Backstory: Rarity · 10:24am Sep 15th, 2018
Taking it down just a notch, and coming back after a few days break from this series, we come to Rarity. I consider her my second favorite of the M6, again due to Rainbow Dash and Twilight sharing first place. I've already gone into some detail on this ordering before, and how Rarity claimed this position so firmly. She remains solidly there through the years since.
Family
Aside from the obvious family-focused Applejack, Rarity is one of the characters whom we were introduced to her family for pretty early on. We meet Sweetie Belle (along with Scootaloo) in S1E12, Call of the Cutie. We later meet Cookie Crumbles and Hondo Flanks, their parents, in S2E5, Sisterhooves Social.
After talking about Applejack and Pinkie's families, it can seem like a rather small family in that Rarity only has her parents and a younger sister. But that actually puts her on par with Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle, making this size family the norm for the M6.
As Sweetie Belle is one of the CMC and regularly gets episodes, we wind up getting to see far more of her and Rarity's family life than we do Fluttershy's, Twilight's, Rainbow's, or Pinkie's. Despite Scootaloo being Rainbow Dash's "adoptive little sister" they don't really have a "home life" nor did they have this relationship for years growing up. Apple Bloom's presence, of course, gives us more insight into Applejack, but there are quite a few episodes depicting the Apple Family outside of CMC episodes, so Sweetie Belle's presence in CMC episodes feels worthwhile to point out.
Where Apple Bloom and Applejack seem to get along and are very close, likely due to the fact that Applejack is more her surrogate mother than big sister, Rarity and Sweetie Belle showcase a much more "normal" sisterly relationship. Sweetie Belle is often frustrated by her older sister both for paying less attention to her than she wants as well as doing everything better than her so she feels overshadowed. They have some overlap in their interests, but some difference as well. There is a lot more conflict and forgiveness between the two than the other sibling relationships.
We've seen in episodes like Sisterhooves Social, For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils, and Forever Filly that Rarity often misunderstands her sister, but does genuinely love and care for her. Some of their conflicts are due to Sweetie Belle needing to mature, while others are lessons Rarity learns. Rarity is, like with her friends, willing and eager to sacrifice her time, resources, and personal health to help Sweetie Belle out, though she does assertively prioritize her business and obligations too.
Another interesting tidbit is that there appears to be a rather significant age-gap between Rarity and Sweetie Belle. We saw a 5-year-old Sweetie Belle in a flashback in For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils which took place in Carousel Boutique. Rarity appears to already be her "adult size" in that flashback. If she was indeed an adult at that point already running a business out of Carousel Boutique, that implies something around 13 years difference in age between the two. On the other side of things, I tend to place the "now" age of the CMC to be around 10-11 at the start of the series, and 12-13 now in S8. Given 7-8 years of time passed between that flashback and S8, that would place Rarity in her mid to late twenties, possibly even early thirties.
In contradiction to that, it was stated by show staff that (in S1) the M6 were all supposed to vaguely be young adults/very late teens. The general idea was to try to make them highschoolers to be more relatable to the target audience, but then giving them all obvious jobs and none of them living at home with their parents (except for AJ sort of) means we all pretty much assume they're around 20-22 range. So we have a few conflicting age points. If the CMC in S1 are 10, and Rarity is 20, there is still a ten year age gap. It would also mean that Rarity was working in Carousel Boutique at 15. If the CMC are younger, say 7 in S1, that increases the age gap between Sweetie Belle and Rarity to 13-15 years, and gives us Rarity working in the Boutique at 18-20.
Yay maths.
We still know very little about Cookie Crumbles and Hondo Flanks. When we were first introduced to them in Sisterhooves Social, they dumped Sweetie Belle on Rarity unannounced so they could go on vacation together. This has led to nearly all fanfic depicting Rarity often babysitting Sweetie Belle, while still trying to work at her job and interact with her friends. As we often see Sweetie Belle at Carousel Boutique, even if their parents haven't explicitly dropped her off with Rarity, it seems implied this is the case. At the very least, Sweetie Belle visits Rarity often, sometimes giving the impression that she's closer to her than to their parents. That said, Cookie and Hondo were with Sweetie Belle in Inspiration Manifestation and A Hearth's Warming Tale, indicating the above impression may not be that big of a deal. Overall, it feels like the two are very normal, average parents.
