"Razzle dazzle/Glitz and glam/Turn it all up, it's a spectacle..."
"This song may be familiar, but yet, it's totally different. Kind of like me, Rara."
— Coloratura
Applejack is preparing a concert for Ponyville's Helping Hooves music festival, with Pinkie Pie managing to book Countess Coloratura, the biggest pop star in Equestria. Applejack doesn't seem to know who Countess Coloratura is, but Pinkie shows Applejack an image of the Countess' cutie mark. It turns out that Countess Coloratura is Applejack's old childhood friend, who she referred to as "Rara". They even went to summer camp together, where Applejack and Coloratura performed a song onstage. Applejack is excited to see her old friend again, but when Countess Coloratura arrives, Applejack finds she's nothing like the Rara she once knew; Countess Coloratura is a pop star and a very demanding diva, whose manager Svengallop ensures that everything is done exactly to her whims.
During a dress rehearsal, Countess Coloratura performs a glitzy pop number, with flashing lights, lasers and auto-tuned vocals. Applejack isn't sure how such a change could've come about in Rara, and Countess Coloratura won't talk to Applejack beyond a star greeting her fan. However, Countess Coloratura insists on a meet-and-greet with school-age fillies as part of the charity event, despite Svengallop's protests. She even invites a few fillies onstage with her to sing after the concert is over, which Applejack takes as a sign the real Rara is still around. However, Svengallop hears that some oats that he wanted are from Ponyville, and threatens to pull Countess Coloratura out of the charity event unless his increasingly lofty and hard-to-meet demands are met. Applejack confronts Countess Coloratura about Svengallop's behavior, but Countess Coloratura insists that he's helped her far more than anyone else, and tells Applejack off.
Later, Applejack convinces Countess Coloratura to try and prove that her manager is acting against her by pretending to want the filly meet-and-greet cancelled. Svengallop enthusiastically agrees, then continues to make demands of Pinkie Pie offstage. Using projection magic, Twilight Sparkle shows this to Countess Coloratura, who angrily says that he should have known that she would never cancel the meet-and-greet. Svengallop responds that he made Countess Coloratura what she is, and that she'll be nothing without him as he storms off.
Countess Coloratura is upset about what's happened, but Applejack convinces her to perform that night as Rara instead of her glitzy pop persona. Countess Coloratura ditches glitz and glam to become Rara again, but stage fright and worry about being herself almost overwhelms her. Applejack tells Rara that being herself will mean everything will turn out okay, and Rara takes the stage. Rara proudly sings a soft piano number about how she's thrown off the veil and become herself again, which is met with roaring applause. Afterwards, Rara thanks Applejack for convincing her to be herself, inviting the Cutie Mark Crusaders onstage to sing the song that Rara and Applejack made up for summer camp.
Tropes:
- Actor/Role Confusion: With the exception of Applejack, everypony assumes that Coloratura is synonymous with the "Countess" persona that Svengallop created for her.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: One last dose from Amy Keating Rogers.
- Pinkie leads in to her big concert announcement by saying, 'It is totally gonna freak your frizz!"
- When checking on Countess Coloratura's contractual requirements, Svengallop demands to know "Where is the pony Pinkie Pie?"
- Applejack saying that Svengallop doesn't give a "pickled pippin" about Coloratura's emphasis on charity work.
- Happens when Svengallop threatens to pull Coloratura off the festival lineup unless Pinkie meets his demands:Svengallop: Deliver, or the diva ditches your dippy charity!
- An Aesop:
- One must not let themselves be blinded or corrupted by great wealth and fame, lest they gradually lose sight of their true self and change into some pony they aren't.
- Real friends aren't about those who influence you to be something you're not, they're the ones who encourage you to be you.
- Be careful who you trust to run things for you, they may not have your best interest at heart.
- Affectionate Nickname: Applejack is the one who started calling Coloratura "Rara" and considers this to be her "real" name in a sense. Coloratura also calls Applejack by her nickname "AJ".
- Alliterative Name: Rara's stage name, Countess Coloratura.
