Thoughts on the Mane Six (Part 3): Rarity · 6:11am Jul 16th, 2012
Well, shall we continue?
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Rarity's introduction in the first episode happened so fast, that I didn't even catch her name the first time I watched. She just showed up, freaked out over Twilight's frazzled mane, and then tried to strangle her with fashion. About the only thing of real interest was Spike's infatuation for her, and her willingness to chop off her tail in the second half. And then...
Well, let's backtrack.
Rarity probably went through the single most dramatic shift of any character in the first season. For most of her early appearances, she was basically the stock "girly girl" of the Mane 6. She spoke in a holier-than-thou accent, obsessed over fashion and romance, tried to use fashion to take down Trixie, and nearly doomed Equestria because she wanted to con a dragon's horde out from under him. She was neat, tidy and organized when none of those traits were called for, wasted an entire day trying to fix one bird's nest, and just...well, didn't come off all that well. In many ways, she was the kind of stuff that turned people off of the previous generations, especially G3.
That changed, however, with "Suited For Success." For the first time since the pilot, Rarity's generosity was placed on display, while also filtered through an allegory to the general creative process in television. Later episodes would develop this further; "A Dog and Pony Show" proved that she could do just fine on her own despite being a proper lady. and "Green Isn't Your Color" demonstrated that even when jealous, she still wouldn't revel in a friend's misfortune, and would even willingly lie and let herself be miserable if it made her happy. Unfortunately, "The Best Night Ever" regressed her personality back to the start of the season, with the Rarity people had grown to love only showing through in the last few moments.
And then Season 2 happened.
Rarity got both good and bad development over the course of the season. On the good side, her relationship with Sweetie Belle was explored (more on that later), and she learned in "Sweet and Elite" not to be ashamed of her country roots, even when it might mean the end to some very important business and social contacts. On the bad side, she was more prone to breaking into dramatics over absolutely nothing, and some of the advances in her relationship with Spike (and the fanon that surround it) verged on the creepy side of things. She also picked up an interest in gossip, although to be fair this doesn't deviate too far from her established characterization, so I let that change slide.
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The first thing that struck me about Rarity was her voice. Everypony else in the series spoke in a rather plain tone and accent, but Rarity sounded far more high-class and pomp than the ponies around her. It felt completely out of place for something like Ponyville, a small country town whose only reason for being important is that it houses Princess Celestia's student. In addition, Sweetie Belle does not share the same manner of speaking, and whenever Rarity gets particularly upset or flustered, she either drops it altogether or switches to an entirely different accent. Season 2 addressed this curiosity by showing that her parents basically speak like they come from the Midwestern United States, are rather garishly dressed, and can't cook whatsoever. When you take that into account, as well as her actions in "Sweet and Elite," it all makes sense.
Rarity is a pony that feels like she was born in the wrong town. While she has nothing against Ponyville, and has a good number of dear friends, her dream is to make it to the big city (namely, Canterlot) and become a member of high society. In two episodes ("Best Night Ever" and "Sweet and Elite"), she tries just that, with varied success. The first attempt ended with her romantic dreams ruined by Prince Blueblood being an a-hole. Her second attempt (which occurred completely by accident) actually worked, but she was forced to abandon a lot of her social standing to stand up for her friends. Her way of speaking and ladylike way of behaving are masks designed to make her look more elevated in society than she actually is, but given her new connections and excellent work ability, that may not be true for long.
Rarity is one of the ponies that greatly disproves the A-to-A connection between cutie marks and future occupations. Rarity runs Carousel Boutique, a surprisingly upscale dress shop for a town like Ponyville. She takes jobs from as far away as Trottingham, ranging from capes to dresses to hoofwear, and always takes great professional pride in making sure each outfit is perfect. Her special talent, however, is the ability to magically locate gemstones. Gems are apparently so plentiful in Equestria that they're worthless outside of making clothing and accessories, so she spruces up nearly all her outfits with emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and any other kind she can find. In short, she doesn't need her special talent for her profession, but it helps her to reach her own personal standards for a beautiful outfit.
One important aspect about Rarity is that, in many ways, she is the most dramatic of ponies. Her dreams for the Gala wouldn't have felt out-of-place in a fairy tale, including a quick courtship and marriage to a prince, and yet she takes the whole thing completely seriously. When her fashion show is ruined, she locks herself in her room and doesn't go into exile only because she can't figure out how one packs for the trip. When she loses a ribbon, she throws a tantrum and summons couches to faint on. She throws fits, cries easily, and can break into something worthy of Shakespeare without so much as a prompting. And then there's what happens when she gets angry. Sometimes she responds by kicking the problem in the face until it goes away (she's a master of Crane Style, apparently), but she's also capable of being Passive-Aggressive if need be. Needless to say, Rarity hams it up so much that she might as well be part pork.
