Just some thoughts I had about the episode.

When Rarity and AJ were at the peak of their heated competition, I was delighted: It's the old Rarity+Applejack polarity tension again! I remember it fondly from "Look Before You Sleep". Very entertaining. (And not the only other case of that clean-vs-dirty issue ... remember Sisterhooves Social?)

There are so many polar pairings just among the mane 6. Smart of Lauren Faust. Makes for a huge amount of character-driven story telling.

Too bad Spike's crush on Rarity made him unable to stand up to her, otherwise he would have been the perfect role model to show Rarity how to deal with it, how to get over the fact that the crush isn't mutual.

Their whole interaction is probably a mix of Rarity exploiting his crush and allowing him the pleasure, to keep it on a low flame, by helping her out and being around her.

Really impressive and playful approach in this episode: A voice actor with no 'Southern' accent emulating someone with a Southern accent who's trying to sound like someone without that accent.

When I first heard Trenderhoof, the voice reminded me a lot of Will Smith's German voice actor. Now you know how Will Smith sounds in German movies.