- Always Someone Better : When Applejack (incorrectly) guesses that Pinkie Pie got Sapphire Shores for the concert when the party pony mentions she got Equestria's top pop star, Pinkie replies that Sapphire, at most, is the second best, after Countess Coloratura.
- Anywhere but Their Lips: "Countess" Coloratura gives "Hoovsies" (a heart-shaped rubber stamp horseshoe on the cheek) to Applejack and several of her fans, which Applejack calls "fake stamp kisses".
- Artistic License – Music: While it's true some performance contracts have insane demands (most famously done by Van Halen with their "no brown M&M's" contract riders), it's (mostly) not about egotism. It's to test how closely the venue has read it. If your performance involves pyrotechnics or mechanized parts, you want to make damn sure they followed the fine print when they were setting it up.
- Audience Participation Song: Coloratura asks the CMC to join her in singing "Equestria, the Land I Love" in the end. In the middle, Rara invites Applejack up so she can do her part with the triangle, ending the song and the episode.
- Auto-Tune: Courtesy of a spell cast by a unicorn staff member at the direction of Svengallop. Subverted at the end, after Svengallop's firing, when Coloratura sings 2 songs without the Auto-Tune (showing her true talents), to the delight of the audience. It functions as a Take That! to Auto-Tune.
- Award-Bait Song: "The Magic Inside", which was nominated for an Emmy but lost.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Pinkie to Svengallop's demands. By the next morning, she spits out an apple core and he doesn't bat an eyelash.
- Beneath the Mask: When Applejack reminds Countess Coloratura of her old Affectionate Nickname Rara, the haughty "Countess" facade slips. The facade also drops away when Coloratura does her meet-and-greet with the schoolponies.
- Be Yourself: Coloratura learns that staying true to herself is what makes her truly happy.
- Big Entrance: Countess Coloratura shows up
on a palanquin carried by four backup dancer stallions, on a throne adorned with her cutie mark inside a gem-shaped structure that opens like a flower, with appropriate light show and background music. Subtle. - Big Ol' Eyebrows: The costume that Rarity tries to help Coloratura get dressed in before the show includes massive feather eyebrows that match her headdress and tail decoration.
- Bookends: Rara finishes her show with the same song that she and AJ sang at camp together, reaffirming they are still friends; this even ends the same way with AJ giving a tap on a triangle to end the song.
- Busman's Vocabulary: Apple farmer Applejack's comment about Svengallop not giving "a pickled pippin" refers to several cultivars of apples.
- The Cameo: Photo Finish can be seen in attendance when Coloratura is visiting with the school ponies, including the ponies with the large teeth and abnormal strength.
- Cassandra Truth: Coloratura is at first skeptical of Applejack's claim that Svengallop is using her for his own ends. Kind of ironic since AJ is a well-known truth-teller.
- Caught on Tape: Svengallop's true nature is magically recorded by Twilight when he continues to pile on heavy demands to Pinkie Pie and threatens again to cancel the concert, which then displayed for Coloratura and everypony else to see.
- Celebrity Is Overrated: Downplayed, at least at first. When Svengallop talks about how Coloratura has "gotten everything [she's] ever wanted", she's genuinely smiling. That said, she never smiles during her performance in the dress rehearsal; only after AJ reminds her of her true self as Rara does she smile as she's performing. And during her performance as Rara, his smile briefly drops when she sings "They sold me the world, but they were wrong!", hinting that she feels this way about her old life in hindsight.
- Celebrity Resemblance: Svengallop looks like a pony version of Andy Dick.
- Child Hater: Svengallop, in sharp contrast to Coloratura. He clearly hates children and is relieved when she falsely cancels their contest.
- Childhood Friends: Applejack and Coloratura have known each other since they were fillies and even went to a summer camp together.
- Conspicuous Consumption: While a number of Coloratura's supposed requirements are relatively reasonable (water, finger — or rather hoof — foods like cherries and éclairs, jewels), Svengallop then demanding five hundred peeled and de-cored apples and Appleloosan oats from Pinkie when Coloratura is nowhere nearby brings up the (correct) possibility that Svengallop is just riding Coloratura's coattails and using her fame to get whatever he wants. Even the more reasonable items have highly artisanal sourcing requirements, e.g. éclairs made by Gustave le Grand, cherries from Cherry Jubilee's orchard, and jewels from the Crystal Empire.