Rarity, however, has two major vices. The first is Carousel Boutique itself. She takes her business very seriously, to the point where she lies to get out of going to Twilight's birthday party just so she can make (and keep) her important Canterlot contacts. If something goes wrong in relation to her business, she tends to break down very quickly, such as in "Suited for Success." Her second, and far more damning vice, is her greed. Rarity loves shiny gems, and is willing to go to great lengths to acquire them. While I'll cover the instance in "Return of Harmony" later, an important early event was in "Dragonshy." Rarity's entire goal when the group is confronting the dragon is to get it to part with at least some of its hoard of gems, gold, and other assorted treasures. Ironically enough, she was actually succeeding in wooing the dragon...until she let slip that she'd watch his pile for him, at which point he realized what was going on and roared Rarity out of the cave. And what is she upset about when she was back with the others?
That she didn't get anything. Way to go, Generosity.
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Shipping-wise, Rarity has a few interesting options. The show seems to point towards Fancy Pants, but he's a guy, and we can't have M/F shipping, now can we? What makes Rarity fun, however, is that no matter which pony you pair her with, she'll be the opposite. She's an extrovert workaholic, while Twilight is an introverted studyholic. She's poised and elegant, while Rainbow Dash is tomboyish and athletic. She's fashionable, while Applejack is plain. She's loud, while Fluttershy is soft-spoken. She's a proper lady, while Pinkie Pie is a party animal. Needless to say, she's a pony that can actually go fairly well with everybody, and thus doesn't have a perfectly solid pairing just yet.
Rarity's relationship with her friends is interesting. Due to her work, Rarity is almost always in Carousel Boutique, and thus interacts with most ponies there. Her closest friendship, by far, is with Fluttershy. Despite the yellow Pegasus being very soft-spoken and shy, the two get it off perfectly, and even arrange trips to the spa together. It certainly helps that Fluttershy's one of the few ponies Rarity's cat, Opalescence, won't try to claw on sight. She also enjoys Pinkie's parties, although it seems that she would prefer quieter arrangements at times to the more wild and chaotic events her friend throws. She's also good friends with Twilight, although the two don't interact that often. She initially held animosity towards Applejack and her dirt-covered ways, but eventually turned around and considers her a good friend as well. And Rainbow Dash...well, the two rarely interact at all, since Dash doesn't frequent her shop and she doesn't seek Dash out unless it's an emergency.
We know very little of her relationship with her parents, other than she is the exact opposite of them in many ways and resents them dumping Sweetie Belle on her while they go on vacation. Like many adults with younger siblings, her parents expect her to be a free babysitter for them when they're out of town, despite what she may have on her schedule. Sweetie Belle, however, greatly admires her sister and wants to grow up to be just like her. Unfortunately for her AND Rarity, Sweetie lacks any of her sister's talents for dressmaking. She also makes a lot of mistakes, all of which grate on Rarity's nerves. Despite the two making up in "Sisterhooves Social," the two still don't agree on everything, and can still have arguments and fights. When compared to the perfect relationships between Applejack/Applebloom and Twilight/Shining Armor, this far more realistic portrayal of siblings duking it out while still loving each other is a wonderful breath of fresh air.
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Rarity's element is Generosity, and as mentioned above, she has issues keeping to it at times. That being said, she can still be depended upon to give everything she can to help anypony in need, even when it'll leave her miserable. That's the key to true generosity; it's a selfless sacrifice made to help someone at the expense of yourself. Rarity made two sets of dresses, despite knowing that the second set would be a disaster, because it's what her friends wanted. She saved Fluttershy's modeling career after Twilight had successfully sabotaged it because, as far as she knew, it was something Fluttershy loved, and she was so ashamed of herself for being jealous that she gave up the chance for schadenfreude so she could get everypony to support her friend.
One notable fanfic that tries to pick up the slack is the legendary "Simply Rarity." While it was pretty much shot to hell by canon, it tries to paint Rarity as an incredibly generous pony who gives away most of the money she earns from her shop. It's a noble effort, and parts of it make sense. Just...don't try to connect it to the canon in any way. Your brain may explode.
