Characters / Friendship Is Magic: Rarity

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Main Index The Main Cast: Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, the Cutie Mark Crusaders Supporting Cast: The Princesses (Princess Celestia, Princess Luna), Mane Family Members, the School of Friendship, Ponyville, Other Locations, Animal Companions Antagonists: Major Villains (Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow), Dangerous Creatures, Jerks and Bullies, Redeemed Antagonists (Discord) World of Equestria: Races, Historical Figures, The 2017 Movie, Expanded Universe, Toyline Exclusive, Miscellaneous Minor Characters: One-Shots, Other Characters, Background Ponies (Common Background Ponies, Special Background Ponies, Other Background Ponies) Equestria Girls: Heroines (Sunset Shimmer), Villains, Supporting Cast

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Not just another Jane Doe.

"A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle. A unicorn needs to have style. A unicorn is not a unicorn without grace and beauty!"

Debut: "Friendship is Magic, part 1" ("Mare in the Moon")

Voiced by: Tabitha St. Germain^{Foreign VAs}Elsa Covián (Latin American Spanish); Mikoi Sasaki [Seasons 1-2], Yukana Tabata [Season 3-onwards] (Japanese), Monika Kwiatkowska (Polish)
Singing by: Kazumi Evans

The bearer of the Element of Generosity. A unicorn with an eye for fashion and a generous spirit, Rarity is a beautiful clotheshorse. A huge fan of Fairy Tale-style romances and Happily Ever Afters. While there's nothing new about a girl's cartoon having a fashion-focused character, Rarity breaks from this stereotype in that instead of following trends, she creates them as the owner and lead designer of Ponyville's premier dress shop: the Carousel Boutique. As of Season 4, she appears to be diversifying into interior design. Her Pillar of Old Equestria is Mistmane.

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Tropes A to G

• Accents Aren't Hereditary: Rarity speaks with a posh Mid-Atlantic accent that doesn't match her parents' Upper Midwest accents. However, it's implied that her accent is not natural, and is an affectation she puts on to sound fancier and more upper-class.
• Accent Slip-Up: Rarity sometimes slip out of her Mid-Atlantic accent, especially when excited. Based on her flashback in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", she didn't start cultivating her accent until some time after acquiring her cutie mark. Though neither she nor Sweetie Belle has the low-class accents of their parents.
• Action Fashionista: Zigzagged. Whilst Rarity doesn't quite dress up enough to fit the spirit of the trope, she is a literal example of the trope, being a skilled fashion designer who is also a spunky Girly Bruiser with no shame about getting into the pony equivalent of fist-fights to protect her friends.
• Affectionate Nickname: "Spikey-Wikey" for Spike, after he gave Rarity his cherished fire ruby to make her happy. The nickname stays for the rest of Season 2 and continues in future seasons.
• Age Lift: G3 Rarity was a child, but G4 Rarity is an adult.
• Alternate Self: In the Season 5 finale, it's shown what she would be like in timelines where she didn't become the Element of Generosity.
  • In the timeline where Sombra wages war against Equestria, her talent for sewing is put to work in a sweatshop making uniforms for Equestria's soldiers.
  • In the timeline where Nightmare Moon returned and defeated Celestia, she's a maid or steward in Nightmare Moon's castle, lamenting that the tapestries need to be replaced.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Rarity's parents are kind and carefree but they look and behave like a couple of middle-class hicks. Among other things, they dress in gaudy clothes, enjoy eating disgusting food, and don't have even a sliver of Rarity's (or Sweetie Belle's) class. Rarity's mom looks like Peg from Married... with Children and her father wears a gaudy straw hat. That sums it all up — Rarity's lifestyle purposely appears to be completely counter to her parents' behavior.
• Anti-Hero: Her vanity and occasional self-centred attitude indicate anti-hero material. She's temporarily a Nominal Hero in "The Return Of Harmony" when she falls into Discord's trap of taking a big boulder mistaken for a diamond.
• Attention Whore: Rarity is a benign example, as she enjoys being in the spotlight, and loves ponies admiring her appearance, but then, she's a fashion designer, so it's part of her job. Her generosity and kindness make this more of a quirk than a negative trait most of the time. Most prominent in the "Sonic Rainboom" episode, where she overshadows Rainbow Dash while showing off her magic butterfly wings. Her shame and chagrin after she realizes what she's been acting like is proportionate to her previous attention whoring, and she is suitably apologetic.
• Badass Adorable: Don't be fooled by her stunning beauty. She may look delicate, but she's as willing to get into action as Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
• Badass Longcoat: In "Rarity Investigates!", she sports a trenchcoat as part of her Film Noir detective outfit.
• Barrier Warrior: In "The Ending of the End", she summons a gem-like shield (similar to those used by her Equestria Girls counterpart) to protect Spike from Chrysalis. It shatters quickly against Chrysalis's power, but it cancels out her magic blast effectively.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: She's as beautiful as she is generous.
• Berserk Button: After Rarity states that she's above challenging Trixie:
  Trixie: Oooh; what's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?
  Rarity: Oh, it is ON!
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • She threatens to rip the teenage dragons apart if they hurt Spike, who she cares for very much.
  • She's more than willing to go far out of her comfort zone for Sweetie Belle's sake.
• Big Brother Mentor: With Sweetie Belle in "Ponyville Confidential" by giving her lessons in respecting privacy and refraining from slander.
• Big Damn Heroes: Becomes this in the Grand Finale when she throws a rock at the villain trio to save Twilight from an imminent fate.
• Break the Haughty: Her "fall from grace" when her temporary wings melt high in the sky right before Rainbow Dash saves her life.
• Can't Take Criticism: Zig-zagged. Rarity can be a massive drama queen and a world-class complainer but this sort of behavior is inherent in her character and she can usually let things slide off her back. However, Rarity's generosity comes from her ability to empathize with others which also means she wears her heart on her sleeve and is easily hurt when the right buttons are pushed. Those buttons are usually the quality of her work which she takes very personally or implication/statement that she is selfish or uncaring. During "Fame and Misfortune" she becomes a Nervous Wreck and suffers serious Sanity Slippage when two snobbish ponies state that she seems too full of herself, narcissistic and that her role with her friends is unimportant.
• Character Catchphrase:
  • "It. Is. ON!"
  • "I want to be alone!"