While we can't exactly do more than speculate what kind of jobs or hobbies they have, we've seen Hondo Flanks fishing and he has three footballs for a cutie mark. Cookie has three cookies on her flank, and for a while was noted to be the only pony to wear pants. Their brief bit of speech and mannerisms in Sisterhooves Social is mostly interesting for not being posh-sounding the way Rarity speaks and acts. They appear to be normal residents of Ponyville. That Rarity is rather different from her parents and sister is a still unexplained piece of her character. More later in the cutie mark section.
Cutie Mark
Rarity's cutie mark story is interesting, in that it had her magic drag her along against her will to bring her into the presence of a large, plain rock. Rainbow's Sonic Rainboom cracked that rock open, revealing it to be a geode filled with colorful gems. What this says about unicorn magic and pony magic, in general, is a source of much speculation.
We also learned that filly Rarity was already interested in fashion. Her concerns over the quality of the costumes for her school play seem to be what provoked her magic. Essentially it feels like this was a minor magical surge (much less severe than Twilight's) and expressed itself in an overpowered version of her gem-finding spell. It might be something else entirely, but this is again interesting material to speculate on that she seems to have either learned that spell at a young age already or it spontaneously manifest/was learned right then and there. Maybe she refined it some later on into the spell that she was later able to teach Twilight Sparkle in A Dog and Pony Show.
It's also apparent that Rarity was already different from her parents at this young age. It is possible she was already interested in gems, as well as other pretty and decorative items. Or she may have discovered her love of gems during her cutie mark event. When and how she came to like the things she likes is still unclear. She may have had a memorable event like Rainbow Dash had when she discovered the Wonderbolts and fell in love with them, or it might just have been something as simple as enjoying certain kinds of magazines and her fondness for fashion grew over time. When and where she started affecting her accent is similarly unclear, and I wonder what that story is like when she first started doing it. I'm sure her parents had an interesting reaction.
While it is possible that Rarity's affinity for gems is her cutie-mark given superpower, it mostly feels like her cutie mark is more akin to Applejack and Pinkie's: representing a lifestyle. If anything, her magic is only a minor part of her, and she focuses on beauty and expresses it with gems mingled with fashion.
Element
As the Element of Generosity, Rarity has sparked much argument and conversation over the years. She is often accused of being greedy. She likes comfort, she likes beauty, and she seems more keen on gathering wealth than any of the other characters (though Applejack was often concerned with money in early seasons). I'd like to think that in part, this is a variation on a certain theme. Part of generosity is that it counts for more based on how much it means for you to give it up, rather than what the objective worth or value of the gift is. How valuable it is to the recipient matters, but it often seems to lean towards the cost to the giver. Rarity's twist on that philosophy seems to be that she wants to have more to be able to give more.
The other part of that is that as Rarity values comfort and wealth as much as she does, then it means more when she gives it up as a gift. We've seen her consistently shun dirt and value beauty both in herself and her friends. But she gave up her tail without hesitation to ease Steven Magnet's woes in Friendship is Magic Part II. She might be unhappy about trudging through the dirt, mud, and much of an adventure, but she still goes. She may value her image as a proper lady, but she will give it up and kick a monster in the face with the best of them.
The final component of Rarity's generosity is that she encourages others, with her gifts, to rise up and enjoy life more. She seeks not just to be beautiful, but for those around her to appreciate and value beauty too. She eagerly seeks to help others decorate themselves, express themselves, and be beautiful, rather than try to present herself as better and more beautiful than others. This is what often separates her from the unpleasant rich ponies of Canterlot. She may chastise Rainbow Dash for poor manners, or Twilight Sparkle for not being regal enough, but those are gentle attempts to get them to be better as she sees it. She acts in contrast to the likes of Jet Set and Upper Crust who turn their noses up at "lower class" ponies.
Conflicts for Rarity are often in her willingness and ability to give things up to be generous. Be it giving up her time for her little sister over work-obligations, or giving up things important to her to make others shine more. Hers is a life in balance between that urge to spread beauty around her and collecting the wealth and comfort she personally enjoys.
Events
Rarity, unlike most of the M6, is a Ponyville native. While she and her family's roots don't appear to go back as far as the Apples and the Riches, she has at least two generations of her family living there (hers and her parents').