When Discord came along, his temptation for Rarity was a giant boulder he brainwashed her into thinking was a diamond. By the time Twilight fixed her, she had named it Tom, destroyed the Library rolling it in and out, and was storing it inside her own boutique. When she was cured, however, she very quickly kicked Tom to the curb and reminded the others to "Never speak of this again." Needless to say, she didn't get her wish.
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Overall, Rarity has improved tremendously since the early days. She has gone from a stock fashion-obsessed girly-girl to an overly-dramatic, loving, hard-working pony who would give the shirt off her back (provided she's wearing one) to help a friend. She might be greedy sometimes, and has some issues with her sister, but all this does is make her an even more interesting pony for future use. Here's hoping she keeps improving in the coming season.
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Well, that's another one down. Feel free to tell me how wrong I am below.
Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Rarity_lolface.png
Another great and spot-on analysis. Please do Pinkie Pie next.
Very nice. Ver fair. Keep it up.
233969 Yes! Please do Pinkie Pie next! There's so much more to her than she really let's on (I'm sure)!
233975 Yes lets go into the psychological impact of being a rock farmer.
As Rarity is my personal best pony, I think I'll do a bit of just that.
On the subject of greed and self interest, while it is true that Rarity has a great many desires, we've never really seen her try and take more from someone than they can afford to give up. Notably, that dragon had a giant hoard and the weight a single pony could carry would hardly be noticeable. As for trying to woo Blueblood, that was just a case of living out childhood fantasies, even the best of us can lose our heads when faced with that kind of opportunity. Greed is still to an extent one of her vices, but it has mitigating factors beyond just her Element of Harmony.
Minor quibble, because I'm really not all that into shipping, but it was my understanding that Rarijack was pretty much the dominant M6 ship for her, with Rarishy as a notable second and all the rest being pretty scarce.
My big disagreement would be on the whole Cutie Mark career thing. Rarity didn't get her mark when she found the gems, she got it after being congratulated on making such beautiful costumes for the school play. Her talent is making things beautiful, or more specifically finding hidden beauty, whether it be digging jewels out of the dirt, transforming fallen tree branches into topiary, or crafting elegant dresses that highlight each of her friend's unique qualities. (To me Pinkie Pie is a much better example of divergent mark/career, as her talent is parties or bringing joy, while she is an apprentice baker by trade).
Hmmmm, I don't really see anything wrong, if there is, Somepony correct me. Once again, outstanding job, this has define rarity down but if I must say, I know rarity to be overly dramatic, she generous in the way that if there's a problem she can fix for Somepony she will be there to help. Examples, in Applejack season, after Applejack admitted to not being able to harvest the entire applefield and that she needed help, she is seen helping harvest apples. 2. she along with twilight and the others helped make apple cider to win the contest against the flim flam brothers. 3. In sonic rainboom, she was the one that told her friends about rainbow dash nervousness and she wanted to go support her.(but we all saw what happened next.) And there probably are a few more examples I have not listed but in her defense, rarity can tell the emotions of Somepony and realize what's going faster then most but only when she is not busy and furthermore, being generous can also be justified in the fact that she is there for her friends at all. Generous in the fact that she's gives time, listens and makes free dresses at times for her friends show just how generous she really is. And despite having been greedy at times, that only goes to show that just like the others she is just a normal pony, scrutiny has a bit of greed in them. Those who say they don't are obviously lying.
Edit: do pinkie pie next!
I really like the juxtaposition between her greed and her Element of Harmony, gives her depth. As for her being a COLOSSAL ham, (nearly Brian Blessed levels sometimes) well, Tropes are not bad.
Her extraordinarily over the top-ness resulted in my favorite individual scenes in the show for both seasons. 
I don't recall there being any indication that defending her friends at the end of Sweet and Elite hurt her connections in any way. Fancy Pants is a game breaker in Canterlot, if he likes you, then the only way to NOT succeed in Canterlot would be to piss off Celestia herself, and its pretty unlikely Celestia would not support one of the 6 ponies responsible for restoring her sister to her. And from how the episode ends, as well as the shot from the Royal Wedding, she is IN with Fancy Pants. Add that to the fact that Hoity Toity and Sapphire Shores have both loved her work, I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't rolling in it by Season 3.
This may be my longest post ever.
seems legit.
Also love the analysiseseseseses. Unfortunately that is about all I got for right now. sowwee.