- Continuity Cavalcade: The episode is packed with references to past episodes by Amy Keating Rogers, since this was her last outing on the show. These include a name-drop of Sapphire Shores, introduced in "A Dog and Pony Show", flowers from the Royal Canterlot Gardens in "The Best Night Ever", Gustave le Grand's chocolate éclairs from "MMMystery on the Friendship Express", cherries from Cherry Jubilee's farm in "The Last Roundup", and cameo appearances by the misfit school ponies introduced in "Crusaders of the Lost Mark". There's also mention of water imported from Rainbow Falls and gems from the Crystal Empire.
- Continuity Nod:
- Amethyst Star helps Applejack with her organizational skills mentioned in "Slice of Life".
- Twilight brings up the rock concert from Pinkie Pie and the Rockin' Ponypalooza Party when explaining how Pinkie was able to book so many artists. This is notably the first time the events of an entirely separate medium have been directly alluded to in the show. (The same book also introduced the names for Pinkie's family, canonized in "Hearthbreakers".)
- Dark Is Not Evil: Countess Coloratura from "Mane Attraction" has a "glitz and glam" stage persona and edgy aesthetic, but she cares very deeply about her younger fans and insists on doing charity events.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: When Pinkie Pie says that she calls the straw she carries in her mane "Fernando", she raises her eyebrows suggestively.
- Dramatic Wind: In Applejack's flashback, after Rara's cutie mark shimmers, her mane and tail are caught in a light breeze. It doesn't touch Applejack's mane, despite the fact that Applejack is sitting right beside her, nor does it touch anypony in the audience.
- Engineered Public Confession: Svengallop's second instance of making demands of Pinkie and threatening to cancel the concert is observed by Twilight Sparkle, who then uses a spell to record it and show everyone else. Svengallop, when called out on his behavior and misuse of Coloratura's name, confesses via rant that he does exploit her for his own personal gain right before storming off.Svengallop: You know the drill, deliver or the diva ditches your dippy charity.
Coloratura: So that's how you've been managing things?
Svengallop: Yeah, so? What's the problem?
Coloratura: The problem is is that you've been using my name to intimidate ponies to get what you want.
Svengallop: But I work incredibly hard for you. I deserve everything I get.
Coloratura: But not because you scare ponies into thinking I won't perform for their charities otherwise. I would never do that to my fans, which is why you should have known that I would never cancel the school ponies' contest. - Epileptic Flashing Lights: The first verse of Coloratura's "Spectacle" number begins with the screen flashing and fading multiple times.
- Expressive Hair: Pinkie's mane (and tail) when Applejack asks who "Countess Coloratura" is.Pinkie Pie: My frizz has been freaked!
- Faint Inshock: Pinkie Pie ends up fainting from too much excitement when Countess Coloratura makes her big entrance.
- False Friend: Svengallop has been this to Rara. Treating her with Undying Loyalty in order to benefit from her fame.
- Fangirl: All the schoolponies, but especially the Cutie Mark Crusaders, are starstruck on meeting with Coloratura. They're struck speechless when Coloratura mentions that she and AJ were pen pals.
- Feet-First Introduction: Countess Coloratura is introduced stepping down from the pedestal with the camera focused on her hooves (and the gaudy bracelets she's wearing), before a zoom out showing her in full. (Before that, all we could see was her dark silhouette.)
- Foreshadowing: Both Coloratura's initial warm greeting to/remembering of Applejack and Svengallop's ear whispering are good hints to Coloratura's true nature and who's calling the shots as far as the "image" she has, respectively.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Svengallop wears a nice pair of glasses and talks down upon other ponies.
- Friend to All Children: When on the road, Coloratura loves to spend time with school-age ponies at each tour stop. Now compare that to Svengallop.