  • "Eye-dee-ah!"
  • "Darling" when she talks to people she likes, and "Ruffians!" when she talks to people she doesn't.
  • She also likes to use "divine" as an expression of enthusiasm for something.
• Character Development: Even though she doesn't have a true character arc, she has changed quite a bit since her introduction in the pilot. Many of the lessons she learns tend to stick. As a result, her spotlight episodes tend to feature new issues each time.
  • She has become much more patient with Sweetie Belle since the events of "Sisterhooves Social", as shown in "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils".
  • Her relationship with Applejack has grown from bitter enmity in "Look Before You Sleep" to reluctant respect in "Sisterhooves Social" to close friends in the fourth season — by the time of "Simple Ways" and especially "Trade Ya", the two's riffing on each other clearly comes from a position of mutual admiration.
  • She is more willing to get dirty as shown by "Sisterhooves Social".
  • Contrasted with her behavior in "Sonic Rainboom", the song "Becoming Popular" depicts her handling attention better as she remains a gracious guest.
  • She has become more explicitly supportive of her friends in later seasons. "Bats!" in particular shows this, as she is the first of the cast to back up Applejack's side of the argument.
  • She has grown closer to Spike, treating him like a little brother.
  • She is less forceful with Fluttershy compared to her behavior in "Green Isn't Your Color", but she still encourages her to come out of her shell, as shown in "Filli Vanilli".
  • The only lesson which has not been shown to stick is that she will still lie to avoid disappointing a friend. But, as of the end of Season 4, that flaw of hers has not been addressed; in fact, none of the ponies have demonstrated learning that one. This could be interpreted to mean she learns her lessons better, but it is too opaque to say.
  • The tie-in comics make use of the lesson she learned in "Sweet & Elite", she is also somewhat less thrilled with High Society than she was in Season One, as shown by the Fluttershy Micro.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Season 9 has her displaying this behavior with Spike in the episode "Dragon Dropped", surprisingly.
• Color-Coded Wizardry: Objects affected by her magic have a pale blue glow.
• Cool Big Sis: Gradually becomes a mild example after the events of "Sisterhooves Social".
• Cool Car: Her Gem-Encrusted Royal Gem Carriage from the toys.
• Cool Crown:
  • Briefly wears one during "Sweet and Elite".
  • She wears a different one while playing Princess Platinum in "Hearth's Warming Eve".
  • And a golden tiara is part of her Grand Galloping Gala ensemble.
• Crazy Cat Lady: Discussed in "Suited for Success". Rarity does indeed own a cat, Opalescence, but she does not fit the stereotype as she is usually fairly levelheaded and sociable. However, in this episode, the trauma from her first fashion show being a failure leads to her becoming a recluse, and this exchange...
  Applejack: Well, we can't just leave Rarity like this!
  Pinkie Pie: She'll become a crazy cat lady!
  Twilight: She only has one cat.
  Pinkie: Give her time...
• Crippling Overspecialization: Like most unicorns, she has mostly only been seen to use magic pertaining to her special purpose — in her case, beauty and artistry. However in later seasons she does start exhibiting a more diverse repertoire of spells.
• Crush Filter: When she finally meets Prince Blueblood at the Grand Galloping Gala in "Best Night Ever", he briefly smiles at her as he walks outside. As she hurries after him, expecting a romantic night with him that culminates in him asking her to marry him, there is a brief moment where Blueblood looks back at her, suddenly having a rose in his mouth, the background suddenly becomes sparkly, and he is giving her a seductive look as if he is trying to flirt with her. Given how none of this lines up with his true personality Rarity experiences later that night, it is clear her imagination and high expectations were playing tricks on her.
  Rarity: Even better than I imagined.
• Cultured Badass: Rarity is a fashionista with some serious kung fu skill.
• Cute Bruiser: Despite being the most lady-like, the few times we've seen her fight she's completely physical in her fighting style, including knocking out Mooks with solid right hooks. In IDW Comic #29, she shows quite an adept level of skill at wrestling.
• Cute, but Cacophonic: She's pretty and she's a talented designer, but her voice when she's whining is the most grating thing you'll hear in all of Ponyville and she knows it. She uses it to invoke Pity the Kidnappers in "A Dog and Pony Show", after which her abductors let her go with crates full of jewels. The fact that she is generally considered the best singer is somewhat ironic.
• Damsel in Distress: Typically defied. She has a knack for getting herself out of sticky situations. In "Spike at Your Service" she discussed this trope with Applejack on how to properly act like one.
• Damsel out of Distress: "A Dog and Pony Show" is just one example: by the time her friends came to "save" her, she had the diamond dogs working for her.
• Deadpan Snarker: Any humor she makes that doesn't involve her being a Large Ham involves her being this.
• Decomposite Character: She and Rainbow Dash are ones to the G3 version of Rainbow Dash; G4 Rainbow got the name and color scheme, Rarity got the personality (leaning closer towards the comic version) and love of fashion.
• Delinquent Hair: In "It Isn't the Mane Thing About You" after her mane is ruined and she snaps out of her Heroic BSoD, she quickly gives herself a multicolored mohawk, accompanied by a punk getup. Downplayed as it's portrayed as a great fashion choice and inspires a mane style trend long after her own mane has grown back.
• Determinator: When she wants to finish a dress, nothing's going to stop her... except multiple commitments to high-society gatherings.
• Drama Queen: To the point that she provides the trope's page image. Prone to histrionics when she's under stress, the girl can summon a fainting couch as she desires. In particular, her breakdown in "Suited for Success" is legendary. She's self-aware about this, though, and lampshades it in "Lesson Zero".
• Dowsing Device: Her horn is used this way in order to locate gems.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In the very early episodes, Rarity's horn had two rings rather than three.
• Eccentric Fashion Designer: She has more than a few shades of this, especially as her forte is adding gem-based bling to her designs, and she speaks with an affected pseudo-English accent, calls everyone "darling", and has a very flamboyant, driven and perfectionist personality with a tendency to dive into obsessive phases when particularly gripped by her work. Granted, she actually turns out to have a more down-to-earth design sense than her friends when they make suggestions.
• The Empath: She is the holder of the Element of Generosity for a reason. Not only can she perfectly read the rest of the cast most of the time but she is ready to throw everything away to help them or a stranger in an instant.