The show doesn't seem to have done much with it, but during The Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow Dash saved Rarity's life from a particularly traumatic-looking fall from Cloudsdale, very close to the ground. I'd imagine this stands out to her a bit more than their usual run-ins with danger and villains while saving Equestria. It certainly features in RariDash shipfics.
During the series, Rarity has made quite a few business contacts, and those contacts show up now and then in later episodes. It seems prior to her becoming friends with Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the M6, Rarity struggled to make a name for herself. As a piece of backstory from the context of later seasons, Rarity showcases one of the more thorough pieces of continuity and progression among the M6 characters. As a backstory element for an early-season or pre-S1 Rarity, she is more of an obscure nobody from a nowhere rural town, looked down upon by anyone from the upper class.
Rarity is such a fascinating character. She stands out from her family, and from the high society she admires. She comes across at first glance as "that snobby bitchy rich girl" you're supposed to hate in the cartoon, but her heart of gold is worn on her sleeve. Like Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, she is passionate and driven. Like them, she tries to drag those around her up along with her while striving to rise above wherever she is now.
She sells dresses when ponies don't normally wear clothes, in a rural farming town in which folks like Applejack are the norm.
Character Plugs
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/1844/a-simpler-time
Quite possibly one of the most adorable fics on the site. It explores an idea of a tiny filly Rarity having a fateful meeting with filly Twilight Sparkle in Canterlot. Presumably, an event like this could have sparked Rarity to develop her adoration for Canterlot and things high society and ladylike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3YV1GSCZDI&index=6&t=0s&list=PLbr-HVHOIZZvehxQw0vO4Hq_VEcbDHez7
Friendship is Witchcraft is one of those delightfully absurd fan creations that is just the right amount of talent, insanity, and humor. I am unsure which was first between it and the Mentally Advanced Series, but both of them oddly decided to go bizarro with Sweetie Belle. FiW has her as a robot, the more popular of the two odd depictions, and Sweetie Bot to this day still gets random fanart sporadically. A lot of lines from this very fan-episode form some early fandom in-jokes and memes. I'm rather fond of, "Your lack of bloodlust on the battlefield proves you are a soulless automaton!" as well as anything at all involving Sweetie Bot and water.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2s1I_U8xSw
Another iconic MLP song. Generally considered among the top three of many a fans lists of MLP songs alongside Winter Wrap Up and Smile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C7D5Tr5Sj0
I could just link all of Rarity's various songs, but I'll limit myself to just these two. Yet another "Rarity makes dresses" song, this time Equestria Girl's style. The show has gotten a lot of mileage out of the basic elements of Rarity's character and expressed them in a surprising variety of ways.
Next Up:
I wish there were more ponies in the Mane Six so this series could go on longer. But then I guess we'd have to change the title. And also I guess there's nothing restricting you from doing this for non-M6 ponies outside whether or not you feel like doing it. I like these introspectives a lot is what I'm getting at I suppose, and I guess I could have said that without wording it differently and padding it with all of this drivel.
I like to think Rarity is shown as an adult in Sweetie's dream either because of Luna not knowing what a younger Rarity would look like, or because Sweetie, being so young, has always seen Rarity that way. When you're really young and around someone almost all the time you don't notice their suble growth and it appears as if they never change. With Rarity being older, to Sweetie she's always been that big.
... At least this is what I tell myself for obvious reasons.
4938023
I explicitly intend to cover Starlight Glimmer as part of the set. I am toying with the idea of covering some other characters as well, likely at least some of the villains of the series. This is in part rambling introspection, and part comparison/contrast to Starlight Glimmer's backstory.
Unfortunately, I think the level of detail available drops off pretty dramatically once we get past the main characters. It may not be possible to create as interesting/satisfying entries for a lot of them.
4938092
That is actually a really good point. I've had to express that same concept before in regards to the episode, The Perfect Pear. That there is potentially two layers of unreliable narration happening in that flashback indeed should not be overlooked.
I suppose my intent on bringing up that flashback was more to indicate that there is material to speculate on than to assert any particular conclusion.
4938234
So what you're saying is we're not getting a detailed backstory post for Hugh Jelly?
4938293
Correct. I beg forgiveness for any disappointment this brings.