- Gasp!: A huge one in the Cold Open. Exaggerated when Pinkie's mane and tail flare up.
- Gilligan Cut: Rara confidently says "The Show Must Go On," but by the next cut, she's nervously pacing around and thinking about canceling the concert.
- Great Balls of Fire!: Countess Coloratura's first performance goes whole hog with the special effects, including stroboscopic lights, pyrotechnics, colorful lasers and artificial fog. And remember, it's just a rehearsal.
- Greed: Svengallop only cares about profit and personal convenience and invested his influence and businessmaking skills to build Coloratura's musical career, secretly seeing her as nothing but a money-making tool and considerable leverage for his (often outlandish) demands.
- Hair Flip: Part of the spectacle of Coloratura's "Countess" persona is whipping her mane around during her performances and public appearances.
- Hair Reboot: After Pinkie Pie's "frizz" gets "freaked", all it takes to restore her normal mane and tail style is a quick tug with her hooves.
- Hate Sink: A Jerkass to kids, fans, Childhood Friends, and especially Pinkie Pie, and ultimately a Mean Boss to Coloratura. The rotten cherry on top is when, to spite Coloratura for turning on him, he quits and gives her a nasty and insincere "Good luck!" before leaving. Yep , Svengallop is one character no-one can ever like.
- Hidden Depths:
- In Applejack's flashback, we suddenly see that she can play the guitar, even if it is just cowboy chords. She had previously been shown to play the banjo in "Pinkie Apple Pie" and the fiddle in "A Canterlot Wedding".
- In-Universe, many of Coloratura's fans seem to be surprised at her virtuosity on the piano. The fact that the song in question is outside her usual musical style is no doubt also a surprise to them.
- Hard Truth Aesop: Some ponies, like Svengallop, won't show remorse for their actions, even when they've been caught red-hoofed. In that same vein, such ponies aren't healthy to hang around with, and you have to break ties with them.
- History with Celebrity: An In-Universe variant, with an extra helping of Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure. Applejack was Childhood Friends with "the biggest pony pop star in Equestria", but she has trouble believing at first that they're the same pony.Pinkie Pie: Do you mean to tell me you actually know Countess Coloratura?
Applejack: Well, I don't think it's the same pony since my friend wasn't any sort of highfalutin "countess". - "I Am" Song:
- "The Magic Inside" is all about Coloratura expressing herself for who she is, not what the world sees her to be.
- "The Spectacle" sort of has this, especially with the end with Coloratura saying "I AM THE COUNTESS!".
- I Call It "Vera": Pinkie pulls a drinking straw — part of her personal collection, the biggest in Equestria — out of her mane and announces that its name is Fernando.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Rara's appearance at the end reflects Lena Hall's appearance at the 2014 Tony Awards.
- Irony: Rarity tries to justify all the things Svengallop does to give Rara's show some "glitz and glam". But whereas Rarity is the Element of Generosity (and a true artist), Svengallop is just doing this out of greed (and has no concern for what is "art" so long as it pays).
- Jaw Drop: The CMC, and Apple Bloom in particular, have their jaw hanging when they realize that Applejack was pen pals with Countess Coloratura. AJ then waves her hoof before her unresponsive sister's face before gently closing up her mouth.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Rarity waves off the Countess' (actually her manager's) seemingly outlandish demands because as a fellow artist she knows that sometimes little things can distract from doing your best work. The difference here is that it was the manager's demands instead of the artist's (and he was just being greedy), and that if artists like Rara or Rarity had found themselves in a position where everything was not set up to their exacting standards they would be much less rude about it.
- Karma Houdini: Svengallop gets away with his cruel attitude towards everypony. When Rara finds out the truth, she doesn't even get the chance to fire him or call him out. He just brushes her off completely and quits on his own accord.
- Kick the Dog: Svengallop cruelly forces Pinkie Pie to perform hard tasks throughout the episode, criticizing her attempts all the time.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Audiences definitely related more with Applejack when she asked who "Countless Coloratura" is, despite the other ponies' stunned reactions.