  • She was the only pony to notice Rainbow Dash's stage fright in "Sonic Rainboom".
  • She seemed concerned about Twilight early on in "Lesson Zero".
  • She was perfectly happy to help find gems for the Diamond Dogs (despite the fact that they kidnapped her and dragged her underground) but became extremely irritated when they wanted her to dig them up, lug them around in an extremely heavy cart with a rusty and tight harness, and generally were abusive slave drivers towards her.
  • She put up with quite a few mistakes from Sweetie Belle before losing her temper completely and even then, she regretted it hard and fast.
  • She recognizes Fluttershy's true motivations almost immediately in "Filli Vanilli".
  • She sees through a pony's facade in "Rarity Investigates!"
    Rarity: That's the polite, but disingenuous laugh you make when you want to seem happy, but really, you're not.
  • As shown in episodes such as "Green Isn't Your Color" and "Sisterhooves Social" she shows a much more profound ability to catch on when she is being callous or inconsiderate to someone by herself, compared to the other ponies who usually need to be handed An Aesop after their actions have already spiralled out of control.
  • Justified in that her job as a fashion designer requires her to both be observant of minute details and form a quick and accurate judgment of someone's personality.
• Etiquette Nazi: A more benign one; while she can get exasperated by ponies being "rude", she can move from this and maintain civility and friendship with relative ease and she honestly believes it is for their own good.
• Era-Specific Personality: FiM Rarity is a young adult with refined tastes, great talent, a generous heart, a strong sense of responsibility and the maturity and sensibility to run a successful business. Her G3 counterpart is a filly who only wants to have fun, needs constant adult supervision, and whose irresponsibility causes a nationwide disaster. Curiously enough, in both incarnations, Rarity befriends a baby dragon named Spike.
• Et Tu, Brute?: In "Ponyville Confidential", this is her reaction to Sweetie Belle stealing and publishing her diary to the school paper column. Lampshaded when she speaks this word for word towards her sister.
• Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Her cutie mark shows it, and use of gems is part of her special talent/trademark.
• Expy:
  • Strongly resembles the G1 pony Glory, sharing many of the same physical characteristics (light gray unicorn with purple hair and blue eyes). Despite resembling Glory, she's based off Sparkler. Rarity also resembles G3's Rainbow Dash in personality and they both have an accent (though Rainbow's is vaguely British) and say "darling" quite a bit.
  • Similarities in appearance to an Italian variation of Sparkler◊ have also been noted.
  • Her constant search for love is similar to the G1 pegasus Heart Throb, a romantic who's especially searching for her Prince Charming in the two-parter "Through the Door"; she also has a similar accent and verbal tic (her use of the word "darling") to Rarity.
  • Also G3 and G3.5 Rarity, who is a multicolored filly unicorn. (To be exact, she is the young Princess heir of Unicornia.)
• Fake Brit: Or rather Fake-fake-Brit, both out-of-universe and in it – Tabitha St. Germain is Canadian and does not speak with an accent anything like Rarity’s exaggerated Mid-Atlantic RP.^† Although Tabitha's accent isn't really Canadian either; during one interview, her speech seemed to unconsciously shift between at least four different dialect zones within the span of about 15 minutes, finally settling on something that sounded vaguely not quite South African. In-universe it's heavily implied that Rarity’s accent is an affectation and part of her fashionista persona – None of Rarity’s family members speak with the accent (although Sweetie Belle puts on a good imitation while making fun of her big sister). Given her mother’s strong Joisey accent and her father's thick Chicago/Wisconsin accent, you can see why she may have changed it to get ahead in fashion.
• The Fashionista:
  • Played with in that Rarity is never seen gushing about shopping or poring over fashion magazines. Instead she's written as a (somewhat haughty) professional artist whose medium happens to be clothes. When she's working, her demeanor changes entirely: She's overjoyed to be in her element and won't stop or cut corners until the customer has exactly what they want no matter how hard she has to work. This was a specific intention to satisfy Hasbro's desire to have clothes to accessorize the toys while still providing a completely counter character to the stereotype: "We portray her not as a shopaholic but as an artist."
  • The Expanded Universe, having different writers, occasionally gives her an interest in shopping. In The Hub's game Adventures in Ponyville, one of the problems she needs help with is that she was overloaded with sweets while shopping at Sugarcube Corner and forgot to pay for some that she had already eaten. In the Sparkle World story Rain, Rain Go Away!, she goes shopping with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and even says "I love shopping!"
• Favors for the Sexy: Rarity can flirt/charm/seduce males into doing favors for her or her friends.
• Femme Fatale: A benign example but she's not above seducing other ponies to get what she wants. The episode "Rarity Investigates!" has her flirting and charming pretty much everyone.
• The Finicky One: Being a perfectionistic Neat Freak with obsessive tendencies, she qualifies.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic — work-focused, artistic, and obsessed with detail.
• A Friend in Need: While she might stray every now and then ("Sonic Rainboom"), nothing will stop her from helping her friends when they are in need.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: Nine times out of ten, she will choose friends. (Only nine? She's not perfect.) By the time "Sweet and Elite" rolls around, her friends are expecting it, they understood why she wanted to go for the Idol (it could help her business and fashion credibility amongst some very influential ponies).
• The Friends Who Never Hang: Given that this series has six (or seven) main characters, and thus 15 (or 21) possible one-on-one relationships, this is inevitable.
  • Her interaction with Rainbow Dash throughout the show is rather limited. Even "Sonic Rainboom", an episode they share that revolves around Rarity's attempts to support her, barely requires them to have a single conversation together. We do, however, see them hanging out in less spotlighted ways, as shown in "Dragon Quest" when they ask Twilight Sparkle if she would like to accompany them to breakfast, and in "Just for Sidekicks" as they are both having an outing with their pets. They eventually get a spotlight episode together in "Rarity Investigates!", and the rarity of their interactions — as well as the fact that they share almost no interests whatsoever — comes to a head when it nearly causes their friendship to disintegrate in "The End in Friend".
  • Rarity almost never interacts one-on-one with Pinkie Pie. As shown in the Red Oni, Blue Oni entry on the main character page, those two are the farthest apart on that spectrum, meaning they are the least likely to get along. In "The Last Roundup", where they are forced together by circumstance, Rarity has to restrain herself from getting physical with Pinkie. In "Putting Your Hoof Down", although Rarity and Pinkie are together for most of the episode (the only episode thus far where this happens), they do not have much in the way of a conversation without Fluttershy being involved. The two later get episodes together in "The Gift of the Maud Pie" and "Spice Up Your Life".
