An Aggressive, Self-Centered Egotist (not Blueblood this time) · 9:18pm Sep 13th, 2014
A mare with a unique and undeniable sense of style.
A unicorn with a forceful personality.
She wants ponies everywhere to know her name and love her.
In a world of nudists, she often wears a hat and accessory.
A self-made mare, she runs her own business and puts together pieces that dazzle and amaze all who see them.
Treats her assistants pretty badly.
Very theatrical.
Once went mad with power after getting her hooves on an ancient, evil artifact.
And her mane looks fabulous.
I am, of course, talking about... er, wait. Is this Rarity or Trixie?
Seriously, now that I've thought of it, the similarities are obvious. Trixie doesn't care about knowledge or power, she just wants the world to love her. She's socially adept enough to handle a crowd and understand showmareship (even if it is in an antagonistic way). She relies on her creativity and the finesse of her magic to support herself.
Twilight, in contrast, pursues knowledge for knowledge's sake. For the longest time, the only opinions that mattered to her were her immediate family and the Princess. She relies on established structures or assistance for everything (checklists, checklists everywhere and Spike does the cooking).
Rarity, however... Rarity wants the world to love her, but for her designs and dresses, not simply because she's Rarity. She's incredibly social and outgoing, with special attention towards being remembered. She creates her own designs and makes all of her dresses herself.
Trixie may be Twilight's opposite in certain ways... but in many ways, she is Rarity.
You've got a good point there. I've long thought of Trixie as Twilight's Shadow Archetype, but she is also Rarity's. One big difference between Rarity and Trixie, though?
Rarity is strongly affinitive -- she seeks both (romantic) Love and (strong) Friendship. You can plainly see this in her behavior toward Spike, Fluttershy, Fancy Pants and Twilight herself -- and less successfully toward Blueblood and Trenderhoof.
Trixie isn't affinitive at all. She has never displayed any desire in TV canon for either a friend or a lover; all she wants are fans. In IDW comics canon, she's slowly starting to open up toward friendship (notably, with Rainbow Dash and Babs Seed) but has not shown any romantic interest in anypony. In my fanon, she fell in love with Piercing Gaze under odd circumstances, and is faithful to him (he isn't entirely faithful toward her, but that's another matter).
My Trixie is demisexual -- she is rarely sexually attracted to anypony. If her love with Piercing fails, she will likely be single for years, maybe decades to come. She's also not very friendly, though she becomes friendlier over time: among her long-term friends in my fanon are Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, and Glittershell Carrot.
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Really, Rarity's and Trixie's approach to social connections are reflected in what they do.
Rarity's dresses are all uniquely tailored to the pony they're for, and are an actual thing that will persist after the moment of their creation. She puts in the time and effort to make something special for every pony she meets.
Trixie's shows are all about her, and are inherently ephemeral -- both in being illusions and being a travelling show. A loud noise, a flash of light, and gone tomorrow. There's no substance to the illusions and no depth to the connection between herself and the audience.