- Location Song: "Equestria, the Land I Love" is written (by Amy Keating Rogers, but In-Universe by AJ and Rara) as an ode to Equestria.
- Long List: The Visual Gag variant. Twilight says "We've got quite a line-up for the Helping Hooves Music Festival" while levitating a comically long scroll.
- Lowest Common Denominator: In-Universe. Svengallop engineers Countess Coloratura's public image and musical style into a commodity that he believes will appeal to the largest audience, as managers often do to promote their clients. It works, as Applejack, who remembers Rara's real singing talent, is the only pony who doesn't think "The Spectacle" was great.
- Magitek:
- Of a sort. Auto-Tune is shown to be a purely magical process.
- Similarly, Twilight's recording and playing back of Pinkie and Svengallop's conversation is achieved with no technology at all. It also averts the Magical Security Cam trope.
- Manipulative Bastard: Downplayed. Svengallop has been in control over Rara and their associates in order to get his way.
- Meaningful Name:
- Coloratura's name is an Italian term for a colorful vocal melody. Fittingly, her cutie mark is a star with multi-colored music notes that emits a colorful glow whenever she sings. The nickname "Rara" is also a slang term used in reference to coloratura.
- "Svengallop" is a horse pun on Svengali from Trilby, a fictional character who exploited an artist for personal gain.
- Mean Boss: Svengallop acts like this behind Coloratura's back and abuses her fame to make outrageous demands to everyone he meets.
- Meaningful Echo:
- The first verse of "The Magic Inside" includes the line "there's more to me than glitz and glam", referencing the lyrical hook in "The Spectacle".
- "The Spectacle" ends with the line "Not just a pony, I am the Countess," while the chorus of "The Magic Inside" begins with "I am just a pony."
- Meaningful Rename: When Coloratura performs at the concert, she drops the "Countess" title and adopts the affectionate nickname "Rara" that Applejack gave her at summer camp, reflecting her change from pop diva to true-to-herself Singer-Songwriter. The audience is a little confused by this.
- Messy Hair: Pinkie's mane is in shambles after she runs herself ragged trying to comply with Svengallop's lofty demands.
- Mundane Utility: During Rara's performance of "The Magic Inside", the unicorns at the performance start lighting the ends of their horns similar to waving lighters at concerts.
- Music Stories: Unlike most episodes of the show where the songs are spontaneous, here they are all strictly on-stage performances. And the background of the story is the setup of a charity concert.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed:
- Coloratura in her "Countess" persona is basically Lady Gaga ponified (her nickname "Rara" even alludes to this). The giant crystal she arrives in is similar to the giant egg that Lady Gaga once used, and her first song and performance is very much in line with Lady Gaga's musical style. Further, Lady Gaga has shown a more traditional side to her music recently. Rara's piano concert is also reminiscent of Lady Gaga's performance video from NYU, where she performed under her real name, Stefani Germanotta, and unplugged versions have been a staple of Gaga's live performances since 2009.
- Svengallop is seemingly a ponified caricature of Andy Dick. Right down to the effeminate voice, wild personality, overdramatic body motion, round glasses, frazzled hair, and bizarre sense of humor.
- The unicorn backup dancer who casts the Auto-Tune spell on Coloratura's throat is a ponyified version of the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince off the Purple Rain album.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Coloratura never seems to go by her real name; it's always either the "Countess Coloratura" stage name or her childhood nickname "Rara".
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Pinkie Pie is normally filled with limitless energy and enthusiasm, and regularly performs feats that are considered impossible to anyone else. So when she gets stressed over all the new demands Svengallop gives her, even outright calling it impossible, it is clear just how unfair and demanding he is for even her to crack.
- Perma-Stubble: Coloratura's pink and yellow backup dancers in the dance-pop number have five o'clock shadows.
- Photo Op with the Dog: Coloratura's meet-and-greet with the schoolponies runs counter to the "Countess" image that Svengallop is trying to cultivate, but it's still good publicity.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: "Countess" Coloratura is "the biggest pony pop star in all of Equestria", yet Applejack has never heard of her, much to the shock of everypony within earshot. Turns out to be the same Coloratura she knew as Rara at summer camp.
