Equestria Girls Headcanon Nonsense: Money, Money, Money · 10:35pm Jun 25th, 2019
So, one of the major tropes of cartoons is that certain real world considerations and details get ignored in favor of whatever story is being told. One of the major things that gets ignored is how everything is getting paid for. Equestria Girls is no different. The story requires the girls to hang out at the mall and shop? They've got the money to do so. The story needs to be set on a yacht and nearly every established character needs to be there? Money's there for that too. Sunset needs a place to live despite the fact she's a teenager on this side of the mirror and has no family or legal guardian here? Boom! Apartment!
Well, this is fandom, and we can't just relax and accept narrative convenience, can we? Have we learned nothing from the army of overly nitpicky media critics on YouTube? Next think you know, they'll be expecting us to just sit back and actually enjoy the show!
To that end, here's a few thoughts on the relative wealth of the Mane 7. We're going to start from who I think is the wealthiest (or at least whose family is the wealthiest. As I once heard it so eloquently put "No no. YOU are poor. Your mother and I are doing very well!") to who has the least amount of disposable income. While I covered basic income for each girl in the respective Headcanon Nonsense overview blogs, it's been long enough that it's time for an update.
So kicking things off...
Rarity: Rarity's family is loaded. They have one of the nicer homes in the suburbs of Canterlot City, and Rarity's parents dote on her and Sweetie Belle without spoiling them. Make no mistake, while Rarity can easily lay her hands on cash when she needs it, her family hasn't always been wealthy.
The family came into money when Rarity's parents managed to invest a small amount of their savings at the right time in tech stocks in the late 90s and managed to get out right before the bubble burst. They didn't become millionaires, the amount was too small for that, but the money they did make was used to get the family out of the trailer park they were living in and into a modest house. The rest was wisely reinvested and again, pulled out just before the 2008 recession hit, including purchasing their new house right before the housing market crashed. These investments paid off spectacularly. While still not millionaires, the family lives comfortably and Rarity's father was able to start his own high-end sports memorabilia business. This too has been successful and is how they're able to keep up their luxurious lifestyle.
However, both Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles are very much aware of how lucky they are and have driven home the value of what they have to their daughters. This is why Rarity and Sweetie Belle attend CHS as opposed to going to Crystal Prep like many of the city's wealthier teenagers do. It's also why Hondo has made sure Rarity knows how to do basic auto maintenence on her car. The RV seen in the current series of shorts actually belongs to Hondo, but after making sure she can handle it, he lets Rarity take it out every so often. Rarity does have that most coveted of all items: a credit card in her name with a $5000 limit, but she is required to make the payments herself should she use it, unless it's for an emergency. Her parents are the ones who decide what qualifies as an emergency.
Needless to say, Rarity spends most of her money on dressmaking supplies and making sure all her friends can be included in whatever outing the seven of them agree on.
Twilight Sparkle: Twilight's family is also fairly well to do, but not quite on the same level as Rarity. Her mother is a best selling author of murder mysteries and her father is in academia. The sales of her mother's books and the multiple options sold on them for movies and TV shows have enabled the Sparkle family to have a nice rambling house about halfway between CHS and CPA. Twilight wouldn't normally be hurting for money, but nearly every dime she gets goes to procuring supplies for her various inventions. This is why Twilight is also an expert scavenger. There is no electronics department in the city, whether from the most exclusive electronics boutique, to the shelves of the local thrift store, safe from a shopping Twilight Sparkle.
Much like Rarity's parents, now that Twilight is no longer in the hyper competitive atmosphere of Crystal Prep, they want to make sure she understands the value of working for a living, hence her job at the electronics store at the mall. By and large, however, between her job, her scavenging, and her family deciding to pick up something they think she might like or be able to use, Twilight still makes out pretty good for herself, and since making friends and needing money to hang out with them every so often, she's become very good at budgeting.
Fluttershy: While Fluttershy's family is firmly Middle Class and their income reflects that, Fluttershy herself has quite a nest egg stashed away. As seen in A Is For..., Fluttershy is the author of a very successful series of picture books for kids. She has a literary agent who understands her desire for anonymity, despite the pressure from the agency itself to get her out there for public appearances. While nothing has come of it, her books have been optioned for two animated movies, and she keeps all the money in the bank in order to pay for college. She does, however, allow herself to spend the money she gets from her part-time job at the mall pet store in any way she wants.
Zephyr Breeze is not allowed to touch one single dime of Fluttershy's money.
Rainbow Dash: Rainbow's family is solidly Middle Class. Her dad is a lineman for the power company and her mom is a realtor. They make enough to be comfortable, but many is the weekend the family has various projects around the house that need to be done and they're the ones who are gonna do 'em. As mentioned elsewhere, Rainbow is terrible with money and she often takes advantage of her friends' generosity, but always tries to find a way to pay them back, in services if not in cash.