• Gem-Encrusted: Half the clothes she makes glitter with the stuff. Invoked in "A Dog and Pony Show", when Sapphire Shores specifically requests that her outfits be this way (each with a different color scheme). Justified, due to the fact that gems were heavily involved in her getting her Cutie Mark (she was magically drawn by her horn to a gem-filled rock and promptly used said gems to jazz up outfits for a school play, to great praise).
• Girly Bruiser: Rarity is very classically feminine and dainty, is The Fashionista who runs a dress boutique. But she's also very tough and is just as liable to jump into the fray in a dangerous situation as any other pony. She can do pretty well at sports or physical activities (once she gets over her distaste for dirt and muck), she is quick to accept a challenge, tends to get surprisingly physical in a fight, and is in fact usually one of the first of the Mane Six to get ready to fight. Specifically, in "Friendship is Magic", she's the first to attack a manticore. In "Dragon Quest", she's perfectly prepared to lay down a whoopin' to protect Spike, even threatening to rip her opponents, a group of teenage dragons, apart. It's also shown in "A Canterlot Wedding" where she straight up knocks out Mooks with right hooks. In IDW Comic #29, she partakes in and wins a tag-team wrestling match! All the while looking fabulous. The last thing you'd ever expect from her if you saw her in her day-to-day routine, but she is quicker to resort to force than brash, athletic Rainbow Dash or the physically strongest team member, farm girl Applejack. We see her take on martial arts fighting stances more than once.
• Girly Girl: The most so out of the six; she's beautiful, poised, elegant, well-mannered, and works as a fashion designer and seamstress. This puts her at odds with Applejack and, to a lesser extent, Rainbow Dash, as she doesn't really enjoy more rough-and-tumble activities that involve getting dirty or messy.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Rarity happily presents herself as 100% the girly-girl type in her daily life: she's beautiful, poised, elegant, well-mannered, and works as a fashion designer and seamstress. This puts her at odds with Applejack and, to a lesser extent, Rainbow Dash, as she doesn't really enjoy more rough-and-tumble activities that involve getting dirty or messy because she's averse to filth, but she's also a Girly Bruiser and displays no shame in this more rugged side of herself. Also, her first recourse in a fight is Good Old Fisticuffs, she's actually quite good at kicking flank (as seen in the battle against the changelings at the end of season 2), and in fact, she's often one of the first to suggest resorting to violence when threatened. At one point, she puts together a punk outfit and hair style when her mane gets seriously messed up all the while showing no issues with not looking so feminine, and seems to like heavy metal music as her chops are absolutely righteous when she shreds an amazing solo... on an acoustic guitar. Rarity's personality is a dead ringer and subtle Shout-Out to the G3 version of Rainbow Dash: who was an adventurous, rowdy, rough-and-tumble sort as well as a fashionista.
• Good Feels Good: She is really truly happy when she helps other people. This is exemplified when she goes to extreme lengths to design dresses for her friends to their exact specifications even though they are incredibly tacky by the final revision. Her "I Am" Song "Generosity" permanently cements that she loves to help others, believing that if you help them, they'll remember your kindness and repay you in their own way.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: Despite her proficiency with levitation, most times she's gotten into a serious fight, she's opted to get her hooves dirty. This may be because (like most unicorns) she has great difficulty using telekinesis on anything that isn't a good deal smaller and lighter than she is (unless it is something that is made to move, like a door), let alone using it with the speed needed to fight.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: She is the most feminine character and has a violet mane and tail and even her white coat had a slight lavender tint to it. Her choices in outfits for herself also tend to be biased towards purple and blue. In "Griffon the Brush Off", when it's time to play Pin the Tail on the Pony (which she states is her favorite game), she asks for the purple tail.
• Gratuitous English: Often used in the Korean dub, in the same way that the English version uses Gratuitous French.
• Gratuitous French: Justified, as many of the fashion terms come from French.
• Greater Need Than Mine: She's been shown as willing to make big sacrifices in the name of helping someone else.
• Greed:
  • In the two-parter episode "The Return of Harmony", her love of gems and accessories is turned against her by Discord.
  • It also derails her efforts to charm away the dragon in "Dragonshy".
  • In contrast, her kindness subdues Spike's own Greed in "Secret Of My Excess" (if somewhat obliviously).
  • Played with shrewdly in "Just For Sidekicks". As part of Spike's fee for taking care of Opal, she gives him a very small ruby (which a smitten Spike adores anyway). While the other larger gems from the rest of the ponies are spent on minor things such as donuts and train tickets, Rarity's ruby was valuable enough to pay for an enormous and very powerful hair dryer.
• Green-Eyed Monster: In "A Dog and Pony Show", she states that a lady is never jealous. However she spends most of "Green Isn't Your Color" (the very next episode) being jealous of Fluttershy's new-found popularity. She notices this quickly and is disappointed in herself for it.
• Guile Heroine: Rarity can be pretty crafty when she wants to be; she provides inspiration for the page quote for Silk Hiding Steel. She has a successful go at playing Amateur Sleuth in "Rarity Investigates!" due to her attention to detail, ability to persuade, and a unique collection of knowledge.

Tropes H to P

• Happily Ever After: As her fantasy during "The Ticket Master" shows, she dreams of meeting her Prince Charming and experiencing her very own. Subverted after learning the Prince Charming is anything but due to his personality.
• Has a Type: She seems to have a thing for male unicorns with blond manes, judging by her crushes on Prince Blueblood and Trenderhoof.
• Haughty "Hmph": She often does this as part of her fashion designer vibe.
• Heroic BSoD: She suffers a breakdown after being chewed out by Hoity Toity.
• Hidden Depths: Lauren Faust and her crew intentionally tried for this to make her more than a stereotypical Girly Girl.
  • Her intro sets her up as very concerned about fashion and personal appearance. Then in the Everfree Forest, she defies Beauty Is Never Tarnished by lopping off her own tail and giving it to a very depressed sea serpent to cheer him up. Promptly Lampshaded by Twilight's stunned reaction at having her first impression shaken so suddenly.