233989
Admittedly, this will probably be the hardest of these for me to write, for one of the same reasons why Chapter Seven took so long to finish: Rarity is one of the ponies I have a hard time wrapping my head around sometimes. I can at least relate to all the others at some level, but Rarity just eludes me. Not to say I dislike her, though; she's fourth-best pony for me, and I love her episodes. She's just a tough one to actually write a character examination on.
So yeah, it's nice to have her fans here to tell me what a complete moron I am.
On Dragons and Blueblood: On its own, taking a few gems from a dragon's hoard doesn't seem too terrible. "Secret of my Excess," however, implied that dragons actually do have a connection to their hoard besides having whole gobs of neat stuff. The whole thing came off as kind of an empathetic empowerment; the more loot they had, the bigger and stronger the dragon. Also, Rarity plotted to just con the stuff out from under him. That strikes as being rather low to me.
As for Blueblood...I already covered my feelings in the follow-up to Chapter Seven of BUB, but it boils down to this. Rarity went into the Gala to romance a pony she really knew nothing about, all so she could live out her childhood fantasy. Blueblood was a horrible jerk, yes, but it wasn't like Rarity was completely pure herself. And yet, in the fandom, she was the sweet, innocent victim in all this, while Blueblood is the devil incarnate who eats baby seals and kicks puppies in his spare time. Sorry, but I just have a much dimmer view on what Rarity did in that episode.
On Shipping: I almost went with Rarijack, especially after "Look Before You Sleep," but I wasn't 100% sure. Glad to know.
On the Cutie Marks: Admittedly, Pinkie's mark doesn't match her job 100%, either, and I almost went with that example over Rarity. What makes it different, at least for me, was the nature of their talents and how they relate to their current professions. Pinkie may work in a bakery, but we never see her doing much there. The one time she actually baked anything was ruined thanks to Applejack's sleep deprivation, and the rest of the time she's either helping herself to the stock or manning the counter. In fact, most of her time of the show is her planning, setting up, and participating in parties. It feels like party planning is what she actually does, while working at Sugar Cube Corner is just a way to help pay the bills and perhaps get more training in baking treats. Rarity's mark, meanwhile, wasn't directly tied to making dresses. She could have just as easily gone into jewelry making or gemcutting and gotten the same results. Hence, why I said her connection was the least clear-cut. She already loved sewing; being able to detect gems was just icing on the cake.
234014
It always struck me that it was a dragons GREED that empowered them. That it didn't so much matter how much stuff they had, so much as how much they wanted it. But yeah, rarity did let the sight of all those shinnies overwhelm her better judgment for a bit.
As for Blueblood, I perfectly agree that Rarity's reasons where quite shallow and a bit petty. Though she did seem to legitimately, if naively, believe fully that they were destined to be each other's true love. All part of that born in the wrong town complex she's got. Anyway, all this just reminds me that I need to catch up on BUB. think I'm 2 chapters behind right now.
I'll split the difference with you on cutie marks, your not wrong. I just always prefer to look for the deeper less obvious meaning in everypony.
234014
Pretty with you all the way on The Best Night Ever as far as Rarity goes, (and most of the others as well, though I can't think of anything AJ did that was really wrong.) so what I say next is not meant to be taken as a counter argument in any way.
"while Blueblood is the devil incarnate who eats baby seals and kicks puppies in his spare time."
(Doesn't mean they aren't out there, just I haven't seen them)
Yet My Little Alicorn has one of the least flattering depictions of Blueblood I have EVER seen.
"So yeah, it's nice to have her fans here to tell me what a complete moron I am."
For what its worth, I think these analysis' have been pretty accurate so far.
Rarity's a fun character. I have a feeling that I'd have liked her more with some episode rearanging. The major thing holding me back from liking her more is her early episodes combined with some dmitted prejudice on my part (which she has helped me deal with). There's a reason that Suited for Success and Green isn't your Colour are my favourite season 1 episodes.
However, I don't think that Rarity's talent is finding gems. That's just a side-effect. My interpretation is that special talents can be prett broad and arbitrarily defined (look at Twilight fo broadness and Cheerilee for having arbitrary borders). My interperpretation of Rarity's talent is that it's "finding and creating beauty". This shows up in her gem finding, dress making, understanding of art and even her friendship with Fluttershy (whom was her best friend even before the start of the show and was able to present as a model).
This is spot on. The only thing I take issue with is your view on her cutie mark, at least in the blog post itself. Anyway, great character analysis. It explains why you did such a good job with Rarity in chapter 7 of BUB.