- The Prima Donna: Coloratura comes off as ridiculously demanding at first before it is revealed that it's actually her manager who is ridiculously demanding.
- Raised Lighter Tribute: Many unicorns in the audience (including Rarity and Twilight) do this by lighting up their horns during "The Magic Inside".
- Recycled Soundtrack: The lyric "And let the magic in my heart stay true-oo-oo-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh" from "The Magic Inside" is set to a very similar melody to "You've got nothin' on us, na na na na na na" from the "ACADECA" song in My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games.
- Reflective Eyes: In the flashback, Coloratura's cutie mark glowing is reflected in the eyes of an amazed filly Applejack.
- Remember the New Guy?: Countess Coloratura is the "biggest pop star in Equestria", supposedly, considering she's never been mentioned until now.
- Rock is Authentic, Pop is Shallow: Countess Coloratura's glitzy image and autotuned pop music is ingenuine. Rara eventually decides to be truthful to herself by going natural and singing a piano ballad.
- Rocky Roll Call: Pinkie does a one-pony variant, excitedly greeting her friends and her own reflection in a mirror.
- Rule of Symbolism:
- Countess Coloratura initially performs with a black veil covering her face, a sign that she is in denial of Svengallop's manipulation. She quite literally takes off that veil when directly faced with Svengallop's true colors and decides to stop listening to him.
- Naturally, the pop star with a beautiful voice hidden beneath vocal effects like auto-tune and glitching would learn to let her fans hear her true voice thanks to being childhood friends with the Mare of Integrity.
- Just as Diamond Tiara's cutie mark shimmered when she discovered her true talent as The Leader in "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", Rara's shimmers when she belts out lyrics in Applejack's flashback and on the second chorus of "The Magic Inside". Obviously it doesn't shimmer during "The Spectacle" because at that point she's allowed her true talent to be buried under magical vocal effects.
- Schizo Tech: As another possible reference to one of Amy Keating Rogers' previous episodes, Twilight had said "There is no laser beam security system" in "MMMystery on the Friendship Express", which implied that lasers do actually exist somewhere else in Equestria. Here, we finally see lasers used as stage effects.
- Secret Test of Character: How Svengallop's real personality is found out. At Applejack's suggestion, Coloratura tells Svengallop to cancel the school ponies' contest; he shows relief at that and asks Pinkie Pie aside to make some show adjustments. Applejack then has Twilight tail them and she uses her magic to record Svengallop's conversation with Pinkie, which outs him to Coloratura and everypony else.
- Self-Backing Vocalist: The second pre-chorus to "The Magic Inside" has Coloratura singing in unison with herself and just slightly off-key to provide a chorus effect.
- Self-Demonstrating Song: From the first verse, the lyrics of "The Spectacle" are all about the spectacle of pop concerts.Coloratura: [singing] Time for the spectacle
Time for the show
The lights are bright and the colors glow - She Cleans Up Nicely: Inverted as for her performance, Coloratura keeps her appearance as simple as possible, as opposed to the heavy makeup, black eyeliner, dark veil and gaudy clothes she was wearing before.
- Shout-Out:
- One of the colts during the Camp Friendship flashback is dressed and has the same hairstyle coming out of his cap as Russell from Up.
- Svengallop's demands for Coloratura's shows include cherries "separated red from yellow", similar to the "no brown M&Ms" rider in Van Halen's contracts.
- Svengallop's demands using Countess Coloratura's name are likely based on the "Weird Al" Yankovic "Perform This Way" incident. The song is a parody of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and as is his practice, Al sent it to Gaga for her okay. Gaga's manager rejected the tune insisting that she didn't like being spoofed in that manner. Turned out Gaga never saw the video until Al went public with the story. She saw it, loved it, and overruled her manager, giving Weird Al permission to release it.
- A typically flamboyant and glitzy performer does a simple ballad on a piano, reminiscent of Elton John's "Your Song".
- During "The Magic Inside", there is a silhouette of an orchestra performing similar to that of Disney's Fantasia.