  • Ironically, considering her line of work, she's probably the most physically-inclined Unicorn we see (that isn't a Royal Guard). For instance, she bucks a manticore in the face during the pilot, shows off some impressive martial arts skills in "Return of Harmony", and displays amazing athletic aptitude in the Sisterhooves Social. In short, she's a lot stronger than she looks.
  • She also values generosity to a high degree, both when giving and receiving. She is shown drooling over the ruby Spike gives her; however, as much as she loves its beauty, it has sentimental value to her as well since it was a gift from her "widdle Spikey-Wikey".
  • Her "I Want" and "I Am" songs display typically exclusive traits. "Becoming Popular" shows her loving attention and congratulating herself on being at the top of High Society. "Generosity" shows her loving to help others and having a charitable outlook on life. In "Becoming Popular", she supports items dismissed by the Canterlot Elites, showing that she enjoys using her social position to be a charitable patron.
  • In the tie-in comics, the Nightmare Forces choose her as the easiest of the Mane Six to break emotionally and transform into a second Nightmare Moon. The Nightmare Forces lampshade that Fluttershy seemed an easy target, but Nightmare Moon implies that Rarity has crippling self-esteem issues over someone more talented than her outdoing her and replacing her in the circle of friends.
  • "Filli Vanilli" reveals that on top of her fashion business, Rarity is also the leader of an a cappella quartet called the Ponytones, with Big Macintosh as another one of its members.
  • In "Honest Apple" Pinkie suggests Rarity to relax by strumming a bit on a guitar. Rarity plays a few moments with an intense metal guitar solo. On an acoustic guitar, somehow.
  • "Rarity Investigates!" and "Sparkle's Seven" both suggest that Rarity's a big fan of the Film Noir genre.
• Hoist by Her Own Petard: Played With. Three times she's gotten herself into severe trouble but it's never done by ego or pride; instead it's either her generosity getting the best of her or her work being so good that it has unforeseen consequences.
• Hypocritical Humor: Rarity is a common source of this: she'll suggest a calm and reasonable response to something ("really, it's not so bad") only to explode once it offends her personally ("I'LL DESTROY HER!"), or call someone a "drama queen" from atop her fainting couch. However, she's self-aware enough to acknowledge the fact most of the time.
• "I Am" Song: "Generosity" from "Rarity Takes Manehattan".
• I Am Very British: While it's actually a "Mid-Atlantic" accent ^note A hybrid of American and English accents, hence the name, she speaks with it to highlight her poshness.
• In Love with Love: Out of all the Mane Six, Rarity has displayed the most interest in stallions and the most desire to have a romantic relationship, having crushed on Prince Blueblood and Trenderhoof.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Her eyes represent her kind and generous personality, albeit having a few jerk traits.
• Irony: She's the character most concerned about her outward appearance. In the series finale, she's the first of her friends to have her hair turn gray.
• It's All About Me: Ironically, although her element is generosity, she has proven to be quite selfish at times, becoming more concerned with herself than with others, this is even treated in some episodes.
• "I Want" Song: "Becoming Popular (The Pony Everypony Should Know)" from "Sweet and Elite".
• Jack of All Trades: In combat situations, her magic isn't as potent as Twilight's and, while stronger than she looks, she hasn't shown the feats of strength that Applejack and Rainbow Dash have. However, by Season 9 she has demonstrated skills for fighting with both magical and physical means, giving her options in a fight. And that's on the occasions that she needs to fight at all.
• Jerkass Ball: She's primarily nice, but she let her greed derail an attempt to speak with a dragon, nearly ruined Twilight's slumber party (although Applejack didn't help the situation), and stole the spotlight from Rainbow Dash during the Best Young Flyers competition. She also took advantage of her friends to help her replace her first line of dresses for Manehattan's Fashion Week, only realizing (and regretting) it afterward. However she more than made up for it, preserving her Heart of Gold.
• Jerkass Realization: Rarity often recognizes her faults or behavioral problems at an early stage, compared to most of her friends who stubbornly refuse to accept their wrongdoings until they reach explosive points. It is more her attempts to improve on herself that are the source of conflict for her. More often she realizes her behavioral faults after causing the conflict (for the sake of conflict) but without needing to be told that what she did was wrong, whereas the other ponies usually need it pointed out to them by another. This autonomy also reinforces her desire to improve herself.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Her cat's name is Opalescence or Opal for short. She loves her dearly even if the feeling is not reciprocated.
• Kung-Fu Wizard: In a fight, she's primarily physical in contrast to Twilight Sparkle, even though both are unicorns with natural magic ability.
• Lady and Knight: Spike in "A Dog And Pony Show" dreams of being the knight to her lady. Given her high-class aspirations and lady-like personality, she makes for a Bright Lady.
• Lady of War:
  • Her gracefulness and maturity are near-constant but the war part is recognized in her fight with the Changelings; knocking one out with a right hook.
  • She first showed this in the very second episode — her first reaction to a manticore leaping at her was to kick it in the face.
• Large Ham: Whenever she goes into histrionics. Which is to say, quite often. Even the slightest misstep or fault is usually enough to send Rarity summoning a fainting couch.
• Laser-Guided Karma: She sometimes falls victim to this whenever she has greedy thoughts, mostly concerning her love for gems or fashion. An example is in "Castle Mane-ia" where Rarity's desire to improve the tapestries of the Castle of the Two Sisters leads her into badmouthing the crumbling building when it won't let her do so. The castle doesn't take kindly to it.
• Leitmotif: Any scene focusing on Rarity, especially if it's in the Carousel Boutique, is bound to be accompanied by a harpsichord.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Fittingly for a fashionista like her who cares the most of her beauty out of all her friends, she has one of the longest mane and tails out of the Mane Six, with only Fluttershy potentially challenging her. Though, since Rarity usually keeps her mane and tail curled up in various styles it is hard to say whose is longer. Until in the Season 8 short "Rarity's Biggest Fan", when we finally see Rarity's entire mane and tail uncurled and it is long enough to touch the ground, being even longer than Fluttershy's.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Rarity is somewhat vain and materialistic, and occasionally looks her nose down on her more slovenly friends such as Applejack. However, she is no less helpful than the other ponies and embodies the Element of Generosity (her Establishing Character Moment being when she sacrifices some of her beloved tail to act as a mustache for a heartbroken sea serpent).