To Rainbow's credit, as graduation looms and she realizes she's going to probably have to rely on student loans for college, she's asked both Rarity and Twilight for help in learning how to make a budget and she is choking down her rejection of "girly crap" by taking Home Economics courses.
Applejack: The Apple family house is one of the oldest structures in the suburbs, built by Applejack's great-grandfather Jonathan Apple. As Canterlot City expanded, the suburbs grew up around the farm, with various generations of Apples for one reason or another, selling off some of the land and updating the house. With farming being on the way out and the gradual shrinking of the land, the Apples pretty much can't make a living just with what's left of the family orchard. (As mentioned elsewhere, the Sweet Apple Acres on this side of the mirror is only about 5 acres in total, as opposed to its massive Equestrian counterpart.)
So, Granny works as the CHS lunch lady. Between that and the apple sales, the farm does all right. Applejack did have a part time job at the mall smoothie stand, but as seen in "Rollercoaster of Friendship," she quit thinking she'd be working at EquestriaLand with Rarity. Since then, she's been looking for another job, but finds more and more of the farm and her friends taking up the majority of her time. Granny's noticed and is quietly supportive. She knows AJ knows the value of hard work, but she wants her to learn the value of play as well. To this end, every so often, Applejack will find some money crumpled in the pocket of her skirts and jeans that she apparently put through the wash and forgot about. That it's always around 20 to 50 dollars and that Granny always refuses to take it when offered is something Applejack hasn't noticed yet.
Pinkie Pie: As mentioned in her Headcanon Nonsense overview, Pinkie lives with Maud in the Canterlot City suburbs. The house is a rental, paid for by Maud's stipend from Canterlot University, and some support from their parents. The rest of the family live on a farm just outside the city. Pinkie's spending money comes from her job as a waitress at the Sweet Snacks Diner, which is usually gone because of how many sweets she buys from the place while working. She's not entirely frivolous, however. All those party supplies aren't free, which is why she buys in bulk. She'll usually save up her money for a month when she's running low and go on a shopping spree. Same goes when she needs to save up money for something special the girls are doing.
Sunset Shimmer: Sunset is the poorest of her group of friends. While she did have a stash of bits and gems brought over from Equestria, that stash is now gone. However, in addition to her server job at the sushi place at the mall, she's begun livestreaming on a regular basis and that has brought in a regular source of additional income. She's not one of the most popular livestreamers on ViewTube yet, but she has a loyal and slowly expanding following. Many have suggested she set up an Ponytreon account, but she hasn't yet done so.
With her reconciliation with Princess Celestia, Sunset could probably get a stipend of bits from the princess, but she's chosen not to. She's survived for too long on her own in the human world to want to make herself a burden. (Princess Celestia, of course, wouldn't see it that way, but the subject has never come up.) Sunset prides herself on her self-reliance, but she's not above letting Rarity help out with little extras every now and then. The one thing Sunset always budgets for is her comics. No matter how tight things get, the comics she has on hold at the local comics shop are the one luxury she allows herself regardless. It's her little thing to ensure she isn't spending all her money on bills. Because if that's all you're doing, then what's the point of living?
Thoughts? Comments? As always, I'm interested to see them.
I have roughly the same head cannon as you do. It makes sense ultimately. Though I am still miffed that the EQG versions of the girls aren’t adults like they seem to be in the main show.
Squares up a lot with what we've seen.
Just that I got to read "Let's Talk Sunset's Apartment!" before, and so far it seems accurate and like what I thought in general.
Even if I rely more on datas from most stories.
What about when they all go play and sing for any event (unless it's for free idk... Can't tell, I'm not having such insight as you do in your blogs)?
https://youtu.be/1k1_ggLTph4
5079998
What?
Pretty much in line with a lot of my own headcanons about the Rainbooms, honestly. I especially like the idea for Rarity and Twilight.
5080002 That... would be my question, as well, as that made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Huh. I hadn't thought of that.
Yeah, I could see Hondo doing that.
What's she do with the rest then?
I can see it now... Windy Whistles in a blazer, constantly complimenting her clients.
"Oh, you have such a good eye for houses!"
You gotta do what you gotta do.
D'aww, bless that woman's heart!
I can't possibly imagine it'd be a rock farm.
How long do you think Sunset's stash lasted?
Makes sense to me. Not in line with my usual choices, but entirely sensible and reasonable... even if I can't help but notice the unicorn-pegasus-earth pony socioeconomic strata, with Sunset as an outlier due to extenuating circumstances.
5080016
Completely unintentional... at least on my part.
This goes in line with my pen thoughts pretty well
Eh, sure why not
5080048 Ah, I see.
Yeah. This makes sense. Around about what I’d considered, but I never gave it too much thought; outside of writing fanfics. I guess I’m just weird in letting a small handful of mundane things slide.
5079989
You can legally be an adult and still be in high school. I’d imagine that a number of the girls are in such a state now (AJ, Rares, Sunnybun).