbow Dash, besides some panic at the thought of getting caught, does not really suffer any consequences for her actions! RD was rightfully-so knocked down a peg because she was acting like a jerk, but Rarity doesn't so much as get a scolding from either her friends or the Canterlot elite, despite a second of a few snooty looks from the likes of Jet Set and Upper Crust at the end once they know who her friends are! Instead, her friends are COMPLETELY understanding, Fancy Pants just shakes off the fact that Rarity's been hiding who she is, and Rarity acts like everything's all hunky dory. I'm not saying that anyone should've held a grudge against her or anything, and yes, I think that people, especially good friends, should be understanding and forgiving of their friends' mistakes, but seriously, after the way Rarity behaved in this episode, there should've been at least disapproving glances and remarks from her friends!!! She learned a good lesson, yes, but I don't know, she didn't even get so much as a slap on the wrist so to speak, and that just rubs me the wrong way.

Oh Rarity, I can't stay mad at you; you may do some pretty insensitive things in this episode, but gosh bucking dang it that is ADORABLE!!!

OK, all of that said, why do I still love this episode? Well, because pretty much everything else about it, besides Rarity's behavior, works like a charm! This is the first episode of the show set entirely in Canterlot, and it's very cool getting to see the royal city extensively, it really is, very nice change from the usual rural setting in Ponyville or the Everfree Forest. Daniel Ingram provides a lovely addition to MLP's soundtrack in the song "Becoming Popular", Rarity's only solo of Season 2 I might add; while I love each of the Mane 6's singing voices equally, each one fitting their particular pony to a T, if I'm being honest I have to say that Rarity's singing voice is the most vocally matured and refined of all six, and I adore hearing it every time she sings!!! The comedy is great from start to finish; Rarity's a drama queen as usual, the Mane 6, especially at Twilight's birthday, are simply to die for (not to mention that this episode introduced us to Pinkie Pie's party cannon, WHICH IS SIMPLY LEGEND!!!), and Opalescence herself provides some great laughs when she's on screen. Besides Jet Set and Upper Crust, I really don't mind most of the Canterlot elite that much; sure they're a bit wound tight, but that's just the culture that they belong to, and they don't seem to be all that bad aside from, again, jerks like Jet Set and Upper Crust, plus to be fair, if the Mane 6 were behaving at a party like they do when they crash the Canterlot Garden Party, I'd probably be freaking out too (seriously, was it Twilight's 21st B-day and they just got hammered drunk on cider before they went to the garden party?), plus I can't fail to mention Fancy Pants, a lovely addition to the supporting cast, not to mention just a cool, very chill dude all around. This guy is awesome, and I honestly can't think of one bad thing to say about him; from what we've seen of him, he's a classical, legitimate, bonafide gentleman, or rather, gentlecolt in every sense of the word. Good on him for that! Finally, the rest of the Mane 6 besides Rarity are extremely good friends in this episode; they go all the way to Canterlot so they can celebrate TWILIGHT'S birthday with RARITY, they throw Twilight a rocking awesome birthday, Fluttershy tries to care some for Opal when she thinks she's sick, Twilight adores the unfinished dress that Rarity didn't complete for her and is just all around adorkable in this episode, Pinkie Pie has a party cannon, the list goes on and on!!!!

Behold, Canterlot's resident King of Swag!!! Also, trophy wives are now canon.

This episode just keeps getting better and better by the minute!

By Fausticorn's wings!!! It's... it's so beautiful!!!

This is quite simply one of the most epic things to ever grace a television screen!!!!!!!!!

So yeah, when you get down to it, everything works spectacularly in this episode besides Rarity's behavior, and while I can only label it as a very good rather than a truly outstanding episode, that does not mean I don't enjoy rewatching it because there are simply too many great things in this episode that make it a fun one to watch over and over again! Definitely a great addition to MLP canon, even if I have some serious problems with the episode's main character's behavior.