• Manipulative Bitch: A non-evil version; Rarity has a good heart but when faced with something she wants but does not have, she's not afraid to use her charm to get it.
  • After being marenapped by the Diamond Dogs, she went from their abject slave to their pampered queen in the space of a few minutes. Granted they weren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed, but still...
  • In "The Best Night Ever", she casually flirts her way into getting two stallions to pull her carriage to the Grand Galloping Gala. She does the same in "Putting Your Hoof Down" to some passing nebbish who'd taken the last asparagus.
  • In "Sweet and Elite", she orchestrates an elaborate con in which she manages to convince two separate groups of people she is only attending their party, but is in fact attending both at once. She almost gets away with it.
  • It seems her sister is taking lessons from her, since she has managed to wrap her around her little hoof in recent seasons.
• Master of Illusion: Of a mundane sort. She creates some impressive special effects for her second fashion show in "Suited for Success".
• Meaningful Appearance: Her extremely-light-grey coat color emphasizes her refined nature as well as her cleanliness.
• Meaningful Name: Her cutie mark is diamonds, which are a rarity in nature.
• Milking the Giant Cow: Gets like this when she turns on the ham.
• Mind over Matter: No other unicorn, not even Twilight, has displayed the ability to telekinetically manipulate multiple small objects with as much precision as Rarity does with her dressmaking supplies. In contrast, however, she has a relatively small weight limit in what she can lift with telekinesis.
• Morality Pet: For Spike, when he rampages through Ponyville in the episode "Secret Of My Excess". She's the one who turned him back into the adorable baby dragon.
• Mr. Vice Guy: Her vice is vanity. She often displays humorous superficiality and fusses over neatness and can sometimes get carried away by her love of attention. Still, far from being perpetually self-centered, she can be very considerate towards others and her caring for her friends is perhaps the strongest motivation she displays.
• My Beloved Smother: According to her sister, Sweetie Belle, Rarity's affections can be overbearing and smothering on occasion.
• My God, What Have I Done?: She has this twice. First in the episode "Sisterhooves Social" and in the episode "Rarity Takes Manehattan".
• Neat Freak: Obsessed with cleanliness and keeping things in order.
• Nerd Glasses: Of the cat-eye variety, and with bright red frames. Of course, on her, they look fashionably retro.◊
• Nerves of Steel: Played with. Rarity goes into amusingly over-the-top histrionics over the most minor of things, and she's as vulnerable to Heroic BSoD as any other mane cast member. However, in the face of actual danger, she's often unflappable. This ties into her Skewed Priorities, as she's often more concerned about the threat something poses to her appearance or comfort than the threat it poses to her health.
  • It shows up in her interactions with Prince Blueblood and Sweetie Belle. Despite the abuse both have put her through (though Sweetie Belle is well-meaning), she puts up with most of it. It's only after a constant onslaught that she snaps and even then she just gets mad instead of suffering Sanity Slippage like some of the others have.
  • The best illustration of this is when she gets captured by a rampaging dragon. While she's concerned about the safety of her friends, and her cape, she starts chewing the dragon out while being held in its tail.
• Nice Girl: She is the Element of Generosity after all. Jerkass Ball moments and occasional vanity aside, Rarity is a kindhearted mare who tries her best to spread her generosity to other ponies.
• Noblewoman's Laugh: Does this in "Suited for Success" when Applejack shows surprise that Rarity can make dresses for the six of them "lickety split". She also does something like this in "Sonic Rainboom"; a giddy sort of "Wha ha haaa!" She just was so impressed by how pretty her wings looked. It's only a little off from an Evil Laugh, which just shows how much she's lost it.
• Nobody Touches the Hair: She has this opinion in general, but as early as the second episode she is willing to defy it.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: When in melodrama mode, Rarity has a fondness for channeling classical divas such as Greta Garbo. Her default demeanour, both in accent and hamminess, seems to have some basis from Katharine Hepburn.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Most of the time she has a pretty good grasp on this but when she's excited or agitated, she can get rather close to the person she's talking to. This is seen best with her behavior around Twilight in very early episodes (she pokes Twilight with her horn to spur her to help out Rainbow Dash), but it crops up again when she's grilling Fluttershy about how to improve her dress.
• Not So Above It All: Rarity likes to present herself as refined and ladylike, but has the chops for physical and situational comedy like the rest of the cast. Not to mention her moments of squee like this.
• Obsessively Organized:
  • Demonstrated in "Look Before You Sleep" where she shows an obsessive attention to detail, bordering on the compulsive. By the end of the episode, it's explained as her being attentive to small details in contrast with Applejack's attention to big details with both being necessary and neither alone sufficient for all-around sensible action.
  • She spends half a day trying to fix Twilight's bird nest in "Winter Wrap Up" and eventually breaks down in tears because it's so appalling.
  • In "Green Isn't Your Color" with the outfit Fluttershy is going to model.
  • If you look closely during her first freak-out in "Lesson Zero", she straightens out a rug.
  • Proved beyond a shadow of a doubt in "Sisterhooves Social" where she goes ballistic any time Sweetie Belle messes with anything of hers. Including, ironically, when her little sister "helpfully" tidies up the "organized chaos" of her "inspiration room".
  • In the Bad Future of "For Whom the Sweetie Bell Toils", she develops this to a crippling degree and spends the rest of her life as a mad recluse, constantly checking and rechecking her work for mistakes.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • She gets one at the end of "Suited for Success" after Hoity Toity asks her to make a dozen of each dress she just showed to him before next Tuesday. That makes 72 hand-made dresses right after she was pushed beyond her limits to make "only" 11.
  • "Sonic Rainboom": When her wings vanish into thin air.
  • Again at the start of "A Dog and Pony Show": after Rarity spends all her gem supplies on one dress, Sapphire Shores orders 5 more dresses of the same type.
  • She has one in "The Secret of My Excess" when she sees a gigantic Spike about to kidnap her.
• Onee-sama: At her friendliest moments toward Sweetie Belle; an elegant and reserved elder sister whom the younger admires and seeks to emulate.