Discord? do Discord. He's a strange character what with his arrogance and not so evil antics. (That and he doesn't turn ponies to stone)
Rarity hams it up so much that she might as well be part pork.
That hit right on the laughter.
Okey. Her relation whit her sister is atleast better then I have whit my younger brother. I don't think we have been able to work togheter ever without the other geting angry on the other. (Happens everytime when I controled Mario in Super Mario Galaxy.) We have had fights, but we get seperated and punished for it. We don't see much of echother now thanks to that I am more plaing games or are on the laptop, and he using the pc in his room playing games or whit irl friends. We are quit opposites of echother.
Also. Pinkie Pie next please. The fandome part maybe will take some time to writh and read. Then Applejack?
233969
Actually, I disagree. I think this was the most inaccurate one of the three.
Sorry, IAH.
No offence, but I have a good number of differing opinions about our fashionista. That, and I feel compelled to defend her, because there is so much of her reflected in myself. 
"In many ways, [Rarity] was the kind of stuff that turned people off of the previous generations..."
That's precisely what Rarity was meant to be. Rarity is the moral of the entire franchise summed up in one character. That is, if you're a stereotypical girly-girl, that's okay! Rarity is the personification of the "love and tolerance" theme of FIM. She's taking a stereotype that society has learned to hate, and she's shown (repeatedly) that she can still make important, positive contributions to the world.
"Unfortunately, "The Best Night Ever" regressed her personality back to the start of the season, with the Rarity people had grown to love only showing through in the last few moments."
No. The Best Night Ever simply allowed Rarity to showcase all the different facets (and idiosyncrasies) of her personality in one episode. Rarity never lost the prim-and-proper, high-class, ladylike traits throughout the season, nor did she "revert" to these in the finale. All these personality characteristics were present all along. Some episodes simply featured certain traits more than others.
"And then Season 2 happened."
That season took the previous season's canon and twisted it into a pretzel. Don't get me wrong; I liked Season 2. But by Sisterhooves Social, it was fairly obvious that the writers didn't put much effort into universe continuity.
Ugh... Don't remind me.
"... she was more prone to breaking into dramatics over absolutely nothing..."
Well, yes and no. I think it seemed that way, because Season 2 is really where we got our first good glimpse into Rarity's private life. In her feature episodes in Season 1, all of her scenes were in the presence of at least one other Mane Six character. It wasn't until Sisterhooves Social where we saw Rarity without her friends. In fact, I loved that episode for various reasons, not the least of which is that we got to see how Rarity behaves both when alone and with her family. Until the middle of Season 2, we knew only how she acted around her friends and customers.
"... some of the advances in her relationship with Spike verged on the creepy..."
I suppose this is a matter of opinion. I didn't find it creepy, because I thought Rarity's actions toward Spike ("My wittle Spikey-Wikey") weren't really her true personality so much as she was using Spike's feelings for her own gain (spotlighting your greedy aspect of her character). At the end of Secret of My Excess, we see Rarity's true personality shine as she let Spike know (implicitly) that she was fully aware of his feelings for her. If you'd note, she hasn't used Spike's feelings to her advantage since that episode.
"... Rarity sounded far more high-class and pomp than the ponies around her."
Rarity herself explains this to Opalescence (and the audience) at the beginning of Sweet and Elite. "I may have been born in Ponyville, but I've always been a Canterlot pony at-heart!" She essentially admits that her manner of speech and high-class attitude is contrived to support her aspirations. You kind of pointed this out yourself when you mention that when stressed, Rarity's accent and mannerisms suddenly disappear.
"... she was forced to abandon a lot of her social standing to stand up for her friends."
I disagree. I think her social standing was actually enhanced by Fancy Pants' approval and acceptance of her admission. Even the posh-uppity ponies increased their order for her dresses after FP's endorsement.
"Gems are apparently so plentiful in Equestria that they're worthless outside of making clothing and accessories..."
Normal gems are. Magical gems are exceedingly rare.
"Her dreams for the Gala wouldn't have felt out-of-place in a fairy tale, including a quick courtship and marriage to a prince, and yet she takes the whole thing completely seriously. "
Of course she does. She's a "girly-girl" character. Isn't it part of that stereotype to dream of living in a fairy tale? If she didn't take it seriously, it would have been a serious breach of character for her.
"She throws fits, cries easily, and can break into something worthy of Shakespeare without so much as a prompting."
Again, part of her stereotype. Ironically, without these seemingly shallow personality traits, her depth of character would be significantly reduced.