- The Show Must Go On: Invoked word-for-word by Coloratura after her manager is outed as The Svengali and quits.
- Singing Voice Dissonance: Lena Hall makes no attempt to sing in a higher register during the flashback when Rara was a filly.
- Stealth Insult: In one of the most backhanded examples of the series, Svengallop complements all the parts of Countess Coloratura's dress rehearsal that he had hooves on, conspicuously leaving out Rara's vocal talent. Applejack, the Mare of Integrity, easily sees through it.
- Stealth Pun:
- Fernando the Straw. A (Belfry Street) Fernando is a Porkpie hat made of straw.
- Rara's veil prevents her from seeing her agent's true colors. You could say, she's wearing a veil of ignorance.
- Stylistic Suck: "The Spectacle" has the works: flashy, distracting lighting; blaring, barely intelligible vocals; gaudy outfits and tacky dance moves, etc.
- The Svengali: As his name implies, Coloratura's manager Svengallop micro-manages her stage performance (including vocal effects that mask the true beauty of her voice) and her interactions with fans and friends and has her believing that, without him, she has nothing.
- Take That!: "The Spectacle" is one to modern pop between the copious amounts of auto-tune, flashy lightning, and tacky dances all played up as Stylistic Suck. It is also written in a similar musical style to many fan-made songs and remixes and much of the music from the Equestria Girls films.
- Tears of Joy:
- Coloratura as a filly at the end of "Equestria, the Land I Love" in the camp.
- Both Applejack and Coloratura can be seen getting misty-eyed during "The Magic Inside".
- That Woman Is Dead: When Coloratura gets into a fight with Applejack over Svengallop's true motives, she coldly tells Applejack that her name is "Countess Coloratura" and whatever friendship she had with "Rara" is now gone. Applejack later calls her by that name just to get her to cooperate.Applejack: Countess Coloratura!
Coloratura: Wow, AJ, you said my real name.
Applejack: I said your new name. - Trailers Always Spoil: Coloratura's change of tune and climactic song were given away in the animatic previewed at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con months before the episode's release.
- Trampled Underfoot: Pinkie faints when seeing Countess Coloratura's arrival. Svengallop, a backup dancer and her can be heard stepping on her as they approach the crowd.
- True Beauty Is on the Inside: Certainly implied with Coloratura's plain and simple appearance as well as the lack of vocal effects at her performance.
- Universal Group Reaction: At the beginning of the episode, everypony gasps around Applejack (who is unaware of her old friend's stage name) when she claims she doesn't know about the famous pop star, Countess Coloratura.
- Unplugged Version: Implied by Coloratura's "This song may be familiar, but yet, it's totally different", suggesting a heavily processed version of "The Magic Inside" in her discography.
- Unusual Euphemism:
- Pinkie Pie's news about booking Countess Coloratura "will totally freak your frizz!" Her own frizz gets freaked when Applejack asks "Who in the hay is Countess Coloratura?"
- According to Applejack, Svengallop doesn't give a "pickled pippin" about Rara's best interest at heart.
- Upper-Class Twit: Svengallop behaves like one, refusing to eat Ponyville oats and treating everyone else as his inferior.
- Visual Pun: Pinkie Pie is seen at one point "falling into apples"... which is quite fitting when you know it's a French expression for fainting.
- Wham Line: Twice In-Universe.
- When Pinkie is preparing the show at the beginning of the episode, there's a small crowd of ponies who are all shocked at Applejack knowing Countess Coloratura and using the much more informal "Rara".
- At the concert at the end, Coloratura reintroducing herself to her fans as "Rara" causes quite a confused stir through the crowd, similar to the above but on a larger scale.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Applejack uses this reasoning to try to remind Coloratura that she doesn't have to be the stuck-up diva Svengallop has turned her into if she doesn't want to.
- Your Little Dismissive Diminutive: Svengallop dismisses the Helping Hooves Music Festival as "your dippy charity".
- Youthful Freckles: The flashback to summer camp shows that Applejack had even more freckles as a filly, including between her eyes as well as her cheeks.