• Odd Friendship:
  • With Applejack, the rough and tumble farmer. In Season 1 they often butted heads about daintiness or uncouth or something else, but after the events of "Look Before You Sleep" and especially "Sisterhooves Social", they became quite close. Interestingly, Applejack has more in common with Rarity than any other member of the cast. Both of them are small business owners who often have to take charge of their younger siblings who love to get into trouble. Both of them believe strongly in hard work and earning their way in the world, though Applejack's labor is more physical and Rarity's more mental. They both are very determined, and both of them are generous with their time (and worldly goods) where their friends are concerned. Both of them are highly skilled in their professions, and both of them do a wide variety of business-related things, not merely a single task (Applejack takes care of all sorts of farm work, including repairs, as well as actually selling her product, while Rarity does all of the sales, accounting, and other activities for her own business, in addition to designing, making, and fitting dresses). In fact, after Rarity, Applejack is the one who picks up the most quickly on how other ponies are feeling.
  • She and the even more rough-and-tumble Rainbow Dash get on quite smoothly, as seen in "Rarity Investigates!" When Dash spills a drink on her while hugging her in excitement, Rarity doesn't hold it against her, simply changing into a new outfit on the spot. Rarity also recognizes Dash's bragging dances as her way of expressing joy. The two have quite a bit in common, despite their differences. They both thrive on attention and concern themselves with style and appearances (Rarity with fashion, Rainbow with being cool, going so far as to distinguish between coolness, awesomeness, and radicalness), often to the exasperation of those around them when it strays into vanity or egotism. They both have lifestyles they aspire towards, and have taken steps in getting there — Rarity wants to be a part of high society, and Rainbow Dash wants to be a Wonderbolt. This fan video shows how one of Rarity's songs ("Becoming Popular") can be applied to Rainbow Dash as well.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: When providing Rarity's singing voice, Kazumi Evans doesn't affect the mid-Atlantic accent that Tabitha St. Germain normally gives Rarity. This is most notable during "Winter Wrap Up", though Kazumi seems to be making a much more concerted effort to sing with the accent in later songs.
  • Zigzagged in "Art of the Dress", where she appears to make an effort to use the accent in the first half, but mostly loses it in the reprise. May be justified by Rarity's being stressed out by that point.
  • It's a running joke that she sounds oddly Swedish whenever she's in the middle of a bout of self-pity, riffing off Greta Garbo's "I vant to be alone!" line.
• Out of Focus: In the third season, where she is the only pony lacking A Day in the Limelight and is mostly limited to minor roles. According to Meghan McCarthy, "Spike At Your Service" was supposed to be that season's Rarity episode, but felt that she came off as a Jerkass, so it was rewritten to feature Applejack instead.
  • This was then averted in season 4 where she gets two spotlight episodes and shares two more (with Sweetie Belle and Spike), along with regular appearances in other episodes.
  • Also happened in Season 8 until the episode "Friendship University".
• Patchwork Kids: Has her mother's purple hair and her father's white coat.
• The Perfectionist: Played With over the course of the series. Her dresses have to be perfect, but this plays to her generous nature rather than ego — she desires to please her clients (like Sapphire Shores) and her friends, and tries to fit their definition of perfection.
• Personality Powers: Her special talent involves working with gems, and her personality lines up with that by having aspirations of class and a love of beauty.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Doesn't wear one around town but her fashion choices amount to this when we see her at work. She's particularly fond of Gem-Encrusted things.
  • When she meets Twilight in the pilot, she tries to stuff her in one.
  • Designs a horde in "Suited for Success" with some turning out better than others. Mind you, that's what her friends have demanded of her and she's too nice to point out the flaws while making them.
  • She also wears one in the episode "Sonic Rainboom" when she enters the Young Fliers competition.
  • She designed another one for Twilight in "Sweet and Elite" and wore several herself.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Unicorns are not known for their physical strength, but Rarity is capable of dragging large carts of gems with ease. She can also carry a rock twice her size on her back.
• Prehensile Tail: Her tail curls can be used to transport objects (the cake in "Party of One" for example).
• Pride: In her appearance, making it an easy target for anyone looking to bring her down a peg. Exaggerated in "Sonic Rainboom" where she receives a temporary enchantment of gossamer wings. Of course, Pride goeth before a (literal) fall...
• Projectile Spell: Though initially only seen in dream settings and in the comics, in later seasons she begins using her magic offensively, firing beams of destructive magic from her horn instead of just using it as a dousing rod. She first uses them onscreen outside a dream in the premiere of season 9, though they appear notably weaker compared to Twilight's and others, perhaps explaining why she usually doesn't attempt this power.
• Proper Lady: She believes herself to be this, and certainly acts the part in high society. It's the things she does around her friends and threats to them that prevent her from really living up to this ideal.
• Proud Beauty: Rarity is confident enough to persuade stallions to help her with various things through her beauty and charm.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
  • "Oh, It. Is. ON!"
  • "Look upon me, Equestria for I! AM! RARITY!"
  • "Of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE! WORST! POSSIBLE! THING!"

Tropes Q to Z

• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • Her reaction to discovering Sweetie Belle was one-third of Gabby Gums: Whereas most ponies shunned the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she gave Sweetie Belle a well-earned scolding, used her own snooping through Sweetie Belle's bags to make the point about invasion of privacy, and finished by asking in an empathetic tone if what they were doing was truly worth their Cutie Mark. This prompts the Crusaders to start making amends.
  • She actively fights back her temper with Sweetie Belle throughout "Sisterhooves Social"; it's not until Sweetie Belle herself snaps that Rarity does.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Like Applejack, she fulfills both roles, acting as a Blue Oni to Applejack and a Red Oni to Fluttershy.
• Regal Ringlets: Her tail as befitting someone with high class.
• Secret Test of Character: In "Rarity Takes Manehatten", she had to decide between winning Fashion Week in Manehatten or apologizing to her friends for mistreating them. She chose the latter, inspiring Coco to do the same, and obtains her key to the Tree of Harmony chest in the appearance of a spool of rainbow thread.
• Self-Made Woman: Rarity didn't grow up wealthy and refined; her parents are middle-class at best. She got that way by working hard to improve her skills (she made five elaborate costumes using a sewing machine at the pony equivalent of 11 or 12), getting her own shop in Ponyville. Now she sells clothes across all of Equestria. Aside from the handful of ponies who help manage her Canterlot and Manehattan boutiques in her absence, she doesn't have any employees; she handles all of her design work by herself.