"... [Rarity and Fluttershy] get it off perfectly..."
Heheheheheheheheheh...
"[Rarity] destroyed the Library rolling [Tom] in and out..."
Actually, it was Twilight who moved "Tom" into and out of the library, at Rarity's request. She magicked it through the doorway the first time and through her second storey window the second time.
234861
Thanks for your nice, detailed response of how much I suck.
Just kidding. I do agree that yeah, maybe I didn't portray Rarity perfectly. However, a lot of these posts are just how I personally see the character, as well as comments on some of the fanon that surround them. As far as this one goes, I didn't really delve into the fanon because, as far as I can see, Rarity isn't portrayed horribly different between sources. Compared to Twilight (who can't cast a spell to save her life) and Rainbow Dash (who exists only to suffer), the fans have been very kind to our little fashionista. Hence, the canon, which I utterly butchered because I suck.
So yeah, the next one will be better. I promise. Please don't kill me.
234861 This is actually a pretty well thought out argument that makes sense. Don't get alot of that on the internet anymore. Have a moustache
234874
I guess I'm weird (and slightly messed-up) because I take my fiction seriously. When you build a universe, you need to stick to it. Even the professional authors and directors rarely do this properly.
Her heterosexuality is canon, as she went for Prince Blueblood rather than Princess Cadence.
I know you're going to say "But she didn't know who Cadence was in the letter." and I will not give you that at all. She didn't recognize Princess Mi Amore Cadenza; where does where show unfamiliarity towards Cadence? She doesn't ever say "who is Cadence?" other than the original lack of recognition towards the name Mi Amore Cadenza. But again, when does she show that she doesn't know who Cadence is?
Fluttershy next?
"In many ways, she was the kind of stuff that turned people off of the previous generations, especially G3"
I have to agree with this all the way. Well, mainly that originally she was completely unbarable. She mostly still is. Out of the main 6, she is my most disliked pony. The only thing I really like about her, is her sisterly relationship with Sweetie Belle, who is my favorite pony.
oi49.tinypic.com/iqeccj.jpg
Very good analysis, except for one thing:
> Her special talent, however, is the ability to magically locate gemstones.
I hear this myth from fans a lot and it is dumb. Finding gems? Is that all there is to Rarity that makes special and unique? Thats kind of a raw deal because Twilight can find gems just as well as Rarity can as well as being able to do a bunch of other stuff. Look at Rarity, ask what it is that makes her special and unique. In my opinion it is her art. She makes beautiful things. Twilight, and indeed nopony else in the mane six can match her. In fact, whenever they try it leads to a complete disaster (art of the dress).
235031 Pining over a Prince Charming does not of necessity make you set on one sex. She dreamed of perfection, she got a prick. All we know from that is she is at the least attracted to males. I don't see the show pairing any of them up anytime soon, so until then, I believe we can safely rule out strict preference.
235479 A cutie mark can mean many things. It does not necessarily mean one set thing. We do know she spontaneously cast a spell that literally dragged her to her fate. Now is that the extent of her talent? No, of course not. But it was special and unique about her. The show seems to indicate this spell did not exist prior to her having cast it. Twilight is the element of magic, she would know this spell if it existed. So yes, it would be her special talent, but not her only talent. It simply allowed her to augment her existing talent for fashion.
239762 She still probably knew who Princess Cadance was...
239997 Quite possibly, we'll find out in the season opener. I gather from the songs she is a princess of a lost tribe of ponies. Explains a bit to me, as I wondered why Cadance wouldn't have been helping raise the moon in Luna's place.
240004 Made me remember something:
Cadence: So, what is my job? You've got the sun, and Luna has the moon; where does that leave me?
Celestia: (insert troll remark here)
Hmm . . . You've clearly put a lot of time and thought into these analyses. Would you be willing to spare some thought to help me with an issue I'm having with a fic?
The MLP universe is constructed in such a way as to naturally promote six virtues that humans strive and struggle to live up to. My fic involves human counterparts to the Mane Six, and I've managed to match five of them to virtues that our world naturally promotes, and that pastel ponies might strive and struggle to live up to. (Alt-Rainbow is Courage, alt-Applejack is Patience, and so on.) Problem is, I have no idea what virtue to assign to alt-Rarity--her empathy is the sort of thing that thrives in the MLP universe, and her creativity overlaps too much with alt-Twilight's Ingenuity. Do you think Rarity has any other virtues that I could spin as easily fitting our world?