• Silk Hiding Steel: She (technically Twilight) provides the page quote. Underneath her silky lady-like appearance is a formidable mind and steel will. In "A Dog and Pony Show", she has the Diamond Dogs wrapped around her hoof by the time the others arrive to "rescue" her, and she has engaged in hoof-to-hoof combat on several occasions.
• Singing Voice Dissonance: Her singing voice sounds much older than her talking voice. What's even more ironic is that the actress for her singing voice is actually young than her speaking voice actress.
• Skewed Priorities: While she won't let her friends down, Rarity has a tendency to put her love of fashion, gems, or creature comforts above other concerns, including her own life or the fate of Equestria as a whole.
  • In "Dragonshy", she's much more interested in acquiring a dragon's treasure then she is in stopping him from blanketing Equestria in smoke.
  • In "Secret of My Excess", she accosts a giant rampaging Spike that has kidnapped her for tearing her new robe, calling it a "crime against fashion". She also couldn't care less if he eats her as long as he doesn't get her fire ruby necklace.
  • In "A Canterlot Wedding", as the others strip off their bridesmaids gowns and race to recover the Elements, Rarity makes sure to collect the gowns before they hit the floor.
  • "Simple Ways" shows that it isn't just fashion or gems. She went out of her way to re-invent her original vision for a festival and even re-invent herself as a "country pony" to impress a crush.
  • Applejack lampshades it in "Make New Friends but Keep Discord" when they're covered in ooze:
    Rarity: Oh! My shoes will be ruined forever!
    Applejack: That's what you're worried about? Really?
• Sleep Mask: She sleeps with one, as seen in a couple of episodes.
• Smooch of Victory: She gives Spike one after she succeeds in receiving his Fire Ruby, and also when he comes to his senses after he nearly destroys Ponyville in his adult form.
• Socialite: One of her goals in life is to be this.
• Social Climber: A more benevolent version. She aspires to be "a lady" and become popular in the higher spheres of society. Not through any unsavory means, but through her merits as an artist and person of good taste. She doesn't notice it, but the show proves to us that it's really much more of a matter of connections rather than genuine talent. Then the show displays her merits getting her such connections, such as being the preferred designer of pop star Sapphire Shores.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad:
  • In the fifth season, she has three consecutive centric-episodes (in broadcast order), although she shares the spotlight with another pony in two of them.
  • In the first half of the sixth season, she is the character that has the most active appearances aside from Twilight.
• Stepford Smiler:
  • In "Suited for Success" when her friends don't like the first dresses, she hides how crushed she is and tries her very best to satisfy them.
  • This is also how she repeatedly stops herself from losing her temper at Sweetie Belle in "Sisterhooves Social".
  • The Nightmare Forces exploit this in the second comic arc.
• Stylish Sunhats: Rarity owns and wears several sunhats throughout the show, all of which she personally designed.
• Talking the Monster to Death: She escapes the Diamond Dogs by talking them into submission. She almost did it to the red dragon but was foiled by his treasure hoard. She also attempted to do this to the rampaging Spike in "Secret of My Excess".
• Temporarily a Villain:
  • The closest she's come to being the bad guy is in the episode "Inspiration Manifestation", in which she goes crazy from being able to make things with her mind from a book and tries to make the whole town fabulous, and then the whole world.
  • This has happened twice in the comic series, first from the Nightmare Forces preying on her insecurity then through an encounter with the dark water.
• Thinks Like a Romance Novel: She imagines meeting Prince Blueblood to play out like a fairy tale. It doesn't, and even he knew it wouldn't.
• Third-Person Person: Slips into this when she's in the zone.
• Token Minority: As of the season 3 finale, she's the only unicorn in the group after Twilight's transformation into an alicorn. This seems to have been addressed with Starlight Glimmer joining the protagonists at the end of season 5 and the start of season 6, thus leaving Twilight as the odd pony out.
• Took a Level in Badass: In Season 9 she shows greater aptitude for combat-based applications of her magic than she did previously, exhibiting the ability to cast laser and shield spells and managing to throw a large boulder at Tirek with her telekinesis. While working together with Spike, she is even able to gain the upper hand in a Beam-O-War against a powered-up Chrysalis.
• True Blue Femininity: Her magic aura, as well as the gems in her cutie mark, her eye color, and her choice of eyeshadow.
• Tsurime Eyes: Highlighted by her blue eyeshadow.
• Twitchy Eye: Whenever she gets stressed, and when she undergoes outright Sanity Slippage in "Inspiration Manifestation", "Fame and Misfortune", and the Bad Future of "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils".
• Unkempt Beauty: Rarity is one of the cleanest and prettiest ponies around, but she also looks great while dripping wet.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: Has a wide assortment of pretty dresses, hats, and accessories... all self-designed. In "Rarity Investigates" alone she changes outfits about seven times (which is heavily lampshaded).
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Applejack. Originally, the vitriol was not kind at all. But by the time "Trade Ya" happened, they were still ribbing on each other, but it was obviously in good fun.
• Vocal Evolution: Tabitha St. Germain gave Rarity a lower-key accent at the start, making her vocalization sound slightly less dynamic than in later seasons. Around the end of Season 2 and going into Season 3 is when Rarity's full accent was established and her verbal flourishes really got to shine.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: She's the serious child to her wacky parents.
• Weak, but Skilled: Rarity doesn't have Twilight's level of magical power, but her telekinesis is highly precise and refined, able to accurately control numerous small objects at once such as sewing needles, thread, and buttons.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Competent as she is in a jam, she tends to flee in panic when her physical appearance is messed up, which was how both the manticore and Trixie were able to best her. She is capable of overriding this in special circumstances, as revealed in the climax of "Sisterhooves Social".
• Weather Manipulation: When she (temporarily) becomes Ponyville's weather pony, she displays this ability. She does not, however, display any skill at it. While she can use her levitation to move clouds the way a pegasus does, she never gets the hang of controlling precipitation and is just plain terrible with thunder clouds.
• Winged Unicorn: Briefly becomes a rare non-alicorn example of this trope in "Sonic Rainboom" when Twilight uses a spell to give her translucent butterfly wings so she can travel to Cloudsdale for the Best Young Fliers Competition.
• With Great Power Comes Great Perks: She uses her magical abilities for fashion work. Of course, looking at what she uses her wits for...
• Your Makeup Is Running: Whenever she cries, substantial amounts of mascara tend to be washed down her face alongside her tears.

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